Cultivating Culture

March has made the Hippies a cultured bunch. First we started out with Symphony of the Soul the first weekend, followed by the Music of Paul McCartney the weekend of St. Patrick's Day. We finished the month out strong with a musical and a classical concert. Wow! And that's culture for you.=)
Optimizing on the fact that half the Hippies are Dutch, we attended 2 free dress rehearsals this week.
The first dress rehearsal was the HPA's production of Beauty and the Beast. They did a phenomenal job! They have put hours and hours into this since last fall, and it showed. All the leading roles did very well. They had good, strong singing voices, and got into their parts perfectly. My personal favorite was Gaston.  He was an arrogant nitwit, just like Gaston.=) The supporting roles were superb also. The costumes were colorful, and my kids were transfixed. I think the best scene was "Be Our Guest," with all the dancing dishes. It was a lot of fun. My sil played a part, and the kids thought it was awesome to see their aunt acting. And they got to sit by Oma and Opa as they watched, which was the proverbial icing on the cake.=) Meres was rather restless, but I was able to hang out in the aisle and hall with her, and still see most of it. She clapped and waved her hands excitedly at all the right times-when she wasn't trying to take a dive down the stairs.
Last night, Brian and I had the opportunity to sit in on a working rehearsal of the GR Symphony. Before the rehearsal started, there was a backstage tour. That was cool. There are beautiful wood panel walls in the auditorium that are actually removable for non symphony productions. It is amazing. We saw the room where they rebuild the scenes for opera and Broadway productions. We saw the dressing rooms. It was all rather bare bones, and engineered for maximum sound quality and absorption, and ease of productions. The music they were rehearsing was Rainbow Bodies-a contemporary piece, The Butterfly Lovers-a Chinese piece from the 1950s, and an Aaron Copeland symphony. The Butterfly piece featured a violinist, Jennifer Lee. It was beautiful. It reminded me of some of Copeland's works. Very pastoral sounding. The violinist was amazing. And fun to watch. These artists put themselves into their work. They feel the music. The piece story is kind of an Asian Romeo and Juliet. It was actually banned for years in Communist China, and the two authors were exiled and punished, respectively. I enjoyed the rehearsal. They played through the pieces, but then went back to practice certain parts until they were to the conductor's satisfaction. You could see the orchestra members making notes on their scores. And that is what makes the actual performances such quality. I enjoyed both pieces despite the fact that they were classical. They were a lively classical.=) We cut out before the Copeland piece to have coffee and desert. Mr. Hippie always wants salty to my sweet tooth, so we tried a goat cheese dip with spinach and cherry tomatoes, on toasted naan. It was delicious. I topped that off with a nice slice of peanut butter cheesecake. I had this cheesecake around Christmas, and hadn't forgotten its goodness. And my memory served me right-it was just as good the second time around.=)

And that is as cultured as we are going to get for a while. Our last symphony concert is in May. It is going to be a good one-I can tell. But I am willing for the days to click by slowly, as it happens the night before our big race. We still have more training to do this next 6 weeks or so.
We got the schedule for next year's concerts, and we both pointed out the ones we'd like to hear. There are a couple good ones in the fall, as well as a few good ones in the spring. There is Vivaldi, and Simon and Garfunkel, and a Celtic fiddler. A good line up.
Culture...the act of developing the intellectual and moral faculties especially by education; enlightenment and excellence of taste acquired by intellectual and aesthetic training; acquaintance with and taste in fine arts, humanities, and broad aspects of science as distinguished from vocational and technical skills.
Well, we tried.=)

Don't Give Up!

Its Thursday! I've once again survived the marathon first half of the week. Now I can relax. As much as I know how. I have snicker doodle dough chillin', and my tea pot and I are going to have some bloggin' fellowship.=)
Tomorrow is the last day of school before spring break. Every year as I hit this time of year, I am in a quandary. Do we skip spring break and press on for an early school finish, or do we take a break, recharge and then do the final push? This year spring break won out. We have been having nice weather, I have sewing to do, and we still can finish school 6-7 weeks after spring break. That is before Memorial Day, and that will work great. I have a love-hate relationship with this time of the school year. "Weeks left" is in the single digits, and all we have to do is finish strong. Persevere.
Isn't that the pinch? It is easy to start something. The enthusiasm for the new endeavor gets you well into the project. But then it gets a bit of a drudge. Same old-same old. Day in-day out. I know from experience that the period after spring break in all my activities is always the hardest. I have had a taste of schedule freedom, and it is hard to buckle down once again.

House beautiful. Now I can start on the garden.

Finishing well is key. When I race, and even on my regular runs, I try to push it that last 1/8 of a mile. Run my heart out-literally. My legs and arms are pumping faster than they have the entire run. I time myself. And this past week, my last 1/8 has dropped 15 seconds. Finish strong.

A job well done.(almost=))

Speaking of finishing...our siding is done. Well, except for wrapping the front door, and painting the front porch posts. It looks amazing. Mr. Hippie, and crew, did a great job. And they actually finished about 10 months sooner than I was expecting. I was terribly afraid that it was going to drag on another year. That'll teach me to be so pessimistic.=)
And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. (Galatians 6:9)
Even the youths shall faint and be weary (I still consider myself a youth-though maybe that is part of my problem=)), and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:30-31)
These familiar verses are proceeded by the amazing description of the infinite God's infinite wisdom and power. He doesn't faint. He isn't weary. There is no searching of His understanding. And God promises power to the faint, and strength to those who have no might.
I do a Bible Club in a public school. The past couple of weeks have not gone well. I lost my main girl Friday to the State capitol. I have been doing most of the teaching. And it is weary work. Carrying the burden of studying, discipline enforcement, and teaching all by myself. We have been averaging about 20 kids, mostly 6-8 years old. They have just been through a long day of school. They are sleepy. This results in wiggly-ness to keep themselves awake, or just plain falling asleep. Do you know how hard it is to feel like you are making a connection with a sleeping kid?=) And it has been warm, and gorgeous outside, luring the kids away from BC. I'd rather be outside-why wouldn't they feel that way? I was getting rather discouraged. And then we studied Ephesians 6 in BSF. I am reminded again of how we are in a battle. The public schools are Satan's territory, and here we are bringing the truth about Jesus Christ, sin, sinners and salvation to these kids. He can't be happy about it. But, what weapons do I have for this warfare? Ephesians 6 lists prayer and scripture-plus girding myself with this armor to protect my mind and heart. Putting on the shoes of the preparation of the gospel of peace. Undergirding it all with truth. And I was reminded once again that we are not called in Ephesians 6 to fight. Three times we are told to put on the armor. Three times we are told to stand. And three times we are told to pray-praying always, with all prayer, and keep on praying. It is God's strength, and its God's panoply. Not us screwing up enough determination to keep on keeping on.
I prayed about BC yesterday. It is so easy to rely on my "own great teaching skills". But they were not cutting it. I prayed and prayed. I cast myself on God. It is His fight, His victory, His strength, and to His glory. Not mine. And I told the story of the crucifixion. I talked 40 minutes to these kids using the resurrection eggs. And only 1 child fell asleep. The rest listened like never before. They heard what it truly means that Jesus died on the cross for their sins. And it was all God-none of me. Persevere in God-not self. How many times do I have to relearn that? But they that wait upon the Lord. That is the key. That is the difference between success and failure, strength and weakness.

And, "all good things come to those who wait."

Satisfaction Guaranteed

WWoW-3/28/12
Copacetic: (co-pa-setik) adjective-Completely satisfactory; in excellent order.  Most products have a copacetic guarantee-100% satisfaction or your money back.
Origin: unknown, though many unproven theories exist. Probably originated among African Americans in the US South in the early 20th century or late 19th century.
1. My run this morning was copacetic.
2. Cool temperatures and sunshine provided a copacetic spring day.
3. The service was not copacetic, and I felt I need to let the manager know.
4. All the paperwork for the passport application was copacetic.

So, I'm wondering if things can be copacetic (completely satisfactory) without being copacetic (in excellent order)?=)

Decorating the Crib

 I finished the "Bo Peep Nightmare" yesterday. The last tier took it from semi-obscene to wearable.=) I debuted it last night at Bible study, and it got a lot of compliments. Hopefully people weren't just being polite, but thinking in their minds that it is the most hideous thing they have ever seen. Here is my own Pinterest-style paring.

The skirt ended up a bit longer than knee length.
Tons of fabric, but cute enough.

A narrow black T to tone things down,
accessorized with a black choker and
mother of pearl cross, and a delicate
white gold bracelet

The orange of the jacket
pulled out the color in the skirt, added
some "pop" and balanced out the poof factor.
Thrift Haul

Speaking of "pops", I've been thinking of home decorating. When you get married, you register for all kinds of things for your home. But I know that my own sense of home-style took a few years to develop. As I visit other people's homes, I get ideas of what I like, and what I don't. I am a good borrower of ideas. I have very few original decorating thoughts. But I can adapt other people's ideas to fit my personality. When we got married, dusty purple, sage green and kaki were all the rage. These are still great color combinations that I use, but I have also gotten a bit bolder in my choices. I don't have an overall house decorating theme-I'm not that organized or maybe just not that artistic. But I do have themes in each room. Almost every one of my rooms has one or two eye-drawing pieces. Sometimes it is an accessory, or a piece of furniture, or both. It is the piece the room builds on. For instance, in my bedroom I have a massive round mirror, with a brown wrought iron frame. I have two of my walls painted a chocolate brown, and two are painted a light cream. I have carried that brown/cream theme throughout the room. Brian made me a gorgeous hope chest that plays a major role in our room. It is the darker brown color, but I have figurines displayed on it that are the light cream color. I have other wrought iron candle holders hung, and I just got a wrought iron bedside table. But then I added blue-green for a pop of color. My sheets, some artwork, my lamp shade, and my duvet cover, all pick up this color scheme. And I love it. My bedroom is my favorite room in my house. It is a haven just for Mr. Hippie and I. A retreat from the world. Very soothing. Brown is a great neutral. You can tie any color with it. My upstairs bathroom is a coconut shell brown. It is a rich color for the small space, but is balanced out by the white shower surround, sink and toilet. We picked a colorful floor tile with browns, pinks and greens. My towels are a sage green, with fluffy dark brown towels and cream towels filling a basket. We also accessorized in there with brushed nickel fixtures. That made it unique. My kitchen is my boldest room. And, I owe that to the former owners. It has terra cotta colored walls, and a pink ceiling. I never, ever would have picked these colors. But they have grown on me. And they prompted my kitchen theme. I like wrought iron, so I have a few of those pieces in my kitchen. And then I have my pottery collection. I have tuscany themed pitchers and plates, with a few pumpkins thrown in. It all started with the chicken pot that was a wedding gift, and has just built from there. I use a huge brick red ceramic bowl for my onions, 2 pitchers for my utensils, and other pieces for display and for use. The funny thing is that when I got married almost 11 years ago, I would never have pictured my kitchen decorating going this way. 

Not as Meres-proof as I would have thought=)

Decorating doesn't have to be expensive. Most things we own I have made, found at second hand stores, or have been given to us. A collection or room doesn't have to be finished now, you can start with a piece or two, and then add to it as you find it. A sense of style takes time to develop, and sometimes it radically changes from what you started with. And life seasons change, which contributes hugely to house needs(and even clothing styles). I baby proofed my living room last week, but I didn't want to completely lose myself. So, I just adjusted the arrangement of furniture, and the arrangement of things on Meres' level. And we are both happy. I feel like I have kept my sense of style, without it screaming that 4 kids inhabit this house. I think that decorating our homes is one way to express our creativeness as women. And, I love being in my home. I love being at home. I have created a space that reflects me, and my interests and tastes. (or lack thereof=)) My home is not a show place by any means. But it isn't a dump either. I am streamlined, and so is my house. We love to read, and our house is filled with books. Have you ever noticed that the Proverbs 31 woman seemed to love her home, and her life? She wasn't wallowing, she was industrious, and I get the feeling that her house would have been a great place to visit. It may not have been large or fancy, but it would have been comfortable and ascetically pleasing. 

How about you? How has your decorating style changed? What room eye-popping pieces do you have? How does your house reflect your personality? Does your house theme carry throughout the whole, or are you a bit more eclectic-like me?=) Are you getting the spring itch to give a room a facelift this week? Tell me about it.

Unless one decorates one's house for oneself alone, best leave it bare, for other people are walleyed. ~D.H. Lawrence
Every house where love abides
And friendship is a guest,
Is surely home, and home sweet home
For there the heart can rest.
~Henry Van Dyke

H-h-h-herbs

I'm looking at my Friday and Saturday posts. And I'm thinking...

What a difference a day makes-24 little hours. Like the sun and the flowers, where there used to be rain.
Its heaven with you. Find romance on my menu. What a difference a day makes...

YOU

And that difference is YOU.

That's sung by Natalie Cole. I have no idea who wrote it. But I love it.

I decided (a little belatedly) that while I may have used to need projects to keep me busy and not curling up from misery in missing Mr. Hippie when he is away, now day to day care of four kids is project enough. I'm thinking a project-less period while Mr. Hippie is gone next year might be on the agenda.=) Remind me of that, will you?=)

Like everyone else, I am fighting the urge to garden, what with our tropical temperatures here in MI. But, we were near freezing last night, which reminds me that even though it may feel like May, it is only March. Vegetables and flowers need to wait. My herbs have gone nuts the past week or so. (and just as a random side note, I like to purposefully mispronounce herbs with a hard h, not a silent one=)) I do container gardening for my herbs. I have two big stainless steel tubs, and two lime green tubs, that I fill with my favorites. It is ascetically pleasing to the eyes, and it gives me more garden space. I can't use too much of my yard for a garden plot, as the kids also need room to play. Herb gardening was always a dream of mine, and the past few years I have been able to dabble in it a bit. It is so much fun to walk out to your herbs and cut some fresh leaves for use in your recipes-right then and there. My chives have taken off already this year, as have my oregano and thyme. I have learned that you have to use herbs, or you lose them. Within the next few days I am going to cut back all my plants. The oregano will be great in couscous, and the thyme I can use for scarpariello. Chives are delicious in eggs or on potatoes. About early May, I will plant starter basil, tarragon and parsley. My favorite herb is basil. When the plants take off, I make summer pesto(as opposed to the winter spinach pesto I shared a few weeks ago). It is also great with tomatoes, and chicken. An all around all purpose herb. Tarragon is a new herb for me. I make a champagne chicken recipe that calls for it. It kind of has a licorice smell, and has a very distinct flavor. It is the only herb in both recipes that I use it for. I also try to make at least one batch of fresh spaghetti sauce each year with tomatoes and herbs from my garden. It tastes so fresh and wonderful. Absolutely the best sauce of the year! I use my herbs fresh until frost. I haven't preserved any of them yet. Regardless, it results in a lot of bang for your buck. I might dabble in some marjoram and mint this year. Mint is good for couscous also, plus tea. Not that I'm a tea drinker or anything.=)

Oh, and the laptop is back...=)

Right as Rain

Meres "driving" during our oil change.

isn't she just a honey?!

Back to normal. "It’s true we don’t know what we’ve got until its gone, but we don’t know what we’ve been missing until it arrives."

Mr. Hippie made it home about 10:00 last night, and all is right in our world once again.=)

If Mama's not Happy

I finally downloaded the blogger app on my iPod. One success in a day that was one unmitigated disaster. (I'm going to let you know right off the bat that this is a venting blog. The "if mama's not happy..." type.)
First off, I disciplinedly jumped out of bed at 4:30 this morning and drove off to the pool for my swim. I didn't hit the snooze or talk myself into the benefits of sleep outweighing exercise. Only, when I arrived at said pool, there was a note on the door that the pool was closed for maintenance. It didn't look to me like any maintenance was happening. I was kind of ticked off. They have both an email list of health club members and a fb page, so you'd think they could have gotten this news out somehow.

the purse

Anyway, I drove back home and went back to bed. And I didn't sleep well at all. I got up at 7:00 to restart on my day. As I was evaluating my day I realized that I could either focus on sewing or on school. I picked sewing because I had the birthday gifts to finish. Suffice it to say, I have felt guilty all day about this, because sewing went horribly. I should have just done school. (I should add that we did do science, geography and spelling just not piano and history.)

Bo Peep nightmare

I have had this awesome peasant skirt pattern forever, and I decided that today was going to be the day I was going to make it up. So, I got it all cut out, and then I got the machine set up. I decided to get the purses out of the way first. Nutshell version-random didn't work too well. I ended up with one purse-not two. Elsie likes it. Hopefully her cousin will too. Then I started the skirt. I literally spent hours this afternoon gathering. Yards and yards of seams. First skirt mistake was to sew the yoke on to the top tier upside down. I ripped it out, readjusted the gathers, and redid that seam. At about the 4th tier, I realized that this skirt's length wasn't adding up to the promised 38", and for that matter, the waist is pretty small too. I am the proud (that's sarcasm for you) creator of a short bohemian nightmare that only Little Bo Peep would wear. Big sigh. I had cut out the wrong version of the skirt. I wanted ankle length. I am getting just below the knee.
My niece came over for a play date, but I sent her home early because Elsie cried the whole time. She actually ended up taking a nap. Elsie and Ruth are besties, but today was not a good day for them.
To top it all off, Mr. Hippie is not home yet. And this does tick me off. I can never grasp why it takes less than 6 hours to get to this retreat, including two meal stops, but it always takes 9 hours to get home. The kids miss their dad. They are grumpy. I am grumpy. But I am a bit too irritated to miss him. I just want him home for some parenting relief. I have no idea how single parents do it! I'm done, and it's only been four days.
The best part of this day was that I didn't cook dinner. I loaded the troops into the van and we went to OG. There was no fighting over the bread sticks, everyone ate well, and we had dessert.

my bro posted this the other day when I was talking 

about trimming my race time.

 I guess it could always be worse. Thank God for small miracles.

Randomness and Blog Lovin'

I always have projects to do while Mr. Hippie is gone. The whole "when the cat is gone, the mice will play" idea. (Though this mouse never plays. She just projects.) As a matter of fact, when I talked to my mom last week, she asked me what projects I had up my sleeve. I was doing pretty good, until today. My motivation to do anything flew right out the window. That nice, open window by my rocking chair, in my new "nook". Oh well.

Cherry tree

Our cherry tree blossomed overnight. As  did the area magnolia trees. They are gorgeous! I think magnolia trees are just ho-hum 98% of the year. But for this short period of time in the spring, they just can't be beat for beauty. I love them. I am tempted to put one somewhere...

Finally the teeth captured in a photo

I was sitting in my nice nook holding Meres this morning, and I was overcome with the preciousness of what I possess in my children. There was this little sweetie snuggled on my lap with her head nestled in the hollow of my shoulder. She was sleepy. And all I could see was her wispy blonde hair, and her chubby thighs. And it was a moment I'd like to capture in my mind's eye, and hold it in my memory forever. Hmmm...

Creativity in progress

My projecting has moved forward a little today. A little, mind you. I have 2 neices' birthdays this weekend. I thought I would make them up both little purses. You know the ones-about 8x8", flat, with a flap closure, and a LONG narrow strap. The ones I've seen are random, kind of crazy quilt style. I thought to myself, "self, you can make one of those." Except, this self is so organized that random is a huge challenge. Currently I have a pile of different size and shape(?) triangles that I am theoretically going to piece together tomorrow into something resembling a purse-or two. We'll see. Hopefully I won't end up making a HL run to get a last minute gift because they ended up being a hair pulling out disaster.
My washer, dryer, and freezer are covered with pattern pieces and material for our Easter dresses. I got the pieces for the girls' dresses sorted out. That is always a big chore whenever I sew. Actually laying the pattern out, and cutting, don't take that long. I also think I am going to sew myself up a long peasant skirt, with 3-4 different materials. I have a problem...all the bottoms that were too small for me last summer are almost too big for me this summer. I am pleased, but I am also ready for something that fits comfortably.

Escape route...

This is the front of my house. You can't see them as well right now as you could a few days ago, but there are two ladders and a plank right in front of my bedroom window. My favorite older bro, who lives down the block, wondered to his wife if they were for my boyfriends to visit while Mr. Hippie is gone. Little does he know. They are for me to sneak out of the house while Mr. Hippie is gone.=)

Have you ever noticed the "other blogs I love to read" feed in my left hand column? If you haven't ever checked them out, you might enjoy them.
Natetphotois my bro's photo blog. He is doing a 365 day photo thing. And he is really good.
I stumbled across RetroMummy on my own blogger feed a while back. Retro Mummy is an Australian stay at home mom of 4, with #5 on the way. She is crafty, and funny. She is a former lawyer.
I found Idontbelieveingrammar by hitting the next blog link on my own blog. This is a Catholic mother of 4 or 5, a runner, and she stays at home. Her language isn't always as pure as driven snow, but she reminds me of me.
Twinklingalongis an old friend's wife's blog. She has an eye for beauty, and she inspires me. She posts beautiful pictures from her life. We are very similar though she is much more artistic to my organizational-ness. I wish I was more random like her.
Organizing Mommy is someone I have fringe known forever. Her goal is to share her adventures in trying to be organized. She is funny. And real.

Anyway, check out one or two. You might find a keeper.=)

Armed and Dangerous

WWoW-3/21/12
Panoply (pan-o-ply) noun: A complete and impressive array. Panopolis has a panoply of salon services.
Origin:1576, from Greek panoplia "complete suit of armor," from pan-"all" + hopla-"arms" of a hoplites (heavily armed solider) Non-armorial sense first recorded 1829.
I stumbled across panoply yesterday as I was doing my Bible study. "Put on the whole armor of God" could rightly be translated, "put on the panoply of God." The Greek word for whole armor-panoplia is a cognate of panoply. From what I can tell, cognate means two words in different language spelled the same and with the same meaning. I think this is going to be a fun word to work into everyday conversations.
1. He owns a panoply of monopolies.
2. The Henry Ford Museum has a panoply of 20th century cars.
3. My husband possesses a panoply of Bibles, which he promised to cull through.
4. Ethan is impressed by the panoply of skills our Armed Forces receive training in.

ONE of today's projects-a Pinterest adaptation.
I decided the move the right flower over to the left grouping.
What do you think?

source

After this week, I think Mr. Hippie could very well owe me a trip to Panopolis to experience their panoply of services. 

Linking up with
http://boermanramblings.blogspot.com/

Feast for the Senses

Well, Mr. Hippie absconded the premises about 7:30 this morning, and I've been BUSY! Within 4 hours of him walking out the door, every piece of furniture in the living room, excepting the buffet, had been moved. And I love the new arrangement. It makes the room seem bigger, and uncluttered somehow, though nothing actually left the room except some books. The kids keep saying that "dad is going to be surprised..."=) I hope so. It is now also baby-proof to some extent. I am sure Meres will appreciate that. Btw, Meres is 9 months today! Where has the time gone?!

"My" new little corner

The piano swung around to the adjacent wall.
 I think it looks nice without too much fuss.
The plaid couch is in the corner on an angle.

Bumped the bookshelf down, and put this couch here.
Hung more pictures for balance, and viola'!

Not only did Mr. Hippie abscond with his person, he also took the laptop. What is up with that? Whatever happened to the old fashioned method of note taking? (That would be pen and paper.) Now blogging must happen at the basement computer. Inconvenient! And if I play Words with Friends with you, this is not going to happen as frequently this week either. I usually play on my iPod, but it isn't working right. Thus I must come downstairs, and it just takes too much time. I have projecting to accomplish!
A friend bequeathed us three new(to us), matching bookcases last week. Today I sorted out our family library, organizing it neatly on our library-esque shelves. With them all lined up in a row, it is remeniscient of built in shelving, which is a look I love. My nose is running from handling all these dusty books. But I am very pleased with how it turned out. I traded 3 units, for 3. I am very much that way. I try not to just add stuff. (It goes back to that whole moving idea.) Something comes into the house and another something leaves. One bookcase has seen much better days, and will find its way to a dumpster on the Mr.'s job site. The second emptied bookcase is a behemoth that Brian built in his pre-Hippie state. It is made out of 2"thick particle board. It weighs a ton. And is rather ugly. I am going to repurpose it as a raised bed garden. Isn't that very hippie-ish?=) I am not exactly sure what I am going to plant in it-maybe pole beans or maybe flowers. But I think it is going to be neat. I have been gathering ideas on Pinterest so we will see what shakes out. But as I can't move it on my own, it will have to stay where it is until Mr. Hippie and his crew of mighty men can bring it up and out. The final emptied bookcase is a big unknown. The boys want it in their room, which I can see it as their catch all for all their junk. They don't really need a catch all. It could stay in the basement to display their lego models. Or it could lie sidewise, and be a cubby hole-bench thing. Or, it could find its way to the curb. I am going to think some more on it.

The new bookcases. We own a lot of books.
And, this isn't all of them either.

I tried two new recipes today. One was a delicious and easy pasta dish. It has spicy sausage, cremini mushrooms, and cherry tomatoes. The other was Reeses Cheesecake Brownies. Oh my word! These were absolutely amazing! And very simple too. Destined to be a favorite!

My new favorite dessert. Mr. Hippie asked me to freeze him one.
That would be the nice thing to do...

Spring has sprung here in MI, and what a sensory feast! The trees are bright green, and fuzzy brown with new leaves and buds. There are fields of happy daffodils. Things smell fresh and clean. And the sounds! I love sounds. Hearing is probably my most favorite sense. I can't say that I have terribly acute hearing, but sound is very stimulating for me. I would be bereft if I ever lost my hearing. Here is what I am enjoying hearing this spring...
Birds chirping outside my open bedroom windows. I love waking up to that sound!
Train whistles. Such a haunting sound. I have really liked this sound since I was a camp cook. The train was an integral part of camp life. It signaled the arrival and departure of campers, meal times, etc.. Now we have a train track about 1/2 mile from our house. And I get to hear train whistles several times a day.
Racing feet. The minutes before a race starts are full of nervous energy and people talking, but once the race starts all that fades into the sound of serious feet pounding the pavement.
Tea kettles shrilly whistling that it is time for a soothing cuppa.
My children's laughter as they play nicely together. Or as they laugh at their own, or their dad's corny jokes.
Grandfather clocks chiming the hour.
Clocks and watches ticking the seconds.
Fountains. Running water. Waterfalls. Waves. Crashing or tinkling, I love the sound of running water.


Silence...the sound of silence. All the kids tucked in bed. No music. No talking. No phone ringing. Stillness. And I creep around, trying not to disturb it.

Beatle Mania and Bible Conference

It's Monday AGAIN! And, what a weekend! There was really nothing relaxing about it. But it was still a very memorable mid-March weekend.
Brian and I went to the symphony on Friday night. It was Live and Let Die-The Music of Paul McCartney. This translated into a toe tapping, hand clapping, phone waving(encore only) show.=) I had a lot of fun. I got to hear some of my Beatle favorites, as well as a good dose of songs I'd never heard. Some were just weird like "I am the Egg Man, They are the Egg Men, I am a Walrus." What does that even mean? I'm thinking that has drug connotations, and was probably drug fueled. But we also heard some good ones like "Hey Jude" and "Yesterday". The GR Symphony really shown in a few numbers. Great piccolo, sax, and trumpet stuff. The group who did the show are some, if not the, for most Beatle imitator group. There was a Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison. They had the accents and mullet down to a T. Mr. Hippie, of course, is more familiar with this music than I am. I have never had a good mind for remembering groups and their hits. I have my favorite songs, but most of the time I have no idea who wrote or performed them. I have to say the funniest part of the experience was the older couple sitting next to me. They were probably in the 70s, and were season ticket holders from Holland. And they had NO IDEA what they were getting into with this concert. The gentleman befriended me before. We talked about the weather, etc. Well, during the intermission he leaned over and said, that the symphony is not usually like this. It is usually calmer.=) He inferred that this was probably more my kind of music than his.=) I tried not to laugh. I was impressed. They stuck it out through the whole concert. You have to realize, the symphony crowd is an older group-50s plus generally. I wonder if it is because it is expensive. But concerts at other venues here in town are as expensive or more so. I think the symphony is probably trying to reach a more diverse age bracket by bringing in the not so classical shows. I think the Pops series is fun. Certainly it doesn't put me to sleep like the classical line. Anyway...another good show. Three down, two to go.

Saturday morning came way to early, and we even slept in...until 6:45.=) We dropped the kids off at 8:00 and headed to EGR for our race. It was a glorious morning. The sun was rising, the air was crisp enough, and flowers were blooming. There was a great mass of people crammed into a fairly small area. There are 2 races. The men race at 9:00 and the ladies race at 9:35. I spent most of the time between the guy's start and the ladies waiting in line for the port-a-jon. Well, without giving a blow by blow account of the race, I'll just say, it went okay. I didn't reach my goal of a 24 minute race. I did it in 25:05. That is a minor bummer. But, my goal for all my 5Ks is to be in the top 10%. I hit that in my division, and was just over that overall. I am pretty proud of that. I felt like I was trucking the whole time. Obviously I have to cut over 20 seconds per mile. But that is possible. Next time...
We went to a Bible conference on Saturday afternoon. The speaker was very simple, very encouraging and very challenging. I was bummed that we only got to sit in on one session. The other two we taught the kids. That was fun too. We both focused on sight. Mr. Hippie taught about Elisha, his servant and the Syrian army. I taught about Bartimaeus, and John Newton. We came home and unwound with some Hogan's Heroes. Both of us fell asleep during the third episode. It was only about 9:30.=)
Sunday was full with church, potluck, a nap for Meres, and then visiting the rest home to participate in their hymning. It was a great day. We wanted to go back to the conference, but Meres needed to nap. We stayed home and talked.
And now it is Monday. I slept in and didn't swim. I figured I needed the sleep more that the swim. We ran, I am doing laundry, and paperwork, and we are heading out to grocery shop soon.

She has stood herself up at the couch once.

I love watching her feet and legs.
They are an accurate barometer to measure her mood.
Kicking legs=happy. She loves her swing.

By the way...I know that spring is almost here-on the calendar. And that it probably isn't here to stay-weather-wise. But this barefoot hippie girl is enjoying being barefoot. Oh the wondrous feeling of bare toes in sandals! And seeing bare baby feet. I love, love, LOVE it!=)
Tomorrow I send off the Mr. for four days.
And it will be projecting time!

Irish Eyes Are Smiling

And, why is that?

Well, it's Friday. And school is done. Including Friday fun school. Though I probably should listen to the boys play the piano at some point in time today. We studied are fattest president in history for history (Taft), embarked on our study of Brazil in geography, and continued with our mold experiment. Our bread and water jar now has a blanket of mold over the entire surface of the bread. The vinegar and salt water bread are both mold free still. The dry bread has little mold dots on the bottom. Today we started a new observation experiment. We placed an egg in a glass and then covered it with white vinegar. It is supposed to soften within the next few days. So those jars of pickled eggs that you see at the grocery store, could be eggs still with their shells on-just soft. I wouldn't know. They look too disgusting to try. We also did an experiment with warm milk and a dropper full of vinegar. Did you know that the milk will curdle into a pretty solid plastic like compound called casein? Learn something new every day...

I'm also smiling because I am putting an end to my chocolate-lessness. I have had no chocolate in my house since last Saturday. No cookies, or brownies, or pie, or cake, or even ice-cream. This is a very long time! I was feeling so desperate the other day, that I actually resorted to eating a spoonful (or two) of fudge ice-cream topping from the fridge. But, now, I have a cookie jar full of chocolate chip cookies, and I have a box for the freezer. And everything is all right in my world.=)

I get to go the the symphony tonight. With Brian. First date in a while. I'll tell you about the show after I've seen it.

It is warm and finally sunny-today. There was an immense layer of fog this morning that didn't burn off until after noon.

I swam this morning. I didn't talk myself out of it. I got up and went, and did better than I had all week.
My kids are playing nicely. And Meredith is down for a nap. Bread is baking. Chores are done. Chicken Marsala is on the menu. And, I'm remembering last night's dinner.

Wow! No one took me up on my offer. Your loss. We ate good.=) I told Brian that this is probably one time of year that he is grateful he has an Irish wife.

I am Irish from my maternal side. With a wee bit in the paternal family tree. But, since my mom is Irish, we grew up having corned beef and cabbage (aka-boiled dinner) every St. Patrick's Day. Several of us sibs have continued the tradition. (We are going to be gone tomorrow evening, so I made ours early.)

I don't like boiled cabbage, or boiled potatoes for that matter. But soon after I got married, I stumbled across a recipe for colcannon-mashed potatoes combined with sautéed bacon, cabbage and onion, and topped with melted butter. How can that NOT be good? It isn't good for you, but who cares? Once a year isn't going to kill you. I have also added Irish Soda Bread to our menu. Soda bread is especially delicious about 10 minutes out of the oven, smothered with jam. And corned beef really is outstanding and simple. You open the package, plop it in a pan of water, add the seasoning packet and boil it for 50 minutes per pound. You can't screw it up. Well, unless you don't cut it the right way. Which I still can't remember which direction is right. But Mr. Hippie carved beautiful slices last night-the wrong direction. It doesn't change the taste at all. It does change the texture. Anyway, if you are looking for a new St. Patrick's Day tradition to add to your corned beef and green beer, here is the recipe for colcannon. Btw, I'd love to hear your family's ethnic holiday traditions. Do you celebrate Cinco de Mayo, or St. Lucia Day, or Oktoberfest or...? How do you make your holiday special? 

Bettin' you're wishing you were Irish too.

Colcannon

2-1/2 pounds potatoes-peeled and cubed

4 slices bacon

1/2 head cabbage

1 onion-chopped

1/2 c milk

salt and pepper

1/4 c. butter, melted


-cook potatoes until tender

-fry bacon, crumble, reserve drippings

-saute cabbage and onion in dripping until soft, about 10 minutes

-drain potatoes, mash w/milk, salt and pepper

-add bacon, cabbage and onion

-transfer to a serving bowl, make a well and pour butter on top

Soda Bread

Carrots

Corned Beef

To all my Irish friends and family, and to all my friends and family who are green with envy wishing they were Irish...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

4(hours)=1 out of 40

(This post is dedicated to T. Sushereba...because of you I added two activities to my week.=))
A friend on FB posted some pictures earlier this week of the sugar bush activities at a local nature center. (was that a long sentence or what?)(and this is activity #1=)) I have wanted to take the kids out there for a few years, but there is never enough time. This week I saw those photos and decided this was going to be the year to see how maple syrup is made. And if this is the year, then this is the week. Sugaring season is winding down.  Public tours run Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, so we headed down the road a few miles today, and experienced this phenomena.

Happy foursome.

Elsie pretending to stir sap...Indian style

Ethan modeling the yoke...Almonzo Wilder style

very interested

almost ready

Our guide was very enthusiastic. I think she is used to talking to kids. She pointed out how to recognize a Sugar Maple tree. She showed how to drill a hole in the tree to tap for sap, and the kids got the opportunity to help her. We saw a reproduced wigwam from  the "Native American" sugaring times, and then saw cast iron pots and wooden yokes and buckets from "Laura Ingalls Wilder" times. We saw syrup being boiled, with one batch almost done. It is an amazing process. It is the end of the season, so the sugar content is only about 2%. It takes about 4 hours of boiling to get it to the 60% sugar content. Syrup this time of year is darker. It is a lower grade. It is darker because it has more of an opportunity to caramelize the longer it cooks. We got to sample a wee smidgen. It was very good. Maple syrup is expensive because it takes so much sap to make one gallon. Most trees only give off 5-10 gallons of sap per sugar season. It takes 40 gallons of sap to get one gallon of syrup. That is 3-4 trees worth of sap. Lots of work, lots of time. But delicious. The kids thought the experience, topped off by a stop at Coldstone, equalled one of the "best days ever."
And, I'm thinking its only going to get better...we are having corned beef, colcannon, soda bread and carrots for dinner.
Anyone want to join us?

Crudite' Erudite

WWoW-3/14/12
Erudite-(er u dite) adjective- Having or showing profound knowledge. John was an erudite professor of quantum physics. 
Origin: 1432, from Latin eruditus "instruct," from ex-"out" + rudis "unskilled, rude." (rude would be crude, rough)
1. The erudite prep cook is especially knowledgable of crudités.=)
2. God's omniscience surpasses an erudite knowledge of everything.
3. The crude oil roughneck was an erudite fountain of drilling knowledge.
4. The architect took our rough sketch and turned it into an erudite site plan.

There is actually an Erudite Society...where thought is free and the civilized may congregate for intellectually stimulating discussion. Wow.=) That sounds lofty.
Though, my WWoW goal is to gain an erudite grasp of English vocabulary.

Dusting off the Tan (amongst other things)

It is an amazing day here in MI! The sun is shining, and it is already over 50 degrees. It is almost time to work on my runner's tan. Short sleeves and capris will get to see the sun for the first time in several months. I am excited! My first race of the year is Saturday. I am ready-or at least as ready as I will ever be. We are taking part in the Irish Jig. It is a popular 5k in these parts. About 4000 people participate. The weather looks like it is going to hold. This week is consequently a "taper" week. I will run 6-7 miles today (I still haven't decided which route) and 4 on Thursday. And then the plan is to run my Irish heart out on Saturday. I am going to try for my best 5k time ever...which would be under 24 minutes. We'll see if I can make that. Its going to be push-push-pushing the whole time. It would be awesome if could I pull it off. We'll see.

My favorite Irish Jigging group-Leahy

Being Tuesday, it is also my vacuum/dust day. Vacuuming and dusting always perks things up. Things look fresh and clean without that thin (or thick) coating of dust. But, have you noticed the down side of dusting? Here's what I'm talking about. No matter how carefully you dust your hanging frames, they always end up crooked. I think that is why museums screw each side in place. It isn't a security thing. They don't want their frames all askew. And, if you are like me, (and I'm not saying you are, 'cause you probably have your dusting act more together=)) you go through half of the next week between dustings cocking your head at your crookedly hanging pictures. When you finally get them all hanging straight, it's time to haul out the dust rag once again. And the process repeats itself. I haven't straightened all my frames from last week yet. If I dust today, and then eye ball the frames and realign, maybe I'll have a week of straight pictures.

The photograph in Commandant Klink's office
 is often off kilter as the Allies listen in.

To quote Cinderella's nasty stepmother, "I said, 'if...'"=)

Just Say NO

A spring rain is falling. You can almost watch the daffodil plants growing...stretching out their greenery skyward in preparation for some beautiful blooms oh so soon!
I saw crocuses yesterday. Tiny little buggers, peeping up their yellow faces towards the unusual spring warmth and sunshine.
And I also saw a hilarious quote on FB yesterday. Referring to daylight savings time. "Only the government can cut a foot off the bottom of a blanket, sew it to the top, and think they have a longer blanket." So true. The days technically aren't any longer. But somehow the hour switch up does make the days seem just a bit longer. I like the light evenings, though I was also liking the lighter mornings. Now I have to wait for them to recalibrate. This hour was killing me this morning. I know the clock said 5:00 as I was swimming away, but my body was still set at 4:00. It was the difference between early hour and ungodly hour.
I remember growing up. (It seems so long ago now=)) When I was in public school for the first four years of my schooling career, there was the "just say no" anti-drug campaign. I never dabbled in drugs, and I never forgot the mantra. But, how hard is it to "just say no"? To food. To that extra hour of sleep. To wiling away hours on the computer. To church activities. To other people.

The Queen of "just say no"

I am a pretty determined character. And I used to pride myself on my ability to say no. I wouldn't do what I didn't want to . Yet, this past year or two, that firm no has gotten rather ambiguous and fuzzy. I started thinking. I stopped letting my "yes be yes and my no be no". I would feel stressed, burdened, and manipulated when I said yes. And I would feel guilty and shirking and grumbly when I said no.  This is not a good state of affairs. God loves cheerful givers. Those who give what they have purposed in their hearts to give. Not grudgingly or under compulsion. This giving may be primarily money, but it also includes time and resources. On top of that, God has works He has prepared for me to do. Things that accomplish His purposes for me-my conformity to Jesus Christ's image. Things that bring glory to God. Within the confines of these works are raising my children, loving and supporting and submitting to my husband, and keeping my home, and leading a Bible club, and a Bible study group. I have found my time at a premium this year. Days and weeks click by on a pretty tight schedule. There is some flexibility, but the order keeps things moving and getting done, you know? I have to say, I have been conscientiously trying to fit in people this year...not just activities. If I have a ministry, but I'm not ministering to people, what good is it? There is no merit in busyness for the sake of being busy. I have been walking the tight rope of trying to do everything well. School and parenting, being a wife, studying, running, hospitality. Aiming for excellence, not perfection.
Here is the rub. We have scheduled activities Monday through Wednesday evenings. Every week. At least one member of the family, if not several members, attend a Bible study/church each of these evenings. Every week. The open nights are Thursday, Friday or Saturday. The kids had a Bible club Friday evenings. We try to fit in hospitality one of those evenings. Also, quite often there is another good activity that we are invited to any one of those nights. Do you see the pressure? You are caught in the cooker of trying to do what you feel God wants you to do, with what everyone else wants you to do.  Everyone wants you at their activity. Most people also tell you that you need to say no to some things. (how do you do it all?) But, no one, I repeat-NO ONE, wants you to say no to them.
I know my situation is far from unique. I know everyone is busy.
What is a workable solution? What is sustainable? Dispensing grace. Give people a break. Realize that you don't know God's will for them. No guilt trips. I have to realize that not everyone can do what I am asking them to do. They have different hearts, talents, and "burdens". God has different works He has prepared for them. I also have to take responsibility, along with Mr. Hippie, for my "yes's and no's". Who knows better than we do what God has laid on our hearts? Who is responsible for the health of our marriage? For the upbringing of our children? For our physical health? We are. We need to filter activities through the lens of where God has placed us, the responsibilities He has given us, and the gifts He has given us. And we can't do everything. There is good. There is better. And there is best. I want to be filling my time with the best.
I used to pray very faithfully about what God wanted me to do. When I neglect that, my stress level escalates accordingly. If I tell you I will pray about something you are asking me to do, I mean it. I will pray about it. We are asked by good people to do good things all the time. But there is literally not enough hours in the day to do it all. Please, if I tell you "no", extend me some grace. Realize that I am not boycotting you or your activity. I am trying to stay both reliant on God and sane.=) And I will extend some of that same grace your way too. And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Ephesians 4:31
Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best. 

Confessions of a (not) Green Thumb

It's Friday. So, here I sit with a cup of peppermint tea, and a bowl of mango. Though I did just (generously and unselfishly) give the other half to Brian. I kind of went hog wild on the fresh fruit this week. I bought mangos, strawberries, grapes, kiwis, oranges, and the kids even talked me into some bosche pears. I love fruit! I like to slice a kiwi in half and just scoop out the insides with a spoon. Slightly puckery, and very delicious. I got hooked on mango last summer. I can't remember if the bff started serving them regularly first, or if Mr. Hippie bought them postpartum, but we ate a lot of them regardless.

I am also sitting here, looking at my poor, drooping, though formerly lively, calla lily plants that Brian gave me. I don't have a green thumb. Sigh...I have this terrible fault of killing plants. If they are outside in the dirt, and can thrive without attention, they will do alright in my care. But, house plants invariably die. First, I struggle to find the watering balance. What is too much, or too little? I don't know. The plants die before I figure it out. I like those 2 ice cube orchids. It is self explanatory-two ice cubes once a week. Who can mess that up? But, what I haven't figured out in the orchid department is how to keep them blooming. My orchids inevitably end up bloom free and in the garbage. Second, it is probably a heat thing. My house isn't a hothouse, and I think I might freeze my poor plants to death. It is notable that when we were in England touring the Kew Gardens, the only warm place was the orchid house. I've also had a Moses in the Cradle plant. Someone told me you can't kill them. I did. Twice. The first time my mom managed to revive it, and encourage it to grow into a nice hearty plant. She then gave it back. And it promptly died. Funny though, my annual poinsettias never die. I purposefully don't water them so I can get rid of them when I am over Christmas-in March. Anyway, Mr. Hippie sweetly gives me plants occasionally. And I sweetly love them to death just as occasionally. =) I am a cut flower kind of girl. They are supposed to die anyhow.

On the other hand, does mold count in the green thumb category? 'Cause I have some beautiful specimens growing in the plain water/bread jar on the window sill.=)
I am not into green energy. I don't have green eyes. (you are just deluded, Mr. Hippie) I finally have a green something to wear on St. Patrick's Day this year, to support my ethnicity. I have little in the way of green decorations and accents in my house. I am more a blue kind of girl. Maybe it is fate. Maybe I should stick with water fountains or something.



Here's to hoping my calla lilies fight the good fight for another couple of weeks, until I can get them into some dirt outside.

Oatmeal Cookies and Plethora Revisited

I made the most amazing Oatmeal Cookies yesterday! Seriously. And considering that I really don't like oatmeal cookies, this a doubly amazing thing.=) I couldn't tell you the last time I made oatmeal cookies. It would be sometime between forever and never. The thing I dislike most about oatmeal cookies is biting into one expecting a smidget of chocolate and ending up with a raisin. How absolutely disappointing!
That's not to say that I don't like raisins. I do. I just don't like raisins when I am expecting chocolate.
But, I've had an idea I've wanted to try out for a while...a marshmallow cream filling sandwiched between oatmeal cookies. I have a great marshmallow cream recipe that I frost hearty molasses cookies with. Plus, I like those oatmeal pies from Little Debby.
So, I mixed up a double batch of the Red Check oatmeal cookie recipe, using raisins. I made the cookies small. I probably used about one tablespoon of batter per cookie. They came out of the oven a bit thicker than I wanted. Next time I will flatten them a bit before baking. Then I mixed up my marshmallow cream, and frosted the rough side of half the cookies, sandwiching each with another cookie while the frosting was still moist. Ummm...amazing! My kids and husband were impressed. Here is the filling recipe.

Marshmallow Cream
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon of vinegar
1/2 cup water
Combine in a small saucepan, cover and bring to a boil. Remove lid, insert a candy thermometer, and bring to 234-240 degrees. Remove from heat.

1 cup mini marshmallows
Add to syrup, and stir until melted.

Meanwhile, beat 2 egg white until frothy. Turn mixer onto high, and slowly add syrup, continuing to beat until stiff peaks form.

I want to revisit our WWoW, plethora. I was working on my Bible study today, and here is an awesome verse I came across-
Ephesians 4:16-20-that He would grant you, according tho the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length and depth and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him Who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think....
Did you catch that last line? "Exceeding abundantly above." That's the definition of plethora. Plethora has extreme connotations. It is not usually considered a good thing. It is too much-and then some. But, when it comes to God, plethora is a wonderful idea. God can and does do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think. Wow!

In the words of Francis Ridely Havergal,
"O fill me with Thy fullness, Lord, until my very heart o're flow.
In kindling thought and glowing word, Thy Love to tell, Thy praise to show."

I just can't get enough of her!

O, use me, Lord, use even me...