Tea time nevertheless...

 I am in love with my tea cup!  And how did she know that I collect pink depression glass and that pink is my all time favorite color?  Thank you, Christy, for the lovely tea package you sent me!  

 I had to take a picture of everything Christy included in my tea box--homemade scones, a pretty pink votive candle, a box of orange spice tea, a bag of chocolates, lovely book on friendship and of course, the beautiful tea cup.  And with it all came a very special handmade card!  I felt so special!

This was my first time participating in Stephanie's tea cup exchange here and I know it won't be my last!  Thank you Stephanie for hosting this delightful event.

Also the package came at a most needed time as my husband and I had just returned from a trip to Puerto Rico where we visited our daughter and her husband.  Mary had minor surgery and we had gone to support her.  On our return from 78 degree weather and bliss, we came home to 5-6 inches of snow and no water!  Yuck!  But to my surprise there was a package on my doorstep. What a delight it was to open my tea box and savor the contents....that is until I had to go outside and help my husband and daughters pull out 265 feet of well pipe!  

Sorry this is not a pretty picture and is actually the day after we arrived home and some of the snow had melted, thankfully.  But God is good and Hart was able to fix the pipe and by Sunday evening we had running water again.  I am truly thankful for running water and flushing toilets!

Saying good-by

 A lot has happened this Spring.  I don't even know where to begin.  Since last summer we have been planning for a May wedding.  Mary and Andrew did walk down the grassy aisle in a gentle spring rain May 11th.  It was a lovely wedding, with beautiful homemade decorations, all the ideas from Mary's Pinterest.  After the gentle rain, once we were all safely under cover, the sky poured buckets.  But the music kept playing and the guests ate and danced and talked.  The rain did let up for a send off with sparklers as the newlywed couple ran for Andrew's grandfather's convertible.  As we waved good-bye a few drops of rain fell or maybe it was tears.

I know I'm not supposed to be sad at a wedding but it's not everyday that your daughter moves to Pueto Rico.  San Juan, in fact, for the next 3-5 years because of her husband's job.  I like adventure and new things, but I also like to see and hug and talk to my daughter. I will miss her.

Before Mary got married on the 11th, Cate graduated from high school on May 5th.  She had a special graduation ceremony in Winston Salem with FHE.  There were six girls graduating which made for an intimate ceremony.  I liked everything about it, from my husband saying a few words about Cate, to the rose she presented me, to the speaker and especially the slide show.  A few more tears fell  as pictures of Cate as a baby, toddler and finally young woman appeared.  I am losing another daughter, I feel.  This time to college as she prepares to do the things God has in store for her.  The changes in life are hard at times, good and proper, but still hard.

May 15th the hardest thing happened.  My husband's father died.  Granddaddy Gordon had been sick for five weeks and after a while we knew he didn't have much time left.  But it was still hard to lose him.  We had seen him the day before and he still knew Hart and asked for me.  I held his hand as he struggled to keep awake and to lay still.  It was painful watching him.  Hart stroked his father's head and spoke comforting words to him. We told him we loved him. The next day Hart's sister called and said that her dad was gone, gone home to heaven.  Relief but sadness overwhelmed us.  It is so hard to say good-by.

May 5th, May 11th and May 15th are dates I will never forget.  These days are ingrained in my memory forever.  The days I said good-by to a part of my life.  I know it will never be the same.  While my tears have dried, I am trying not to be sad.  How can I be when it is all good.

A long distance relationship

Living six hours away from my daughter and her husband was already hard enough.  But add two darling granddaughters to the equation and I cannot not tell you how my heart aches to be near them, not to mention my arms that want to hold and touch them.  Knowing that the Hull family is where God wants them,  gives me peace of mind.  Our intention is to visit once a month, but we don't always make it, due to varying, busy schedules.  So what does a grandma do?  Facetime.  I love it.  It isn't the same at all, but I do get a glimpse into their home and a good look at the little faces and bodies that are growing and changing. I can hear my toddler's voice and the cooing of the little one. All as I hold my phone.  And I do get kisses, albeit long distance.  For that I am thankful.

First day of school

The big day is tomorrow, the first day of school.  
This is Cate's senior year and Nan is close behind as a junior.  
Maybe that is part of my dread at starting our school this year,  knowing it is about to come to a close in just two short years.  Also I know a part of me is mourning the easy carefree days of summertime.  I love having no set schedule, to do just what I please.  But whatever my  reasons, we will begin and they are excited, which is a blessing.  Am I completely prepared?  No but I have found that we will spend the first week or two reviewing the old  and previewing our new books.  So ready or not  here we go!

My lovely and wonderful students.

Busy Bothered Bees

I'm supposed to be on my way to my vacation destination, but due to unforeseen events, I am not leaving for a couple of more days. Which in reality is better, because we will not be rushed and I can leave my house sparkling clean, which I like to do.  

One of the chores my husband needed to do before we left was to check on the bees.  In this 102 degree weather, they looked mad and hot.  I guess even bee hives get hot and I imagine these bees are fanning each other, trying to stay cool.  Hart took a frame full of honey from the hive and replaced it with an empty one.  There is already about 30 pounds of honey.  Yummy!

Special moment

Congratulations to Dr. Jered Hull!

When Lauren and Jered moved to Atlanta five years ago to embark upon this journey of Chiropractic school at Life University, little did they know they'd finish with a degree, a toddler and another little girl on the way!

Such a joyous occasion all around!

And yes, Lauren deserves praise too, for grad school isn't hard just for the student!

I love these series of photos.  They are unedited and depict life with a toddler perfectly!

(Cate got some perfectly posed shots of Jered and the family later.)

Gabriela had had enough waiting for the ceremony to end.  It was a lovely graduation.  I loved the bagpiper leading the graduates  in and out of the auditorium.  Ela was a good girl while waiting for her daddy to graduate.  I am so proud of them all.

Mourning chickens

I'm really sad today.

 My little Blue Cochin chicks are gone, vanished overnight.  Gone.  No little chicks in the locked chicken coop this morning.

Siblings.  The white one is a rooster.

The chicken coop on the left.  

We introduced them slowly to the chickens and coop, letting them stay in their cage.  Monday, we let them out to wander around the chicken yard and closed them up in the chicken coop for the night.  Tuesday we let them sleep in the big coop, putting a small box in there so they could huddle together.  I locked the door to the coop, went out the gate into the fenced in garden and then locked that gate too.  When I went to let them out this morning they were gone.  The only sign of them was a pile of black feathers and a pile of white feathers--outside the locked chicken coop!  How it all happened and what happened I will never know.  All I know is that something got them and they are gone.

They were really cute.  They always walked in threes. They were gentle in that I could scoop all three of them up in my hands at once.  They were young and little.  I am so sad.

  

I know that they are just chickens. But we incubated two of them and watched them grow from the egg to being ready to be on their own.  We had to let them go , they had outgrown their small cage and needed to stretch their wings.  Poor chicks.

I admit I shed a few tears when I saw the pile of feathers. I know if I lived on a farm I'd see death like this
more often and I know that in the scheme of life, chicks aren't much.

  


But I really liked them. 

 I will miss my fine feathered friends.  

If the shoe fits

I was about to ask Cate and Nan for the upteenth time to clean out from under the bench in the kitchen, when I took a second look.  Just from looking at the different types of footwear I knew exactly what they had been up to.  Nan's old riding boots told me she had been to the farm today, while the stack of running shoes meant they had been out jogging that morning.  Flipflops mean its summer time and the rubber boots said that Nan had been to collect eggs from the chickens.  Glad I have an active family, but I do wish they were just a tad bit neater.


                    

We do love to hike and walk.  It's one of the things we enjoy doing on the weekends and especially up at the lake in Canada.  So much to see, so much beauty in nature around us, so nice to stretch the legs.  In Paris we walked and walked, a great way to really see the city and to burn off the extra calories.  Even in our own neighborhood we live in such a lovely place for walks, we go every day. We usually see wild turkey, deer, Canada geese, the blue Heron, and of course sometimes other people and dogs.  All one needs is a sturdy pair of shoes.



                        Few people know how to take a walk.  
                           The qualifications are endurance,
                   plain clothes, old shoes, an eye for  nature,
  good humor, vast curiosity, good speech, good silence and                                                                                                           
                                                          nothing too much. 
                                                                  Emerson

Celebration

It's been a few weeks and even a couple of months since I've been tweaking my diet.  And the good news is I have  no more leg or hip pain!  I feel energetic and happy.  I am able to live life to its fullest and continue to be active.  Hart and I are running three miles a day, amazing, because just this winter I thought I would never run again.  I love it!  Cate, Nan and I are doing yoga at least four times a week.  I find the stretching to be so important.  As far as my diet, I am still GF and now dairy free.  I am still working with the nightshade vegetable group.  I have had no potatoes or tomatoes yet.  I can tolerate a few peppers, which is nice.  Also sugar is out, for the most part.  Nan and I eat alike now.  I now know God was telling me years ago to switch to her diet, I just didn't listen or want to.  And I see the difficult path I've gone down because I didn't.  I am a slow learner at times. But it is totally worth denying myself certain foods, to be pain free and healthy.  I just wish I hadn't waited so long.

To celebrate our anniversary Hart and I went on a day trip to nearby Roanoke, Va.  We spent the day roaming the farmer's market downtown, browsing Black Dog Salvage, eating lunch out, just being together.  A nice time to connect and enjoy each other's company.  We actually spread out our anniversary celebration this year, not by design but it just happened that way.

Last Friday, the girls spent the night with their friends and Hart and I had the opportunity to have an early anniversary dinner.  We cooked crab legs, shrimp, sweet potato fries and artichokes.   I had not attempted whole artichokes before but they turned out well, although it was quite a process to prepare them and cook them and to even eat them!  But we did enjoy them.  Find a recipe from an old, reliable cookbook and follow it to the letter and you will have no problems with yours.  I even made the Hollandaise sauce, which was very good.

Interesting vegetable.

Reminds me of a rose.

Delicious!

So on our actual anniversary, which is May 21st, we had a lentils and rice.

Recipe from the Internet.

The figurine that sat atop our wedding cake 29 years ago.

Yummy dessert Nan made from coconut milk.... chocolate mousse.

Here is a tribute in an email I wrote for Hart and as a way to share my thoughts with my family.

  Today is my 29th wedding anniversary!  Wow-that sums it up!

 So many years, so much time, so much joy, work and hard times behind us.  But there are so many years, so much time, joy, work and hard times ahead of us as well.  I'm blessed by the past and looking forward to the future!  I have a wonderful husband and I am so thankful for him!

So much has changed in our lives--- grown married children, grandchildren, Hart working from home, my job, two kids at home, a different way of eating and cooking, etc.  Even what we are having tonight reflects the change--lentils and rice, when a few years ago it would have been steak and baked potatoes!  (Actually if I had steak in my freezer, it would be on the grill!).  But I will still get out the white tablecloth and my wedding couple figurine that sat on top of my wedding cake that my Aunt Doris made, we will eat with Cate and Nan, telling them stories of our wedding day and early life together.  How he proposed, how Frank fainted, the reception, our time at Kiawah, our Victorian apartment on Chestnut St, just the two of us for just a little over a year.  The fun we had, how hard our first year was, how we've grown and changed and become better people, better together.  How God has blessed us with health and  happiness and life to the fullest.  We will lift our glass of champagne as we toast  our 29 years of marriage.  My cup overflows!  

 . 

Thanks for celebrating with me by letting me share my thoughts with you

Love, Nancy

The miracle of life is so evident in the springtime I believe.  One day the world is still dark, brown, cold and then one morning it just appears to have switched canvases.  The trees have burst forth with green, the flowers pop out mysteriously from sleeping in frozen ground, the birds return, singing and rejoicing.

My volunteer magnolia tree.

The gardenia bush is loaded with buds this year.

The Victorian rose bush that my mother-in-law gave me was a little sprig just a few years ago.  It's bursting forth with pink!

The bees are enjoying all the blooms.

I'm impressed with all our apples, but a little anxious too, for the deer ate them ALL  last summer!

Speaking of birds, we have witnessed the miracle of baby chicks at our house....


Just two weeks ago on a Saturday as Hart went up to the chicken coop, he heard an extraordinary amount of frantic chirping.  Inside the coop huddled in one corner, all alone, was the smallest, fluffiest black chick.  He had somehow gotten on the other side of the nesting box and was not happy about it.  We knew the Blue Cochin was sitting on her eggs, plus the other Cochin's eggs and even some Rhode Island Red eggs. She was taking anyones eggs as her own.  And she was feisty if you tried to get them.  We rescued the chick and decided that we'd take all the eggs and incubate them on our own.  We didn't want anymore broody hens.  My sun room became the nesting spot and new home to the chick.  We set up our operation, turning the eggs as they sat under the light, misting them to keep the humidity right.  Imagine our surprise when two days later there was a crack in one of the eggs.  Slowly a wet, ugly little bird emerged.  This chick,once dry, was a lovely cream color.  Two days later it happened again.  Chick number three is tan with a stripe down his back.  So we have eight eggs left that we've candled and we pray the miracle will happen again.



   

The miracle.

 

Three in a row.

Siblings.

They all sleep under the stuffed chicken that Nan put in there.

   

Adorable black Cochin.

Pretty cream Cochin.

                                                                        The striped one.

More eggs to hatch.

One afternoon the girls and I walked the dogs down by the lake.  We saw the mother duck and her babies, the geese with their young'uns and the Blue Heron.  Such a gorgeous sight.




The next few nature photos are by Cate.

 By the lake.
 

Mother duck with her 9 babies.

We saw the blue heron land on shore.

w

The Canada geese love North Carolina.














Back at home...

Nan enjoys the spring weather, while doing her homework.

But not having her picture taken!