I am joining in with the Catholic Woman's Almanac from Suscipio again this week.
The card I made for my sister - my wish for her and for all those I love
::Moments of Gratitude - I'm feeling very thankful for family today after a happy day celebrating my "baby sister's" 30th birthday, and as my husband returns home and we all reunite for a happy time of home educating and being together. I am so thankful I have a husband who took our five year old clothes shopping and let her try on outfit after outfit before coming home with two bags full of wonderful new clothes.
::Pondering - growing up and growing older: things that so many of us fear. As I've been getting closer to forty I am thinking of what I can do now to make my older years rich and useful. I think of those years as the "harvest years" when I hope to be able to be peaceful, contented, in love with my husband, secure in my relationship with God, busy but with time to stop and drink in those proverbial roses, treasuring old memories and making new ones, close to my children and wider family, and, God willing, enjoying my grandchildren. I need to prepare though - it won't just happen. I know of many older people who are anxious, fretful, full of complaints, estranged from family, still caught up in foolishness.
::Praying - for little baby Beatrice Howard who is sick with cancer, and for a friend.
::Cooking - on Saturday I threw some chicken thighs, red pepper, onions, tomatoes, chorizo into the pot and made a delicious casserole that the children and I loved. We're eating the leftovers for supper tonight! We also have half of my sister's birthday cake left - it is a citronella, with cooked lemon puree and almonds, damp and citrusy and delicious. So much of the food for today is already sorted, which makes it a very enjoyable day!
::Wearing - Jeans, soft angora socks, a heather coloured woolen shawl, grey cardigan and a jade green floral tunic.
::Creating - I'm between projects. I need to get something on my knitting needles, and I want to sew a new ironing board cover. But we are planning on moving things around in our bedroom which means my "sewing cupboard" (where I sew and store fabric, yarn etc) will be moving - I kind of want to get that sorted out first.
::Going - with Kitten to a new dancing class. It's all about creativity, imagination and playfulness rather than the wretched "good toes, bad toes" of ballet class, and I think she will come to love it.
::Reading - "Something is going to happen" by Charlotte Zolotow - I loved loved loved reading this to the children I used to work with at school, and I still adore reading it to our own precious darlings. Who wouldn't want to wake up to snow, freshly baked muffins and the fragrance of coffee and vanilla filling the house. Let alone that gorgeous dressing gown with hearts on it!
::Around the House - I am coming up with plans to find more things the children can help with. With two intense children, one going through the nine year change and one who enjoys drama, the emotional atmosphere here can be intense and some simple rhythmic tasks such as sweeping, polishing, scrubbing need to be an established part of our day to help soothe some of those itchy nerve ends!
::Looking Ahead - we opened up our nature journals and illustrated a recent encounter with ornithologists who let the children handle some birds they were weighing and ringing. It was quite the shock to me that the last time we formally nature journalled was in October! We're out and about daily, observing and discussing, and the children frequently do independent drawing from nature, but we need to go out and collect some twigs to draw this coming week for sure!
::Pondering - growing up and growing older: things that so many of us fear. As I've been getting closer to forty I am thinking of what I can do now to make my older years rich and useful. I think of those years as the "harvest years" when I hope to be able to be peaceful, contented, in love with my husband, secure in my relationship with God, busy but with time to stop and drink in those proverbial roses, treasuring old memories and making new ones, close to my children and wider family, and, God willing, enjoying my grandchildren. I need to prepare though - it won't just happen. I know of many older people who are anxious, fretful, full of complaints, estranged from family, still caught up in foolishness.
::Praying - for little baby Beatrice Howard who is sick with cancer, and for a friend.
::Cooking - on Saturday I threw some chicken thighs, red pepper, onions, tomatoes, chorizo into the pot and made a delicious casserole that the children and I loved. We're eating the leftovers for supper tonight! We also have half of my sister's birthday cake left - it is a citronella, with cooked lemon puree and almonds, damp and citrusy and delicious. So much of the food for today is already sorted, which makes it a very enjoyable day!
::Wearing - Jeans, soft angora socks, a heather coloured woolen shawl, grey cardigan and a jade green floral tunic.
::Creating - I'm between projects. I need to get something on my knitting needles, and I want to sew a new ironing board cover. But we are planning on moving things around in our bedroom which means my "sewing cupboard" (where I sew and store fabric, yarn etc) will be moving - I kind of want to get that sorted out first.
::Going - with Kitten to a new dancing class. It's all about creativity, imagination and playfulness rather than the wretched "good toes, bad toes" of ballet class, and I think she will come to love it.
::Reading - "Something is going to happen" by Charlotte Zolotow - I loved loved loved reading this to the children I used to work with at school, and I still adore reading it to our own precious darlings. Who wouldn't want to wake up to snow, freshly baked muffins and the fragrance of coffee and vanilla filling the house. Let alone that gorgeous dressing gown with hearts on it!
::Around the House - I am coming up with plans to find more things the children can help with. With two intense children, one going through the nine year change and one who enjoys drama, the emotional atmosphere here can be intense and some simple rhythmic tasks such as sweeping, polishing, scrubbing need to be an established part of our day to help soothe some of those itchy nerve ends!
::Looking Ahead - we opened up our nature journals and illustrated a recent encounter with ornithologists who let the children handle some birds they were weighing and ringing. It was quite the shock to me that the last time we formally nature journalled was in October! We're out and about daily, observing and discussing, and the children frequently do independent drawing from nature, but we need to go out and collect some twigs to draw this coming week for sure!
little helper carrying the cake to her aunty
beautiful photo that says so much-she is pleased, filled with joy and radiant in the light. It could be seen as a symbolic picture-she is radiant in the glow of the Spirit
ReplyDeleteBeautiful picture! I enjoyed your "pondering" I ponder the same. I am very aware of what I do not want to do, it's just figuring our how to be and do what I do want.
ReplyDeleteJust catching up with your lovely blog and I see my Beatrice's name. Thank you so very much, Lucy.
ReplyDelete