The Laundromat: My Friend

I am sitting in the low light of Japanese Lanterns, the scent of a Spice Cake candle lingering in the air as I sip a hot coffee, munch on popcorn and enjoy the evening on the porch. I don't know what the weather holds for the future, but as my enclosed porch is not heated, I am going to enjoy this space whilst I can. 

Because, inside the house, waiting for me is a carload of laundry waiting to be folded and put neatly away. Today, while the sun was shining, I was at the laundromat doing 5 Double Loads and 2 Giant Loads of laundry. And that wasn't even all of it. 

This is your destiny when your washing machine decides that it is finished. 

The Neptune and I? No longer are we friends. 

I had both front and back seats packed with baskets of dirty towels, socks, shirts and pants, blankets and sheets. I took $20 in quarters, something to read, something to drink, and an apple. 

I felt like I should be reading Corduroy. You know, the book about the little bear with bib overalls and his little girl Lisa? In the second book, A Pocket for Corduroy, he gets tossed in the washing machine after getting mixed in with someone else's laundry and then….no, I don't want to spoil the ending for you, just in case you've never read it.

 Ahh, the machine's are humming and I am taking advantage of the time here to catch up on some reading. This is kinda fun and I like getting it all done at once. If only I didn't have to look at the piles piling up at the house all week. And if this place would have recliners that would be even better.
However, it's actually a rather nice laundromat, as laundromats go that is.

I started around 10:00 unloading my car, which I had parked across the street. I carried those baskets in, one at a time, and wondered why on earth I had parked where I did. I racked up 1/2 mile on the pedometer though.

I thought I was finished at about 11:15 but then I realized that I washed one load without any detergent.
Now that won't do. Sigh. I put in another $2.50 in quarters and read another chapter or two.

The laundromat and I? Friends.
Take that Neptune.

 Once the machines were silent once more, I reloaded the baskets, took them back out to the car (much heavier this time!) and took the damp clothes home to await their turns either on the line, in the dryer, hanging on the clothes rack, or draped on the warm radiators.

And me? I am on the porch, thankful for small town laundromats and the smell of fresh clothes. 

I know my baby is 10 years old, but tonight I'm going to see if he'll let me read to him. I think Corduroy needs to come off the shelf one more time. 

Love,

Dianne

Purple, Purple, Purple (Say that 3x fast)

I love all the names they come up with for paint colors.
Coffee Rose,
    Ballerina,
        Crocodile Tears,
            Thyme Green,
                Morning Breeze,
                   Ship's Harbor,
                       Sundrenched White Plum,
                            Serene Shade Tree,
                                Cinnamon Bear,
                                    Antique Lace.
They names put an image, a feeling into your head. They make you think of food, of places you'd like to visit, of gardens you'd like to wander through. They make you dream. 


I like to take a winter vacation every year. I like being housebound with a project. Over the years I've painted the living room and staircase, the family room, Adrienne's room, and Amy's room. This year I'd like to tackle Heather's room.

Heather's current bedspread

Last night we were looking at paint chips. We knew a little what direction we wanted to go in, so we laid out the piles of colorful cards. I almost started drooling.

We have been thinking purples and greens

Sooooo many purples, and these are just a few!

And more purples!

We finally decided to go with purples and grey with some green thrown in here and there. Maybe.
Now we need to decide on painting technique. I'd like to try some color washing; she'd like to just paint it plain. We're still thinking. To wallpaper border or not? That is the question. (Or at least one of them.)

Vacation starts January 21, so I have a little more time to prepare. I'll keep you posted.

So what were the paint colors we went with? Or at least the ones in the final running?
          Violet Blusher
                     Romantic Purple
                               Regal Purple
                                          Defense Armory Gray or New Zealand Fossil

Drool. I can't wait to start!

The Milkman, The Feed Guy, and a Stranger

Just because you live down a country lane doesn't mean you should be careless about what you wear, or don't wear, around the house. The same applies for outside the house.

When Adrienne and Aaron were little, soon after we had moved here, they were playing in a huge mud puddle out by the machine shed. I was in the shower and had just gotten out and thrown on a large t-shirt when these two mud-covered, dripping children tried to enter the house. I promptly stopped them from coming in and the 3 of us went out to the milkhouse so I could hose them down. Leo saw me and warned me that I shouldn't come outside with so little clothing on.

My response: "Why, no one ever comes down here! Who's going to see me anyhow?"

Famous last words.

No sooner did I send my now naked, but clean children scampering to the house, but a car comes past the barn into the driveway. Leo looked at me and I looked at him. He was going to go talk to them, right?
With a smile (or a smirk), he indicated that I should go. Now remember, I had nothing on but a t-shirt. But I knew that somehow, I was going to learn a lesson here.

So, as the kids made for the front door with the car now coming to a stop on that side of the house, I made for the basement door on the other side. Throwing clothes on as I dashed through the basement and up the stairs, I made it to the front door and calmly opened it.

The man standing there is laughing and he says, "Why, that was one of the cutest things I've ever seen!"
I hope he meant Adrienne and Aaron. I'll never know cause I sure wasn't going to ask.

You probably thinking that I learned my lesson that day. I didn't.

A few years later, the milkman knocked on the porch door (no curtain to block the view) and caught me in the kitchen with jeans and a bra on. Now, I was holding Heather (my baby at the time), so I am pretty sure he didn't see much, but still....

Now I learned my lesson?

A few years after that incident, I was in the kitchen after just getting up. I was in the process of getting dressed and had a pair of jeans on. That's it. The kitchen door was open and I was standing by it. Maybe I thought I'd get some sun. Maybe I was just stupid.

When I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, I turned to fully face the door. It took a moment, but then it registered that the Feed Guy (for the cows) was standing there. Looking at me. Without a shirt. I turned around and much like the runner in "Chariots of Fire" I left the kitchen.

Poor Leo had to go outside then and talk to the Feed Guy who couldn't even look him in the eye. I am not sure, but I don't think that particular salesman ever came back to the house again. At least, if he did, he only ever stopped at the barn and didn't venture close to the house.

Have I learned my lesson?
Maybe. I'll wait a few years and see.

Two of My Favorite Things

Doing dishes and laundry are two of my most favorite ways to spend a day off from work. The smell of laundry detergent is delightful and the aroma of Palmolive is divine.

Oh wait, that wasn't me talking; that was my evil twin. Or is she evil? I mean, after all, she loves dirty dishes and stinky wet laundry.

What I would really like to know is how dishes and mounds of linen can multiply like they do. I can do up all the dishes, go to work, come home again, and the sink is overflowing (with dishes, not water). The same thing happens with laundry. I do a load of towels, restock the bathroom, and a day later the piles of neatly folded brown, green, and white towels are gone.


I thought I had solved the towel mystery once when I went into Amy's room to collect 1 or 2 dirty towels and came out with 13.  Yeah, 13 towels. I don't think she collects them like that anymore though.

Socks are another mystery. Everyone it seems, has a pile of mismatched socks in their home. Of all sizes and colors. I tried buying all white socks once, but that was just as hard to match because you may have had the same sock, but in two or three different sizes. Or someone made the bottom of their socks dirtier than the other person and so, even when clean, the whites didn't quite match.

I now buy socks in whatever color I like or think the child wearing them would like. Then they are easy to match, but I sometimes have a hard time remembering which pair belongs to which person.  For the most part, the older four do their own laundry and so their socks just get tossed in with their clothing. This has made my life easier, although I still find miscellaneous odd socks here and there.

It's like they have a mind of their own.

Actually, I don't mind folding clothes and towels too much. I can even watch a movie while doing the chore. It's the putting away of the clothes that I don't like. If I open a drawer to put something away and I see that Ryan has everything else in there unfolded, I end up folding all those too. And I get frustrated because I really wonder what the point is; it's all going to get unfolded again anyhow.

As for the dishes, I sometimes feels pointless too. We're just going to eat again and make them dirty all over again. But I just can't go to using all paper products. (We actually knew a family that did this.) I like pretty dishes, holiday dishes, dishes that are fun, dishes that fit the mood and decor. So I will wash them.
Or my kids will wash them. (I like that even better!)

 For a day, if I really wanted to feel caught up, we could all be naked and eat off the table.

Or not.

That is not a pretty picture in my head right now.

Maybe, to erase that image, you'd like to see the view from my kitchen window by the sink.

Ahh, now that's better! 

Til tomorrow....fold some laundry, do some dishes....it's not pointless. It's taking care of my family!

Love, Dianne

Home is Where The Heart Is

The gifts are wrapped, the lights are up and for the most part, the cards are either delivered or in the mail. There are just a few that I am trying to find the current address for. You don't realize how much of a mobile society we are until you try to find addresses. (Phone numbers are a whole other ballgame!)

In the 23 years we've been married, we have lived 5 different places.

Our first home was in an apartment over Lura Folk's garage in Springs PA. We were there 3 sweet years. Our marriage started there and we brought our first baby, Adrienne, home to that apartment. I don't have a single photo of the outside of our apartment, but here is just a sample...

Leo and Adrienne...awwwww...reading farming magazines together

That's my man!

The second place we lived was in a trailer down by Leonard's parents. Small home, but large with memories.  Aaron was born while we lived here and so in our little trailer, the 4 of us lived and learned about life with toddlers. We were here for 3 years.

Dec 1992 Snowstorm! I am pregnant with Aaron.

Wootsie and Leonard

Adrienne and Aaron eating PB&J in the kitchen

Leonard and Adrienne heading to Paps to do the chores. A favorite of mine.

Then, we felt led to the mission field and while that didn't take us to a far-off country, it did take us to Louisville, KY for 2 years. Of course, coming from the country, living in a city felt a bit like a foreign country to us. So much was learned there and neither of us would ever trade the time we spend there. There is certainly a part of us that still calls Louisville "home". And, while we were there, Amy joined our family!
I have my KY album all put together so I didn't pull pictures out for here. Guess you'll just have to come visit if you want to see more. :)

2217 Bonnycastle Ave

Aaron and Adrienne; another favorite pic of mine.

In January 1997, we moved back to the area we had been away from. For 3 months, we lived at my grandparents farmhouse in Accident MD while they were still in Florida. That was an interesting time of living out of boxes and suitcases with a 5yr old, a 3yr old, and a 1 month old. It was an adjustment going from being shepherded by a mission organization, to figuring out what we were going to do now to make a life for ourselves.

MD Bearcreek Farm

The kids with my Dad 

Amy and Adrienne with Grandpa. He and Gordon would come in for breakfast after morning chores. The kids always enjoyed that time.

Another picture from our short stay at Grandpa Bender's farm.
Aaron, Amy, and Adrienne with Leonard

April 1 1997 was moving day! We ended up on the farm where we currently are living. The past 14 years have been a roller coaster of farming, nursing school, kids starting Kindergarten and graduating high school, and of course, adding Heather and Ryan to our family unit.

Home Sweet Farm

Carrot Harvest
Heather and Amy

Adrienne, me and Amy

And then there were 5....

We have been blessed in so many ways by each of the places we have lived and by people that we have met along the way. I am thankful for the ways in which God has provided!

"By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures." Proverbs 24: 3-4


"As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15