Thursday, June 17, 2010

A Summer Morning

My best friend asked me to teach her how to make jam. We started with an easy recipe, strawberry jam - only a few ingredients and minimal fruit preparation required. On Tuesday morning I packed up all my canning equipment and drove to her house in the country where she’s surrounded by apple trees and grapevines and fresh air and we talked and canned and talked some more. It was wonderful.


The beginning.


The end.


The bonus - spending time with this sweet girl.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Laundry Day

Today I may have stepped firmly into the land of crazy. I did laundry all day and loved every minute of it. You’re shaking your head right now, thinking, “It’s a pity she’s lost her mind. She seemed so … normal.”

Laundry is something I only do so I’ll have clothes to wear to work during the week. Because, honestly, is there anything more boring than sorting and folding clothes? No. Okay, maybe cleaning the bathrooms. But, as of today, hot damn & hallelujah, I have a clothesline.

My husband, bless his city boy heart, put up the clothesline this morning that’s been in the garage for two years. (I was very patient while he came to terms with the whole clothing flapping in the breeze thing.) Our agreement is that there will be no underwear hanging out for the neighbors to see. Fair enough. But there will be towels and sheets that smell like summer, and dresses that float on my skin, tee-shirts that go on crisp and soften with body heat.

Who needs yoga when I can stand in the sun and stretch from my toes to fingertips and bend deep to get another towel from the basket? Geese fly overhead twice a day, calling to the earth as they go. Ladybugs land on towels and have to be carried off to a shady tree so they won’t get folded into the linen cupboard.

Hanging laundry on the line is a simple pleasure. The small amount of extra time doesn’t seem like work, but rather like an escape to a place where I breathe a little more deeply and smile a whole lot more. Crazy? Who cares?

Friday, June 11, 2010

Ahhh...


The summer heat is finally here. We’ve had a few days when I’ve thrown open the windows and set out fans to move cooler air through the house. Maybe the rain is over for the season. We hope. It’s been a long, wet winter and I’m ready for consistently blue skies.

Last weekend we decided it was time to install a ceiling fan in my office. My husband is handy and had that thing wired and working in short order. Now I don’t have to use papers from my desk to fan away a hot flash. Hot weather + hot flashes = cranky & miserable. Ceiling fan = ahhh.