book review: The Crosswicks Journals by Madeleine L'Engle

Was Madeleine L'Engle anyone else's favorite author as a child?  A Wrinkle in Time, An Acceptable Time, And Both Were Young- I read her books over and over growing up.  Her books are not "children's books," and reached me in different ways at different times.

Madeleine's Crosswick's Journals are not fiction, but excerpts from journals she kept during her life.  There are four journals, each dealing with a period of her life.  The word that comes to mind when thinking about her writing is gentle.  These books deal with a range of things, some humorous and some heart-wrenching, but Madeleine's writing is like stories and advice from a favorite godmother, someone you ran to for help when your own life was difficult.  It is also interesting to see how people and places from her own life made it into her books.

These journals are a perfect curl-up-on-a-snow-day read.  They don't have to be read in order, or even all together, but after you read one you will want to track down the rest.

pink

seen at our local grocery store:

 

Hello, you are supposed to park your horse on the side of the store...

an unlikely couple

This is Firefly. A couple of weeks ago we sold her mom, and even though she was old enough to be separated, she still ran around anxiously calling and looking for her mom.  It was rather pathetic.

So Daniel decided to give her some company, and stuck Homer in her field.

They are hysterical to watch.  They have quite the love-hate relationship going on.  During the day, they wander together around the field grazing. Every once in a while Homer decides to show Firefly who is boss, and tries to buck her.  She responds by spinning around and smacking him with her hind foot.  This goes on for a few minutes, then they settle back down to grazing.

  

contemplating a kick

But Firefly stopped looking for her mom, and Homer is also much more content now that he has a friend.  He used to wander around getting into trouble and looking for other (lady) goats, but now he is happy to eat all day with occasional breaks for naps in the sun

that time of year

This morning I glanced out my kitchen window, and was reminded it has been almost a year since I started this blog.

once again the Madra Cacao tree behind the house is in bloom, and once again we have some early morning visitors.  Can you spot them?

These little guys love to eat the nectar in the flowers, and were chattering happily amongst themselves all morning.

cow phone

I swear I am not making this up. Once or twice a week, we will be quietly sitting around the house, when we will hear the cell phone ring, set to vibrate. mmmmmmmmnn……mmmmmmnnn. So we run around looking for the phone, but when we find it there are no missed calls. Then we realize that once again we have been faked out by a cow. One of the first things I realized from being in close proximity to cows is that they do not make the sound “moo.” Parents everywhere are teaching their children wrong. Cows make quite a variety of sounds, with the most annoying sounds usually reserved for 5am, the morning after your husband has decided that tying the cow under the bedroom window is a great idea. But never “moo.” Anyways, we have a few cows on the farm whose calls are dead ringers for a vibrating cell phone. It’s not just my inexperience with farm life, cause my husband gets faked out quite a bit too.Although maybe he can use the excuse that they didn't even have electricity, let alone cell phones, when he was growing up...

hello!

 

I’m back. Well, I’ve been back for a while, but we’ve been kinda busy. Leaving a house vacant for 2 weeks in the tropics equates to about 2 years of emptiness in the states; you would not believe the amount of dirt that drifted into our house when we were gone. So there was lots of cleaning. Also, I have been working on this website for the church, if any former volunteers are interested in stopping by. I’ve also been writing Parish newsletters, which I will post if I can figure out how to link to pdf files.

In other news: I got a full-length mirror for Christmas!  However, this has also resulted in moments of horror, when I put on clothes combinations that I have been wearing for the last year and a half, and then go look in the mirror and realize it did not go together. At all. When Daniel is confronted with the “how could you have let me out of the house wearing this,” I just get a blank look and an innocent “what is the problem with that?” So the mirror is a big help.

Also, we got a new milking goat. Her name is Lola, which she came with, but I think it suits her. Her former owners promised she gives around 3 liters of milk a day after she kids (she is due in about 2 months), which will be quite a step up from our current milker, who gives us about 2 cups of milk a day. Of course, she is also feeding twins….

travel tips

I'm in and out of Belize a lot, and as a creature of routine I have a packing/ traveling method down.  I thought I'd share some tips for those who might be traveling this holiday (and perhaps dreading security...)

1.  I always dress nicely.  It really does affect how people treat you.

2. I never have anything in any of my pockets. Everything is in my purse.  My purse gets dumped out the night before I leave, and anything that is super important, plus travel documents, goes back in.

3.  In my purse- lots of PENS for all those pesky forms (and extras for my seat neighbors who forgot theirs).

4. My carry on is a small backpack, which I put under the seat in front of me.  Much, much easier then overheads.

5. I always put a few essential medicines (for headache, upset stomach), a clean shirt, and some clean underwear in my carry on.

6.  For comfort on the plane:  A large, cushy pair of socks (I take my shoes off and put them on, it helps a lot if your feet tend to swell), my ipod with movies (dang you continental for charging for entertainment!!) and a cashmere blanket (soooo warm.  Mine is made out of thrifted sweaters.)

Hope this is helpful!

big dog, little dog

We have a big dog and a little dog.  So, we built a big dog house and a little dog house.  This is what happened:

The big dog moved into the little house and refuses to leave.

Fortunately the little dog scorns the little house.  He loves the big house.  So it all worked out.

NYC

 I had a quick stop over in New York on the way home.

It was fun to do some typical things, like a visit to Time's Square, the Rockefeller Center to see the tree, and a visit to St Patrick's Cathedral....

 And also some unique things, like a visit to Curry Hill, New York's Little India, to do some fabric shopping.