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Hello!  It’s been awhile.  I first want to thank you so much for all of the incredibly kind comments and prayers as I took my blog break.  Words can’t really describe how much that meant to me.

So what’s been going on?  I guess I should start at the beginning.  Ten days after my first medical incident, I had a terrifying cardiac event with a very high heart rate, resulting in my first ambulance trip and another ER visit.  All tests came back normal and I was so embarrassed.  (I promise I’m not a hypochondriac!)  I had a follow-up appointment at a family practitioner who was also stumped but ordered more bloodwork.  After a week of nervous waiting (and getting progressively worse), the results came back with a “critically low non-anemic iron deficiency”, a 4% iron saturation rate which should ideally be between 15-55%.

I was shocked.  Even with six pregnancies, I have never had iron issues!  What I thought was just a pinched nerve in my neck was actually the beginning of serious neuropathy symptoms due to iron and mineral deficiency.

The follow-up care from the doctor was very disappointing, so I had to figure out a recovery plan on my own.  I eat a lot of healthy meats (perks of farming) so I knew the quantity of iron wasn’t the issue, but most likely the absorption.  I immediately started iron supplementation.  I put myself on a strict diet (mostly paleo with some low-FODMAP/gluten-free foods for variety and everything timed correctly around my pills) to make sure gluten, dairy and tannins would not inhibit the absorption.  I weaned myself off of most coffee.  I researched everything from PubMed papers to Reddit threads and learned about iron and its connections with chronic stress, low stomach acid, intestinal permeability and mineral deficiencies.  Basically, I was a hot mess and had a lot of work to do!

My “first day of healing” began on June 27th and the recovery has been slow going.  There were many days that felt like an infuriating dance of one step forward and two steps back.  It has been incredibly hard on my mental health but I kept telling myself that every day is one step closer to feeling well.  I have a follow-up lab appointment on August 5 to see how the iron supplementation is working and am praying for some positive progress.

So yeah…my garden is completely overgrown, my home needs a deep clean, my medical bills are sure to be staggering and I have accomplished basically nothing for weeks, but I’m slowly healing and that’s what matters most.  I’ll figure out the rest later.

Six weeks of good things:

1. Calming activities. // One of my persistent symptoms has been persistent heaviness/stiffness/aching/tingling in my arms and legs.  Because I can’t seem to get comfortable, I am easily agitated and fidgety.  So frustrating!  I am also struggling with anxiety caused by the iron deficiency.  To combat these problems, I turned to all the calming distractions I could muster: working on old word puzzle and word search activity books, creating paper collages from all sorts of odds and ends, and listening to peaceful background music.  (Retro Sleep videos were a frequent choice as well as the rosary sung in Gregorian Chant.)
2. Taking a long pause on the farm. // Our fox problem has only intensified this summer and by early July, we sadly lost all of our hens.  So as of now, our farm is on hiatus for the time being.  It’s bittersweet but also feels like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders.
3. Dealing with unaddressed stress and grief. // Part of this healing process required a head-on look at the things I have been pushing deep down inside.  Lots of tears, which was unexpected from this analytical robot (ha), but cathartic and healing too.
4. Homeschool planning almost done! // I invested in a subscription to Homeschool Planet and got almost an entire school year’s worth of planning done in one month!  Cannot recommend enough if you’re juggling the education of a lot of kids and seem to always have things come up that quickly mess up all of your hard work.
5. Learning about magnesium’s role in the body. // I took a deep dive on this subject (some interesting links: here and here and here) and it is really fascinating!  I originally tried to supplement with Natural Vitality Calm powder, but my stomach couldn’t handle it.  In a last-ditch effort, I bought transdermal magnesium (I ordered this one on a recommendation from my mom) and it was a game changer!  It’s now a part of my nightly routine.
6. Books I read or am currently reading. //
   1. Poor Banished Children by Fiorella De Maria // Well written, but it had a Kristin Hannah level of unrelenting suffering.  It made me think a lot about freedom and suffering and the power of God’s mercy.
   2. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley // Not my favorite dystopian novel, but thought-provoking.
   3. The Dirty Life: A Memoir of Farming, Food, and Love by Kristin Kimball // I have never felt more seen than when reading this book.  This followed the author’s experience of starting a new farm and the unrelenting, expensive work it involves.  Nothing more satisfying, nothing more difficult.  Farming often gets reduced to rose-colored glasses and it was nice to see that our experience was more common than people think.  Starting a farm is HARD.
   4. Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset // Currently reading.  In the past, I have always put this book off because it’s over 1000 pages and I have those reading goals to accomplish (so stupid…).  This time, I decided to dive in anyway.  So glad I did; I’m quite invested in the story now.
   5. Confessions by Saint Augustine // Currently reading.  So good.
7. A boot camp graduation! // The most exciting news is that we attended my oldest son’s United States Marine Corps boot camp graduation!  He enlisted in January and has been gone since April.  I have kept this news quiet and close to my heart because people have many opinions about the military and some comments have been quite cruel.
   I come from a strong Marine Corps family and the foundational values of what makes it great run deep in my veins.  My husband and I have raised our children to respect themselves and others, to have a servant’s heart and to do each task to the best of their ability.  Those lessons are critical for all walks of life, but my oldest son went one step further.  He will be continuing the tradition, the fourth generation in our family to wear the uniform!  I am the granddaughter, daughter, wife and sister of United States Marines.  Now I can claim the title of mother too.  We are so proud.

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

Well, this week took an unexpected turn!  On Friday night, I woke up out of a sound sleep with chest tightness and tingling fingers.  It was concerning but after thirty minutes and some deep breathing, I chalked it up to stress and was able to go back to sleep.  I woke up Saturday morning feeling fine, but started feeling weakness in my left arm within an hour.  All of these things came so suddenly and unexpectedly that my husband thought it best if we head to the ER.

The next six hours were a wild ride.  The on-call doctor reviewed my symptoms and wanted to rule out the possibility that I may have multiple sclerosis (MS) or the beginnings of a stroke.  I had a lot of firsts: my first chest x-ray, my first CT scan (with and without contrast) and my first MRI (with and without contrast).  And after all of that…there was no evidence of either MS or a stroke.  I’m generally healthy as a horse.  To them, I was a medical mystery…(Spoiler alert: I figured it out on my own – see below)

I am thrilled that those random symptoms were not indicative of something serious, but I definitely feel like I survived a warning.  I’m more convicted than ever to take better care of myself.  Life is fleeting and good health is a gift.

Hoping to document 52 weeks of good things!

Five Good Things…

1. Healthy tomato plants. // All the rain we’ve had has been wonderful for these plants!  So green and luscious.  I hope that translates to a lot of fruit.
2. The start of next year’s school planning. // I usually do this in July, but I’m rolling with the “work now for ease later” motto!  I also discovered and signed up for a free trial of Homeschool Planet and I’m in love!  Paper planners always frustrate me because life happens and we miss a day or get behind, thus ruining all of my hard work.  But this program looks promising!  I love how you can reschedule assignments.
3. That a bug bite reaction wasn’t worse. // My littlest son got a bug bite right below his eye and the poor guy puffed right up.  It was alarming, but rest and an ice pack quickly got him back to normal.
4. The most lovely little song that plays when the dishwasher is done. // Can you be in love with a dishwasher?  When the cycle is finished, it plays the sweetest little song and it brings a smile to my face every time.
5. A little side note on my MRI results. // My MRI evaluation alerted me to the fact that I have “degenerative disc osteophyte complexes at C4-5, C5-6 and C6-7 resulting in spinal foraminal stenosis.”  The on-call doctor brushed by this information (he was more concerned with the stroke/MS possibility) but I looked up these terms on my way home and bingo!  This was it.  The stenosis is causing nerve issues, which is causing the tingling and pain down my arm.  While concerning, I’m considering this knowledge a good thing because I can try to mitigate pain and strengthen this area as much as possible.

Frugal Accomplishments //

• used hay bale twine (that I saved from last winter) to tie up my tomatoes
• reused a bunch of bubble wrap for a resale package
• fixed a button on my husband’s jeans
• sold pork to friends
• air-dried a few loads of laundry on drying racks
• researched bulk book buybacks (like World of Books) but ultimately decided to just sell my books myself on ebay/Pango
• made it to June 5th before having to turn on the air conditioning!
• sold four books, a dress and a small bowl and after fees, I made $26.52

This Week in the Liturgical Year //

June 5 was the Memorial of St. Boniface, Bishop and Martyr.

To Read: In Hac Tanta (On St. Boniface) from Pope Benedict XV

To Add to the Library: The English Correspondence of Saint Boniface: Being for the Most Part Letters Exchanged Between the Apostle of the Germans and His English Friends

To Copy in the Commonplace Book: “In her voyage across the ocean of this world, the Church is like a great ship being pounded by the waves of life’s different stresses. Our duty is not to abandon ship but to keep her on her course.”

Reading //

• Should Illiterate High School Graduates Sue the Schools that Failed Them? from Helen Andrews at Commonplace // “This is the bind schools are trapped in: If they forbid students from using text-to-speech apps and other technological tools that do their reading and writing for them, this can be a violation of a disabled student’s right to reasonable accommodations. When these crutches have the inevitable effect of preventing the student from acquiring these skills for himself, the student can turn around and sue the school for failing to teach him.”
• Boys! Homeschooling Through High School from Carol Hudson // It was encouraging to see that we’ve already incorporated a lot of her advice in our own schooling.
• Regarding Joy from Sofia Cuddeback at Hearth and Field //

…joy is not merely the result of achieving or possessing a good. Rather, the essence of joy is in resting in that good. Resting means allowing ourselves to fully note and experience the good, rather than ticking it off our list as some sort of accomplishment and then moving immediately to the next thing. Joy is not achieved; it is experienced through resting in the good that is at hand. If we are distracted from the thing that we love, however, going on to the next pursuit instead, then we are no longer resting in that good. We have lost the joy proper to that good. For example, if a mother has pursued the good of a family bonding at dinnertime by preparing a lovely meal, but then she jumps up to do the dishes instead of joining in the conversation, then she has not rested in the good of this family togetherness, and so she is unlikely to experience joy. The dishes can wait long enough for her to experience the good fruit of family communion!

• Heirlooming: Objects of transmission, objects of beauty and utility, objects of feminine and masculine heritage from Emily Hancock at Women’s Work //

I think old objects and objects made by true craftspeople are important. I think the planned obsolescence of almost all of today’s mass produced products is not only annoying, wasteful and non-economical but a reflection of a loss of meaning. The meaning imbued into handmade goods is the result of hard-earned skill made manifest, injected with the maker’s personal sense of what beauty or quality means, and the stories of not only that person but the people before them who passed on the necessary skills to make the object. This doesn’t exist in mass-marketed, machine made things. Pair this famine of meaning with the fact that so many things are in fact now made to break, and you have a real disconnect between what people actually need and what they think they want.

New Additions to The List // 

• The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey by Rinker Buck
• Iris Exiled: A Synoptic History of Wonder by Dennis Quinn
• Poetic Knowledge: The Recovery of Education by James S. Taylor

Watching/Listening //

• Episode 3 of The Commentaries: The Confessions of St. Augustine
• I. Introduction – Integrated Humanities Program // Excellent.
• Let Them Be Born in Wonder! | Bishop James Conley from Benedictine College Lectures // The Bishop was one of John Senior’s students.  This lecture was fantastic.

Loving //

• my Epson printer // I replaced my broken printer a few months ago but wanted to thoroughly try out my replacement before recommending.  And this new printer is awesome!  The ink lasts so much longer.
• these reading tracker printables // Perfect for those summer reading goals!

from the archives…

WEEK TWENTY-THREE 2024 // The Granny Creed

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We are officially on summer break and…I’m tired, ha!  Some of the causes of my fatigue are things outside of my control, but I’m also guilty of living like this:

Feeling overwhelmed?  Let’s add a little more to my plate!  Clearly, that’s not sustainable and leads to burnout every single time.  At 40 years old, you’d think I’d start to learn my lesson!

Anyway, in a moment of clarity, I sat down and made some intentions for the summer months.  To everything there is a season, right?  For this season, I hope to stifle the overwhelm with intentional goals, keeping focused on the most important parts and saying no to all the rest.

• Take Care of Myself // I’ve fallen off of all the wagons for about six weeks now.  Emotional eating isn’t doing me any favors, so I’m getting back on track with vitamins, lots of water, a daily walk and getting lots of protein in my diet.
• Around the House // My poor house gets so neglected during busy seasons.  We don’t live in squalor or anything, but I certainly don’t have time for things like scrubbing the baseboards.  This summer, I plan to deep clean all the things and keep decluttering as I go.
• Control the Things I Can Control // My goals: doing little side hustles to pay off debt faster, finding inexpensive/free fun for the kids, finishing projects and taking each day as it comes.
• Planning and Prepwork // In May, I made a list of thirty-one easy dinners and worked off of the list for the month.  It was one afternoon of work for a month of ease – one less thing I had to think about every day!  This summer, I’m taking that idea and running with it; what can I pre-plan or prepare now to make my life easier this fall?
• REST

Hoping to document 52 weeks of good things!

Five Good Things…

1. A new dishwasher! // We’ve been without a dishwasher for almost two years now (I’ll spare you my passionate planned obsolescence rant) and even though this is definitely a first-world problem, I am thrilled to get some housekeeping help.  We saved our pennies, did a lot of research, bought it during the Memorial Day sale, and even saved $270 by doing the installation ourselves.  Praying this one will last more than six months.
2. New ferns for the front porch. // This was my slightly unconventional, belated Mother’s Day gift.  They are so easy to grow and have a big impact.  Love them.
3. A good blood pressure reading. // Since being diagnosed with pre pre-eclampsia while pregnant with my youngest eight years ago, I’ve struggled with elevated blood pressure.  Nothing terribly concerning, but I’ve never been in the normal range.  This week on a whim, I pulled out my home monitor and lo and behold, my numbers are in the green!  I was shocked.
4. Home projects on a rainy day. // I’m back to stripping the textured walls, this time in another hallway.
5. Not having to turn the air conditioning on yet. // I try to prolong this sweet middle period between heat and A/C as long as possible – I love the financial savings in our electric bill!  Sadly, the forecast predicts temperatures in the 90s soon, so the end is near…

Frugal Accomplishments //

• spent $100 worth of dog food on Chewy and got a $30 gift card for my next purchase
• made chicken broth from the carcass of a whole bird we made for dinner the night before
• made vanilla granola so my kids would finish a new brand of yogurt that they didn’t really like
• made another batch of beef tallow (slowly making a dent in the deep freezer!)
• air-dried a few loads of laundry on drying racks
• made applesauce muffins with applesauce I found in the back of the pantry
• reused a box and bubble wrap to package a resale order
• sold three books, two wine glasses, a DVD, a dress and two homeschool art DVDs and after fees, I made $42.01

This Week in the Liturgical Year //

May 29 was the Solemnity of the Ascension.

Reading //

• Sweet Tea and Sacraments: Flannery O’Connor, the American South, and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition from Raleigh Adams at Front Porch Republic // “…O’Connor’s fiction also speaks to something more immediate: the loss of a rooted, religiously serious culture, and the dangers that come when Christianity is reduced to either cultural heritage or feel-good sentimentality. O’Connor’s fiction challenges the comfortable Christianity of both her time and ours, and in doing so, her vision of grace, disruption, and tradition has much to say to a world where faith is increasingly privatized, disconnected from place, and stripped of its moral demands.”
• Wilhelm Roepke: The Well-Ordered House from Ralph Ancil at The Imaginative Conservative // Thought provoking.

New Additions to The List // 

• The Catholic Martyrs of the Twentieth Century: A Comprehensive World History by Robert Royal
• Franz Jägerstätter: Letters and Writings from Prison edited by Erna Putz

Watching/Listening //

• Lectures 4-6 of The Life and Teachings of St. Augustine from The Pursuit of Wisdom at Ave Maria University

Loving //

• Everydollar // There are tons of budgeting websites/apps out there, but I returned to this free one to visually determine how to juggle multiple goals at the same time (ie. debt payoff, long-term savings, and short-term “sinking fund” type goals).  Love that it does all the math for me while I manipulate the numbers!
• Soul Gardening Journal // A lovely surprise in my mailbox.

from the archives…

WEEK TWENTY-TWO 2024 // Little Moments of Delight pt.3

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Summer break is here!  Ironically, this week was also a hectic blur of appointments and extracurricular activities and celebrations.  No rest for the weary yet!  Add in another fox attack (down to just nine hens now) and a mid-week sickness (I finally caught the cold/sore throat thing going around) and I had to dig deep to keep overwhelm at bay and peace at the forefront.  Seeking out and jotting down the little moments of delight always helps.

Here’s my list: Listening to birds chirping in the early morning.  Eating the first strawberries of the season from our garden.  Finding a much anticipated letter in the mailbox.  Temperatures dipping back into the 60s/70s.  Receiving great results from the kids’ standardized testing.  Tons of blooms on the hydrangea bushes.  Taking a walk on a breezy day.  Making another tiny dent on the debt – 20.6% is now paid off!

(Previous little moments lists: part one, part two, part three, part four, part five, part six and part seven.)

Hoping to document 52 weeks of good things!

Five Good Things…

1. A Confirmation! // My third son received the sacrament of Confirmation and chose St. Francis Xavier as his saint. A very joyful evening.
2. An afternoon nap. // A rare luxury!  The extra rest definitely helped me recuperate more quickly.
3. More rain. // I’ll have my work cut out for me battling the weeds, but my plants look fantastic.
4. Fruit on the trees! // We started our food forest back in 2022/2023 and it’s finally starting to pay off!  We have apples, peaches, plums, cherries and even grapes growing.
5. The opportunity to support a good cause. // My family’s jiu jitsu gym had a Memorial Day fundraiser for the We Defy Foundation, which provides “combat veterans coping with military connected disabilities a long term means to overcome their challenges through Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and fitness training.”  Veteran support is a very important cause to us so we jumped at the chance to donate some of our farm’s offerings for the silent auction.  So exciting to watch the bids grow for such a great organization.

Frugal Accomplishments //

• saved, baked and crushed egg shells to give to my chickens (a homemade version of this) and to use with my tomato plants
• used up five packets of older seeds in the garden
• used a coupon code to buy a graduation card on etsy
• propagated my hydrangeas to fill a bare spot in the front flower bed (we’ll see if it works!)
• sold three pieces of clothing and two books and after fees, made $23.89!

This Week in the Liturgical Year //

May 22 was the Optional Memorial of St. Rita of Cascia, Religious.  This is the saint that I got from the Saint Name Generator on New Year’s so I’m excited to learn about her.

To Read: A Life of Heroic Humility and Obedience from Pope Saint John Paul II

To Copy in the Commonplace Book: “Deeply rooted in the love of Christ, Rita found in her faith unshakeable strength to be a woman of peace in every situation.”

To Add to the Library: St. Rita of Cascia: Saint of the Impossible by Joseph Sicardo

To Bake: Tradition associates figs with St. Rita, so this would be a good time to make Fig Tarts or homemade Fig Newtons

Reading //

• For such a time as this. Cheap and Cheerful. from Annabel at The Bluebirds are Nesting on the Farm // “Everyone is stressed. Everyone has tightened their budgets. To me it feels like there is a lot of pressure on us all. I have always had the theme of feathering our nests. Making our homes a safe and happy sanctuary from the world and a place to escape stress rather than a place that causes it! Now happily many things that are just lovely, that brighten spirits and make us feel a little bit more comfy are really easy to do and don’t necessarily cost anything at all.”  So many good ideas here.

New Additions to The List // 

• The Sun in the Church: Cathedrals as Solar Observatories by J. L. Heilbron
• Only the Lover Sings: Art and Contemplation by Josef Pieper
• Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist: Unlocking the Secrets of the Last Supper by Brant Pitre
• The Fourth Cup: Unveiling the Mystery of the Last Supper and the Cross by Scott Hahn

Watching/Listening //

• Episode 2 of The Commentaries: The Confessions of St. Augustine

Loving //

• 10 Ways to Embrace Underconsumption Core- The 1940s Way! from Real Vintage Dolls House

from the archives…

WEEK TWENTY-ONE 2024 // The Work of Our Hands

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

I recently came across the $27.40 Rule.  Basically, if you save $27.40 every day, you would have saved $10,001 in one year.  That’s a lot of money!  I thought this would be a fun challenge to try for Make It Do May.  What do the frugal accomplishments that I prioritize each week save me?  Is the effort worth it?  I was about to find out!

The rule says to save $27.40 each day, which would total $191.80 for the week.  Since every day is different and my productivity ebbs and flows, I decided to focus on the weekly number.  My goal: for every frugal accomplishment I complete, I’ll tally the money saved and see if I can do enough to total $191.80.  So for example:

• if I wanted this item but put it back on the shelf: I’ll have saved $x
• I could have purchased an item at the grocery store, but made it at home with ingredients I already have instead: I saved $x
• if I bought something online (a need not a want!) but found a coupon code: I saved $x
• I put the A/C thermostat up a degree: I’ll have saved approximately $x

See below for more details, but to sum up the week: I saved $423 and even made $72 reselling unneeded items from around the house.  Those little, seemingly insignificant frugal tasks do add up!

Hoping to document 52 weeks of good things!

Five Good Things…

1. Our last First Communion in the family. // Our littlest guy received his First Communion on Mother’s Day – what a blessing!
2. Standardized testing is done. // I hate this homeschooling requirement and think it’s a terrible way to see a child’s progress, but we do what we have to do to stay in the county’s good graces. The kids did great.
3. “Look at those grays!  I love it!” // Words spoken to me in complete love and sincerity from my husband.  He was about to leave for work and I walked him to his car.  The early morning sunlight must have hit my bedhead just so, highlighting those pesky reminders of my aging body.  His words were so happy and loving that I couldn’t help but smile.  I can’t wait to grow old with that man.
4. Decluttering all the things! // I’m on a roll and nothing is safe, ha!  This week, I tackled a lot of old paperwork, let go of a few books and started on my master closet.  The schoolroom and kids’ clothes are next!
5. A Make It Do May update. // We’ve reached the midpoint of the month so time to check in on our progress.  As of today, we’ve paid off 11.8% of the debt!  A satisfactory start.

Frugal Accomplishments //

• shredded more junk mail for the chickens nesting boxes (I avoided having to buy a pack of pine shavings, saving me $8.49)
• added to my compost pile, adding new material and turning the entire mixture (will be saving approximately $0.85 in organic garden soil)
• made tallow from beef fat in the freezer (a 14oz. jar retails for $20)
• ripped out (and then stapled together to make a DIY notepad) the unused pages of a half-used notebook (saved about $0.50)
• air-dried six loads of laundry on drying racks (saved approximately $2.70)
• wanted to pick up a special sauce at the grocery store, but decided to use what we already had at home instead (saved $4.69)
• made two loaves of banana bread using six overripe bananas (avoided wasting $0.81 in fruit)
• made sure my husband had a lunch so he wouldn’t have to eat out at work (saved $30)
• “dry cleaned” my son’s First Communion suit at home with these Woolite cloths (saved $11)
• reused a big padded envelope, a box and packing material to mail resale orders (saved $7)
• made vanilla granola (makes the equivalent of two bags, saving $10.98)
• used a free sample Tide pod to wash a load of laundry (saved $0.40)
• thought about buying eggs from a farmer friend but ultimately decided to make do with what we had (saved $5.75)
• made a big batch of marinara sauce in the slow cooker (saved about $20)
• avoided a full grocery store trip, only buying a few essentials like milk, freezer bags and coffee (saved $300)
• sold a pair of shorts, a DVD, a mousetrap contraption, a video game, two Christmas ornaments, a wool sweater (in May!), a purse with two matching zipper pouches and a Lego set and after fees, made $72.48!

This Week in the Liturgical Year //

May 15 was the Optional Memorial of St. Isidore the Farmer.

To Read: St. Isidore the Farmer and Rogation Days

To Pray: Novena to St. Isidore

 

 

Reading //

• When Innovation Runs Out: The Vindication of Maintenance from Joshua Pauling at Front Porch Republic // “Vinsel and Russell offer some additional questions and principles for practicing this maintenance mindset as an ‘antidote to the Innovation Delusion’ (158). They suggest adopting ‘a new habit when you walk around, or think about your work, your community, and your personal life: Ask yourself, What is good here? And how can I maintain that goodness? How can I preserve and extend that which is valuable?'”  Definitely adding the book featured to my TBR.
• Why I’ll Always Send Flowers for a Miscarriage from Grace Emily Stark at Verily // “I now know that was exactly why those flowers we received in the wake of our miscarriage were such a perfect gift—they were a recognition, and therefore a validation, of our very real grief. We had after all experienced the death of our child, and those flowers spoke to that reality in a way that nothing else seemed to. As simple a gesture as they may have seemed by those who sent them, those flowers were the recognition of the traumatic card we’d been dealt, and the permission that recognition gave me to grieve started me on the path to eventual healing. Even if I didn’t realize it myself at the time.”
• It Started With My Forearms from Going Godward // “To be clear, I don’t think the physical aging process should rob women of their whimsy; if anything she should lean hard into the enchanted parts of herself, the creative parts, and live. I think the creativity that can come after youth has the potential to be deeper and richer than anything that might have been produced by a 20 year old.”
• Internet Overexposure Syndrome from Katherine Dee at Comment // Thought-provoking.

New Additions to The List // 

• On Wealth and Poverty by St. John Chrysostom
• A Light in the Heavens: Great Encyclical Letters Of Pope Leo XIII
• The Innovation Delusion: How Our Obsession with the New Has Disrupted the Work That Matters Most by Lee Vinsel and Andrew L. Russell

Watching/Listening //

• Lesson 3 of the Who is God? How Can We Know Him? course from Aquinas 101 at the Thomistic Institute (I’m watching these as I read the corresponding section in Aquinas’s Shorter Summa – very helpful!)
• Lectures 1-3 of The Life and Teachings of St. Augustine from The Pursuit of Wisdom at Ave Maria University
• Episode 1 of The Commentaries: The Confessions of St. Augustine (I’ll be listening to these as I work through the Confessions.)

from the archives…

WEEK TWENTY 2024 // The Stars Always Shine

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

Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.
― Epicurus

I’ve been interested in economics for a long time.  I wrote a post last August entitled Hard Times Ahead? and my prediction may be coming true.  While layoffs have been occurring for years at this point, it’s currently hitting my area and people are scared and anxious.  May seemed as good a time as ever to focus on our financial goals (we have one last debt to pay off!) and get us better situated to handle whatever may come our way.

My goals for Make It Do May:

• no spending other than a few pre-planned purchases
• grocery shop only once, heavily using the pantry and only purchasing things like milk and produce when we run out
• increased creativity in the kitchen, reinventing leftovers and leaving nothing to waste
• declutter and list on resale sites as much as possible
• look into high-interest savings accounts
• research better rates for car insurance
• and if there’s time! a return to crafting projects

Like I’ve said before, my motto has always been “little by little” – every day, we do one small thing to get us closer to our objective.  The first full week of Make It Do May was a huge success (see below!) and I’m excited to come up with even more creative ways to save our money and live a more content and fulfilling life.  I’d love to hear what tips and tricks you have as well!

Hoping to document 52 weeks of good things!

Five Good Things…

1. RAIN. // It’s putting a damper on my sowing/transplanting plans, but after years of drought, I’ll never say a bad thing about it!
2. How much my daughter has learned in piano so far. // One month in and she’s doing great!  She has a great rapport with her teacher already.
3. A new ornament project. // I found this cute pattern and it’s free, perfect for Make It Do May!  I’m also using a scrap piece of fabric and my DMC floss, so very much a frugal accomplishment.
4. Habemus papam. // He has taken the name Leo XIV.  We pray for him as he begins the daunting task of leading the Catholic Church.
5. Filling up a ThredUp Clean Out bag. // Trying something new!  I have a lot of clothes that have been listed on reselling platforms for awhile and haven’t sold.  I’m giving them one last try through ThredUp.  There is a $14.99 service fee and the payout is significantly smaller than if I sold them myself, but some money is better than no money!  And bonus: it gets a lot of this stuff out of my house, so it’s also a decluttering win.

Frugal Accomplishments //

• used stationery I already owned (random envelopes, old cards) to send snail mail
• used an awkward-sized piece of wrapping paper to package a resale order
• listed a few things on Poshmark/ebay
• sold pork to friends
• air-dried a few loads of laundry on drying racks
• made chicken broth from backs in the freezer
• made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies to use the last half of a can of pumpkin puree
• invested in another 50lb bag of flour
• finally finished one last shampoo that has languished in the shower after I found something better
• transformed honey that had crystallized into creamed honey (delicious!)
• used shredded paper as nesting box filler for the chickens (a tip I learned from the blog, The Bluebirds are Nesting on the Farm)
• sold a science workbook, two teacher’s manuals, a shirt, and a jacket and after fees, made $39.53!

Reading //

• The Most Dangerous Thing in Culture Right Now is Beauty from Ted Gioia at The Honest Broker // Thought provoking.
• Frugal Feasting in the Shire from Alyssa Falkentook at The Hobbit Homemaker // “There’s something deeply satisfying about a well-planned meal, especially when it’s inspired by the hearty, homey fare of the Shire! Hobbits are known for their love of food, but they’re also resourceful, making the most of what they have to create nourishing, comforting meals.”
• this quote from Saint Francis de Sales in Thy Will Be Done: Letters to Persons in the World:

Do not worry yourself; no, believe me, practice serving our Lord with a gentleness full of strength and zeal.  That is the true method of this service.  Wish not to do all, but only something, and without doubt you will do much. (p.153)

New Additions to The List // 

• The Family That Couldn’t Sleep: A Medical Mystery by D.T. Max
• Motherland by Sally Thomas
• Works of Mercy: A Novel by Sally Thomas
• The Blackbird and Other Stories by Sally Thomas

Watching/Listening //

• An Evening of Poetry and Fiction with Sally Thomas from The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts Center for the Restoration of Christian Culture // So good.
• Lectures 2-3 of Introduction to Sacramental Theology from The Pursuit of Wisdom at Ave Maria University

Loving //

• this “Something’s Killing Me” series // This medical mystery series was fascinating.
• this “Make It Do” free cross stitch pattern // From this website.  I may have to stitch this soon!
• this peanut butter chocolate chip granola bar recipe // Big hit with the kids.  I think I’ll some protein powder to the mix next time.

from the archives…

WEEK NINETEEN 2024 // We Are Meant to Be Naturalists

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

I see it everywhere, even in myself.  It’s that insatiable need to accumulate things: the latest fashion item, the cool piece of technology, that one piece of home decor.  We buy and buy and buy, fulfilling that hunger for more…only to find ourselves incredibly uncomfortable with the abundance.  So we simplify and declutter and fill our cars with trash bags full of stuff for our local thrift store.  The relief is tangible, but fleeting.  And then we start again.

________

Tolkien once said that fairytales hold up a mirror to man and I’ve recently discovered that to be true.  In The Hobbit, there is one term quickly mentioned but later better explained through image: the dragon sickness.  Smaug the dragon, the main antagonist of the story, rarely leaves his lair and his riches, even sleeping on his treasure in order to guard them.  For me, this dragon and his “sickness” describes man’s propensity for greed, for the desire to accumulate and hoard possessions.  There may be a tinge of a love for comfort in there too.

There is no judgment here and I’ll be the first to say that I’m actively battling this seemingly innate desire to acquire things.  And it’s hard!  Influencers are influencing everywhere and the temptation toward comparison is strong.  Even so, I want to hold my life and possessions with open hands.  I want to give generously.  I want to have a healthy level of detachment from material goods and a comfortable life.  Thankfully, every day is another opportunity to practice.

You were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness.
– Pope John Paul II

Hoping to document 52 weeks of good things!

Five Good Things…

1. Making collages. // A continuation of the “use it up” theme!  I have kept a lot of things for junk journaling over the past year, but stuff without a purpose is just clutter.  To combat this, I’m using up the little bits in my notetaking journal and having so much fun.  This week, I used a piece of wrapping paper, an illustration from an old children’s book, a stamp from a piece of mail, letters cut from a magazine, the inside of a bill envelope and lots of stickers.
2. New healthy habits. // I’ve been experiencing some inflammatory issues so I started a few new habits to hopefully alleviate them.  None of this is revolutionary, but everyday consistency is the key: a 45 minute walk, nutritious meals (no strict rules except no sugar and less gluten) and a lot of water.  One week done!
3. Finding letters in the mailbox. // What a thrill to see a handwritten letter along with all the bills and junk mail!  This week, I received three!
4. More unexpected expenses. // Fortunately, we have a bit of money stashed away; unfortunately, I’m not getting a new couch anytime soon.  (Cue the opening scene from Up!)  Choosing to see this as a good thing because it’s teaching me patience and detachment from material things.
5. The start of Make-It-Do May! // I’m still working out the details, but May seems as good a time as ever to really buckle down and make significant strides on our financial goals.  So far, I know I’ll be spending a lot of time in the kitchen and intentionally practicing frugality in new, creative ways.

Frugal Accomplishments //

• gave my hair a trim
• made vanilla granola to use up some Greek yogurt
• mended a rip in my husband’s jeans (with my go-to patches!) so he could still wear them around the farm
• listed a few things on Pango/Poshmark
• worked on my compost pile, adding new material and turning the entire conglomeration
• found an unused bag of tomato plant food that I purchased last year and can use this spring (saved me $13!)
• paid cash for our pork processing to avoid a 3% credit card fee (saved us $44!)
• made beef broth from bones in the freezer
• planned out a month’s worth of dinners for May
• made a big batch of refried beans in the slow cooker using dried pinto beans

This Week in the Liturgical Year //

May 2 was the Memorial of St. Athanasius, Bishop and Doctor of the Church.

To Listen: Ep. 24—Athanasius against the World from Way of the Fathers podcast

To Watch: Doctors of the Church: St. Athanasius of Alexandria from EWTN

To Add to the Library: On the Incarnation

Reading //

• Cinderella Comes to the Shire from Joseph Pearce at The Imaginative Conservative
• A Tale of Three “Porchers” from Alexandra O. Hudson at Front Porch Republic // “Though originally from the Washington, DC, area, Joanna chose to build a life in Indianapolis with her husband and family. She has used her porch to cultivate community and to provide a haven from the hurriedness of modern life. It is a place to forge new friendships, an incubator of ideas to make the community brighter, a place to encounter and create beauty, a catalyst for further cultural and communal growth, and a venue where those who differ politically, racially, and culturally can form bonds and feel seen, known, and loved.”
• Enough: Seven Suggestions for Thinking About Money & Possessions from April Jaure at Hearth and Field // “I think what I need is detachment, that interior freedom that is enjoyed when one no longer has excessive concern over possessions. I’m reminded of a quote from St. Teresa of Avila: ‘Our body has this defect that, the more it is provided care and comforts, the more needs and desires it finds.’ Intellectually I know that attempting to satisfy every whim will never bring satisfaction, but it seems that living simply, and being truly detached from one’s possessions is easier said than done.”
• Ode to Old Hands from Nicole Berlucchi at More Love, More Life, More Glory to God // “My daughter stretched the skin of the back of my hand so it looked smooth. What my hands used to look like, I thought. And yet, it made me see age spots whose appearance I had somehow missed. She put her young hand next to my old hand–a stark reminder of my age–but as I almost began loathing my old hands, I stopped myself–these old hands have done a lot for me.”

New Additions to The List // 

• The White Plague by Frank Herbert

Watching/Listening //

• Lecture 1 of Introduction to Sacramental Theology from The Pursuit of Wisdom at Ave Maria University
• Euripides “Medea” // Greek tragedy #1 for my mother academia goal of the month.  Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.  Yikes.

Loving //

• this homeopathic allergy relief // ‘Tis the season!
• this Lego neighborhood instruction book // A really cool used bookstore find.
• Mexican bean tostadas // A super easy meal and cheap too.  I’ve been eating them frequently for lunch.

from the archives…

WEEK EIGHTEEN 2024 // Contemplation

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

Happiness is a mosaic composed of many smaller stones.  The little acts of kindness, the little courtesies, are the things that, added up at night, constitute the secret of a happy day.

Try to make at least one person happy every day.  Every morning build a booth to shelter someone from life’s fierce heat.  If you cannot do a kind deed, speak a kind word.  If you cannot speak a kind word, think a kind thought.  Count up, if you can, the treasure of happiness that you would dispense in a week, in a year, in a lifetime! – The Hidden Power of Kindness, p.231

Since finishing The Hidden Power of Kindness earlier this month, I’ve been reflecting on the virtue and how I’ve experienced it in my adult life.  Some examples:

• the pediatrician who helped me gain confidence as a very young new mother
• the beautiful older mom who encouraged me at church when I struggled to wrangle many small children
• the friend who insisted on vacuuming out my minivan when I was very pregnant and couldn’t do it myself
• the way my son’s jiu jitsu coaches have helped him grow, both as an athlete and a man
• our neighbor who selflessly offers his help without asking for anything in return

I could go on and on and on.  When I think of all the little ways people have been so kind to me and my family over the years, I want to weep.  What an incredible undeserved blessing.  I am convicted to be more kind, to go out of my way to lend a hand, to share the compliment, to send the note.  Little acts of kindness are not insignificant.

How can I be more kind in a world increasingly hostile?  How can I wish the best for all, even for the people I dislike?  How can I be radically positive, shifting my perspective from snark or sarcasm to joy?

Hoping to document 52 weeks of good things!

Five Good Things…

1. Starting “Mail Mondays.” // Hoping to start a new snail mail writing routine!  I checked two letters off the list.
2. A focus on “Using It Up.” // You know the saying, “Use It Up, Wear It Out, Make it Do, or Do Without” that was popular during the Great Depression?  This week, I focused on the first part, looking at the abundance of things around me and making plans to make them into something new.  This included everything from food in the fridge/freezers to stationery I already own to even stickers sitting unused in a drawer!  I needed a little boost in “frugal morale” and this did the trick.
3. Hardening off the seedlings. // These poor plants…they were somewhat neglected and are looking a little rough, but I think I can salvage them.
4. Positive feedback about our pork. // Our customers have all picked up their orders and we’ve started hearing their thoughts as they cook their first meals.  All positive feedback!  I always get nervous that people will be underwhelmed or unhappy with their purchase, so this was another morale booster.
5. A frugal experiment that worked! // Late last fall, I re-planted some of our leftover potatoes from an earlier harvest.  The idea is that they overwinter in the ground and then will start growing earlier the following spring.  It seemed like a low-risk experiment…and it worked!  I usually spend at least $60 on seed potatoes every year, so this new strategy should save me some money in the long run.

Frugal Accomplishments //

• made chicken broth from backs in the freezer
• listed a few things on ebay/Poshmark/Pango
• made sole water as a cheaper way to get in some electrolytes (those little packets are so expensive!)
• cut up more scrapbook paper for resale thank you cards
• made banana blueberry muffins to use up overripe fruit and sour cream
• broke down a ripped fitted sheet to use for fabric
• power washed our dirty outdoor rug
• made peach yogurt by swirling my homemade peach jam into plain Greek yogurt (delicious!)

Reading //

• Pandemic’s Effects Linger in Americans’ Health Ratings from Lydia Saad at Gallup // This is unfortunate.  How can we turn this around?
• My Lifetime Reading Plan from Ted Gioia at The Honest Broker // I loved this.

And along with it, I wanted to develop a meaningful philosophy of life. That seemed urgently important to me as a teenager. It still does today. I wanted to take the high road, with the right values, and pursue the best goals. I wanted to appreciate the world around me more deeply, more richly—and not just the world today, but also the world in different times and places, as seen by the best and the brightest.

Some people will tell you that this is elitist. But I have the exact opposite opinion. For a working class kid like me, this was my way of overcoming elitism. Some elites even tried to steer me away from this project—as not appropriate for somebody from my neighborhood and background.

I felt that this was patronizing in the extreme. In any event, I was determined to pursue this path of wisdom even if others tried to discourage me.

I felt that my best way to do all this was through books.

• Listening to “Four Quartets” series from Dwight Longenecker at The Imaginative Conservative // Very helpful commentary.
  • Listening to “Burnt Norton”
  • Listening to “East Coker”
  • Listening to “Dry Salvages”
  • Listening to “Little Gidding”

New Additions to The List // 

• Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
• The Legend of Sigurd & Gudrún by J.R.R. Tolkien

Watching/Listening //

• A Guide to Finally Understanding T. S. Eliot’s Four Quartets (Audio Lecture) from Andy Patton

Loving //

• this power washer // We have had it for years and it’s one of my favorite spring chores.  SO satisfying!
• this line in Four Quartets: “The only wisdom we can hope to acquire is the wisdom of humility: humility is endless.” (p.27)

from the archives…

WEEK SEVENTEEN 2024 // Frugality Drives Creativity

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

Be glad, let earth be glad, as glory floods her,
ablaze with light from her eternal King,
let all corners of the earth be glad,
knowing an end to gloom and darkness.
Rejoice, let Mother Church also rejoice,
arrayed with the lightning of his glory,
let this holy building shake with joy,
filled with the mighty voices of the peoples.

– from the Exsultet: The Proclamation of Easter

Alleluia alleluia! Christ is risen, Christ is truly risen!

It always feels bizarre to share the Holy Week review during Eastertide (here was last year’s) but here were are.  This was the most somber Holy Week I may have ever experienced.  It’s a story for another day but I really clung to Mater Dolorosa, combining my sadness with hers.  It helped.

Hoping to document 52 weeks of good things!

Five Good Things…

1. The importance of photographs and home videos. // I finally took the videos off of my phone and saved them onto an external hard drive for the kids.  (The long-term plan is to combine all of our photos/videos throughout the years and put them all in this one space.)  I can’t tell you how many times I noticed the kids watching them this week, laughing and reminiscing.  Memory keeping, not the perfect images for social media but the real everyday messy minutiae, is so important.  I’m inspired to start printing and framing photographs everywhere.
2. The last pigs off to the butcher. // This did not go as smoothly as last month but it’s done and we’re enjoying the break.  Taking the summer off and then we’ll figure out piglets in the fall.
3. Writing thank you notes. // So many times, I think about thanking someone for their kindness but never actually send the note.  This week, I actually sat down and wrote.  I want to make it a point to do more of this in the future!  In a world so dark and angry, people should know that their kindness is noticed and appreciated.  My new motto: send the note.
4. Reading slowly. // With so much going on right now, my reading life has been reduced to almost nothing.  I’ve been plodding along with Green Dolphin Street since early March at a pace of 15-30 pages a day.  (And this is an epic novel at almost 600 pages!)  Considering this a good thing because the story is lovely, it allows me time to appreciate the writing and vivid descriptions of place, and forces me out of that ridiculous compulsion to read a certain amount of books per month/year/lifetime.
5. A much-needed nap. // I have not been sleeping well lately so this was welcome!

a photo from last week! (credit: G.M.)

Contemplating Holy Week with Art //

Reading //

• Κυριακή των Βαΐων from Catherine at Pleximama
• Mary’s Fiat from Our Lady of Clear Creek Abbey // Quoting Dom Prosper Guéranger: “As the heavenly Father had waited for her consent before He sent His Son into the world: so, likewise, He called for her obedience and devotedness, when the hour came for that Son to be offered up in sacrifice for the world’s redemption. Was not Jesus hers? her Child? her own and dearest treasure? And yet, God gave Him not to her, until she had consented to become His Mother; in like manner, He would not take Him from her, unless she gave Him back.”
• On Charlotte Mason and Tattooed Sons from Heather Mills Schwarzen at Commonplace Quarterly //

I am not disappointed because Charlotte Mason took great pains to describe education as “a large room,” and I believe her. A room outfitted with the most beautiful furnishings and lavish tapestries still has corners where dust might gather, and my son, through the workings of the Holy Spirit, has been led into those places to serve. I didn’t know this, of course, when I introduced him to the couch of history, so ornately upholstered by the men God emboldened to lead His people. I couldn’t see it when he set to exploring the wardrobe of music or the cabinet where all of the greatest scientific minds held court. I saw my son touring the vast expanse laid out before him and assumed he would be inspired to try and add something to that large room. Instead, the appreciation he gained as he listened to fairy tales and observed birds in flight lit a different fire in him altogether– the desire to protect and defend that very room.

New Additions to The List // 

• Blessed Hanna Chrzanowska, RN: A Nurse of Mercy by Gosia Brykczynska
• Star Lore: Myths, Legends, and Facts by William Tyler Olcott
• Roman Pilgrimage: The Station Churches by George Weigel

Loving //

• this soap from Ginny Sheller // Smells great!
• this poem:

from the archives…

WEEK SIXTEEN 2024 // Little Moments of Delight pt.2

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

I’ve been thinking a lot about the passage of time.

We found ourselves watching old home videos and I couldn’t help staring at the chaos in the background; there were toys and blankets and random things all over the floor!  I can remember being so frustrated by my inability to keep a tidy house, little people always underfoot destroying my meager attempts.  Fast forward about ten years and our home looks quite different: the floors are clear but the flat surfaces are now always covered with the detritus of everyday life.  Craft projects and artwork and dishes from a baking experiment and gym gear and so much laundry.  I’m still picking up and putting things away, this time with more nudging (and occasionally nagging). The kids are bigger, but the amount of stuff is both different and the same.

And yet.  Time is speeding by and I’m trying to grumble less about the imperfection of my home and enjoy the people who are in it.  Before I know it, they will all be off doing great things in the world.  I’ll have that perfectly tidy house I’ve always desired but will be missing the most important part – them.  So yeah, my house is a constant work in progress, but it’s this way because a family lives here.

In that spirit, I wanted to try a black-and-white photo essay of sorts, documenting this season of life.  I didn’t get to photograph everything I wanted, but it was a good start:

Hoping to document 52 weeks of good things!

Five Good Things…

1. All of the lovely comments on my quilt post. // Thank you all so much for your kindness.
2. A surprise lunch date with my oldest son. // He called me on his way home from work and told me to get ready, he was taking me out!  We ate at a local place that he loves and I’d always wanted to try.  I was so touched.
3. Starting to design next year’s curriculum. // I’ve been really influenced by John Senior and am excited to incorporate more of his educational philosophy into our homeschool, especially for my dyslexic kids.
4. Pork orders are in! // This was the first year that we offered whole hog options for purchase.  We ended up selling two whole and one half just by word of mouth and inquiries from our current customers – a huge accomplishment!  We are still new to this part of farming, so it was a little wild helping the customers fill out their cut sheets, facilitating payment and organizing pickup.  Even so, it was a good learning experience and I can’t wait to try again.
5. Watching my oldest son promote my husband to blue belt in jiu jitsu. // Jiu jitsu belts for adults are few and hard-earned.  After watching my son train for years, my husband also started and has been working consistently for the past year.  We (me, my son and the senior coaches at the gym) managed to keep a huge secret and pulled off a surprise promotion for him!  The belt test is so difficult and includes an hour of crucible-type endurance where you grapple with teammates and show your ability in a variety of positions.  No water and no breaks!  It was hard to watch, but my husband did great.  The best part of the afternoon was watching my son tie on his dad’s well-deserved blue belt.  My heart was full to bursting.

Frugal Accomplishments //

• cut up old scrapbook paper to use as thank-you notes for resale packages
• listed a few things on Pango/Poshmark/ebay
• made more beef tallow
• reused the tissue paper from a ThredUp order to package up a sale

This Week in the Liturgical Year //

April 7 was the Optional Memorial of St. John Baptist de la Salle.

To Watch: Saint John Baptist De La Salle: Patron Saint of Teachers

To Copy in the Commonplace Book: “Example makes a much greater impression on the mind and heart than words.” and “The way you behave should be a model for those you teach.”

 

Reading //

• Walking with My Dad to Calvary from Constance T. Hull at Catholic Exchange // “Even though the last two weeks of my life have been the hardest, they have also been the most beautiful. There are no words for the gift of helping my dad carry his Cross in union with Christ in those final hours. I will forever remember holding my dad close as I urged him on to Calvary. What a gift to know he died in the arms of the Holy Family.”
• The Reading Rebellion: One Book. Two Weeks. Repeat. from Peco and Ruth Gaskovski at School of the Unconformed // “If we are to restore our deep reading circuits and rediscover the joy, insight, and myriad of associated benefits of reading fiction, we must begin simply by committing to regularly reading tangible books.”
• It’s Just Stuff: What Estate Sales Reveal About Us from Sherry Shenoda at Plough // “I take my sons to estate sales so they can bring home small, hand-carved wooden animals for their bookshelves, old glass marbles in jars, and yet more rocks. Mostly I bring them so they can see that the insides of other people’s homes are like their own, and so the baby can babble happily at strangers in these holy places, and the tired workers at the front can let the toddler keep the lemon that fell from the backyard tree that he’s clutching excitedly.”
• 15 years of motherhood from Tabitha at Team Studer

New Additions to The List // 

• Something Beautiful for God by Malcolm Muggeridge
• Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken a Child’s Moral Imagination by Vigen Guroian
• Stalin’s War: A New History of World War II by Sean McMeekin
• We Have Ceased to See the Purpose: Essential Speeches of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn edited by Ignat Solzhenitsyn
• Warning to the West by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
• The Educational Philosophy Of St. John Bosco by John A. Morrison (thanks again for the recommendation, Rosemary!)

Watching/Listening //

• this production of Oedipus Rex by Sophocles // This story is brutal.
• Lessons 4-6 of the Marxism, Socialism, and Communism course at Hillsdale College

Loving //

• LineUp, a memory board game // I played multiple rounds with my 10-year-old this week!

from the archives…

WEEK FIFTEEN 2024 // The Anti-Library

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

The past seven days have been incredibly ordinary: a mix of good and not so good, laughter and a few tears.  The weather was typical of Virginia springtime: up, down and all around temperatures, sunshine and showers.  I spent one entire day focused on the laundry and for fifteen beautiful minutes, I had clear floors and empty baskets.  I made simple meals; my daughter made delicious treats.  I worked outside for hours and had to rest the next day because everything hurt.  (Getting old is for the birds!)  So many inconsequential things, but goodness can be found there too.

One more thing: did you know that April is National Poetry Month?  I thought I would share this poem that perfectly encapsulated my love for this time of year:

Today
by Billy Collins

If ever there were a spring day so perfect,
so uplifted by a warm intermittent breeze

that it made you want to throw
open all the windows in the house

and unlatch the door to the canary’s cage,
indeed, rip the little door from its jamb,

a day when the cool brick paths
and the garden bursting with peonies

seemed so etched in sunlight
that you felt like taking

a hammer to the glass paperweight
on the living room end table,

releasing the inhabitants
from their snow-covered cottage

so they could walk out,
holding hands and squinting

into this larger dome of blue and white,
well, today is just that kind of day.

Hoping to document 52 weeks of good things!

Five Good Things…

1. Piano lessons! // The sister of a friend (don’t you love those connections!) offers piano lessons and I jumped at the chance to enroll my daughter.  An extra blessing is that the price is so reasonable!  She had her first lesson this week, really liked the teacher and is excited to learn.  I can’t wait to see how she progresses.
2. A Lord of the Rings movie marathon. // One of my sons wanted to share his love of the movies with me, so we watched the trilogy over a couple of weeks.  I’m not a big fantasy reader and have never read the books, so I went in completely blind.  And it was good!  So long, but good.  (And after listening to Joseph Pearce explain Tolkien’s vision – see below – I love it even more!)  Even more so, I’m grateful for the memory we made.  I’ll always remember LOTR as a Lenten journey we traveled together.
3. Listing every day for extra cash. // There are only so many extra hours in a day and this week, I replaced all of my creative time for reselling.  I have a big plastic bin full of decluttered items to sell and it’s time to get them moving on to a new home.  I also went through my unread books (parted with about a dozen!) as well as an initial sweep of homeschool curriculum.  Hoping to make some extra money to pay for our short summer trip as well as make a significant dent in our debt.
4. Reading Thomas Aquinas’ Shorter Summa. // Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologiae is on The 10 Year Reading Plan for the Great Books of the Western World but that’s a bit more than I can commit to in this season.  Instead, I decided that I would start with his Shorter Summa – a much better fit!  I’m reading alongside The Thomistic Institute’s video series, which has been helpful.  I’m currently working through the course called “Who is God? How Can We Know Him?“.
5. Helping my daughter finish a project. // She has been working steadily on this big diamond art project since early February and was starting to lose steam.  I was so thankful for her help with my pinwheel quilt that I wanted to return the favor.  I’ve been sneaking in some work when I can and together, we finally finished this week!  Now to find a frame and hang it in her room.

Frugal Accomplishments //

• mended a hole in my youngest’s favorite pajama pants
• listed a bunch of items on Poshmark/ebay/Pango
• turned off the heat on April 1st and will see how long we can go before turning on the A/C!
• deep cleaned the washing machine with these tablets
• made more tallow from beef fat in the freezer
• avoided the grocery store, only buying milk and burger buns

This Week in the Liturgical Year //

April 4 was the Optional Memorial of Saint Isidore, Bishop and Doctor of the Church.

To Read: Benedict XVI’s General Audience Address on June 18, 2008

To Listen: Isidore of Seville: Last of the Red-Hot Latin Fathers from Way of the Fathers Podcast

To Add to the Library: An Encyclopedist of the Dark Ages: Isidore of Seville, Vol. 40

Reading //

• Why JRR Tolkien Made March 25 the Day the Ring Was Destroyed from Joseph Pearce at National Catholic Register //

How can a story about, hobbits, dwarves, elves and wizards have anything to do with the life, death and resurrection of Christ?  The answer is revealed in the date on which the Ring is destroyed. The One Ring to rule them all and in the darkness bind them is destroyed on March 25. This should make us sit up and take note because March 25 is, of course, the feast of the Annunciation, the date on which the angel of the Lord declared unto Mary and she conceived by the Holy Ghost. It is the date on which the Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us, the date on which God became man. Most Catholics know this but few know that, according to tradition, March 25 is also the date of the Crucifixion. It is, therefore, not merely the date on which God became man but also the date on which Christ died for our sins.

• In Praise of “Old” from Reid Makowsky at Front Porch Republic // “The world ‘old’ is just that, having changed little since the Proto-Germanic *aldra, and having related forms in Latin and Greek. For that reason alone, wisdom and humility might suggest that we hesitate to condemn it. But besides the deference owed to age, it is a beautiful word. Those who have no ear for the music of words, or who think that such music is purely in the ear of the beholder may scoff at this sentiment. But I think that most people can tell the difference between ugly and beautiful language, between the fatuity of the advertiser and the sincerity of the child.”
• A Mother’s Thinking Love: or, Stir the Jam and Read Some Shakespeare from Liturgy in the Home with Maria // “If there is drudgery in the life of the professional, there is also drudgery in the life of the homemaker. But it is also true that if there is the potential for an intellectually fulfilling life for a professional, the potential is there, too, in the life of a homemaker.”
  • And this quote too, because I am living it:

And, although you might think it unimaginable now if you are a mother with small children, someday sooner than you think, you will come up for air, and you may realize that you now have the time to pick up that novel you always wanted to read or to freshen up the French you learned when you studied abroad. Your intelligence, skills, and experience are not wasted on your children. They will help cultivate that thinking love that your particular children—given to you by a God Who knows you and them intimately—most need.

• In the Kingdom of Noise from Francis X. Maier at The Catholic Thing // “The more resentment we bring to our public discourse, the more poisonous our shared culture becomes. If so many of us feel that we’re now the targets rather than the active agents of our social and political environment, it’s because that’s what we are. That’s what we’ve become, the world we ourselves have helped create. And it will get worse until we as a people – assuming we can still call ourselves ‘one people’ – remember that even our perceived enemies bear the image of God and thus deserve some compassion and respect.”

New Additions to The List // 

• Tree and Leaf: Includes Mythopoeia and The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth by J.R.R. Tolkien
• Tolkien: Man and Myth: A Literary Life by Joseph Pearce
• Frodo’s Journey: Discover the Hidden Meaning of The Lord of the Rings by Joseph Pearce
• Bilbo’s Journey: Discovering the Hidden Meaning in The Hobbit by Joseph Pearce

Watching/Listening //

• Lectures 1-6 of The Genius of J.R.R. Tolkien at The Pursuit of Wisdom at Ave Maria University // This was excellent.
• Lessons 1-3 of the Marxism, Socialism, and Communism course at Hillsdale College

Loving //

• these silicone piano “stickers” // Very helpful for my new piano player.

from the archives…

WEEK FOURTEEN 2024 // Putting Down Roots

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When our boar, Fred, died last fall, it felt like failure.  My big plans to scale our pork business, keeping a steady production going with two sows, disintegrated in my hands in one miserable week.  I was devastated to lose a beloved animal but I also mourned the loss of what I thought I was meant to do.  The aftermath was disorienting and confusing.

But God works all things for good.  What I thought was disaster is turning out to be an unexpected blessing.

We’re using the next few months to take a break, pay off debt and regroup.  I’ll work on some much overdue home projects.  I’ll have the time to putter around and carefully tend to my garden.  I’ll have the brain space to cultivate the beautiful, not just the functional.  I’ll dream and make plans.  And then we’ll start again, refreshed and ready to provide the healthiest and best-tasting chicken and pork we can.

Hoping to document 52 weeks of good things!

Five Good Things…

1. A season for everything. // Despite the break from broilers and pigs, we are definitely still beginning our busy season on the farm.  Add in all of the moving parts with the kids’ schooling and activities and work schedules…and it’s a lot!  Thankfully, after years and years of overwhelm, I am finally learning the lesson that to everything there is a season.  The mantra I keep repeating to myself: “Lean in and get enough sleep.”
2. Four pigs off to the butcher. // And our easiest transport yet!  (Compared to our first experience, we’re getting pretty good at this farming thing, ha.)  Processing day is always bittersweet; we are sad to say goodbye but are also so proud of the product we produced.  This is also the first year we offered whole hog options for buyers and I’m hopeful that they love the meat as much as we do.
3. Operation “Keep our eleven hens alive!” begins. // I clearly have been living under a rock.  This week, I mentioned to my husband that I wanted to drop into Tractor Supply and pick up a handful of chicks to round out our hens for the year.  No big deal, right?  I was so wrong.  Apparently, there is a chick shortage.  Even my go-to hatchery in Pennsylvania was completely sold out for the season!  So Operation “Keep our hens alive!” is in full swing around here.  I spent many afternoons filling the barnyard with fresh woodchips and fortifying the fencing from that pesky fox.
4. Another licensed driver in the house! // Two down, four to go.
5. A fun afternoon adventure at a Lego convention. // We took the four youngest to a Lego convention and it turned out to be so fun.  The different models were incredible – plastic pieces can be an art form! – and my littlest boys were very inspired.  We bought a few mini-figures from the vendor area as a memento and they already want to go back when it returns next year.

Frugal Accomplishments //

• got a truck full of free woodchips when our next-door neighbor had a tree removed
• finally planted in a Jiffy seed starting kit that we purchased years ago but have never used (trying pumpkins!)
• shopped the sales on ThredUp for my daughter

This Week in the Liturgical Year //

March 25 was the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord.

Reading //

• It is Not Good to Read (Only) Alone from Nadya Williams at Front Porch Republic // “Reading together with people we love makes a good book even better, more memorable, more enjoyable for much the same reason as a delicious meal consumed with those we love tastes even better.”
• A Poem For Your Saturday from Pleximama
• this quote from The Hidden Power of Kindness:

Although you cannot carry out certain works of charity, your soul is a garden in which you may plant the fairest flowers of loving thoughts.  Especially at prayer, when grace is most ready to assist your efforts, try to weed out all bitter memories, all severe judgments, all suspicions, and all resentful and angry thoughts, and in their stead plant in the rich soil of your soul the noble sentiments of charity.  Carefully cherish and tend these gentle thoughts so that they may thrive and fill your day with their perfume.  Try to fill the whole of this present life with such thoughts, and you will not only do good to those around you, but you will also share in the good that others do. (p.132)

New Additions to The List // 

• The Terrible Speed of Mercy: A Spiritual Biography of Flannery O’Connor by Jonathan Rogers
• A Prayer Journal by Flannery O’Connor
• The Complete Stories by Flannery O’Connor
• The Last Hurrah by Edwin O’Connor
• A Declaration of Dependence by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Watching/Listening //

• Uncommon Grace: The Life of Flannery O’Connor on PBS
• Lectures 1-3 of The Wisdom of Fulton Sheen at The Pursuit of Wisdom at Ave Maria University // Finally got to enjoy this after sharing it in this post!

Loving //

• this drawstring bunny bag tutorial // So cute!

from the archives…

WEEK THIRTEEN 2024 // The Holiest Days of the Year