Going

So much to do, so many dandelions to blow away.  Here comes summer, ready or not.

I'm trying to find a good balance between constructive, productive and let-it-all-go so we have time to read on the couch with the windows open, and the birds chirping in the trees.  Sounds like a daydream, doesn't it?

The tree outside our window is housing a robin's nest, which is lovely.  The tree is also dying of a fungal infection.  Darn, beautiful tree.  3/4ths of the maple leafed out this year leaving some bare branches which are trying hard to put forth something, you can feel it.  But the leafed out branches are tired and a little weary.  This may be our tree's last season, and I am happy for it to be nesting a bird and her eggs, standing guard over our grassy lawn, taking in the time it has been given to do something beautiful, whether it knows it or not.

We're jumping into Summer full force; there is so much going on I haven't made my bed for days and haven't noticed it either.  Tomorrow is the last day of school and we already have a full agenda for the coming weeks; comings, goings and whatnot fill the calendar.

But like our tree, and the dandelions, we'll have some down time to just be.  Which will be nice.

Eve

It's always the eve of something, isn't it?  And tonight it is Mother's Day Eve.  This year it seems that everyone is acknowledging Mother's Day as fraught, and we should all be careful as we step around the edges of the holiday.  I have felt, on occasion, mixed feelings about the day.  My philosophical side can't always be around to gently roll her eyes and buoy up my emotional side, but this year, philosophical trumps and I'm pretty happy about that.

I am also pretty happy about things because I do have a great mom.  And I have some great kids.  Five great kids, actually.  And while I often think of myself as a semi-adequate mother, I can see myself improving in that area of my life, which is nice and a relief, and so, good for me.  I think being a mother is important.  I think learning to mother is important, whether or not you are a biological mother.  I think that mothering has a lot to do with the creative process, but we just use other names, because our society has made mothering something sort of passive (perhaps passive-aggressive) and uncool.  To teenagers, sure, they can think it's uncool.  But mothering is demanding and active and intense and full of cosmos in chaos, to borrow a phrase from Madeleine L'Engle.

It's a good thing, to be able to find or make or notice that cosmos, I admit, because there is an awful lot of chaos out there.  So, I wish you, unabashedly, a happy Mother's Day.

Monday Morning

from the blog Portes et Fenetres

Some of my kids woke up really early this morning. (Read: before 7a.m.) Because it is allergy season and I don't sleep so well, this was not the most welcome of developments.  I hate waking up feeling all sloggy, but the wind blew a lot of pollen off the trees yesterday so hopefully we are coming to an end.

Fortunately today's school lunch option was a good one and though they only get one school lunch a week, all of my school kids went for it.

Also, my youngest is still (!) asleep, having made it through the morning noise and hubbub. This is good, except I'm pretty sure he's in underwear, so hopefully he won't sleep too long, if you take my meaning.

Because I am a good person I heated up some already-made oatmeal from last Friday and ate it for breakfast.  I added raisins, cinnamon, and a dash of honey.  I have been sugar free, including honey, etc. for a few weeks.  I had some dark chocolate Saturday night, but I think this way-less sugar thing is a good deal, so I'm going to keep on it.  Also, it's time to bring back the 25 daily crunches which have slipped through the cracks.

I had some really odd dreams last night, that included some violence and blood. I actually don't remember my dream at all, just snippets. I'm pretty sure that it comes from reading The Plantagenets, because in my dream I was in an old church, and those English kings were (shhh.) a little bit crazy... I'm halfway through this incredibly dense and interesting tomb, but I may need to take a little break because I am starting to mix up kings and conquests and battles and the like.

On Saturday I bought many, many bricks to edge my lawn with.  Many.  Which is probably why my back and arms and hands are a little sore.

And now, my son is waking up, so that's my cue to get going on things for today.  If I can handle it in my sleep-deprived, pollen-induced state.

What I've been doing lately

Pretty Birdies ~ instagram by me

The warm weather was back.  Which was lovely because I am more fix-it-up productive when it's warm-ish.  And then it wasn't.  Yesterday was freezing and windy.  It's supposedly back today, but we'll see.  We'll see.  (I'm kind of a sceptic about good Spring weather.)

When the weather was warm I did a little sanding and painting of hall closet doors (the current never-ending project).  And when the weather was cold I got some pictures framed.  My living room has a completely blank wall waiting for some pictures to be hung.  It's been very patient, I must say.

I also started working on the panels in the picture above.  I picked them up at the thrift store several months ago.   You can see the darker colors of the thread where the frames go.  It would be fascinating to see them in their original splendor, but I love the faded look, with a few pops of color.  It's a little less intense than how I imagine the original.   I pulled out some fabric markers and brightened up some of the colors and I am repainting the frames. Then we'll hang them in my daughter's room.  She is excited about that.

Also, I did some house cleaning.  But not enough.

Clothes. And stuff.

Yes.  My Closet.

Of course, you got my thoughts on Life / Style this week because I was reading a lifestyle book.  It's one of those French books out these days.  There is a lot of interest in the French lifestyle, that's for sure.

Ben brought this particular book home from the library, because that's what he does: picks out random books for me to read.  Sometimes I read them, sometimes I don't. But despite my angst about lifestyle and such, I read this one because I lived in France for awhile, and so I like to read about it.  It gives me a little kick.

Anyway, the writer had some rather lifestyle-ish things to say, but there was one thing that really did catch my attention that I liked very much, indeed.  It was the idea of a 10 piece basic seasonal wardrobe, that you augment with accessories and outerwear, etc.  So you have 2 pairs of pants, 3 skirts, 2 tops and 3 sweaters or something like that. Whatever floats your boat.  I'm not convinced, as the writer of the book seems to be, that cashmere is the answer to all of your problems, but having a simplified, deliberate wardrobe is a nice idea.

My wardrobe at the moment is a hodge-podge of hand-me-downs from sisters, friends, and mothers.  (Actually mother.  I only have one mom.)  I don't mind it; it's saved me money for sure, but it is a random gathering of things I love and things I keep around because they are nice and I might wear them someday. And truth be told, it's not a huge collection, but it's still more than I need.

Anyway, as I truck along with my 1000 Things, my clothes are definitely in the getting-rid-of category.  In fact I have been working on whittling down my closet over the past year.  If I have time amid all this doing-of-things, I might see what 10 or 15 things are essential and work around that.

It's something to think about.