Camper

For Those Who Serve

Thank you for your sacrifice.

From the Camper Family

 

 

Bits and Pieces

This weekend was a time for yard work and housework. The weather is warm and sunny and the outdoors beckons so after doing the obligatory indoor stuff, I migrated to the back porch. Although Campbell and I have been using the porch pretty steadily for about a month, it was looking a little rough around the edges.

For one thing, a screw fell out of the overhead fan and it was making a terrible ruckus when we turned it on. So this morning Peepaw decided to fix it. Since it is hung at the apex of the vaulted porch roof, this required putting a 5-foot step ladder on top of the porch dining table. Can we say Nervous Nellie? Not him, me. While he was up there we decided we might as well clean it so I took the globes inside to soak and wash while he cleaned the blades and housing. We built the porch in 1999 and I'm embarrassed to say that this is the first time we've cleaned the fan. Now that we've figured out how to reach it, I think this will have to be done each spring ... at least.

Campbell and I love spending time on the back porch. We like to eat breakfast and lunch out there weather permitting and we like to go outside when we read together. Now that everything is cleaned up, I plan to spend even more time out there coloring, playing, talking, snacking.

Campbell, however, likes to wander outside the porch periodically. We've created a secret garden for her and she likes to hang out under the Japanese Willow when she tires of the porch.

Speaking of the garden, ours is not at peak yet. We have a beautiful spring garden in which dogwood trees, tulips and daffodils abound.  Right now we're in the lull between the spring flowers and the summer flowers. The magnolia is beginning to pop and the daylilies are close. The Stella d'Ora daylilies in the front are in full bloom but the back daylilies are not quite ready.

What you see here behind the yellow yarrow are not daylilies, they're a tiger lily, or somesuch. You see lots of them growing wild on the roadside. Many years ago, we were given a few of these plants by a friend. Being new to the world of daylilies we planted them in the same beds as our real daylilies. A big mistake! These things are pretty and they bloom early but they are very aggressive. They've just about crowded out all the "real" daylilies in this bed in spite of the fact that Peepaw has been trying to weed them out for about five years. So a word to the wise: If you plant these things in your yard, put them in a bed dedicated only to this species.

Here's a quick tour of some of the other parts of our garden, none of which is in full bloom yet. In a few weeks, I'll be back with more photos of a more resplendent garden. And maybe by then I'll have pulled the weeds.

There you have it. That pretty much sums up our weekend. How about you? How does your garden grow?

The Best Mother's Day Gift

My Mother's Day weekend started off with a BANG! Literally! 

Campbell and I were coming out of Wal-Mart Friday afternoon when, as we entered the cross-walk the truck stopped at the stop sign decided to go, smashing into the cart that Campbell was riding in. The cart was spun and tipped over.  In the split second I had to react I was just able to get between Campbell's head and a large cement barracade but she still fell out of the cart and hit the side of her head on the pavement. Luckily she was seated in the cart seat and not in the open area of the cart.  To anyone who has ever let their child sit in the basket portion of the shopping cart - take it from me that is a bad idea! Had Campbell been in that part of the cart I am convinced the ending to this story would be very, very bad!

As it is, after a scary couple of hours where sleepiness and puking led to an ER trip and a head scan, it was determined that Campbell had a concussion to go with her facial lacerations and bruising. It was several hours before Campbell emerged from her shell-shocked state and started to return to her normal self.  She woke-up Saturday with a big shiner and some bruises on her leg but otherwise okay.

Friday's terrifying ordeal left me all the more thankful for my sweet girl's safety and health on Mother's Day.  Being able to spend a lazy, rainy Sunday with her, alive and well, was all the Mother's Day gift I needed.  She amazes me with her resiliency.  Aside from declaring she never wants to go to Wal-Mart again (fine by me as it's not my favorite place anyway) and fears that she will still have a black-eye when she's a flower girl on the 26th, she is back to her normal, happy, carefree self.  

Yesterday, every time I looked at my beautiful girl with one side of her face swollen and marred I found myself giving thanks that she was okay.  The bruises and cuts will heal and she is young enough that this trauma will soon fade to a blurry memory with no lasting impacts.  For me, the memory flashes of what could have been will only reinforce how lucky I am to be the mother of this amazing little girl.

The Secret Garden (shhhh!)

A couple of weeks ago during a warm spell, Campbell and I were sitting on the back porch enjoying the sun and warm air. I pointed out the mostly-hidden space beneath our Japanese willow tree and suggested to her that it was the perfect place for a secret garden. Within minutes, we had parked her pink and white polka dotted chair in that space and she had a merry time reading to her babies, talking to herself, eating a snack. However, there was one thing the space lacked: A pretty pink flower fit for a preschool girl.

Although Krista and I normally delay our annual flower shopping ritual until Mother's Day weekend, we accelerated it by a week this year due to a warmer than usual spring and some very busy upcoming weekends.

After a healthy lunch at Five Guys (burgers and fries) we headed to a favorite nursery and hit the jackpot. It turned out to be the only stop we had to make all day in part because Peepaw was with us and were limited to putting our newly purchased flowers in the trunk of my Prius. Flower shopping time is the only time I miss my baby SUV. Krista and I could pack that thing with an unbelievable number of flowers. Now our trips are much less productive.

Nevertheless, we came home with plenty of plants. Since Campbell said she wanted to help me pot the flowers at my house, I waited until she could help me. I dragged out all the necessary gear and put it under the shade of the big maple tree. Everything was all set. I thought.

When I asked Campbell to come help, waving her new garden gloves at her, she declined my invitation. She had more important things to do, like playing. And really that was fine. I probably got the task done more quickly but we did miss a teaching moment.   ... *sigh* ...

Of course, when the time came to set out the pot for her secret garden, Campbell suddenly showed a renewed interest in the project at hand. She was very particular about where she wanted the flowers to be placed, "just so", right next to her chair.

No, I'm not done yet but I'm off to a good start. Tomorrow I'll likely visit a local nursery and come home with some more flowers for pots. Only this time, I'm not going to wait for Campbell to help me!

 

 

 

Musing on a New Hydrangea ... and Life

Life is funny sometimes, isn't it? Not too many years ago, I wouldn't have given a nickel to put hydrangea in our garden. Then, gradually, over the past several years, I've fallen in love with them. I think I always shied away from them because it's necessary to amend the soil in which they're planted if you want pink, blue, or now, even red. Finally this year I decided I just had to have one in our garden. Something tells me it won't be the last since hydrangea seem to be prettiest in groups rather than singles.

Do we do that in our own lives, too? Make up our minds ahead of time about something, shying away from even trying it before we make pronouncements against it? Take food for instance. How often have you (and I!) just looked at a food and decided we didn't like it. Paula Deen swears that we eat with our eyes first and I would have to agree.

It's true of most anything in life: Clothes, music, art, poetry, books and sadly, people. Too often I've been guilty of deciding from just one glance that I didn't think I'd like a particular person only to discover once I got to know that person, how nice he or she actually is. And more importantly, how much rather than how little we have in common.

Since I've taken up photography, I've learned a lot of "life lessons". The most obvious is learning to be more observant of life and the world around me, to really see the beauty in my world. I've also learned that the pursuit of photography is an ongoing quest for knowledge. So it is in life, to seek knowledge is to keep living.

So I leave you with these thoughts:

* Look for the beauty in your world and in others

* Seek new knowledge every day, just for the joy of it

* Don't knock something before you try it. You may find you love it!

Tea for Two

When I retired at the end of December, one of my friends at work gave me a lovely little tea set. She and I had a ritual each morning in the office, we each made a fresh cup of tea to start our work day. When I left, she lost her tea buddy because everyone else in the office drinks coffee. The tea set is enblamatic of the 20+ years that we worked together and more importantly, our friendship.

Campbell and I have been planning to have a tea party together using this special tea set and a few days ago, we had the perfect opportunity. Over the weekend I'd been to Panera Bread and came home with a box of mini-scones, three each of orange, strawberries and cream and that old standby, blueberry. It was a rainy, cool afternoon, so what better to do following quiet time than have a tea party for two.

Campbell is familiar with tea parties. Every Christmas Eve, following the early evening church service, we all return to my home for our Christmas Eve Tea, a high tea in the best British tradition. On this day we sampled my personal favorite, orange-spice tea from Elmwood Inn Tea Company, a local business. Campbell tried hers with milk, which is how she takes her special Christmas Tea blend on Christmas Eve.

This tea party did not have as many people and was not as fancy but it was a fun treat nevertheless. It brought to mind all the simple afternoon teas I used to have as a young child with my very British grandparents who taught me to love tea and all its traditions.

It is a special delight to me to be able to share this tradition ... and I hope this love ... with my favorite granddaughter.

My Mug Shot and Shot4Shot

My friend Tracey Clark of Shutter Sisters fame has asked her readers to join with her in supporting Shot at Life.  Krista and I get many requests to support some very worthy causes, some of which we've written about in these pages so we don't jump on every band wagon that comes along. But, my friends, this is a no brainer.

For a very small sum of money, we can help children all over the world to be protected against devastating childhood illnesses, some which cripple and worse, kill, when contracted in underdeveloped countries. This project is part of a United Nations initiative to provide better health for all children. Here in our country we pretty much take for granted that our children and grandchildren will be protected but that's not the case everywhere. You and I can help.

There are a number of ways to do this. One, obviously, is to donate directly. If you're on Instagram, Flickr, Facebook or Twitter you can help there, too, by posting photos of your mug shot with the hash tags #mymugshot #shotofcoffee(tea) #shot4shot #vaccines work. You can get more information from Tracey's post today.

Spread the word through any of the social networks that you belong to. The more people we get to help, the more children will be spared these terrible childhood diseases. It's so simple; it's a no-brainer.

Who Knew ...

... how much fun $7.99 could buy?

Last week while Campbell and I were shopping for groceries, I told her she could pick out tulips to take home. One thing you can bet the farm on: when Campbell picks flowers they will be pink. She did not disappoint and home we came with a bunch of pink tulips which I promptly put into a white enamel pitcher. Later that afternoon, I took them out on the back porch to take their portrait in the lovely sun that comes into the porch at that time of day.

Ahhh! But I wasn't done. Not by a long shot. A bunch of tulips can go  a long way with me, creativity abounds when there are tulips in my house. Several days later, they were still looking lovely and I had a marathon session with them, again out on the porch in the soft afternoon sun.

Tulips are an amazing flower and this year, I've gained a new appreciation for them. They are beautiful when they're very new, they're beautiful in their prime and still beautiful when they're on the wane. Maybe we can learn something from them.

I don't know about you, but I think I got a real bang for my buck with my bunch of pink tulips.

 

For the Birds

This little bird family

sat on the back porch

long enough for me

to go upstairs and back down

out the back door

then get close enough

to take their

family portrait.

 

I wish everybody would cooperate with me like that.

 

Perspective

There has been a blog link circulating Facebook for a couple of days and I've seen it posted by a number of friends. Essentially the blog is about losing perspective as a Mom and I've nodded each time I've read the summary about how our kids don't care if their Moms can make cute little cookies or perfectly wrap gifts they just want their Mommies.  This morning I finally read the whole blog and it was exceptional!  It struck a real chord with me and not just because I have sung "Baby Mine" to my daughter every night of her life since she was born, too. April Perry's blog struck me with it's honesty and truth and because her experiences are so like those of every Mom I know. 

With a full-time job that includes two hours a day on the road and a part-time track coaching gig there never seem to be enough hours in the day to do the housecleaning and the yard work or to sneak in a run of my own (I got my first run in two weeks in yesterday and it was glorious).  It is so easy to get stressed out by the piles of laundry and the wilted flowers and the unsightly weeds but the fact of the matter is: none of those things bother Campbell.  What makes Campbell unhappy is when, after a long day at work I pick her up, rush home and immediately start hustling us through our night time to-do list of picking up toys, taking showers, eating dinner, etc. and I don't just take time with her. 

She and I are both happier people when I focus on her for at least a few minutes when we get home. Even if it's just for five minutes, if I just hold her and talk to her about school or track or nothing in particular, that closeness helps center both of us.  In the end, that's what she really wants and what I need to remember I really need to give her.  That's what will build the relationship I want to have with her when she's older - not whether our house looked like something out of Southern Living or whether the decorations at her birthday party were perfect down to the tiniest detail. And I can say this with conviction because its my ability to talk to my Mom that binds us together. My Mom has been my best friend for as long as I can remember.  I cherish her advice - even when I don't follow it - and I rely on her guidance even more now that I'm a mother than I did when I was a teen struggling with the weightiest of boyfriend problems. (Oooh, to be back in the days when the biggest problem I had was being stuck going to the prom with one boy when I'd rather be going with the second one that asked me . . . . ) 

So, Moms out there - take a minute and read April's amazing blog.  Then allow yourself to be less than perfect as long as you're present.  Then, if you can, call your Mom and say thank you!

Easter Sunday 2012

As I'm sure it was for all of you, Easter was a very full day for the three Camper gals. Immediately following church there was an Easter Egg Hunt in the church playground for all the children. Campbell was much more proficient at it this year and collected 11 eggs (plus the three or four her mother put back for the younger children).

After a brief break in the activities, we journeyed to Trustee's Inn at nearby Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill . This is a beautiful, placid restored Shaker settlement. Campbell always finds some adventure there and today was no exception. The dogwood were in full bloom, it was a beautiful day, just perfect for Easter Sunday.

Lunch was our celebration of both Easter and Krista's birthday, which was two days ago, and it didn't disappoint.  Most, if not all of the ingredients are grown on the grounds or locally and all the recipes are old Shaker recipes, including their famous corn pudding. Although I make it most holidays, for some reason, mine is never as good as theirs. After eating way too much, we wandered around the grounds and gifts shops for a short while, then back to our hometown where we we went our separate ways for the remainder of the day.

One of the true joys of my life is having my daughter and her family so close to me. We can spend some holiday time together, enjoying one another's love and companionship and yet not monopolize the day. It's nice to be together but it's nice to have some separation, too. I really believe we have the best of both worlds.

Much to Campbell's dismay, our world gets back to normal tomorrow. After a week of spring break, Campbell goes back to school, Krista goes back to work, and DotDot, who may be the luckiest of all, will open my daycare center for one. Tomorrow morning Campbell will eat breakfast with me after her daddy drops her off and then I'll take her to preschool. Following preschool, we'll spend the rest of the afternoon together.

All in all, "normal" is not too bad around here these days. I hope your "normal" is as good to you as mine is to me.

Happy Easter

 

 

A very Happy Easter to all of the Camper family!

With love from,

 

 

April 6

Little did we know 35 years ago on the day that you were born what adventures we would find with you. I remember getting up very early (not sure I slept at all) to keep our appointment at the hospital. It was snowing. Yes! My carefully planned "spring baby" was going to be born on a snowy day! By the time we brought you home four days later on Easter Sunday, the sun was shining and the temperature was a pleasant comfortable 70 degrees. I not only had my "spring baby" but the little girl that I wanted.

You see in those days, we couldn't find out whether our babies were girls or boys but I really wanted a girl and I intuitively knew that I had a girl. When the doctor said, "It's a girl!", I wasn't at all surprised. Just happy that you were here with all your fingers and toes.

The years have passed ... where did they go? ... but I wouldn't trade a minute of these wonderful years with you. Being your mother made my life complete. When Campbell came along, she was, as the saying goes, the icing on the cake.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Daughter! Your dad and I love you and you're still our pride and joy!

All my love,

 

Tulip Heaven

Spring has hit the Bluegrass early this year. Our daffodils are very much on the wane but our tulips are magnificent right now. Here are a few to share with you:

What's blooming in your neighborhood? I hope your neck of the woods is as pretty as ours is today. Dogwood and redbud trees will be next on my hit parade of beautiful spring blooms.

I just hope I have something blooming a month from now to share with you ...

Don't forget our first ever Linky Party at Focusing on Life.

In Focus

Please join me today at Focusing on Life where we're introducing a new feature and you can join the fun!