PSA: We will be traveling from Massachusetts to southeastern Virginia in early May. If you have been wishing that I and/or my husband could talk to your group and it's on the general route, shoot me an email at LMLDblog@gmail.com! We can perhaps set something up with a good solid discount!
Last week I saw the snowdrops outside my husband's study window!
Then the other day, the sun came around and I just was able to feel the sap rising in my own soul. I put down my knitting (for a bit) and emerged from my nest on the sofa. I was able to accomplish a little tidying, cleaning, and organizing without feeling like a zek in a particularly vitiating corner of the gulag.
I even worked on a little sewing project.
A little tote for my daughter-in-law Jaime. Maybe the straps are too long though…
The sewing room is coming along. I bought several of those battery-operated lights that you push (but two have a remote with a timer, which I think will come in handy) for the closet so I could organize some supplies, which is just hard to do when you actually can't see.
This house has a fair number of closets, for an older house, but the electrical outlets are few and far between.
(In that box are vintage wall sconces for the room, but I am awaiting an electrician — and it seems I will wait a long time!)
What's unusual about my house, I think, is that one of each bedroom's closets connects to the room next to it. So here, below, you are looking into the sewing-room closet and at the door that connects into another bedroom. Maybe it was to provide another way out in case of fire? The bedrooms all have fireplaces too…
And I got my pantry ready for the seed bench.
The floor has those lighter patches because for years (after laying a new flooring), I had two shelves there. Now they are across the way after the most recent re-organization. A friend remarked on Instagram that this room gets moved around the most.
Fair.
But it's because so much is going on here! The food storage stepped up a lot last year, and now, having gone through a lot of pantry items that I put up in the fall, I have the glass jars to find homes for as well (small portion of the supply pictured here).
As I moved things over to the right side to make room for my (undoubtedly too large) seed bench, I tidied, cleaned, and re-arranged the canned goods and so on.
I used to think you would just set up your pantry and, like a grocery store, things would remain in place. I have to give myself permission to move things all around (though there is a danger that I will then forget about them, because I am very visual! As you can tell!).
For two months or so, things will be pretty tight in here. But it's fine. I love it! It's not picture-perfect, but it works for me and when the seeds are finally moved outside, I'll clean and re-organize again, and how roomy it will all feel!
I keep telling myself that the little white table does not need to be in the pantry, for the love–
but a) I don't have anywhere else for it and b) it's handy, every day, for putting things down while I am going to and fro!
bits & pieces
- How to use your dishwasher better. Do find out if your water is hard or soft, if you don't know. Soft-water places need far less detergent, so pods are maybe not the best choice. A repairman told my friend that it's better anyway to use far, far less detergent than you think. Here in our hard-water area he said a squirt the size of a quarter! What do you think about putting vinegar in the rinse receptacle? We have residue that is taken away by vinegar, but I don't know if the machine dispenses it correctly.
- Go here for all the podcasts.
- A friend told me that this website, Springs in the Desert, is solace for those who carry the burden of infertility.
- A star-shaped fort in The Netherlands — Fort Bourtange. It's really beautiful — a military garden! My son Will remarked, “Our intricate and expertly maintained floral moat will surely protect us from all harm — our enemy will either get lost in the design or the beauty…”
This article by the philosopher J. Budziszewski focuses on abortion, but the vengeful conscience will cause harm if any sin is indulged long enough. The evidence is all around us, and we need to protect our children from that fate (and avoid it ourselves!) — sorrow, repentance, and a firm amendment with God's help is the way! It is for this that Christ died on the cross!
from the archives
- Three-year-olds teach us that they are people too (even if they won't nap)
- I agree that minding what we eat is important. But it's not the most important thing, nor is everything sold as healthy as we might think it is.
liturgical living
St. Eulogius of Cordoba, St. Sophronius
The novena to St. Joseph begins today!
follow us everywhere! share us with your friends!
My book, The Summa Domestica: Order and Wonder in Family Life is available now from Sophia Press! All the thoughts from this blog collected into three volumes, beautifully presented with illustrations from Deirdre, an index in each volume, and ribbons!
My “random thoughts no pictures” blog, Happy Despite Them — receive it by email if you like, or bookmark, so you don’t miss a thing!
My new podcast can be found on the Restoration of Christian Culture website (and you can find it where you listen to such things) — be sure to check out the other offerings there!
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