Harvest Begins

July brought us much fresh food for the picking.

Our year's supply of raspberries is now in the 

freezer, and we enjoyed some "pick-your-own" 

desserts in season.

When the self-seeded dill weed was tender, 

I spent an afternoon freezing that for salads 

and dressings the rest of the year.

We must be on to the 3rd planting of lettuce 

by now. Fresh salads every day!

In Florida we learned a new favorite way to 

cook broccoli -- on the grill!

Cucumbers and zucchini now fill our fridge 

- and our meals.

Pear dressing on chicken made for a 

nice variety in salads one week.

And kale season has begun with big pots 

of Zuppa Tuscana.

A Brief Visit, and More Nature Journaling

Guess who Frances-the-Cat brought us for a visit.



This poor thing (maybe a robin... anyone know??) 

was nowhere near to flying as it's wing feathers 

were just beginning to push out the ends of their quills.




After the trauma it had been through, the baby was 

only too glad to snuggle into my hand and have it's 

portrait sketched. Then we tried nursing it the rest 

of the day and got to hear it become chatty after a 

while. But by evening it began to have seizures, 

and by morning all the suffering was over. 

I am grateful for the time I had to closely study 

this amazing bit of God's creation which reminded

me of Matthew 10:29-31.

Around that time I also studied a Blue Jay's feather...



... some mushrooms from our lawn...



... and the flowers in pots on our deck and lawn swing.

A Rare Bike Ride and Its Consequences

When growing up, it seemed we used our bikes 

almost as much as our legs! Every year we 

looked forward to zipping 5-16 miles a day on 

paved bike trails while staying at a state park 

with our cousins. Otherwise we perfected our 

balance and coordination on the slithery 

gravel around home. 

Then came adult responsibilities and years 

of entrepreneurship and caregiving... 

followed by years of chronic illness with 

hardly strength to walk around the house.

But this summer Elsa and I got out for a 

delightful bike ride again! First we pedaled 

into the strong wind that tempered a hot sun, 

past the old schoolhouse...

... stopping to look at a wild rose, then listened 

to the wind swish through a wheat field as we 

coasted back home being pushed from behind.



But those 2-plus miles of joy carry a big 

price tag for Elsa who has been battling 

another adrenal near-crisis for months past. 

Would you pray for her? It is so hard to 

have days where she cannot even knit - 

let alone tackle the house work and 

cooking she feels calling her.

"We wait in hope for the LORD;

He is our help and our shield.

In Him our hearts rejoice, 

for we trust in His holy name.

May your unfailing love rest upon us, 

O LORD,

even as we put our hope in you."

Psalm 33:20-22

Restocking

Here is some of that restocking mentioned in my last post.

My newest design for men: Abstract

Twist on a traditional Norwegian design for 

women: Botanical


Hers and His: Cardinal and Botanical


Wild Rose along with a branch of Diplodenia 

I used for a brush-drawing:


Another traditional Norwegian design 

I call "Snowflake":

A "New" Computer

After many months of turning on my computer 

knowing that within minutes it would freeze for 

at least an hour and then come up with this 

same old message of failure...




... it was time for drastic action. 

1: Buy an external hard drive
2: Back up everything on my computer
3: Spend hours over several days working with three different Microsoft advisors online to finally get a full computer reset to work

4: Wait hours for the computer to build a new operating system

5: Spend a couple more days reinstalling all my software and files
6: Knit (restocking the Etsy shop with mittens) while waiting



It was worth it! I can now hit the power button 

and get right to work. What a novelty!

Nature Journaling at the Lake

While at the lake with the sailboat, 

I pulled out my sketchbook to record 

a few bits of creation that had caught 

my eye (and my nose!) 

Playing with Wind and Waves

I see that my pre-written, pre-scheduled 

posts ran out several days ago. Today 

may not be the day to fill up the "queue" 

again. But I will show one joy from the week...

The sailboat brought us soaring 

across the lake again! The first day 

was wet and wild, but the second 

gentle and relaxing.

Dad taught us to sail when young on his 

17-foot Dolphin before buying a 14-foot 

Snark we could handle all on our own.

Both of those boats were in our barn

when it collapsed under heavy snow

years back. Just a few years ago, they

were replaced with this New-Zealand 

designed, tri-hull Weta.

It doesn't take much wind to make 

this thing go! It is even fun to sail solo.

Elsa was too young to want to learn 

the mechanics of sailing our old boats. 

And her neurological damage from 

Lyme-etc. is still not allowing it. 

So for now she helps run the jib-sheets. 

And someday, she'll have the tiller in

her hand as well!

I thought how God must smile 

to see His children playing in the 

wonders of His creation!

Father's Day 2020

For Father's Day I decided to attempt a watercolor 

of Dad based on a photo I took in Florida when we were 

watching the sun rise over the ocean a few miles away.

Dad helped us all learn principles of photography, 

and especially a greater appreciation of the beauties 

of God's creation, through much-anticipated slideshows 

whenever a batch of film was developed in years past.

Having previously mentioned the new watercolor paper 

that made skies so much more fun to attempt painting, 

I must admit that my next try was a huge flop!



I let that dry and flipped the paper over to try again 

the next day - with a different technique.



A photo can't capture the colors correctly, and my

painting is far from perfect, but I learned more about 

watercolor as I finished this gift for Dad.

Father's Day itself contained the gift of family-time 

as we celebrated two fathers (and a grandfather)!









This little guy is so strong, he was climbing out of 

his dad's arms during our tour of my dad's gardens!





Most meals now contain delicious, homegrown lettuce!

God Bless America

From the mountains...

... to the prairies...

... to the oceans white with foam...

God Bless America,

My Home Sweet Home!