I am having a bittersweet moment. My sweet cousin, with whom I have grown up, is a graduate. She is now finished with her education, as far as elementary book learning. This moment would be such an excitable moment for anyone, yet a week ago, I had a dream that brought the future in a new perspective.

In my dream, Breezy, Emily, and I were all grown and they were engaged to be married. I broke down crying and proclaimed that we were just children. It brought back our memories of camping in the rain, birthday slumber parties, holidays, and walks in the fields. It suddenly hit me that we were growing up and our childhood days would soon be only memories and not “just yesterday”. I feel like Jo March when she realizes that Meg will soon marry John Brooke; she wants to remain sisters and keep their childhood days near her. She doesn’t want change, and neither do I. We have never been just cousins, we three have been sisters which is a bond that I cherish deeply.

I realize and know that soon we will be grown and with families of our own, Lord willing. And as much as I want to raise the next generation, I don’t want to part with ours. I want to keep us closer than ever. Our conversations will one day be of children, marriage, and the future-instead of books, dresses, and history. Our lives will change, but I pray our relationships will not.

*You can see Emily’s post here.

For the last two weeks I have been constantly entertained by another work of Victor Hugo’s. After reading The Hunchback of Notre Dame and getting the feel of Hugo’s writing style, I was eager to begin another work of his. And what better to choose than Les Miserables, and also because it was a requirement for school:)

I found Les Miserables extremely entertaining. The plot was excellent and the characters were so beautifully interwoven to make a tapestry of suspense and emotion. Each character was carved to fit the reader’s desires and their actions and situations would bring out the deepness of their emotions.

What I liked: I enjoyed this more than the Hunchback of N.D. because of the absence of lust and the presence of love. Characters were darker in the previous book and certain parts were awkward to read. However in Les Miserables the characters are deep, and heartfelt in all of their actions.

What I didn’t like: the only thing was during the battle between the revolutionaries and the guards was a little hazy for me since I had just a tad bit of trouble keeping the french names straight and trying to remember the characters they were mentioning. Embarrassing, but true.

Now that the book is finished, I can start the movie. Mom wouldn’t let me watch the move until the entire book was finished. Now, I am glad that she set the literary standard.

I love my old books! They are so quaint and have such stories surrounding them as they passed through someone’s hands, sat on different shelves, and were read by so many voices to countless listeners. From Chemistry books to The Coral Island by R.M.Ballantyne, the books are unique from their tattered covers, through their yellowing pages, to their loose binding.

From their crisp new pages that was given to an adventurous child at their birthday, through the years when they were then placed on shelves in a local library, and in their last remaining readings when a creature thirsty for literature flipped rapidly through their pages. Soon after, their bodies grew weary and hopefully found refuge on a sturdy shelf in the home of old book lover…like me:)

A Book by Emily Dickinson

There is no frigate like a book,

To take us lands away,

Nor any coursers like a page,

Of prancing poetry.

This traverse may the poorest take,

Without oppress of toll;

How frugal is the chariot

That bears a human soul.

After our poor bees died during the winter, we were hoping to order some more bees. However, situations arose that we may not be able to purchase them, however my darling Granny decided to chip in and actually bought our order of bees and a hive and order of bees for herself! She loved the taste of our raw honey so much that she decided to get some for herself also, and we couldn’t bee happier:) So we ordered two three pound shipment of bees to install into our two hives and in the meantime we arranged her hive and painted it.

Then on the 18th of May, they arrived after a nice journey from Georgia. After they arrived from the post office, I immediately formed an attachment with our new bees. They are so unique and wonderfully made by God. We prepared ourselves for installing them by watching a few YouTube videos, which can indeed come in handy for situations like this. We agreed that we like this video best:

This is basically what we did today. We installed at our home and then at my Granny’s. I was only stung once but I savored the moment. Beekeeping is such a wonderfully exciting hobby that I hope will last my entire life. We plan on getting more hives and selling our own honey to frugal consumers like ourselves with really good taste:)

Here are a few pictures (they can be enlarged-just click on them):

The bees fresh from the post office

10,000 bees and myself

“To me, homesteading is the solution of all poverty’s problems, but I realize that temperament has much to do with success in any undertaking, and persons afraid of coyotes and work and loneliness had better let ranching alone. At the same time, any woman who can stand her own company, can see the beauty of the sunset, loves growing things, and is willing to put in as much time at careful labor as she does over the washtub, will certainly succeed; will have independence, plenty to eat all the time, and a home of her own in the end.”

Letters from a Woman Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart

We officially have our garden for the year 2009 in the ground! We planted our tomatoes, peas, green beans, peppers, pumpkins, and strawberries neatly arranged in our 40 X 40 foot garden. And our pears are growing all over pear tree just waiting to be sampled. Not to mention our thriving honeysuckle and daisies.

I just love gardening! It gives you a sense of accomplishment and it justifies itself in the first bite of a juicy tomato or strawberry. And the great thing is that it takes no talent to garden, it just takes knowledge about the plant and then a step by step process to keep it alive. Although some thing aren’t step by step, sadly. There are just some plants that will give you a horrible time.

Just a sneak picture of our pears:

I feel that this is going to be the first of many posts about our garden.

The light, the spell-word of the heart,

Our guiding star in weal or woe,

Our talisman-our earthly chart-

That sweetest name that earth can know.

~

We breathed it first with lisping tongue,

When cradled in her arms we lay;

Fond memories round that name are hung,

That will not, cannot pass away.

~

We breathed it then, we breathe it still,

More dear that sister, friend, or brother,

The gentle power, the magic thrill,

Awakened at the name of mother.

by Fanny J. Crosby

Every weekday, from 12:30 to 1:00 in the afternoon, Mother and I take our lunch break and watch a rerun of I Love Lucy. When I was younger I remember the hilarious situations that she would find herself in. Yet I had not watched the shows continuously for maybe five or six years until we put up an antenna for the 2008 Olympics. Over a few episodes we concluded to our long standing love for Lucy had been broken.

As I grew older and more wise, I realized that Lucy was sneaky, manipulative, conniving, dishonest, prideful, jealous, disrespectful,  disobedient to Ricky, etc. What I am striving to be, she is not. Of course Lucy loves Ricky but love needs respect, and that she too shows until it begins to interfere with her bizarre wants.

Every week she plans something behind Ricky’s back, whilst manipulating Ethel to do her red headed work with her. She constantly whines when she does not receive her wants (like a part in a show) and often uses comedy to let her disobedience to her husband slide gently through. Of course I love Lucy is still a fun show with many whacky adventures, but I need to realize that Lucy is not a Biblical example of a  wife.

So, do I love Lucy? I’m more of an Andy Griffith gal:)