My friend Deb's first novel is now in print (available on Amazon) and I was thrilled to receive it in the mail Friday. While the weekend's activities with the kids prevented me from cracking the binding, as soon as I finish this Monday morning's post weekend clean-up effort I intend to make a hot cup of tea with honey, bring my favorite blanket to the porch, and dig in. What a thrill! Deb is my first close friend to publish a book, and I will be all the more connected to her story as a consequence. It is priceless indeed to have such a meaningful thing on my "To-Do" list this week... Deb asked that I create recipes for several of the menus found throughout her book that she will post on her website mercyofthefallen.com, and I will also post each recipe on my blog as I arrive upon them and determine how to make them come to life. An exciting journey it will be, and there will be much more to come on that note this week....
When I logged in this morning I also couldn't believe that I haven't written a post since April 7th! Time has flown as Spring finally has entered the picture. As I consider how terminally long the winter has been for everyone this year, it should come as no surprise that I have spent the last two beautiful weeks outside and in my garden. Anywhere but inside! Completing necessary household tasks has been challenging enough with the gorgeous Spring weather now upon us, though with the amount of mud the kids, dog and I have tracked in from all my work in the garden, mopping has been all the more urgent a necessity! A very small price to pay when I consider the immense pleasure I have taken in my planting endeavors. My beds look gorgeous!
While the entire family has been excited about the garden transformations outside, they are most excited about our big project this week; creating a large raised bed dedicated to fresh vegetables and herbs. It should come as no surprise to hear that as much as I love to cook I have always wanted to have a space in which I can grow my own herbs and tomatoes. You can just imagine my delight when I realized that the entire 14' length of my driveway receives the perfect amount of sun to facilitate hearty vegetable growth, and to my further delight the irrigation is already in place! My current system will require only one small modification in the nozzle length to ensure proper hydration, which is thrilling from a budget perspective. It was meant to be!
Of course, with the extra space we have, I have decided to expand my repertoire to include cucumbers, a variety of lettuces, yellow and zucchini squash, bell peppers of every color, cabbage, and kale. I am going to make a parsley border around the perimeter, and at the advice of my green-thumbed friend Jackie, I am going to intersperse Wave Petunias throughout the bed to attract bees which helps in the cross pollination. It is a handy thing to have friends share their expertise in matters beyond my own experience. The kids and I are all praying for a home-run success with our first vegetable endeavor, and Jackie's guidance will hopefully help ensure that. I will keep you posted!
Looking out the window at my handiwork this morning over my first cup of coffee, it crossed my mind that cultivating the ideal garden environment for growing healthy plants is the perfect metaphor for my effort to raise my children to be wonderful people - The casual passerby may appreciate the lovely foliage, careful design and beauty of the finished product, but getting to this point required laborious hours spent on my knees tilling the soil, mixing in sand, compost and healthy dirt. Prep work for each bed took a full day, while planting took just minutes in comparison. Life is that way. If you have polite happy and well-behaved children, people tell you how lucky you are. What many people don't acknowledge or perhaps simply don't understand is that all along the way there has much discipline constantly being exercised on my part. I have always maintained that raising wonderful people requires clear boundaries, a loving but firm countenance when "parenting moments" are necessary, and consistent consequences from day 1 for both good and bad behaviors. Until my kids are 21 and supporting themselves, I am their Mother, not their friend. Any good parent will tell you this is not an easy paradigm to follow either... There are so many times when you are tired or busy and wish that you could let a situation slide, or gloss over it and pray that it just doesn't happen again. In those moments, to muster the energy or strength to confront the situation anyway takes dedication. Following through when it is hard, takes loving commitment. But the fruits of this type of labor repay everyone ten-fold.
Yesterday I experienced one of parenting's most glorious moments. On Sunday I took all my kids to Great Clips to have their hair cut, and since it was packed with customers we had to sit for a good ten minutes in the waiting area. Out of nowhere, my 15 year old daughter Bennet said that her friends all tell her what a cool mom she has and that she feels really lucky and proud that I am her mother (and yes, these were her words :) ). I was absolutely touched, and after thanking her for being so sweet admit that I teared up a bit. The man sitting next to her immediately looked at me, and after apologizing for eavesdropping on our conversation, said that he has never heard such a wonderful exhortation from a teenager unprovoked in all his life. He was amazed. He then told me that I was a very lucky woman to receive such a rare gift from my daughter and he wanted to be sure that I did not underestimate the power of her words. I thanked him and assured him that I did not. I cherish moments like these with even greater fervor than I delight in seeing the first bloom on my newly planted Peonies. It means that all that work I did on my knees preparing the soil was well worth the effort. How fragrant life is!
I will return with this week's menu in a bit, but looking at the time must dash to the housework before I can even begin to pull food thoughts together. As I type I am staring at a pile of freshly laundered linen napkins waiting to be ironed from last week's Middle School Faculty Luncheon I served Friday, and they aren't going to miraculously iron themselves. Regrettably!
Cheers to the beginning of another marvelous Spring week! Food to follow this afternoon!
Adrian
Gorgeous!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment