• Home
  • Making a Home
    • Farmhouse Diaries
    • Homemaking Notes
    • Frugal Accomplishments
    • In the Kitchen
    • Decluttering
  • The Farm
  • Goals
  • Books
    • The 20th Century in Literature Challenge
    • Reading the Alphabet Challenge
    • WILLA Literary Award Winners Challenge
    • The 10 Year Reading Plan for the Great Books of the Western World
    • Daily Spiritual Reading Challenge
  • Projects
    • Summer I.H. Program
    • Five Good Things
    • The Wednesday Five
    • Extraordinary Ordinary
    • One Hundred Beautiful Things
    • Small Biz Showcase
    • Snail Mail

The Big White Farmhouse

intentional living, little by little

March 4, 2025

No.901: Plan With Me for March 2025

I’m trying something a little different for goal planning this school year.  My new motto: we are not machines, we don’t have infinite energy levels, we can only do so much!  Hopefully this new method will help me reduce my stress and prioritize the right things at the right times.

If January was the month of rest and peace, February certainly brought me right back to reality.  There were packed schedules, a home renovation, a scary ice storm, financial ups and downs and family-wide sickness (again!) but…we made it through!  During stressful seasons, I hold tight to the little consolations, the little gifts to be found each day, and there were many in February.  Life often feels like a battle, but there is goodness everywhere if I look hard enough.

Anyway, as I planned the month ahead, I decided to declare this time as “Make Stuff March!”  I’ve been leaning heavily on creativity in 2025 and I can’t begin to explain how wonderful it has been for my overall health.  Looking forward to finishing a few things, starting a few things and making some progress on the rest.

Onto the goals!  Let’s review February first:

FIVE TOP PRIORITIES
  1. get the paperwork ready for taxes and complete (We owe this year, which is a bummer.)
  2. research the gums regeneration routine, buy the supplies and follow the protocol (I started buying the supplies so…tiny win?)
  3. put piglets out on pasture (Nothing happier than a pig on pasture!)
  4. start a “Christmas Club” savings line into our budget
  5. set up the seed starting station (It’s that time of year again!)
FIVE “WOULD BE GREAT TO DO” TASKS
  1. comment on at least ten blog posts (I hate that I’m a silent lurker – definitely need to improve in this area!)
  2. complete Patsi’s (at A Working Pantry) preparedness class (I didn’t have the brain space to really concentrate on this.  Maybe next month?)
  3. inventory and purchase everyone’s needed socks, undies, undershirts, etc. (All set with essentials for spring.)
  4. get a frame for my completed cross-stitch project (Yes!  Shown here.)
  5. restart a regular listing routine for Poshmark/Pango/ebay (Nope.  Still listing in fits and spurts when I have time.)
FIVE LITTLE STEPS TO GET AHEAD
  1. debt reduction: earn $100+ reselling unneeded items around the house (Final amount earned: $138.19)
  2. mother academia: read Civil War Wives (Not done, but I’m really enjoying this book so far.)
  3. home projects: survive the hardwood flooring replacement! (After four months of waiting, it’s finally done!)
  4. handmade Christmas: complete one cross-stitch ornament (Finished just in time on February 28th.)
  5. farm: start seeds (I started the jalapenos and marigolds…tomatoes are next!)

On to March’s goals!

FIVE TOP PRIORITIES

These tasks tend to have deadlines or really should be completed this month.

  1. clean the dining room wool rug
  2. research how to strip paint from cabinets (and buy supplies)
  3. order bulk compost
  4. use up a lot of the bones and fat in the deep freezers
  5. bring the pigs to the butcher
FIVE “WOULD BE GREAT TO DO” TASKS

Examples of these tasks would be seasonal goals or things that just generally have less urgency.

  1. look into screen doors and new window screens
  2. order a few new pieces of snail mail stationery
  3. finish hand-quilting on my grandmother’s flower garden quilt
  4. start thinking about Easter baskets
  5. take the little boys to a Lego convention
FIVE LITTLE STEPS TO GET AHEAD

This area is for big, overwhelming goals that can be broken down into bite-sized, attainable steps.

  1. debt reduction: earn $125+ reselling unneeded items around the house
  2. mother academia: finish Civil War Wives
  3. home: declutter 30+ things to toss, sell or donate
  4. handmade Christmas: fully finish cross-stitch ornament
  5. farm: finalize pricing for our pork orders

March 3, 2025

No.900: Last Week at the Farmhouse // Perseverance

“Woman with Three Baskets” by Alfred Heber Hutty

This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission of any sale made at no extra cost to you.

For a few weeks now, I’ve been pondering the idea of perseverance.  One way of defining perseverance is “the virtue by which one persists in the arduous good until the end is achieved.”  Sounds simple enough, but why is it so difficult in practice?  I don’t know if it’s because I have a little undiagnosed ADD or I’m the result of a culture insistent on instant gratification or maybe I’m just a squirrel (ooh, new shiny object over there!), but this is a virtue I struggle with.

BUT.  I also know what it feels like to endure to the end.  I know that euphoric feeling of satisfaction and pride.  I have tons of examples in my life, from very personal to ridiculously silly, and these are the cases I hold onto.  If I’ve done it before, I can do it again!

For Lent this year, I’m hoping to strengthen my perseverance muscle by focusing on one source of embarrassment and frustration: my pile of half-finished creative projects.  While it’s just frivolous fabric and papers and supplies, I feel like it’s indicative of a bigger flaw in myself and one I’d like to remedy.  Here’s to forty days of persisting in the arduous good until the end is achieved!

Hoping to document 52 weeks of good things!

Five Good Things…

  1. A tease of spring weather. // We were in the 60’s most of the week and it was wonderful.  Coats off and sun on our faces…can’t wait for spring!
  2. A weekday dinner date. // My husband called me on his way home from work to tell me to get dressed, we’re going out to dinner!  We are not spontaneous people so this felt wild and crazy.  So nice to spend some one-on-one time with him in the midst of another busy week.
  3. A new apron. // Our “making do” project of the week: my daughter is a wonderful baker so I wanted to get her a full apron.  (She currently has a half version.)  After looking online, I ultimately decided to let her choose something in my fabric bin and we’d make one ourselves!  We used my full apron as a pattern and she sewed the pieces together herself.  She even added some beautiful “chicken scratch” embroidery to the hem.
  4. Starting seeds. // It’s that time of year again!  I’m a little behind schedule, but I did manage to start the jalapenos and marigolds.  Tomatoes are next.
  5. My gilt is not pregnant. // We weren’t sure if breeding had been successful (before the tragedy), but this was the week to watch and it came and went without a birth.  I’m a little sad that we won’t have a Fred Jr. but very happy to not have tiny piglets in late winter!

Frugal Accomplishments //

  • bought twelve vintage deadstock zippers for $2.70 (vs. new zippers at $3.49 each!)
  • made beef broth from bones in the freezer
  • mended a rip in a son’s work jeans using these patches again
  • listed two books on Pango
  • covered seed trays with plastic wrap because I couldn’t find the clear dome tops
  • made banana bread with overripe bananas

This Week in the Liturgical Year //

February 27 was the commemoration of St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows, Acolyte.

To Read: this entire website about St Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows

To Pray: Collect for Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows

To Add to the Library: Saint Gabriel Possenti, Passionist: A Young Man in Love by Gabriele Cingolani

To Copy in the Commonplace Book: “Our perfection does not consist of doing extraordinary things but to do the ordinary well.”

Reading //

  • The Practical Case for Studying Latin from Josh Allan at Antigone Journal // “Latin is useful, however; and unlike the sciences, it is not only useful to those who practise it. Indeed, Latin is useful to anyone who wishes to learn another language, or to anyone who hopes to become a doctor or a lawyer. It is useful to anyone who simply wants to improve their mental faculties, or expand the horizons of their perception, and that is without making the oft-repeated case – as I have avoided doing – that a knowledge of Latin deepens one’s understanding of Western culture, of art, philosophy and literature.”
  • Better than Success from Johann Christoph Arnold at Plough // “Who are the role models we can point our children to today? Who can they really emulate? And what about you and me? Do our lives inspire our children to look beyond themselves and their own little worlds to find ways of making a difference in the world? After the work is done and the bills paid, do we help them aspire to what is worthy and good, or do they see in us lives driven by selfish and self-centered pursuits? Remember, children are always watching – always.”
  • Classical Education’s Remedy for America’s Loneliness Epidemic from Rachel Alexander Cambre at Public Discourse //

In contrast, classical schools embrace an older understanding of education, one that prepares students for festivity and friendship, rather than socially handicapping them. Like their ancient and medieval predecessors, classical educators maintain that a crucial purpose of education is to liberate students from a calculative, utilitarian mindset by teaching them how to enjoy intrinsically worthwhile activities for their own sake. This does not mean that classical schools downplay the importance of working hard or striving for excellence, but that they emphasize the intrinsic goodness and beauty of those virtues—like those of fortitude and magnanimity—so that students might cultivate them because they are good and beautiful, not because they will help them to acquire wealth, power, or fame.

  • The Age Of Abandonment from Freya India at GIRLS // Very thought-provoking.

New Additions to The List // 

  • Looking for Anne: How Lucy Maud Montgomery Dreamed Up a Literary Classic by Irene Gammel
  • No Bullet Got Me Yet: The Relentless Faith of Father Kapaun by John Stansifer

Watching/Listening //

  • Lessons 9-12 of the How to Think Like a Thomist: An Introduction to Thomistic Principles from Aquinas 101 at the Thomistic Institute
  • Can I Make Felt Look Like Stained Glass? from The Stitchery

Loving //

  • this pretzel bread recipe // My daughter is a wonderful baker and tries something new each week.  This time it was pretzel bread – delicious!
  • this creamy potato and sausage chowder recipe // A big hit.

from the archives…

WEEK NINE 2024 // Never Say Never

February 28, 2025

No.899: March Little Things Bingo

Another month, another bingo board!  Years ago, I used to create yearly 100 Little Things lists and these bingo boards feel like a newer version of that.  I like how there’s a healthy mix of things I should do (like cleaning/organizing/taking care of myself) and things I’d like to do.  Super fun!

Like always, this month’s board has 24 free or inexpensive tasks that will hopefully bring joy, peace and/or a boost of creativity.  We’ll see how many I can check off the list.  If you need a little something extra to get you through March, feel free to play along too!

The tasks are:

  • Shop local. // Supporting our local community is very important to me so this should be easy.  I’m thinking a small business in town or maybe a restaurant.
  • Drink a green smoothie. // There are tons of options to choose from: maybe a pineapple spinach version or this iron boosting one or this high protein one?
  • Take a walk. // I think this prompt will be on every month’s board.  I need to breathe the fresh air and feel the sun on my face.
  • Listen to Irish folk music. // I found this instrumental collection – ten hours!
  • Have a movie night. // I promised my son that we’d watch the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy together.
  • Read a book with a green cover. // A quick look at my bookshelf and Green Dolphin Street by Elizabeth Goudge seemed perfect for the prompt.
  • Fix something broken. // We have two counter stools with loose seats that desperately need to be fixed.
  • Go through spring clothing. // I’ve gained a little weight this winter (ahem…) so I need to try things on and see what fits.
  • Donate to a food pantry. // So many people are suffering right now.  Any little bit helps.
  • Send snail mail. // I’m hoping this is the first step to making this a regular part of my weekly routine.
  • Declutter old/unused makeup. // Makeup has an expiration!  This post seems helpful.
  • Get coffee with a friend. // Bonus points if it’s a local coffee shop.
  • Cook an Irish dinner. // I’m thinking shepherd’s pie or corned beef and cabbage or Irish soda bread.
  • Photograph early spring flowers. // Daffodils and crocuses and tulips, oh my!
  • Find a four-leaf clover. // This would be fun to try with the kids.
  • Get a spring pedicure. // Or try one at home!  This post has some helpful tips.
  • Do a crossword puzzle. // There are lots of puzzle books for sale but you can also play the New York Time’s mini version online.
  • Visit a garden center. // Seeing all of the plants gets me super excited for spring planting.
  • Start spring cleaning. // This post has a helpful printable checklist or you can play along with my spring cleaning bingo board too.
  • Try a new meatless meal. // This post has 35 ideas!
  • Plant peas. // I’m growing “Perfection Dark Seeded” this year.
  • Memorize a poem. // Memorization is a dying art and I’d like to strengthen that muscle.
  • Fly a kite. // There are cheap options at the store, but I especially love this DIY project for kids.
  • Bake a pie for pi day. // Maybe blueberry?

DOWNLOAD YOUR OWN BINGO BOARD HERE!


Help me transition away from “traditional” blogging income streams while still keeping the lights on at the BWF!

February 26, 2025

No.898: What I Read in February 2025

This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission of any sale made at no extra cost to you.

#8. CHERRIES IN WINTER: MY FAMILY’S RECIPE FOR HOPE IN HARD TIMES by Suzan Colon // ★★★☆☆
(amazon // bookshop // better world books)

Some reviews thought this book was pretentious and unrelatable, but I felt it was a common experience in 2008 and probably even today (ie. two-income household gets knocked down to one due to layoffs).  I really enjoyed the old recipes and the idea of drawing strength through your ancestors – if our grandmothers could persevere, so can we.  Solid three stars.

I know now that there were many things Nana wanted to do in her life – go to college, become a teacher like Miss Bumstead, be a writer, and at the very least stop having to worry about money.  And there are probably some other things I don’t know about because she made a practice of acceptance.  If she was able to change her situation, she did.  If she wasn’t, she did the best she could and didn’t waste time complaining.  How’re you doing, Tillie?  Fabulous, never better.  This is yet another lesson I have learned from her that will serve me well. (p.206-207)

#9. SOLOMON’S OAK by Jo-Ann Mapson // ★★★☆☆
(amazon // bookshop // better world books)  

The blurb on the back of the book says: “Three survivors find in each other an unexpected solace, the bond of friendship, and a second chance to see the miracles of everyday life.”  A typical women’s fiction novel – there were parts I liked and others I didn’t.

#10. 1984 by George Orwell // ★★★★☆
(amazon // bookshop)

1984 is a dystopian classic for a reason.  Very thought-provoking and quite the warning!  From the book’s afterward: “The mood it expresses is that of near despair about the future of man, and the warning is that unless the course of history changes, men all over the world will lose their most human qualities, will become soulless automatons, and will not even be aware of it.”

The proles, it suddenly occurred to him, had remained in this condition.  They were not loyal to a party or a country or an idea, they were loyal to one another.  For the first time in his life he did not despise the proles or think of them merely as an inert force which would one day spring to life and regenerate the world.  The proles had stayed human.  They had not become hardened inside.  They held on the primitive emotions which he himself had to relearn by conscious effort.  And in thinking this he remembered, without apparent relevance, how a few weeks ago he had seen a severed hand lying on the pavement and had kicked it into the gutter as though it had been a cabbage stalk.

“The proles are human beings,” he said aloud.  “We are not human.” (p.165)

#11. MRS. POLLIFAX AND THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE by Dorothy Gilman // ★★★★☆
(amazon // bookshop // better world books)

Number eight in the series!  This one is set in Thailand and the action never lets up.  I really enjoyed this one.

#12. DARK WINTER: HOW THE SUN IS CAUSING A 30-YEAR COLD SPELL by John L. Casey // ★★★☆☆
(amazon // bookshop // better world books)

The premise of this book is that climate change can be explained by cyclical periods that seem to have occurred throughout history, ie. a period of warming followed by a period of (sometimes severe) cooling.  His theory is intriguing and definitely warrants further research.  I especially like that he wrote:

It is my hope that the RC theory will be fully reviewed, critiqued, and forced to stand against the best scientific scrutiny that can be mustered.  If it fails the test, then so be it.  I will be the first to support the talented researcher who comes up with a better concept.  There is no ego to be bruised here, no research grant to be preserved, and no university tenure to be maintained. (p.42)

The academic humility is refreshing to see!  As for the book itself, I found the layout bizarre – there were 45 pages of actual book but the real meat of the argument/theory was back in the Appendix.


MY 2025 UNREAD SHELF PROJECT

Unread Books as of January 1, 2025: 206
Books Finished in February: 5
Books Donated/Sold in February: -2
Books Added: +0
Unread Books Remaining: 198
Current  “Read 100 Books Off My Shelves Project” Total: 16/100 

  • ← Previous
  • 1
  • …
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • …
  • 419
  • Next →
About Me
Welcome to the Big White Farmhouse!

The 10 Year Reading Plan for the Great Books of the Western World

Popular Posts

No.429: A List of July’s Frugal Accomplishments

No.635: Homemaking Notes on a Monday // Vol. 25

No.919: Last Week at the Farmhouse // Battling the Dragon Sickness

No.308: A List of October’s Frugal Accomplishments

No.107: Homesteading 101 // Make Your Daily Bread (Part Three!)

THE BIG WHITE FARMHOUSE IS A FOR-PROFIT BLOG AND POSTS MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. ALL CONTENT ON THIS BLOG BELONGS TO ME. PLEASE DO NOT USE MY POSTS OR PHOTOGRAPHS WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION.

© THE BIG WHITE FARMHOUSE 2011-2025.

Amazon Disclosure Policy

The Big White Farmhouse is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Archives

Copyright © 2025 The Big White Farmhouse · Theme by 17th Avenue