Wednesday, July 29, 2020

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.

Monday, July 27, 2020

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.




Saturday, July 25, 2020

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

Thursday, July 23, 2020

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":

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

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!

Sunday, July 19, 2020

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!) 







Saturday, July 11, 2020

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!

Monday, July 6, 2020

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!

Saturday, July 4, 2020

God Bless America

From the mountains...



... to the prairies...


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


God Bless America,
My Home Sweet Home!