This Perfectly Imperfect Life

This place! This place has my heart. Hook, line and sinker.  It's ironic - we live on the coast, minutes away from the bayshore and shore, and my heart belongs to these mountains.* Yes, New Jersey has mountains!  When we are up here, in this area, in these mountains, I am home . Or maybe it's more accurate to say that my soul is home? I don't know how else to explain how I feel when we are up here.  Sadness knocks at my heart when it is time to leave, and once back on the coast, I am overwhelmed by heartbreaking homesickness ! That homesickness is downright awful if we've been up here for more than a few days.   I struggled through snow past my knees and even up to my waist in spots to get from our camper to the dock, my favorite morning spot when we're up, but I was too exhausted given all the trekking through snow yesterday (plus a night at the Worst Motel Ever - more on that another time) and this morning just to get to the camper (because ap...

I wish I could have stood in this spot, listening to the creek and basking in the late winter sun longer... But, The Portable Homestead rascals were building a snow fort to my left and ever so inconspicuously chatting about whether or not I was trying to spy on them in their fort! (lol) So I moved along after taking this photo.  I've been feeling anything but well all week, including today, and now on top of that I feel I may be coming down with a cold or another round of strep. I have been in A Lot of pain. A. Lot. Neck to toes. My first IV session since October is this coming March 31st, but it's going to take at least a couple of sessions to get back on track at this point. But, I needed to be outside for a while today, despite the cold, and went around taking care of ice patches on the less than sunny side of The Portable Homestead. Some of the ice is so thick, the Marine will have to take of it later or tomorrow. I'm not strong enough physically, espe...

Going back to 5/24/13 when I brought Gertrude Jekyll, a David Austin rose (my first DA) home. A birthday present to myself. I couldn't stop taking photos of her!  She was coming back strong last season (2014), until a very late cold snap, and she never recovered. Debating on replacing her with another this year. I'm not sure it will be in the budget (if there even is a gardening budget this year, that remains to be seen), but I do miss Gertrude so! I think she and Julia Child would get along famously, although I'm afraid Queen Elizabeth is getting a tad put off by being surrounded by other famous women ;-)   Do you have a favorite rose you once grew that you no longer have in your garden?

It has been a rough couple of weeks (scroll to previous post or click here ), and this Thursday was an awful living with disease day, but this week has also been a productive one writing wise. Usually in the morning, after I wake and before morning pages journaling and breakfast, I add my favorite moments of the previous day (or what I was most thankful for the previous day, or a goal I want to accomplish) to my happiness jar. (For the down low on happiness jars, click here  to be taken to author Elizabeth Gilbert's post).  As I was finishing up my note paper for Tuesday, 10/7, the day I had an MRI after which I was in awful pain, I wrote down "Finding books I have had on my list for some time on the bargain rack! Simplest pleasures = greatest joy!!!"  Simplest pleasures = greatest joy.   I continued writing about this in my journal. In a nutshell: Simplest Pleasures = Greatest Joy will be a new featured post here at The Portable Homestead an...

Sunday In Reverse... Starting with Moonrise, ending with Sunrise. What did your Sunday look like?

On our mantle.

As I wrote this last night, the world outside was turning royal blue as the sun set behind gray, snow filled clouds that were ready to burst any moment. The candle lamps brightened the windows with their warm, flickering glow the darker it become. I've been missing my father-in-law a lot recently and this week I decided to make what I call his tomato garbanzo bean stew. He made it for us the first time during his visit in 2006 and left me his recipe. That tiny, handwritten slip of paper hasn't left the bulletin board just outside the kitchen since. I've changed the recipe up some over the years, adding two cups of low sodium/low fat chicken broth and a palm full of parsley. I use whatever pasta I have on hand. I tend to buy pre-shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese because it's difficult & often painful for me to shred my own because of my arthritis. And this week, I added a few healthy dashes of curry powder. It's not for everyone and I must admit I h...

Sunset view from I-78 in Pennsylvania earlier this evening. What is your favorite moment from today? Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Happy New Year, friends! I hope 2013 is off to a good start for you and your holidays were lovely!  On Saturday, December 29th, one of my dearest, longtime best friends G & I had our annual Christmas visit. I look forward to this every year! We exchanged gifts and along with a novel called The Language Of Flowers, she gave me two skeins of drool worthy yarn in brilliant shades of pink & green. I later set those skeins in my knitting basket and decided it was time to finishing an unfinished knitting project before I would even contemplate what to do with them. That unfinished knitting was a piece I started back in 2010, sometime after I got home from the hospital in July to begin a very long road of recovery after a near-fatal infection damaged my muscle tissue, memory, heart function and put my left kidney in jeopardy. I was on bed rest for over three months, and in such emotional shock, I could barely do more than watch television most of the time. Around the time ...

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

I love a good bargain, after all, who doesn't?! Being on a fixed budget though, I need to pinch pennies as much as I/we can as often as possible. I wanted to share a few with you, picked up today as a matter of fact, for this Friday Favorites! I didn't buy any Halloween items during yesterday's outing.  This display made me happy so I had to share! I've been looking for a new iced tea pitcher; this one came with the glasses, only $6 for the set! (Oops! Forgot to mark pic!) I loved Katherine's 1st novel, The Physick Book Of Deliverance Dane; paid only $3 for her newest! Yes, I still use a regular ole timer in the kitchen & have been needing a new one; only $1 for this cutie! No idea what I would do with this (metal) box but fell in love with it... Right now it's sitting at the foot of the mantle; $13. I love cute & pretty blank notecards but not the prices for them usually & while these were a little more than the $1.50 Paul...

I wanted to share with you the first Morning Glory bloom of 2012, taken in my garden this morning and very much a pleasant surprise! Here in our neck of the coast, in my humble little garden, Morning Glories mean Autumn is coming and seeing this lone pink bloom had me giddy with excitement! (Happy dance in the garden! Well, in the kitchen actually).  It's a bit early for the vines to start blooming here, but then again, everything started off blooming two months early this year so I shouldn't be surprised. It does make me wonder if I'll have any blooming on either arbor in time for October & with the Halloween decorations I put up outside (I just love how that looks!), but for now, I can't wait to see if there are more blooms tomorrow! What 'simple' pleasure makes Your heart sing with joy? I'd love for you to share with me below! Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Autumn is truly my favorite time of year. (I know, for those of you who've been with me for a while, you're just shocked). The mere sight of colorful leaves, pumpkins or Halloween decorations makes my soul burst with joy and brings a smile to my face as does the crisp, chilly wood smoke scented air. In addition to my regular posts, I've decided to share with you writings and other surprises about and in tribute to Autumn throughout the rest of this Season. Today I'm going to start off with some favorite passages from "New England Fancies" by W. Elmer Ekblaw. My copy is a first edition, signed by the author from 1935. Hubbs bought it for me 3 years ago in a shop down town. "Autumn Haze" "The season of subdued enthusiasm has come. Summer wanes and the winds of October bring the chill that warns of Winter. The peace that comes with work well, and well-nigh, done hovers over all Nature's domain, and nothing soothes the restless surge of our ...

My sweet friend Jess over at Tangled Up In Blue has tagged me to share photo's of a few of my favorite things, though I'm doing my favorite things around our home, not just in our/my room. (And I'm doing 7 things instead of 5!) So here we go, in no particular order: As most of you who read my blog know, I love love love Halloween and these delightfully spooky treasures stay up, year round, above our living room windows. (As does that snow man actually!) Another thing most of you know about me is that I love love love snow and this is my collection of snowy paintings & pictures which hang above our computer desk in our room, most of which are set in the country. Most of these I've picked up in thrift shops over time or framed myself. This is Hubbs, at the tender age of 19, within his first year of being in the United Stated Marine Corps. He looks Nothing like this now and sometimes it's hard for me to believe it's really him, but I've been assure...

In an attempt to keep myself from sliding further into a funk that started yesterday, (I've had it with being sick and tired, being stuck w/needles, iv's & tubes, having tests, taking meds and feeling like crap - Had It! ) I'm taking a few moments to appreciate some of the simple pleasures I'm enjoying this Sunday (via another list): -Watching CBS News Sunday Morning, something I've done and enjoyed for many years now on Sunday mornings when I'm home. -Laying around with Hubbs, watching bad movies and laughing. -Seeing the smallest Carolina Wren I've ever seen in my garden out back when I got up to get myself some lunch. What a sweet looking little bird! -My pumpkin spice candle from last Autumn, such a yummy and comforting scent. (Walmart's Mainstays candle collection). -Catching up on my magazines; Country Living, Country Living British Edition, Starting From Seed and Artful Blogging. -Watching my new guilty pleasure show, The Fabulous Beakman ...

Top photo: Wild Tulip growing behind the fence Bottom Photo: Pink Knockout Rose, Rosa Radcon

Sometimes getting out of the house is better than staying in when you're not feeling up to par, so I decided to tag along with Hubby to one of the fishing beaches within minutes of home. It was already hot & sticky when we left but down here the on-shore breeze feels glorious! There have to be well over 100 people here fishing! (Gorgeous view, isn't it? That's a ship docked at the Naval Weapons Station to the left on the horizon & Hubby fishing). A boy about 12 years old stood fairly close to Hubby and began watching & trying to copy Hubby casting so he could cast better. (Looks like the boy is just starting out). Hubby noticed and started talking with the boy. When Hubby caught a Blue Fish, he taught the boy how to reel it in by letting the boy reel it in on Hubby's pole (which they threw back). When one of them got another Blue Fish (I didn't see which one snagged it) Hubby helped the boy reel it in & taught him how to take the hook out ...

For my favorite photo from the slideshow, click here .

Just before we had our own dinner last night, Waddles (the resident female Mallard duck) came a visiting with us and I was able to snap this photo just after feeding her some country white bread. (She prefers potato bread but 'any port in a storm' as they say). She's very sweet and will eat from your hand without nipping you, which surprised me. Hope this brings you a smile as it did me and y'all have a great Saturday! Posted from 'Home Away From Home' via My Palm Centro.