Wordless Wednesday (almost)

Bella and Beatrice

Having Stella, the milk goat benefits everyone on the farm. The dogs and cats love getting the leftovers of her milk. In fact there's a bit of competition to see who can get to the milk bowl first amongst the dogs. Beatrice,the kitten, though, gets a free pass. Even though the dogs fuss a little with one another, not one of them bothers the kitty. She gets to drink her fill of the milk first, then the dogs get their turn. Isn't that an amazing instinct? I wish it were as true with people. The littlest among us should get that same instinctual protection -- and all the good milk they want. As a matter of course.

More Mostly Wordless Wednesdays over at Ordinary and Awesome!

Summertime...

And the livin' ain't easy!

Sure, we've had a few occasions to lie in the sun and stare at our toes. We've gotten to the zoo and the museum and had a picnic and hike in the mountains. We've filled up the wading pool several times and spent some long mornings pulling weeds in the garden... But our easy livin' has been complicated by a lot of comings and goings!

Here's our basic calendar for the summer of '09:

June wasn't too bad.

+ The end of the first (or was it the second) week in June, Anna, Cathy and Theresa went to Girls' Camp in Eastern Colorado.

+ June 22nd through June 28th, Michelle, Dominic and Jon spent the week with mountain friends helping with the haying -- and goofing around with their friends.

July, however...

+ June 28th through July 6th, Theresa spent time fishing and playing her good friend's mountain cabin.

+ Michelle attended Girls' Camp in Omaha with her big girl friends July 5th through July 12th

and for the end of the month, we have planned:




+ July 19th through July 25th, the Priest's Meeting at the Omaha school, where Kevin and Jon will go to be available as servers at the many Masses offered by the many priests through the week.


+ My little brother gets married July 25th -- and we're still figuring out how we can go, because our big boys and Dan have all committed to being counselors at


+ Boys' Camp July 26th through August 1st.

+ The same week that Theresa was invited to go to Girls' Camp in Spokane, WA by our dear friends at the convent there.

Then, in August

+ the boys will be heading back to school on the weekend of the 15th. Dominic starts his junior year, Jon may be going to offer a year of service to the Church (we don't know where yet), and Kevin enters the seminary

+ But, the weekend of August 8th, Paul and Nicole are coming for a visit to do some loose end tying for the wedding in October.

I'm starting to get to that part of the summer where I long for the regular routine of the school year. Did you feel like that when you were I kid? I remember getting to the middle of July and longing for the busy-ness of the school year, the cool, smooth surface of my desk top, the smell of new books, the pleasure of a new box of crayons -- and freshly sharpened pencils. A kid didn't admit that she was having thoughts like that, though. I just plugged along, looking for shady places to play or new books to read. But by the middle of August, the heat and humidity pressed down into my brain. The summer games were getting stale, I missed my school friends, and was sick of my brothers and sisters. September couldn't come fast enough. I would even admit it by the end of August.

I'm not quite there yet now, though. But, I'm eyeing my homeschool catalogues and thinking about how my pumpkins are going to make some lovely pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread come fall. And when I think of that, I can almost smell the pumpkin pie spice and the smoke from chimneys. I long for the crisp, cool air of fall. And golden aspen leaves.

Almost 45 years old now and I still love the smell of new books and that new box of crayons -- and freshly sharpened pencils. I'm enjoying the variety and fun of the summer vacation, but I'm starting to long for the regular routine of the school year. I'll miss our boys, who will be far away, but I'll know where they are, and that they're safe, productive, and thriving. What's more important that that?

And, once everything settles down, I won't have to consult the calendar to make sure I'm not missing anyone.

Is anyone else starting to look forward to fall yet like I am? (It's OK to admit it; we're grown ups!)

Brevity

I don't have it. I literally cannot make my Wordless Wednesday wordless; I do Mostly Wordless Wednesdays but saying mostly is pushing it. My Friday Fragments are less like fragments than complicated structures and my Quick Takes are anything but quick.

Have you noticed this? =sigh= It's something I need to work on, I know. So in the interest of Practice Making Perfect, or at least just to challenge myself to get off the computer quickly so I can get Jon to his early morning dentist appointment on time...

I'm going to attempt....

(drumrollll)

THE ONE WORD MEME!

>> Copy and change the answers to suit you and pass it on. It’s really hard to use only one-word answers. Be sure to tag the person who sent it to you!

1. Where is your cell phone? purse
2. Your hair? curly
3. Your mother? Susan
4. Your father? Chuck
5. Your favorite food? seafood
6. Your dream last night? pencils
7. Your favorite drink? coffee
8. Your dream/goal? quiet
9. What room you are in? den
10. Your hobby? doodling
11. Your fear? hell
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Ouray
13. Where were you last night? home
14. Something that you aren’t? brief
15. Muffins? chocolate
16. Wish list item? jeep
17. Where you grew up? southeast
18. Last thing you did? brew
19. What are you wearing? pjs
20. Your TV? off
21. Your pets? twenty
22. Friends? blessing
23. Your life? busy
24. Your mood? sleepy
25. Missing someone? tons
26. Car? Honda
27. Something you’re not wearing? socks
28. Your favorite store? thrift
29. Your favorite color? green
30. When is the last time you laughed? yesterday
31. Last time you cried? movie
32. Who will resend this? clueless
33. One place that I go to over and over? Ouray
34. One person who emails me regularly? sister
35. My favorite place to eat? BJ's (Does that count for one word?)

I am not passing this tag to anyone but if you feel like participating, feel free to do so. Just let me know so I can add your link and visit you.



H/T: Mommy's Little Corner

Sweet Tea

I stumbled upon this southern style sweet tea recipe this morning and it caught me up short. "Like, huh? Someone would need a recipe for sweet tea?" It's so much a part of our family culture, it just never occured to me that there would be a need to write down instructions for it.

When the boys come home from their school year in Omaha, they down gallons of iced tea. They can't get enough of it. I fear they miss the sweet tea more than they miss their mother.

"So, what," I ask, "do you drink in Omaha?" Those of us at home are truly mystified. "Water," they say, "and milk."

Well, yeah, but what do you drink?

They shrug, at a loss for words, wince at the memory of their deprivation, and pour themselves some more sweet tea.

I love, love, love coffee, but I take iced tea for granted. Not having it in the fridge would feel to me like not having a doorknob on the front door. If it's not there, something is obviously wrong. Someone had better get on the ball.

The children take pride in trying out new combinations of tea bags when it's their turn to brew a pitcher. The Celestial Seasonings fruit teas mix well with the black teas (as I mentioned in passing the other day), and everyone likes mint, of course. Chamomile, however, just doesn't taste right iced, and most of us don't care for the cinnamon teas iced, either.

Since we have so many Littles who don't need the caffeine, we brew our tea with decaf tea bags -- generally the cheapest ones, since we go through so many, but I think Luzianne is actually the best tasting of the cheaper American brands. We use three family-size tea bags per gallon, or five to six small bags. We boil in the kettle and steep in the pitcher (filling to about 1/4 - 1/3 of the gallon), then add the sugar in at the same time as the teabags, so it dissolves well. Of course, it wouldn't be sweet tea without an appropriate amount of sugar: I use a cup per gallon -- the kids generally add more, as you might guess. We let it steep in the covered pitcher for about ten minutes, then remove the teabags, stir the sugar and add cold water to fill. The above linked recipe suggests using lemon extract, and I'm sure that's probably good, but why not use real lemon? And a handful of mint from the garden thrown in to steep is good, too.

And, there you go. Ready for the day, come summer or winter, hail or high water. Gotta have our sweet tea.

I'm curious, though. Is the sweet tea custom really just a Southern phenomenon? I grew up in the southeast, and inherited it from my southern family, but how about everyone else? Do Pacific coast and midwestern neighbors cool off with it? How about folks in the northeast? Do they ever serve iced tea in Australia or England, friends across the Atlantic?

The Sky on Friday

Or well....

... actually, we took these photos on Monday. They stopped us in our tracks on the way out to the barn to milk. Are these cool or what?
We looked them up; they're called Mammatus Clouds .

The Sky on Friday is hosted by Crazy Working Mom. Lots of beautiful shots over there!

Efficient Procrastination: Art or Vice?

OK. So I'm behind. And it's my own fault. You see I have a bad habit: I tend to take the things most important to me, the things that I want to spend time with, and set them aside until I have the proper time and attention for them -- which I never have. This might explain, my dear friends, why it takes me so long to answer your e-mails. And why we have no pictures in our photo albums. I'm sorry. I'm working on this problem. (And trying not to set it aside until I can give it my full attention.)

The important blogging detail that I'm catching up on, though, is the acceptance and passing on of two very sweet awards. I have to admit I always feel a little self-conscious doing these awards posts; I know I'll trip up the steps as I'm coming to get the button. But this time, I'm going to try to be unselfconsciously gracious -- like Gabriel.

If you give him a gift or compliment, my five-year-old knows no shyness, just gratitude: he grins from ear to ear and says "Thanks!" And sometimes he'll say, "I'm so lucky!"

So, here goes:

I received a wonderful nomination from sweet Marcy at Blessings Each Day for the the buttonless Charming Award.

Thanks, Marcy! I'm so lucky!

"This is how the award works: This award is bestowed on to blogs that are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

The award also asks that I tell 7 "random" things about myself.

OK, Random Things:

1) I love any shade of green and don't particularly like yellow, but I didn't realize how much I had been shunning this color until we were talking about colors with three-year-old William this spring and couldn't find anything to point out when we came to yellow. Not a yellow thing in the entire house. So, I got some silk sunflowers and made an arrangement for the top of the computer. There. Now we have yellow.

2) I love to write with the finest tip black pens I can find. They're the best for doodling.

3) My husband and I have been arguing about the color of my eyes since we first met. I say they're green, he says they're blue. Over the years, we've arrived at a compromise of sorts by saying they're either bluish-green or greenish-blue, depending on who has the upper hand on a given day. (His are soft golden brown and not up for debate.)

4) I rarely paint my fingernails. My hands are in water so much that it wears and chips off almost immediately. But, I paint my toenails every Wednesday night during sandal-season while I eat popcorn and watch Ghost Hunters in my room. Alone. Dan plays goalee outside the door every Wednesday night, deflecting would-be invaders of my night off. And on those nights he's allowed to say my eyes are blue if he wants to.

5) I've hit upon my non-coffee cuppa for the summer. In venerable Brown Betty (my teapot), I steep three English Breakfast teabags, and either one Celestial Seasons Tangerine Orange or one Celestial Seasons Country Peach teabag. This is good for three to four mugs of hot tea or one gallon pitcher of iced tea for the day. Yummy.

6) Another yummy thing I have no conscience about indulging in whatsoever whenever I get the chance... We learned this from Fr. G., one of the boys' most beloved friends, mentors, and teachers at school: When out to eat at a restaurant where there is soft serve ice cream available at the dessert bar, fill your coffee mug 1/2 -3/4 full of black coffee, then add vanilla ice cream to fill the cup. Scrumptious! We won't think about how many calories are in it, ok?

7) I wore a gold chain anklet to school once during the one year I spent at public school and was mortified when a boy in my art class pointed to it and said, "I didn't think you were that kind of girl." Oh my goodness! I didn't wear anklets for years and years after that, thinking they were a symbol of -- well, of a bad thing, let us just say. It wasn't until I was in my forties that I found out there is no stigma connected to them now, if there ever were -- and now I wear anklets all the time. I've got to make up time, I guess. Or maybe it's a midlife rebellion. Whichever, Dan says he likes them, and that's all that matters. Catholic modesty and Dan's taste are my only two fashion barometers -- which is a little scary when you know that Dan is obviously color blind.

NOW I get to share this award. I'd like to pass it along to:

Kim at A Dog and Pony Show

Sara at My Wonderlife Life

Abbey at Abbey's Road

Linda at Linda Lu's BTDT

Diana at Sunshine on My Shoulders

Aimee at The Mother Load

Alice at A Number of Things

Aubrey at Laughing All the Way

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

This next award is from Cathy at a Bit of the Blarney and Squelly at The Dreamer's Day.

Thanks, you guys! I'm so lucky!

True Heart Award

"Those who receive this award are of the sweetest nature. They are kind, friendly, funny, loving, eager to share their love for Jesus with others, and brave in their efforts to reflect Him to this darkened world. They are the kind of folks you're blessed to know, even if it's only in the bloggy-sphere."

I'd like to pass this award on to:

Terrie, my real life friend at Mama To Much

Bia, one of my oldest blogging friends at La Dolce: the sweet life with three sons

Stephanie, another old real-life friend at La Vita e'Bella

Charlotte at Waltzing Matilda, whose was the first blog in my favorites list two years ago, when I first found out what a blog was.

Mostly Wordless Wednesday

Galbraith Mountain Trail

Five minutes west of Golden, Colorado

Have you got your sunscreen, your water bottle, and your hiking shoes?

It's a nice easy start. It's not too crowded and the trail is good. Someone has gone to the trouble to make stone steps along the way. That's nice. Have you finished your Frappaccino? Here, I'll put the empty cup in my backpack.
Look how green everything is! There's a little brook hidden down in the trees. Can you hear it tumbling over the rocks? That's a Bullock's Oriole we hear in the treetops. (No, I'm not a bird expert; I only know because I asked that "birder" back there on the trail. Did you see those ladies dressed all in white, swishing the butterfly nets around? I wanted to take a picture of them, but I was afraid they might not appreciate it...)
Climbing higher now. The trail is still easy, but Dan and I are trying to hide the panting and brow-wiping from one another. Had you noticed? That's just part of our no-grunting-and-groaning rule. I'm taking lots of opportunities to pause and snap pictures of wildflowers, though... Don't mind me; just keep on going. Unless you need a rest, too.

Look how high we are now! There's the town of Golden; somewhere down there is the Coors Brewery. I could use a cold drink right now... I might even take a can of Coors.
Almost to the top. Time for a breather under this pine tree. No pretending we're not winded now. Go ahead and have a seat on that rock in the shade. Don't you love that fresh, piney smell up here?



We made it! It's worth the climb to see the view from up here, isn't it? It's a little bit of a hazy day and not the most spectacular of vistas at this low altitude, but don't you think all the wildflowers along the trail made up for it? This was fun. I'm glad you came along!

I have to admit I'm glad the way back is all downhill, though. I'm pooped out. But, hey, maybe I burned off that Frappuccino... Or at least the whipped cream on top?

* More Mostly Wordless Wednesdays for the verbose amongst us going on over at Ordinary and Awesome! Pop in and see what's going on today?

So.

Dan and I were on a hiking date when lightning struck our house Sunday afternoon. We had come down from the mountains to get out of the rain and found a sunny spot in Denver City Park to eat our picnic when we saw how black the sky looked out east in the direction of our house. We didn't worry too much about it, though. We've had a lot of rain lately, and both Kevvy (20) and my brother, Steve (over 20), were home with the kids. Dan had been texting back and forth with Kevin, in fact, over trivial things while we watched a jazz band prep for a concert in the park. Everything seemed to be fine; Dan and Kev were comparing notes on the Rockies or something. Until, out of the blue, Kevin texts: The house just got hit by lightning.

!

And, so it apparently had. There was a terrific storm that seems to have centered right over our house. The kids said they watched it coming at them, lightning flashing, thunder crashing all around them like they were in the middle of a violent bowling tournament. And there was no mistaking when the house got hit. KABLAM! And the tv and lights all went out. Someone said there was a haze of red. A funny smell. The little girls screamed, of course. But everyone was ok; it was a thrill ride for them, it seems. And, there were no holes in the roof, no smoke, no fire. The only thing they found amiss was that the computer wouldn't come back on; our surge protector (bless it) had given up its life to save the computer, and the modem apparently died in sympathy. William slept through the whole storm, but everyone else has a good story to tell about it. It was a little bit of a bummer that there wouldn't be e-mail or Facebook for a couple of days, but other than that, no harm was done.

Because we have lightning rods.

A few years ago, believe it or not, we had a lightning rod salesman come to our door. We told him we didn't need any lightning rods; already have 'em. He said, "Aw, let me take a look at those." And he craned his neck up to the peak of our steep old roof and was downright tickled to get a look at our antique lightning rods. He didn't often see any as old as ours; he thought they had been installed before the 1930s. He checked them out for soundness, though, and said they were all hooked up properly and he didn't see any reason they wouldn't still work. He didn't even want to sell us any new ones. (All salesmen should be so nice.) And it appears he was right. Those old lightning rods still do the job. Bless the soul of the old farmer who took care of that for us so long ago. I wonder how many times this house has been saved because of his precaution?

The nice lady at our tiny-town phone company told me, when I called to see about getting our modem replaced, that she'd just gotten off the phone with another family nearby who had been hit by lightning Sunday. They were needing to replace their modem like we were -- but also their roof. They were all ok, thanks be to God. But, I'm wondering if they're going to see about finding a lightning rod salesman.

These guys have the coolest stuff

Someday, if I win the lottery or something,

I want one of these...

Stovetop waffle makers ~ for the low price of 39.99...

And one of these...

monkey spatulas (only twelve bucks)

and these...

collapsible measuring cups and spoons (for just $22)

and, check this out:

a knife just for cutting tomatoes (only $15)

and, of course I have to have...

the really cool set of pans that makes this cake (for only $29.95)

and, on the subject of cakes, having won the lottery and all, I might as well get...

a pan to make one of these heritage bundt cakes (just $34)

and maybe a set of the

ice cream cake molds ( a mere $36)

and, wouldn't the girls just love...

these princess cookie cutters (for only $24.95)?

Ah, well... I expect if I really did win the lottery (which is not likely because I never buy lottery tickets), I wouldn't be thinking about cookware. Or, well, hmmmmm.... maybe I would...

But, you know, half the fun is in the window shopping, anyway. Wasn't this fun strolling through Williams Sonoma? We'll have to do this more often.

Now, what do you think? I just may go back and get that monkey spatula! (Gabey would get the biggest kick out of that...)

Elizabethan Grammar for Sunday Morning

(Adapted from Life in Elizabethan England: A Compendium of Common Knowledge)

Thee and Thou

Thou takes the subjective form, thee is objective.

Say:

"How art thou?" never "how are thee"

What wouldst thou have of me?

I will go with thee.

Thou art a rogue.

When the next word begins with a vowel, use thine for thy.

Say:

I like thy face, but

I applaud thine effort.

The "-st" ending is only used with "thou" and only with verbs.

Say:

I did see him go with thee, not I didst see him,

And never I didst see-eth him

Wither thou goest I will go.

The "-eth" ending is only used with he, she, and it.

Say:

He loveth best that loveth well.

God knoweth why!

Using Thou familiarly:
Thou and thee are familiar or informal forms of you. It is used to address your children, your servants, your wife, your most intimate friends, your dog, and God. (Hey, who knows you better than God?)

Use the more formal you when addressing your parents, your master, your social superiors, your patron, your customers, your officers, and your horse, who may be worth as much as you are.

I recently caught an old John Wayne movie called Angel and the Bad Man in which the heroine, a Quaker, took liberties by addressing John Wayne's character as thee and thou. Well, what do ya know about that? I wondered at the revelation this usage suggested. So having the worldwide web at my fingertips, I googled it and found the grammar lesson I copy-pasted above.

Did you see what I saw? Isn't that neat?

My whole life I've prayed my prayers the way I learned them at my Mother's knee, using Thee and Thy and Thou. It's always just sounded right to me because it's what I'm used to, and I guess I just thought it sounded more respectful. Or something. But, what a wonderful thing to learn, especially at this stage of my life, that using the familiar terms Thee and Thou when I'm talking to Our Lord is really a symbol of love and closeness. They are terms of endearment.

Saying "My God, I love Thee" says it twice.

Here is our Creator, far more than just a friend, infinitely above us, but more dear, more intimate to the very soul of us than any of our earthly loved ones. His image is on the beautiful crucifix above the altar, and there He is, truly present, raised above our priest's head at the Consecration. He looks down on me and I look up at Him with new understanding -- and I can just say Thou.