Songs my mother taught me

 Every day I drive past Dane Street beach on my commute. 

This was my view on Friday evening on my way home. 

Absolutely so beautiful it almost looks fake. 

The boat is The Friendship out of Salem, MA which is the next town over. 

I have to drive through Salem to get home as well and in October it can be

quite an experience. 

On the same evening I took this picture I saw a full grown adult man

wearing a one piece spandex Spiderman suit! He was no Tobey Maguire to say the least!

I am looking forward to November when I can drive home without the Salem craziness!

~

My co-teacher took this picture of me while we were at the playground at work. 

I don't normally where jeans to work but it was Friday and an early dismiss day for the children

because teachers had a professional development day.

I am thankful to work at a place that I really enjoy.

~

Close to 15 years ago my mum stopped by to see me one morning.  Apparently my naturally wavy hair 

was a little on the wild side. 

The next day she gifted me a hair dryer! 

I hated to get rid of it because my mother gave it to me but it wasn't blowing enough air to blow out a 

birthday candle so I finally got a new one. 

I dried my hair in record time and I think my mother would have approved of my 

tame, semi-styled hair-do.

~

It has certainly been getting colder at night around here! I needed a new comforter for my bed

so I went out and bought myself a very pretty sage green puff and a new set of dusty blue sheets.

My bed was so comfortable and I didn't wake up chilly in the middle of the night. 

Tucker, my cat, approved as well, especially since I kept the fuzzy blanket at the foot of the bed. 

~

With the sun rising a bit later in the morning I am often able to catch the sunrise as I drive to work. 

One morning this week I saw this spectacular sunrise with the clouds forming a big bank over the ocean.

By the time I got to work the clouds had all rolled in and the rest of the day was very cloudy.

~

And...one more from Wednesday morning

My paternal grandmother and I loved each other very much. I have such fond memories of her.

Every time I see beams of light like this I think of her looking down and watching over me. 

Her birthday was at the end of November...she was born in 1898! Wow! 

~

I'm adding a bonus number six this week because yesterday was my brother's birthday! This picture was from 2019 a few years before my other died. We were standing on the dock at the town landing down the street from where I live. We were happy to be all together.

Friday fave fives

On my brother's birthday

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Today is my brother's birthday.

He is kind, generous, and one of the funniest people I know. 

This picture is from 2019 a few years before my mother passed away.

We were standing on the town landing just down the street from where I live. 

It was a beautiful day and we were so happy to be all together.

I am very thankful to be able to celebrate my brother's birthday today.

~ ~ ~

thankful Thursday

Lake Monomomac baked beans

 

Lake Monomonac baked beans

This is an old recipe from a Yankee magazine. The beans are old fashioned and delicious! I make them on a cold winter's day when the low heat from the oven helps to keep my home cozy and warm. I also bring them along when we go to our annual family camping trip and keep them on the edge of the fire all day. I serve them with cornbread. All day your family will be telling you that something smells delicious and though it will seem like you slaved over a hot stove all day all you really have to do is a bit of stirring once in a while...maybe add more water if they get too dry.

~

2 lbs yellow eye beans

3/4 pound of salt pork

2 onions, sliced

1/4 cup parsley

1/2 tsp dried thyme

2 1/2 tsp powdered mustard

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp salt

pepper

1/2 cup molasses

boiling water

Soak the beans overnight in water. Bring to a boil in same water, simmer gently till tender, 2 - 2 1/2 hours. Drain, reserve liquid. Cut salt pork in half, score both halves. Spread a layer of beans in a 4 quart pot and put 1/2 salt pork in. Mix onion, parsley, and thyme and spoon some over the beans. Mix mustard, sugar, ginger, soda, salt, pepper and molasses and add some of this mixture over the onions. Repeat layers till gone ending with beans. Add reserved cooking liquid and enough boiling water to cover beans. Place remaining salt pork on top of beans. Cook, covered for 6-8 hours at 275 degrees. Uncover for the last 1/2 hour of cooking. 

Serves 12 - 14

Busy Monday

Farmhouse Friday

Friendship

 t

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up

just as you are doing.

1 Thessalonians 5:11

~ ~ ~

I came across this beautiful scene as I drove home from work on Friday. I think the big boat is the "Friendship" out of Salem. MA, which is just the next town over from my town. Either way, it was so pretty a scene that I had to pull over to get a few pictures. 

It made me think of how often we "drive by" our friendships and don't really take the time to encourage or build one another up as we are called to do. 

Scripture and a snapshot

Scripture blessings on Sunday

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and all the roses falling

 

On Saturday we went to our annual trip to Halloween on the hill. My husband and my daughter's beau had to work but all the other key players were there. 

My son-in-law and grandson had gone to the UConn vs BC football game earlier in the afternoon and came home just in time to leave for our pumpkin walk so I was thankful that they were able to be there. 

I am in the middle with the hat on, my daughter, Hannah, is next to me, and my daughter, Bonnie, is on the right. My grandchildren from left to right are, Abby, Verne, and Natalie. My son-in-law, Dan, stands on the left. 

We have such a great time doing this every year and it is so nice to spend time together!

~

I have been knitting again after a long hiatus. I started out just knitting random squares and rectangles but I have a solid plan now. 

I am making a patchwork afghan. I like the idea of being able to port  a small square and knit it quickly where ever I am...not that I go very many places. 

Here are a few of the squares I've knitted so far.

~

The weather has finally turned autumn-ish and the temps are falling. I have put my "viking blanket" on the bottom of my bed for the chillier nights. 

My cat, Tucker, loves that blanket! He normally starts out on the bed but then leaves in the middle of the night but lately he is still there when I wake up. He curls right up on the blanket.

He turned 9 in July so he's been spending more time napping during the day as well.

~

I happened to notice that there were two little roses on my rose bush in the back garden. 

When we first moved here back before COVID my mother moved into the first floor and my husband and I moved into the second floor. She and I planted a beautiful garden. She was a very talented gardener and she did all of the design and I was mostly her worker. I happened to mention that I loved pink roses and she ordered a fancy one that we planted in front of my window. It smells absolutely divine when it's in bloom but it doesn't bloom for long. I purchased another one that blooms throughout the summer but doesn't smell as good. We planted them next to each other. 

We had a couple of very hot and dry summers after her death and my rose bush died. I didn't have the heart to get out there and water as much as I should have. It made me sad.

This year I purchased another rose bush to replace the one that didn't make it and my granddaughter, Abigail Rose, and I planted it together.

The last roses of the season always make me think of the song Danny Boy. My mother and I both loved that song and were moved to tears every time we heard it. 

~

This is called a straw flower because it sort of dries as it is still on the stem.

They were hanging in the barn at the pumpkin walk. 

Both of my daughters recognized them and the three of us had a conversation about flowers and gardening.

My grandfather was a gardener, my mother was a gardener, I am a gardener (though I don't get out into the garden as much as I would like to anymore).

One of my Irish ancestors was a gardener for Charles Stewart Parnell! 

I love that both of my daughters have continued gardening in our family. 

I love to see that link from the past into the future.

~ ~ ~

Friday fave fives

October

 

I am so thankful to live in a place where there are such beautiful Octobers!

Poets and authors write about them!

"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers!"

Lucy Maude Montgomery

Thankful Thursday

Here we are

 1). What do you like most about your family?

The love. The fact that we all share the same memories even if we see those memories from our own perspective. The unconditional love.

2). What's something nice that happened to you recently?

I was very grumpy at work on Monday. Very grumpy! It's been a rough week and it's only Wednesday. During our lead teacher meeting on Tuesday a co-worker found a sticker of a grumpy turtle holding a cup of coffee and gave it to me. We all laughed! Strangely enough, it was a shared laugh that broke through the grumpiness and gave us all some common ground. 

3). Do you like the color orange? Besides pumpkins and an actual orange what's something orange that you love?

So, orange isn't actually my favorite. I do love the color of pumpkins though and the orange of a beautiful sunrise/sunset. Also, orange is my grandson, Verne's, favorite color and I love him to the moon and back...the hunter/harvest, orange colored moon and back.

4). What's something you have now that you couldn't have imagined having five years ago? How does that make you feel? What's possible now because of it?

Just about four and a half years ago my mum passed away. I suppose that is something I don't have now and she was 86 so of course, I had imagined that she would, one day. pass away. What I do have now is a different perspective on my own life. My feet stand in a different way on the earth. I think of myself in a different way now that I am parentless. In some ways I feel a sense of freedom that I didn't have before. Also, a sense of profound loneliness. No one else will ever know me or love me like my mother did. I no longer have anyone to ask about family stories or even some of my own history. Did I have chicken pox when I was a baby? Did I like squash as an infant? I will have to let those things go as there is no one left to ask.  In some ways I feel as if I have "come into my own" and I know that she led a long and happy life. Still though, I think of her every single day and I would go back if we could.

5). Let's wrap this up with an October this or that...

Pumkin bread or apple cider donut? 

pumpkin bread if I or donut if I'm at the apple orchard.

Cozy sweater or cozy hoodie?

Sweater

Apple picking or pumpkin picking?

apple picking because I get my pumpkins from a wonderful little farm stand.

scary movie or Hallmark movie?

I don't like scary movies at all.

hay ride or corn maze

Hay ride! 

autumn hike or autumn bonfire

hike

6). Random thought?

I feel like I've been fairly random here. My husband normally works night shift and doesn't get home till after I've had the house to myself to get ready for work. However, he's not at work this morning and is HERE, in my space, talking and making his breakfast and getting in my way!

Wednesday hodge podge

Lentil soup

~ ~ ~ 

A gathering of days in a rather imperfect life

I've been told that people who still use this ...  when they write are old

and I can tell you that it's true...at least in my case.

Sometimes I think I'll stop using it but I like it...and I'm old...I can do what I want.

ellipsis or the plural ellipses...which is rather silly don't you think?

The rain has been falling off and on and the wind is kicking up quite a ruckus along the Atlantic.

The narrow streets of the little seaside village where I call home. 

The boats that are left in the harbour are bobbing up and down and the big boughs of the giant 

pine that is just outside my windows are blowing back and forth like blades of grass.

I had the window in the living room cracked a bit so I could hear it all.

I have been inside warm and cozy with a fire in the wood stove, 

I've been cleaning house and cooking all the day long.

It's my very favourite thing to do.

I've made some roasted root vegetables with a coarse and rustic polenta.

There was a little bag of autumn lentils at the market. They looked so pretty and colourful I couldn't resist.

I've got a lentil soup on the back burner and the remaining legumes in a mason jar on the counter.

There are apples in the larder as well and perhaps there will be a crisp for after dinner.

All in all a perfectly lovely day doing all of my very best things.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I have been making lentil soup for a very long time so this is quite like asking your grandmother for her recipe.

In a large, heavy bottomed stock pot (I use my mother's cast iron Cuisinart) brown some minced onion, garlic, carrot, and celery in olive oil or butter. Sometimes I add a small, finely diced potato as well.

When all of that is soft but not too brown add stock and lentils. I use veggie stock but you can use chicken or beef. 

While the soup is simmering on the back burner I add herbs. When possible I gather them from my garden but in the winter when the garden herbs have gone by I add dry herbs from the larder. My favourites are Rosemary, Thyme, Savory, Sage, Parsely...you can add whatever you like along with some salt and pepper.

I keep my soup savory rather than spicy since I don't care for peppers but feel free to add spice if you like that. Also, some people put tomatoes in their lentil soup but I like it without them.

Simmer it slowly, stirring occasionally to be sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. This can take a few hours. You want the lentil to be soft and sort of mushy but. not too mushy if that makes sense. 

It is delicious with cornbread.

~ ~ ~

Farmhouse Friday

Busy Monday

Renew

 

I am so blessed to drive past this beautiful beach every morning on my way to work. At this time of year I am treated to the sunrise as I pass and some mornings it's just so beautiful that I have to stop to enjoy it.

I sit on the steps that lead down to the beach, feel the warm sun on my face, and pray.

t

Create in me a clean heart, O God; 

and renew a right spirit within me.

Psalm 51

Every morning is fresh and new and I try to remember to offer my day to God before things get too busy.

~

Scripture and a snapshot

Sunday scripture blessings

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Nanny Vi

 

My grandson, Verne, turned 9!

I can't even believe how quickly that time went by!

~

The other morning on my way to work I caught an absolutely beautiful sunrise. I had just enough time to pull over, walk down the grassy hill to the beach, and sit for a little while.

~

Pumpkin Day!

One day every October the school where I work places hundreds of pumpkins in a field on campus. Each child gets to choose a pumpkin to bring home! They also get a snack of apples and a cup of apple cider to eat outside!

It is my favourite day of the school year!

~

The foliage isn't quite as bright as it has been in years past but it still looks beautiful with the sunlight shining through it. 

~

Every time I sleep at my daughter's house my grandchildren like to help me set up my bed on the couch. We get it all set up and then their dog, Violet, or "Nanny Vi" jumps up and stretches out with her head on my pillow and it's game on for space! I sleep like a pretzel curled up around her and vying for some space. She is also on top of the blankets so I spend the night trying to pull a little corner of warmth out from underneath her...and she's heavy! 

This is us. I'm under the hard fought for blanket and you wouldn't mind but it's a sectional sofa!

Can you see all the space on the other side? 

I would gladly move there except she is on top of my blankets!

Her name is Violet but we call her nanny-Vi since she's so good with the kids.

She thinks I'm her grandmother.

She's pretty cute and she is very warm on a chilly night.

I don't really mind spending the night with her.

Friday fave fives

Pumpkin day

 

Pre-Covid the school where I work had field trips to a pumpkin patch nearby. During Covid all field trips were cancelled. This is the reason why Pumpkin Day was created! Hundreds of pumpkins are set up in a field and the classes all come out a few at a time. Each child chooses one pumpkin and then the class sits together to share a snack of apples and a cup of apple cider. Our school campus used to be a tree orchard so it is absolutely stunning with the fall foliage at this time of year. 

Watching the children carefully picking out a pumpkin and then carry it back to their classroom is the sweetest thing ever. 

This is the best day of the school year!

Thankful Thursday

A joyful heart

A joyful heart is good medicine.

When I read this verse I always think of a potted geranium on the kitchen table.

When things get busy and I am apt to feel overwhelmed and over stimulated I remember

the joy of a simple, old-fashioned red geranium sitting in a sunny spot on the kitchen table.

All the modern science has found it to be true.

A joyful heart is good medicine.

~

I have taken up knitting again. I am having so much fun with it!

I went to a grandma's attic sale at a local church and purchased

a big, beautiful, hand made basket filled with all sorts of natural yarn.

There is a mixture of beautiful colours and natural fibers.

Wool, silk, cotton, mohair....

Thank goodness for being able to look things up on the internet because after taking a 30 or so year 

knitting hiatus I was in need of a refreshing lesson or two.

I spent a few months knitting squares which I will turn into a crazy quilt type afghan.

I think I'm just about practiced enough to make a sweater!

~

Autumn in New England is just the most beautiful time of year. 

Nathaniel Hawthorne once said, "I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumn sunshine 

by staying in the house."

And, Anne of Greene Gables once said, "I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers"

~

My daughter's garden is "autumning" and I love to see all the flowers, herbs, and vegetables 

in abundant seed. She tries to plant mostly native and saves seed for planting the following spring. 

She was sipping her coffee while walking through her garden the other morning while we were 

on the phone and told me, "There is a grasshopper asleep on the goldenrod."

A few days older my older daughter told me that she had brought some goldenrod into her house 

to put in a vase and as she began to cut the stems a very fuzzy, very sleepy bumblebee tumbled out onto the counter. 

~

I, too am in the autumn of my life and heading toward my winter at a fairly steady clip.  Perhaps that is why I love the autumn garden so much. Not so much accepting the winter, though I know that time will come, but rather, embracing the joyousness of an abundant autumn harvest and wondering what kinds of grasshoppers and bumblebees will tumble out of my stems and branches as I make my way through the garden of my life. 

~

A joyful heart is good medicine.

Busy Monday

~

What is bringing your heart joy these days? 

Let's share our joys.

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Verne's birthday

t

 Grandchildren are the crown of the aged

and the glory of children is their fathers.

Proverbs 17:6

~ ~ ~

Today is my eldest grandson's 9th birthday. 

Scripture and a snapshot

Sunday scripture blessings

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A pumpkin for your table

The last of the summer flowers. 

The first frost fell on Thursday night. We woke on Friday morning to bits of white along the edges of the fallen leaves.

There is always something seasonally beautiful on my kitchen table.

I have a rather large pumpkin displayed on the wooden cake stand that was a wedding gift from my aunts. 

I like to live in a seasonal way and to bring some of the beauty of nature into my home.

I have a rather smallish home with one window box just outside of the 

door that leads out to the back garden.

I have the Chrysanthemums planted and they look so pretty. 

It's always so hard to select colours because there are so many to choose from.

I brought some autumn flowers home from the market the other day and have 

them in a vase in the living room.

Now I am off for a walk about town to enjoy the cooler weather and all of the sights and sounds in the pretty little town where I live.

There's nothing better than coming into a warm and cozy home.

 Farmhouse Friday

Have an apple

Stolen, stolen be your apples

 

The weekend was HOT over the weekend! I was visiting my sister in CT and we went to an apple orchard near her on Sunday evening. My sister stuck her hand out the car window and grabbed a couple of apples on the way out. I put them on my lap and off we went...

~

The sun setting over a Connecticut valley.

The Longview cider house and Rogers apple orchards

were absolutely beautiful! We watched the sun set over a valley filled with apple orchards and farms and when we turned around the almost full moon was rising over the trees.

It was a stunning evening!

~

My sister and I had reserved a fire pit back in September when she was visiting my house on Labor Day. It had room for 6 and we intended on inviting my cousins but they were all busy. My sister invited her daughter's boyfriend's mother and she brought her sister along. It was 2 sets of sisters. I hadn't met either one of them before but it was nice to talk with them. 

We ended up asking for the fire to be put out because it was nearly 90 degrees even though we were there from 4:00-6:30!

Once the sun began to set a little breeze picked up and it cooled off slightly. We had a lovely time and I really enjoyed getting to know the ladies.

I'm the one in the hat.

~

My sister and I are very different in personality and temperament. We have always loved each other and been there for one another but have had challenges in our relationship. When my mother was alive she and my sister were very close and that sometimes prevented my sister and I from becoming closer as adults. Since my mother's death in 2021 we have been working toward building a closer relationship. We're not really a "talk it through" kind of a family so it's mostly just being together, enjoying each other's company, and knowing that we come from the same memories. There is definitely love and care between us but we are very different. 

Anyway, I was visiting her last weekend and her cat kept coming up to me for pets, which he doesn't normally do. He has the prettiest green eyes.

I'm so thankful for my sister and though she has very challenging health struggles I'm grateful that she is still here and that we get a chance to spend time together. 

~

I noticed while I was with my sister and the other ladies that each of them had a health issue that they struggled with. My sister struggles with cancer and the side effects of her radiation, one of the ladies had a stroke a few years back, and the other had a hip replacement that limits her balance and movement. Each of them had a life changing health issue that forced them to change the way they live. I think I was a year or two older than all of them but I was in the best health. 

I am eternally grateful for that. Truly, truly thankful for my ability to get around with relative ease and live a relatively pain free life. 

I don't have any idea why some of us are stricken with health issues and others are not but it made me appreciate my health more and vow to take better care of myself. 

~

Friday fave fives

Down in the valley

 

I am so thankful for a chance to spend a lovely weekend with my sister. We went out to a beautiful apple orchard and sat around a fire pit with friends to watch the sun setting over the valley. 

It was stunning!

Thankful Thursday

True light

 

t

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world was made through him,

yet the world did not know him.

He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, 

he gave the right to become the children of God,

who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man

but of God.

John 1:9-13

~ ~ ~

Let's have coffee

Dinner for 6

 

Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and glazed carrots

and apple pie

It has been a long time since I was cooking dinner for my family every evening. My daughters are grown now and my youngest has a family of her own. Every once in a while I head up to my daughter's house and cook dinner for her family.

It gives her a bit of a break and gives me a chance to spend time with my grandchildren.

My youngest granddaughter, Natalie, has been asking to make an apple pie with me for a while so we made one for dessert. I think snacking on the cinnamon and sugar coated apples is her favourite part so I made sure to cut up some extra apples!

Busy Monday

Gleaning grace

t

 In the beginning was the word, 

and the word was with God, 

and the word was God.

He was in the beginning with God.

All things were made through him,

and without him was not anything made that was made.

In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 

The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 1:1-5

~ ~ ~

Yes. 

The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. 

When I read this today I am reminded that we are all just human beings, fallible and imperfect, and spinning on this ball we call earth. Regardless of what our political beliefs are, whether we believe that we are heading in the right direction or that these are the darkest of times, the light of God shines, and that is the only light we need. 

In him was life and the life was the light of men.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Scripture and a snapshot

Sunday scripture blessing

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Autumn in New England

I am so grateful for our beautiful autumn weather. 

Even the oaks in the wood are full of beautiful colour!

One of our local churches had their semi-annual rummage sale over the weekend.

I picked up these two beautiful rugs for a song.

Don't mind the messes in the back round. I was cleaning as I put them down.

I put one in my bedroom and one under my kitchen table. 

~

There was another treasure sale at the Jeremiah Lee mansion which is just around the corner from my me.

I picked up these beautiful hand painted twin head and foot boards. They didn't have 

the bed rails but I only paid $25.00 for both so I just figured out how to set them up using the bed frame

I already have.

It may be that I actually have two headboards since they are exactly the same size but I am happy.

They are so pretty and unique.

~

Well...I also saw a beautiful little antique-y table at the treasure sale. It didn't have a price on it and it was 

not something I needed or even had a place for so I passed it by. 

Later in the afternoon I happened to notice a facebook post on my town page saying

that all the leftover items were free. I thought I would just take a quick drive by...

I was looking through some pictures but nothing interested me until I noticed that all of 

the pictures were on top of the table that I wanted! 

It was meant to be! 

As I was trying to get it into my car a woman was parked next to me and offered to help. She noticed a 

tray in my car and admired it. I have been driving around with it in my car for about a year now.

It was my mother's and my sister had taken it when our mother passed away but didn't have a place

to put it so she gave it to me. I don't have a place to put it either and neither of my daughters

wanted it. I just didn't have the heart to donate it so it's been in my car. I gave it to the woman and she

was so happy to have it. I'm so grateful that it found a happy home and that I ended up with the table that I

wanted as well. 

I set it up as my desk with one of the leaves open. 

I walked along a conservatory trail on my way to work one morning this week.

It was so pretty along the shore and the wildflowers were absolutely beautiful. 

Friday fave fives