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.

He's pretending he's a doctor.

Outside my window....the sun is shining brightly the temperature is 50 degrees and it is a glorious late August day here in the neighborhood.  The air smells as if it was all washed clean.  I woke up in the night last night and knew that all the allergens had been scrubbed out of the air by the rain yesterday and the wind that followed it last night.  This morning the pleasure of being able to take long deep lungs full of cool crisp clean air is beyond imaginable.

I am thinking...about the freshness of the laundry that will come in off the lines today, the snap of the beans that will come out of the field, and the greenness of everything that has been renewed by the storm that passed through yesterday.

I am thankful for....the ability to see and appreciate the good that can come from something that should have been so bad.  I truly believe that there is always a renewal even in devastation.  Like the phoenix which rises from the ashes, mankind must learn to rise above the material loss of something like a hurricane or earthquake and find a new beginning.

From the kitchen....everything waits for some type of culinary magic to be wrought with the tools and utensils that are stored there. In other words, I haven't a clue what is for supper tonight.

I am wearing...navy sweats and a white tee

I am creating...cloth diapers for Layn. Each one is a labor of love!

I am going...nowhere!!!!! Matthew took my car to work and Doug rode his bike (the blazer is DOA). 

I am reading...The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne. The last of my summer reading list. Just in time for school to start a week from today.

I am hoping....that the pile of diapers that I cut out shrinks of its own volition today.  I am working on a work of art for someone else's child and I would much prefer to concentrate on that.

I am hearing...the washer spinning out its first load of the day, the dishwasher working on its first load, Alan Jackson singing "Are You Washed in the Blood," and the birds singing outside of my window.

Around the house....morning chores have been divided up, the kitchen is done and the laundry is started. It is a typical Monday in this little house.  Time to start the second pot of coffee and really start the business of the day.

One of my favorite things...drinking in the sensation of stacks of fabric in various colors and textures.  I am planning Mary-Kate's quilt.  There are piles of different colors and prints scattered about the sewing room.  Each pile invites me to touch, smell, and revel in the harmony and disharmony that the palate suggests.  Soon I will have to settle on a selection to cut and sew together but for now I will luxuriate in the choices that I have.

A few plans for the rest of the week....I am down to the wire as far as sewing projects are concerned.  The piles of cut out projects must be sewn up and placed in boxes to be sold.  I have to solve the camera dilemma so that pictures can be taken and posted.  My desk has to be cleaned off and the piles on it have to be sorted and filed.  Meals for the coming week have to be planned and as far as I can food has to be purchased.  The rest of the corn and beans have to be put into the freezer.  Along with these few things I have my normal round of chores and activities to accomplish. 

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

Layn figured that Auntie Kake had her hands full and needed help feeding Savannah.

Rains are still heavy and the wind is starting to pick up as the storm center passes us by.  The phase of this storm that those of us in Central New York will have to be concerned with is the back lash.  The wrap around winds will be stronger and will bring with them lake effect rain.  That rain after the initial rain that we are experiencing now brings with it the risk of flash flooding.  Fortunately I live on the side of a valley that is 14 feet deep.  The water tends to flow down into the valley and the creek carries it away.

No wind as yet but plenty of rain.

Outside my window....it is dark and raining.  Looks like a good day to stay inside and get inside things done.  My sister and five of her children are here visiting so it is a good day to spend together.

I am thinking...about sleeping.  My son the Big Dude would say that sleeping is over-rated. Of course he has never required much in the way of down time.  I never spent too much time sleeping either when I was younger.  I find though that now as age creeps up on me sleep is becoming a commodity that I value. 

I am thankful for...true and loyal friends. Friends who roll not only with their own punches but yours as well.  Friends who take it on the chin when you check out of life for a while just like you would if they did. I trust that that was understandable.

From the kitchen....there will be much deliciousness I just have no clue what form it may be taking.

I am wearing...jammies. Layn decided to wake anyone in the range of his voice far too early this morning. Since grandma is a light sleeper I was the respondant.

I am creating....fun times and happy memories.

I am going...to do my best to accomplish all that is on the menu for today.  The first thing will be to take Matthew to work this morning. Today is his first day back since his surgery.

I am reading....still working on The Dirty Life.

I am hoping...that my husband has work today in spite of the rain that is falling out there. Lately his hours have been drastically curtailed whenever it has rained. That is not a good thing.

I am hearing...the sound of raindrops tapping on the stones in front of the house, the fans in the basement, and the pump running.  With the window open I hear the peepers finishing their  nighttime song as the sun begins to peek above the horizon.

Around the house...the place is spic and span.  Friday and Saturday MK and I cleaned this house from atic to cellar and then some.  Not one speck of dust remains. 

One of my favorite things....the sounds of the peepers.  In the spring my husband and I take drives in the early evening so that we can catch their first songs of the season.  In the fall we mark the last time that we can hear them sing before they are all tucked away for their winter sleep.

A few plans for the rest of the week...time spent with my sister.

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

Ian and Layn driving the tractor for a hay ride.  On the wagon is Matthew, Brett, and MK the normal residents.  With them are John, William, Thomas, Jeremiah, and Celine.  My sister is taking a photo also and my husband hasn't gotten on yet.  Melissa opted to stay home.

The Big Dude    His vicitm patient   and his friend Steve

The Big Dude is on rotation in AZ and I am terribly proud of the work that he is doing.