Thankful Thursday

This week I am oh so thankful:

::  that Tuesday evening I was reminded that old friendships never die, they return like time has stood still, even after many years of dormancy.

::  for the loads of giggles that we have experienced from our family bad mitten rounds each evening this week.

:: that I have been able to watch a very diligent mama and daddy robin tirelessly feed the two babies that are in the nest outside my window at work.

::  for fireflies

::  that we are almost ready for our fourth annual chili cook off Saturday!

::   for the amazing, rich, cold brewed gold that I made last weekend, it's almost gone!!

::  warm sleepy good morning snuggles from the kids before they embark on another fun filled summer day.

What are you thankful for this week?  If you don't blog, leave your thoughts as a reply her or a comment on my facebook wall.  Thanks to Miss Buckle for this weekly post!

Can't Get This Out of My Head

....Don't wear no shoes
Her nose is painted pepper

Sunlight...
Jane's Addiction

Take a listen to the perfect summer song :)

Download this mp3 from Beemp3.com

Silent Sunday

The Dichotomy of Water

I have realized that several of my recent posts have involved water. Funny, I just realized it as I sit here to type a post for Jillsy's June Challenge. It is truly an amazing thing, water. It is all at once, beautiful, peaceful, a building block of life, and one of the most destructive things that I have ever seen. I experienced the destructive side three years ago when our house was flooded, the power of water filled me at that time with despair, yet in retrospect with awe and a new found appreciation. We have all seen what has happened around the world from tsunami's in far away places to the current river floods here closer to home.

Then, flip the circumstance, floating in a calm pool at dusk brings tranquility. The vastness of the ocean and peaceful crush of the breakwater waves.  This mingled with sounds of laughter and children's squeals as they rush in and out of the water equally chasing the waves and running from them.   I guess the ocean may be a good example of water's dichotomy, equally beautiful and at the same time dangerous. She coaxes you in, yet if you are not careful, her undertow will show you who is ultimately in control.  Watching the pure exhilaration reflected in the kids faces is infectious and a model for approaching life with the same pure joy and alert exuberance. 

Good Morning!

Yesterday I cold steeped Pioneer Woman's perfect iced coffee and after eight hours of setting, I strained it through the sieve and cheese cloth to fill this lovely (and inexpensive, thanks Target), carafe to dispense the iced coffee dream.  I placed in the fridge and went on to fiddle with uploading vacation pictures to flickr.  Several minutes later B yelled help and I came running.  Running is a great word as the perfect iced coffee elixir was running out of the fridge and all over the floor.  The refrigerator door had apparently jarred the lovely spigot when it closed and, well you can picture the rest.  So, this morning we have about 1/3 less of the two gallons we began with........

 but, well worth the hassle.  Good Morning!

The Two Faces of Relaxation

 Relaxation can take many forms.  A few days ago our family was at the beach, watching the kids play and taking tons of pictures.  We got home last night and today worked like crazy to do catch up work here at the homestead.  Thanks to a lot of rain and good friends, the ole' fort was held down well.  The garden more than doubled in size from the new little seedlings and small plants that we left behind to robust plants ready to put on their seasonal show. 

We are having our annual chili cook-off next weekend so between that and catch up from being gone for the week, we have been flying from task to task.  Some days our ambitions flow much better than others, and this was a good day.  You know what?  As I sit here with soar muscles and a few mosquito bites, I feel a different kind of relaxation.  The kind that comes at the end of a day of hard work, when I sit back and bask in the beauty of all the accomplishment around me.

There really are two faces of relaxation, but both of them involve a winding down, and we have accomplished that well this week.

Solstice

It is late evening,

the children have settled.

I step quietly into the dark, languid pool.

The only movement comes from the ripples

I create as I advance deeper into the abyss.

There is a shallow fog, floating just above the surface,

silently dissipating into the cooling night air. 

I float, watching the last, fleeting teal grey color as it streaks the

Western sky, and I exhale.

Solstice.

With Faces Like This

We made it to California and have been having loads of fun, relaxing and catching up.  So I will be a little inconsistent with posting this week, but will try my best :)  As you can see I am distracted...how could I not with faces like this!

Have a great week!

Thankful Thursday~ For Char

This morning when I read over at  Julochka's about the death of a blogging friend I felt numb.  I had just been thinking about her last night and wondering about her recent silence.  Maybe it resonated so much this morning as the wounds from a friends death last week are fresh and have just begin healing.  I went on to work, my thoughts elsewhere, and around noon I went online.  In my reader I found this outpouring of tributes to Char and my soul was once again touched. 

Today I feel thankful for having known Char's beautiful bloggy voice, stunning photography and words of encouragement.

 Today I am thankful for this amazing community of bloggers who all feel the importance of our friendships, and who today all intensely feel this loss. 

Thankful Thursday

Red Sky In The Morning

Sailors Warning?

I am so glad that as I reached, with bleary eyes,  to pour my coffee this morning, I glanced out the window.  This sight lasted a mere two minutes before the sky darkened and the rain began to fall in earnest.

Sweet Breath of Peace

Since we leave on Thursday for California, we are racing around to finalize the last of the garden planting, mowing, loads of laundry, and generalized picking up, after a crazy weekend of celebratory, school is out activity.  Whew.

Then as I run from task to task tonight, 

I saw these beauties.  

Our first peonies of the season;

open, smiling, and breathing

the sweet breath of peace into my evening. 

Silent Sunday

Schools Out For Summer!

Today was the last day of school, but who new how quick it would be?  I dropped the kids off and ran a couple of errands and then picked them up at 10:30 am.  The power was knocked out at school, and the energy company couldn't find a quick fix.  That event, promptly ended their school year! 

As a treat, and an idea taken from an old high school chum in California, this year for the first time, we are doing ice-cream sundaes for dinner to celebrate!  Off to a sugar overload with very happy kids.

Happy Friday!

Happy Summer Vacation!

Sweet Start

 This morning as we were rushing out (what's new), Sidney said oooh, I think there is a goose behind the wood pile!  As I came out and walked toward the car I saw not a goose, but a duck's head just above the grass walking toward the tree line.  Then a second later, I saw little movements behind her in the grass and I realized she had a slew of baby ducklings following her!  I ran back to the house, changed lenses and out I ran with my camera. 

I caught up just as she reached the tree row and tried to catch a few shots.  She was a little perturbed with me being so close and she was scurrying around very fast so the photos aren't great.  But she was a stunning creature, one I had not seen before.  We have tons of Mallards around here, but this sweet girl with her babies was a Wood Duck.  I'm too embarrassed to post the shot of her, it's so blurry, but this one is fair of a few of the babies and you can see their dramatic eyes.  What a sweet start to the day!

Since the Last Time......RIP

 This weekend has been one full of events, and full of unexpected emotion.  A dear friend of B's from veterinary school passed away on Friday.  He and his wife were part of this small group of fantastic friends that came together by living through the mutual rigor of professional school, yet were able to also do a fair amount of playing at the same time. 

Though I became a part of this group toward the end of their schooling, my memories are no less vivid and now closing in on twenty years later, our periodic and intense meetings are always a joy.   Forty-three was far too young for an end.  Sudden ends out of despair make you re-evaluate all of those things that you find so important,  yet take for granted.  Those types of friendships for one,  even though being thrown back together like no time has passed is the result, why should there be a precipitating event?  A wedding.  A funeral.  Do not let the excuse that 'life happens' create an excuse for drifting apart.  Hug your kids, your spouse, your dear kindred friends, appreciate them to their fullest.  Do not take anything for granted.   Don't allow the funeral be the event where you are "seeing all those people I ain't seen since the last time somebody died" (Lyle Lovett)

Rest in Peace Bob

My love and heart are with you Sue

~Amy

Silent Sunday

Thankful Thursday

Thanks to MissBuckle for starting my day with a great post that I thought about all day long.

I'm thankful.....


~  that the sky looked like this early this morning when I came down to pour coffee.  How can a day go wrong when this is the first thing you see!

~  that I got to work and this little bird was hard at work nest building, and I could watch him all day long.

~  that the first thing Sidney asked me after school was if we were having dinner on the porch again tonight.

~ That the days are getting wonderfully longer, and I can almost taste the days of summer.

What are you thankful for today?

The Cream on Top

 Warm Air

Fragrant Flowers

Family Dinners on the Porch

Lead to Ripening Conversations

 That, is the Cream

On Top 

June

May In Review

It is hard to believe that it is June first already!  Spring finally made an appearance in May, we have flowers, grass and the trees have finally leafed out!  Here is what my lens found interesting in May.