losing our marbles

I don't often discuss religious or political ideas in this space as I really want it to remain a beautiful and harmonious space that brings people of all beliefs together in parenting, creativity, enjoying nature, etc.  However, as I sat in church this morning, the message was such a parenting revelation to me that I feel compelled to share it here.

The speaker told a story about a podcast that he listened to about how short time, and our lives, truly are. The person giving the podcast gave an example of putting marbles in a jar, one marble for each week that your child has left at home before heading to college, and how sobering that image is.  The speaker at church decided to invest in marbles for each of his four children and so each of his children have a jar with the number of marbles corresponding to the number of weeks that his children have left in his home until starting college.  Then he showed the jar in which he'd collected the marbles representing the weeks that had passed since his family started this project.  There were 56 marbles representing the 14 weeks that have passed.  He mentioned that just seeing those jars sitting on his mantle at home was such a visible reminder to always treat his family as if their time together was short.  Because it truly is.

And so I counted up how many marbles each of our children would have.

Paul: 264 marbles
Elizabeth: 316 marbles
Philip: 420 marbles
Finn: 628 marbles

Those numbers seem so sobering.  In some ways 264 or 316 weeks seem like forever, but in other ways it seems like yesterday that Paul and Elizabeth were just beginning kindergarten and had 628 weeks left in our home.  Now they have less than half that many.

In the day to day challenges of parenting, it can be easy to focus on the monotony of cooking, laundry, running children here and there, helping with school work.  It can be easy to forget that the marbles are disappearing out of the jar. Week, by week, by week.

And as each of those marbles disappear, I lose a chance to lay in bed beside someone and listen to her dreams instead of folding laundry.  I lose a chance to play with trains for 5 more minutes instead of getting a head start on dinner. I lose a chance to play a board game instead of knitting or reading on my own. I lose a chance to make memories on a farm, at the market, in the backyard, on a hike. Each week those marbles disappear, whether I've made the most of that week or not.

I don't know if I'll buy 1628 marbles and divide them into 4 jars to watch them tick away the weeks I have left with my children.  I do know that I will find a tangible way to remind myself to be in the moment, to enjoy this short time I have with them.  They only have one childhood to remember. And that time is right now.

Because in 628 marbles...628 weeks...that chance will be gone.

Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom. ~ Psalm 90:12

Saturday garden update

It's been a few weeks since I've posted a garden update.  Being out of town for most of the last 2 weeks meant that I spent little time in the garden. Thankfully some helpful neighbors watered for us while we were in Philadelphia during that crazy heat wave, and this past week it rained every day so I returned to a lush green garden that's still bearing nicely.  

Most of my potted herbs are still growing strong.

Both the cilantro and dill bolted in the last couple of weeks, but I pulled them up and replanted just in time for the cool rain over the last week.  Hopefully I'll get another good crop of both before the end of the summer.

My poor tomatoes just fell apart while I was gone though.  Almost all of the stakes and plants  completely toppled over.  I tried repair the situation, but they really didn't want to stand up anymore.  I need to either keep the plants shorter or find a new system before growing tomatoes again next year.

Fortunately, very few branches broke, so I'm still getting plenty of tomatoes, even if I have to pick through the wreckage to find them.  I picked 8 lbs of heirloom tomatoes and 3 lbs of cherry tomatoes just this morning.

My winter squashes are growing nicely.  I'm not exactly sure when to start harvesting them, but they look very healthy and seem to be ripening.

There are probably 10-12 good sized acorn squashes and about the same number of butternut squashes waiting to fully ripen.  I can't wait to freeze them for winter meals!

We returned from Philadelphia to find that the garden peas were completely ravaged by aphids.  I picked the last few healthy peas then pulled up all of those plants and replanted just before the cool rains began.  They seemed to appreciate the moisture, and they sprouted nicely in the last few days. I hope to keep the aphids away with neem oil or garlic oil this time to see if I can get a better crop this time around.

The beets are completely swamped by the continuing crop of zucchini.  I'm not sure I'll get much now, but I intend to replant in the autumn garden.  The sweet peppers suffered the same fate at the hands of the tomatoes.

The tomatoes from our garden sure look lovely canned into salsa.  I'm thrilled we'll be able to enjoy our bounty all winter long!

Blueberry Hill

So...I mentioned yesterday that I was headed out of town to help a friend for a few days.  I'm now here in Greenville, SC, and assisting in any way I can while my friend, Jenni, helps care for her sister's children.  Her sister, who has been on the organ donation list for about 9 months, finally over the weekend received the heart, liver, and kidney transplant she needed so desperately.  In addition to the emotional upheaval in her family, Jenni's sister has 2 small children who are now staying with Jenni and her family, including 3 small children of her own.  Elizabeth, Finn, and I are here for several days to help make the load a bit lighter, if we can.

With 7 children in tow, we took advantage of the slightly cooler weather this morning and ventured over to Blueberry Hill, the aptly named organic blueberry farm that reminds me of both the book Blueberries for Sal, with a similar hillside covered in blueberries, and the song of the same name as the farm. And like Sal, our kids certainly "found their thrill on Blueberry Hill".

Maybe even a bigger thrill than the blueberries were the chickens that first captivated the kids. With their clucking, squawking, cockle-doodle-dooing, and chasing and fighting over cherry tomatoes and less-than-perfect blueberries.  They were quite entertaining to watch for a bit.

The farmers let our kids hold and pet the chickens, even a few of the "teenager" chickens with their awkward, gangly bodies and feathers.

After the kids had fed them bits of grass, tomatoes, and some blueberries, we headed over to the hillside to pick our fill of blueberries.

(The baby is still smiling; so far so good!)

We began picking and quickly found several bushes so full that I picked almost a quart on just a single bush.

We took advantage of the kids' excitement over the loads of blueberries and picked as many as we could quickly before the heat set in and enthusiasm waned.

As each kid's basket hit around three-quarters full, the kids started begging to get back to the chickens.

Jenni and I helped them fill the last little bit, then left them admiring and feeding the chickens so we could pick another couple of quarts.

Occasionally we would catch a glimpse of our little blueberry thief, practically flipping over backward for a handful of blueberries.  She reminded me of the little bear in Blueberries for Sal, stealing handfuls of Mother's berries.

What a lovely time we had getting out of the crazy and busy rut of caring for 7 children and out into the fresh air and sunshine for a while!  There's nothing like some blueberry bushes and silly chickens to provide a welcome distraction during this stressful time.

in the jars

This weekend I did little else but hang out in the kitchen with my canner.  I'm not sure what possessed me to come home with 35 lbs of scratch and dent tomatoes (they were cheap!), 5 lbs of green beans, and a half bushel of peaches all in the same weekend, but I clearly bit off more than I could chew.  (Did I mention that I knew it was a distinct possibility that I could be called out of town to stay with a friend whose family is going through a hard time?) The pressure was on! (No pun intended at the expense of my trusty friend, the pressure canner.)

About 25 lbs of the tomatoes simmered all day Saturday with onions, green peppers and spices to make about 9 quarts of spaghetti sauce. I strained the last 2 bowls of tomatoes after I peeled and chopped them and froze about 2 pints of juice, which I thought might save a bit of simmer time. I'll use the juice this winter to add to chili and soups where the extra juice is appreciated. The remaining 10 lbs of tomatoes I canned plain.  The green beans became dilly beans, using the recipe from Food in Jars.

The peaches just begged to be made into peach salsa after my friend, Jenni, brought us some that she canned last month.  I used the jalapenos from my own garden, and they were quite spicy for jalapenos!  I'm intrigued to see how hot the salsa is from those little guys!

I also canned about 20 lbs of peaches with some very light syrup to eat this winter.  I thought I might freeze some of the rest, but they aren't quite ripe enough for freezing, so they'll likely become snacks over the next few days.

In previous canning news, I made some bread and butter pickles and pickled beets before we went to Philadelphia that I didn't get the chance to share.  I used my grandmother's recipe for both of these pickles so I don't have links to share, but I know you can find many recipes for each through google.

I also stumbled on a huge bag of basil for $4 at the farmer's market a few weeks ago.  I've been freezing the occasional jar of pesto as we have extra basil on our own plants.  But it was nice to freeze a large batch at one time.  My friend, Jenni, saved some baby food jars for me, which is the perfect amount for covering a pizza or making a pesto pasta salad.

Last, when I swiped those antique mason jars from my parents' stash, I decided to use a few as soap dispensers in our bathrooms.  The lids with the soap pumps came from etsy, because I really wanted stainless steel lids instead of the repurposed zinc lids that these jars had originally.

Whew!  It makes me tired just looking back on all that work.  I know I've only been regularly back in this space for a few days, but I really don't know how often I'll get into this space over the next week as I'm headed out of town, with a couple of the kids, to stay with my friend for a few days.  I hope everyone has a lovely week full of ripe and delicious summer produce!

{this moment} - silly fruit

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. See Soulemama to play along.

our trip to Philly

Sorry for the unannounced, prolonged absence from this space.  We spent the last several days in Philadelphia visiting my brother and his family.  I thought I might blog from up there, but I decided to be in the moment as much as possible and not spend my evenings blogging.  I honestly didn't even take as many pictures as I normally do.  I did manage to get quite a few shots of our time at the Crayola Factory and the Philadelphia Zoo. The kids had a wonderful time playing with their cousins, as they always do.  And I enjoyed watching my children and my brother's children interacting and caring for one another. I only wish they could do this more often.

We returned yesterday afternoon, too exhausted to head out to any of the local fireworks displays so we just set off some sparklers in the basil.

I hope everyone that celebrates July 4th had a lovely day! I plan to be back in this space regularly now. :)