Sunday's Ramblings

Before I had children, Sundays were largely spent in bed. I would forage forth long enough to drag back the newspaper, coffee, or food- but otherwise didn't get up. It was wonderful. In college days studying was included later in the afternoon.

Even after I had a husband (he was quickly enamored with this Sunday pattern) and years later a baby, we kept this habit. Our daughter was wholly breastfed until she was about six month old and was highly content to lounge around with the two people in the world that could still see her angel wings. She nuzzled, ate, slept, was changed, admired, played with, read to and sung to, all within the confines of a few square feet of space.

I can barely remember how that felt now. My children are all old enough to fend for themselves (youngest being almost 18 now) and are loathe to remove themselves from their own beds unless it is a weekday. The two youngest boys have expanded the "Sunday bed" thing to be the entire weekend. They are hard working, energetic people otherwise- as long as it is not a Sunday. I have noticed that the area surrounding their beds looks like the command post of a CEO or general in combat. Remote controls at finger's reach, books piled upon one another- spines splayed open to different points, cups and glasses perched precariously along table edges. It strikes me that they may keep this Sunday habit in their owns lives as well as they move forth and become adults. My two adult children seem to have.

My son, who turns 24 today, sometimes works on Sundays so that ruins the pattern for him. But on those Sundays, his wife of two years holds the vigil for them, along with their loving Zoie- my granddogghter. Sometimes they venture over to our house, but that's at dinnertime to await the additional arrival of my son.

My daughter( the baby I mentioned earlier) now has her own daughter. This baby came into the world in such a quick "whosh" that not only surprised her father and myself, but the doctor who couldn't get there in time. We had no time to change into scrubs, but instead stood there amazed at the miracle that my daughter was wholly orchestrating on her own, while we were wearing sweaters and jeans. We did have enough wits about us to help hold her knees and count to ten several times. I figured at that point this new baby of the family was a 100% high energy, no time to waste, kind of girl. No laying around in bed on Sundays. But she does follow in the line, after all. She sleeps peacefully in her own princess room (the pink and lavender one with the canopy of netted stars and satin comforter) until the sun is well up. Then she pads into her parent's room, gathering up as she moves along, coloring books and pencils of all colors, books to read, and the current favorite doll to snuggle. She does the same thing when spending the night here at my house. "PopPop" and I feel a small wiggle on the bed between us and there she is, sleepy eyed, not really awake yet. Along with her, a small pile of activities she plans to draw us into in a bit. On those occasions it's as if time has not only stood still, but has moved backwards, and I am once again back in the days of having a tiny person with wide eyed innocence and wonder guide me through my Sunday.

Last Friday of July

The summer is going by in a blur. Summer's are supposed to be slower! Didn't they used to be longer?

Today is the final planning day for my oldest son's birthday party. I know what kind of cake he would like now, so that can be made. The food is planned. He would like to have steaks with herb butters on the side, big potatoes, and some grilled vegetables. I still need to check the bar to be sure that is stocked and get the white wines and champagne chilled. Fizzy gingerale will be necessary for our granddaughter. She's going to be upset that the Black Swallowtail caterpillars have discovered her carrots that are growing so nicely tucked into the herb garden. First they ate all of the dill- now this. I need to go out and take them off (along with the tuft they are hugging to) the carrots and put them into a butterfly house for her to take home with her. They can eat organic carrot tops and parsley from the shop near here. I grow carrots, dill and parsley, but caterpillars eat at an alarming rate.

I don't see any new waterlilies that will appear on cue Sunday. But sometime they surprise me and pop up from beneath the leaves at the last minute. This picture is of a lily several weeks ago.
I harvested a basket full of bell peppers yesterday. Some were turning red already. The tomatoes have slowed in the heat. The sweet basil is gigantic. A fresh tomato, mozzarella, basil salad will be good for Sunday's party. I will say that the scent of all of the herbs in the garden is strengthened by the summer heat. The thymes are putting out runners and getting much bigger. We've been watching over the lavender, expecting that the humidity would take it's toll on it but so far, it's okay. Another star of the garden is the lemon grass. I need to get some of that harvested.

Still no word on when the surgeon can meet with my mother and me.

Activities for the day include some work in the gardens, gathering the "wild caterpillars", clearing out some more refrigerator space for the weekend, finding the trays, back to school shopping with my youngest (17!), buying the salmon for tonight's dinner and arranging for the steaks for Sunday, checking the wine and liquor for Sunday, florals for Sunday, and to get some much needed stitch time in. Possibly read a Monica Ferris book. Wrap presents.

Lazy Afternoons

It must be a good ten degrees cooler under the shade of the oak trees. It's wonderful to escape there when the sun is filtering through all of the leaves, making a very dappled shade. It's where my husband often finds me, stitching or reading, in the late afternoons when he arrives home from his day out in the world. Our cat Oreo is usually by my side wherever I am, just in case I need help with anything. He frequently dozes off and misses the butterflies and dragon flies swirling above his head while they check to see if he is a some sort of odd flower. He usually stays out with my husband while I go in to finish making our dinner or clear away the day's activities. Summer dinners are quick and light since it seems like that's the only thing they are willing to eat. The boys all like to eat fairly quickly during the week and disappear for a session of hitting golf balls, or some other sport. They stay out until they can no longer see in the twilight. I am usually driven in by the mosquitoes long before they are.

I spent yesterday waiting to hear when my Mother's appointment with the surgeon will be. It's a first/consult visit. Her primary doctor has found a mass in her abdomen which was confirmed by CT scan as a mass in her liver. There are so many open-ended questions when a patient is older. I know ahead that the slowness and red tape of the system will frustrate and annoy me. On the positive side, hovering by the phone gave me time to organize my cookbook collection and dust the books. I have quite a healthy collection. I was too restless to stitch.

No rain yesterday, so we turned the valves for the gardens to be watered by the irrigation system. My husband hadn't been paying attention to the sunflowers lately, and was quite surprised to see them over a tall fence of the garden. He has offered to help some with the weeding this weekend when he is home. We are also getting ready for our oldest son's birthday party which is here on Sunday. I doubt that we will be using the gardens due to the heat and the possibility of thunderstorms, but people always wander the gardens when they are here. So I do want them to look their best.

There's another Chatelaine cross stitch to add to my "must do" list - Pearl Lights. Such a wonderful design. The mandala designs attract me, as well as her other designs, but the lustrous silks that Martina uses in her designs are the real draw for me. I love to get out the silk overdyes and spread them across my lap while I'm looking at the patterns.

Dinner is in the crockpot (cranberry pork tenderloins), so I have a long stretch of day which will allow me to get things done. My little Jack Russell (Rory) is begging to go for a romp, so I'd better get moving.

Sunny Days

One of the gardens is out of control. I will need to spend some time there getting caught up. But I have been out to the rose garden today to cut some roses for the house, and took a camera to get some pictures of the sunflowers. Some of the flowers are well over the six foot fence. Many, many bees are happily busy.

Yesterday I made the Rainier Cherry jam- today peach-pineapple is on the schedule. That's my daughter-in-law's favorite.

Additional butterfly releases yesterday included another Monarch and a Black Swallowtail. They were really lovely.

I didn't get as much stitching done as I had hoped but today will be another one of those days when I need to stay in out of the mid day heat, so there will be stitching time today. Yesterday I ordered some Circus metallic fabric from Mindy at Sugar Maple. I can't resist those wild swirly fabrics. There's nothing planned for it yet. What I need to be sure I have is the fabric for the Chatelaine Oriental Garden that is coming up soon- but will need to get with my daughter-in -law on that since it is for their house. There is also the lavender color for the French Garden Chatelaine. Today I hear that there will be a duo set of Mirabilia's released under Nora's new design label that are just gorgeous. I certainly won't be bored.

WIP's: Petal Faerie, Winter Queen, Enchanted Mermaid, Villa Mirabilia (Mirabilia)
Winter 8, Mermaid, Mystery 4 (Chatelaine, Martina Weber) Misc other projects.
Waiting to start: Alhambra, Mystery 6 (Chatelaine), Touching the Winter Sky (Mirabilia)
Also in the scheme of things, somewhere: Oriental Garden, French Garden(Chatelaine) and a HAED Cinderella when I can decide which one.

School starts for my youngest son next week- it starts earlier here every year. I hate to see the days of summer going away. It seems like once school starts the pace quickens to such a blur.

Today's projects include: making brownies, peach-pineapple preserves, peach preserves, clearing out some old magazines, stitching time.

Summer Heat

The heat is on! Caterpillars have invaded and eaten their fill of the Passion Vine. The sunflowers are doing well and are blooming with chocolate and yellow blooms. I need to take my camera out there. They must be seven feet tall now. The roses are very fragrant this time of year. This is a picture of one of my favorites, Bride's Dream.
Between the heat and the rain, it's been hard to get the gardening done that I want to. The heat indexes have been in the triple digits for a few days in a row.

But time inside has allowed me to get some stitching done on my Chatelaine Mystery (Winter Eight) and my Mirabilias (Enchanted Mermaid, Winter Queen). The stash room is in complete chaos and needs to be put back into order and catalogued before the Fall and gift season stitching begins. I've also had some designing time and that is going well.

I just finished reading James Patterson's "Beach House". His stuff makes for great summertime reads. His "Lifeguard" is also on my summer list.

My husband brought me some wonderful summer peaches that are ready to be made into jam today. This past weekend I put up one batch of peach preserves and one batch of Rainier Cherry with Lemon jam. Ah, the fruits of summer...

Today there was the first Space Shuttle launch in several years- since the accident grounded them. Usually we can see the fiery tail of the engines and solid rocket boosters from the house, but it was too hazy this morning.

We released four monarchs butterflies today, and another will be ready to fly later. That makes a total of seven. There are plenty of milkweed plants in the garden to keep them happy.

Today's gardening activities include weeding in the rose garden and herb garden, a brief pass through the butterfly garden, check the orchids (none are blooming as I have recently repotted or divided most of them), and planting several plants that I have started.
Stitching activities include design and stitch work on a tree cross stitch of mine, and working on the Mystery Eight by Martina Weber.
Another "must do" is to tone down the newly applied stain on the refinished section of family room hardwood floor. It's been a pain to redo, but it's almost over.
Well, off to the gardens...I'll take the camera with me.