Before Daybreak

"It is a habit of my life always to be out of the house before daybreak. There are sights and sounds, there is a glory on the world then that it hardly wears at any other time. And I treasure the memories of things seen and heard then." Archibald Rutledge from Home By the River

I totally agree with Mr. Rutledge. I can count on one hand the number of times in a year that I miss the sunrise on any given day. It's the loveliest time, so quiet not even the birds are awake yet. It's a hovering between two worlds not unlike the ebb tide; a suspension of time almost mystical.

Plant Your Own Flowers

Early Morning

"The early morning was very nice. It was lovely to see the world all misted over with the dreams of the night. The dreams that people dreamed were not visible when they came down to breakfast, except sometimes as a shadow in their eyes, but the dreams of the earth clung about her till the sun was up, soft and filmy and rainbow-tinted. What did she dream of? Perhaps of the days to come when men would have eyes to see her beauty and minds that would not pollute it." From A City of Bells by Elizabeth Goudge

The Cure For Boredom

"For those of the current generation the normal reflex when bored is to watch a video or surf the Web. What can we do to help our young people accept the short-term pain of learning creative life skills in order to avoid the long-term pain of chronic subconscious boredom? What can we do to teach them that an addiction to electronic entertainment will shrivel their souls? Many of the short-term solutions to boredom undoubtedly give pleasure. But these are unsustainable and provide only a counterfeit of life and ultimately lead to spiritual emptiness." (p. 124)

Unfortunately,I can't remember where this quote came from. Of the nine books I've read in April, it has to be either What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty or Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler. I'm thinking it must be the Jane Austen one for it made many contrasts between the 19th century and our present time. They're both worth reading. I'll be reviewing Rigler's book here soon.

I think the solution has to be the parents. The most important thing that we can do is to not be addicted to "counterfeit life" ourselves. Our children are going to emulate us. If they see us always connected to a portable device, then that's what they'll want, too. We need to be parents and people who are interested in real life.

My parents and grandparents took me along with them when they did their shopping, visiting, and chores. I learned how to be an adult alongside them. They took an interest in the world and so did I. If I wanted to learn something new which they weren't interested in, they made sure I had lessons. I was in 4-H club where I learned all sorts of things. I read voraciously and was outside most of the day when I wasn't in school or doing chores. The great outdoors is a great teacher! And because of my upbringing, I'm never bored today. In fact, one lifetime isn't enough time to do all the things I'd like to try and accomplish.

I believe many children today have too much leisure time. If they're keep busy and engaged doing chores or being with adults as they work, then when they do have free time, they'll treasure it. Games, books, and toys should be provided for the children to use as well as large quantities of unscheduled time outside. This is when their imaginations are expanded the most and they learn to appreciate nature.

Anyone have any thoughts on how you keep your kids from being bored? Are you bored yourself? Is electronic device addiction something with which you or your children struggle?

Down By The River Side

This week I've been taking every road I know that crosses the Ogeechee River trying to find a 'Kodak moment' for an exhibition coming up at the end of May that'll benefit a local organization called The RiverKeepers. They're dedicated to cleaning up our local river, and our art association wanted to draw attention to them and raise a little money in the process.

The above three are the best ones so far. Each person can submit up to three works of art for entry into the exhibition. If they sell, a portion of the proceeds will go to the RiverKeepers organization. I love entering these local contests! Wish me luck or good providence.

The Shortest Day

So the shortest day came, and the year died,
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive,
And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, revelling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us - Listen!!
All the long echoes sing the same delight,
This shortest day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.
Welcome Yule!!"

- Susan Cooper, The Shortest Day

Delicious Autumn

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth searching for successive autumns." -- George Eliot

When Life Gets To Be "Too Much"

The Peace of Wild Things

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.


— Wendell Berry

Rewards of the Simple Life

"To find the universal elements enough;
to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be
refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter;
to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated
over a bird's nest or a wildflower in spring...
these are some of the rewards
of the simple life."
John Burroughs

Williamsburg Watercolor

I took this photo at the Powhatan Plantation outside Williamsburg where we usually stay. As ya'll probably already know, I'm a sucker for fog and impressionistic images.

Here I tried re-creating it in watercolors. I haven't viewed them side by side, but as I'm looking at them, I didn't capture the right colors of purple that was in the photograph.

I also felt that I had to make the road more distinct or the whole thing would have been a dark blob. I'm still happy with the outcome. After all, I wasn't striving for photographic realism. It makes for a good excuse, anyway.

Dirt On My Hands

February, March, and April are prime gardening months in Georgia. After that, It'll be too hot to garden except before sunrise and after sunset. Even then I'll be dripping wet when I come back inside because of our high humidity.

So every spare minute I have, I'm in the garden weeding, moving seedlings, planting, remaking walkways, etc.

I love gardening! I'm determined this year to have a fabulous garden. I want gardens so wonderful that people gasp when they drive by. I want our cottage to be rose covered and have full, blowsy borders of colorful flowers.

When I laid out our gardens in 2000, I thought I'd finish and that'd be it. Ha! They're higher maintenance than a house full of kids! You have to keep at it everyday or they'll just be mediocre; which is what I've had for the last twenty-two years.

Well, this is the year that I go for fabulous! Breathtaking! Stupendous! I'll keep you posted...

Goodbye Teacup Header

As much as I loved my tea cup header, I felt that it was time for spring to show up, so I changed my header photo to apple blossoms. I took this image last year in our fruit orchard. This year the trees have already bloomed and leafed out. We've had an early spring. Good thing we didn't get a late killing frost. It would have wiped out all fruit for this year.

We have several varieties of apples and peaches, a fig tree, two pear trees, a plum tree (maybe two), and a row of blueberry bushes. And there's raspberries next to the blueberries.

Around the property we also have muscadine grapes, persimmons, blackberries, crabapples, a mulberry tree, and lots of pecan trees. We are blessed to live in a place where the growing season is almost year round. I'll try to remember that this summer when it's 102 degrees in the shade and 100% humidity!

Sunday Morning Rainbows

Grandson #2 spent the night with us last night. While waiting for church this morning he found the laundry room full of rainbows.

This crystal in the window makes beautiful rainbows when the Eastern sun hits it.

A rainbow over the sink. It's strewn with patterns and fabric as I try and decide which dress to make my twin granddaughters; one pattern and fabric=two identical dresses.

Rainbow on the beadboard ceiling.

Rainbow on the Ivory Girl's face and the cabinet.

A small thing that brings much joy to child and adult alike.

Come Into my Parlour

Since I already have the parlour pretty much the way I want it, I like to do small things to make me happy; such as tie a burlap string around a stack of books. I'm easy!

This tea arrangement makes me happy, too. The books I tied up are under the teacart.

I bought two of these needlepoint pheasant pillows on e-bay.

I've posted this photo before but haven't shown it hanging on the wall. It's one of my favorites taken in Stratford-on-Avon. I made it into a black and white photo and then hand-colored it using transparent oil paints. Pretty cool, huh? Excuse the reflections of the curtains in the glass.

A bevy of family portraits on an end table. I threw in the turquoise frame to shake things up a little.

I have matches in this box which hangs to the left of the fireplace. There's a story that goes with this box.

I think I was college age and our family was at this bluegrass/craft festival up in the Smoky Mountains. I saw this box and really liked it. Daddy, being the sweetie he is, said, "I'll buy it for you." I only ever remember him buying two things for me; this box and a Sarah Coventry bracelet that I still wear forty years later. And he's taken my brother and me to the country store for many ice cream cones.

I remember one time he was taking us fishing, and we stopped at this same store for lunch supplies. As a special treat for dessert, he got little cups of pudding but failed to buy any spoons. Of course we didn't discover this until it was time to eat. We didn't know what we were going to do short of sticking our fingers into the pudding, but Daddy being ever resourceful, looked around and saw some reeds on the river bank. Walking over to them, he cut a long one. As he walked back to us he cut it into three pieces, each piece about the length of a straw, and handed one to me and then one to my younger brother.

We looked at each other and then over at Daddy who had stuck his reed into the pudding and was drinking it like a milkshake. We thought he was a genius for being so innovative. He was and is a genius still. He's one of the smartest men I know. And one of the kindest. I love my daddy!