a different point of view

The last couple of weeks have seemed such a blur.  It seems to have rushed by amid of flurry of track meets, field trips, volunteering in the library at school, guitar lessons, and school carnivals. Today it all came to a happy and welcome close with the last day of school.  There was a chapel service and Seany's kindergarten graduation, followed by cake and tearful good-byes to his amazing teacher.   We then spent our first hours of summer vacation enjoying a lovely day at our favorite book store with a dear friend and her daughter, followed by a yummy lunch. 

Last weekend we drove to Chicago as a family to watch Brenna run with her teammates in the state track meet.  (The boys and girls teams each brought home the 2nd place trophy!)  It was held at Condordia University.  I thought the campus was lovely.  It was surrounded by beautiful old shade trees and lovely old neighborhoods. 

A track meet can be a long and grueling day (even for the spectators).  Little Sean just does not have the patience to sit and watch race after race after race.  Fortunately for us, there was a small playground near the track and we would take him there periodically throughout the day to help alleviate some of his boredom.  While he and Brooke were playing, I began to notice the interesting patterns and textures on some of the nearby buildings.  These pictures are a collection of images that caught my eye that day.

Now that school is officially over and we have the summer to look forward to, it seems as if I can finally take a breath and just enjoy whatever we want to do without so much of a sense of urgency. 

I hope you are enjoying your weekend and that you, too, have quieter, more relaxed days to look forward to.

blessings and happiness,

Athena

little pretties

Don't you just love vintage hankies?  They're so small and yet so full of lovely details. 

From the simplest shades of white and cream, sing the beauty of intricately stitched borders.

I wonder what woman or young girl might have made these dainty embroidered flowers and beautiful crocheted trims. 

I also love the colorful printed flower patterns.

In preparing for my sister's wedding this June, my mom and I are hosting a bridal shower in her honor.  It will be fun and lovely and I know we will have a wonderful time.  My mom and I both love planning parties and decorating for them.  As part of the take home favors, each of the ladies will receive one of these endearing memories of our past. 

I lament sometimes how far womankind has roamed from the quiet lovely ladylike things in life.  The lost arts of letter writing, hand stitching, flower tending, and hankie carrying of the by-gone days of our great-great grandmothers.  So on Sunday, June 5th when we celebrate my sister and honor her upcoming nuptials, we'll also pay homage to a little piece of our handmade past. 

blessings and happiness,

Athena



a little bit of beauty...

I've been away so long.  It's so embarrassing to come back after such a long absence and try to come up with a plausible reason.  The only explanation I can offer is that I felt like I was in sort of a creative "funk".  I felt like nothing I created or worked on was worthy of merit or worth sharing here.  I know that's not the right way to feel, but I did.  I think I'm "over it" now, and hope I won't ever let that happen to me again.

So, as my apology, I thought I'd like to share a little bit of beauty from my fledgling garden here at the new house. 

I'm most excited about the peonies.  I've always wanted peonies and never had them at the old house.  I think they're so beautiful and so fragrant.  They're like roses on steroids!

In the early days of spring, we were sooo blessed to have a Bluebird couple come to make their new home under the rafters of our deck.   Mrs. Bluebird would work on building the nest and Mr. Bluebird would "stand guard" on the handrail of our deck, keeping an eye out for danger.  We felt privileged to hear his beautiful song as she constructed their new home.

Unfortunately, despite our best efforts to be quiet and respectful of their shy and timid ways, a group of House Sparrows did not feel the same.  They harassed the poor Bluebird couple, finally resorting to destroying their nest and throwing it down off the deck support post.  

  Fortunately, poor Mrs. Bluebird hadn't even had a chance to lay her eggs yet, so there weren't any babies or eggs destroyed.  But the poor couple decided they needed to find a less hostile place  to start their brood.  We were so sorry to see them go.  And we really missed their beautiful song.  We know how rare and precious it is to see these quiet little birds up close. 

I've even planted a couple of trees, but I don't have pictures of those yet.  We're still getting a little more rain than we'd like, so I'll try to share those next time. 

It's nice to be back in blog land.  I sure have missed being here. 

blessings and happiness,

Athena