Simple Woman's Daybook

A Simple Woman's Daybook

{From now on, once a week I will try to post a Simple Woman's Daybook entry. Join in here.}

Outside my window::  rain, rain, rain...having to remind myself that all this rain is what makes the veg at the farmer's market crispy and fresh and the berries to follow plump and sweet.

I am thinking::  I am going to have to make more bread this afternoon, my kids just love it a little too much.

I am thankful::  we escaped the lice scare that went through Finnley's school this week and feeling sorry for those who weren't so lucky.

In the kitchen::  breakfast burritos, coffee, and orange juice, dinner, hmmm....probably chicken stir-fry.

I am creating::  I have started a small side venture with canvas and calligraphy, they are new but so far I am satisfied with them. Crocheting still, ordered items flying off the hook and a sweater for Finnley in the works.

I am going::  Finnley has a pink themed birthday party today that she is super excited about, her friend Kiersten is turning 6, and Finn gets to wear her fancy pink dress and go to a fancy schmancy party.

I am reading::  I am re-reading some favourites, Jane Austen's Emma being one of them, Robert is going to tease me when he gets home, he thinks it's crazy that I can read so many books at once.

I am hoping::  to get the raised garden beds in in the next month, lots of work and gardening to be done.

Around the house::  Spring cleaning is in full swing, room by room, drawer and closet by drawer and closet. So happy to weed out the things that we no longer need or use. I always feel so lightened when we drop off a load of things at the Goodwill, on to new homes and new uses. Though it impresses on me the need to curb our shopping and spending habits, remembering that the things we bring into our home have more than a momentary existence and meaning.

I am learning::  My husband and I have been through the craziest of years, the last 15 months have been so full of trials and troubles that they have almost become our norm. We have consciously made the decision to turn that tide and the number one thing we decided to do was get our finances under control again. So many huge medical issues and of course the accident have drained our stores and brought stress to our home. With the newness of spring we will be sweeping out that stress and operating on a more frugal level in order to reattain our comfort level and who knows maybe learn something about ourselves along the way.

My favourite quote for today::  “We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are.”
― Anaïs Nin

A peek into my day::

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

charm and grandma

Yesterday was a lovely day here in Washington, the backdoor was open letting in the cool fresh spring air.  The kids were playing with Pixie and combing the backyard for sticks and pine cones to throw in the fire pit. While they were all busy I hauled out some of the photos and mementos I inherited from my grandma Marion when she passed away last May. Looking through them at the kitchen table so I could keep an eye on kids, dog, and fire respectfully. I came across this book Charm The Smart Point of View. The book is in the magazine style and is on heavy old-fashioned paper, and was definitely meant to be kept and read over and over again.

The pictures are so amazing as is the advice, and speaks to the heart of a by-gone era. It gives instructions on how to be a lady, proper grooming and how to attract male and female attention in the proper manner. The caption of this picture reads...Youth, beauty, and exquisite grooming do not ensure popularity. Charm is the magnet that draws-and holds attention.  The picture though obviously from a different time is lovely I particularly love the hair styles. My grandma was a extremely popular woman her entire life. Reading the letters she received from soldiers she met at the officer's clubs and dances held in her seaside town of Prince Rupert B.C. Canada during WWII are proof. Grandma was also a very stylish woman always dressing "sharp" as she called it.  I wonder if these instructive magazines, well, and my great-grandma Winifred, instilled that in her, which ever it was we loved her for it.

A gentle look, a softer sigh, a question and a promise. Charm and Romance go hand in hand.  The effortless and sweet way of flirting was a learned art in my grandma's time, no duck-pout pictures, or tiny skirts to be had. Women were to be composed and confident, and were to know their value and strength as women. My grandma was an exceptionally strong woman, opinionated and well spoken, she raised two young boys on her own after her husband died when my dad was a young teenager.

Informality is the greatest test of a woman's breeding.  Though the caption of this photo is a little off putting, the picture is lovely, I really would love to see that dress.

 Raising a daughter is a very complicated and unique experience especially now. I want my daughter to be strong willed, opinionated, and open minded, but I also want her to be sweet , and kind, and to understand the draw I have to things from the past. She has begun to help make bread and she helps a little bit with canning vegetables and making jams. Though she doesn't have the patience to learn yet she sits very close and watches everything I do when I sew and crochet and she often asks if she can learn when she gets older.

My grandma was so proud to have a great-granddaughter, she always wanted a daughter but after my uncle was born my grandfather told her no more kids because he didn't think he would live very long and didn't want to leave her with too many children, Unfortunately he was correct. My grandmother and I had an exceptionally close relationship, spending the night at her house was an almost every weekend event. As a teenager when I wanted to get away it was grandma I called, we would have Chinese food and talk and watch Jeopardy on TV. In the morning we would make pancakes and then go shopping, even if we didn't buy anything it was always fun. When I grew up and started to drive, having dinner and playing cribbage was something we did weekly.  She took me to the theatre, museums and the opera, we saw Baryshnikov, and traveled to Europe together twice. My grandma was my most unique and wonderful friend and I wouldn't be the woman I am now had I not had her, and I miss her every day.

great-grandma Winifred, and grandma Marion Christina Sheppard

grandma

grandma, grandpa, and dad

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Simple Woman's Daybook

A Simple Woman's Day book 

{From now on, once a week I will try to post a Simple Woman's Daybook entry. Join in here.}

Outside my window:: It snowed in the night, everything is blanketed in snowy whiteness, and the world   is crisp, cool, and new. With a son and a puppy snow only holds every bit of the world of adventure.

I am thinking:: I miss my husband already. He left for work last night, and is gone for two weeks. Though there is a shift in the home when he is off to work, it is part of our family ebb and flow.

I am thankful:: I am thankful for my home, the roof that covers us, the walls that hold us together...and the warmth we fill it with.

In the kitchen:: bread is rising, clean breakfast dishes are drying, and dinner is still an unknown to be named at a later time...though our veg box from Full Circle Farm came yesterday and holds so many possibilities...

I am wearing:: One of my husband's big, soft, grey t-shirts, and the worn out paint spotted super soft from tons of washing pants I wear when cleaning house, and my "ugly sweater" a dark green wool blend sweater that I only wear around at home...sweaters, quilts and fuzzy socks are still the thing to have at our house, the 66 degrees is perfect sweater temperature.

I am creating:: I am working on four crochet orders at once, a dark purple baby sweater, a bunch of happy pink flowers, a black tam style hat, and some colourful baby monkey hats...

I am going:: No where, today is an at home day, so much to do, linens need washing, bread needs finishing, bathroom needs a good scrubbing, and the basket of seasonal books in the living room needs a spring make-over

I am wondering:: Surgery has been looming in the back of my mind since I received the news. I have never had surgery and am trying to plan ahead...crochet needs to be caught up, frozen dinners need to be prepped, and the house needs to be totally in order before the big day.

I am reading:: The Creative Family by Amanda Blake Soule, and Fallen by Lauren Kate

I am hoping:: the snow melts i am in the mindset for a warm spring

Around the house:: Spring is in full swing here, despite the snow, I am itching to repaint our seasonal wall though I have not settled on a colour yet. The small bathroom is going to get a makeover, and all needs its spring clean put on. Sad to say there are bags of clothes and linens that have been waiting my wash and sort since the accident, but happy to realize I haven't really missed any of it, so a lot will be headed to the Goodwill.

The garage is a room in our home with a bit of tension, I have a terrible habit of putting things in the garage to be dealt with later. It has been a wonderful place for the purging of our home, when there are things I am considering removing from our home I put it in the garage and if we go a week or two without whatever the "thing" is it gets a one way trip to the Goodwill. However the garage is my husband's den, it's where he goes to be alone and do "manly" things so naturally he gets put out when I load the room with un-garage related items.  He is gone for the next two weeks and I am going to surprise him with a clean garage, as clean as possible anyway.

A favorite quote for the day:: "Children are the hands by which we take hold of heaven." Henry Ward Beecher

One of my favorite things:: the goofy games my kids play in the car no matter how short a trip we are taking...a modified continuously version of "eye spy" is currently all the rage...

A peek into my day::

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Rain, Ginger, and 9 weeks

Another rainy Saturday, though that didn't stop the kids and I from getting out and taking Pixie for her daily constitutional. We are in the process of teaching her proper leash manners, like not pulling, not stopping to sniff things or eat them without permission, and following or walking next to us, never in front. She is doing very well, even remembering that she is the last one out the door when we leave, but she didn't quite make it around the whole neighborhood, a little too far, but I'm guessing by the end of next week she should be good with the distance.

This is her official 9 week old photo...so cute :) and definitely the best anniversary/birthday present ever (thank you Robert).

Ginger cookies ready to go in the oven, by far my favourite cookie, so spicy and sweet at the same time, and these just melt in your mouth.

There are so many wonderful things about grey days...
-cookies in the oven and then cooling filling the house with their comforting scent
-catching up on laundry and folding the still warm towels and blankets
-crocheting, making things I know will bring a little bit of warm fuzzy happiness to another house
-coffee in the french press it's dark, hot brew a treat
-the kids in their quilt tent reading books about chickens-totally amazed with the number of kids  books we own related to chickens
-feeling warm and cozy and grateful that we have a home to live in and beds to sleep in and each other

About a month or so ago there was a huge ice storm here in Washington which left my house without power for 3 days, though we were able to cook thanks to a gas stove top, the thing I missed most was coffee. Yes we did manage to boil 2 kettles of water and pour it through the electric coffee maker but since then I had been considering the switch to the french press. I read some info on the press, I know total nerd, and decided to go for it, knowing there would no longer be 12 cups of heated coffee waiting for me all day made the decision a little daunting. Though today I gleefully freed up counter space by removing the bulky coffee maker, I kept it in its pre-approved space for a month just to be sure I didn't feel the need to go back to it. Now 2 cups of amazing coffee at a time is more than enough and more than heavenly. Boiling the kettle in the morning is one of my favourite things to do, the routine a comfort all its own while the house is asleep and Pixie is awake.

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.