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Around here, I have been:
ENJOYING // an unintentional, but very welcome mini fall break. We took Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off from school and it was so nice. (We’ve been schooling for 12 weeks with only one day off so far.) I was able to catch up on some homemaking tasks, finish up a few lingering farm projects and just relax without lesson plans nagging me.
ORDERING // November and December birthday cards from a small stationery company called Yeppie Paper. They are a brother/sister team and their cards are so cute.
CREATING // a junk journal for the first time. So excited to have my creativity back in full force! I’m new to bookbinding and while I’ve made a lot of mistakes on this first journal, I have also learned so much. I’ll have to make a separate post all about the details, but I love how I can mix papers that would normally be trashed along with more traditional scrapbooking supplies (materials I’ve owned and saved for a decade!) to make something beautiful. I’m using up things I’ve kept in my stash “for someday” and that feels so good too.
PRAYING // the Novena for the Holy Souls by St. Alphonsus Liguori.
FEELING // anxious about world events and am trying to find that balance between being informed but also slightly detached. Not because I don’t care, but only because I need to be more focused on the family and community right in front of me.
READING // The Orphan Collector by Ellen Marie Wiseman, The Reporter Who Knew Too Much by Mark Shaw, Cobalt Red by Siddharth Kara, and The Catholic Mass by Bishop Athanasius Schneider.
WATCHING // old episodes of Unsolved Mysteries on Youtube. Everything in the world seems so incredibly heavy and this show has been my escape. Bonus points that many of the unsolved mysteries are now updated and solved at the end! Modern true crime sometimes stresses me out, so it’s nice to know most of these criminals have been caught and are in prison, ha!
PREPARING // for the arrival of new piglets! I KNOW. Because of the disappointing farrowing situation this spring, we had to make the agonizingly hard decision to process our sow. We’ve been waiting for the right opportunity to purchase new breeding stock and it seems early November is the time! I feel a little insane bringing new animals to the farm just as we slow down for winter, but whatcha gonna do? Farm life never ends.
Ashley,
I’m so intrigued by your junk journal project – would love to see pics when you’re done!
I’ve read a couple books by Ellen Marie Wiseman – The Plum Tree and the Lost Girls of Willowbrook. I enjoy her writing.
I think you’re adopting a wise attitude re: world events. All we can do is what is before us – it doesn’t mean we don’t care, but we’d be burnt out and unable to care for our own if we let it get to us too much.
Blessings to you and yours,
Melisa
This is my first Wiseman book, but she comes highly recommended. I’m anxious to see what I think!
That tomato soup looks yummy and I’m glad you got an unexpected break!
‘Tis the season for tomato soup!