Happy Father's Day!

Missing the man, grateful for the legacy he left.

He's not here in person, but I can still listen to him play and sing on his back porch where he loved to sit with Mom, his instruments, or a cup of coffee.   

Reading a Book, or at Least Trying

It was a quiet afternoon on the farm. Martha settled onto the back porch settee with a book in her hand. The sun shined, the breeze was fresh, and there were no children to interrupt her reading...

Up onto the porch hopped one little black and white hen. She cocked her head curiously and gazed at Martha with one eye.

"Are you trying to get me in trouble?" Martha asked. But the chicken just stared silently back.

Martha made an attempt to ignore her feathered friend. She looked back at her book and hoped the silly bird would go back to scratching in the garden, but rather than disappear the little chicken invited her friends to story time. They stood a safe distance away, looked at Martha, cocked their heads to one side, and stared.

Martha looked back out of the corner of her eye without moving her head. The porch was now crowded with chickens. Chickens alone are not necessarily bad, but chickens have bad hygiene and often forget to poop only in the grass or garden... Martha put her book down, got up, and shooed the chickens off the porch.

The brooding birds ran off into the grass. Martha settled back in her seat but reading was not in her future. As soon as her eyes were focused on her book, the bad, bad, biddies returned,

Turns out they were hungry and were hoping for a handout of some kind. I do suppose that making eggs takes quite a bit of energy. (It looks like I'm going to be looking up some recipes for quiche...)

A Few Quiet Minutes

There are just a few minutes left to sit in the quiet before it's time to get myself ready for the day. Sleep was fairly elusive last night, probably something having to do with out-of-control-hormones. Those are the nights one particular child will enter my thoughts repeatedly and be bathed in prayer all night long. (Perhaps there is actually a reason other than hormone induced madness...)

Yesterday morning found me out on the back porch with my breakfast. It's still a nice spot to sit, but I'm not used to being out there alone day after day. It was hard to believe a few short years ago that I would ever find so many quiet moments, but it had to happen. Even my own kids couldn't stay little forever.

So, now I am off to shower and get myself ready for the new job. There is a much better sense of anticipation with this one than the last. Although I still miss my resident friends at the nursing home, I am looking forward to making new friends. My time at the facility in Sodus taught me many lessons and I am grateful for the six weeks I spent there. I have at least a little bit more confidence going into this new adventure.

Raining on my Window

I woke up early this morning. It would have been a great day to sleep in, but since my brain wouldn't cooperate, I climbed out of bed and into the shower. Since getting up, the day has gotten even better for sleeping. It's darker and the rain is falling...






You know, I sat here in the house listening to the rain fall and decided I shouldn't waste the opportunity. I found my Scooby Doo umbrella instead, put on my favorite flip flops, and went for a jaunt about the yard. The dog thought I was a little off my rocker, but it felt good to walk through the wet grass and it wasn't as cold as I thought it was going to be.



Enjoy the photos. I can't find my camera battery charger so when I run out of juice, there might not be any pictures for a while...

"FABULOUS"

Today I was informed that "Charlotte's Web" (the book) is 60 years old. Although I was unaware and didn't know to join in the celebration, I do have a very special visitor just outside my back door this year, and being familiar with both Charlotte and Wilbur, I have been very gracious and accommodating in spite of my ignorance concerning this anniversary of theirs.

Just outside my back door is a motion sensitive light that lights up our porch each evening. The light, of course, attracts every manner of insect and this year it also attracted the attention of one very "bright" spider. By day this creepy arachnid finds safety by hiding in a hanging grapevine wreath. By night it finds its fill of insects attracted to the light just above the wreath. Being the soft-hearted type, I have allowed this "small" (and I say that loosely) creature to dwell with us for the season.

I have learned that well fed spiders actually grow, that they can play dead (I thought it was once), and that they are pretty good at the camouflage game.  Back in early September I thought this was a fairly large spider, now it is just plain fat and sassy, and still pretty cool. I think I'll keep it around a little bit longer, maybe it'll scare the goblins away come Halloween.

Ain't Life Grand?

Josh and Bethany came over yesterday afternoon for a "picnic". We ate PBJ's, fruit, snow and sugar snap peas, chips and salsa, and baked beans. (It was a hastily assembled meal.) Josh drank Kool-Aid and was sporting a Kool-Aid smile. He covered it up  with his hand. :)

We had a nice little supper on the back porch and then Josh and I checked out the blueberry patch. We tasted a few and decided they are going to be ripe early this year. Josh had a fun time jumping from the back steps. He looked at old pictures in Great Grandma's photo album, and I showed him the grape box I bought at the antique store. We're going to plant a Gnome Home together (he wants one for his house) and the grape box is a perfect Gnome Home planter.

If you think about it, please pray for our wounded hearts this week. Our sweet little granddaughter will be one year old on Sunday. Hannah and I will shop for a present and maybe one day Leta will bring the kids over to visit, but we will be missing the birthday celebration this time. How did it ever come to this and when will our family be whole again? :'( 

Today I am thankful for the gift of Josh (and "Fred" too) because a Grammy without her grands is just too very sad.

Never Growed Up

I am hopelessly and forever a child. I love children's books, marble chutes, and doll houses. I want to go to the zoo, watch a parade, and swing on a swing. No wonder I keep little people around. I can't even fathom a house without toys! :0)

My little "Gnome Home"drawer has finally moved off of the dining room table and out onto the back porch. Summer has been hanging around the past few days and I'm hoping perhaps she's here to stay. My plants are moving out of the house and into the sunshine, and I am planning to enjoy lots of iced tea, maybe read a book or two, and take a nap outside at least once a week. I'm also hoping a friend or two will stop by to share a visit. I think it all sounds very nice, don't you? :0)

Today Rocky and I went out running errands. I put her in and took her out of that car seat seven times as we went to the bank and five different stores. Hard to imagine how we ever survived without those contraptions, isn't it? At our last stop, my favorite greenhouse in Webster, the nice lady behind the counter, who reminded me that our two daughters will be turning 27 this year (we were in the hospital together), let Rocky pick two "prizes" from a little plastic tub of rubbery animals. My little darling took a red salamander and a teal colored frog. To top it off she was also allowed to pick out a tomato plant to take home. I've never known a two year old so possessive of a vegetable plant. She was thrilled to take it home when her daddy arrived. :0)

(I'm thinking that dresser drawer is kind of like a miniature sandbox, except it's not. Perhaps that will be my next good idea...)

And I am still having a hard time believing my baby is going to be 27 in October. Do I have to put up with that?

Breakfast on the Back Porch

Potato Pancakes are a Grandmanita specialty. I think we have them at least once every visit. In fact, they are often requested and always readily devoured. Bethany came over early just to get a few. One never knows exactly what is in them, but they always taste yummy. (Actually, I do know some of what was in there, but I highly doubt I could duplicate them without help and I think they change slightly with each batch. More like, I know they do.)

It was a beautiful morning for breakfast on the back porch, so we took our plates outside to the picnic table loaded down with potato pancakes topped with sour cream and complimented with apple sauce, bacon, and bits of ham, coffee and orange juice on the side. Most of us went back for seconds and who could blame us? (Did I say I was trying to lose a few pounds? I suppose there is always tomorrow... )

For the Birds

My mother likes birds. For years she and my father took great delight in coaxing them into their backyard by setting out different feeders. They had a covered screen porch where they spent many afternoons and evening watching their feathered friends visit the backyard feeders. She has a great field guide to help identify North American birds, but knows many of them on sight. I thought she might take an interest in them once again if I hung a feeder from my clothes pole where I had seen a goldfinch.

I bought a nice little feeder and filled it up with Niger seed. The result has been tremendous as far as attracting birds is concerned, but I think Mom is just as content to sit inside the house and read her Birds and Blooms magazine (or newspaper) as sit outside and watch the real thing in action.

I am happy to say that Grandmanita has taken an interest in the cheerful little creatures that flit around the clothes line, feeder, and lilac bush in the evening. We've noticed some other bird varieties, but they are not quite as friendly, and have thus far eluded the camera when we are close enough for a good photo.

Photos courtesy of Anita Teal Martinez.

The Good Old Summertime

If I don't hurry up and get with it, summer will be over and I will have missed it altogether. My back porch has not been quite the haven this year as others. Distracted by small children and hampered by cold weather, our favorite summertime spot has been neglected, but we are working on a remedy. My favorite Priscilla made some new covers for my rattan loveseat and soon I will have the frame freshly painted. (I even bought a cover to protect it from rain and sneaky pets. aka Jasmine) This morning I purchased some fence sections to keep my folding chairs on the porch during unexpected windstorms and My Darling installed them for me. A new broom, a couple of plants, a vinyl tablecloth for a small laminated table... I think I'm finally ready for summer. Now all I need is a good book. Could you pass the iced tea?

Hula Hoops and Hannah

In my attempt to find something for little girls to do outside, I stopped at the Dollar General and purchased a few cheap hula hoops. Unfortunately, they are a little on the light side and tough to keep spinning. (Did I mention they were cheap?) Oh well, the girls find them fun and pretty and that is what counts. Vinegar, of course, finds them funny. He laughed at Hannah spinning one on her arm. That baby has a silly sense of humor.

Rather than giving the girls bottles of bubbles today, Hannah blew bubbles for them. I think I need to add a little soap to the solution as these bubbles disappear faster than they can be made. There's scarcely time to chase them before they all pop. I must look up that recipe for homemade bubbles...

Rock On, Grandma!

My rocker is finally all sanded, stained, glued, and finished! Summer is nearing an end, but I still have some beautiful fall days in which I intend to sit out on my back porch and enjoy the motion. Cool breeze across my face, head back, eyes closed, foot pushing back and forth, back and forth... maybe even a small child nestled in my arms. I may have to wrap myself in a warm blanket and hold a hot cup of coffee, but I'll be out there.