the little cabinet that could

This old girl has been around our house for a long time.

So long I don't remember where she came from but

she's been used for all kinds of things. 

 In all kinds of places.

Most recently to hold the TV.

I had left over paint from a project I did last year.

And decided it was time to get rid of the green, and since we

were moving all the wires, etc. it was time to get the box out from

under the cabinet. I didn't like the clutter.

And the finished project. Now the clutter

has been moved to the top! But at least I have worked

since this photo and hidden the wires.

I think this may be the last time I paint this little cabinet…

but … one never knows for sure ….

a new look

I am the painter in the family. 

But after painting more than 70 rooms, plus sheds, 

garages, porches, shutters, doors, etc., 

I thoroughly enjoyed the luxury of sitting back while someone else

painted our kitchen and laundry room.

                   Photo: trying out the paint choice.

I didn't exactly sit back. It took a lot of work to empty

out a kitchen and put it back together.

I've always loved a yellow kitchen but since

everything needed painting, we decided to chose a different color.

It wasn't easy. Our kids said "neutral," and we agreed.

 I went to the "Paint Whisperer" in town who is amazing. 

This is the third time he has helped us choose the right paint.  

In some light it's gray, other light it looks green, and sometimes blue.

I call it a mystery color and I (we) love it! 

Joining with Share Your Cup

and Metamorphosis Monday 

looking up

We thought celebrating 45 years of marriage was a good reason

to slip away for a couple of days to sit by the sea,
reading and resting, and contemplating our life together.

Both while there and on the way to and fro, we 

found ourselves looking up a lot. The clouds have been amazing

and my feeble attempts to photograph them don't do justice to their majesty.

We need rain. The storm clouds hover and try.

beautiful things

It'd been awhile since our last book club and earlier this week we

gathered around my table to discuss the life of Lilias Trotter (link to her

blog on my sidebar) after reading her biography.

Fitting 12 was a stretch and a squeeze, but we managed and enjoyed a "proper" British tea.

I was so grateful for the pretty blue and white smaller plates the Gardener

found for me at GW years ago--I must have 18 of them.

Menu: Assorted teas (and coffee), scones with lemon curd and clotted cream,

cucumber sandwiches, cheese, fruit, and dark chocolate (for our health.)

Everyone helped by bringing some of the food.

I always enjoy using my mixture of teacups. 

The tiniest of bouquets was all I could scrape from our garden,

but they were a perfect example of the small flowers Lilias loved to paint.

I also illustrated her life with a water color palette and a

facsimile of her painting journals. They were small and she would

write her inspirational thoughts or daily life notes 

alongside what she sketched and painted.

We even had loan of a print of one of her paintings.

Whimsical beauty.

Have you heard of Lilias Trotter? 

She was born in the 1850s, and grew up in privilege in London's 

West End during the Golden Age of Victoria. 

She developed an amazing talent in art. Through a chain of

interesting events, she was tutored by the famed John Ruskin, 

who said she could become one of England's greatest artists.

But she was drawn to the down and out, the women prostitutes lining 

London's streets, working women, the YWCA. She helped to start 

London's first affordable public restaurant for working women. 

She eventually felt a pull to work abroad, sharing God's love 

with others. For the next 40 years she lived in Algeria.

She made a hard choice to leave her art.

Lilias loved the desert and "found beauty in the most mundane and otherwise

unlikely places," says the director of Many Beautiful Things, a movie about Lilias' life, 

released earlier this year. "She perceived spiritual insights by closely studying 

ordinary people and plants, and was endlessly inspired to create 

and draw attention to the beauty that she found."

Summer Sound Bites

Our summer here has been so, so hot and dry. 

Our produce is waning and not so pretty as this any more.

A new neighbor behind us is having most of his trees cut down.

I know the reason, but I hate to see the trees go.

The landscape has totally changed and will take some time to adjust to.

He is planting new trees.

A recent trip to the library revealed something new on

the previously mundane cement wall!

It's fun to read the titles.

In the heat of the summer our yarn group crocheted

around 130 market bags to send to Haiti.

I made up my own pattern and hope it holds the produce well enough!

It's cherry season. The new way is to buy them in open

bags which can be picked over.

This bag held half the amount of the others and were

well chosen, nice and dark.

Sticker shock: $4.50. I counted them.

Forty-five cherries, meaning 10 cents apiece.

They are delicious but may be our only cherries this summer.

We'll eat them slowly.

Our crepe myrtles seem to be the only

vegetation that loves the heat.

The hotter and drier it gets, it seems the better they bloom!

They always amaze me.

with two hands

My sister finally retired after spending most of her adult life riding the early morning 

train, Monday through Friday, down into the city for her work day in a tall well-known "skyscraper." 

 I wondered what she would do when she no longer spent her days like that. 

One thing she told me she is doing is going to her neighbor's house every Tuesday for tea. 

Yes, her neighbor opens up her home every Tuesday morning for her neighbors 

to come and get to know each other over a cup of tea. 

That sounds really nice to me!

I read awhile ago an article about "double handed" coffee. 

The idea is to invite a small group of friends for coffee and a scone or muffin. 

The double-handed coffee concept is to turn off 

and put cell phones away, hold your coffee cup, look at each other and talk.

So I tried it.

 I invited three other women over for coffee and I had a few questions 

in mind to ask as we didn't all know each other well. 

I made coffee and put out scones I had bought (to keep it simple), 

a little fruit, and some pieces of chocolate. 

We never got past the first question which was to tell a bit about our life stories. 

It was fascinating and at times led to tangents, but that's OK. 

We learned so much about each other and the time flew. 

Technology did not distract us and I think we all came away 

from the time feeling refreshed in both old and new friendships.

a cheap date

The grandees and I enjoyed a whole day together

with lots of entertainment that didn't cost a thing.

After collecting them from their house, 

the first thing we did was to park in the shade near
the demolition of building where I used to work. 

So much to see, though not quite as exciting as an implosion.

If we turned our heads to the right we could watch a basket

of men rising to the top to work on a cell phone tower.

Very exciting, especially for the middle grandee,

who happens to be a boy.

Then off to the airport to watch planes take off and enjoy the breeze on a hot day.

And a little exercise running down the steep hill
and climbing back up the rain eroded path.

They were quite impressed Grandma knows about

veggie sticks and brought them as a snack.

On the way back home we read a chapter from the book we are reading together

while Grandpa drove. It kept things nice and quiet.

Then at Grandma's house: lunch, play, more stories and almost a whole

bags of cookies consumed (no one is claiming credit).

Seems something always is carried home from Grandma's house

and this time it was these colored little (shot) glasses I bought for them at 

20 cents a piece. Amazing how crazy they were for them.

They play restaurant a lot, so that might be one reason.

There's at least five things here so I'll join Amy's Five on Friday.

as lovely as a tree

Maybe it's because of the intense heat at this time of year, 

but I find my eyes often drawn to the trees.

Their leaves are rich with green in full array,

and shade stretching from them welcomes a cooler place.

"I think that I shall never see

A poem as lovely as a tree.

"A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;

"A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

"A tree that may in summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;

"Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

"Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree."
Joyce Kilmer, 1886-1918

Turning from the horrible events of recent weeks,
I gaze upon a shady tree,
and find some rest for a weary mind.

Five Things to Do

We often talk in our mentor group about how to help others when there 

is illness or other hard times. During this time of the Gardener being so 

sick we've experienced the care of community first hand.  

I notice five things that we especially appreciated.

1. Friends and family checking in on us with a text or email rather
than a phone call.  A note or card in the mail is sweeter still. 

Occasionally phone calls are fine but often we were too tired to talk.

2. Friends reminded us that they were there if we needed anything, 

even suggesting ways they could help.
 I know they meant it and felt free to call on them. 

3. We didn't need meals but an occasional break for me was nice. 

4. I appreciated encouragement for me through
a bountiful bouquet of flowers. 

See how they multiplied and I barely missed a small nosegay
I took to an elderly friend in a nursing home on her birthday. 

(Note to self: be sure to save small jars for giving flowers to others).

5. People that pray assured us of their prayers.
How much that meant to us!

out of the mouth of babes comes ...

…comfort. Do you find it true? Kids and dogs seem to sense when you're sad and know 

just what to do. I had a very hard adjustment when we first moved to Africa with a baby 

and a toddler. Tears came frequently, especially at the beginning of a new day. 

I'd sit in the kitchen, tears streaming down my face, 

trying to muster up energy to make yucky porridge, missing cheerios for the boys.
I wondered how I could manage this new way of living.
(I did eventually adjust and loved our life there.)

Along would come Eldest with his arms wide open to hug and comfort me. 

He wasn't quite three.

The Gardener has been very ill in recent weeks. I can write about it now because he is

 getting well. A vicious virus attacked his body. It's been a rough patch and good to see light 

at the end of the tunnel. One day Youngest son suggested I go over to spend time 

with the grands. As we cuddled on the couch to read stories, I could tell they knew something was up. 

They were so sweet and just being with them was a huge dose of a medicine called comfort.

Photos: my two best givers of comfort,

in Africa, long before they became grown men.

Five good things about mornings

In random order:

1. Breakfast.

2. Coffee

3. Time for reflection and prayer as a new day begins.

4. Checking on the garden in coolish morning air.

5.  And then a more vigorous walk around the neighborhood.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mornings are my favorite time of day.

They offer the opportunity for fresh starts, new projects,

renewed energy and endless possibilities.

Joining in Amy's Five on Friday.