Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Oh! What a Wonderful Birthday!
Cal informed me that I am now 54 years old. I'm always off by a year so it's nice to have a husband who keeps track of such things. On my birthday, Cal made crepes with hazelnut chocolate and strawberries for breakfast and my sister-in-law and husband came for dinner and a visit to the horse track. The fireworks after the races were, to borrow a word from my sister, "Glorious." I have never seen fireworks like that.
My sister has been visiting me for the past week and we have had a SPLENDID time messing about, exploring Des Moines. I hope she enjoyed her visit as much as I did. I am now planning good times for the next sister who flies into Des Moines on the 21st.
Work on Tiny Castle has slowed for the summer for company, vacations, and hobbies. All good things. We have a tight roof and a functional house and a life to live. Sometimes the amount of work the house still needs can distress me...it's a pretty trick to keep motivated, thinking about how far we've come in 4 months and then how much is still needed. Deep sighs.
I have decided to look for a job this fall, after all the "sister visits" (I have two more sisters coming this summer) and vacations have ended. I am not sure what that will be...another adventure, I guess. I need to get back in an imposed routine. I am not good at being a kept woman for very long. :-)
And the morning glories have reached the light fixture above the front door.
Good times.
Love,
Mary
My sister has been visiting me for the past week and we have had a SPLENDID time messing about, exploring Des Moines. I hope she enjoyed her visit as much as I did. I am now planning good times for the next sister who flies into Des Moines on the 21st.
Work on Tiny Castle has slowed for the summer for company, vacations, and hobbies. All good things. We have a tight roof and a functional house and a life to live. Sometimes the amount of work the house still needs can distress me...it's a pretty trick to keep motivated, thinking about how far we've come in 4 months and then how much is still needed. Deep sighs.
I have decided to look for a job this fall, after all the "sister visits" (I have two more sisters coming this summer) and vacations have ended. I am not sure what that will be...another adventure, I guess. I need to get back in an imposed routine. I am not good at being a kept woman for very long. :-)
And the morning glories have reached the light fixture above the front door.
Good times.
Love,
Mary
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Today at Tiny Castle
Two years ago Cal and I were heading to Oregon to begin his Renewing Spirits bike Tour across the United States. It seems like a crazy idea now, but I am so glad we did it. We are still reaping the benefits of learning day by day living. Good Times!My dad turned 92 yesterday. Happy Birthday, Dad! In 2007, He wrote about his life in a book called "My Story" and had it bound for each of his children. What a wonderful gift. I often think children think that their parents are part of THEIR story not realizing that moms and dads have stories of their own.
I inherited a handmade dollhouse, and even after removing an addition, could not fit it through Tiny Castles attic door. Right now it's serving as end table in the library.
It seems everything in the yard has a scale or a fungus or a very hungry caterpillar. This is why I hate gardening. Once I do the work of planting and weeding, I expect the growing to be done without my help. I keep hoping the plants will outgrow whatever is bugging them. Or maybe if it just stops raining....
Right now my favorite thing in the garden is watching the morning glories "twine." What a great word! A combination of twist and vine, which is exactly what they do. I hope they will flower too, but right now I am just enjoying the green creeping up my brick wall.
Projects in the house continue. Right now we are working on electrical stuff. Lights, ceiling fans. Someday... we will paint.
Two friends from Pella coming on Friday. Yea!
Well, the gutter guy is here. Soon we will have gutters...which with all this rain, is a good thing!
Love,
Mary
Monday, May 31, 2010
Favorite Things
The newest and most interesting thing that has happened lately is that my daughter met her 1/2 sister this weekend! I am so happy for both of them...I thought about the birth mother often as Rachel was growing up and dreamed of meeting again someday and completing the circle. The mother died years ago, so that will never happen, but the meeting of the two sisters delights me more than I can say. They met in the town where we lived when Cal was in grad school and where Rachel was born and where the sister now lives. Madison, Wisconsin. History colliding all over the place. WOW.
Chuck, our builder extraordinaire, called our roof - chia roof. Moss was growing in the gutters and on the roof. I planted the moss in my shady Where-The-Wild-Things-Are garden, but the birds kicked it all up looking for worms. I thought to have an award winning exotic moss garden, but ain't going to happen. Meanwhile, my blue morning glories will soom be starting their climb around the front door. Can't wait!
I found a biking trail that suits me perfectly - about 12 level miles with food. I am enjoying biking again - in the city and exploring the trails. Another evidence of the childhood I seem to be recreating at Tiny Castle. An old favorite thing.
Cal made crepes Saturday night and filled them with hazelnut chocolate and warm strawberries...to die for. A new favorite thing.
This week I start Yoga. We'll see if that becomes a favorite thing, too.
Wishing you a day full of favorite things...
Love,
Mary
Chuck, our builder extraordinaire, called our roof - chia roof. Moss was growing in the gutters and on the roof. I planted the moss in my shady Where-The-Wild-Things-Are garden, but the birds kicked it all up looking for worms. I thought to have an award winning exotic moss garden, but ain't going to happen. Meanwhile, my blue morning glories will soom be starting their climb around the front door. Can't wait!
I found a biking trail that suits me perfectly - about 12 level miles with food. I am enjoying biking again - in the city and exploring the trails. Another evidence of the childhood I seem to be recreating at Tiny Castle. An old favorite thing.
Cal made crepes Saturday night and filled them with hazelnut chocolate and warm strawberries...to die for. A new favorite thing.
This week I start Yoga. We'll see if that becomes a favorite thing, too.
Wishing you a day full of favorite things...
Love,
Mary
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Sunrise at Tiny Castle
Good Morning!
It’s been a while since I have watched sunrise come to tiny castle.
The windows in the house now all have blinds or shades that I can open to let in the dawn. Such civilization!...and the small ritual of opening the house to bring in the day affords me much pleasure.
Today tiny castle gets a new roof. The back half of the house still sports the original cedar shakes from 1928. Don’t ask me why they only laid new shingles on the front half of the roof. I, too, am baffled by it, but I would guess only the front part of the roof was leaking.
I enjoy the backyard drama in my tiny garden. The birds, squirrels and rabbits seem to know each other very well and have developed a system of empting my bird feeder that keeps everybody happy. The squirrels climb the shepherd’s hook and hang upside down on the birdfeeder, tipping it so that the feed falls to the ground for the bottom feeders. Here comes everybody…the doves, the rabbits, all the scratchers and nibblers...The rabbits are skitterish when the squirrels are around and the squirrels are frightened of the rabbits so it’s great entertainment. Talk about a social network. Who needs facebook?
My daughter, Rachel and her husband will be going to Madison, Wisconsin to meet her ½ sister for the first time. They discovered each other sometime after Christmas and have been emailing and facebooking. I wish them both well. As Rachel says - “How do you prepare for a thing like that?”
Not working brings out a more domestic side of me. Today I am baking as I listen to my roof literally crumbling about my head.
And it’s a beautiful day here in Beaverdale.
And that’s the news from Tiny Castle.
It’s been a while since I have watched sunrise come to tiny castle.
The windows in the house now all have blinds or shades that I can open to let in the dawn. Such civilization!...and the small ritual of opening the house to bring in the day affords me much pleasure.
Today tiny castle gets a new roof. The back half of the house still sports the original cedar shakes from 1928. Don’t ask me why they only laid new shingles on the front half of the roof. I, too, am baffled by it, but I would guess only the front part of the roof was leaking.
I enjoy the backyard drama in my tiny garden. The birds, squirrels and rabbits seem to know each other very well and have developed a system of empting my bird feeder that keeps everybody happy. The squirrels climb the shepherd’s hook and hang upside down on the birdfeeder, tipping it so that the feed falls to the ground for the bottom feeders. Here comes everybody…the doves, the rabbits, all the scratchers and nibblers...The rabbits are skitterish when the squirrels are around and the squirrels are frightened of the rabbits so it’s great entertainment. Talk about a social network. Who needs facebook?
My daughter, Rachel and her husband will be going to Madison, Wisconsin to meet her ½ sister for the first time. They discovered each other sometime after Christmas and have been emailing and facebooking. I wish them both well. As Rachel says - “How do you prepare for a thing like that?”
Not working brings out a more domestic side of me. Today I am baking as I listen to my roof literally crumbling about my head.
And it’s a beautiful day here in Beaverdale.
And that’s the news from Tiny Castle.
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