I Am Your Keeper and You are Mine: A Stroll in Springtime

I have some more old pictures for you today! I'm still recovering from an illness that has kept me in bed for three days. My strength is starting to return, but I'm taking baby steps. When I haven't been dozing, I've been spending time in my rocker on my front porch in my pajamas and wrapped in a sheet. My husband has taken the week off work to be my nurse and to care for the kids. My mom brought over a chicken dinner last night. After sleeping nearly all day, I found Mother's comfort food to be very comforting indeed!

As I think I said yesterday, looking through my photos feels therapeutic. I can't believe how many pictures I have meant to share with you that I haven't yet got around to sharing! These are some I took on a Spring Sunday back in April when I took my baby for a stroll after church.

I keep hoping that one day I will have time to blog the way I want to: lots of pictures and insights into the classics and useful tips for successful living. But the truth is, though life is a beautiful gift, sometimes it is very hard. Sometimes it takes all I have to just give my family the basics for their survival with a smile on my face. Sometimes the edge is gone and I have no energy left to be creative. I have nothing clever to say and I feel like I need to just lap up wisdom from everyone else!

Sometimes I just need to sit still and watch a bee pollinate a flower and feel the breeze on my face and listen to a mourning dove. 

I  wish people wouldn't say, "I don't want to be a burden on anyone." (Even though I admit I have sometimes said this myself -- I don't want to cause anyone any trouble.) Guess what? Being a burden is part of life so get over it! And praise God the whole world isn't full of evil Nazis. Sometimes your friends and family need you to be a "burden" so they can be whole. Caring for others is not a curse! Caring for others is a blessing!

But I think most people are just trying to be considerate when they say "I don't want to be a burden." We all know negative draining types that will just suck out all of a person's energy and demand more, more, more! But I'm sure you are not like that. If you have a need, call out for help! And receive gifts of love with a grateful heart. I know you will carry the goodness forward and many others will be blessed by your life in time.

I'm very grateful for the friends and family who have stepped up to care for me in the last few days. I hope you have someone to care for you when you are ill or depressed. It is awful to be hurting and to be alone -- especially if you have dependents who require your constant care! I hope you don't struggle with pride like I do. Are you too proud to ask for help? Too proud ask others to share your burdens?

I am your keeper and you are mine. I need your prayers and encouraging words and sometimes I need you tell me when I'm wrong! (Kindly please, but yes -- do tell me.) And I am responsible for each person who comes across my path -- whether in the blogosphere or in offline relationships. I am responsible for everything I teach, say, and show. I must ask myself:

Am I being loving or spiteful? 

Are my motives toward this person pure or selfish? 

When I say "I'll pray for you." Do I actually stop to pray for more than a second?

 Am I building others up or tearing them down?

I think I'll stop here. Maybe soon we can talk about what this looks like in our online relationships.

For now I'm going to take a shower, then rest a bit until Mom gets here. Tonight she's bringing a roast.

Love and blessings!

Adriana

Traveling with Gulliver: A Photo Essay

Hi friends,

Hope you are well. I've been a little under the weather lately, but I'm doing what I need to do to get back to health. Thought I'd share a photo essay with you today. These pictures are from a trip we took with extended family back in March. I took my Kindle along and listened to Gulliver's Travels.

 Uncle Indy

Zip

Gifts from my son: "Mama Pinecone", "Baby Pinecone", & "Daddy Pinecone"

Big Hairy Audacious Goals

I cannot go one step further on my quest without pausing to recognize the achievements of my friend Carol Weaver from The Well.

I discovered Carol's blog shortly after I started Classical Quest. What a thrill it was to find someone who had actually finished the Well-Educated Mind lists! I discovered that Carol is not only well-educated, she is a well-balanced, largehearted wife, mother, and friend. I love her sense of adventure! I love how her faith in God comes through in her writing. You can't read Carol's blog for long before you notice just how much she loves life!

Carol has read a lot of books. Not only has she completed the WEM lists, she has completed other lists as well. She calls these accomplishments her BHAGs for "Big Hairy Audacious Goals."

In the past 555 weeks she has read 287 classics.

I think all the reading she has done through the years has served her well. Yes, I believe she just might be an example of what reading widely can to for a person of faith. If reading makes us more human, then Carol is very human indeed!

This could be a portrait of Carol Weaver's mind. (Via Pinterest)

Now, hop over to Carol's blog and read this post about her experience with classic literature. Don't forget to comment on her post!

Fowl Company

Whenever we spot a wild turkey near our home it's cause for some excitement. I shush the little ones. My husband fetches his binoculars.

Sometimes turkey can be seen foraging in a distant field, but they often disappear into the undergrowth of nearby woods before I have a chance to point them out to my kids.

Through the years we've all practiced calling turkeys. We own a wooden box-call and a few mouth pieces which help to create realistic gobbling, cackling, and clucking sounds. Once I heard a turkey nearby while I was reading on my front porch and I called it into our yard with just my voice! Oh boy -- was I proud of myself! 

So you can imagine how surprised I was when I started to go out my back door and I saw this ---

"No more turkey dinners! Is that clear?!"

Senior picture -- class of 2013

"Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Wattle.
Wattle who?
Wattle I do if you don't open the door?"

"Tell Mommy to buy tofu!"

"♫ I get lost in your eyes
And I feel my spirits rise
And soar like the wind
Is it love that I am in?♫"

How did this happen? We were all bumfuzzled! Two turkeys just showed up at our back door out of the blue! So I put the pictures on Facebook. A few days later a woman messaged me to say that her friend had decided to let his pet turkeys go wild. He dropped them off at the farm behind us and their dogs chased them to our place. 

P.S. I want to give credit to  Jeannie Prinsen for inspiring some of the captions today. :)

Homemade is Best ♥ Happy Father's Day

Hi Friends,

Hope you all are having a great Father's Day weekend!

Thought I'd share this photo of the homemade card my daughter made for my dad.

She also designed and hand-stitched this pillow for him. It's kind of hard to see in the sunlight. She chose blue stripes for the case and red gingham for the cross applique.

It was a treat to visit Dad at my parents' farm yesterday. 

Dad and two of my sons on a stroll around the farm.

Dad is a beekeeper. This week my parents will begin processing honey. 

He has about twenty hives.

His favorite spot in the whole world. 

Searching for toads.

Source: Martha Stewart

At this moment I'm baking these cupcakes with my little ones for their Daddy. He's an avid golfer. On Saturday he went to a Father's Day golf outing and won four prizes! So the kids and I agreed that these cupcakes would be perfect.

Hope you all have had a relaxing weekend with the fathers in your lives! 

Blessings! 

Adriana

P.S. My friend Christina Joy wrote a sweet tribute to her dad with a nod to classic literature. Check it out.

About the Bench in My New Header

I thought I'd put down a few words about my new header. I've received some nice compliments on it. Thank you all very much. I love this bench. I imagine I'm not alone; I'm sure many people from my city love it too! 

Eleven years ago, when I was pregnant with my first child, I had intense morning sickness. It lasted 24 hours a day for months. I became very weak and discouraged. It just when on and on and on. 

It was winter. My husband and I lived in a basement apartment. I loved to read before I became pregnant, but to my horror I found that reading made the nausea worse. I spent most of my time dozing on a hand-me-down, hide-a-bed couch in a dim, musty room.

One day I became fixated on an idea: I had to get to the conservatory in our city. I had to breath in the fragrant air! I had to be near green growing things! 

I mentioned the idea to my husband one night. He was working long hours during that time. The conservatory was about an hour drive into the city. He promised to take me on the weekend. I counted the days. 

I remember the feeling when I walked into that spacious place, teeming with life and light! The air was warm, clean, and sweet. I think I had convinced myself that if I could just get there, my morning sickness would disappear -- and of course it didn't. But being there still did me a world of good! I walked slowly back to a quiet corner where I found the bench. I sat down alone. Before long, I was curled into the fetal position -- fast asleep.

I don't know if anyone walked past me while I slept there. When my husband approached me, I woke up. We meandered around the conservatory for a while. I didn't want to leave. As we stepped out into the frozen street, the contrast felt brutal. I vomited in the parking lot.

"He maketh me to lie down in green pastures." Psalm 23:2

My husband and I recently took our fourth son to the conservatory for a special event. I sought out my bench and took a couple pictures. 

Do you have a special place that has provided you with comfort and rest during a difficult time?