The Human Seasons

Four Seasons fill the measure of the year;
 There are four seasons in the mind of man:
He has his lusty Spring, when fancy clear
 Takes in all beauty with an easy span:
He has his Summer, when luxuriously
 Spring's honey'd cud of youthful thought he loves
To ruminate, and by such dreaming high
  Is nearest unto Heaven: quiet coves
His soul has in it's Autumn, when his wings
  He furleth close; contented so to look
On mists in idleness - to let fair things
  Pass by unheeded as a threshold brook.
He has his Winter too of pale misfortune,
Or else he would forego his mortal nature.

~John Keats

On the Grasshopper and Cricket

The poetry of earth is never dead:
   When all the birds are faint with the hot sun,
   And hide in cooling trees, a voice will run
From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead;
That is the Grasshopper's - he takes the lead
   In summer luxury, - he has never don
   With his delights; for when tired out with fun
He rests at ease beneath some pleasant wee.
The poetry of earth is ceasing never:
  On a lone winter evening, when the frost
    Has wrought a silence, from the stove there shrills
The Crickets song in warmth increasing ever,
  And seems to one in drowsiness half lost,
    The Grasshopper's among some grassy hills.

~John Keats

Is It Raining Yet?

March Days

So spring comes, at least that's what the calendar tells us!

A Childhood Favorite

Something about March weather always makes me dig up my copy of "The Secret Garden."

Days that are rain-soaked and chilly, walks through mud and puddles, days where the sunshine just seems happy to be out. The anticipation of bright blooms and soft greens, when the sight of a bud makes you do a happy dance. (Actually, I squealed when I spotted a budding tree on the way to church the other day! Totally shocked Roman.) Welcoming the robins, and other songbirds with open windows and breezy curtains. The weather is far from warm right now, and we still could expect snow, but spring is coming!

Frances Hodgson Burnett's tale of two selfish, spoiled, and miserable children is a hopeful one. A reminder to look past the bleak and difficult winter to the humble beauty of spring. The ever-cheerful Martha inspired me to learn how to skip rope to a hundred. Who didn't want to be friends with Dickon and his creatures. And their mother, Mrs. Sowerby sounds like the sensible and affectionate woman that I wish to be to my children. Even the grouchy characters, like Mrs. Medlock and Ben Weatherstaff seem to soften around the presence of the children's growing contentment and joy. There is hope that things will become brighter and happier when you work hard and forget to be selfish.

The rainstorm had ended and the gray mist and clouds had been swept away in the night by the wind. The wind itself had ceased and a brilliant, blue sky arched high over the moorland. Never, never had Mary dreamed of a sky so blue. In India skies were hot and blazing; this was of a deep cool blue which almost seemed to sparkle like the waters of some lovely bottomless lake, and here and there, high, high in the arched blueness floated small clouds of snow-white fleece. The far-reaching world of the moor itself looked softly blue instead purple-black or awful dreary gray.
  "Aye," said Martha with a cheerful grin."Th' storms over for a bit. It does like this at this time o' th' year. It goes off in a night like it was pretendin' it had never been here an' never meant to come again. That's because th' springtime's on its way. It's a long way off yet, but it's comin'."
~Chapter 7, The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett

 

I think I need to do a spring photo session with my kids in their wellies.

Reading Goals for 2014

In my childhood, reading was the favored activity. From dawn to dusk any free time I had found me nose deep in a book. For several years I could read one a day. As my free time grew less and the books became more challenging (i.e. non-fiction) I went through one a week, give or take. And of course I learned about having multiple books stacked next to the bed all of which I was reading.
However, the past two years of motherhood, marriage, and generally living life left me with a shorter stack of books, and taking a lot longer to work through them. Last year I overwhelmed myself with a long list of books to be read in 2013, along with deadlines for finishing them. By mid-year I was frustrated whenever I sat down to read, and unable to focus on a once-loved activity. So I stopped reading my books and just read to my wee ones. Hardly stimulating material.

Throughout last autumn I learned a lot about how to say "no" to the world outside. This left me with a great deal of time that had hitherto been filled by church, extended family, Facebook, Pinterest, etc. And I found I could read again. Not the way I used too; after all I have a home to care for and children to invest in. I found I could read about two books a month. So in early January I made a list of books I would like to read. Books we have been given, books recommended, books that have sat on our shelves untouched, books borrowed. I organized by subject/genre, then picked three for January and three for February. And that is about as far as I have planned. I picked books that felt relevant to the needs of the hour. As the month draws to a close, I am trying to remember that it is not about finishing the final chapters of each book in a late night cram. It is about learning when to say "no"; to reading, to events, to outings, to the Internet. The needs of my life are my husband, two toddlers, and pregnancy. I can't do every good activity, clean every room, read every good book I hear of. But I am happy with how my reading is going so far. It is nice to pick up a book and read a page or two. Right now, it is not about finishing a check list. It is about choosing the best things over the good ones.

So did I read in January?

This has been a slow read, and more of a reference book. I am about half way through. It was passed on to me a while back by my sister-in-law. I picked it as a stimulator for ideas on managing my little family as we move out of the baby years. The author has a great deal of helpful thoughts. It is the small things that I that give me "Aha!" moments. Since I have a natural bent to organization, and was raised by an organized mother, the book feels like a repeat of things I already know. But I would recommend it to those who are looking for help in managing their homes.

Nearly at the end of this and I think I might need to read it all over again. This book was a gift last spring, but was so timely for right now as I re-evaluate a my stage of life.

 

I also have been reading Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice as part of a large blog community.

Jane Austen and Motherhood is the reflective theme. It is fun to re-read this classic as a wife and mother. Whole new set of thoughts than when I was unmarried. The plan is to read through all six Austen novels this year. It is nice to have some familiar fiction to pick up now and then.

Those were the books I set out to read. A couple of bonuses came from a trip to the library.

This cookbook is now on my wish list. In the past month I learned a huge amount about making sourdough, a super simple pretzel recipe (Ethan loved making those) and successfully made croissants.

 

I picked up an audio copy of Wind in the Willows from the library, borrowed a beautifully illustrated version from my parents, and Ethan and I have enjoyed the adventures of Mole, Rat, Mr. Toad, and Badger over the past month. It was pleasant way to replace Netflix, and I hope I can find more stories to enjoy with my wee ones.

 

 

Along the lines of learning to say "no": The Art of Simple: To Don't Do, is a very encouraging article. I hope you are all settling well into whatever goals you made for 2014.

 

 

 

In Six Months Time...

November and December

November - with uncanny witchery in its changed trees. With murky red sunsets flaming in smoky crimson behind the westering hills. With dear days when the austere woods were beautiful and gracious in a dignified serenity of folded hands and closed eyes - days full of a fine, pale sunshine that sifted through the late, leafless gold of the juniper trees and glimmered among the grey beeches, lighting up evergreen banks of moss and washing the colonnades of the pines. Days with a high sprung sky of flawless turquoise. Days when an exquisite melancholy seemed to hang over the landscape and dream about the lake. But days, too, of the wild blackness of great autumn storms, followed by dank, wet, streaming nights when there was witch-laughter in the pines and fitful moans among the mainland trees. What cared they? Old Tom had built his roof well and his chimney drew.
"Warm fire - books - comfort - safety from storm - our cats on the rug." Said Barney,"would you be any happier now if you had a million dollars?"

December. Early snows and Orion. The pale fires of the Milky Way. It was really winter now - wonderful, cold, starry winter. Days of clear brilliance. Evenings that were like cups of glamour - the purest vintage of winter's wine. Nights with their fire of stars. Cold, exquisite sunrises. Lovely ferns of ice over the windows of the Blue Castle. Moonlight on birches in a silver thaw. Ragged shadows on windy evenings. Great silences, austere and searching. Ice-grey twilights, broken by snow-squalls, when their cozy living room with its goblins of firelight and inscrutable cats seemed cozier than ever.

~ L. M. Montgomery, The Blue Castle

A List of Favorites

After finishing Life After Art by Matt Appling and One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp I was challenged and inspired to make the beauty that I desire to see in my home. Autumn delights are something I am already grateful for and now I am taking steps to actually enjoy them. From the list above (courtesy of Pinterest) my favorites are:

My mustard yellow cardigan(along with boots and jeans)

 

Baking: lately French bread and a pear tart.

 

The daily teatime ritual I am creating with my family.

Sometimes it's morning, sometimes afternoon, or even evening.

I make a pot of tea or hot cocoa to share with Ethan and Roman (while Saoirse has a sippy of milk) and we enjoy relaxing together. Setting up the whole tea service makes an inviting and relaxing experience that much more beautiful.

What are your favorite autumn joys?

 

 

 



October's Party

October gave a party,
The leaves of hundreds came-
The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,
And leaves of every name.
The Sunshine spread a carpet,
And everything was grand,
Miss Weather led the dancing,
Professor Wind the band.

The Chestnuts came in yellow,
The Oaks in crimson dressed;
The lovely Misses Maple
In scarlet looked their best;
All balanced to their partners
And gaily flutter by;
The sight was a like a rainbow
New-fallen from the sky.

Then in the rustic hollow
At hide and seek they played;
The party closed at sundown
And everybody stayed.
Professor Wind played louder;
They flew along the ground;
And the party ended
With jolly "hands around."

~George Cooper