I'm having some sort of mid-life crisis when it comes to my house. Suddenly I want to change everything: rip shelves out, move the furniture, paint every room a different color. Last night I spent hours perusing paint web sites, trying hundreds of colors on the online walls. And today I bought paint samples, despite … Continue reading “The way things work:” reconstruction and Jorie Graham
Category: Parenting
The virtues of older houses
I spent much of this weekend trying to make our 1942 house - with its tiny closets, single bathroom, and many quirks - function better in our current lives. My youngest daughter is almost three and now largely trained in what not to do - pull books from bookshelves, dump contents of drawers - so … Continue reading The virtues of older houses
The Harvest
Yesterday we went apple-picking in the Virginia countryside, bringing home 16 pounds (!) of apples. Looking for recipes... I've been reading Little House in the Big Woods to my daughter, and l love the details of the family's preparation for the winter: stocking the cellar with home-grown root vegetables; hanging smoked, wild game meat from pegs … Continue reading The Harvest
Back to school – and back to basics
Today, my older daughter started first grade, and ended a summer that had deteriorated into hours of her watching tv, fighting with her younger sister, and repeating "I'm bored" many times a day. I worried that she would balk at getting ready to go this morning, but when I woke, she was already dressed with … Continue reading Back to school – and back to basics
Between Gods 