Well, I haven't moved yet...obviously...I just can't seem to make the break...the community here is so great...I'm hemming and hawing ...so until further notice this is my blog home!
Well, I've finally made he commitment to move my blog...I'll be posting at A Sweet life
from now on. I've been getting very frustrated trying to upload photo's here at HSB. I am going to miss the community, though. So, if you get the chance, check out the new blog...not much is happening there at this time...mostly housekeeping as I move my posts from here to there. But you'll notice a new header (designed for me by my Dear Knight) and some new pages...oh, and another thing... I'll be signing off as "Lola" from now on...the Dear Knight finally told me he thinks "Motherhen" is too frumpy. So , thanks to our nephew "T" for christening me with my new moniker when he was 2 (ok...not so new..."T" is 19 so I've been call Lola for a long while).
It's another busy day, another busy day...we work to work and play to play. It's another busy day....These words from a children's song keep running through my mind. This is my mantra right now as I faithfully "plan" out what I'd like us all to accomplish. I list all school work, chores, meals to prepare and errands that need to be done. I post charts and lists and pithy little sayings all around our living areas and then I throw up my hands in exasperation. All bets are off...the phone starts ringing just as we sit down to read, the baby cries when we try to have a math lesson--or any lesson for that matter, the toddler decides to sing LOUDLY as we discuss history. the older kiddos argue over who is sitting where and who has what pencil! No sooner do I get everyone quiet and occupied then the door bell rings and we are back to square one. On top of all this the house is a mess; toys EVERYWHERE!! The clean laundry didn't get dried so now it smells "off" and must be washed again and the rest of the mountains of laundry are spilling out of the laundry room into the hallway. The dishes didn't get cleaned or the counters cleared...from last night's dinner and this morning's breakfast...and now it's lunch time...who has time for lunch? Unfortunately the wee chicks don't see it that way...they just want their tummies filled, NOW! Let's have leftover's ...oh wait, we can't 'cause the food from last night is still on the counters...of course the older chicks don't know how the kitchen could have been left that way...it wasn't their night for dishes! Arrgghh!!! Will this vicious circle never end?
I've had an epiphany of sorts but before I can really speak of the matter I must give some background information:I really like chocolate, always have and always will. I come from a family of chocolate lovers. My grandmother couldn't go a day without one small piece--she said it made her fell better. My mom likes chocolate especially with her ice cream or cake or cookies. My sister is a verifiable choco-holic-- to her everything is better with chocolate. And then there is me...I like choclate, not that waxy pasty cheap stuff that is passed off as chocolate in the grocery stores at easter of Valentine's...no, not me...I like the REAL stuff...you know...Hershey's, especially their Peppermint Patties--covered in dark chocolate doncha know!. At least I felt this way until I read the book "French Women Don't Get Fat". In it the author talks of satisfying your hunger with really good tasting food...if you are SATISFIED you'll likely eat less and therefore slim down or stay slim if you're already there. And if you are satisfied you don't need a lot of anything a little will suffice. She goes on to say that she savors a small (one ounce) piece of really good high quality chocolate a couple of times a week. What! Is she nuts daily is the way I like my Hershey's!! She then goes on to say that the stuff that is passed off as chocolate here in the U.S. is hardly worth buying...she describes it as mostly sugar and very little cocao bean. Yeah, right I said to myself...she must be a chocolate snob. Yet, I decided to look at the wrapper of my beloved Hershey's chocolate...hmm...there was a lot of "stuff" listed on that wrapper, sugar being the first ingredient. Upon more investigation, I discovered that there is truly only trace amounts of actual chocolate in most of the chocolate that I consume--not good.
I also read in FWDGF that the author's choice of chocolate was Valrhona. I about laughed myself right off the couch...All I could think of was watching Martha Stewart several years back extol the virutes of Valrhona chocolate...now of course Martha didn't just say "Valrohna". No, Martha rolled that word off her tongue as no other person can. It sounded more like Vahl-rhoh-nahh Chocolate. She further went on to say that of course you can find it at your local gourmet food store. Silly Martha didn't she know that you can get semi- sweet baking chocolate at your local supermarket and it certainly wouldn't require a 6 figure income to afford it! Fast forward to last Monday, there I am with the two littles and The Boy standing in line at our neighborhood Trader Joe's and what before my wondering eyes should appear? A selection of dark, semi-sweet and bitter-sweet chocolate bars made by...(drum roll, please)...Valhrona!! I just couldn't resist...I bought one! Yes sirree, I bought a bar of dark bittersweet chocolate -- 71% cacao, in case you are wondering. It stayed undisturbed in my pantry cupboard until yeterday afternoon when I decided to try a little one-ounce piece, ala French Women Don't Get Fat. Now the epiphany part...Well let me just say that itty bitty smidgen of Valhrona chocolate was the best chocolate I've ever tasted...bittersweet yet not bitter at all...just smooth rich, slightly fruity...yes, you heard me...slightly fruity, with hints of something more earthy. And despite its classification of bitter sweet there was no bitter after taste--just pure lovely, dark, rich chocolate. I will never go back--I have been changed...and it's a Good Thing! (but I'm still holding on to my Peppermint Patties!)
I love birds. Not kept-in-a-cage-in-your-house-type birds, but the wild and free birds that visit my yard all year 'round. This is a love that came to me in adulthood...as a child I did indeed love and appreciate all things animal ( it was not unusual for me to weep hopelessly for injured animals on Lassie re-runs) but I really didn't take notice nor really care about the birds fluttering and twittering about our yard. Sure I enjoyed tossing stale bread to the ducks at a local lake and I once made a bird feeder out of an old coffee can. However, I did that more out of boredom than any actual feeling of benevolence to the feathered folk that my mom got so much enjoyment out of watching. In fact I never truly "got" what my mom saw in the scrub jays she doted on so lovingly. To my indifferent heart they were nothing more than a bunch of squawking bullies that chased all the other birds away from the bread mom tossed onto the grass.
Now here it is 30 years later and I have 8 feeders spread out between my front and back yards. Every morning I check to see who is visiting my bird banquet. There are the juncos and sparrows, the mourning doves and robins, the house finches and goldfinches-American and Lesser. There is the black phoebe with its flipping tail, the beautiful yellow rumped warbler, and the wee Anna's hummingbird. The mockingbird and scrub jay and (new this year) the rufous-sided spotted towhee. I fill and re-fill the tube feeders with songbird mix, the sock feeders with thistle, and the hummer feeders with sugar water. I scatter feed along the ground for the mourning doves, juncos and white crowned sparrows. And when I remember, I purchase meal worms from the local Wild Bird Center and attempt to lure Western Bluebirds to join the feast (I have so far been very unlucky with the bluebirds--they seem to come for one day a year, finding a few worms then moving on to greener pastures).
This love of mine has induced me to becoming a member of Project Feeder Watch. And I have even tried to bring my children along and for the past few years we have participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count I am not sure what if any importance will ever comed from my bird watching...for now it is a diversion and a pleasure that gets me outdoors. And if that is all it ever amounts to then that is enough and I will be happy to continue to enjoy God's dear little feathered folk.
Just the simple thoughts on life, children, books, nature, and God (to name a few) of an imperfect Christian momma as she ventures forth in search of the Sweet Life...
