a number of things

Sweet Rewards

         

Well, after 4 hours and 9 pouches of Certo, we now have a whopping 26 pints of jelly!  We celebrated by having peanut butter and mayhaw jelly sandwiches for supper last night.  (Ok, so maybe the real reason behind the pb&j supper was the fact that mom was still making jelly at 6pm...;-))

         

I found these cute-n-squatty, half-pint Ball jars the other day and thought they would make great gifts when filled with jelly.  The pretty labels on top were copied from the lovely collection of blank labels and tags at the back of The French-Inspired Home (love that book!).

Have a fabulous day!

   

Mayhaw Pickin'

Yesterday, we went to pick mayhaws!  What is a mayhaw, you say?  Well, if you are not from the deep South, chances are pretty good that you have never even heard of these little red fruits.

         

The mayhaw trees (members of the hawthorn family) can be found growing wild along the banks of swamps and waterways of the South and have been harvested for many years by simply scooping the ripe, fallen fruit out of the water in which it was floating.  Thanks to modern variations, the trees can now be grown in less wet areas, which makes harvesting with children much easier. 

       

The best way to gather the fruits is still to pick up the fallen ones.  These are the ones that are perfectly ripe.  A few good shakes of the tree's limbs will bring down any ripe mayhaws that the wind did not dislodge.   

         

The little red fruits are not considered edible right off the tree, but they make some of the most amazing jelly you have ever tasted (and pretty good wine too, from what I hear).  The flavor is like that of the apple, but with a tropical (mango-ish and pineappley) twist.  It's hard to describe, but delicious!  I have also heard that the leaves of the tree make a nice, somewhat spicy, tea when they have been dried.

         

These lovely trees were at the farm of a friend of a friend.  Our mayhaw picking efforts yielded us a little over 13 pounds (The other family with us brought home about 17lbs.) of fruit. We ended up with right at 2 gallons of juice to make jelly with.  I am hoping to make the jelly tomorrow, but if something comes up, we will freeze the juice for later.

Have a wonderful spring day!

      

A Beautiful Day

         

Yesterday was fabulous. For most of the day there were over 90 people here!  We are always awed by the wonderful friends and family that we have, but to have so many turn out to celebrate with us, it is truly humbling. 

          

The weather was spectacular with a nice breeze blowing all day.  Above you can see the drinks tent with the fun-jump behind it. 

       

Here is a shot from the beginning of the treasure hunt in front of the kid's playhouse.  These are just the older kids, as most of the toddlers were not interested in the hunt.... 

        

...until, that is, they discovered that the "loot" was about 50 little bags of candy! 

         

Today was a happy day of relaxing and cleaning up.  I washed all the tablecloths (simply lengths of floral fabric ripped straight and stitched around) and hung them on the clothesline we have strung between the swing set and the playhouse.  I'll try and load up a few more Spring Fling pics in the next day or two.  What a blessed day.

 

Creative Homemaking

The world of crafty / creative-homemaking blogs is just so amazing.  So inspiring.  When I am feeling dull, uninspired and unmotivated, all I have to do is pop in for a quick visit to Simple Sparrow, House Wren Studio, Starry Sky Ranch, Turkey Feathers or any of the many other fabulous, creative blogs out there. These lovely women (and more) help me to view my vocation as an outlet for my creativity, not the hindrance the world would have us believe.

Another blog I have been enjoying is Tales From Pixie Wood by Cherry Menlove (from beautiful England).  (Her current post is a terrific interview with Susan Branch; a must read for any "Heart of the Home" fan!) I love what she had to say about traditional homemaking and creativity in a recent post:

"Why do people across the planet love Cath Kidston? I say that it's due in a large way to the fact that she has taken designs and concepts for the home that are steeped in tradition from days gone by and brought them bang up to date. She has incorporated the two. Incorporated, I like that word.

   

How about these crafty/homemaking blogs we so dearly love to read and comment on? More often than not they are written by women who work towards bringing a little bit of tradition back to their homes. They are business women, crafters, employees, SAHM's and, not forgetting, the bright young things who do not have children or may not be married but know that their loves, likes and tastes could be dragged from many years ago and quite happily dropped in their laps.

   

The same goes for Tessa Kiros. She has brought us recipes that her family has cooked down the generations. She has woven the fabric of her family's history into her books and we buy them in our thousands. The pictures of sun drenched, rosy fabric covered tables bending under the weight of food that has been prepared for an enormous gathering of family and friends inspire us to do the same."

That's it!  Creativity, homemaking, serving the ones we love, all rolled into one.  That is what I am after.

          

It is with these thoughts in my brain, that I stitched a bit of fresh fabric garland for our springtime festivities this weekend.

          

I also made a couple of simple, red ticking cushions for the seats of one of the little bistro tables we will be using on the unfinished back porch.  And yes, the tables will be covered in "rosy fabric", but hopefully not "bending" too much!

      

                            

   

Coming Up For A Breath

          

Wow.  This house finishing project is taking more of my time, energy and sanity than I thought possible.  The sheetrock is done, the wiring complete and the painting begun.  But now, it's getting time to start planning and prep for our annual "Spring Thing"  (or "Spring Fling", depending on which family member you ask).  You see, Chip is a CPA and most of Spring takes place during the dreaded "tax season".  So a few years ago, we decided to have a big party with all of our friends and family (on the first Saturday after April 15th) to celebrate the Resurrection, the beautiful weather and the end of tax season!   

         

We always rent a fun-jump and plan lots of games and such.  The kids all look forward to Chip's big treasure hunt which takes them running from one end of the yard, to another and back.  The usual turnout is generally around 60 people, and with our small house, we depend on good weather.  Everyone brings a lawn chair, a dish to share and a smile.      

I am trying to decide how much of the "Climbing Pinkie" rose bush I should trim back before the party.  As you can see in the top photo, it is creeping over the front steps.  Now roses arching overhead is all very picturesque, but thorns grabbing at your hair and honey bees in your face is an entirely different matter. The sunny yellow beauty you see above is "Graham Thomas" and it is the only one of my 12 roses that is not an official "antique rose" (Antique roses are SO easy!  I do nothing to my plants...no spraying, and no fertilizing!).  I just love how bright and cheerful it is!

         

This one is a climbing "Souvenir de la Malmaison". It is one of the first that I planted and is by far and away my favorite.  After cutting a bouquet of these delicate pink blooms, the wonderful scent lingers on my hands for hours.  I truly believe this is what Heaven must smell like.