it's already wednesday and i want to scream "wait. i want a do over. or at least give me one day back.
~
yesterday i cleaned. not my house. but the house where my son and 4 other boys have been living.
the house where 213 of their closet friends have been hanging out for months.
it was disgusting and i had to shower afterwards to rid myself of the grime that had somehow slathered itself all over my body, like poorly applied lotion, BUT i have to admit, that it's been along time since i've worked so hard on something, where i could stand back and really admire the results.
don't worry. i wasn't alone. my son and the other boys were helping me. and sure they could have done it without my help. but guess what. 20 year old boys still need their mothers or at least a mother figure around when it comes to cleaning a 4 bedroom house that's going back on the rental market. 20 year old boys also need a mother around around to scare the crap out of the above mentioned friends when they stop over in the middle of our cleaning project.
"don't even think about coming in here today or any other day this week. do you understand me. you are not to set foot on these premises anytime this week. got it"
yep. those were my exact words,
spoken in a low voice while i gave them a look that they don't ever want to see again.
~
whew. okay. enough of that.
the sunflower field down the road from us should be completely filled in by this weekend.
i was there this past sunday and only a hundred of the thousands of flowers had opened up.
also, i found some strangers to jump for me, so that made for the perfect afternoon.
i love this photo. i call it half awake.
so since i'm now out of words
{due to fog brain caused by inhaling too many cleaning products yesterday}
and
you're probably tired of reading
i'll keep it simple by showing you the rest of the photos from our weekend
44 comments:
Oh Beth ... you need a vacation after all that!!! Even with poisonous fumes floating in your head, you still post such beautiful beautiful photos. Also loving the new banner!
I agree- beautiful beautiful post.
I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for posting lovelies rather than pics of the stink and sludge of THAT many boys living and hanging together for that long unsupervised!!! The story was cute but the pictures posted were MUCH appreciated! ;0)
The half open sunflower is so sweet! Almost looks like an off kilter wink!
half awake ~ i half to have that one!
I want to photograph sunflowers this summer too but can't find any having been planted in local fields... what's up with that Mr. Farmers?
Omigosh... That "Half Awake' shot took my breath away - literally. I need it hanging in my house!
Every photo in this post brought a smile to my face!
THANKS! :)
Smiling at your "mothering" and your photos! Thanks for the day brightener!
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED and great photos to boot!
Once a mother always a mother is right! It's hard to let that part of us go and there are times when our darling offspring really need us to be that person. I admire you the courage to clean that place!!! Been there, done that and it's no picnic. What makes me laugh is that I'm sure I taught my 2 how to clean and keep things clean...but add in other people and it's pretty hard to be the "prissy clean one"!!! Especially when it's all guys!!
Love that half awake sunflower shot -- striking!!!!
Oh, boy, I know the exact voice and look you used on those boys. I keep it in my arsenol, too. I envy you your sunflower field, but I'm so grateful you love to share. Half-awake is my favorite, too!
beautiful photos as always. i hope your son appreciates your hard work!
Always love your stories. Adore your tales of mom hood! Your photos melt me, especially half awake and the vase of pinks. Have a happy, fume-free, cleaning-free day, Beth!
Awesome mom and AWESOME half-awake photo! I love that!
Beautiful images, so in love with the half awake shot.
Your son is blessed to have a mother like you :-)
Love the weekend photos, but smiling at being a mom and cleaning at your son's place. Oh I do remember that well. My basement now is like that with a son living down there. I am very afraid to look. I hope your son is moving up in the world.
what a delight this post :-) (and the others but I'm late in visiting after 3 weeks away ...) as a mom of a boy I'm happy to hear that they still need us when they are 20 - good news even if it's for the cleaning ;-) ... the pictures are so gorgeous, thank you and much joy and love to you!
Oh how I want your captures hanging on my walls!
You are a very good mom:))))
how about I did not know that sunflowers open up that way! I learned something new today LOL
I love your Jump Sessions
I seriously feel joy bubbling through whenever I view your photos! I'm just going to blow right past the cleaning part and shudder a bit when I think of the TWO boys I have :) Half-awake- love this!
I wish I was a boy. My mother wouldn't dream of doing that for me. Saying that, I wouldn't dare ask her. Lucky things
Great photos! My favorite has got to be the half awake sunflower. How cool is that!
I never was very good at playing the stern mom. Perhaps that's why my kids never listened to me and behaved like wild Indians.
They're all splendid but I love "half awake" too.
love.love.love....all of them! i immediately thought "wink" when I saw that sunflower!
what a great mom you are!
Those shots of the fluttery yellow "daisy" shout s-u-m-m-e-r! I love the half open sunflower, too. And there you go with a perfect jump shot again. (I don't want to even imagine what that house was like.)
You are such a good momma. And he is one lucky young man, even if he doesn't always realize this yet !
I am totally and completely in love it the "Half Awake" photo !!!!!What a display that sunflower put on for you.
And those stretched out black-eyed suzannes are so lovely too...It is beautiful through your lens, Lovely One !
Rest now. You did a great job !
Lotsa love !
The photo of the sunflower is one of the prettiest I've seen since discovering the land of blog!! You have such an eye!!!!!
We finally got word that my son's loan application was approved so he'll be going away to college in the fall. When he leaves, we are completely gutting and fumigating his bedroom!!!!!!!! I'm so scared yet thrilled all at the same time!! : )
~ Wendy
http://Crickleberrycottage.blogspot.com/
Still can't believe all that you've done to help. But they needed it.
And I love love love that half awake sunflower.
I didn't know which post to comment on -- I've been MIA so long I've been catching up on a lot. The old people jumping, the children, that sweet girl crying -- I wanted to write lovely notes on all. I picked this because it was near the top, I can relate personally to the clean the boys house thing and also anything with sunflowers gets me where I live!
Stressful summer in ways you can't imagine. I'll probably be more likely to lurk than comment, but I hope to do both. I'm preposted, so keep stopping by! Miss you! Miss visiting!
Beth, Your blog makes me thankful for my gift of sight. And I really pray one day you will put all your beauty into a book that it deserves to be in, if not, ~ at least start selling your work.
You make me ashamed that I don't get out daily to lay down in the splendor of nature to catch those glimpses of beauty as you do. But that is why you are here, and we thank you. I thank you. And I hope to buy your book one day. Your sunflower is quite a hit! Though to me, it reminds me of a shy child slowly and shyly lifting his fingers in a morning wave. But I'm weird like that;) ~ ML
love the 1/2 awake shot! That's how I feel most of the time :)
and I do need to add, that we always need our mommies.... even at 44 and being mom's ourselves....
I hope you made those boys work for you. your photos are beautiful Beth, love the sunflowers. hugs.
Incredible photos, as always. And the back story was great too. I can only imagine what it must have been like. I only had girls so that kind of mess evades me. But I did clean houses for awhile and, man oh man...did I see some stuff! It's amazing what kind of messes people make when they know that someone else has to clean it for them. Sometimes money was not enough!
You go above and beyond the mom requirements. You must be assuring the rental deposit is returned. Lots of work to clean a four bedroom house. Yikes.
I really like the vases with Love and Laugh on them. What is on the third one?
If the sunflower had a brain I would say it is brain fried.
oh yeah, the "mom voice." i know it well... and i'm not tired of reading... and i love the "half-awake" photo SO much!
take a break and eat some chocolate. you deserve it.
as a mom of two boys this age, i concur. ha!
beautiful shots, beth! will try to swing by more often, very soon! :o)
smiling . acknowledging the statement in "that" voice . the rest of your photos are as always a stand back and admire moment in their own right
wow, that half awake...perfect and amazing.
you go, mom :)
Strangers who jumped for you--that is so fantastic. I love random encounters with wonderful people. And that photo of the half-open sunflower... simply amazing. I have never seen anything like it.
this post is full of dirt, grime, beauty and sheer bliss.....everything you manage to combine in such a beautiful place, called here...be here now. I love my visits here with you
wow! the sunflowers in this post are gorgeous! ;o)
hugs
hello gorgeous xxx
Oh you are a better mother than me! Love that half awake sunflower!
Beautiful photos. Is the 'half awake' sunflower photo shopped or anything or is that how it really looked? It's amazing.
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