An End and a Beginning

The end of summer...

Following a week that was probably the hottest, most humid of the summer, yesterday was patio-perfect. We bid adieu to summer with two tubs of homemade ice cream.

Kati has some great ice cream party photos in  this post.

...and the beginning of autumn.

Today was our first day back to (home)school, the mercury didn't reach seventy, Kati made granola, and we made a run for printer ink and pumpkin spice iced coffees. Feels like autumn to me!

Where are you? Hanging on to summer for a few more days? Or stepping into autumn? 

A "Real Life" Shot

My daughter Kristin is doing a month-long series of photos of her real life. The idea is to show the imperfect, the real, the glimpses of life that don't always make the blog. 

I am linking up with her today by giving you a peek at my kitchen this morning. The china closet is ready to be filled (I'll share some details next week) and this morning Ron fetched all (we think) of the boxes of seasonal and "extra" dishes from the attic (and since this is real life, I'll confess that boxes of The Grandmother Dishes were in the upstairs hallway), and the task today is to sort and purge and gather dishes/pedestals/trays from other corners of the house and make some sense of this new space. 

We have our work cut out for us!

Linking with Kristin's Real Life...

Savoring Summer {Recipe Round Up}

Because I like a little landing spot for my recipe series, I have grouped all of the Savoring Summer recipes here for you...and for me. (Maybe mostly for me?) 

I hope that you have enjoyed thinking about new ways to feature summer foods on your menu. It was exactly the kick in the pants that I needed for summer cooking inspiration. Hosting a series kind of holds me accountable, so thank you, readers, for doing that! 

(And if it's as hot in your corner as it is in ours this week, you may still be eating summer foods!)

Clockwise, from top left:

Week 1: Marinade for Chicken
Week 2: Black Bean Salad
Week 3: Cappuccino Pops
Week 4: Roasted Sausage and Vegetable Pasta
Week 5: Easy-Freezy Vanilla Ice Cream
Week 6: Farm Fresh Corn Chowder
Week 7: Mediterranean Pasta Salad
Week 8: Jill's Dill Dip
Week 9: Apricot Upside-Down Cake

Week 10: Stuffed Peppers

Week 11: Peach Crisp

Week 12: Cucumber-Dill Squares

Past summer recipe series...

Salad on Tuesday
Fruit on Tuesday

On Blogging (and Other Stuff) // Part 2

Before I begin chatting about blogging again, I must first say thank you to so many of you who took the time to join in the discussion! 

I read each answer...several times. (I am still responding to your answers via email or blog comment when possible. I am behind as I was away from the computer a good bit last week. This week promises much of the same.) I have read Vee's recent musings about blogging and the many reader comments furthering the discussion. I have prayed about the role of blogging in my life. I have pondered and mused and considered. 

I love blogging and I am not contemplating leaving. 

I enjoy having a creative outlet, a place to share my musings. I love the interchange of ideas, sharing my own projects and thoughts, and learning from yours. I find inspiration. I love the friendships that have formed, and the sense of community. I enjoy learning about other parts of the world: rural Texas, south Florida, British Columbia, Lake Gitche Gumee, Maine, Lancaster County, Seattle, New Zealand. Not because I have been there, but because I know someone who lives and shops and eats and explores those places. I am often encouraged by your blogs, and I hope to do the same for you.  

Yes, I will continue to blog. 

But I am going to make a couple of changes. 

The first change involves time. 

If you read and follow a lot of blogs, then you know how much time it takes to make thoughtful comments. And so, although I will continue to make comments on the blogs that I read, it just won't be as frequently (as in not on every post). I am absolving myself of the obligation to always say something. I keep thinking of the wise words from Karen Andreola when a reader apologized for "lurking" without commenting. Karen said, 

"I think it is fine to peruse a public post like people used to relax with the newspaper - without necessarily sending a letter to the editor. The 20th century term "lurk" which I am most familiar with, makes the new 21st century blog definition seem a bit harsh and ill-fitting to me." 

I love that analogy! I will still be reading as I have time ("relaxing with the newspaper"), but I won't be sending quite as many "letters to the editor."

The second change concerns the purpose of my blog.

Not a big change really. I will continue to talk about my home and my family and celebrations and hospitality...and how I serve the Lord by serving in my home.

A part of my purpose when I began my blog was to offer encouragement to homeschoolers and to young mothers. When I started blogging five years ago, I had recently completed my second two-year term as editor of our local homeschool newsletter. I had enjoyed writing articles for the newsletter, and I wanted to continue to offer experience and encouragement to homeschool moms, and I planned to include these things in my blog. 

Now I know that many of my readers are fellow grandmothers! And the grandmothers may not be excited about homeschool talk. But over the last several months, I have felt an urging to share some rudimentary principles, some very basic tips that I have found vital to a successful homeschool. I may even chat about some of the nuts and bolts. So if you're a "grandmother," feel free to click away on those days and come back another day when I'm sharing a recipe or talking about a party or a house project or just plain musing! 

Now for the "other stuff"...

Four years ago, we had just ended the summer birthday season and the calendar had just barely turned over to the next month, when this little girl came and made our world more precious. Today, Alaine is four!

Yesterday, we gathered at Kristin and Brian's house to celebrate Alaine! Pink was the theme and happy was the mood. (And hot was the weather...but not as hot as the day she was born!)

Bekah took this picture of the birthday girl and loves it. She asked me to crop it in order to zoom in on that pretty little face. She was especially smitten with the lips. 

A few peeks at the party...

Ron is off this week and it is a get-things-done kind of vacation week. Our main project is a makeover of the computer cabinet. 

It is a cabinet that we designed together and that Ron made to house our desktop computer. But we rarely use aged, s-l-o-w Henry (the desktop) any more and so we're converting the cabinet into a china closet! I am so excited! I'll be storing The Grandmother Dishes there, as well as various and sundry dishes, mugs, and trays that are all over my house. Hopefully, this will eliminate the treks (Ron's treks) up and down the attic stairs with heavy boxes of seasonal dishes. There may still be a need for culling the collection, but we're hoping to make some sense of it all. The goal is to keep our house tidy, rid it of excess, but make room for the things we really love. 

Feel free to continue the conversation in the comments...OR just "relax with the newspaper" (see above) and leave a "letter to the editor" some other time! :)

There is still time for you to Gather the Moments of August. The link will stay up through Saturday.

{Gathering the Moments} August

Is it possible to have a quiet but busy month? Because I think that is what August was for us this year. 

Of course, we were busy with birthdays! 

{August = birthdays} for our family! 

Lots of parties, presents, sweets, and candles!

Birthday peeps: Ron, Ryan, Owen (8), Kristin, Mom, and me
Thanks to Sarah for the photo of the handsome birthday boy from Maine!

But there was also time for quiet pursuits.

For house projects, for leisurely drives, for frozen yogurt.

For having friends over for dinner.

For an anniversary getaway.

For baking bread and for making cupcakes (twice).

For an evening out with two women friends and doing more talking than eating and catching up on one another's lives and some laughter and some tears and calling it all good.

And then Mama Coffee the next morning with more laughter and more tears and more good.

Time to pause. Time to reflect. Time to grow. Time to be grateful.

Time with the Lord. 

The weather for this coming week is predicted to be summer-hot, but even so, summer is drawing to a close. Change is in the air. With the same glance, I see both blooming red impatiens and golden leaves fallen from the locust tree. The baby pyracantha (the one that replaced my long-loved bush that winter killed) has its first ever orange-tinted berries. I an eagerly awaiting my favorite season...autumn.

But I won't move on without a lingering look back at this lovely...quiet and busy...end-of-summer month. 

Again this month, I am inviting you to join me in "gathering the moments." You may wish to share two or three photos, or several collages, or bunches of photos...with words, or without words. The link-up below will be a gathering place for us to reflect and share and connect. (The link-up will stay open for a week, so you have plenty of time to gather.)

On Blogging (and Other Stuff)

I have been thinking a lot about blogging lately. Like why I began blogging and what my purpose is. How much time I should allot for blogging? And how much of that allotted time is needed for commenting on other blogs? One reason for my pondering is that we are back to homeschooling soon, thus my time is more scheduled and I feel the need to evaluate and make wise choices. 

I am open to a discussion about blogging! 

• What is your purpose for blogging?
• How long does it typically take you to compose a post? 
• Do you comment on the blogs that you read? (Vee recently asked her readers a similar question.)
• When you make a mistake (grammatical, spelling) and discover it later, does it drive you batty? Do you go back and fix it?
• If you're married, does your husband read your blog? 

Feel free to jump into the discussion on any point! Obviously, some of my questions are more contemplative, while some are lighter, but I am interested in whatever you'd like to talk about. 

There were several comments (both on the blog and on my Facebook page) about the cupcakes we had at the birthday party. There is a story behind those cupcakes! 

As I have told you, Bekah loves to bake...and she is also (how shall I say this?) thorough. Leaving nothing to chance, she decided to make some "practice" cupcakes a few weeks ago, to try out her recipe and techniques. But...she didn't want to make a whole batch, so she one-fourthed the recipe to make only four cupcakes. 

the practice cupcakes

She took hours to make those four cupcakes. She had to one-fourth the cupcake recipe. And these cupcakes were filled with ganache, so she had to one-fourth that too. Then she did the math again for the cream cheese frosting recipe. All of that mixing and baking and filling and frosting and decorating...for four cupcakes. She said that she didn't mind at all; it was fun, in fact! And the test cupcakes were declared a success, so she made them for the party. This time, she omitted the ganache filling. Not because it wasn't delicious, but because, after much deliberation, it was decided that it would be too much along with the sundae bar that was planned. I mean, we do have our limits. ~smile~

(By the way, I think that Bekah earned some school credit for math with all those calculations!)

Since I am talking about Bekah, let me share this conversation I overheard last week. 

Bekah, trying to choose something to wear on our outing to the yogurt shop, was torn between two fashion choices. She decided to ask Kati for help.

Bekah: Say 1 or 2.
Kati: 2.
Bekah: Say 1.
Kati: 1.
Bekah: Okay.

I have discovered a kindred spirit over at Wonderful Life Farm. Kate is a Christian homeschooler, mother, and grandmother who loves colonial style! When I found her blog, I found a friend. 

This week, Kate is hosting a Tasha Tudor-inspired give-away including a vintage cookbook, an apron she crafted from some reproduction fabric, and a beautiful set of note cards. Goodies galore! Go take a look at Kate's beautiful blog, and leave a comment on ~this post~ to be entered to win her Tasha Tudor  Birthday give-away. 

Give-away!

Another month has come and almost gone...which means that it's time to Gather the Moments! I'll be gathering some photos and reflecting sometime over the weekend. (My goal is Saturday.) As I have done for the first seven months of this year, I will be providing a place for you to link your own "moments" and we can share with one another. (More details ~here~.)

I will be hosting this gathering each month through December. Feel free to join in! 

So what would you like to talk about? Blogging...or other stuff?

Sunday Snapshots: Another Birthday Celebration?

No, three of them actually...but all rolled into one!

I always do the math for you: 3 generations, birthdays within 11 days of one another, 163 years, 1 party. 

It's much simpler to celebrate together. Until it is time to sing "Happy Birthday." Then it gets a little confusing...

♫ Happy birthday, dear MiriamMomGammyCherylMomGranKristinMama... ♫

Huh? Who?!

As Mom (Gammy) is turning 75 this year, we gathered 75 phrases to describe her! We kept adding all during the party, my sister texting in her thoughts as well, and we reached 75 by the time the party ended. They were definitely in random order..."loves the Lord" was #23 and it should have been #1. But we had lots of fun and lots of laughs as we compiled them, and we hope that Mom was pleased.

This Week

~ Kati and I cleaned out our clothes closets and dresser drawers, and hauled off four large garbage bags. Freeing. 

~ I (finally) placed our school order for the upcoming year.

~ Bekah made her first loaf of yeast bread.

~ The girls and I did a drive-by (house ogling), and then met Kristin and the children for 99-cent frozen yogurt cones. 

~ Ron and I spent a couple of days out of town. We enjoyed our little anniversary retreat so much last year, that we decided to treat ourselves to another getaway for our 36th anniversary. We are so very grateful for our 36 years!

~ I ate my first fish taco. I am in love. 

~ I did the tiniest bit of autumn decorating. Really tiny...as in the smallest of velvet pumpkins purchased when we were on our getaway. 

We're soaking up the last bits of summer, while looking ahead to the joys of autumn. What are you doing with these remaining summer days?

Thank you all for your very kind and encouraging comments about my floorcloth!! Yes, we are walking on it ~smile~, though not without some trepidation at first. 

To answer Marie's question, the floorcloth is lying perfectly flat right now and it appears that it is "stiff" enough to stay that way. Canvasworks Floorcloths recommends putting some of that sticky stuff used for hanging posters on the wall on each corner, mainly so that it does not slip and slide, but I imagine that that would also help to thwart any tendency to curl.