By Sun and Candlelight

Happy Summer!

"That beautiful season the Summer! 
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; 
and the landscape 
Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood." 
~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The Summer Solstice arrives at 1:16 p.m. today, the longest day of the year. But from here on out, every day gets just a little bit shorter, so let's enjoy the light while we can!

Have a great Tuesday, my friends!

:)

Our Sunday Visitor

We finally got our hummingbird feeders back up, and so far we have at least one very active visitor! This is a female ruby-throated hummingbird ... isn't she just lovely?

I actually saw the male last week before we had the feeders up. I spied his tiny form zoom across the deck, making a beeline for the kitchen window (where a favored feeder hung last summer). I marveled to think he "remembered" where he got fed this time last year!

Above you see "Hazel" perched on a pussy willow branch. (Her mate we call "Harry.") Honestly, it was like she was posing for us - she stayed still for several minutes while we snapped pictures through the kitchen window.

But then she got down to business ...

 

 

 

Such a wondrous thing to watch, this fast, flying jewel ~ a bright blur of motion and color. (And by the way, Bill took these pictures while the rest of us oohed and ahhed behind him.) 

Before I go, how about a little Frost on this fine spring Sunday?

"A Prayer in Spring"

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid air stand still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,
The which it is reserved for God above
To sanctify to what far ends He will,
But which it only needs that we fulfill.

I hope you all had a lovely weekend! I will see you again sometime soon ...

:)

Happy First Day of Spring!

"The year's at the spring,
And day's at the morn;
Morning's at seven;
The hill-side's dew-pearled;
The lark's on the wing;
The snail's on the thorn;
God's in his Heaven— 
All's right with the world!"
~ Robert Browning

It's finally here! We're free of Winter at last!

Well ... just about. I am pointedly ignoring the snowflake shown in tomorrow's forecast, and focusing instead on the lovely day ahead. A sunny, calm Sunday ~ the First Day of Spring. 

I had originally planned to make pasta "primavera," in honor of the equinox today, but for a variety of reasons the menu has changed. Instead we'll have an onion-crusted chicken, baked potatoes, maple roasted carrots and a spinach-artichoke spread with French bread for our Sunday dinner. Fairly springy, but still a hearty, warming meal for a still-chilly day. I foresee my boys out there cleaning the yard and working up a good appetite this afternoon. ;)

And how about that moon last night? Were you able to catch the Full Sap "Super" Moon in all its bright, beautiful glory? What an amazing sight to see!

Well, thanks so much for stopping by today ... I hope you are all having a nice weekend. Our prayers continue for the people of Japan - and especially for Sue's family. Hoping to hear good news soon, praying God watches over them through this crisis and brings them all together as soon as possible.

See you all again very soon ... :)

An Ode to October ...

Dear October, how I love you ...

"There is no season when such pleasant and sunny spots may be lighted on, and produce so pleasant an effect on the feelings, as now in October." ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

Brilliant leaves in the trees, on the ground, whirling in the air ...

At the orchard we pick the last of autumn's apples ~ for sauce, for pie, for just plain good eating.

Squirrels scamper and chipmunks scurry - preparing for hard times ahead. We watch and an ancient instinct kicks in ...

There's a distinctive crunch underfoot; weekends are spent raking (and jumping in) the leaves. Tiny bulbs are planted in fertile hope of a distant spring.

Lazy days are over - it's all bustle and busy-ness now. Our thoughts turn from sandcastles to schedules.

The mornings are much colder ~ a sweater is a must before the sun rises and warms the air.

And sometime overnight, Old Frost left his kiss on the last blooms of fall ...

We return from a walk in the earthy damp woods, our pockets full of acorns and other fall treasures. We relish time spent outside before winter shuts us in.

But more often, the kitchen is the place to be these days ~ warm, bright and smelling so good. A hearty supper lures us inside before dark ...

Pumpkins are plentiful in the field and at the farmstand ~ which one should we pick? 

"October is nature's funeral month. Nature glories in death more than in life. The month of departure is more beautiful than the month of coming - October than May. Every green thing loves to die in bright colors." ~ Henry Ward Beecher  

Standing in the bleachers, watching the big game, clutching a cup of hot cider to warm us inside and out.

Distant honking draws our eyes to the skies ... a familiar V passes overhead and pulls at our heartstrings.

The landscape is ablaze with color - from orange to yellow to red. 

We make journeys big and small ~ a leaf peeping tour through the country, a canoe trip down a quiet river, a hay ride through the farm.

We visit the Country Fair and come home sticky and tired and grinning ear to ear - remembering giant pumpkins, ferris wheel rides and prize-winning hens. 

At home we dig out candles, and craft baskets and change cotton for wool.

Our thoughts turn to the holidays ... and making plans for guests, goodies, and gifts.

We create cozy corners to invite readers and nappers alike. Our need to nest these days is strong ... 

October's blessings are many ... as rich and varied as the palette itself.

How lucky we are it returns every year. 

Happy Autumn to all of my readers ... I hope your October is off to a great start!

Rabbit, Rabbit ...

... and, Happy July!

 

 

That beautiful season the Summer! 
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; 
and the landscape 
Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood. 
-   Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Happy April!

"The sun was warm but the wind was chill.
You know how it is with an April day.
When the sun is out and the wind is still,
You're one month on in the middle of May.
But if you so much as dare to speak,
a cloud come over the sunlit arch,
And wind comes off a frozen peak,
And you're two months back in the middle of March." 

~ Robert Frost

The storm has moved on and the flooding has receded - though we still have pumps running in the basement! - I'd have to say March went out like a Lion rather than a Lamb.

On a happier note, our forecast calls for warm, sunny days ahead ... a possible high of 80 on Easter Sunday! Can't wait to watch Spring do it's thing over the next few weeks. :)

Have a wonderful Thursday, everyone !

Ring out the Old, Ring in the New!

Just popping in to say I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. :)

Many blessings to you and yours this Happy New Year!

 

 

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,

The flying cloud, the frosty light;

The year is dying in the night;

Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,

Ring, happy bells, across the snow:

The year is going, let him go;

Ring out the false, ring in the true.

(From "Ring out, Wild Bells" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson)

When the frost is on the pumpkin ...

 

Nevermind frost! We had our first SNOW here this morning!

I honestly can't remember the last time we had snow this early in the year!

***

It's been a while since I posted and I have lots to tell you about, so I will carve some time out this weekend to write. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the weather ... whatever the weather ... wherever you are. :)

"Oh it sets my heart a-clickin like the tickin of a clock, when the frost is on the pumpkin and the fodder's in the shock ..." John Whitcomb Riley

Autumn Thoughts ...

Listen!

The wind is rising, and the air is wild with leaves ...

We have had our summer evenings ...

Now for October eves!

~ Humbert Wolfe

Happy September!

My favorite month of the year is here! 

Let's celebrate with a pretty poem this morning, shall we?

The golden-rod is yellow;

The corn is turning brown;

The trees in apple orchards

With fruit are bending down.

*

The gentian's bluest fringes

Are curling in the sun;

In dusky pods the milkweed

Its hidden silk has spun.

*

The sedges flaunt their harvest

In every meadow nook;

And asters by the brookside

Make asters in the brook.

*

From dewy lanes at morning

The grapes' sweet odors rise;

At noon the roads all flutter

With golden butterflies.

*

By all these lovely tokens

September days are here,

With summer's best of weather,

And autumn's best of cheer.

*

~ "September" by Helen Hunt Jackson ~

Happy 1st of July!

In vain the cruel skies their hot rays shed; 
The lily does not feel their brazen glare. 
In vain the pallid clouds refuse to share 
Their dews, the lily feels no thirst, no dread. 
Unharmed she lifts her queenly face and head; 
She drinks of living waters and keeps fair. 

(from A Calendar of Sonnets by Helen Hunt Jackson)

I always know July is upon us when the roadsides are bursting with bright orange daylilies. I've come to think of them as the 4th of July Flower, and honestly, when you look at them they do look like colorful fireworks, exploding against the summer blue sky ...

And so, July 1st is upon us and that means the season is steamrolling along. It might be nice some fine summer evening to sit down with your family and compile a list of things you want to make sure to do before September arrives. Use the comments in my Summer Fun post as a jumping off point, but I'm sure your family will have personal favorites to share. Keep the post handy - maybe hang it on the fridge - and don't forget to correlate the ideas with your calendar. Ideas are great, but plans make memories. :)

My kids made sure to say "Rabbit, Rabbit" this morning - well, truth be told, I woke them at 7 to remind them, lol - and before the holiday weekend I'll freshen things up in the learning room once again, changing things over for a new month ahead. I'll do some housekeeping here at my blog too - new booklists and sidebar items, maybe even a new template to change things up for the season. We'll see. 

As for the file crate follow-up post - well, I'm still banging away at it! Oddly enough, writing time has been hard to come by of late. It will be up soon though, I promise! In fact, I'm taking it with me to Bookworm's orthodontist appointment this morning - every spare minute helps, lol. :)

Have a Wonderful Wednesday, everyone!

****************

A Morning Moment

The year's at the spring,

And day's at the morn;

Morning's at seven;

The hillside's dew-pearled;

The lark's on the wing;

The snail's on the thorn;

God's in his heaven ~

All's right with the world!

~ Robert Browning

I took this picture around 7 a.m., crouched beside the daylilies, looking up the eastern hill beside our house. It was the dewdrops that first caught my attention, glittering in those soft rays of light. And it was then, nestled down in the driveway, that I noticed the sun rising in the woods. It's moments like these that I'm grateful to be alive, and for this earth in all its heavenly glory.

If you're looking for a way to connect with nature - to see the little things that you always seem to miss - take a sunrise stroll around the outside of your home. I carry my coffee cup with me and poke around the edges of our yard. I'm always amazed by something - and sometimes many things. In the quiet of dawn, when the world is still cool and sleepy, it's the perfect time to catch nature unawares.

Earth Day Poem by Jane Yolen

I am the Earth and the Earth is me.

Each blade of grass, each honey tree,

Each bit of mud, and stick and stone

Is blood and muscle, skin and bone.

And just as I need every bit

of me to make my body fit,

So Earth needs grass and stone and tree

And things that grow here

Naturally.

That's why we celebrate this day.

That's why across the world we say:

As long as life, as dear, as free,

I am the Earth and the Earth is me.

HAPPY EARTH DAY!

Jane Yolen has written some of my favorite books (Letting Swift River Go Owl Moon, and Child of Faerie, Child of Earth to name a few) but I never knew she was the author of this beautiful poem.  For more of her nature poetry please see my righthand sidebar;  I have several of those titles on request at the library this week. :)

(Btw, I did not take that picture shown above; it's the desktop background on my Macbook.)

Take a moment to enjoy the world around you today ...

and have a Very Happy Earth Day!

Guess where Daddy took Earlybird today?

 

They never made it inside the museum ... EB spent the whole time marveling over this:

 

 

 

My dad is a model railroader ~ I guess that grandapple doesn't fall far from the tree. :)

My heart is warm with the friends I make

And better friends I'll not be knowing;

Yet there isn't a train I wouldn't take,

No matter where it's going.

~Edna St. Vincent Millay~

Thoughtful Friday ~ Midwinter

"In the bleak midwinter Frosty wind made moan, Earth stood hard as iron, Water like a stone; Snow had fallen, snow on snow, Snow on snow, In the bleak midwinter, Long ago." (Christina Rossetti)

And with midwinter comes the inevitable bout of cold and flu. I'll be back in a day or two!

Winter Morning

Winter is the king of showmen,

Turning tree stumps into snowmen

And houses into birthday cakes

And spreading sugar over lakes.

Smooth and clean and frosty white,

The world looks good enough to bite ...

(Ogden Nash, Winter Morning)

Moments ago the sun rose ~ did you happen to see it? 

Bill is off to work and the boys and I are getting the morning under way. So much to do and discuss today! I'll be back soon to catch up.

***

Hope your day is a good one!

A Few Notes for New Year's

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,

The flying cloud, the frosty light:

The year is dying in the night;

Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,

Ring, happy bells, across the snow:

The year is going, let him go;

Ring out the false, ring in the true.

*Alfred, Lord Tennyson*

*Bells*

I always think of bells at New Year's, though the above poem is not so well known as it once was. I guess it might be the old adage that encourages us to "ring" in a New Year. (Which perhaps came from that poem, I don't know.) Anyhoo, it would be fun to help the children learn this timeless poem, or a portion of it (the entire length can be found here), while decorating bell-shaped gingerbread cookies. As if we haven't had enough cookies the past week, lol! Personally, I think the timing is perfect; the Christmas cookies are gone - or those that remain are inedibly stale - and I'm itching to start my winter baking. Prepare a simple icing and let the kids decorate the cooled cookies with bright, fanciful decorations.

*Books*

Read a book (or two) that reminds us of the highlights of the year:

• Around the Year 
• Around the Year
• A Year at Maple Hill Farm
• Listen, Listen! 
• A Time to Keep
• A Child's Calendar
• Little Farm by the Sea
• Groundhog's Garden

*Magic*

One of my favorite books to read on New Year's eve is Cider Apples ~ a sweet and beautifully illustrated story about a young girl who is determined to help her grandparents save their ailing apple orchard. According to legend, pouring the last of the year's cider around the roots of the oldest tree in the orchard will do the trick. Read the book and see if it does ...

*Fresh Air*

I think a nature walk, bright and early New Year's Day, is a perfect way to start a brand new year - not to mention wake up! Bundle up well, strap on snowshoes if you must, look and listen for birds and enjoy the fresh air. Take pictures as you go and begin a brand new Nature Journal. 

*Wassail*

On New Year's Day, a pot of wassail brewing on the stove will fill the house with good smells. Here's a festive (and child-friendly) variation from China Bayle's Book of Days:

Ruby's Spiced Cider Wassail~

(Makes about 4 quarts)

2 quarts apple cider

1 quart orange juice

1 quart apricot nectar

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

6 broken pieces of cinnamon

1 tablespoon whole cloves

one orange, sliced thin

one lemon, sliced thin

whole cloves

In a nonreactive pan, bring to a boil the cider, juices, cinnamon and cloves. Simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. Transfer to a heat-proof punch bowl. Stud the orange and lemon slices with whole cloves and float them in the wassail. Serve in heat-proof punch cups.

*Reminisce*

Look back over pictures from the year that was. (This is easy to do if you have a blog!) Remember the year that was, and jot down things you want to to do or notice during this new year. (For instance, we remembered how much we enjoyed growing pumpkins. I made a note in my May planner to pick up seedlings at the farm.)

*Fanfare*

I wish I had started earlier, but a pompom garland or fabric banner would make a happy, homespun kind of decoration. In fact, since I am positive I won't get around to making either one of these projects in the next 48 hours, I will write down the idea in my craft binder. Depending on the colors you use, either of these decorations would be lovely at anytime of year (birthdays, Easter, Independence Day, etc.).

*Goals*

Of course, it's almost a human instinct to make resolutions at this time of year, but I like to suggest making goals instead. We ask each of our boys to dream up what they hope to do this year - say learn to ride a bike or dive, camp out in the back yard, fish with Daddy, etc. - and we compile a big list of these ideas from everyone. We keep it handy and keep these activities in mind as we plan our months through the year.

*Next Year*

On New Year's Day we take down the tree, and pack up most of our Christmas decorations. As I do this, I take pictures of how things looked, and make note of things we'll need for next year. These notes and photos will begin a new Holiday Planner for next year. At the same time, I try to determine what could have been done better, what things we missed out on - and this becomes a list of my own Holiday Resolutions. For example, at the top of my list - as it is every year - is the wish to make it a more handmade Christmas. 

**************************

Well, I hope this second-to-last day of the year has you all healthy and happy! My guys and I are hunkering in - snow is coming tomorrow! - and looking forward to a few quiet days at home. Have a good Tuesday, my friends ~ I will see you all again sometime soon. :)

Thoughtful Friday ~ All Hallow's Eve

*Sunset ~ October 31st, 2007

From ghoulies and ghosties
And long-leggedy beasties
And things that go bump in the night ...
Good Lord, deliver us!
    ~Old Scottish Saying

Wishing you all a Happy Halloween! Be Safe and Have Fun!

When fall comes to New England ...

This past weekend was so lovely ~ temps in the low 50s, a brilliant sky, and a chilly breeze overall. When fall comes to New England,* it's time to bundle up and get out there to enjoy nature's last dance of glory.

And where does one find fall at its best? Well, everywhere and anywhere, of course - within the deepest of woods, at the peak of the hills, and right inside our own garden gate.

I hope you enjoy these random autumn pictures, taken on family jaunts to the woods, the seaside, the fair and the farm ... and a very happy fall to you all.

It will not always be like this,
The air windless, a few last
Leaves adding their decoration
To the trees’ shoulders, braiding the cuffs
Of the boughs with gold; a bird preening

In the lawn’s mirror. Having looked up
From the day’s chores, pause a minute,
Let the mind take its photograph
Of the bright scene, something to wear
Against the heart in the long cold.

           ~ R.S. Thomas

*Please do take a moment to listen to Cheryl Wheeler's amazing song, When Fall Comes to New England. She is one of my favorite folk singers (introduced to me by my parents!), and her song - in a beautiful and sentimental way - captures the essence of autumn where I live. Click and enjoy. :)

Monday's Muse ~ First Frost

He comes, he comes, the Frost Spirit comes! You may trace his footsteps now, on the naked woods and the blasted fields and the brown hills withered brow.

He has smitten the leaves of the gray old trees where their pleasant green came forth, and the winds, which follow wherever he goes, have shaken them down to earth.

                           ~ John Greenleaf Whittier ~

We had a hard frost last night! Actualy, I must confess that I don't know the true definition of a hard frost - as opposed to a light one - but as I walked out early this morning to fetch the paper, I noticed the lawn had a silver sheen, and the leaves were particularly crunchy underfoot. An hour later I watched as Bill had to scrape his windshield before leaving for work. And sadly, our chrysanthemums have seen better days ...

So the Frost Spirit returns, and it's time once again to think winter thoughts ... what's your Monday muse this morning?

Off now to get our day rolling ~ hope yours is a good one!