Right now...3:30 and it has been a wasted day. We had a terrible thunderstorm mid-morning and have no phone service. I couldn't get an early start on school, because I had a couple of Etsy shop orders to get out. And I didn't get much else done because I have been yawning and dragging about all day.
This weekend...Bret had no work on Friday, so we decided to go ahead and get our grocery shopping done. We went into Bowling Green early and were home by lunchtime. Bret went to work on the house in Kentucky. In the afternoon I put up some kombucha and water kefir.
Saturday was busy. Up bright and early to bake a chocolate stout cake for St. Patrick's Day, do some laundry and get kids showered before going into Westmoreland for haircuts. The boys were long overdue, and although I have no problem with them wanting longer hair, I can't stand it looking untidy. Dominic wanted short hair, and I love it (don't tell him I think it makes him look younger!).
Nuala managed to get out, so Bret spent some time reinforcing the fences before getting her back in (she was merely grazing on our neighbor's pastures, just outside our fence, the grass always being greener there, as you know). Bret also treated our pig for lice--poor, itchy piggy--and put a new tire on his motorcycle. I cooked up a batch of brown rice and lentils, which I freeze in one-pound portions and use to make our ground beef go farther in dishes like Sloppy Joes and Beef Burritos. Our grass-fed beef is running pretty low now, and it will be at least a year until our bull calves are ready for the butcher.
Sunday was perfect in every way except the weather. We went to an early Mass in Gallatin, came home and changed, had a bit of lunch and headed over to friends to celebrate St. Patrick's Day in a big way! Not having a lick of Irish blood ourselves, we've never made much fuss over St. Patrick's Day, but I think that will no longer be an option for us. We feasted on Colcannon, beef & Guinness, corned beef and cabbage and Irish soda bread, and there was apple pie and chocolate stout cake for dessert. Irish music played,, The Quiet Man was on the tv with the sound off, and there was Guinness and Harp Lager in plenty. It was a most pleasant afternoon, the proof being that 7 hours (!) passed like no time at all. That is always a sign that you're with people you enjoy. Another is that you can't wait to do it again.
Some plans for this week: I am trying to concentrate on a study of the papacy for our religion, and I really need to get my get my act together and gather my resources! Tomorrow is the Solemnity of St. Joseph and the installation Mass for our Holy Father Pope Francis, so we will be taking the day off to celebrate! I need to place an Amazon order for a few little things for Easter. Otherwise it is the same schooling and cooking, cleaning and crafting for the Etsy shop.
If I can find some time for myself, I would like to...cast on a sweater, try dying some yarn for the first time, clean up my workroom so that it isn't a mess!
I am grateful for...a lovely weekend, my boys finally having their hair trimmed, an end to this morning's thunderstorms.
Some prayer intentions for this week: For our new pope, and for our pope emeritus; for Bret to make some more progress on the house; for the phone to come back on soon!
Something that makes me smile: trimmed-up boys (thank you, Miss Kathy!)
