The View From My Kitchen Window: May 12, 2014

I cleaned my kitchen window the other morning especially for you!

One of these days we will trim some branches.  Just not today!

Water

I have lived in a lot of different places and been exposed to a lot of different kinds of drinking water.  This would include south Florida (yuck!) and Clarendon County, South Carolina where the well water has a very strong taste of sulfur.  Alabama drinking water is at the bottom of the list.

Where we live the water is very hard.  That means a lot of mineral build up in things like the pressure canner and the tea kettle.  Each year I have to follow the directions to boil vinegar in my canner to remove the mineral build-up. 

One day I made the mistake of looking down the spout inside my tea kettle.  Oh my!  It was time to do something!

I thought about it and decided that if a vinegar solution would work on my pressure canner, there was no reason it should not work on my tea kettle

The process is to boil the vinegar mixed with water and pour it out.  Then fill it with plain water and boil that and pour it out and repeat the plain water process at least a total of three times to be sure to remove any vinegar taste. 

I forgot one thing.  My kettle is a Revere ware kettle.  Do you know what that means?  It means the bottom is made of a copper alloy.

Do you know what happens when you mix copper with vinegar (acetic acid) and expose it to heat?

I don't either.  But it sure makes a pretty color!

If you do know, please send me the chemical formula; I would love to see it.  I'm a nerd that way.

Moms

I am blessed with an amazing Mom.  Anyone who knows her will be loudly shouting "AMEN" to that statement.  Mom demonstrates God's grace and love to everyone she meets.  This is a lady who

1. Worked as a nurse, nursing supervisor and public health nurse while training for a call to overseas missions
2. Realized that her calling was to be (instead) the wife of a pastor and mother of five children
3. Loves and supports her husband, working beside him to enhance his ministry wherever God may send him.
4. Raised 5 children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
5. Lovingly welcomed 2 daughters-in-law and 3 sons-in-law into the family.  They are more sons and daughters than in-laws!
6. Worked tirelessly to support the raising of her 14 grandchildren through lots of love, lots of time, and lots of prayer.
7. Lovingly welcomed 2 new grand-daughters (by marriage) and 5 new grand-sons (by marriage)
8. Delights and rejoices in her 7 (soon to be 8!) great-grandchildren, praying for them daily
9. Cared for her mother until her death and now cares for her unmarried sister
10. Welcomes anyone at any time to her home for a visit, a cup of tea, lessons on bread-making, and/or lessons on life
11. Always looks for ways to share the love and joy and mercy of God with whomever He may put in her path
12. Always, always prays for her family
13. Always, always provides an example of godly living for her family and all those around her.

 That's just a little piece of her.  There is really no way that one blog post could capture the spirit of my amazing mother.

Many years ago Mr. Marvelous and I found ourselves in a church where many of the members did not come from homes with good mothers.  For a number or years, even after we left that church, I felt as though I had to apologize for having such wonderful parents.  I wouldn't talk about them openly in Bible-study gatherings because I was afraid I would hurt someone by making them feel their lack.  Several years later a woman in a Bible study in another church was talking with me and I shared with her this fear.  She looked at me in shock; why in the world would I feel that way?!  Then she gave me some life-changing words.

"NEVER feel that you can't share about your wonderful parents.  Just remind the people who are listening to you that even if they do not have that heritage, they can START that kind of heritage for their children, grand-children, or great-grandchildren.  It is NEVER too late to make that change."

So if you are reading this today and feeling a little sad that your heritage does not match my heritage, remember the wise words of my friend Kim.  Start praying today! 

And if you have a mother like mine (or if you share my mother!), be sure to let her know today what a blessing she is.

God's peace and grace to all our mothers!

The quintessential Nana: rocking and knitting while wearing her Dr. Scholls!

Strawberry Time!

At last; the strawberries ~ after a ridiculous winter ~ are ready!

The timing is perfect as I am down to my last two lonely jars.

Over there on the far left. 

It looks a little sad, like Mother Hubbard's cupboard, doesn't it?  The fact that it is that bare is really a good thing.  That means that I did not over prepare last year and don't have jars that have to be thrown out.  By the time canning season is done this year it should be filled back up again. 

Mr. Marvelous tidied the back porch and scrubbed off the pollen (and you wonder why I call him Mr. Marvelous??)

I got my canning kitchen set back up again.

It was time to make the annual trek to Locust Fork.  My sister-in-law and I have been making that trip since my family moved here (I'm pretty sure we went that first year).  We go to Jerry Marsh Farms; they are great folks with very good produce and really good prices.

In case you can't read that the U Pick strawberries are $9...per gallon.  If they pick them for you they are $11...per gallon.  For fresh-picked strawberries from a family-owned farm I think that is a great price!

 My buddy was there again this year.

He's a sweetie!

We did have one or two startling surprises as we were driving home. 

I did not expect to find zebras in Locust Fork, Alabama.

Or camels, for that matter.








We got all our strawberries safely home.  I bought five gallons this year.

Aren't they lovely?!

Then I came home and got all my jars and equipment out and ready

And tomorrow I will get busy.

According to my canning journal, last year I bought 5 gallons.  I think that is wrong; I think I really bought only 4.  Whichever it was, I made 38 or so pints of jam.  I like to give it away for gifts.  My friend Beth is telling me I should take it to one of the curb markets around here and sell it.  I just might try that this year.

The View From My Kitchen Window

April 6, 2014

In our part of Alabama, the changes from my window in the early to mid Spring and mid Fall are so rapid that at times I feel as though I should take a picture every day to capture them.  With a dogwood tree right outside my kitchen window, there are even days when I feel as though the pictures should be made both morning and evening.

Then comes summer and winter.  It often seems as though there are no visible changes at all going on around us during those times.  I have learned that these seasons are when changes must be measured in other ways.

For some reason God wired my brain to be very in tune with the shifting and changing of light and shadow.  For as long as I can remember, I have been one to notice a difference in both the look and the feel of light over a period of weeks, months, and seasons.  Summer has always felt like summer because of the different angle at which the light dances through the window in the late afternoon.  Each year, the dance is a little different because of the growth of the trees and bushes around.

The light coming into our back garden is different this year.  The trees are taller, filtering more light and creating a different grouping of shade.  Even in areas where trees have been blown down ~ or been cut down by Mr. Marvelous ~ there is a difference because of the height and the fullness of the remaining trees.

I would like to think that living in the trees and being one who is so sensitive to the light helps me to slow down a bit and live at a slightly different pace.  That slower pace allows me to stop and delight in the patterns of God's light when the trees dance for me, and to reflect on God's Light.  It is easier for me to live at this pace; I am in a season of life when there are neither little ones needing constant attention nor work outside the home to rush off to.  My prayer for you today, regardless of whether you are in the middle of work or caring for family or just feeling overwhelmed by dark days, is that you will find a moment to stop and reflect on and delight in God's creation and especially in His Light.

Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”                John 8:12

Walkabout Wednesday: April Totals

April was a disappointing month for walking.  I walked, and I would estimate that I walked as much as or more than last April.  The problem is that I promised myself at the beginning of this trek that I would only count miles logged on my pedometer and would not give in to the temptation to estimate.  April brought with it some (more) pedometer woes.  Oh, the temptation to guess, to estimate, to average out the last couple of Aprils!  But the reality is that I only logged 58.32 miles bringing my total to a mere two thousand two hundred seventy point zero one.  Sigh. 

My current location is about halfway between the Salton Sea and Boreggo Springs.  I had planned to continue south to San Diego, but I realized this morning that if I do that I will miss things like the Palomar Observatory (how could I pass up an opportunity like that??!!) AND and opportunity to visit San Nicholas Island (think Island of the Blue Dolphin).  I may or may not swing up to Los Angeles; the big call to doing that (besides being a stereotypical, gawky sight-seer) would be the opportunity to visit Venice and roller blade there (think Blast From The Past).  We'll see. 

Google has changed the look of their maps again.  Oh joy!  But if you look at the Salton Sea you will notice that just west of there is a small mountain range, then a desert area, then another range of mountains.  I am not quite to the next range of mountains. Those mountains look formidable enough that I'm thinking about calling my niece Anne Caitlin for help getting up and over!

Hopefully by the end of this month I will be at least to the Pacific Ocean.  Perfect time to hit the beach!

Keep walking!

Photo from tourofcalifornia.org

A (Mostly) Completed Project

I usually like to wait until a project is 100% complete before posting.  However by special request I am posting this one that is only mostly completed.

I have had two window frames sitting in my basement for going on three years.  I bought them at the World's Longest Yard Sale and "intended" to do a project with them long before now (Boxwoods.  I know).

I have a friend who is one of those people who gets things done.  If Beth thinks of an idea, she doesn't rest until she has figured out how to do it and gotten it finished.  She's pretty amazing that way.  She has rubbed off on me a little (let there be great rejoicing!).

I decided last week to quit thinking about those window frames and do something with them.

For quite some time I have wanted to have some sort of sign or something to mark the fact that I have Scarborough Fair in my front yard herb beds.  You know; parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.  I decided to use one of the windows for that.

After going to Petals From The Past last weekend I got busy.  While this is not normal for me, I actually remembered to take pictures before, during and after.

Here's before

Ugly, isn't it?

Looks better after being sanded.

Work was interrupted by a series of storms that blew through here last week.  I had not done any storm prep since the winter so I had to take a break and get some work done around the house and the yard Monday and Tuesday.  I figured I could work on this whether I had power or not but vacuuming can only be done with the electricity on!

Wednesday I got back busy again and started working on the lettering.

I tried the lettering on the natural wood. 

That did not work.

So I painted the whole thing white and tried again.

Voila!

Since it is going to hang outside, I sealed it with polyurethane

(thanks, Beth!)

Next I picked the herbs and sealed them with a coat of fixative.  

I am hoping that will keep them from drying out quite so quickly.

With some help from Mr. Marvelous, I added some chain. 

Then I tied on the herbs and here is the (almost) finished product.

My parsley is way too small to pick yet.

When I went to visit my friend Lisa and get some from her I realized that I had forgotten my wallet!

I'll go see Lisa later this week

(Here's a shout out to Green Up Garden Shoppe!) 

Meantime, here is a shot of the new window hanging above my own, personal Scarborough Fair

And here is the update with the parsley added:

Monday Morning Memories: Boxwoods

Many years ago my Dad went to visit a member of his congregation.  She was recently widowed and was in that time when the busy-ness of planning a funeral is done and the grown children have had to go back to their homes and lives in other cities and states.

He and Mom went to visit this dear lady and had a nice visit talking about her children and remembering her dear husband. 

As they were leaving, the lady was apologizing for the overgrown garden path.  It seems that her children loved boxwoods and had planted some for their mother many years ago.  As time went on, they grew (imagine that!) and got to the point that the lady could hardly walk from her house to her car.  She didn't much care for boxwoods in the first place and she really did not care for them now.  She kept telling the children that she was going to dig them up but they kept assuring her that they would come and take care of that task for her.

She waited.

                            And waited.

                                                             And waited!

She finished telling Dad about this situation, expressing her frustration that her children did not follow through with their good intentions of helping their mother!

Dad jokingly said, "Well, you know what the road to Hell is paved with".

She looked at him with some confusion and consternation and replied,

"Boxwoods??"

Photo from bitsandbreadcrumbs.com

Happy Friday

From our bunnies to your home.  Remember: bunny kisses do tickle!

Happy Furday.....er....Friday!          

Blue Birds and Hummers and Art: Oh My!

Last weekend Mr. Marvelous and I went to Jemison, Alabama for a visit to Petals From The Past.

It just happened to be the weekend that the Antique Vendors were there showing off their pretties.

I met this delightful man, Bottle Tree Bob.

That's Bob in the hat

Bob loves hummingbirds and bluebirds.  He has just a few hummers around his home and shop, but on his property he has over twenty-one blue bird houses, many of them in use.

I think his art is beautiful and wanted to share it with you.

A Leghorn!

 

I wish I had taken pictures of everything he had, but you can flit over to his website here and check out the other things he has.