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The birth of Herald Thomas
The experience of giving birth is harrowing, awful, hard work, nervewracking and raw, but it’s so beautiful, incredible and joyful too. I am privileged to have given birth to six (!) children.
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Shifting seasons
I tend to dread the colder months to come, but the taste of cooler weather has reenergized me for the fall months. There is so much beauty all year long, and I have to let go of one season to fully embrace the next. But for now I will live in summer, growing my garden, playing outside, weeding and wedding and more weeding, and probably another trip or two to swim in the lake before it shutters for the season.
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Doldrums
But then the doldrums hit and we’re tired, we’re a little bit summered out (as much as it pains me to say that), it’s hot and muggy outside, and the kids become experts at either laying around or making epic messes.
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Preservation
This is the first year I’ve really set out to preserve our harvest. I’m not sure if it’s the talk of looming food shortages or if it’s because I’ve finally watched enough YouTube videos on canning, but I finally feel like this is the time to really learn how to can. I’ve canned here and there before, a little jam one year and a few pints of tomatoes another, but nothing significant until this summer. I’ve known for a long time that canning, especially pressure canning, would be a helpful and important skill to learn, but in the past I’ve had so much fear of killing us all with botched…
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Brothers at bedtime
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A birthday evening.
I don’t really mind getting older, but sometimes the feel of it is jolting. The extra aches and pains, the lines and creases beginning to form on my face, and the lack of childlike energy all point to one inevitable thing: aging. I don’t mind aging but, like everyone else, I never imagined it would happen so quickly.
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Independence Day
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The Beach
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The first bouquet
It’s always such a treat when there’s finally enough blooming/growing for the first bouquet of the season. It might not be the vibrant colors of late summer, but it’s a dainty and lovely (and wonderfully scented) addition to our table. Bouquet contents: Feverfew, bachelor’s button, snapdragon, cilantro, yarrow. The little bouquet of lavender is hanging to dry.
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The Goodness
It’s so much easier to taste and see that the Lord is good in summer. The daisies are blooming alongside the road, and soon it will be the ditch lilies followed by the goldenrod and asters of late summer. Though there’s not much yet I can go out to the garden and literally eat things that grew from tiny seeds. What a miracle that alone is!
