Luckybeans

Blessings

Well. That little spot of sunshine did not last for long. We are back into days of snow and slush, sleet, hail, rain, mist, strong wind and all-around cold and grey. Dreary, dismal, dull. I think you understand. (Just to coincide with the Fast and finals, I am certain).

However, Simon gets home tonight for two whole days (we take what we can get). I am on my last two papers, two presentations and final exams. Seven more days of school, but who is counting?

This girl has been playing her heart out. She has gotten good. As in, it sounds like music now and is enjoyable. Especially when she tunes it beforehand. And yes, she does usually have a pencil in her hair and mud on her knees.

This girl has always had a love for bright colours on her person. Some things never change, and her latest finds do make me smile. I remember walking past piles of clothes in the sala ula markets in Zambia and Malawi and squinting. I would then bee-line for the brightest colours, just for her. It still works, except now we are Goodwill and find Mexican embroidered tops instead of oilily dresses. 

I suppose we are always surrounded by things that ought to remind us to be happy (raspberries in porridge are always good, no?). And I think I have been much more aware of that this week than I could have been. Although I will say that having my mother come down this past Saturday and whip both my house and my children into shape with her sunshine-self has serious repercussions. Good ones.

And although the Fast is always so hard, as we light a candle for each day before supper and say a prayer together, my heart feels full and I know we are all ok. We are more than ok. We are happy, we are good.

Blessings. 

And So It Goes

Not quite what was expected, but still, there it is.

A day spent entertaining a boy who is sick with not one, but two ear infections. 

I missed Spanish, but caught up on other, far more useful skills (bun-licking, tea-sipping, slap-jacking, board-gaming).

And the birds (chestnut backed chickadee, bushtits, lincoln's sparrow) .

Am also enjoying watching these two together. The dynamics among the three of them are forever changing and fluid. This, right now, is nice. 

One foot in front of the other, day by day.

I am off to a Linguistics exam. I am actually excited about it. There is no excuse for such abundance of dork, so I will not even try.

 

One for Hannah

Yes, she cut her hair. Here it is, before and after:

And yes, we still adore you. All of us. But especially her.

Step Back

It is common knowledge that Isabella adores history. Adores it. She has gained family fame for blissfully stating (at the age of seven or eight), "Waves of joy wash over me when I hear the words 'Ancient Greece'". Lately, I have been wondering what it would be like for her to live in Europe or China, where history is so accessible and real. A recent art trip had her come home, animatedly telling me the story of how the sketches on display had been saved during WW2 by hiding them in frames. Her classmates were bored to a stupor, but she came alive.

We do not have castles and old homes, fields full of remains and ancient battle scenes. Nothing like this.

But we take what we can get. Earlier in the summer, Ana and Asher and I visited Yaquina Bay Lighthouse and vowed to return with Bella. It is carefully presented as it would have been in the 1860's or so, and so cosy we all felt we could have moved right in.

We could almost hear the thudding of children's feet on the stairs, smell the smoke and bread from the old cookstove. Easy to imagine what it might have been like then, easy to see how Bella can slip so effortlessly into times past.

There are those of us who live with eyes set forward, the dreamers and the planners. Those with eyes wide open for today, the ones who take action and appreciate now. I think there are fewer of us who look backwards, but they are no less valuable. They remind us where we have been, and how we have become who we are. We are fortunate to have one of those around.

After spending time inside, we off course had to go back outside. We went to Agate Beach, where we ran around and poked at things.

We also made giant long lines of kelp tied together by perfecting our hitch knots. Who knew?

 

Well, friends. I am sorry to say that my camera has become the source of great frustration. It seems we are not on speaking terms, so the blog has gone under. 

We have been busy, and generally happy. Trips to Baha'i camp, Kootenay Lake with family, family visiting us here, a freezer full of berries and applesauce, a garden still in full swing.  But very few photos, and the ones I do manage then take an hour to upload. 

So. Silence in this part of the internet.

Bella turned eleven this month (she's the one on the right). That needs to be remarked upon, even in these circumstances. I can not imagine my life without this girl. She is quirky and loving and helpful and bossy and spunky. 

I can not say when I will be back here. A new camera and lens is an expensive undertaking, to say the least. But for now, I suppose I can view it as a vacation of sorts.

 

These Girls

 

Some days I simply watch them in wonder.

While I can, I am enjoying this smile:

She has gone with daddy to get braces this afternoon.

 

I walked home with a small boy. Just he and me, wandering in a patch of sunshine, enjoying one another and the new flowers to be found on our way.

 

I made this for Simon. I do not like rhubarb (I think it may be the only vegetable or fruit of which I am not terribly fond), so this was perfect. It was pretty, though.

I also admired our newly constructed trellises, pineapple guava and raspberry patch. Those cement blocks in the background are slated for a potato bed construction this weekend. We shall see.

 

I am about to go under, drowned in a miserable wave of Spanish work. This class has been awful. Truly, everything I have come to dread in teaching and learning. It has given me nightmares and reduced me to tears. Often. But I have four more weeks, and then I am done. I will stick my head down, work like hell, and pray that she will let me pass so I Never Ever have to take her class again. 

Inhale, exhale. Walk in the sunshine, dig in the dirt. Hug the children. I will get through...

 

Our Sweet Girl

 This week, Isabella turned ten. We celebrated with lots of family, several times. She requested pies (one peach and raspberry, one apple-blackberry), a turkey dinner in August, and time at the farm. She got it all, and an angel food cake, too. What I found wonderful to watch was how much more interested in everyone else she was than in herself. At how patient she was with her siblings when they "helped" her unwrap things (Ana, aren't you 12? Some things you never outgrow...), and then wanted to play with them. She was happy to have her people all together, well-fed and happy. It is something deep within her, this desire to have those she loves gathered and cared for.

 We also got to meet our newest cousin, and he is a dear boy. Bella was once that small, and we do remember it clearly.

 We adore her so.

Swimming Gala!

(Nancy, Asher, Rahzahn, Fadil, Wongani)

 Yesterday Asher's class participated in the infant's school swimming gala. You have never seen so many excited children swimming sideways with huge smiles on their faces. I must have taken hundreds of photos. Don't worry, I have restrained myself here.

 Asher's star race was the breast stroke. He swam really well, and came in a close second. He would have won, but Samuel got fed up with breast stroke and switched to front crawl half way through. He still only beat Asher by a hair. No worries, they were all very pleased with their fish awards.

 It seemed to me they had as much fun waiting on the sidelines as they did swimming. This is Asher with three of his table-mates, Angel, Rahzahn and Tiwende (Tulani and Fadil are the other two). These children love each other and really look out for one another. They had no idea I was watching them, and it was so sweet to watch them interact. Tiwende had just received a pinch on the arm, so Ash was looking out for her.

(Asher and Fadil; Mercy with Angel, Tulani with Asher; Asher with Fadil; Eve with Rameen; Salman with Lauren; Tiwende with Fadil) 

The final race of the day was everyone's favourite-- the piggy back relay! I think they would have gone back and forth all day if they had been allowed. They loved it. I tried to get some photos of Asher's friends for him, for posterity.

It was a great day. Excellent entertainment value.

(Georgina, Sumani, Hannah, Bella, Amina and Urja)

 On the way out, I had to stop and snap this photo of Bella and the usual line up waiting for their rides home. Not a great shot, I know, but at least I got it, right?

Sewing is hard work.