summer breakfast

heat is here. and my breakfast has to change. i've had this stuff basically every morning since january. time for different, though i'm not straying too far from my baked treat.

crunchy granola

(recipe adapted from food network)

Heat oven to 275.

Put 1 1/3 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup of water in a saucepan and heat til sugar dissolves.

Then stir in 4 tsps. vanilla and 1 tsp. salt

Toss that liquid with 8 cups of old fashioned oats and 2 cups of some nuts (whatever you've got that sounds good. i've added flax seed here too).

Spread this all out on 2 cookie sheets and bake for an hour.

once it is all golden-crunchy, take it out and add some dried fruit if you want. i usually have raisins.

let it cool, then either eat it or store it for later.

i love this stuff. with yogurt. yum.

craft and willa cather

been finding myself in the middle of fabric lately.

which is always fabulous. nap time these days has been coffee and craft. love it.

older sister made me that mug when she was in college at a paint-it-yourself pottery place. she makes fun of me every time she sees it. i love it.

and we've made it outside. water makes for the best kind of fun.

as i hung my laundry on the line this morning, my neighbor came out of her home to do the same. she walked over and we talked over my drying bedsheets about our gardens and the rain. then she said, "well, i know we'd both like to get our hangin' done before the weather gets too bad." and she walked back to her clothesline.

and i felt, suddenly, like i was in a different world. i was whisked into "O Pioneers" with my skirt billowing in the wind. i can be oh-so-dramatic.

i later told sweet husband my little story and i finished it with, "i felt like a farmer's wife 50 years ago!"

and he smiled a small smile and said, "or just someone 50 years ago."

it's why we're good together, folks. keeps these flighty feet on the ground.

happy mondays all around.

Reedy and kid-truth

i know i haven't talk about this for awhile. but i'm still, sometimes, trying for 15 minutes. or at least striving for the attitude. letting go of what i want to do and just playing. so good for my heart, not to mention the hearts of my little ones.

a recent 15 minutes was spent looking for Reedy. we happen to have one of our own.

Our Trader Joe's has a stuffed frog named "Reedy" who is hiding somewhere in the store. If you find him you get a treat. So we took turns hiding Reedy, counting and finding.

it was a lovely little hide and seek game.

my little samuel has had a troubled heart this week. such a thinker, that one. coming to terms with his mind. "my brain says mean things sometimes, mom. i don't like listening to my brain."

and, like my sister said to me when i handed her that quote, "oh buddy. the rest of your life..."

mental discipline. thinking on things that are good. upright. righteous. things that are above.

we've been talking a lot about it over here. this little philosopher of mine keeps forcing me to remember/find answers to big questions. keeps making me rehearse the truth out loud. it's so good for me. exhausting, friends, but good.

i'm praying these days and nights filled with ideas and scripture will root deeply in his little soul. that he would be able to bring these things to mind years from now when he feels crazy and like his thoughts don't belong to him and he can't find his feet. He is with him. and there is nothing to fear. it's true.

hope your week has been moving along well and not too quickly. hoping i can spend more time with eyes open and a mouth saying, 'yes!'

oh, and let me know what you think of this new playlist. i hope this one works. i'm working on building the playlist back. if you really want to hear the old one, go to playlist.com and search for phoebeflock. it's there. but you have to listen to ads. yup. so i'm trying something new. i'm guessing some of you will like that the music doesn't start automatically. it's not my favorite feature, but we're compromising here.

evening prayer

the day is closing. my mint tea is steaming and i can hear a muffled audio book reaching beyond the closed bedroom door to my chair. the end of another day. filled with more laughter and tears to add to the rest of the days before. and the end is so much quieter than the whole.

i know i've touched on it before but prayer has been on my mind lately. conversing with my Father. and my sister recommended i read "Power of a Praying Wife." now, this is a book i have mocked a bit. if not spoken, inwardly i felt above such a typical Christian-book-store staple. i mean... it's pink and has a flower on the cover. not usually my cup of tea. wow was i wrong.

i've been shocked at how little i pray for my dearest man. i think of him, wish different things for him and us, but crying out to my Father on his behalf... not much.

i'm loving this new small habit of praying as i end my day- lifting up my partner and talking with my Dad. i hope it grows into more.

goodnight, dear friends.

treats and grandmas

new music. easier to turn off. different for me. we'll see how it goes...

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

my brain is a bit garbled this morning, so i'm not sure anything here today will be poetic or lovely. just me. us.

banana cream pie. and cake. with coffee frosting.

i love treats.

while making the crust for the pie, i was thinking of my beautiful grandmother. the heritage she has passed on. how many times she has tried to teach me to make pie crust. her hands rhythmically rolling dough, sprinkling flour. i still can't get it to come out the same. i'll have to ask for another lesson next time i see her. but she lives so far. i miss her gentle company. the smell of her pie-crust cookies crisping in the oven.

hope to be back here soon with other thoughts. looking forward to a morning with a friend and an evening of sewing.

today's summary... so far

please bear with me as i work out my playlist. it no longer plays automatically, so i've moved it to the top. but it's gigantic... i'm working on it.

so i woke up with this undefinable crabbiness. not happy. no 'good' reason. friday is grocery day at our house and i tried to get going nice and early to get things finished. after kate emerged from my bedroom saying, 'i put yo-tion in my hay-ew.' the kids went for an early bath. (lotion all over those thin curls. nice)

at our first grocery stop, kate's crying because the humungous car-cart is not the 'right' one and then while trying to maneuver the carts, i whack my son on the head (on accident). not even IN the store yet and both kids are crying.

we make it through. and arrive home in time to watch some French Open coverage. we're not very sporty people around here. but we get into tennis. so i put the kids in an early quiet time, made coffee, pulled out the ironing board to work on some fabrics and pieces i'm falling in love with as they grow. i watched awesome tennis, interspersed with commercials for investment companies. hearing about preparing for retirement over and over for a few hours can get in your head. 'how much do we have in savings?? oh yeah... i remember.'

and now i'm sitting here writing. and there's the day so far. always nice to remember. and laugh.

happy friday. and a hopeful weekend to you, my friends.

paths ahead

i sang a song at church on sunday that i've sung there before.

nearly 8 years ago, i stood on the same stage and sang- about His paths. about how He leads me into places fear-filled. He leads me to better. i'm never alone. but this strange world in which we live isn't easy.

and 8 years ago, i'd lived here for about 3 days. where i knew a total of, oh, 6 people (4 of whom were all in elementary school). after just burying a dear friend, packing up our newly-married lives and moving to an unknown land. my soon-departing family stood in the lobby and i half sang, half sobbed my way through a song about embracing God's path forward. not having any clue what the coming years would hold. the deep heartache and pain. the lonely.

and all the good that came. a marriage with solid footing. restored relationships with family. new friendships that stretched and grew my heart and knowledge. so much good. so much.

and i sang it again on sunday. remembering that day. and again thinking on the path ahead. and again i cried. both in rejoicing for all He has done, and in fear for what is ahead. yeah. fear of the path ahead. after seeing, recounting, His faithfulness in such a special way. still fearful of what He has. what is happening to us? where are we headed next?

will it be good?

right now, i'm confidently answering... yes.

yes.

taste and see that the Lord is good.

He is good.

He has been faithful.

never fails.

never will.

today--

remembering.

hope for tomorrow.

looked out the window while making supper last night and found this contemplative one.