The weekly “little of this, little of that” feature here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!
(This will all look and work better if you click on the actual post and do not remain on the main page.)
Our bees survived the worst January on record — well, almost all of them did. It was so dreadfully cold for so long, without a break, that we were sure they wouldn't make it. We hardly made it! Amazingly, two hives did. And then in the February thaw, when temperatures got high enough for Phil to open them up, nothing.
They had all succumbed to mites. This is so sad! All around us, beekeepers reported the same thing. There's nothing to do but start again.
So this past week, a new colony was delivered, and after much agonizing over our shady, hillside property, we decided to move them to this spot, just above my garden. Phil hacked away at a bush that I've long hated (it was quince, which does have beautiful blooms for one week every year, and then looks like a scraggly blot on the landscape for all the others) and made a platform for them where they will, hopefully, get the maximum amount of sunlight in all seasons and be sheltered on the northwest by the berm.
We hope shortly to be able to split this hive and be back up and running with our apiary!
We have grandkids around who love seeing all things bee-related, and helping as much as possible (not much haha, and I wasn't involved in the tying up of that little suit… doesn't seem all that helpful to have ropes around your arms and legs but no one consulted me!). We have one child-sized suit, but children usually don't care much about it — they are fine hanging out by the hive regardless. (It turns out that Phil seems to be extremely allergic to bee stings, so he does get the whole shebang on.)
The bucket is leftover from collecting the honey and comb from the top-bar hive. The new bees will clean up the stickiness of the residue in the container and the strainer much better than I ever could!
On to our links!
- If you follow me on Instagram, you see occasional loaves of bread and then you kindly ask me for my methods, etc. But I don't know what I'm doing yet. I have found this IG account and his website really helpful, though!
- David Clayton (with whom I wrote The Little Oratory) writes about beauty, and how it draws us towards the light and truth of God.
- “Moving on” from the question of divorce and remarriage is urged enough that the spirit starts to go out of you. The clamor doesn't die down; the memory of what the case really is does. It slips away. This article is worth rereading, therefore: The Forgotten Spouse.
- Jeff Mirus, my husband's colleague, wrote a good piece on Seven Mistakes of “Good Catholic Parents” that I thought you'd like to see. The problem is that anxiety often overtakes us when we just aren't sure what the alternative is. I would simply say: these errors are avoided if we live our faith along with the Liturgical Year of the Church, as I so often urge here. That's what our book is about. We can be peaceful if we just live and pray and trust.
- Another older article, worth a re-read: Why only men [and boys] should serve at Mass. The only one I've seen that gives the reasons that it is not good for girls, and why.
- We have to speak up about uncomfortable topics, because soon there will not be practicing Christians in positions that we need them to be in. “Katherine Asjeshad been named by Gov. Kim Reynolds to the Iowa Board of Medicine, but she had be to confirmed by the 49-member Iowa Senate. Asjes is the mother of six, the wife of a military veteran, a conservative Republican, and a practicing Catholic. She needed a two-thirds majority, but failed to get it as 18 Democrats voted against her.” The reason? Not going along with the LGBT catechism.
From the archives:
- It really is so hard to be frugal and feel that you are buying the right kinds of food. Five thoughts about that from me.
- Remember when I started a book club reading in Lent and it went on until Easter? If you couldn't do it then, maybe do it now! Romano Guardini's Spirit of the Liturgy. (All the posts are linked in this one.)
Lots of feasts today in the liturgical calendar!
While you’re sharing our links with your friends, why not tell them about Like Mother, Like Daughter too!
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).
Jenny says
That is really too bad about your bees. What a sad disappointment. I hope the new place is a good one and those children — I can just imagine the activity around the hive from them!
I quickly scanned the spiritual mistakes ones and got a much needed boost of confidence. As a convert, I’m always feeling a little behind the curve, but this article makes many good points, and the last one on emotional piety really touched me. For my older son especially, I see this push toward the emotional in some of the RE classes, and it is always off putting to me. From my own experience with RCIA and teaching RE once, I can see how uncomfortable it makes some feel — both young and old.
Melisa says
I showed my children the pictures of your (grandchild?) in the bee suit, and they saw the trampoline as we scrolled further down. Uh-oh, Auntie Leila, I’m in trouble (in my children’s eyes) because our trampoline remains put away! And why does it remain put away? Well, we’ve got about a good six inches of freshly-fallen fluffy flakes here in Minnesota… And it’s still coming down as I type.
I really love to read anything by Anthony Esolen. As I read the article you linked to, this popped out: “No Christian may assume that the body is nothing, so that we may do with it as we please, so long as we remain ‘spiritual’.” I called to mind some of my relatives, and how it seems to be the thing to do to keep ashes of deceased loved ones in their homes – or made into jewelry to be worn on their bodies. I recall my paternal aunt, joking that she had brought my Grandma “out shopping”. My poor deceased sister has been split up, some ashes sprinkled on a favorite beach, some made into jewelry. I’m so repulsed by this. (Of course, I’m a convert in my family, but some of them further back have Catholic upbringings.) I also was even told by a friend of mine that a pastor at a local mega-church brought the ashes of his deceased father in a garbage bag, allegedly up to the pulpit to prove some point in his sermon. Yikes! I realize we are, “…dust, and to dust you shall return…”, but we are also “…a temple of the Holy Spirit…” How to combat this blatant disrespect of the human person? I’m at a loss. I suppose it’s all part and parcel of the Culture of Death. I don’t think it would help to reference the Catechism to some of these folks, so what do you do? Love to hear your thoughts on the matter. I know Mr. Esolen wasn’t specifically referring to the deceased here, but, still, they’re human nonetheless.
Jenny says
Melisa, I’m a convert, too, and am struggling with this issue. My mother would like to be “split up.” I have yet to work up the courage to speak to her. I don’t know what to do. She isn’t ill or anything like that; she’s just pre-planning. It is a difficult issue.
Donna L. says
Hello Jenny~ Another convert here~I am sorry you are having to deal with this. My Mum–{Very New-age-environment-is-king-Tree-hugger-and-animals-are-better-than-people-type} wanted me to split up her ashes and put them hither and yon! I said, quietly, that I would like somewhere to go and pray, that would stay the same as the world goes spinning on…..she now has a small plot, and is taking the time to design a small marker for her grave. I am relieved that I said something, and thankful that she heard me! You can do this–I will say a little prayer for you!
Jenny says
Donna L., thank you for your kind response. Your comment to your mother is so gentle. I am going to say something just like this to my own. Thank you very much for taking the time to respond.
Leila says
Melisa, I just leave my trampoline out!! So lazy…
Your comments (and those of Jenny) about the body and death I think highlight the importance of conversations we have with people. Where religion has disappeared, these fundamental catecheses have to happen between us and our friends. We have to just say what’s what. “Don’t you want your mom to be buried? So that you can visit her grave, and you know it will be there? Urns get lost! Jewelry gets misplaced! Don’t YOU want to be remembered after you die?” Be brave!
Jenny says
Leila, thank you very much for your response. I’m always encouraged by your courage. This is a conversation I will have with her, and what you have said is very helpful to me. So often I am tongue-tied in conversation. Thank you!
Katharine says
I have a question on this– preparing to convert, and not sure about these things. I really don’t mean any disrespect about such a sensitive issue. However, since some saints’ physical bodies have been separated into relics, does that indicate that “splitting” the ashes might not be entirely frowned upon?
Dixie says
My dad is just such a “forgotten spouse” (from a second marriage, after my mom’s death) and it is a heart-wrenching situation. There are so many little ways in which our culture tells these people to smile and shut up. So hard. His parish also won’t let him volunteer because he is a “divorced Catholic.” I don’t know their reasoning in this, because his wife divorced him entirely against his will and he has not remarried, but it seems like his situation is misunderstood left and right. And as for the effect on the children of that marriage…it is worst of all for them, even when they look as though they are doing perfectly fine. Children are not resilient — they are just powerless.