Monday Musings--30 April 2012

Right now:  I am having a bit of a late start for posting now at 8:00 a.m., but I have been in my workroom looking at my stock of paper, organizing my "sewing queue", making beds and starting laundry.  Una working on a contest entry in the office, Gabriel and Gemma are playing in the schoolroom in a tent of chairs, tables and sheets, and I am not sure what Sebastian, Adrian and Dominic are doing.  The weather is absolutely lovely this morning, but it may get very warm and humid before long.

This weekend...was fairly nice.  Bret went on Saturday to mow around the construction site on the KY property and managed to install another window.  My, the going is slow...!  He also stopped by the Mennonite community and picked up some more heirloom tomatoes and basil plants to replace those which were devastated by the vicious storm we had last week.  In the afternoon he cleaned the chicken coop, which really needed it.  I made butter, did the inevitable laundry, showered, finished knitting a top for Gemma, placed some online orders for some necessities and bathed little kids.

We had a most wonderful homily from Fr. David Wilton, CPM yesterday.  And I went to confession, which always feels good.  We went into Bowling Green for groceries and I was distressed to see that the Walmart there, one of the few that still has a craft section, seems to be scaling it down.  I needed buttons for my knitting projects, and found none.  Hobby Lobby and the local yarn shop were closed, so I went home disappointed.

The evening was fairly relaxing, with pizza for dinner and homemade chocolate-swirl ice cream for dessert.  I made a lovely chocolate sauce from this recipe, and swirled it though the ice cream when it was still soft, then froze it more firmly.  It was wonderful!

Some plans for this week:  I am hoping to get my little plants into their beds this week; I need to work on my watercolor sketchbooks for the shop; I really need to dust!  Having the windows open all day is lovely, but it is showing on every horizontal surface!  I want to order yarn from Yarn.com, as today is the last day of their spring sale, and I want to order some Cascade 220 for a sweater I want to make for myself (!).  And I have loads of things I need to sew!  Fabric has been cut out for a 3-tiered skirt for Una, I want to make a haversack for Sebastian, whose birthday is in 2 weeks, and I have fabric washed, ironed and waiting to be turned into shorts, skirts and a dress for Gemma.  Knitting will probably only happen in the van for the next few weeks...

If I find some time for myself, I would like to...work on a Mother's Day card and gift for my mom.

I am grateful for...a pantry full of food and a roof over my head.  I have to remind myself that these things are not to be taken for granted whenever I am tempted to gripe about the high cost of food or the stained and threadbare furnishings in my home.  What I have would be considered great wealth by some in this world.  I am grateful for our health, for the lush beauty of spring, for the ability to school my kids at home, and for a husband who knows how to work hard without complaint.

Some prayer intentions for this week:  that the Lord will grant me the grace to work hard myself without complaint and to get a lot done, with His assistance; for the families of my friends; for the health of my parents and my mother-in-law; for Bret to find time to work on the house, and for the sale of my sister's old home--which has been on the market for too long!

Something that makes me smile:  I'm cheating a bit, as this photo is from the week before last.  The boys, cooking little, bony fish on spits over a fire they made.

I also really love moles, as damaging as they can be!  Sebastian caught this little guy last week.  He was filmed and released right away.  We also had a guest baby snapping turtle.  He spent the night in an aquarium and was brought down to the pond the next morning.