The weekly “little of this, little of that” feature here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!
The garden finally got some rain yesterday, so I'm feeling not too bad about it. Certainly there are some things out there that seem not to have grown at all for a month, so that's odd, but we've not bought lettuce for a few weeks, which is most gratifying!
The chicks (we have a dozen), which are now about 7 weeks old, are now in the newly painted and fixed stable. This is a relief for all concerned.
Of course they are not quite used to it yet, and the night we moved them (just two nights ago) we had the anxiety of knowing one was still down by the little temporary coop (but not in it, of course, by closing up time, and we definitely heard a curdling cry after dusk) and one was up somewhere in the brush around the stable.
But by morning the really lost one was in the small coop and could be re-homed, and the sort-of-lost one was trotting around outside in the irises.
Phew.
Here is a BEFORE of the stable (this used to be the color scheme of the house, before we painted it about 10 years ago):
And now, AFTER (or, as they say, during, because the two hidden sides still need to be painted and can you just imagine a climbing rose out there?):
On to our links!
Misc:
- Deirdre has been following Architecture Here and There, and was reading from this post for my edification. Some tidbits:
“Corruption is wrong, but I am even more upset by the state’s insistence upon ugliness as a key feature of state-sponsored development.”
“Ruggerio’s legislation illustrates what Nietzsche called the “will to power,” but it also facilitates what we might reasonably call a “will to ugliness” that is already ubiquitous in development here and elsewhere.”
“Unlike political and financial corruption, which operate hand in glove to offend the wallet silently in the future, the ugliness of almost all public and private development offends the eye in real time, every day. It is pointless to say which is the more abhorrent. It may be argued that ugliness is the more direct and immediate harm. It robs each citizen of beauty, which is part and parcel of the pursuit of happiness.”
- Our friend Geoffrey Vaughan puts forth an interesting idea about the “federalization” of education, in the style of the Oxford and Cambridge — specifically to oppose the onslaught of politically correct (and academically impoverished) ideology that has taken over our institutions.
Devotions:
- We need more Eucharistic processions if we want to see fewer Pride parades (and less of what they represent)! This one is epic — 38 miles by water!
- Speaking of devotions, let's just do our best to have more. Attendance at Mass is not meant to bear the weight of our entire spiritual life, although it is, of course, the source and summit of it. Amy Welborn on clericalism and the disappearance of popular devotions.
- As anyone who knows me knows, I am devoted to Bl. John Henry Newman. I love that this miracle in his cause for sainthood is so closely bound up with babies, fertility, and a marriage open to life, just because I know that Newman appears to some as a particularly dry old bachelor and I've heard some attempt co-opt him as “gay.” “I was cured through Newman’s intercession so that I could continue an ordinary life, if you will, but at the same time be completely devoted to him and especially God himself and our church,” [the mother] said.
Cultural survey:
- Excellent article about the pride movement. I don't agree with quoting Andrew Sullivan without overtly pointing out that he owes the world an apology and reparation for his key role in legitimizing “gay marriage” — but it is remarkable to think that every single thing opponents predicted has come true in so short a time.
- To understand the phenomenon of cultural domination, perhaps it would be good to revisit this essay by Václav Havel, The Power of the Powerless. What is that power? To speak the truth, wherever we can. The St. Gregory Pockets can be the place we meet to read just such things and discuss them together, encouraging each other to resist attempts to silence us.
- The effects of divorce (and even more so of IVF) are philosophical, explains J. Budziszewski, harming the person's very ground of being. Sometimes we aren't sure of the good we do just by being home, taking care of our family, and living an ordinary life, but be assured that these wounded children desperately need a vision of the good — they need your family and your happy children to give them hope.
- You can buy almost any book on Amazon (including many truly vile books), but you cannot buy Joseph Nicolosi's books on reparative therapy for those seeking a way out of homosexuality, because the company has banned them. Go to this site to read about Nicolosi's work and to buy the books if you are so inclined.
History:
- Will you be studying American History this year? Highly recommended: Catholicism and the American Founding. Add it to your high schooler's reading list!
From the archives:
Today is the feast of St. Henry.
Emily says
I love your chickens and their little stable! Yellow and red are just such a homey combination to me!
Cirelo says
Interesting the article about popular devotions, a new priest in our parish was telling me he was unfamiliar with many devotions because the seminary he was formed in actively forbade any personal or collective popular devotions.
appleava says
Not a Eucharistic procession, but I heard on Catholic radio that a priest dropped holy water all along the perimeter of his city while riding a helicopter for that purpose. http://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/us-world-news/catholic-bishop-to-rain-down-holy-water-from-helicopter-in-mass-exorcism-over-city Would certainly like to see more of this and more Eucharistic processions. : D
Maureen says
I’m pleased to see Geoffrey Vaughan here! He was a professor of mine in college and a friend, and he would joke we were part of the conservative minority at our public university.
Julie Zilkie says
Tell me about your wood chips in your garden! To you by untreated ones? How often do you have to replenish? We are having our weeks overtake us, and I have never used woodchips. Would love your input!! I have seen so many things, and just not sure which to use!
Leila says
Julie, our neighbor is a tree guy, and when I ask him, he will dump a load of whatever he has from a job. I consider this a blessing and a dream come true! Usually it’s oak or pine.
We put cardboard or weed cloth down and pile the chips up.
It’s too fresh for just around plants — although I’ve had piles sit there for long enough that they have aged down well enough even for that!
Victoria says
Really cute stable!