Poem for a daughter...

I love this poem by Anne Stevenson... 

Oh truly. How a child delivers a Mother!

Poem for a Daughter

'I think I'm going to have it,'
I said, joking between pains.
The midwife rolled competent
sleeves over corpulent milky arms.
'Dear, you never have it,
we deliver it.'
A judgement the years proved true.
Certainly I've never had you
as you still have me, Caroline.
Why does a mother need a daughter?
Heart's needle, hostage to fortune,
freedom's end. Yet nothing's more perfect
than that bleating, razor-shaped cry
that delivers a mother to her baby.
The bloodcord snaps that held
their sphere together. The child,
tiny and alone, creates the mother.
A woman's life is her own
until it is taken away
by a first, particular cry.
Then she is not alone
but a part of the premises
of everything there is:
a time, a tribe, a war.
When we belong to the world
we become what we are.



This portion of Psalm 18 comes to mind often at the moment...  
"Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; and my feet are not weakened. "

This is a time of manna living and it is precious.
The portion provided for the day is all that is needful.

I was thinking today, of Psalm 23 as I held little Nola in my arms.
She slept so soundly and the sunlight echoed shyly through the sycamore leaves.
 And I saw how God leads me to the quiet places and the gentle streams.
If only I stop to notice more often.

Welcoming baby Nola

Giddy,

 trembly, 

emotional, 

teary, 

joyful, 

brimming, 

excited, 

wonderful!

.

This time I know how fleeting this time will be. 

How these fragments will form some of the most beautiful pieces of my life.

Boo made the most beautiful little elephant for her with a dear friend as her first "toy" :)

And I have had glass, vases and eggcups full of fresh flowers every day picked by little hands for me.

So here she is!!!

So here is little "Nola Jeanne", born at 12:26 pm on Wednesday April 13th.

New shoes for Poppy Doll

Joining Ginny over @ Small Things today for another lovely Yarn Along....

Emmy finished crocheting the second baby bootee.



Matilda has been asking me to make some shoes for her doll Poppy for ages.
 So this weekend we found a quiet spot and got to work.
Matilda loves needle craft, in fact in comprises a good deal of her "homeschool" and I am more than happy about that.
She really enjoyed watching me work, chatting away, playing with the button's in the button box, cutting thread and picking up of how to make a pair of dolly shoes along the way.



Matilda is also quite the expert finger knitter!
We have miles and miles of multicolored finger-knitting in this house to testify to that.



So while I was busy sewing up Poppy a new pair of shoes, Matilda got to work finger knitting some laces to tie them with.



Poppy waited very patiently for her new shoes.

Raspberry Leaf Tea and waiting

Raspberry Leaf Tea.



Homemade Mother's Day Cards spilling Glitter all over the bed.



Those Eyelashes...




Oh and Finally, here's the belly shot :)

Not long before this will be replaced by a bundle of baby.

The sound of Flowers...

The temple bell stops but I still hear the sound coming out of the flowers. ~Basho

Gifts from her hands,

Record fragments of the afternoon sun,
Wildflower seeds
Surf eternal breath.

The scent of pollen lingers like a memory upon my windowsill.

They'd fallen amongst last years weeds,
Growing through layers of silence,
Beneath log piles, and fallen trees.
She'd cleared a way,

Through moss and mulch,
Her fearless eyes darting
Like a fish in cold water.
Glancing for shadows.

Glimmering shards of sea glass,
Diamonds formed in wombs of glacial rock,
Buried treasures,
A world never notices.

She finds them gold,
Garnet, green.
Cups them like a newborn,
Brings them to me.

• A posie of flowers from a little girls who sees the sacred scattered in the most unlikely places.
• Being and having "Enough"
• Considering the lilies
• Writing and recieving letters
• Boo whistling
• Blue sky, children's squeals