A Respite from the Chaos

This dove built her nest on my grandparents' wall hanging...you can see one chick's head!

We have returned from Central PA...rolled up our hill at about 1 AM this morning and carried the sleeping children to their waiting beds. It was a crazy visit. I stayed behind in houses that were not L-proofed, trying to control 2 wild children while Daddy slipped away to doze in mindless conferences most of each day. L broke a different nick-knack in each home we stayed.

I actually did not have as much time alone as I had anticipated. My sister-in-law took half a day off to visit on Thursday. She took us to see the idyllic Camphill Village where she works. We watched the free range chickens and one big turkey, laughed at the antics of the piglets, and admired the woven goods made of recycled jeans and homespun wool from the village's sheep.



One of my dear college friends drove the girls and I to the Hands on House in Lancaster, where my girls and her boys loaded coal on trucks, picked corn to feed the pigs, ran a grocery store, sang on stage and built "thing-a-ma-giggles" in a factory.



My parents and we took dinner to my Grandparents, both in their 90's. J entertained us with a violin concert. My Grandma recited some of the many poems and stories she memorized many years ago. My Grandfather showed us his latest carvings.



We enjoyed singing along to the musical, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" in Reading, and played in the crabapple petals afterward.



We drove home in the dark to piles of laundry and a marathon 3 hour violin recital this afternoon. At last, in a church pew, I was able to relax while the children played incredible music and L napped in the van with Daddy.

So now I feel deflated. Thankfully husband has a couple more days off from work, perhaps I can get caught up with life again. An Elaines meeting would benefit...(here, some night this week?)

T