My home.
The past two weeks were quite busy for me, as you could tell by the frequency of posting on this blog. Here is what’s been happening:
1. The week before last my husband was out of town for five days, having taken a group of juniors from his tiny school on a college tour.
He does that twice a year – seniors in the fall, juniors in spring.
Now let it be known to you that I function rather well with him out of town, but this year I had an added challenge – taking my daugther to school before 8:20 am with a three-year-old and an infant in tow.
I did my usual thing and rose to the occasion (pun intended), and lo, the sky didn’t come crashing down.
This may or may not have been true about other objects around me.
2. In the process, I was propelled to develop a new routine where I now begin making supper between 10 am and 2 pm rather than 4.
It is a wonderful improvement, really – no rush, no anxiety, and you won’t even believe the volume of from-scratch food I can churn out given the ample time frame, not to mention the opportunity to clean up after myself! This works beautifully, especially in combination with planning all our meals a week ahead.
3. Ever since I was a little girl in the Soviet Union, I have been madly in love with fruit-tree blossoms.
My home country of Azerbaijan is a true fruit-and-nut paradise, and blossoming trees in spring were among the few beautiful, natural displays to look forward to each year in the predominantly grey post-Soviet city.
Jacob planted the tart cherry tree in the photo above for my first Mother’s Day as a mother six years ago. Tart cherries are not so easy to come by in this area, but they are my absolute most-favorite fruit for pie filling and preserves.
This self-pollinating tree was tiny when we planted it and is yet to produce a sizable crop, but I am patient, and I am not going anywhere.
Land and family are all about the long-term.
The tree grows taller and more beautiful and interesting each year.
And so does our daugther.
This reminds me of the lyrics from one of my favorite songs, “Lovely Agnes” by Sally Rogers (and OK, it mentions Wisconsin):
Oh Agnes, won’t you go with me? We’ll be married in style
And we’ll cross Lake Michigan, so blue and so wide,
We’ll cross over Lake Michigan, ’til we come to the shore,
And our orchards will blossom for our babies as they’re born.
Oh yes, love I will go with you, leave Wisconsin behind
Though my parents think little of my life on a farm,
For to leave the gay city life, and be buried on a farm,
But I’ll watch the orchards bloom in spring,
Spend the winters warm in your arms.
You can listen to the full song here.
3. I currently contribute recipes to the Edible Madison website on a monthly basis.
This here is my April submission – cream of nettle soup. I love cooked nettle. Check it out!
While you are at it, check out my March submission: maple flan.
4. I frequently get bags of hand-me-down kid clothes from friends, family, and even people I haven’t previously met.
This dinosaur shirt is one of such recent additions. Don’t you love the matching facial expressions?
I know this sounds corny, but it truly is a blessing to be living where we are.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Seems like you have adepted and found a new normal! And survived nicely!
Would like to plant tart cherry here as well. Figs are hard to fund here so I got a fig tree this year. We’ll see if it survives:)
Ilke recently posted..Cranberry Bean Dish – Barbunya
Lovely post, blossoms, daughter, and life Sofya. And congrats on the early mornings. Oofda.
Thanks! Life Sofya, I like the sound of that!
Lovely post. I never expected to see anyone quoting Lovely Agnes – a song in my head last week because of reading letters of my grandmother while Seattle is abloom with cherry blossoms. The song always reminded me of my grandmother’s story, marrying not in Wisconsin but in South Dakota, moving out to the west coast in the 1920s. Glad to find your blog, I will read more!