The Big White Farmhouse

intentional living, little by little

No.923: Last Week at the Farmhouse // Little Moments of Delight pt.8

“Orchestra Chairs” by Paul Peel (1892)

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

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 // 

Watching/Listening //

Loving //

from the archives…

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

No.922: Last Week at the Farmhouse // The $27.40 Rule

“Mealtime in the Country” by Pieter Brueghel the Younger

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 // 

Watching/Listening //

from the archives…

WEEK TWENTY 2024 // The Stars Always Shine

No.921: Last Week at the Farmhouse // Making It Do

“Catching the Bee” by Eastman Johnson (1872)

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 //

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 // 

Watching/Listening //

Loving //

from the archives…

WEEK NINETEEN 2024 // We Are Meant to Be Naturalists

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

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 // 

Watching/Listening //

Loving //

from the archives…

WEEK EIGHTEEN 2024 // Contemplation

No.916: Last Week at the Farmhouse // Little Acts of Kindness

“A Helping Hand” by Eugene de Blaas (1884)

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 //

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.

New Additions to The List // 

Watching/Listening //

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

No.914: Last Week at the Farmhouse // Ablaze with Light

“Palm Sunday” by Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller (1852)

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 //

“Taking of Christ” by Caravaggio (1602)
“Carrying the Cross” by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1738)
“Christ on the Cross” by Diego Velazquez (1632)
“Pieta” by Annibale Carracci (1599 – 1600)
“Pieta” by Koloman Moser (1895)

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 // 

Loving //

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

from the archives…

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

No.913: Last Week at the Farmhouse // A Family Lives Here

“Mother Holding Her Child in a Doorway” by Adriaen van Ostade (1667)

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 // 

Watching/Listening //

Loving //

from the archives…

WEEK FIFTEEN 2024 // The Anti-Library

No.911: Last Week at the Farmhouse // Ordinary Spring Days

“Spring Morning, Pontoise” by Camille Pissarro (1874)

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 //

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 // 

Watching/Listening //

Loving //

from the archives…

WEEK FOURTEEN 2024 // Putting Down Roots

No.909: Last Week at the Farmhouse // Taking a Break

“Farm Women at Work” by Georges Seurat (1882-1883)

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

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 //

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 // 

Watching/Listening //

Loving //

from the archives…

WEEK THIRTEEN 2024 // The Holiest Days of the Year

No.907: Last Week at the Farmhouse // Common Themes

“Family Artist” by Ivan Kramskoy (1866)

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

Last May, I wrote a post about Wendell Berry and his book, Home Economics.  I wrote:

Basically, he’s saying that he’s been wrestling with the development of an argument, using essays written over many years to try to clarify/mold one idea.  Isn’t that such a lost art in our age?  To ruminate on an idea, spinning it around and around, looking at it from all angles.  To read and read some more, listening to other people’s opinions and then weighing that against our original ideas.  To fortify those original ideas or yield to a new and better one.  Does anyone still do that?

After reading that book, I’ve often wondered what my big question would be.  What theme would I hold in my hands and contemplate like that?  And then…

I’ve been writing these weekly reflections on my blog for over a year now.  Some are quite thought out, others are more of the rambling type (sorry about those).  But as I recently browsed through my collection of posts, I started seeing some common themes.  I realized that I had a big question without really knowing it: What does it mean to be human?

I’ve pondered it in relation to technology. I’ve weighed it against the cultural push toward materialism. I’ve investigated life-giving alternatives with useful handcrafts and meaningful work. I’ve meditated on the Creator who made us this way.  My quest is certainly not over and I’ll continue to hold this theme lightly in my hands, turning it this way and that, letting the light shine on each new facet.  I’m excited to see where it leads me next.

Hoping to document 52 weeks of good things!

Five Good Things…

  1. A room makeover for the little boys. // One evening at dinner, I made a comment about moving their beds around.  One thing led to another and they had an entirely new arrangement by bedtime!  I love that we were able to make things feel like new without having to spend any money.
  2. Farm projects in full swing. // It’s go time here on the farm and I seem to be adding more and more outdoor tasks to my daily lists.  This week, we had pigs acclimating to the trailer (headed for the butcher soon!), prepped paddocks for others to go onto pasture, worked in the garden, planted peas and made plans for new chicks.  Spring is a wild ride.
  3. Crafty perseverance. // I have nothing finished to share for Make Stuff March, just slow and steady work on existing projects.  This is what I hoped to strengthen in myself during Lent and while it’s been hard not to start something new and exciting, I know this (boring) middle part is where the virtue is found.
  4. Postcards! // In an attempt to restart my snail mail habit, I decided to begin with something small: postcards!  I purchased a handful from DalekoUSA and dug out my stash of postcard-specific stamps.  Highly recommend the postcard route if you’re short on time or just want the recipient to know you’re thinking of them.
  5. A trip down memory lane. // When we moved into this house almost eight years ago, I started a One Second Everyday project and kept it up for three years.  I just found a bunch of the raw footage from those videos and we spent over an hour watching them.  My kids were probably ages 11-1 and it was so fun to return to that crazy season.  We haven’t laughed that hard in a very long time.

Frugal Accomplishments //

  • accidentally tie-dyed a load of kitchen towels when a pen snuck into the wash, but mitigated the damage with Oxyclean
  • listed a few things on Pango/Poshmark/ebay
  • made banana bread from overripe bananas
  • saved $5 off each ticket to a Lego convention after searching for a promo code
  • used my homemade compost in the garden (not nearly enough for all of my plants, but I’m insanely excited that I actually made it!)
  • sold chicken to friends
  • made broth from chicken backs in the freezer

Reading //

  • Thou Shalt Not Destroy from Hadden Turner at Over the Field // “We must remember this. We must remind ourselves daily of our high and noble calling: the calling to create, to build, to fashion, and to grow, and then to steward, preserve, maintain and protect what we have made. It will be helpful to remind ourselves when tempted by destructivity that destructiveness, though often the easy and pleasurable option, rarely, if ever, creates value — and almost never results in beauty. And an action without value and devoid of beauty is probably something we ought not to do.”
  • Do you remember how life used to feel? Flip phone February: how I downgraded my phone and upgraded my life from Catherine Shannon // This is partially behind a pay wall but the free section will resonate with a lot of people, I’m sure.
  • On Kneeling from Heidie Senseman at Dappled Things // “We’re meant to feel strange and wobbly on our knees. We’re meant to reach out for a tether, something upon which to lean. And there in our flailing we find the Christ, the God-man, The One who condescended to meet us in our lowly humanity, The One who comes down even further to meet us in even lower places. Like here upon this kneeler, in humble posture. Of course we’d find Him down here.”  A good example of lex orandi, lex credendi: as we worship, so we believe.
  • Why We Need Graveyards from Paul Lauritzen at Commonweal // Thought provoking.

New Additions to The List // 

Watching/Listening //

Loving //

from the archives…

WEEK TWELVE 2024 // He Provides

No.905: Last Week at the Farmhouse // Little Moments of Delight pt.7

“Seamstress Sewing in an Interior” by Carl Holsøe

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

Things have felt a little heavy around here, so I decided it was a good time to bring out this practice again.  I definitely needed to take my own advice (get out of head and into my hands) and lean heavily into gratitude to keep me moving.  Here’s my list:

Teeny seedlings sprouting under grow lights.  How the hens have adopted the lone remaining duck into the fold.  Changing the blade on my rotary cutter.  One on one time with my middle son.  The random ladybug crawling on my bathroom wall.  Hearing piano music throughout the house.  Getting into a dinner routine that works for us in this season.  Feeling the subtle shift of spring weather returning.

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

Hoping to document 52 weeks of good things!

Five Good Things…

  1. Keeping the sewing machine out on the desk. // I usually have it tucked away in a closet and it’s always a pain to lug it out and put it back.  In this season of life without any curious toddlers, I decided to keep it out on the desk full-time and wow!  Even though it happened in fits and spurts throughout the week, I made so much progress on my quilt!  My daughter has used it for little projects too.
  2. A Make Stuff March update. // I definitely slowed down the pace from last week, but have still been working steadily.  This time, I finished three little ornaments that I stitched in 2023, started stitching the second ornament for my Handmade Christmas goal and made a lot of progress on the pinwheel quilt.  (See below.)
  3. A mother/daughter quilting bee and a perseverance win. // When I organized my projects last week, I found the beginnings of a quilt I must have started back in 2010.  Most of the block pieces were cut and I even found the instructions I had printed from the Internet!  I started machine-piecing and quickly saw what must have been my frustration fifteen years ago: some of the pieces were slightly the wrong size!  But in the spirit of perseverance and finishing the task at hand, I decided to do the best I could with the supplies I had.  (I only had a few leftover fabrics, so couldn’t start over.)  My daughter helped me with every step including designing the layout and tying each quilt block corner.  (We even learned how to make a surgeon’s knot!)  None of it is perfect, but we’re getting closer and closer to a finished product.  I have loved spending time with her in our little mother/daughter quilting bee.  A sweet memory.
  4. A lesson in failure. // I tried to make yogurt twice in the slow cooker and failed both times.  Choosing to see this as a good thing because it got my problem-solving wheels turning, gave me a healthy dose of humility and fed my piglets a special treat.  I want to try again once I recover from the money I wasted.
  5. Pie for pi day! // I would probably have forgotten about this if it weren’t for my bingo board!  My middle kids each made a pie: apple and chocolate chip.  Delicious.

Frugal Accomplishments //

  • discovered that a Bandaid makes a good makeshift thimble
  • used up a science kit from last year that worked for a subject we’re studying this week (the solar system!)
  • gave my daughter a haircut
  • made another batch of granola to eat with our homemade yogurt
  • used my soap saver bag (mine is no longer for sale, but this is similar) to use up the last bits and pieces
  • made banana bread from bananas in the freezer
  • cooked dried pinto beans to make into refried beans
  • finally finished a shampoo that has been languishing in my shower since I bought something I liked better

This Week in the Liturgical Year //

March 12 was the Commemoration of St. Luigi Orione, Priest.

To Read: Homily of St. John Paul II on St. Luigi’s canonization

To Add to the Library: The Restless Apostle: From the Writings of Don Orione

To Copy in the Commonplace Book: “Without Prayer nothing good is done. God’s works are done with our hands joined, and on our knees. Even when we run, we must remain spiritually kneeling before Him.” and “Only charity will save the world.”

Reading //

  • Why? Springing Forward, Falling Back, and Changing Times from Matthew Giambrone at Hearth and Field // “I had always been given to understand, anecdotally, mostly by my mother, that Daylight Savings Time was founded by Benjamin Franklin and was for the benefit of farmers’ harvest schedules and suchlike. I have conducted a short study of the matter, however, and it turns out neither assertion is true.”
  • Who was Elizabeth Goudge? from Elizabeth Goudge Bookclub // “Elizabeth Goudge (which is pronounced somewhere between “Scrooge” and “rouge”) was visited by a constant stream of visitors and admirers from the 40’s until the end of her life, with them popping in the door at all hours. She felt that fame was her duty to share more of herself, so she wrote letters and visited with everyone who came. She loved her little dogs, doing embroidery, observing nature and living in the country.”
  • Letters from Prison from Ben Spencer at Comment // This was so good.

On March 26, 1987, Ben Spencer—twenty-two years old, newly married, with a baby on the way—was arrested for robbing and killing a wealthy white man in Dallas. Nothing connected him to the crime. He was convicted on the testimony of three witnesses who lied for a $35,000 reward and a jailhouse informant who lied for a shorter sentence. Ben was sentenced to life in prison.

Ben’s story reveals how criminal trials can go off the rails and why innocence is not enough to undo the mistake. But it is also a story of faith. For thirty-four years in a maximum-security prison, Ben absorbed God’s Word at a cellular level: He forgave the people who framed him, and he never doubted that the truth would set him free. Ben’s spiritual journey can be traced in some two thousand pages of letters to his wife, Debra. He never succumbed to bitterness—he saw it as a poison—and he trusted that God alone controlled his fate, not the Texas legal system. His miracle came in the form of a new district attorney, who reinvestigated his case. Ben Spencer was exonerated on August 29, 2024, his name cleared and his soul burnished to reflect the image of Christ.

  • It Is Time from Grandma Donna // “I have always been a curious thinker, I like to know how things work and why and I do better if I can see it and learn visually. A mentor is even better but there are not as many mentors today as we once had. We have now gone several generations without them as many of the old skills of the past have been replaced by machines that do it for you but this comes with a cost.”  I think about this often.
    • And this from Sara M in the comments after she shared how she spends her time after work: “I may have to live in the 2025 but it doesn’t need to live in me.”
  • this passage from The Hidden Power of Kindness by Lawrence G. Lovasik that dovetailed nicely with last week’s thoughts:

Action is one of the most effective forms of self-encouragement and good cheer.  There is something intrinsically humble about action.  When you act, you come to grips with reality.  Action does not make your problems magically disappear, but unlike talk or dreams or merely good resolutions, it does begin to solve them.  As long as you act, there is limitless hope for you and very little room for gloominess.

In your action, however, try to take a long-range view of things.  This will further serve to encourage you.  You are often too impatient.  You want quick and easy solutions.  When they are not forthcoming, you get depressed.  Nature has a way of taking its own sweet time, and you are part of nature.  You cannot force things.  Cultivate a respect for time and the essential role it plays in all human activity. (p.43-44)

New Additions to The List // 

Watching/Listening //

from the archives…

WEEK ELEVEN 2024 // Make It Up With Relationship

No.903: Last Week at the Farmhouse // Out of My Head & Into My Hands

“Françoise in Green, Sewing” by Mary Cassatt (1908 – 1909)

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

There’s a quote I love from Kate at The Last Homely House: Get out of your head and into your hands!

Recently, I’ve heard a lot of anxiety/frustration/anger/fear about current events.  The news cycle is nonstop and so many things seem to be beyond our control.  In my area of the world, I see how many people are coping and these activities are not exactly life-giving: lots of alcohol, an obsession with work and productivity, excessive materialistic spending, etc.

Now this is silly and I’ll probably be mocked for its simplicity, but I think I have the antidote: get off that screen and into the physical present.  When you’re in touch with what is right in front of your eyes – your family, your neighborhood, your town – your priorities in life seem to come into focus.  I have no control over how the government is run, but I can attend public county committee meetings or police department meetups or school board meetings in my area.  I can’t solve world hunger, but I can donate to the food pantry in my city.  I can’t control inflation or high food costs, but I can get my hands in the dirt and sow a few seeds.

I think there’s a place for handcrafts in this too.  The act of making something from nothing is not only a huge boost in self-confidence, but also has this amazing way of drawing you into the task at hand.  In those moments, the repetitive nature of what you’re doing helps to soothe and calm the mind.  I think we all could see a little more of that.

So pick an old favorite or try something new: baking, diamond art, sewing, embroidery, punch needlework, needlepoint, cross-stitch, gardening, woodworking, quilting, painting, writing, playing an instrument… the possibilities are endless!  Wishing you a little more peace in your life (and mine!) this week.

Hoping to document 52 weeks of good things!

Five Good Things…

  1. A new cookbook project. // I bought The Stay-at-Home Chef Slow Cooker Cookbook at the used bookstore for $3 and it inspired a new idea!  I’ve always wanted to make every recipe in a single cookbook and this may be the one.  This week, I made Extra-Sloppy Joes and Cheesy Bacon and Ranch Potatoes and both were a hit.
  2. Planting more seeds. // This time, I started all of my tomatoes.
  3. Week one of Make Stuff March. // Feeling very accomplished!  I fully finished my first Christmas ornament and even learned how to make a decorative bow for the top.  I finished a half-completed cross-stitch frog and then sewed it into a log cabin quilt block, finally attaching it to a random muslin bag I had hanging around.  (My first time using iron-on adhesive, which I also had in my stash!)  I practiced zippers again and made a pouch using a finished cross-stitch piece I must have made back in 2009?  (I used this tutorial this time.  I’m getting better and at least it zips!)  I hand-quilted a little on my grandmother’s flower garden quilt and started machine-piecing a pinwheel one.  Not sure if I can keep up this pace all month, but it’s a solid start!
  4. Deterring a hungry fox. // For months now, our poor birds have been relentlessly pursued by a fox.  We had about 35 hens and 15 ducks last summer and now we’re down to about 12 hens and one lone duck!  We can’t let them free range anymore which is sad for everyone.  Anyway, we’re constantly looking for weak areas in our fencing and trying to stay one step ahead of that pesky fox.  This week, we felt triumphant as we watched him unable to penetrate our reinforced Critterfence.  Our Great Pyrenees, Samson, helped scare him back into the forest!
  5. A new job for my 16-year-old son. // Very excited for him!

Frugal Accomplishments //

  • began a test to see if we can get away with only going to the grocery store every other week
  • made beef tallow in the slow cooker twice from fat in the freezer
  • made broth from chicken backs in the freezer
  • listed a few things on Poshmark/ebay/Pango
  • made vanilla granola to use up the yogurt in the fridge
  • gave the three youngest boys haircuts

This Week in the Liturgical Year //

March 7 was the Optional Memorial of Sts. Perpetua and Felicity, Martyrs.

To Listen: Perpetua: A Rare Female Voice from Antiquity from The Way of the Fathers Podcast

To Add to the Library: The Passion of the Holy Martyrs Perpetua and Felicity by Tertullian

 

Reading //

I can be hasty, thoughtless and ungrateful.

I struggle with anxiety.

I am widely imperfect.

Yet, I am me again. A better, more aware, happier version of myself.

I am finally content with my life.

It breaks my heart to think of the person I was before. There is no going back.

This is me.

  • Meaningless language (and how fairy tale vocabulary can save us) from Susanna Schwartz at The Enchanted Window // “I think we’ve lost the old words and phrases we used to describe how people can live and behave, and we’ve replaced them with other terms that obfuscate the old meaning. Worse, I suspect it’s a terrible vicious cycle — we lost words like “nobility” and “virtue” because they didn’t mean anything to us anymore, and as they withered out of use, so did the ideals themselves. We lost a more human vocabulary, and along with it a more human way of life.”
  • My Year in Books 2024 from Melisa Capistrant at The Cavalry of Woe // LOTS of good recommendations here!  I already have a bunch of the titles on my TBR and I added a few new-to-me ones to my list below.

New Additions to The List // 

Loving //

from the archives…

WEEK TEN 2024 // Little Moments of Delight

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