The weekly “little of this, little of that” feature here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!
I can never wrap my mind around how quickly the garden's promise of hope becomes a done deal — this is it, sister, there's always next year! But in truth, it has been an amazing year!
With three burgeoning hives, we are hoping for a good and even great honey harvest this year. The Chief's dearest, fondest wish came true when he rescued a swarm from a neighbor's low tree! He added those bees to our “weak” hive and thinks they are already doing much better. (You combine the new and old using newspaper!) I am hoping that after things calm down in the late fall, we can straighten up our hives and make them level– they look so very ramshackle! This is the kind of thing that bothers me; the Chief — and the bees! — not a bit.
On to our links!
- A must-read if you are gearing up for your home schooling or if you are wondering if it's for you: Homeschool Worries: Erased With Research & Experience — lots of reassuring words about how school as we know it in our busy age is the experiment — learning at home is the tried and true method! No really, read it!
- How people in the past read aloud: The lost pleasure of reading aloud. (Hopefully not lost but it's interesting to get a glimpse of how it may have been done before).
- Yesterday was the feast of St. Louis IX of France, who obtained the Crown of Thorns — the actual crown of thorns from the crucifixion of Jesus — and caused to be made a miraculous church to contain it, a reliquary that is in fact a building.
Nothing prepares the visitor for the experience of entering this place, for which the description of “jewel box” as applied to a building was made: for the beauty, the light, the colors, and the intimate yet soaring space. From pictures I had seen, I expected a much bigger structure, but in fact, the space is tiny in comparison to the churches and cathedrals the tourist is accustomed to visiting — what happens is that to take in the extraordinary height of it and all its marvels, the photographer has to use the widest-angle lens, and that's what tricks you into misjudging its size.
Watch this short video with your children — it's well done and touches on the main points. You can investigate further about the lower chapel, which is also beautiful, and the subject matter of the stained glass, which struck me as impossible to assimilate. There is so much depicted there — so many scenes of Salvation History, of the history of France, of the heavenly realm — that I can't imagine ever being able to grasp it all. Each one of those panels, going all the way up, tells its own story!
Doing a little study of the chapel, its late Gothic architecture, and the Crown of Thorns will enhance your understanding of the medieval period and its faith.
- Along the same lines, a book I think I've recommended before: God's Hotel by Victoria Sweet, a doctor (who is not Christian, as far as I know) with an interest in St. Hildegard von Bingen and medieval approaches to health. I highly recommend it for thoughts about caring for the sick and the poor.
- We must always pray and atone, from Emily Stimpson Chapman. We must love our neighbor.
- A fun look at mid-century kitchens, and a video from the USDA of 1949 with some innovative ideas for efficiency (maybe skip to the 3-minute mark to see the kitchen in action — I think we could implement some of these thoughts!)
From the archives:
- I have so many posts about homeschooling, and I hope that they expand for you the thoughts in that first article I linked to, above. You will find them under Raising Children in the menu bar, under “education” — all sorts of help for you to have confidence that making your home educates your children!
- Sometimes the most practical thing is the one that gives you confidence for the most idealistic thing. I guarantee you that if you follow the steps I outline in this post about organizing your homeschooler's work in a binder, the old-fashioned way, you will have a lot of serenity about the coming year. If you have questions, leave a comment!
- Basically, what got me started writing here is the question I always get asked the most: How do you homeschool? The answer takes ten years of blogging to begin to accomplish, but it can be summed up as “Order and Wonder”!
Today in the Liturgical calendar we commemorate St. Zephyrinus and Our Lady of Czestochowa (you pronounce that, according to our Polish community here, Chestahova, although the internet says Chestakova! Polish-speaking readers, chime in!)
~We’d like to be clear that, when we direct you to a site via one of our links, we’re not necessarily endorsing the whole site, but rather just referring you to the individual post in question (unless we state otherwise).~
Theresa says
I am resting at home with a small bug today… What a treat here!! Your posts are like small presents – so very interesting and enjoyable AND timely!! I’m going to ask for an advanced copy of your book!!! Thank you for all that you do!!
Kaitlin says
That homeschool post was great! Thanks for sharing!
Laura says
This is really great post! Thanks for sharing the video about Saint Louis’ chapel, that is really amazing. The video about the efficient kitchen is intriguing, too. I’ll have to watch later when my son isn’t jumping around expressing his disinterest in kitchens. I like the housewife’s dress in the video and I’ve seen a few in similar style this last summer. I tried one on, but alas I looked like a potato.
Lisa G. says
Leila, it’s more like Chenstahova, there being a thingy under the e, which makes sort of an implied n sound, if that’s at all clear. 8-). It’s not really an n sound, but that’s the closest thing we English speakers can do. It is almost like you’re going to say “eng”, but don’t get to the g. Try it! 😀 (if you dare)
Camille M. says
Yes, this is how my family of polish speakers has always said it too. I’ve never heard it with the k sound at the end.
Maureen says
Chestahova, at least according to my Polish parish and visits to Our Lady of Czestochowa Church in Doylestown, Pa.
BridgetAnn says
Wow, love all the organization in that kitchen from the video! (I must admit, though, the food storage in the cabinets seemed like an invitation to pests :0 )
Aunt Leila, do you ever have a problem with birds perching on your laundry line and leaving “presents”? I got discouraged a couple weeks ago, several times needing to rewash my laundry. It may have been due to a certain berry dropping about that time so I’ll probably just need to try again.
Leila says
BridgetAnn, sometimes it does happen! I just rewash the affected item. Usually if I don’t leave the laundry on the line too long everything is fine. If I forget it and leave it overnight, then yes, it seems like the birds are more likely to have gotten their shot…
I think this is where the placement of the line matters — you try to get it out in the open where they are not likely to congregate or pass over from one eating station to the next! Mine is probably too near the raspberries, to be honest! But I don’t have a lot of choices.
BridgetAnn says
Thanks, Aunt Leila. Not many options here either, placement-wise but I got back on the horse this week and everything is fine. Must have had something to do with those cherries 🙂
mydomesticmonastery says
I’ve always heard it pronounced, “Chestahova”. 😉
Denise says
Your zinneas are wonderful! We planted them as seeds this year just to see if we could and we got a total of three. But a beautiful three. I love zinneas.
Kelsey says
I visited Czestachowa in college, and after I returned home I showed some of the pictures I’d taken to my 98 year-old great-grandmother. She told me that her mother had been from Czestochowa! I had known we had some Polish background, but it was very neat to think I had visited the birthplace of my ancestors – and a place so connected with Our Lady!
Dixie says
When I was 11 or 12 and living in Paris I used to go almost every Saturday and just sit on the floor in the very back of the Ste-Chapelle and bask in it. I think it did a lot for my formation. I know of no more beautiful “inside.” It is truly incredible.
Paula says
don’t lament the paint…at least yours are painted! we just got bees this year & have 2 unpainted boxes! One painted-two unpainted.
Leila says
Paula, I don’t lament the paint — only the lack of plumb lines! I just want to go out there and straighten them all up (they do have to be tilted slightly forward so that the bees don’t have to fight with condensation at the entrance), but obviously, that might not be prudent!!
Paula says
good to know! I’m pretty sure ours are completely straight/fitted! Yikes…
Bethanne says
I got God’s Hotel from the library yesterday. I so wish we had almshouses! At one time, we had them in every county? I am half-way through and it looks like the hospital is already beginning to change to more “modern” and “efficient” practices. I think much of the collective memory is based on efficient inefficiency! Thank you for this recommendation. I think it will help me care for my family in a more whole way.
Leila says
Bethanne, I truly love the book and only wish it had way, way more detail, don’t you? But, just wait until you finish it…
Bethanne says
I just finished it. Sigh…
I am both content and discontent. I actually just ordered a 1969 copy of DeGowin & DeGowin’s Bedside Diagnostic Examination that she mentions was like a “bible” for all the doctors. When I read about it, someone said it was possible for a laymen to read and understand and I thought it might be helpful to me. Crazy, probably, as I am not a doctor, but I see that women care for their children and husbands very much like those kind of exams: observing, sitting, asking questions. I have hope that because almshouses existed and that there is really nothing new under the sun, that the pendulum will have to swing back. I want to be one of the old ladies with knit booties and matching blanket! This was a beautiful book and I am grateful. Thank you, again. By the way, It looks like Victoria Sweet will have another book “Slow Medicine” out in October.