I am sitting here at my Hoosier in the kitchen on my red stool cutting up apples. It has been a sunnyish day and a bit warmer. It feels like an extra day of Autumn. The apples were picked from the apple trees we have out back weeks ago. I stashed them in the basement recently just to get them out of the way, but decided I had better get to work on them before they rot.
I have been slicing off the good parts of the apples for a few hours now and needed to take a break, so here I am. Cupcake is still snoozing and boys are playing upstairs. Turkey broth is simmering on the stove to become soup for our dinner tonight.
Sweetheart is chopping wood to keep us warm. An endless job it is. Guess it is his version of laundry.
We are strolling along the days, thinking ahead to Christmas. Except Pumpkin who is completely fixating on TOMORROW when he becomes six. He has been waiting forever and is not quite sure he can wait so long.
For some reason I am not as excited about my next birthday as he is. (40) I think it has something to do with not having done all I wanted and being who I wanted to be by then. Guess it is good I have a few months to go.
Yesterday Sweetheart took the boys with him for a few hours. It was rather quiet around here. Cupcake slept a good part of the time. I slept for a few minutes, but spent most of the time sipping tea and hot cocoa and reading Dickens. I didn't want to waste the quiet by sleeping too much though I was tired. Cupcake is teething teething teething and has a hard time sleeping through the night from it. Looking at her gums, it appears as though all the rest of her teeth should be popping in this week. I wince just to see it.
I finished David Copperfield last night before bed. I started it at the beginning of the month and so feel quite accomplished to have finished it all so quickly. ;) I also read a few Mitford books at the same time. As much as I enjoy Karon,Gaskell, Austen, and Alcott, I do believe that Dickens may be my favorite author.
There is so much to each story. Such a depth of characters and such a variety of them fill each story. How he weaves so many different threads of storylines together to create such tales is truly amazing to me. I even just love the names of them all! They are so descriptive of each person.
Now, it is time to start on his Christmas Stories. By the way, the DK Eyewitness Book version of A Christmas Carol is extraordinary. There are so many details given on each page that make it all come to life. I HIGHLY recommend it for adults and kids and it would make a great read aloud this Christmas season. Just a thought.
Well, the soup is almost ready and Cupcake just awakened so I am off for now! Sorry for any typos. No time to edit. Not that I usually do anyway...
6 comments:
I admire that you are reading all of those books. I used to read more than I ate. Now for some reason I just don't read anymore. Please don't look at 40 to see what you didn't do. Look at 40 to see all that you have accomplished! I embrace getting older, because I was just a dumb kid not that long ago. I would trade youth for what I know now any day of the week. You have a beautiful family and a comfortable life. Not everyone is so acomplished. Good luck and Happy Birthday.
Sounds like a slice of heaven Kimberly (baring the baby's teething...poor you both)! You've inspired me to read more Dickens as well. I've read the "Christmas Carol" and loved it, and
"David Copperfield" years and years ago! And, like you, I crave visiting Karon's Mitford from time to time. I know what you mean about the forty! It is a time of assessment and weighing and considering life paths...a necessary stage of life I suppose. But still, it's just a number and the only meaning it has is the meaning we chose to give it (at least that's my view :).
Love,
Tracey
x0x
Oh how I miss reading. I am sure I would have time to read if I only prioritized my days and/or nights.
I think when you look back to your 40th birthday you will see how very much you did accomplish. I know this from experience.It is just a number. You are not going to believe this right now but someday when you are over 50 you will look at 40 as the start of something wonderful. It is going to be a time of discoveries of who you are, not just Mom, wife and daughter. You will learn many things in you 40's. I just look at the decades as a new adventure one I am going to enjoy.
I really love my 50's and am creeping up on my 60's. I find each decade shows me the person I really am. A person who did have lots of things accomplished and did not realize it till now. You are going to love it. B
I don't know why but I hated turning thirty and loved turning forty. At forty, you are still young and energetic but you've also gained some (usually hard gained) wisdom.
I think by forty we tend to know ourselves better. It's just that in our culture, forty is made to sound so OLD but it isn't.
I spent some time last night looking through the Victoria Christmas books I own. Tonight I'm pulling a few Christmas novels off the shelf. It's snowing for the first time this season (enough to stick at least) and I have dinner slow cooking in the oven and a cranberry candle lit on the dining table... bliss.
Oh Kim you have accomplished so much...what more could have been on your agenda?? Whew!!
I'm heading to the bookshelf to dust off a Dickens....It's time I spent a few days with him.
I'm also going to order the Eyewitness......thanx for the tip!!
Ho Ho to you!!
xoxo
Thank you for leaving a comment on my post!
You have a lovely blog and I enjoyed reading about your day.
Your farm sounds so cozy.
Happy Holidays,
Nancy
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