Growing Things

As you know, I am not the gardener in this household, but I had to share with you the early shoots and sprigs popping up in our raised beds. 

I thought C was crazy when he planted peas weeks ago, when it was still freezing out, but the peas seem to be on his side, and have sprung up with vigor. Those spindly things in the middle  are the onions sharing the same bed.

The garlic, which I did plant, gardening being so much more appealing to me in October, when there are no bugs, baseball or boys' birthdays, is coming along beautifully. I don't keep records, but I tried to plant a lot more than I did last year...and I will harvest it earlier, too, so the bulbs don't split their skins like last year's crop did. 

And a few rows of spinach, also reveling in its early planting. I do believe the potatoes are in the ground as well, but they wouldn't be much to look at.

As usual, I have big plans for a sunflower/morning glory hideout garden for the kids, but as usual, I probably won't get around to it. If only gardening season was in February or March, when there's nothing else going on (and no blackflies).

Friday Light

Last Friday, we had the evening blissfully free of baseball.

So, after a quick and easy dinner of pizza from Sheepscot General,

I coaxed the family outdoors for a short walk to bask in the springing springiness of it all.

The light this time of year is absolutely incredible.

Each evening the sun sprinkles the world in a coating of gold dust as it makes its slow descent.

And all of the trees and bushes that have looked like nothing but clusters of dried, dead branches for the last six months are budding and bursting with weird and wonderful life.

I'm pretty good on trees and wildflowers, but I don't know my shrubs.

I should have asked C what all these are, but whatever they are, aren't they amazing?

This is the first time I've every noticed them, at this stage. Funny the things you miss if you don't take the time to slow down and notice.

I can't think of how many years it was winter, then it was spring and I missed out on that whole transition phase, the opening up into life.

It all happens so quickly (after a very long, slow time of not happening at all), so it's easy to miss––one day sticks, the next day leaves. Amazing.

Chair Refresh

Shortly after we moved into our house, we were gifted an antique mahogany dining room set, with an expandable table and eight chairs. It fit perfectly in our dining area, and, though it has suffered from the ravages of three kids, it has served us well.

When they came to us, the chairs were covered in green leather, which was worn and cracked. I found some pink and lime and orange upholstery fabric on the remnant table and recovered six of the eight chairs (unfortunately, my remnant wasn't big enough to do them all). After ten years and three kids, they had gotten quite faded and stained, so this past weekend, I covered four of six remaining chairs (I said kids have been hard on them) with this fun, bright orange fabric I bought at Ikea when we were in Colorado the year before last (I meant to do this project last spring, but never got around to it).

Unfortunately, I didn't have enough fabric for all of the chairs (I think I was just going to make a table runner or something with it originally), and you can't order Ikea fabric online. But E was very unhappy with me that I designated the two chairs with the old fabric for him and Z, and he keeps rearranging the chairs, so I guess I better get something for the other two, quick (I'm thinking either this to coordinate, or this to be totally wild and crazy. What do you think?)

The fabric is just a little lighter and brighter than our orange walls, but since the chairs are usually in the shadow of the table, it goes perfectly. I should probably have ironed the fabric first, and waiting until C could help me pull it tight when stapling it to the bottom of the chair (the covers are a little loose and wiggle around a bit), but sometimes I just get something in my head, and I have to do it immediately. You know what I mean?

Back when I bought my red cabinet, my friend Liza teased me with the Put a Bird on It Portlandia episode, and I realized I do have a lot of little birds on things, and this adds another dozen more. But you know, I'm okay with that.

A Bit of Culture

I have to admit, the boys don't get exposed to a lot of culture 'round here, but this past Saturday, we packed in enough for at least the next few months. 

An elderly couple we are friends with had offered to give us a tour of the Readfield Union Meeting House, which has rare trompe l'oeil paintings on the walls and ceilings.

On our way to the Meeting House, we stopped for lunch at our favorite sandwich spot, Bagel Mainea, where we had the dining area all to ourselves, and listened to a young man singing and playing the guitar.

Afterward, we went to my friend Helene's art gallery, where she was having an event, collecting colored pencils to send to Ethiopia with The Colored Pencil Project. 

We drew self-portraits, and listened to more live music, this time an older guy on keyboard.

Sunday, C took the boys to the beach. I have to admit I was jealous to miss the first beach day of the season, but I had work I needed to be doing (those stories I didn't finish the weekend before!!).

I got some writing done––the second half of a story I had been laboring on for a while––and did some more extracurricular reading (David Sedaris this time).

And I got out for a quick walk, to capture some gorgeous evening light and some more signs of spring.

Culture and nature, a good combination. 

The Silence Treatment and Giveaway

Things are starting to get a bit crazy in my life, as they always do, with the approach of May and all that it entails––baseball times three, birthdays times three, a camping trip, a Boston trip, workshop stories to write––so my opportunities for library time (where I do my blogging and my writing) are shrinking. Last week, I didn't make to the library at all. But like the calm before the storm, I had one very long weekend alone the week before last. C took the boys down to Rhode Island for part of their spring break, leaving me home alone in a very quiet house. 

It felt strange on the days I worked––my work-space was temporarily shifted to a tiny conference room in a little-used part of the building and C and I had switched cars, and his has no radio, so I went from total silence all day to silent drive to silent house. The first night I watched a movie; the next two I went out with friends.

But once the weekend came, and I could just be home alone in all that silence, I was thrilled. 

I'm afraid I squandered my silent time a bit. I was supposed to write two stories, but instead I spent a lot of time reading The Condition by Jennifer Haigh, which one of my mentors gave me as a present last summer. I enjoyed it very much. I did write several pages of a story that sort of fizzled out and which I'm going to set aside for a while, awaiting inspiration to go on, and I wrote half a book review, and I did some writing exercises. Otherwise I just basked in the oncoming spring and the peace.

I read a book called Listening Below the Noise: The Transformative Power of Silence in which the author begins a practice of total silence one day a week, and how it changes her life. I'd like to give away a copy to one blog reader. For a chance to win, leave a comment here by midnight EDT Tuesday May 7, answering the following questions:

How are able to find silent space in your life and how does it make you feel?

Busy Work

Thanks for all your great comments on my post about M and our frustrations with school and school work. One of the best things about blogging is the reminder that we're not alone

I thought I'd share some of the wisdom everyone shared here in the comments section, in case any of you are going through or will in the future go through something similar, and mostly so I can come back here and find reassurance.

Shannon wrote: "I've been in similar circumstances with my daughter, in regards to the busy work and the lack of organization skills. Now that she is in high school and it all "counts," she has figured out her own system that, though it's not the way I would do it, appears to work for her. She still gets frustrated with some of her teachers, but recognizes that she has to do some things she doesn't want to do in order to reach her goals...Good luck! Hey, at least the school year is almost over!"

Meryl wrote: "It sucks to be doing busywork that's too easy for you when your brain is firing-up for so much more. But, as you say, learning to follow directions and jump through hoops is as much of a life lesson as learning how to read."

Rachael | The Slow-Cooked Sentence wrote: "I remind myself when one of my twins struggles with middle school that this is a good place to make mistakes. In large part, my husband and I have tried to let our son own his problems. He checks his school online account to track his grades, missing homework, etc. He decides when he needs to stay after school for tutoring.... Ultimately, school success or failure is only one mirrored image of a child. Sometimes it's unflattering. My job as a parent is to expect and support my kid's best effort, whether it brings about the desired letter grade is irrelevant."

Lone Star Ma wrote: "I tried to take a middle road with my eldest who was always learning but also rather unwilling to jump through hoops. I insisted on B's and grounded for C's (one in elementary, one in middle school). She was perfectly capable of getting A's with no real effort through middle school, but I did understand about the hoops - her basic philosophy was 'grades and other numbers are just establishment illusions, Mom.' Other than the grounding, I tried not to linger on the C's.... Once she hit high school and her grades counted for her transcript, she became a whole different student. She is 7th in her (huge) class while taking an IB curriculum - the most rigorous in the world and her GPA is well over 100 and I would never, ever remotely suggest that she do anywhere near the amount of work that she does. She wants to go to med. school, though, so she does it, hoops and all."

And a friend of mine (who seems to have a mini-M in kindergarten right now) wrote in an email: "All I can say is I think having a kid like M is the best gift ever, he’s strong, smart, and independent.  He knows who he is and isn’t going to be swayed.  You should celebrate that, and I admit, figure out how to minimize all the school ‘junk’ so he can focus his attentions where he thinks they should go.  He’s motivated, he’ll fit it all in."

So there you have it: kids know instinctively when grades "count" or not––they'll motivate when they feel it's important to them, not arbitrary; the most important thing is to support and appreciate your kid; focus on his strengths, rather than squirting him with "week-killer"; let him take responsibility and ownership. Still I hope he finds a way to get along with this teacher who he'll have for two more years.

Nature Journaling: Inside and Outside

Feeling a bit under the weather Sunday, I spent some time indoors, sketching a few of the Signs of Spring I have sighted (or heard) over the last couple of weeks.

And then I made this little Altoids watercolor palette. I had been looking for mini watercolor kits for my forthcoming Ireland trip (despite the fact that I don't actually know how to watercolor), when I ran across several tutorials on making an old mint tin into a watercolor set (one good one is here)

For my set, I used an actual Altoids tin that I found in the basement (and refrained from buying a new box of mints in a prettier tin). I glued down the plastic tray from a package of Peelu gum (after trimming off the edges to make it fi) and squirted some watercolor paint into each little pan. Then I used a wet brush to smush down the little peaks that formed when squirting the paint.

Monday I brought the tin, a few brushes and a spice jar of water down to the river to play around with. The tin worked a treat. Now I just need to get one of those fancy watercolor brushes that holds the water in its handle (oh, yes, and I also need to learn to paint!)

Previous Nature Journaling posts:  

Nature Journaling: Incorporating Photographs

Nature Journaling: A New Journal and a New Journaling Project

Nature Journaling: A Tool for Learning

Nature Journaling: A Poetry Field Trip

Nature Journaling: Birds at the Feeder

 Nature Journaling: An Invitation

See also Nature Journaling as Meditation for more on starting a nature journal.