Monday, August 29, 2016

First day of school


Even though he is 14 years old, seeing my boy off to his first day at a school made me feel like the mother of a kindergartener – a little choked up. It feels like the right step, though, and I have no second thoughts about ending our homeschooling days.

He headed out in some of the fun clothes my sister sent, using the backpack my mom got him, with the lunch I packed for him. Being 14, I'm sure he's too self-absorbed to feel all the love those things represent, but it's there nonetheless. My prayers are following him throughout the day – that it will be a good day for him, that he will meet some upstanding kids to make friends with, that he will be an upstanding kid, that his instructors will be positive influences in his life, that he will engage with his subjects and apply himself. I know his grandparents are all praying for him, too. He's in good hands; I keep reminding myself of that.

A friend asked what I will do with myself now. Ha! What I have always done – try to keep up with all the responsibilities in my life. After Rick and Brian left, I picked prunes, then apples in the cool of the morning. When a five-gallon bucket bucked me off while I was reaching for higher fruit and I landed flat on my back, I decided to sit down in the grass to EAT that hard-won apple and enjoy the view.
Then I picked myself up, started water in the garden, picked tomatoes and eggplant, hung a load of wet laundry on the drying rack, started another load, worked on the church newsletter, emptied the dehydrator and filled it again with prunes, took my pony for a ride for the first time in a week, "et cetera, et cetera, et cetera" (name that movie– one of my favorites).

The apples are beautiful this year; plentiful and practically bug-free. Seems a shame turn them all into sauce and pie filling, but we will enjoy them that way through the winter and spring.

That's it for today from . . .

7 comments:

A :-) said...


What a day for you - so many feelings to see Brian off to school :-)

And you totally know that I can never pass up a music quiz, don't you? ;-D

I don't suppose this will pop up, but you can copy/paste the link to watch it :-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgVPnWmUqd4

Claire MW said...

That apple looks wonderful - now I have a hankering for a freshly-picked apple! There are wild apples in this area but none on the property here. However, the ones on my NS property are totally wormy (but the sheep love them!) Glad you didn't have a close encounter with that wasp nest!

Theresa said...

Onto new adventures for both of you. Hope we get to hear all about those first days and Brian loves his new school.
That's quite the wasp nest BTW.

thecrazysheeplady said...

I think this is a good thing for all of you and I will keep you all in my prayers for a great year!

Susan said...

You gave him an excellent start - I'm sure he'll do well and love school. And woohoo to you! Pony ride!

C-ingspots said...

You fell off the ladder? :) Maybe you should try some yoga with me - we can work on flexibility and balance together. Glad you ate that apple though - I would have too!

Very cool bee hive!! I probably don't need to say this as a reminder, but leave it alone. Don't want to hear about you getting stung next... *giggle*

I think this will be good for Brian too. It's time for him to branch out...Rick's feeling out of sorts about it as well. A touch of empty nest syndrome going around, I think.

I think you've inspired me to pick some of our apples and make some sauce - might try an apple/pear mix. If I have some left that the horses haven't snarfed up...

Thistle Cove Farm said...

prayers that Brian will have a resounding successful school year! not being catty but I don't understand when people say, "What will you do with yourself...?" Seriously? I am SO thankful to God there are only 24 hours in a day; if there were more, I'd be dead from overwork by now.