Our Cherry Tree

This tree is amazing!  Our whole family anticipates it's annual blooming.  I don't know the exact name for it, only that it's an ornamental Japanese cherry tree.

When the petals start to fall, the whole ground turns pink.  I love to stand under it when the wind blows and have the petals swirl all around and over me.  It's like being in a snowstorm of pink!  Fabulous, fabulous tree!  It  makes me happy!

P.S.  Those are seashells we collected last summer on the picnic table.  I don't want to throw them away but don't know what to do with them, so for now they're here.

Here's the Thing....

I've over-committed myself this week; BIG TIME!!!

But nothing can be moved, so it is what it is.                                                                                                  Here's what my week looks like: Monday-Three children over for art and music 11-3, two friends over for tea at 4:30 this afternoon with their four children under six to plan Garrett & Mallory's engagement party this Friday.

Tuesday- Take Darcie to tutor at 12:00 and pick up at 3:00.  Shop for her Easter shoes then take her to youth chorale at 4:00 and then horseback riding at 5:30.

Wednesday & Thursday-Fairly normal days with Garrett coming sometime Thursday.

Friday (the killer)-Bookgroup at my house at 12:00 with the engagement party at 5:00.

Sunday-Multiple family members coming over for Easter egg hunt and Sunday dinner.

Lots of cooking to be done and homeschooling in the midst; not to mention cleaning, cooking,  and laundry.

Here's the thing...I don't do well with a week like this.  I don't enjoy this much busyness.  But I'm committed and have to deal with it.  I'll have to be super organized with many lists in order to get it all done.  The older I get the less I like weeks like this.  I try to have a 'summer state of mind' year round and wide margins around events and less to-do lists.

How I wish I could just have a happy-go-lucky attitude, relax, and do everything in a leisurely manner.  On the outside I've learned to at least look like I'm calm.  After all, aren't older people supposed to be wise and unruffled?  

God gave me my personality along with all it's nuances and quirks.  I read somewhere recently that our temperaments are gifts from God.  I think so too.  Temperaments aren't sinful, but we sure sin plenty through them.

The key is to learn how to respect the way God made me and not sin when I'm overwhelmed or too busy by being short-tempered, angry, or frustrated.  

One of the things I do that I hate most is that instead of living in the moment and enjoying every second of whatever I'm doing, I find myself wishing things would hurry and be over so I could have some peace and quiet.  Yes, that is my biggest idol of the heart.

This is what I see as the solution; pray that God would make me more tolerant of noise and activity and to enjoy the moment and not look for it to be over, to try and avoid busy weeks like this one, to be gracious as I possibly can, and to love all these people I'm surrounded by more than myself, which is the reason I crave solitude in the first place.  I mean I love myself more than I do others.

Any suggestions or words of wisdom floating around out there?  Do you agree with my assessment of the solution?  What do ya'll think?

A Recent Getaway

Gayle and I recently went to Raleigh where his company was honoring several of their salesmen for selling the most nation wide.  He was one of them but would never tell you that!  The place where we stayed was called The Umstead.  It was very relaxing and oriental.  I'm not crazy about oriental gardening or decorating.  I do like the big pots in the ground, but that's about it.  One thing I did really like was  how quiet the place was.  Calm music drifted through the restaurants and everywhere else was just really quiet.  

One of my biggest gripes with our present culture is the thought that blaring music needs to be in ALL public places.  Most restaurants are so noisy you have to shout to have a conversation.  Grocery stores  have rock music going so loud I can't even think about what to buy.  There's one exception in our town and that's Bi-Lo.  They play music from the 50-60's, and I find myself singing along (much to Darcie's embarrassment).  I have even been know to throw in a dance step or two.  

As usual, it was nice to get away from my life for a few days.  But coming home is always the sweetest part of a trip.

A Cool Photo

There was this little Catholic church close to our B & B in St. Mary's, GA where we stayed before going over to Cumberland Island.  It was surrounded by a white picket fence that had crosses attached to the top at regular intervals. 

As we were walking back from eating that night, I saw one of the crosses' shadow on the side of the church.  Since I had 3200 speed film in my camera, it came out really well even though it was very dark.  Cool, huh?

A Weekend on the Coast

                                                                                 Friday night the three of us traveled to St. Marys, GA to spend the night at a B & B we had stayed in before called The Goodbread House.  We decided to spend the night, because the ferry going over to Cumberland Island leaves the dock at 9:00 which meant we would have to leave our house around 5:45 to catch it.  
I've wanted to go over to Cumberland Island ever since moving to south Georgia.  So I called up, made reservations, and off we went.

You have to take all the supplies over you'll need, because there are no stores.    We took everything we needed in a backpack.  Of course, I had my camera bag with three different cameras.  One had black and white film, one had color, and the other was digital.  

The island has about 200 feral horses left over from Spanish settlers and previous owners.   I was hoping to get some of them running on the beach or something equally dramatic, but it didn't happen.

We didn't get to see everything there, because we had to walk everywhere.  My legs feel swollen from all the walking.  So we concentrated on the southern tip.  There were the ruins of a grand mansion from the gilded age build by Thomas Carnegie (brother to Andrew).  Unfortunately it burned about the middle of the last century.  There was a cemetery where Robert E. Lee's father, Gen.  "Light Horse Harry" Henry Lee was buried.  He died in the first mansion that was there; there have been two.

It was nice just walking on the beach.  I'm looking forward to going to Fripp again in May.

The island is covered in live oak trees, palmettos, and spanish moss; very Southern. This was a great time of year to go.  It's unbearable in the hot months-about April through November!

We had a great day and now I have to go cook supper even though I don't want to.  I hate cooking after getting back from a trip.  I always feel so blah.  Anyway, I'm glad we went.  One more thing to mark off the list in 2009!

Making Dishcloths

I found this thermal baby blanket at Goodwill.  It's all-cotton in a pastel plaid.  It was coming apart on one end, so I didn't feel too guilty cutting it apart to make dishcloths.

I've been wanting to knit some dishcloths, but when I saw this I realized I could make them much quicker by cutting the blanket apart and hemming the edges.  I'll get to knitting some soon; maybe when these wear out.  In the meantime, these will happily suffice!

Things Present; Things to Come

It's the first day of March, and spring is coming in like a lion.  Our yard is covered in robins, so in a nod to them I'm adding the egg background to my blog.  

I've been hanging onto winter.  I love bundling up in sweaters and scarves.  B..U..T...things are starting to bloom around here, so my mind is slowly, slowly turning toward spring.  There's nothing like spring in the South.  I remember traveling through Georgia in 1977 with my husband while he worked his territory.  We were living in Columbia, South Carolina at the time; another beautiful state in spring.

I remember especially the hanging blossoms of wisteria looking like lavender grape clusters made all the more brilliant by the background of dark green pine trees.  I also remember baby goats jumping and playing all over the fields.  It seemed like everyone had goats!  

And the balmy, soft touch of the southern air on your face; just enough to let you feel its presence.

All that will come in a few weeks.  Right now the wind is blowing sideways from the northwest.  There's a chance we'll have snow tonight!  We're all hoping and praying it comes.  The last time it snowed here was in 2000 and then only an inch or less.  

So tonight, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!