Seven Quick Takes Friday--Volume 57

One.
Bret has a few weeks' work lined up, about an hour away. The upside is, of course, money and the ability to pay our bills without depleting our unimpressive savings account. The downside is that he is working today, and we were hoping to go to Mass for the first Friday. Oh well--maybe we will renew our attempts to do the nine first Fridays in the spring, as there's a good chance that one of the upcoming ones would be thwarted by icy roads anyway. C'est la vie.

Two.
The altar Bret just finished for the tiny mission church of Our Lady of the Caves in Horse Cave, KY is great. I think there are still a few little details to be finalized by the couple who did the wonderful pelican plucking its breast in the center of the altar, but Bret's part in it is done. Pretty nice, don't you think?Three.
It looks like it is going to be a beautiful weekend--mild and fairly sunny. If you are anywhere in our area (north-central TN or south-central KY), do think about coming to tomorrow's conference at the Fathers of Mercy in South Union, KY on the life of Mother Teresa. Information is on my sidebar (just click the image of the Come and See poster). The Chapel of Divine Mercy is beautiful, and worth a visit in any case. We will be there. To find me, just listen for the loudest three year old, and follow him...

Four.
Geography is fun, but would be more so if we lived in a city. I love rural life, but when it comes to cultural stuff, forget it. We have been studying India this week, and our little library has nothing--I mean, like two kids' books on India! I've been hunting our shelves for folk tales and other resources, and found a thing or two from Netflix, but I'd love to have access to an Asian foods market (Nashville is a bit far to go for a few Indian items) or deli. We have also listened to some Ravi Shankar sitar music (I remember my mom had LPs of his when I was a kid) and it was lovely to hear it again after so many years.

Five.
Gemma, happy sweet, little thing that she is, is killing me. She naps in her co-sleeper by day, but will not go into it at night. She screams if I put her in it. And she will no longer take a pacifier, nor will she sleep without nursing. She is pretty much attached to me all night long, with the result being that I am tired, sore and Bret and I forever have a baby between us! I tried letting her "cry it out" before Bret and I turned in, and she did finally pass out, exhausted. but within an hour she was up again. I'm not sure what I can do about it until we get her out of our room and into a crib, which Dominic is still using and reluctant to give up. Because of her slow weight gain, I am willing to put up with it for a couple more months (until I start her on solids), but Bret is less than pleased at the thought of having her in our full-sized bed for much longer. It is a tad tight in there for the three of us...

Six.
Speaking of slow weight gains, I have been too nervous to weigh her. I'm afraid of her having gained so little that I will be a nervous wreck. I can't imagine that she is starving, however, as she doesn't seem terribly hungry during the day and is quite happy to grasp at her toys and coo at us from her bouncy seat for long periods of time. Still, I look at photos of babies like Grace's Fiona, who just started solids recently at 8 months and who is fat and gorgeous just on mama's milk, and I feel a twinge of envy! My kids are all pretty lanky as toddlers (Gabe was the exception), but by four months have always been delightfully chubby.

Seven.
I am already plotting to figure out if there is some way I can spend Sunday afternoon just knitting and sipping tea. When I am nursing, I am often on Ravelry, browsing through patterns for baby knits.

Well, that's it for today's Quick Takes from Patch O' Dirt Farm. Join Jennifer at Conversion Diary to see more Quick Takes on Friday or post your own. Have a blessed weekend!