Monday Musings--27 October 2014--Indian Summer

Right now...it is nearly 3 p.m.  It is a marvelous, unseasonably lovely day.  The laundry is on the line, waving like banners in the warm breeze.  Tomorrow rain is predicted, and thereafter much cooler temperatures.  But today at least there is still a little time for bare limbs, sun-dried laundry and rides around the house on the 4-wheeler.

This morning we had some problems during milking time.  The power to the pump on the milking machine kept shutting down.  Two calls to Bret to try to work it out were to no avail, so Sebastian finished the job by hand.  Lola, our calf, has been rough on Fiona's teats, and she has a number of cuts on them, but Sebastian said she tolerated it all pretty well.

Have I mentioned lately how proud I am of that boy?  No, I'm not here too often, so I'm sure I haven't.  Sebastian is 13 and has been milking our cows for 3 years.  He does it in the heat of summer and in the winter, swaddled in insulated clothing and with a cup of hot tea.  He hates it.  But he's only said so once.  Daily, but for Sundays, he goes out and milks the cow without complaint, never groaning, never griping.  When there's a problem, he tries to work it out himself before coming to me with it, not wanting to add to my workload or concerns.  I am in awe of the young man he is becoming, and I can only say this:  if you are the mother of a young boy who is a pain in the neck and who drives you to near-madness nearly daily, take heart--such a one can blossom into something totally unexpected and wonderful.  Sebastian was such a child, and now he is an absolute gem.

Some plans for this week:  I am working diligently knitting and sewing gifts for Christmas and making things for the Etsy shop.  I have plenty to do with some little pocket-sized dolls I'm making for the shop, and I have some St. Nicholas dolls to make as well.

We will be taking Friday off for a little Halloween celebration with my sister and her kids, God willing and no one gets ill between now and then.  I would like to make a bean-bag toss game for the little party and towards the end of the week we will make some treats.

I'm praying for...Olivia, the littlest one of friends, who just underwent surgery this morning to correct a kidney/bladder related problem that has sent her to the hospital a couple of times.  I'm praying for her dear mommy, too, whose eldest has diabetes and is gluten intolerant, and so the young woman has a lot on her platter!

Something that makes me smile:  the laughter of children even above the roar of an ATV motor.

I have to go put my yogurt--a gallon a week is what we go through--in the insulated cooler with a heated rice bag now, before the milk cools.

Have a great week!

Monday Musings--15 September 2014

Right now...nearly 8 p.m.  It's been a busy day.  We just finished the rosary and I'm feeling like I'm ready for bed!

This weekend...was very nice.  Bret and I went into Gallatin on Friday to stop at Lowe's and look at flooring.  We are choosing things for the new house.  Would that money was no object!  Then we went to Aldi and Walmart to do our grocery shopping.  It always feels like we're out on a date when we go anywhere without the kids.  Of course, it was exhausting getting back, unpacking half the groceries, making a quick dinner, unpacking the rest of the groceries...I was fairly trashed by bedtime!

On Saturday we went into Bowling Green and hit the Goodwill there.  Still looking for some clothing items.  Then we stopped at the square downtown and saw some great vintage cars.

And Sunday was very relaxing with no stops to make after Mass...I did a little writing, wrapped up two Etsy shop orders and gathered photos for a giveaway we are going to do this week on Frontier Dreams.

Catching up:  Where to begin?  Let's see...Dominic turned 8 on August 4th, Bret had a birthday on the 18th.  Our rooster, Barney, died and Ruthie Weedeater, our goat, had a kid, which we named Louis (he was born on the feast of St. Louis).  We have started out new school year.  The weather is finally getting cooler.  It would be nearly impossible to go into any real detail...

Some plans for this week:  Baking bread, making yogurt, putting up wine.  There are a few bills to be paid and I have to list some school books I want to sell on Cathswap.

If I find some time for myself, I want to...get some knitting and sewing time in and do a little writing. I'm making a bunch of hats and mitts as Christmas gifts and I want to sew up some doll outfits for Gemma, who really loves her baby dolls (she has 4 babies already and wants another for Christmas).

I am grateful for...my friends and family.  I have some of the best people on this planet for friends (you know who you are!), and their prayers and acts of kindness hold me up when I feel l don't have the fortitude to hang in there.  I am also grateful for the fact that my kids are so loving and affectionate.  I get numerous hugs and kisses throughout the day, and that, too, keeps me from becoming too gloomy.

In my prayers:  My friends and their families; my nephew Thomas who has a birthday this week; my nephew Matthew, and for the completion of the new house this year.

Something that makes me smile:  quirky people who drive around with a stuffed tiger on the roof of the car (seen in Bowling Green, KY this weekend.)

Monday Musings--3 March 2014

Right now...It is nearly 6:00 a.m., and is just beginning to get light, revealing a blue world.  We had freezing rain last night, covered by a little snow.  Frankly, I'm fed up with the cold weather.  It's March and the kids have been indoors way too much lately.  They are bickering incessantly (the youngest being the worst culprits).  Can't very well send them out to play in this sort of weather...

This weekend...was good.  Saturday was pretty much a day spent in the kitchen making kombucha, pre-baked pizza crusts and lacto-fermented veggies while Bret took the two older boys to the new house to clean up and pull some wire down below the house.  We are hopefully just about ready for insulation, and then comes the drywall, and that will certainly make the house look more like a house on the inside.

Yesterday we had a very nice Mass and good homily.  Also had fun chatting after Mass with some of the pleasant folks we go to church with.  The weather was getting foul, and when we left the church, the temperature had dropped significantly.  We stopped at Walmart for a few things I needed and noted the shelves going bare from the panic-purchasing.

At home we just relaxed and I worked a bit on my writing and responded to a couple of emails.  Sloppy joes and oven roasted potatoes for dinner.

Some plans for this week:  Getting ready for Lent.  There have been years when I actually looked forward to the challenge of Lent, but not recently.  Life seems challenging enough, and I am a wimp these days.  I used to do things like rise at 3:30 on Fridays to do the St. Bridget prayers, and fast on bread and water, but I can't manage such penances now.  I will give myself a few penances that I hopefully will have the strength to handle throughout the lenten season.  I'll also put up our Lenten calender and the kids and I will decide this morning how to have a fruitful Lent.  Our usual preparations include putting up Stations of the Cross around the house (we pray them in lieu of the Rosary on Fridays during Lent), putting out a bean jar for keeping count of sacrifices, and picking out some spriritual reading.  If you look in my labels under Lent, you may find a few ideas...

I have haircuts to do for the boys.  Ugh.  Does anyone know of a home hair clipper that lasts more than a few months?  I have been through possibly 8 or 10 clippers in the last few years, and it is always the blades that go dull, which results in hair being pulled.  Don't they make replaceable blades for those things?

Not much else on the agenda, really...just school, writing, housekeeping, planning for Lent and Easter.

If I find some time for myself, I want to...just write and read lately. With limited time, I have to pick and choose, and lately that is where my heart is.

I am praying for...an ever growing list of people and intentions.  For my sister and mother, who are both having some health problems; for friends with cancer; for friends with mental health and/or addiction problems and for friends who have kids who have these problems; for continued progress on the house and that at least one of our cows is pregnant.  For two friends who are expecting, that they have good pregnancies and safe deliveries.  For my aunt Donna, who, at the age of 60-something, is recovering in Thailand with 17 broken bones from (drumroll, please) having fallen off a spooked bull elephant.  The list goes on and on.

I am grateful for...my family and my friends--the few, the true.  For my health; for music and books and great movies that bring me such pleasure; for my faith, which keeps me grounded and hopeful.  And for the fact that I don't need to go anywhere today in this really cruddy weather!

Something that makes me smile:  WARNING--if you would be offended by a lot of exposed skin, and a certain amount of grinding, please forego watching the following.  But a friend posted it on FB the other day, and I have watched it a few times now because it puts me in an instant good mood.  It's our young men in Afghanistan spoofing the Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders.  I think they nailed it brilliantly...

Have a great week!

Monday Musings--20 January 2014

Right now...it's after 10 a.m., sunny and cold.  We had a late breakfast since the kids were involved in building a dummy from Gabriel's camo clothing.  

I'm feeling a little bit limp, as I stayed up with Una--suffering a bit of teen angst--until after midnight, and still got up at 5, since I could't get back to sleep after the alarm.  After prayers and coffee, it was my intention to do at least a mile on the treadmill, and I wound up doing 3.  My gosh, I'm becoming an athlete in my old age!  I couldn't do the 12-minute-mile in high school without grabbing my sides in agony and gasping for air.  

It's going to be one of those days, I can tell.  The younger kids have been bickering on and off for most of the morning, and I'm hearing a lot of um, uncharitable talk.  

This weekend was...too quickly over.  In fact, the entire week went by in a flash.  I hardly have a memory of last week, except for a highlight or two.  On Saturday, Bret went into town to run errands and here I did laundry, put up some crock pot chili, showered and did a few other chores I can't seem to recall right now.  The goal was to get everything done before lunch so that I could find time to work on my writing and spend a little time reading as well.  And that is how I spent the afternoon.  

Mass yesterday was very nice, the nicer for friends of ours whom we've not seen in ages being there.  We had a few things to pick up at the store on the way home, and then at home we relaxed and I did a little more writing.  We watched an old movie from Netflix, and then, as I said, I stayed up way too late with Una.

*yawn*

Some plans for the week:  I'm not feeling terribly ambitious at the nonce.  If I can manage to get the skeins wound for the hat Adrian's requested for his birthday next month and write a stack of receipts into the checkbook, and get dinner done tonight, I'll be satisfied.  I may write a bit or read a bit (if I can keep my eyes open), or maybe play a board game or cards with the kids.  Right now, sitting here, I am yawning incessantly.

Other things I need to do: cast on and start knitting the above mentioned hat; pay some bills, maybe try my hand at homemade tortillas (my sister and I have been discussing this) and of course do school work with the kids.

If I find time for myself, I'd like to...just read and write, really.  But I need to squeeze in some knitting, too...

I'm grateful for...the internet.  I grew up without it and had to rely on the Encyclopedia Britannica and infrequent trips to the library for research.  It is nice having all the information in the known universe at my fingertips.  I love the internet.  There; I said it.  I'm grateful for health right now, and for the gift of music (how bleak my life would be without it!) and for books and our lovely hens.  And wine.  

Some prayer intentions for this week:  I have a lot of people for whom I'm praying.  My sister and two close friends are at the top of the list this week.  My sister awaits biopsy results from her colonoscopy, one friend is getting a biopsy to tomorrow, and another friend needs to have some mammogram pictures retaken...it's all too much.  Thank goodness I also have some friends who are cancer survivors.

Something that makes me smile: her utter disregard for the mores of fashion.

Monday Musings--13 January 2014

Right now...5:51 a.m., dark and quiet, but for the ticking of the clock on the wall.  Another night of sleeplessness.  Gemma fights with Dominic day and night--seriously, no less at night.  She yells in her sleep, "Give that back!"  "I'm not playing!"  "Stupid!"  She did that from about 2 a.m. until I finally migrated to the sofa at 3.  It took a while to get back to sleep.  I will have to really force myself to get out on the treadmill this morning...

Some plans for the week:  Well, I've a priest-friend coming for dinner this evening, so there will be a bit of housecleaning going on, and I need to make a nice Bolognese sauce for the lasagna I'm preparing. I might also bake something for dessert, although we've plenty of ice cream.

There are bills to pay and the checkbook to catch up with, and boxes of Christmas stuff to put back up into the attic crawlspace (I'll let Bret take care of that); and school to get back to.  We also need to try to locate an inexpensive used washing machine because mine died on me for the third time, and we are tired of putting money into it.

If I find some some time for myself, I'd like to...work on my writing, which has been my major interest for the last few months.  I try to work on it at least a little every day if I can, usually after rosary in the evening.  I also need to get back into knitting again...my kids are asking for hats and mitts and such, but lately I carry my notebook with me rather than my knitting bag.

Some prayer intentions for this week: Praying the St. Peregrine Novena for several people with cancer, as well as my usual prayers for friends of mine and their families (I hope yours is faring better, Cindy!).  I'm praying for progress on the new house (Bret had to take a break from it to bring some money into our depleted account), and to locate a washing machine before our home is buried in laundry.  I'm also praying that one of our two cows is pregnant (no dollar-store pregnancy tests for bovines), because buying raw milk for a big family is costly.  At least my lovely hens--and they are so friendly they'll try to come into the house--are laying abundantly.

I am grateful for...a good confession with a wonderful priest yesterday; feeling creatively inspired; my terrific husband (all the more terrific because he thinks I'm terrific, too); my friends; my family's health,

Something that makes me smile:  one of dozens of photos I have of Dominic asleep.  I wish I had my camera with me at Mass yesterday--he took a 20 minute nap during the homily!

Monday Musings--14 October 2013

Right now...it's just after 7 a.m., and oddly enough, most of the household is still asleep.  Outside it looks like it is shaping up to be another lovely day.  Autumn is the best!

This weekend...was busy.  Since coming home from Alabama, a nasty cold has been working its way through the ranks, and Gabriel has been its most recent victim.  Constant runny, sore nose, coughing and overall malaise has stricken about half the house so far.  I don't know why this is, but for several years now, we are totally illness free for the months of July, August and September, and October always seems to mean the advent of our first cold of the season.  So--much orange juice, vitamin C and Elderberry-Echinacea syrup are being consumed.

On Saturday Bret and I left the kids at home (Bret's mom has been here for a week today) and went into Bowling Green to do a little early grocery shopping and pick up my early birthday gift: a treadmill!  Yep, I'm hitting the half-century mark in another month, and I figure a treadmill is a good investment at this point.  It'll be getting plenty of use, as Una needs it, too (exercise is key in keeping her fibromyalgia symptoms to a minimum) and my mother-in-law is also making use of it, as she is trying to recover her stamina after having had heart surgery.

After we got home and put away groceries, we packed everyone in the van and headed out to How'd Dey Do Dat? day in Red Boiling springs.  This was our third year going, and the weather had always been good.  I get in my annual visit with the Blackburn family of Leaning Tree Farm, listen to old-timey bluegrass and let the kids run around.  [Note to Annita:  Gemma kept her shirt on!  But we were already well underway when Dominic announced that he had forgotten his shoes...] As always, it was a worthwhile trip.

Yesterday we went to Mass at the Chapel of Divine Mercy.  I missed Mass the previous week to stay home with sick kids.  We didn't stay long afterward, and at home everyone sort of went their own way to relax.  I did some writing, whilst feeling guilty about still not having any Christmas gifts on my knitting needles.

Some plans for this week:  Another busy one!  I have to place my order with my food co-op today and I thought I might make a fresh batch of play dough for Gemma, who's been a bitter pill lately.  Four is not my favorite age.  She seems to delight in being sassy and provoking her brothers to anger.  Anyway, she needs to be kept busy and out of mischief.  On Wednesday Una has a nervous breakdown PSAT test.  It's really only a dry run, because the one that counts will be next year, and this one is only to familiarize her with the test.  Besides the usual school and household stuff, I need to make another batch of pesto, harvest my lemon balm and finally get something cast on my needles!

If I find some time for myself I will...feel incredibly blessed!  I really want to work on my writing and get knitting again!

I am grateful for...beautiful weather with cool mornings and evenings; finding a treadmill for half of what I thought I would have to spend; the end of this nasty cold in sight; orders for our Etsy shop (I gripe about how much of my time it consumes, but I'm glad for the money, which will be our Christmas fund).

Some prayer intentions for this week:  for Una, that she keeps a cool head and isn't consumed with anxiety over this test.  And I am praying with my family for a special intention:  a young man named Craig who is 38 and has been given two weeks to live.  One of our priests asked if we would adopt him in prayer, and we are only too glad to do so.

I leave you with a few random shots from How'd Dey Do Dat? day in Red Boiling Springs, Tennessee.

No, this isn't one of the exhibits; this is Grady, and she was even cuter than the bunnies!

Playing in the corn was a big hit this year!

My friend Heather.  And a boy Una thought was really cute. 

I'm really glad the fiddler was an octogenarian, because I tend to develop crushes on fiddlers...

Heather giving the kids greens to feed the rabbits and sheep

Have a great week, everyone!

Monday Musings--26 August 2013

Right now...it is nearly 6:30 and the house is quiet.  Una is up and on the office computer.

This weekend...was very nice, although not terribly eventful.  We did our grocery shopping on Friday, as we tend to do when Bret isn't working, and had pizza for dinner and watched How to Steal a Million from Netflix.  Audrey Hepburn and Peter O'Toole--oodles of fun, and so nice to look at!  The kids always get a kick our of some of the "fashionable" hats women wore in the 60's, and I do, too!

On Saturday Bret was working up at the KY property, and I was home cleaning and spending too much time on the internet.  Happens some days that I just feel sort of lazy and don't get much done.  Usually on days when I have a chore list a mile long.  I did manage to pack up some Etsy orders for the mail, give Bret a haircut in the evening and work on my French for quite a while, so the day wasn't a total loss...

Yesterday was pleasant.  Gabriel served at Mass and did very well.  He was cross-bearer, and when I approached the sanctuary for Communion I glanced over at him and he winked at me.  So sweet...Mass was very good, and I had a nice chat with one of the priests after Mass.  Una, poor dear, spent two hours after Mass working on algebraic equations with a dear man who has offered to help get her over her mathematical stumbling blocks in preparation for the PSAT, which we are hoping to have her take this year and again next year.  Like many home-schooled kids, she has no experience with standardized tests, and so taking it more than once is probably a good idea.

Some plans for this week:  I have a number of appointments and phone calls to make, and I hope to get to at least a few this week.  I have to find Una a dentist in our area, as she is now too old for our pediatric dentist; I need to make a doctor's appointment for her, too.  I have to set up my new school year online with our umbrella school and submit our curriculum list.  I have to renew my HSLDA membership. I have 2 Etsy orders to pack up for mailing, and a stack of receipts to write into the checkbook.  And I still have a lot to do in our school room before we begin school.

If I find some time for myself, I would like to...keep up with my daily study of French (I try to do at least 30 minutes), work on my writing and cast on a pair of socks, as I'm hoping to make all the kids woolen socks before the weather gets cold.

I am grateful for...lovely weather, progress made on the house, the help with Algebra Una received yesterday, friendship, this fantastic CD of music for kids called Cake for Dinner (really, check it out, listen to the samples; it's so good that I myself enjoy hearing it, which is good since I have to hear it every day, per Gemma's request!), not having to take Dominic to the dentist this week to have 3 teeth pulled (explanation below).

Some prayer intentions for this week:  I am praying for a very special intention, very dear to my heart.  If you feel obliged to do so, please offer a prayer for this special intention of mine.  It has to do with someone very dear to me. I am also praying for my Mother-in-law who has a birthday this week.  And I am praying that I can get my act together and ease into this school year not too far off schedule.

Something that makes me smile:  Dominic had 3 loose teeth, all up front on the top.  They were sticking out at all angles, and he wouldn't try to loosen them himself or let us mess with them, and one of them was hurting.  I resolved to make a dental appointment this week with a nearby dentist (not the kids' regular dentist, who is almost an hour away) to have them pulled, although I figured that the loosest of the 3 would probably come out over the weekend.  Dominic told me he didn't want to go, that he was afraid to have them pulled.  Well, on Friday I heard a shriek, followed by Dominic coming out of his room crying, with a bloody mouth, holding all three teeth in his hand!  Apparently his brother Adrian gave him a little unasked for assistance during some roughhousing, by banging Dominic's face into the bedroom carpet.  I did scold Adrian for his actions, but Dominic made out like a bandit with the Tooth Fairy!

Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated...

Have I ever gone ten days without posting since the inception of this blog?  I don't think so!

I blog about life, but life sometimes interferes with blogging.
We generally take the month of August off from school.  You'd think that means a little leisure, but no, it means it is time to do all those things I have been putting off during the school year.  It's time for dental appointments, sorting through the school stuff and deciding what we'll usat e in the coming year and what will be put aside, making decisions about new school books, writing, cleaning those things that never seem to get cleaned the rest of the year, and so on.

I mentioned writing.  Every now and then I get bit by the writing bug.  I develop characters, settings, situations and a plot, and I decide to write.  I am currently working on such a project, and the nature of it is leading me into hours on the internet doing research, which I sometimes love and sometimes hate.  I love learning new things; I detest spending even more time on the laptop than I already do, especially since I have a really ornery laptop that frequently does that which I do not wish it to do.  My research has brought me to look up near drowning, medical terminology, nursing, yachts and yachting, maps of Manhattan and Long Island, Ukrainian culture and language and spina bifida.  Weird, right?  I assure you, it all ties together.  I'm having fun, but there is little writing left in me at the end of a day for blogging.

I'm still trying to read at night.  I have on my bedside table some plays by Tennessee Williams, a collection of Faulkner stories, a biography on Paul Newman, and The Brothers Karamazov, which is really wishful thinking since it is a library book of substantial heft and minuscule print, and at the rate I read, I had better purchase my own copy of the book.

Knitting has fallen by the wayside.  I can't believe it, but there are only so many hours in a day, and I do need to devote at least some time to feeding and taking care of the children.  That reminds me:  I have a library book I need to read to the little guys.  Hedgehog in the Fog.  I recommend it.  We're blessed with a childrens' librarian who orders books I'm looking for.  They had no Elsa Beskow books in the children's section, and we haven't any here because I wanted to decide which would appeal to Gemma the most.  So our librarian, Miss Amanda, ordered seven of them for the library!

I've been trying to squeeze in half an hour of French each day, too.  Una has Rosetta Stone French, but I have just been using Duolingo, a free online course, and it's pretty good.  I took a couple of years of French in high school, but haven't used it at all, so much was lost.  If I continue to like this program, I may use it to brush up on my German as well.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find any free online courses in Russian that are quite as user-friendly as the Duolingo.  Cyrillic is a pain, and there's nothing for it other than painful memorization.

Bret had his birthday yesterday and enjoyed a meal of home-grown pork spareribs, baked beans, potato salad, cole slaw and cheesecake for dessert.  It was delicious, but heavy, and we were suffering for it this morning, unused to fatty, rich foods as we are these days.

Our cow's milk seems to be dwindling, and she isn't bred, so I don't know if we will be looking for another cow, or what.  I can't afford raw, organic milk for this horde--we go through a gallon a day, and that's not counting what I would use to keep us in yogurt.

Bret needed the van to transport a large desk he was commissioned to build, and so the van seats were housed in our schoolroom this morning, making for some additional reading couches.  My kids are like cats--if there's something new in the house, the kids gravitate towards it...

Anyway, that's all the news there is to tell.  I'll try to be better about posting, but no promises!

Have a great week!

Monday Musings--29 July 2013

Right now...nearly 8:30 a.m., and outside it is still delightfully cool.  The sun is slanting in through the windows, Gemma is on the floor playing with Legos and a couple of the boys are discussing Percy Jackson.
This weekend...was not bad, if a little busy.  Friday was pleasant enough, with a visit from my friend Cindy and 7 of her kids.  The weather was pleasant, the kids kept well-occupied, and we were actually able to converse.  It is certainly getting easier for us to chat now that there are more older kids and fewer toddlers and babies about.  In the evening we watched The Grapes of Wrath.  The upside of watching old, black and white movies based on literature and lacking in action and special effects is that half the kids fall asleep before half the movie is through, and it's a lot easier to watch.

Where did Saturday go?  I can hardly remember...Oh yes, I spent a good deal of time putting up some pickles.  I did a half-gallon of garlic dills with the Perfect Pickler, which uses just a brine solution, and then I did 3 quarts of lacto-fermented garlic dills.  I want to compare them after a week, and if I don't die of botulism or the like, I'll tell you which I prefer.  I've only been accustomed to the brine/vinegar and canned variety, so this is something new for me.  There was also the usual kombucha-brewing and laundry washing going on, and a last-minute order for Dominic's birthday next Sunday.

Yesterday we had a beautiful drive to Mass.  I never tire of Tennessee and Kentucky's lovely landscape.  I must say, I have been in some of the most beautiful places on earth, the west coast of Ireland, Cornwall, and Austria ranking very high, but Tennessee and Kentucky are truly lovely.  Replace the old barns with castle ruins and the cattle with sheep, and the fences with rock walls, and you have something very close to the bucolic landscape of parts of England.  Which I loved when I was there for 6 months as a teen.

After a good confession and a lovely Mass, we did a little shopping (both Adrian and Dominic needed new pants for church and Gabriel needed black socks) and came home.  Pizza for dinner, ice cream for dessert, and Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid on dvd, puchased at a thrift shop for $3.

Some plans for this week:  Today I have to make butter and water kefir, roast a Boston Butt, fill out some forms online for the kids' dental appointment on Thursday and try to give haircuts to at least a couple of the boys.  Also this week, I need to get my basil plants (10 of them, all cuttings from 2 plants I purchased) in a big planter outdoors.  I plan to have a lot of pesto this winter!  I need to wrap Dominic's gifts as they come in, and I sure am praying that they all arrive in time!  And I need to at least begin making a list of things we'll need for the coming school year, which we generally begin after Labor Day.  I'm really not very organized, which is a laugh, since I spent probably all of my adult life up to age 40 or so being hyper-organized and micro-managing everything in the household.  Old age is creeping up on me!

A few prayer intentions for this week:  for my sister, Tara, who has a birthday tomorrow!  Wishing her peace and joy and good health!  For Cindy, as she travels to Canada with a few of her kids to visit her grandbaby; for Fr. Tony and the parish of St. Joseph in Clarksville, TX (Father Tony is the new pastor and a very wonderful young priest, and he has an enormous amount of work and prayer cut out for him in his new parish); for my girl Una, who has been suffering pounding headaches again--she's very prone to them--and Ibuprofen only helps about half the time. For a little girl named Dinah, who also has head-splitting headaches.  She is 6 years old and is recovering from a bout with meningitis that is going to have long-term side effects.  Please say a prayer for her, too, if you would. She is perhaps no longer in danger, but is still in a great deal of pain.

I am grateful for...sunshine; a break from school; my dear, hardworking husband; music; old movies; Paul Newman : ); good and faithful priests; friendship; family.

Something that makes me smile: Trying to get Dominic to bed when he's fallen asleep in the living room!

Have a great week, everyone!

Monday Musings--8 July 2013--with photos

Right now...school is nearly done for the day and it is amazingly quiet.  Gabriel is finishing his math on the computer, Una is writing, Gemma and Dominic are painting and listening to a book on tape, and Sebastian and Adrian are playing with Legos.  It is sticky and warm outside, but at least it's not raining.  After rain all day long from Wednesday morning through Friday night, it is nice to see some blue in the sky again.

This weekend...was eventful.  On Friday Bret spent the day working in his shop and on a few Etsy shop orders.  He's working on Gemma's birthday gift, which is the most elaborate of the gifts he's made for her.  I sewed up a pair of pants for her baby doll, and now I only need to make a shirt or two for him.  Unfortunately, I really stink at making tops for dolls.  I only know how to make a peasant-type blouse, and I'd like to make something a bit more "boy".  I also baked a cake for my nephew's First Holy Communion from scratch.  Ever since I gave up making cakes from mixes, I have been pretty nervous about cake baking, as I've had a few fails.  This one turned out very nice, although too sweet with the butter cream frosting for my tastes and those of my kids (I used less powdered sugar than called for, and it was still too sweet).  I think that I'll make the cake again, only with no frosting--just a dusting of powdered sugar and then some berries.  Maybe whipped cream in the middle.  However, it was just the thing for decorating a special-occasion cake.

On Saturday, Bret went to get feed and also picked up five young broiler roosters, which he processed himself, with some help from the older kids with the plucking.  I was happily occupied with making the frosting for the cake and decorating it. At one point I yelled out the door words that I, born in New York City, never thought I would hear myself say: "Save the chicken feet!"  That's where the gelatin is for a really great chicken stock.  I'll spare you the details.  Let's just say that the majority of my kids are true country kids and understand the difference between a pet and a food animal.  I'm still a little sensitive on that point, and were it completely up to me to do the butchering, we'd probably be vegetarian.

Yesterday was nice...no more rain, and a lovely ride to Mass.  We had a wonderful homily from Fr. Bill Casey, CPM, and my nephew made his First Holy Communion.  Afterwards we came home quickly to grab a snack, change clothes and go to my sister's for a little post-Communion celebration.  We were happy and honored to have two of the Fathers of Mercy come by my sister's to join in.

Some plans for this week:  I have to finish making the doll clothing for Gemma's birthday on Sunday.  I want to bake some sourdough bread if my starter is far enough along this week.  I have to keep up with the kids' school, as we take August off--just barely enough time for me to get things together for the coming year, but I must say, with the exception of the two oldest--Una, going into her sophomore year, and Sebastian, going into 7th grade--I sort of fly by the seat of my pants with schooling.  For years I invested in textbooks and programs we hardly used, and I felt totally inadequate.  Now we just read and talk and do a lot, but only have textbooks for a few subjects, and we fill in the rest as the fancy strikes.  I find that the kids learn a great deal when they are interested in something, but retain little if they are not.  Case in point:  Gabriel has learned a lot about the Civil War, but lost interest in American History after that.  Instead, he picked up an interest in Greek mythology.  Now he knows more than most of us about Greek myths.  So, maybe I worry too little about school, but I do try to make sure they keep up with math, reading and writing and foreign language once they get to a certain age.

I am grateful for...good priests and good homilies; pastured chickens in the freezer; a few sales in the Etsy shop; a break from the rain so that I could hang out my laundry again.

Some prayer intentions for this week:  For my nephew Thomas, that all his communions might be as special as the first; for my friend Cindy and the Rachel's Vineyard retreat she will be helping to facilitate this coming weekend; for my nephew Matthew and my sister; for my grandma Fran, who will be 87 on Friday and for Gemma, who will be four on Sunday.

Something that makes me smile:  One of the Fathers of Mercy with whom we are friends  found out that he and I both love the music of Scythian (we were both disappointed to have missed their concert in Owensboro, not that I'd have paid a pile of money for the privilege of being jostled by dancing crowds at 10 p.m. at my age), and it so happens that he knows two of them personally.  He left for his vacation on Saturday, but after Mass on Sunday, another of the Fathers came up to me and handed me four Scythian CDs!  It's been wonderful playing them today...

Monday Musings--1 July 1013

Right now...it is after 2:30, and I am taking a well-deserved break!  The kids are all playing quietly--an almost unheard of miracle--and there is the sound of distant thunder.  It is actually cool enough right now that I have windows open to catch the breeze.  Actually, it isn't totally quiet; Gemma is chattering away to herself as she plays with a deck of cards.  I wish I could record it, it's so incredibly charming.

This weekend...was pleasant enough. Saturday Bret went to move bales of hay up at the KY property and spent a few hours working with my brother-in-law taking down pasture fencing.  He was gone all day, and had forgotten his phone.  I had some cleaning to do in preparation for a priest-friend's Sunday visit, and we made chocolate ice cream and I put an herb rub on a couple of gorgeous pork loins (thank you, Pink Floyd!)  It was a pretty exhausting day, but I felt pretty good at the end of it.

On Sunday we went to an early Mass and picked up a few things at the store before heading home to prepare for Father's visit.  He came in the early afternoon, and we all really enjoyed the visit.  Dinner was very tasty, and the ice cream turned out very well, and after dinner, Father showed us photos from his trip to Ireland and Scotland a couple of years back, which I enjoyed, and then I pulled out photos from the two months I spent in Ireland back in 1990.  He stayed late into the evening and gave us a blessing before he left to go back home.

Some plans for this week: today was--and is--a foodie day.  This morning I made butter, which is chilling and still needs to be finished; I put up yogurt, put up water kefir, made a half-gallon of Bret's Pu Ehr tea, and rinsed my salad sprout mix and put it out to get green.  I still have sourdough starter to put up and I need to blend some berries with some cream and stevia for frozen fruit bars.  I really want to get one of these in the future, so that I can make bigger batches. I printed out all the school worksheets for this week, did two loads of laundry finished school with the kids and read a few books to Gemma.

I don't know what we are doing for the 4th; we have a chance of thunderstorms every day this week.

I do know that I have only two weeks until Gemma's 4th birthday, and I still have a few clothes to make for her baby doll.  I know I won't have time, but she would love a baby back-pack carrier for her doll.  She has, apparently, fond memories of me carrying her around in the Ergo.  I need to search Etsy and Pinterest to see if I can find an easy design for one I can sew up myself.

I also need to bake bread.  I've been lazy about it, but the store-bought stuff is just kind of icky.

If I can find some time for myself, I would like to...well, actually I would find working on the doll clothes rather enjoyable.

I am grateful for...Bret having work again this week; the hay being in before all the rain started; for all the goodies I got from my food co-op order (bulk organic stuff, like oatmeal and flour and coconut oil); for my faith, which carries me though all sorts of ups and downs.  I know what a wimp I am, and that the strength I find in facing challenges does not come from my own resources.

Some prayer intentions for this week:  for my sister-in-law, Tamara, who is 50 today, beating me by a few months to the half-century mark; for my mom and Bret's mom; for Bret to somehow accomplish the impossible and have time to work on the house and have time to work to pay the bills.

Something that makes me smile: 

Gemma learned to swing all by herself this past week!  And to peddle the tricycle!

And having never learned an instrument myself, I love hearing Sebastian practicing chords.

Have a blessed week!

Monday Musings--27 May 2013

Right now...it's a bright and sunny morning, around 6:30-ish, and so far only Adrian and Gabriel are awake.

This weekend...was wonderful, if somewhat busy!  On Friday, since Bret wasn't working, we went to do our shopping and avoid the Memorial Day weekend crowd, which wasn't bad at all at the early hour we went shopping.  Once home, Bret went to work on our pasture fence, which we have been trying to replace in the week spots.  I put away groceries and boiled eggs and potatoes and fried bacon for a potato salad for Sunday, and made sure everyone was bathed since we had two Masses this weekend.

On Saturday, we went to an ordination Mass at the Fathers of Mercy.  Fr. Ricardo Pineda was ordained to the priesthood and Br. John Broussard was ordained to the diaconate.  It has been so nice, in the decade we've been here in Tennessee, to watch young men go through formation, from novices to priests.  And almost all of them have been young men, some just out of high school.  It's very encouraging.  The Mass itself was beautiful, but very long for the little ones (I believe it ran over two hours), and the reception had, for once, perfect weather--so often in the past it has been appallingly hot, but this time there was no humidity and it was sunny and fine.  We stayed on until we were nearly the last family there.  At home I changed clothes and set about doing some laundry and baking a sheet cake to take to my sister's on Sunday.

Sunday we went to an early Mass in Gallatin, and got home around 10 a.m.  We changed clothes and I tossed together the potato salad, and then we just hung around and took it easy for a while.  I watched Seeds of Death on YouTube, which is about GMOs and their impact on our health and on the planet.  It is a much, much bigger problem than you might thing, and the movie is being screened on YouTube for free right now--I don't know how long they'll leave it up.  I highly recommend it.

We had a great time at my sister's.  The kids were all over the place playing with their young cousins, and the food was great.  My sister made 3--count em'--three flavors of homemade ice cream: chocolate, strawberry and lemon.  We stayed until 7:30 or so, and Gemma was asleep practically before we go out of their driveway.  At home we kicked back and watched an episode of the old Mission: Impossible, and then I read a few pages of a novel before going to bed at 10:30.

Some plans for this week:  No doubt, this week will speed by just as last week did and the week before.  I have a lot on my agenda.  Today we are going to pick up some organic pig feed from a friend.  It will be the last feed we buy for Pink Floyd, as he goes to the butcher next week.  I need to make up my cut list for the butcher.  I have to report grades for the year by the 15th of June to our umbrella school and spend some time in the office printing out Gabe's math drills and the boys' grammar work for the week (I usually do that on Saturdays, but wasn't able to get onto the office computer this weekend).  I have an Etsy order to ship off today, and I need to reschedule my dental appointment.

I am grateful for...the lovely weather this weekend, and for my friends and my family.

Some prayer intentions for this week:  for Una's friend, Haily, who has a birthday today and for her friend Mary Rose, who also has a birthday this week; for employment for Bret, as it is always scary to see the money go out when nothing is coming in! for our friends who are celebrating their 18th wedding anniversary tomorrow.  For all those who gave their lives and service to this country, God bless them on this Memorial Day.

Something that makes me smile:  goofy kids.

Have a great  Memorial Day and a great week, and please stop by Wild Armadillos ...they are hosting a giveaway for us later today, and you can have an opportunity to win a sword and shield set from our Etsy shop!