True Love and Homegrown Tomatoes

Only two things money can't buy:
That's true love and homegrown tomatoes.
-Guy Clark

It's true love and homegrown tomato season over here, big time.

Agh. God is preposterously wild with both His plans and His goodness. For our good and His glory. I'll spend my life trying to understand it all....

Hey you! Hello again. If you missed it yesterday, I'm back. I'm so glad - truly, glad - you stopped by today. I have so much to tell and show you in these many many days (er... years) since we talked last.

First things first: I hope you'll find some grace in your heart to forgive me for my absence.

Second things second: I hope, in the days to come, we'll find we're like the oldest and best of friends in that we hardly miss a beat and take right back up where we left it.

In truth, though, I know we've been through some things in our gap time. Life. Pandemic. Heart things. Hard things. Hopeful things, too, maybe. And I want to hear about it all. 

Me? I've been working hard building a life and a home I love - utterly, bewilderingly love - about 10 minutes from Freeman House. Much more on that to come. Last May, I married Matthew (who someone in town dubbed #thehunkyfarmer which is now an Instagram thing). Matthew is an identical twin... an insanely gifted musician/actor... a licensed minister/seminary graduate... and a Behavioral Specialist for people with special needs - Autism, especially. And yes, a country boy who helps me farm... thus the overalls and tomatoes above. (And... heavens. Did you catch those eyes and how they're looking at me? Swooooon.) 

Annnyway. We can't wait to share our story with you. It starts way back in 1993 when we were both 14, so we have some ground to cover.

So. Other things coming at you:

-All things gardening

-All things HOME

-Monday Moments 

-RECIPES!!

-Frankie and Charlie

-Farm animals

-Honey bees

-... and just every day life. 

But most of all, just us. You and me. Friends through a LOT, right?

I missed you. Hello, friend. Thanks for being here. Hang on through the weekend and I'll see you Monday.

-Brin

Birthday Week

The great thing about getting older

Is that you don't lose all the other ages you've been.

-Madeleine L'Engle

I had a birthday during my blog break. 37. Where has time gone? I was 25 when I started this blog and... wow. I've lived a LOT of life in the 12 years since. But I suppose a blessing of getting older is that we get to keep all those ages and all those places and all those people we once were....

My birthday was wonderful. The day began with heading downtown to visit some homeless friends who've started a bakery out of our local homeless shelter. Oh wow. Their signature cupcake was a Vanilla Honey with local honey drizzle. We supplied the honey, and upon one taste of this mythical, magical cupcake, I began stuttering and promising them all the honey they needed. I think they said okay. My world was kind of fading in and out between bites of that amazing cupcake. Oh my, y'all. These men (and their genius leader, a local baker named Cathy) can BAKE....

In addition to homeless people and their gourmet cupcakes, the birthday celebration also included balloon sculptures, Indian food, antique shopping, plant buying, lunch with a friend who's more like my BFF/older sister, kissing on the nephew, lots of faces I love, strawberry drinks, and a party. With my Mom's from scratch chocolate pie. It was a weekend to remember. (And I think I'm just now coming down off all that sugar. Heh.)

So back to a "normal" routine this week. A new normal. While I was away, I began teaching piano lessons out of the big Front Room of Hedge House. So much fun. My first student, Emma, a super smart 9 year old with endless energy, thinks this house is "PERFECT for Hide and Seek" and has asked to play more than once. It's made me think back to my piano teacher, a firm (and somewhat terrifying to my 10 year old self) woman who expected perfection, no nonsense, and painfully short fingernails. I try to be stern piano teacher Brin, but so far it's not happening. Maybe I just have to hit my stride, though. We'll see.

Enough about me. How are YOU? I hope your April is off to a wonderful start. Anyone planting anything yet? Celebrating anything? Do keep talking back. One of my favorite parts of the day is hearing from you....

Here's to a good week! -Brin

Good Friday and Easter Keeping

See the land, her Easter keeping,
Rises as her Maker rose.
Seeds, so long in darkness sleeping,
Burst at last from winter snows.
Earth with heaven above rejoices...

-Charles Kingsley

I found purple, Easter-egg colored bluebells blooming just outside the garden this morning. 

Earth with heaven above rejoices. 

Because He lives, I can, too. Because He rose, one day we will, too. We are an Easter people and this is our song. 

Blessed are you, Jesus, for paying my debt. 

Wishing you all a special Good Friday and a joyful Easter. -Brin

Good Kind of Aches

My heart is drumming in my chest so hard it aches, but it's the good kind of ache, like the feeling you get on the first real day of autumn, when the air is crisp and the leaves are all flaring at the edges and the wind smells just vaguely of smoke - like the end and the beginning of something all at once. -Lauren Oliver, Delirium

We're now in the season of good kinds of aches, I think. Aches that remind us of home... of belonging... of people we've been assigned to and people we've chosen. 

These days are such a blessing, these crisp days that smell of smoke and decay. Don't you think? I look at autumn as the outer envelope of an invitation imploring me to come and participate in rest... and comfort... and (maybe a bit of) indulgence. I realize it's not that way for everyone, but for me, it is. Autumn says slow down, and curl up, and suspend your usual life while the world celebrates seasons and happenings that are bigger than we are. It's my favorite time of year, to borrow that bland phrase.

I'm watching leaves drift and fall today from the wide rocker on the creaky porch. It's cool, and raining. Another good ache. 

Hope today finds you well, and all your aches the kinds of ones that, although not necessarily pleasant, beat inside your chest as rhythmic reminders, saying: I'm living... I'm alive. I'm living... I'm alive....

Here's to the good ache of autumn and us being together yet another Monday. -Brin

Finally Fall

Finally, it's here: the day that promises to blow summer on its way and escort autumn in- beautiful, umber colored, spicy scented autumn. Welcome, fall. So glad you've come for another visit.

The afternoon high here yesterday reached about 95 degrees. Today, though, autumn is finally here... and with her, relief. And leaves. And curly-vine pumpkins. And a cool, settled feeling in the air. I look forward to this day every year, this Finally Fall day.

And now it's finally here. It's finally time for blanket scarves and hot, spiced drinks and walks through the autumn woods and thick, woolly socks. It's finally time for simmering soups all day and leaving the screen door open and lighting the fire pit. It's finally time to catch our breath again, and exhale the breath we didn't even know we were holding. It's finally fall, and I couldn't be more content.

Wishing you a beautiful autumn, wherever you are and however it looks for you today.

 

 

Sweetness

But don't forget, in the meantime, 

that this is the season for strawberries. Yes.

-Clarice Lispector

The first strawberries of the season. They stained my hands with their sweetness.

We have a walk through of the house today at noon, and then a busy weekend ahead. I wanted to stop in, though, and wish you a happy Mother's Day. Even if you're a mother-in-waiting or a mother at heart. Have a sweet Sunday. We'll talk next week. Oh, will we ever talk! -Brin

Freeman House the Second??

She woke each morning with a glow of hope,

not because a new dream had been born,

but knowing the one she carried

inside her heart would last.

-Jodi Hills, An Imperfect Life

I've had a secret, but now I'm telling you: I found a house. But not just any house. The house. I think I've found the house.

She reminds me of Freeman House- heavy wood floors, thick window panes, awkward rooms, soaring ceilings. But unlike Freeman House, someone hasn't abandoned her. In 2013, a nurse took pity on this house and gave her new electrics, a new roof, and a good leveling. What she hasn't had the time or inclination to do is give this old beauty her life back. 

Late in the afternoon on Easter Sunday, as it rained, we met the realtor and signed a contract. Are you sure? he asked, searching my face.

Absolutely, I answered. I've waited for this day.

Well, he replied, We should know by Wednesday. 

Wednesday is tomorrow. Tomorrow is my birthday.

So tomorrow, my birthday, is the day we hope to hear if we got Freeman House the Second.

Could y'all do this all again? We could be in for quite an adventure....

(A few things of note: like Freeman House, this house needs a major facelift, inside and out. And also like Freeman House, it sits in town on a third of an acre, with old rose bushes and ivy. Unlike Freeman House, this girl is on a corner lot, has a detached storage building/cottage, and is close enough to the ground that a donkey can't get stuck underneath it. Win!)

Christmas CrockPot Candy Recipe

I couldn't go on and on about this deliciousness and not post a recipe again, right? Where's the Christmas fun in that? So please, take this recipe and run to the store and then home to your crockpot. 

For more information (including tons of comments and other tips!), see the original post about this candy here. Happy candy makin' and eatin'!

Christmas Crockpot Candy. Yes.

 Y'all. I made Christmas Crockpot Candy this weekend. Oh my. Y'all. Oh my.

Just looking at these pictures makes my mouth water. Is it time for lunch yet? I want to go home and sneak a piece now....

What are you doing tonight? I'm planning to sit in front of the tree and continue addressing Christmas cards while drinking foamy, marshmallow-y hot chocolate and chowing down on this candy. Y'all. Do yourself a Christmas favor and make this ASAP.

It's Christmastime! Can you believe it?

December Already?!

It's December already, folks. December! Already! Can you believe it?

How was your Thanksgiving? Our Thanksgiving was a blur of blessings. Family, food, friends... it was crazy. I would give anything to be able to take Monday (today) off. That I-need-a-vacation-after-my-vacation thing, you know? Ah well. I'm grateful I have a job to go to!

Sunday afternoon, I was determined to get a great picture of Millie and Maggie for Christmas cards. A great one. Like, minted.com great. Well. Um. Ahem. No. Didn't happen. Millie rolled on the ground until her hat came off. Twice. Maggie's Santa hat either slid down onto her back or covered her head so well that once glance had you asking: What is that thing underneath that hat? Ha. In the end, I got this picture and decided to go with it. Merry Christmas, Christmas card people.

Pet photographers, you have my deepest admiration. 

My goodness, y'all. Can you believe it's December already?

Thoughts and Hands

My thoughts are on Thanksgiving- family, hymns, a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, the turkey, blessings, and pies. But my hands are a whole other story. 

My hands are on Christmas.

I'm making ornaments for the nieces. Knitted things for friends and relatives. Crafts for loved ones....
 

...And a small Christmas quilt for us. I pieced it while still at Freeman House but never got around to finishing it. Don't you think it's time?

I love November.

 

I Made Blueberry Bars Again.

I don't know who was more excited- me, or the folks who are getting leftovers.  :)

I'm thinking of you all this Mother's Day, especially those those who've lost a mother, lost a child, or long to be a mother. Have a blessed and peaceful weekend.

New Year's Day

 We will open the book. Its pages are blank.  

We are going to put words on them ourselves.  

The book is called Opportunity 

and its first chapter is New Year's Day.

- Edith Lovejoy Pierce

 

Here's to us. To open books. To blank pages. To the words we'll find, string together like twinkle lights, and light up the world.  Here's to Opportunity.

Happy New Year's Day. -Brin

Finally, A Home

She woke each morning with a glow of hope,
not because a new dream had been born,
but knowing the one she carried
inside her heart would last.

-Jodi Hills, An Imperfect Life

 

The cottage-cabin. It arrived early Friday morning, before the fog settled and the sun chased the drizzle away. The days I've hoped on for so long are here. It's time to turn this tiny, shell-of-a-building into a special little home.

I'm showing you the before because we will hardly recognize this little wooden thing when we're through. It will have heavy paned windows, reclaimed trim, a screen door, a porch, some paint, stone steps and walkway, fireplaces, and a garden with a very special front garden gate. Don't forget lots and lots of trailing roses and delicate herbs and sweetly-scented flowers. Just you wait. It's going to be a dream...

No. Wait. 

It already was.

Are you ready to get busy? We have a lot to do here! First off: the inside, and how to fit it all in. I've just downsized from 1,500 square feet to 356 square feet, after all. We're going to have to get creative if we're going to fit all our books, yarn, dishes, clothes, paintings, furniture, and animals in there!

Here's to the dreams we carry, lasting. -Brin

Seeds of Promise

One of my goals for this year was to buy a plant forever. By that I mean, buy or grow a plant once, and begin saving seeds in earnest. No more buying the same plants, year after year.

I got my dried, seeded herbs in their seed packets yesterday, all ready for spring planting. It was satisfying, somehow; a reminder that life will go on, despite what we're facing as a nation... and as a people who love God.

I am thankful, this year, that we have the promise of a hope and a future. A firm footing. A rock, an anchor, and a sure place. Those are seeds of promise I can save in my heart, at Thanksgiving and always.

Happy, happy, happy Thanksgiving. I hope yours is full of rest and contentment. -Brin

Grace sat with me

until I could walk in it again.

-Jodi Hills, An Imperfect Life

This quote resonates through the deepest part of me. Only if I had penned it, my line would be that Grace sat with me until I could walk with Him again.

Wishing my fellow believers a blessed Good Friday, a joyful Easter, and prayers that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Kindness, I've discovered,

 is everything in life.

-Isaac Bashevis Singer

Thank you for the wonderful birthday wishes you've sent my way this past week. I had a memorable birthday thanks to the kindness of friends, family, and beautiful people who share my life, at a distance, from theirs.

All my thanks. -Brin

Spring Morning

It's one of those mornings: cloudy, windy, heavy. Through the waving grass and knocking branches, bird songs come, carried on the wind. Moss creeps down stone steps. Hydrangeas, awake after their long sleep, yawn and stretch out leaves. Herbs sway. And in the strawberry patch, the first berry ripens- a perfect, storybook kind of berry, almost too perfect to be real.

Welcome, spring. It's good to see you at last.

The Hesed House

Yes, my soul, find rest in God;

my hope comes from him.

-Psalm 62:5

I decided not to rush things; not to let my spontaneity gallop wildly through my world again, kicking up dust and making me nervous. I'll go slow and steady with the cabin and land, I promised myself. So this month I found a small, old house to rent down the road from the church I attended as a girl. At noon everyday, I hear the church bells and feel ten years old again.

The house has been empty for some time. It needs updating... it needs another chance. This last week I painted a bedroom, set up my bed, and hung curtains. For the first time in almost 16 months, I slept between my own sheets- not in a hotel suite, guest lodgings, my sister's floor. I woke up this morning and saw familiar things, my things, and thanked God for the rest and hope He's given. It's beautiful.

In deciding what I'd call the place (because houses need names, you know) I felt like Hesed House fit. Hesed is Hebrew for "mercy", but the meaning goes much deeper than that. It's a word that describes the reciprocal relationship between God and man. When it's used in the context of humans, it's talking about extending kindness. Doing favors for the benefit of others. Affection for God. Being lovely. But when Hesed is used in God's context, it refers to His loyalty. How He redeems. Preserves. Keeps promises. And how He created that empty space in us... making us aware of spirituality and His grace.

Last night I was thinking again about Hesed and was interrupted by an email from someone needing a place to stay for several weeks this spring. And suddenly I decided: the name and its meaning is perfect.

This morning I'm making the bed, making coffee, and getting reacquainted with things long packed and a house long awaited.

Happy weekend. -Brin

Love and Orchids

I love that God created strawberries. I love that God thought of music. I really love that God made orchids.

I mean, it isn't hard to fall for and follow after a God who makes us orchids.

So today I'm sharing my beautiful petals with you. (You don't mind sharing a bloom, do you?) Happy Valentine's Day, lovely one. Hope you know how deeply loved you are.

And God, we love You because You first loved us. Thanks for the orchid. -Brin