The weekly “little of this, little of that” feature here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!
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I'll do two catch-ups today — the garden and last week's graduation!
Here's a pic after a ton of work with everything just left out because I couldn't find any minions to clean up after me — where are they??
Those five beds in the front of the photo have buckwheat growing in them. I'm starting to interplant my tender veggies — my hope is that the flowering buckwheat will attract predators of the bad bugs that harm them. It also adds a lot of good nutrients to the soil.
Graduation at Thomas More College is a splendid affair, even in the cold rain. It all began with thesis presentations by all the seniors on Friday, followed by an elegant meal under the tent. And yes, it was cold enough for my winter coat!
The next day there was a beautiful Mass under the tent, celebrated by Bishop Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska. The Schola provided the polyphony and chant (Bridget is the soprano on the end there).
If it looks like Bridget is crying her eyes out emotional, she is!
So, busy around here! On to our links!
If you are near Central Massachusetts (a quick hop from southern New Hampshire, Providence, Boston, or even Hartford!) come join us for John's Open Art Studio day tomorrow! He'd love to meet you and show you around!
- I had a little chat on Mater Dei Radio with Mary Harrell the other day for a quick 20 minutes, about The Little Oratory and various things you might find interesting.
- Our friend Fr. Pokorsky on how we might find ourselves erased: Beware of the Beria Method.
- Fr. Schall on What Teachers Mean — perhaps there is something here to give encouragement to the homeschooler with an inferiority complex, though Fr. Schall is mainly speaking about the awakening that ought to happen in college. I think the homeschooler is more free to connect one's children to interesting people than the patrons of the local public school, at this point:
“But finding a good teacher, even if he is not in one’s own university or one’s own time, even if he is not really a professional “teacher,” is a great blessing. He can lead us to things that we otherwise would not have known or encountered. Both the teacher and the student are directed to something beyond themselves.”
- Department of long articles about arcane subjects: Exquisite Rot: Spalted Wood and the Lost Art of Intarsia.
- A meditation to take to prayer, perhaps: Pope Benedict's Christmas greetings of 2010 — on subjectivity, objectivity, and conscience. Incredibly relevant today, despite not being exactly the correct season, liturgically speaking. “For [John Henry Newman], “conscience” means man’s capacity for truth: the capacity to recognize precisely in the decision-making areas of his life – religion and morals – a truth, the truth. At the same time, conscience – man’s capacity to recognize truth – thereby imposes on him the obligation to set out along the path towards truth, to seek it and to submit to it wherever he finds it.”
- I don't even know what to say about this article, other than I couldn't figure out how to listen to the video (was that just me? Or there's no audio? In a story about music?) but don't tell me that we will forever be consigned to weakly crooning On Eagles' Wings, because this is a story about baroque music in (literally) jungle cultures — “Here near the borders of Brazil and Paraguay, harpsichords and lutes can be found in the smallest villages. Luthiers have carved violins from local cedar for centuries.”
A happy feast day to all our Philips!! The Chief, Rosie's Capt. P, and Pippo!! Tomorrow is Trinity Sunday, the one feast dedicated to a dogma, the One-in-Threeness of God!
From the archives:
- It's been in the news that Snapchat added a dark pornographic side to its site (and apparently took it away after protests) — but don't think that protecting your children is a matter of deleting apps. It's a way of life. I tried to outline how to live this way in my article about sex education.
- Last week Deirdre wrote about how her family has joined us here at the Manse while her husband The Artist sets up shop. Although we still (still!! never done!!) have one more room to renovate up there, here is a little tour of the space (pre-move-in, obviously).
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Amada Beatriz says
I loved the music article! Have you watched the 1986 movie The Mission? It’s precisely about how, via music, the Jesuits brought Christianity to the Guaraní people in the Amazon during the eighteenth century. Here is one of my favorite scenes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAoT2ktM2H0
Mignon says
Dear Auntie Leila,
I love that you still use the word “renovate” instead of “upgrade.” Thank you for resisting the tend toward crassness in language!
Mignon says
“Trend,” rather! Not much tending in crassness!
Catie H says
I love your third floor renovation – so classy and true to the spirit to find your home! I’m guessing you added the woodwork to the ceiling? That’s a great idea for plaster! It seems to crack and crumble more easily on the top floor.
Leila says
Thanks, Catie!
Yes, planked in all the ceilings. Exactly — there is so much variation in humidity and temperature up there that it seemed like the better way to go. It has worked out very well!
Adele says
Thank you so much for sharing about the garden. It is always fun to see other peoples gardens, especially in cold places since a great many books seem to be about places much warmer than Wisconsin. Thank you so much for sharing the links.
Stephanie says
What a beautiful graduation celebration! Congratulations to Bridget and to your family! 🙂
spindlitis says
My latest treadle has some intarsia, including a piece across the front measured in centimeters:
http://notsothoreau.com/blog/?p=1259
I use handspindles for spinning and have a couple out of spalted wood. We know one woodworker that pitches his wood out back under the blackberries for five years or so, then takes it out to work it. It is supposed to turned spalted.