I am not exactly certain what Layn was thinking or what he was pretending but he sure was having a good time today.  He completely emptied the box that normally holds all of his toys and climed in.  He kept the giraffe to chew on (a guy has to eat you know) and started to chatter like there was far too much to say.

Then for a solid 30 minutes he was the master of whatever world his mind had created. 

Outside my window....it is dark. I hear water dripping from the porch overhang and the peepers singing the final chorus of their nighttime songs as the sun starts to lighten the eastern horizon.  Today is supposed to be a cool 68 with lots of sun.  That will be a pleasant and welcome change from the 80's and high humidity of the weekend.

I am thinking....about tornadoes.  We don't get very many here in New York State but apparantly one formed and crossed the New York State Thruway yesterday afternoon.  My prayers go up for those who were in its path and who experienced such awsome power.

I am thankful for....a shelf full of summertime stored away to be opened when the winter winds howl.  I am thankful for a freezer full of summer crispness and sweetness waiting for the cold snap of snow to inspire me to culinary comfort.

From the schoolroom....my new semester begins today. There will be much educational diligence going on.

From the kitchen....two chickens in every crockpot and savory odors rising up to wake the residents of this little house.

I am wearing...grey shorts and a grey tank.

I am creating....a work of art.  You just wait and see Miss Jess, a work of art!!!!

I am going...before the Blessed Sacrament for an hour of peace and tranquility and that is about all today.

I am reading...not a thing.  I completed all of my summer reading list just in time.

I am hoping....that my daughter has a pleasant and productive trip next week as she wings her way to Tennessee to visit family.

I am hearing...the pump running in the basement, rainwater dripping off the overhang of the porch, the last burst of peeper song as the sky lightens up, and the early morning stirrings of Mary-Kate's chickens across the road.

Around the house....all is peaceful and quiet.  I am the only one up so far.  Doug, Matthew, and Ian have the day off so they are getting some much needed rest.  Layn had a busy day yesterday so he is not even awake yet which is unusual for him on a Monday morning.  There is something so insulating about the house before everyone else gets up.  It feels like a favorite blanket that I have wrapped around myself.

One of my favorite things...the anticipation of learning something new.

A few plans for the rest of the week....school!!!!! I also have a teacher's meeting for the new school year at our church and then the usual round of cooking, cleaning, loving, and caring. Life here is truly good.

Here is a picture thought that I am sharing with you...

Earlier in the spring after Ian cut the hay off this field he rented it out to a neighbor to plant beans on.  Those a green beans folks not soy beans.  There are 10 acres of them out there!!!!!! We have been enjoying beans for about two weeks now and have put several bushels into the freezer.

Yesterday evening the trucks came to harvest the beans.  They are now parked out by the field waiting first light so the men can see to start them up and drive in straight rows.  I am fully looking forward to learning how green beans are harvested.  When they are done we will go through and glean whatever we can from the plants that they leave behind.  Then the plants will be gathered up and fed to the pigs.  There is some serious good eating on that field.

EDIT:

Scratch that comment about it being sunny today.  The rain is coming down in buckets! Fear not the best part of rainy days is that the leaky faucets in the house are getting fixed and the messy bedrooms are getting cleaned.  I love rainy days.

Yesterday I spent the day canning tomatoes.  My apologies to those of you who sweltered in the humidity that was present in the northeast as a result.  You can always tell when tomatoes are in full force; the cooler days of August yield once again to the heat and humidity of full summer.  It is almost as if the weather must echo the release of the odors of bright sunshine and lazy summer days that happen when tomatoes are plunged into boiling water in preparation for peeling. 

Every year when I fill my kitchen sinks with the ripe red fruits I see not tomatoes but days of full sunshine and the haze of heat shimmering above the garden.  After I pour boiling water over the tomatoes the whole house is filled with summer.  The deep throaty smells of days spent swinging in the hammock, walking along paths over grown with weeds, and tramping through the woods heavy with the haze of cedar and pine.  If I close my eyes as I fill the jars, not only do I make a mess, but I can hear the cicadas serenading anyone who cares to stop and listen to their urgent song.  When I choose to slip a bit of basil into the hot tomatoes it fills my mind with the sound that the dogs make as the shuffle along the garden paths brushing past the herbs as they grow there. I hear their tags tinkle on their collars and the shushing of the leaves as their tails wag back and forth through the bushes. 

Come the middle of the winter I will open a jar of summertime and perhaps make up a pot of soup.  The house will be filled with the sunny days and summery sounds that I trapped inside the jars that I filled yesterday.  While the snow is falling outside and the wind is doing its best to get inside my family will be happy to taste the last few days of summer that I captured to help keep them warm.