I truly did not mean to go an entire month without posting. One day last month, I was suddenly struck by the fact that I had to assemble a homeschooling portfolio for my daughter's evaluator and school district soon and had yet to begin. That seemed taxing, but doable. It was at this time I realized that, due to my overreaching minimalism, I had applied it rather too thoroughly (code for thrown out) to a hell of a lot of schoolwork that would have been "proof" that I was not giving her Koolaid for breakfast and letting her spend her day bashing car headlights out while dressed in a loincloth. There was much panicking as I searched for wisps of this "proof," interspersed with irritation that I have to prove my kid is literate when my city graduates, or as they like to say "push(es) through," high-schoolers whose literacy skills are below basic, which means they can't understand simple prose. Meanwhile, my kid is plowing through Little Women right now and she's (nearly) nine. Literacy, at least, isn't a problem in this house.
So I had to take a blog break in order to get this together, and I'm happy to say that we are wrapping up her portfolio this week.
It also makes me happy that I'll be able to relish our slowly warming spring now. Here are some things I've been enjoying when I'm not furiously photocopying.
Tiny and translucent, my first gooseberries ever. Bought on a whim, because they are hardy and suitable for containers. Now that I see their veined berries illuminated by the sun, I'm thinking they are worth growing simply to look at, but I've always thought fruit was beautiful.
Blueberry flowers. I have never seen these before because every time we've gone to pick them they are obviously already full fledged blueberries, and I somehow managed to kill the other container blueberry we had years ago. This one belongs to The Simple Man, whose prowess in gardening makes my black thumbs cry with rage. I would love to have the natural touch that he does, but I have to work hard at coaxing my plants to live.
Now that it's warmer in the house I'm able to place rising dough on our sun porch. The sun porch . . . where there isn't a baby gate. Where when I come back to look at the bread I see that it has been molested by teeny tiny baby hands. What it is about puffy dough that is so fascinating to children?
Making our deck more livable by knocking down a yellow jackets' nest built inside the patio umbrella. They insist on building on our deck every year and the girls, who are very girly and screamy when it comes to stinging bugs, refuse to go out there if it's swarming with bees and wasps. I'm still amazed by the natural world's architecture.
Taking my daughters to a homeschooling program (okay, the 2 year old mostly follows the 9 year old around) at the oldest botanical garden in the US; this particular program focused on birds' nests. After wearing the kids out by walking them all over the property in search of nests, they went back to the barn and built their own nest. Decorated with flower petals. No, I don't allow reality to get in the way of my kid's art and nature projects.
How has your spring been so far? I know people who do gardening are crazily planting while a lot of the country has suffered from those severe storms and floods. I am frankly delighted to see the last of snow for awhile and am looking forward to being outdoors more than in!
I love your blog, and am so happy to see you back on line! After the last post, I thought you might have de-digitalized for good. Beautiful photos of spring things!
Posted by: mama minou | 05/10/2011 at 01:18 AM
Oh yes, I just realized that people might have thought that I wasn't coming back! And I'm so happy that someone is happy I'm back - so thank you!
I think Spring just begs to be photographed, don't you? :)
Posted by: TheSimplePoppy | 05/10/2011 at 06:44 AM
This spring I have been slinging coffee, and somehow, the addition of only 12 working hours to my week has thrown my entire life into a tizzy. Will it ever even out?
Posted by: Erin Kleider | 05/10/2011 at 08:39 AM
Love your pictures! Especially the dough with the finger prints! I am so loving our spring right now. The weather this week has been perfect! Yesterday I planted collard greens, zucchini, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes and basil in my garden! The previous week I planted sunflowers, lettuce and peas from seed and they're growing quickly. I still have room for more! See you tomorrow :)
Posted by: Aminah | 05/10/2011 at 08:43 AM
You know, Erin, I too, seem to get totally off balanced with seemingly benign additions to my week. It's like I think I'm adaptable, but when it happens, I'm all, "What do I do? How can I make this work? What happened to my week?! WAAAAAHHHH!" So I feel your pain. You'll adjust and wonder what the big deal was!
Posted by: TheSimplePoppy | 05/10/2011 at 09:06 AM
DANG GIRL! My gardening is pathetic right now, between photocopying the portfolio and planning, ahem, a certain baby shower, I'm leaving it until I have time to get in there and whip everything into shape! We'll have to come over and bask in your garden goodness when everything starts blooming and fruiting! Till tomorrow :)
Posted by: TheSimplePoppy | 05/10/2011 at 09:09 AM
Well, after this Thursday I'll be unemployed! So I'm happy to help you dig in your dirt, baby belly and all!
Posted by: Aminah | 05/10/2011 at 07:39 PM
Welcome back! Gooseberries are uncommon and old-fashioned. Brings back memories. My grandfather's farm had gooseberry bushes. I love them, make a great pie. Good job on getting the portfolio together. Love the photo of the bird's nest with flower petals.
Posted by: Victoria - Ozarks Crescent Mural | 05/10/2011 at 10:06 PM
Oh yeah, there's nothing like putting a heavily pregnant woman to work!
Posted by: TheSimplePoppy | 05/11/2011 at 07:00 AM
Hi Victoria, I know they aren't too common in the US anymore; I've heard from other gardeners that they grow them a lot more in Britain and other places. I don't think I'm going to have enough for a pie this year, but I can't wait until there's enough for pie and jam!
Posted by: TheSimplePoppy | 05/11/2011 at 07:03 AM
Well I am happy you are back. given my own recent absence, I totally understand : )
Posted by: jaime | 06/03/2011 at 11:35 AM