Summah-time delicious......

Some folks know the difference between a tomato and a garden tomato.  It's the immediate taste of "garden" that fills the mouth and makes the wait worthwhile.  For me, there's no replacing the deliciousness of that ripe, juicy first slice or bite....and immediately, I'm back in my Granny Wade's country kitchen, not a day over ten and no care in the world except where the barn kittens may be hiding.  Now that's a powerful reason to grow my own tomatoes! 

We're having a bumper crop this season, thank goodness.  My home-canned ones are just about gone and the prospects of having plenty to put up for the winter looks really good.  They'll go nicely with all the green beans we have put up on the shelf as well.

The added blessing on those tomatoes comes from the fact that a dear, sweet neighbor gave me the plants....and he does every season.  He and his wife have a natural bend to generosity and share with so many of us here in the neighborhood.  We watch and wait for his strong tomato plants every spring.

This neighbor is also the source of another great connection.  Several years ago (as in a decade or so!), he came in late fall carrying a cardboard box full of tiny little grapes, so small that a handful would be the only way to get a good taste.  He asked if I wanted some "fox grapes" he had picked and had an abundant supply, telling me that his wife had "juiced" all she wanted.  Of course, I said yes and then proceeded to ask how to juice them!  Little did I know what a special treat the jelly I would make from the juice would be for another member of my family--my mama. 

That Christmas, I gave away little jars of the jelly in packages, but it was my mama's reaction that would be the dearest gift to me.  She lifted it out of her Christmas bag and thanked me as she held it up to look more closely, noting that it was "really dark and dense"--and then she said, "Gracious, is this fox grape jelly?!"  I couldn't believe she knew, and she couldn't believe what she had in her hand, telling me she had not had any since she was a child and her family had moved "off the mountain into town."  She's a rarity for sure in this day, having really lived in a log-cabin, played with crawdads in the creek, and romped through the woods, which was her backyard.  At the moment she eyed the jar and it dawned on her what she had, she hurried to the kitchen, got a spoon, flipped off the lid and took a bite, beaming with delight.  I'll never forget her face in those seconds as she slipped back to her younger days on Boauger Mountain for just a speck of time.  She gets her own personal jars first every year that I have grapes.  

It may be the fact that the past few weeks have been complex and demanding and a few slower moments with a garden tomato helped draw things to a different perspective, but the bite was surely amazing. We can certainly need that shift in the midst of stress and demand, but I am humbled by such a simple thing, knowing that it is my early experiences, just as it is my mama's, that enable that shift.  And those simple things are all around.  Take, for example, this beginning of an oak tree--a volunteer that popped up in the midst of my front flower bed, apparently having been tucked safely under the nearby dwarf bushes.

I didn't know that the early leaves were such a beautiful pink--so
delicate and furry!  I've never seen the very top of an oak tree before, and how gaze-stopping it is!  I'm sure there have been other oak sproutlings, but in the thiry-seven years I've lived here, this one was a first for me.

So what's a body to do but get out the camera and do some looking.  Maybe it was the light that morning or just that I had taken the time to see--I'm guessing it was a mix of both--but there were eye-treasures everywhere, like the little trailing geranium of the two-tiered bee-balm that stretched up in perfect glory.  They were delighting my being for sure.

Such surprising hues and form!  Where have I been??

So the "summah-time" moves quickly on.  My lilies have bloomed out, the garden is giving goods each day, my overload of work still waits, and my camera sits ready for the moment I need a break and a breath and a sense of the abundant simple blessings around me.  I'm thinking those blessings epitomize grace in my midst, and how thankful I am it's here.

Our mountains'sputtering toward summer has given us an extended spring, complete with grateful plants and blossoms.  Green beans and corn rows are pushing along in the garden, along with a dozen or so tomato plants, some peppers, budding squash and zucchini, eggplants, cucumbers, and some already enjoyed swiss chard.  Well, yum!  My hydrangeas and lilies especially have been delighted with the weather and shown it..... 

Definitely this one is a smile-bringer and by maturity, the full blossom is that gorgeous blue rimming the new petals.  The bush came from a shoot in my sister's yard in Rustburg, Virginia, a small, quiet little town in the central southern part of our state.  Tucked in among the large oaks on that property, the bush was thriving along with several hostas, babes of which my sister was generous with to me as well.  There's an old adage that says the best hydrangea bush is one you've snitched, but I'm glad this one was a knowing-gift!  

The lily is one I bought and shared with another sister, and both of us have been delighted by the response of this gorgeous plant.  Mine was the smaller off-shoot, mainly because the plant was, after all, a present to her, but we share and I was tickled to find a small one sprouting for me to nip off and plant at home.  Each mature stem has had over a dozen blooms on each crown.....still going....wow.....



They will soon be gone, even with that number, and close by are a few others in apricot and yellow, but these definitely demand a special look!

So all of this outside beauty has tempted me away from knitting, but I'm trudging on, with more than I should have on the needles.......a tank top for my eldest, socks for me, socks for grandson, blanket for grandson, and a couple of surprises.  I think I just need to set a chair in the frontyard and take my knitting along......

When the wind gets taken out of one's sails, they must lie at rest for a bit.  On the evening of May 11th, my sails were resting, thank goodness, at the close of my school's graduation.  It wasn't that there were not still plenty of things rushing around my boat, mind you.  But I had just watched several students walk that stage who had been hard-pressed to get there, and it was a huge sigh and great gladness that whooshed that wind out to parts yon way.  Teaching at a community college (fair warning for anyone thinking on that possibility) challenges much more than just content agility and prowess.  Some of my students are the traditional 18 year olds--and a mixed bag in themselves as they come with good intentions, no intentions, or mixed intentions on what they should be doing as a college student.  The first few weeks of the semester with these young ones involves helping them to adjust to life away from high school.  Those who are ready, soar.  Those who are not wander around looking for sails.  Those inbetween ponder whether they want to hoist those sails or just look at how sturdy they are for awhile yet undetermined.

The non-traditional students come with myraid elements.  Some are married and working with children and extended family in tow.  Some are single parents balancing that plank of unsteadiness as they try to make ends meet and either work a full-time job at minimum wage or look for one as they manage college demands.  Some are folks who have lost their jobs as a result of plant closings or downsizing, and they enter that realm of "retraining" that most likely will involve much more than the job counselor let on as they signed up for a particular program.  They, too, balance families and responsibilities and choices as they navigate classes and a 15-week semester of them.

Some of those students are just coming for a good education.  They have a plan, and they follow it.

No matter which of those "types" they are, they move toward graduation, and it is indeed a marvelous day when they make it.  Our entire campus celebrates for them and with them as they reach that moment and we watch success stride the platform.  Sometimes the sigh is audible even through the shouts and claps.

On May 11th, I was ready for that sigh and the wind to die down and let my sails rest.  Those graduates were, thankfully and wonderfully, ready to catch the wind and roll.  It was a blessed exchange.

Now.....well, now I get to juggle summer courses, only at a much less stressed pace and fewer students, as I dig in (literally) to my garden and home.  The only word to describe this immensely neglected residence and yard is MESS.  My first day to actually pay attention to it was today, what with all the aftermath clean-up in my office.  I can tell you that my front yard garden looks much better--not done but better.  My stove looks amazingly shiny after I bowed to its need after breakfast.  I look in need of much water and soap.

But, there is a delightful part of the day, as my sails flutter just a bit in this switch of pace.  We had a delicious, albeit simple, supper tonight, and I made some bodacious cornbread with no recipe--just out of my head.  For the first time in some long time, that beautiful golden round flipped out perfectly from the skillet, ready and waiting for some equally delicious brown beans (pintos and kidney) I had cooked in the crock pot yesterday.  Take a look:

I'm telling you, it was delicious....just a bit of warm spices in the beans, and freshly chopped chives and onions......mercy.  I really don't know how that cornbread turned out so well.  Usually there are crumbling problems or it's too heavy or it sticks in the pan or it just doesn't have a good flavor, but not tonight.  It was golden and moist, with lots of nooks and crannies for bean juice.  Tomorrow morning, I'm sure some applebutter or butter and jelly will work just fine to go with breakfast.  I do love cornbread, and I'm especially proud of this one! 

Now just to be honest, I was in no hurry, having taken my time all day to "putz" around and do first one thing and then the other.  Isn't that, though, what a break is supposed to be?  Maybe it's the memory of just this kind of simple supper I had with my mom and sister as a child that makes it such a delight.  Mama never cut up chives for the beans, and she didn't add kidney beans to the mix, but the pintos and cornbread were absolutely the best.  She still makes the best beans, at a spry 85 years old!

It's that cornbread that gets me.  I pulled measures out of my head, hoping I was getting it right.  I fear I'll never make it this perfect again!  But the simplicity was real.  Here's the "recipe" if I dare call it that--I mixed 1 and 1/3 c. of stone ground cornmeal with 1 c. unbleached flour in a large metal mixing bowl, adding in 3 tsp. of baking powder, about a 1/2 tsp. of salt, maybe a 1/4 c. sugar, and after stirring that all together, I added 2 large eggs, beating them just a bit.  I didn't have buttermilk, so I used 1 and 1/2 c. whole milk that I had added 1 tbl. spoon of cider vinegar to make it clabber.  After adding the milk mixture to the bowl, I used a whisk to blend it all and then added 1/4 cup of melted butter.  The other half of the stick of butter was melting in the cast iron skillet that was in the oven that I had set at 400 degrees.  Once that butter was fully melted in the skillet, I removed it, sat it on the stove top, poured in the cornbread batter and returned it to the oven.  About 20 minutes later, my perfect cornbread was golden and sizzling, begging to be cut.  And it was delicious....and will be tomorrow!

Here's a little close-up--and it was as good as it looks!

Now the day is on to twilight, and there are dogs whining to be walked and a pair of socks I've been trying to finish since March.  They're the same ones pictured in the last post, and I'm working the toe portion now.....whew!  Projects aplenty lie all over my house, as does a whole armada of dust bunnies and unorganized stacks of.....stuff!  I'm catching up on some sleep, letting those sails come slowly from stillness to flutter to full swing and reveling in things both simple and complex that work out.

Stories...and then more stories....

My granddaughter has a penchant for ghost stories....at the tender age of seven, she relishes a good scary story, hanging on every turn--excitedly anticipating what could happen--and being a keen critic at the same time.  Don't try to pull off an insincere or casual twist with this child--she'll call you on it in less than a heartbeat.  I'm thankful her mama can tell a good ghost story because that has never been my forte.  So when this wonderful child asked me to tell her a good ghost story, I had to admit my failing.  I could tell her all kinds of stories about fantastical places or family tales, including the one where her great Viking ancestor married a mermaid (I'm not joking....it's why we love water and being in it....really), or even spin a yarn given a set of details, but I don't do ghosts. 

It does amaze me, though, at the stories that capture a wide imagination--like the Hunger Games.  This young adult series certainly has appeal in being a "beach read"--easy to pick up and fly through--and I've been more than a little surprised at some of the folks I've found reading the triology, but then a good story has that appeal across age ranges, especially when it holds human struggle against unfair and unmanageable control.  That gist of the tale is about all I know at this point, and yes,I'll read them.  If anyone has comments, let them fly because I'm a reluctant participant on this one.  Of course, I was for Harry Potter as well, and fell flat into Rowlings grasp.....so we'll see.

In the meantime, back at the homestead, daily events demand much more mundane attention.  Spring Break is almost over, a pile of papers to grade still looms, my sock-knitting begs for attention, and few things have been checked off the "got to due" list I made several weeks before.  I'll have to admit that the socks are the most tempting, with a wonderful Malabrigo yarn to fiddle into my first pair of socks for me. 

They're coming slowly, but they are coming.  I was able to figure out the two-at-a-time deal and am thrilled that both socks will have the same tension in them.....that's probably the best outcome of this method for me.....but it does slow progress in the making.  I keep telling myself that once I'm done, BOTH socks will be done, so that's the best result.  We'll see.....I hope it doesn't take me six months to finish them!  Joining 12 Socks in 2012 on Ravelry has been a great adventure.  I'm amazed at the folks that are finishing #11 already!!  They must not work outside the home.....and have lovely, patient families that don't mind a constant knitting project in hand.....and who fend for themselves.......and feed the pets.....and don't ask for anything.....that's all I can figure for an answer to how they've done it!  Anyway, the group is WONDERFUL and the forum holds so many great sections for advice, troubleshooting, and finished works.  I'm just inspired everytime I log on. 

Three days to go....so much to do....now there's the real story.  I'm hoping that papers AND knitting get the better part of the end result!  We'll see.....

Images.....how we cling to them....

Recently, in a public waiting area, I marveled at the sight......amongst probably 50 people, I could only find 5 not attached to some type of electronics.  My husband and I were 2 of the 5.  Go figure.

We (speaking conglomerately now) are so mesmerized by those screen shots we ignore what it right at our noses.  So I'm turning this screen off and leaving you with a nose-shot for Macro Mondays.....enjoy!

Candy-striped Amarylis

Seeing Macro.....Macro Mondays!

Blogs have taught me many things, but two main aspects are 1) how fascinating they can be with so many amazing folks out there posting remarkable things, and 2) how there are never enough hours in the day right now for me to do all I want to do. 

I took a quick jaunt today amongst some of the blogs I'm following and the great images that come into play on Cloudberry inspired me to participate and reflect.  This creative mother of four posts super pics of her home in Troms, Norway and the day-to-day progress she makes in so many areas.  Today is "Macro Mondays" on her blog--and a beautiful close-up shot of some crocheting she's doing.  I clicked on the link and found that Macro Mondays started in 2008 and seems to be sponsored by Lisa at Lisa's Chaos.  What gorgeous images this woman shares as well!  Take a look. 

So here's my contribution to Macro Mondays:

This beautiful Lenten Rose blossom survived the snowfall of last week and the drastic shift we took from degrees in the 60s to the 20s and then back again.  It's spring outside for sure, and this sweet blossom had many companions that now completely fit the season....Lent.  On the backside of these petals is a soft lavendar and green mix--such a gift!

So what's the reflection?  Well, this homing-in on a closeup of detail that may just well go unnoticed highlights the enormous contrast in our social culture today and often in my life.  I am--we all are--surrounded by images, bombarded by details, innundated with information and the day may pass without our being engaged or thoughtful on anything that has presented itself.  I'm really holding the mirror to myself here because it was my daughter and grandson that initiated the moments it took to take this picture. I was outside with them, enjoying the sunshine, listening to their laughter, snapping pics of their fun, and seeing these blossoms--what a gift!  Just the evening before, all my daughters and my son-in-law sat relaxing around the dining room table, full of great food and having great conversation and spirited debate.  Another gift--time enjoyed with sincere exchange.  Let me tell you, that's the stuff life is made of!  The evening passed just as swiftly as will this beautiful bloom--by the next afternoon, my kids were gone back to their homes and the pace of busy days.  I share that pace, and while I long to have more time with them all, I have to remind myself I knew these days were coming--the ones we raised them to meet when they would be building their lives. 

I love this Lenten Rose and it's quiet beauty that reminds me this is the season of life.  Its stems sway gently below a massive maple whose limbs are still bare.  Whether I notice or not, this perennial flower grows and brings beauty.  I believe I need to notice....and more often.  As the days warm, that spot will be a great one to take some reading or knitting and be still for a bit, to listen, to see, to think, to hear the laughter again, and to see the details.

Yay! Snow at last.....and INCHES!

I want to note this disclaimer immediately:  I am not promoting being shameless.  Really, I'm not.....BUT IT SNOWED finally and the results were so absolutely beautiful.  Just watching it come down on Sunday was balm to my heart and mind.  Those sweet little Lenten Roses now sport a tuff of snow that will, I am sure be gone by afternoon, but I hope the rest of the 10+ inches that fell last night will hang around for at least a day or so. 

Snow started drifting down in spits about 10:30 a.m., teasing in starts and stops unttil mid-afternoon.  Then the flakes came in earnest, so big and full, attaching themselves to the limbs of the trees and building all evening. Gorgeous....just simply gorgeous. I went constantly to the doors, staring and listening. The sound of falling snow is peace when it comes so steadily and softly.  What a gift!

And as you can tell, I went out in it, walking under those limbs and laughing at the thought that were it just a tad warmer, I would be covered in snowflakes letting go of their roost.   

This morning the sun made it all simply superb.  I know full well that Nature can have a very different, more menacing side for us humans, but yesterday She gave our little highlands a beautiful gift, and I am very thankful.  Yes, thankful indeed.  We all needed it, person and plant and bird alike.

It's time for that baking.....some pound cake I believe.....and a cup of cocoa to go along with those papers I need to grade.  Somehow that stack doesn't seem as much a burden as it was before the flakes fell.  I know--I'm shameless.

Shameless.....Bring on the Snow.....Pleeeeassseee!

When it comes to snow days, I can be a shameless woman.  I almost wrote "huzzie" instead of "woman" but that would be a bit of overkill...maybe.  It's past the middle of February and we have yet to have the first bit of real snowfall.  Some time back, there was a "skiff"--a tantalizing little blow through that barely topped the grass--green grass that is--that was pushing up all around the yard.   Even today, as I leaped at the weather report, beautiful Lenten Roses are blooming. 

They are gorgeous, but here's the problem:  It's February--not Lent yet--and the temperatures here have been far too warm.  As sweet as the blossoms are, I am really hoping they see flakes tonight and tomorrow.....nice big, white snowflakes that will cover the ground and give me even just one snowday from school.  See....I said I was shameless.  There isn't any student who prays for snow more than I do.

I know as well that this stand of Lenten Roses will bounce back and be just fine with the quick snow we're supposed to have starting in the wee hours tomorrow and continuing through the wee time on Monday.  Bring it on......Bring. It. On!

You see, snowdays give open time to catch up, enjoy an extra cup of coffee or some hot cocoa, stay in one's jammies longer....and longer still, and just have a day to examine and spend outside of the usual schedule.  It's not necessarily free time--but it seems that way, even if I'm working on things at home for school and students.  And all the while I can put something good in the oven, like a pound cake or some good bread, smell up the house with those great aromas, and "putz" around a bit doing first one odd job and then another. 

Maybe it's the unrushedness of the day that makes me so desirous of one or (and most likely) it's the time to think about previous snowdays, when my girls were home and we would glory in all having the day to "veg-out," watch our "Designing Women" tapes--remember that TV sitcom??--and laugh at those crazy Southern, spit-fire women.   What's not to admire?

So bring it on, weather forecaster, and let the heavens open with the glorious white stuff we've missed so much this winter.  I envy Norway and like places in the winter--what a life!

Alas.....it's in the 60's outside and that just isn't supposed to be the case here in the western mountains of Virginia in January.  I have long passed being ready for a BIG SNOW...there should be incheesssss on the ground but there is none, and my little rows of growing Swiss Chard in the garden are mild comfort for not having a blanket of white covering the ground.  News sources say it's La Nina's fault--am I surprised?  No, and the first thing that pops into my head is, "Aren't they always blaming a woman? Why would the weather be any different?" Geeezzzz.....whine, whine, whine. 

So what's a crafty woman to do?  Certainly, as the proverbial English teacher, I have papers to grade and students waiting anxiously (well, mostly!) for them.  And three weeks into the semester I can proudly say that I am not behind in the grading.......yet.  I do have to be honest.  There comes a time when it catches up to critical mass level, but right now I can sigh and say, "I'm on track!"  You probably won't see that statement in, say.......March.

Right now, though, it's a Friday and after a week of helping students discover they can indeed develop good ideas, devoid of text-message style comments, I'm ready to not look at papers or anything related to my classes.  So I decided to do a little surfing and find some temptation....in the yarn area.  Back several months ago, I found some wonderful thread on Etsy and gave in, buying two amazing skeins that now sit patiently waiting for me to get to them. 

The first, "Clouds in my Coffee," is a creamy blend of superwash merino and a tiny bit of nylon that I saw on a quick Ravelry blurp that directed me to its maker....and I was hooked.  The second hank I ordered almost gave me heart failure and then tested every ounce of my patience, through no fault of its own, mind you.  The story starts Christmas 2010 when my husband scrambled to buy a yarn swift and ball-maker for me.....and with some friend consulting succeeded.  I was so excited as I had a few--well MANY--hanks of yarn I needed to ball, and with delighted determination, I set out one evening to do just that with all those lovely twisted lengths.  Someone should have warned me about winding too fast...but they didn't. 

About halfway through turning "Artichoke" into a lovely readiness for knitting, the hank flew off the swift--which I'm sure had nothing to do with how fast I was winding it--and I had a massive mess of thread to detangle.  The gasp that escaped me still echoes in my head.  Lesson learned--and many hours later, after some very tedious and careful untangling, I managed to finish a beautiful, albeit slightly less perfectly wound, ball of exquisitely colored yarn.  The thread's creator, Inspired mama Makes, has plenty of other gorgeous tempations....just in case anyone is interested....it's so lovely soft!  And just one other little observation:  See the tag next to the yarn?  Well, I just love 'em--they're "recycled" coffee slips--you know the little cardboard ones that slip onto a hot cup at Starbucks or Peets?  The shop owner has attached her label with all the info on the yarn neatly enscribed and pasted it to a section of the coffee slip.  Very creative...and useful!

One of these days there will be a scarf....socks...something wonderful out of these threads.  Right now two other projects are hollering (literally!!) at me--the camisole for my daughter and a very cozy blanket for my grandson--both more than worthy temptations and I'm heading to them right now!  My students will be glad I took a break because knitting calms me down and puts me in a much happier mood :)

New Year....Long Lists.....

Such good intentions, aren't they....those ones we have just a few days before the New Year and after.  And then it happens.  The List takes leaps and bounds overnight, and suddenly the months ahead are filled with so many I-will-dos that serious doubt creeps in.....when will I ever get it all done?? 

That List of (Hope) To Do includes a baby gift, just a simple little snuggy, several pairs of socks (I joined Ravelry's 12 Socks in 12 Months--how crazy is that??), some more small home things, more than a few knitties for daughters and family, and even a couple of things for me (at the end of the list).  Those aren't the details--the list goes on and on, so I have to prioritize and then stick to the priority list.  Yep--I know the process, but in the midst of so many things happening in my work, family, and community that I keep my fingers into, I'm feeling that "Oh mercy!" pull.  Send encouragement!!!

I did, however, have to laugh at how I wasn't doing myself or my list any favors as I rustled around Ravelry and other sites one evening.  In my rummagings, I came across this site:  DROPS Designs.  If you've never visited, don't go unless you have some time.  I'm not kidding.  When Lion Brand yarn opened up all of their patterns for free, I was amazed and hooked and my printer ran like riverwater printing off patterns until it dawned on me that the patterns weren't going anywhere and I needed to be more choosy.  DROPS almost made me forget that epiphany.  Take a look, but again, have time to spend.

Staring me in the face in my family room are 3 baskets of yarn....full baskets....and I have to get organized, start the first pair of socks, find the yarn for the baby snuggly, get my daughter's cami on the needles so she'll have it by warm weather, and put all the rest of those "ideas" into place, so I can grab and go.  With a grandson (and mom and dad, of course!) moving to South Carolina and my other daughters also miles away, I have a feeling I'll need some travel knitting close at hand. 

Here's to 2012 and an already busy, busy start!!