I'm so sorry! I have corrected the link, and it should work for you all now. Thank you for letting me know there was an issue.
I've said my goodbyes and given my thanks. I've heard from a few of you and thank you for taking the time to say your own goodbyes.
Blue House Journal will stand for a time for anyone who might find it useful.
If you would like to join me at the new blog, you can find me at A Fresh Season of Life.
Dear Friends,
I got busy this morning, not intentionally, and started the big fall cleaning.
What prompted me? I had planned to spend the entirety of the morning working on the three books I'm studying my way through. I shared what those were a few weeks ago and I'm trying to do something in each of them every single day. Until I miss a day which somehow becomes two, three, four days, and I have to hunker down.
And to think that just yesterday I'd told Sam that in school I would never put off any project work but get started right away on it because I loathed the anxiety that comes with putting off major work until the last minute.
Hello dears. I have had my share of struggles, frustrations, and temperamental issues today. All related to technology.
Sigh.
If only it didn't add so much to our lives!
John had his procedure early this morning and it went very well. We had the pleasure of the most beautiful sunrise to view for at least 25 minutes of our journey. John and I both kept commenting on how lovely it was. We don't get out at sunrise very often these days. Misty fog crept over the low places in fields the sunlight hitting it made it white as snowy clouds. It was almost surreal looking, clouds down in the fields and clear blue skies overhead.
Saturday: Today when we arrived at Katie's, John stopped in the yard to speak with Cody, who was hard at work cleaning out and leveling one of the flower beds where they'd pulled out shrubs a couple of months ago. I went on up the steps to the porch and heard a loud squeal. When I peered in the storm door, Henry was standing in his playpen, grinning from ear to ear, and began to bounce and jump as he looked at me. What a lovely welcome to a Birthday party celebration.
I was barely able to sit down before I had three children on my lap and a fourth child (not a grandchild, but he calls me 'Gramma' anyway) telling me all about the car he was holding in his hand. It's good to be welcomed wholeheartedly when you enter a home and no one can be more welcoming than children who consider you a loved family member.
Monday: It's already been quite a day...and it was good. It might not have held big revelations (although it did hold a couple of small ones) and there might not have been a long list of accomplishments, but there is a list. That's quite enough.
I started out early and wanted to share that while others are grabbing the Pumpkin Spice creamer for their coffee, these days I am adding a splash of maple syrup, barely a tablespoon if that. It adds a barely sweet something to that first cup of coffee in the morning that tastes just right on a pre-autumn morning.
What an awesome start to a new month. All the excitement I felt about September was certainly justified if the first seven days are anything to judge by. It makes me even more excited to see what else September will bring.
One thing it's bringing are the signs of a changing season. Goldenrod is blooming here and there and some of the leaves have started to lighten, or to be tinged with red. That indefinable something, that isn't quite a new season but is, lingers in the air. It feels a bit early, I know. It is a bit early. I had to remind myself today, as we drove home, that indeed we have not hit the halfway point of this month, we are not near the equinox.
I haven't done one of these posts in ages upon ages but today I feel there is so much I want to share and that so much of it is unrelated, one thing to the next, that I'd just present you with my random thoughts.
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Last night John had turned on our Wednesday evening service that is broadcast live from our church. Normally I'd sit down and listen to it and play a game on the computer, but last night I didn't. And why not? Because I had food still out in the kitchen, even though I'd covered it and dishes in the sink and I wanted to get things put up and away.
Hello all. I must say that I am feeling rather emotional. It's all to do with the first week of work for Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way.
On Monday, I shared how I'd been running from kitchen to music room, thinking about the two posts I was writing that day (one is now published) and how happy and vital I felt. Well. Here I am thinking that Cameron's study will help me gain perspective about the creative side of myself (writing, art) and instead what I ended up with was this feeling of intense irritability. I tried to analyze it and sort it out but all I felt was uneasy, fidgety and frustrated. From happy to frustration didn't feel quite right to me. Why was it so?
I'd been reading an article about sales on pantry necessities yesterday afternoon and how much of an increase we can expect on each one due to tariffs.
I woke this morning from a very frustrating dream. I lived in an older home. My family was all young and still living at home. My mother came in complaining over the cost of food items. John came in worried about a necessary repair that we couldn't afford. I had been feeling optimistic at the start of the dream but as time went on and each person came in with their burden of worries, I began to feel more and more anxious and upset.
Truth told that is about how I felt last night when I went off to bed, overtired and overwhelmed with all the bad news and the fear mongering headlines and vlog titles with dire warnings.
After our busy-ish weekend it was very nice to have a holiday. Of course, we did basic housework. John washed clothing and made the bed. I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher and made meals. But for the most part, we ate, we rested and we created. It was a very nice day overall.
We didn't cook out, but I made a holiday-ish sort of meal, and we ate it twice, with the main meal and then the leftovers later. I want to go back to doing that on the weekends: cook once, eat it twice.
I slept super well on Sunday night, and woke early yesterday, before sunrise (not before daylight, though). I had a dream that sent me off a writing jag and that turned into two posts (so far). I spent all day long banging away at the computer, trying to make those posts coherent and to the point.
I've just been through my August goals, and I'm really pleased at how well I did overall. I think I touched on all except a few, three of which had to do with how I'd 'savor summer' and two items under family. Otherwise, I excelled this month as far as I'm concerned.
I am officially finished with the #everybitcounts challenge for 2025. I don't plan to can, harvest or purchase anything more through the end of this month and the first week of next month (September). Although I do have a coupon for a free dozen eggs, I want to be sure to use before it expires next week.
So, what is September going to look like?