Almighty, ever-living God,
constantly accomplish the Paschal Mystery within us,
that those you were pleased to make new in Holy Baptism
may, under your protective care, bear much fruit
and come to the joys of life eternal.
Searching for a Balance
Sunday, April 28, 2024
growing in the Paschal Mystery
Saturday, April 27, 2024
afternoon delights
My boss sent me a photo of a rabbit, seen in some shrubbery at the library. This is a big deal, because rabbits have been living in the bushes around the building, and they've all been ripped up. We were concerned - well, some of us were. But they are a hardy race, and it seems they just moved over a little.
I finished sewing my cleaning cloths, and now I shouldn't run out for any reason, for quite a while. And I've been shopping around online, looking at fabrics I might want to use for a dress lining. Maybe some broadcloth.
"People talk a lot of ballyhoo about suffering improving you. I should say that what it does is to underline what you were before."
- The Scent of Water, by Eliz. Goudge
Thursday, April 25, 2024
The beauty in the world, making things fit, and life with Daisy
"The old way of thinking about the world helped heal the 'tragic dilemma' of being human."
- Jason M. Baxter
Monday, April 22, 2024
remembering Dolly, and other Monday things
We are back to seasonal temperatures, but it was so sunny today it really seemed much warmer - not sure if it was, but it did seem.
I began transferring the pattern markings onto my dress pieces, but I soon realized that what I need is good old-fashioned tracing paper, the colored kind that you use with a tracing wheel. I have my wheels, but I had to order some paper. I was relieved they still make it because it's been ages since I bothered with any. It's coming tomorrow.
My brother was mowing and he found a little rabbit, dead, near the crabapple tree. He has no idea if he caused its demise; he's afraid maybe the mower surprised it and scared it to death, if it was perhaps in a depression under the grass? But would they make a nest so near the road? I don't know how smart they are. I remember when they made a nest in the backyard vegetable garden - that was genius! It's quite possible he had nothing to do with it, but he found a small box - it was a young one - and buried it across the brook where so many others are buried.
And that reminds me - it's Dolly's birthday. I was thinking about what made her so unusual.
Sunday, April 21, 2024
quiet things
Monday we went to the shore to visit a relative. I so enjoyed the ride; the trees are beginning to flower, forsythia is still brightly glowing and everyone is growing daffodils, it seems. It was delightful.
I had a quiet few days this weekend catching up on some painting in the bathroom. I also cut out fabric for a dress.
I was searching online for a linen blend to make the Nepheline blouse, but couldn't settle on anything. Meanwhile, I've had this green for years, and decided to make a dress from it. It's been hanging around too long, and I think it'll suit this pattern.
The left version. The other is too short, but I did run into trouble while cutting. I knew I didn't have as much fabric as the envelope said I needed, but I still cut the first piece in the long version. I then came to my senses, knowing I'd run out before I was done, so I opened up the fabric, cut each one separately, and had just enough room for all - what a relief! I don't usually dig out my sleeveless dresses till July, and this fabric isn't exactly summery, being a medium weight and linen/rayon, so I may have to wear it before it gets hot - we'll see. I have to make it first. It was kind of what I was needing for the Nepheline blouse, but I didn't want to make it out of that, and it got me thinking I should use it, so I decided on this dress.Tuesday, April 16, 2024
piles of grass
With more rain than usual, lawns are being mowed - my brother mowed ours yesterday.
Out my window, I see a neighbor mowed his
and left little piles of grass. Why does it make me think of Monet, and his rolled-up bales of hay?
Sunday, April 14, 2024
the journey
"By baptism we are grafted onto Christ so as to form with him one single body - his Mystical Body. We are given life by his very Spirit. His divine sentiments enter into us in ever-increasing measure, in proportion as we strip ourselves of our own. That is how we receive the adoption of the sons of God"
- Fr. Juan G. Arintero
"But we cannot think of life as a journey without accepting that it must involve change and growth."
- Esther de Waal, Seeking God: the Way of St. Benedict
Saturday, April 13, 2024
spring beauties
A goldfinch at the feeder with forsythia in the background -
The plum tree in bloom with our neighbor's shed showing behind it -
Some wisdom in my reading -
"...if you understand people you're of use to them whether you can do anything tangible or not. Understanding is a creative act in a dimension we do not see."
- Elizabeth Goudge, The Scent of Water
Thursday, April 11, 2024
personality, and other things
My project today was to finally do my state income taxes. Now I can relax. I never intend to leave them till the end, but I keep putting household things first. A dumb idea, in certain circumstances.
Our weather this week has suddenly turned warmer, and the clothes in my closet are not entirely suitable for temperatures in the sixties and seventies. This has got me scrambling. I am also thinking about what I'd like to sew next. I like this Nepheline blouse.
I was starting on the soup, sauteeing onion, etc., and I saw Leo outside, or maybe it was Leon - I have never seen them together, so am never sure. He was in the driveway; I tapped on the back door and he saw me. I went back to my cooking for a while, but Daisy somehow realized he was out there, and when I returned to the door, he was on the step.
He smelled the food, I'll bet. I put the chair there for Daisy to get a better view.
He didn't stay very long - I hope he went home to Dianne. Some of her cats are true wanderers, wanting to be outside all the time. I was just about to say it was a little excitement for Daisy, but she doesn't really need anything like that for stimulation; she is submerged in cat madness lately.
Can you guess what this is?
She started pulling down my bath towel the other day. She did it twice. But I have a solution.
I just need to unpin it before I get in the shower. I mean, to remember to unpin it.
The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis is very interesting. The author, Jason Baxter, quotes Lewis:
"In all previous ages that I can think of the principal aim of rulers, except at rare and short intervals, was to keep their subjects quiet, to forestall or extinguish widespread excitement and persuade people to attend quietly to their several occupations. And on the whole their subjects agreed with them. They even prayed (in words that sound curiously old-fashioned) to be able to live "a peaceable life in all godliness and honesty" and "pass their time in rest and quietness." But now the organization of mass excitement seems to be almost the normal organ of political power. We live in an age of "appeal", "drives", and "campaigns." Our rulers have become like schoolmasters and are always demanding "keenness." And you notice that I am guilty of a slight archaism in calling them "rulers." "Leaders" is the modern word. I have suggested elsewhere that this is a deeply significant change of vocabulary. Our demand upon them has changed no less than theirs on us. For of a ruler one asks justice, incorruption, diligence, perhaps clemency; of a leader, dash, initiative, and (I suppose) what people call "magnetism" or "personality."
Saturday, April 6, 2024
earthquakes in various places
A co-worker yesterday said to me, Did you know there was an earthquake in New York this morning? No, I was pretty busy at the main desk, handing out eclipse glasses. But those who were upstairs at the library felt it.
California often has quakes, and when there's a northern Cal earthquake, I think of Gretchen, but she never mentions it. Is that because she's so used to them? But, it's not a pleasant thing to think about.
The water company emailed to say they would flush out the mains today between eight and four thirty. I got up early to wash the dishes and run laundry through the washer beforehand. I was home all day, and kept checking the water - it never happened. I never saw them up the street at the hydrant, and the water was fine all day (although I avoided using it, I still checked it).
Jackson Galaxy put up a video the other day about the ingredients in canned cat food. Afterward I went and looked through the cupboard. He said carageenan is linked to cancer in cats, two ingredients with phosphate is a bad sign, or a phosphate too high on the ingredient list. Also, starches of course, like potato, pea, corn, etc.. I was surprised to see a few questionable cans in our stash. So, I threw out some of them, but the reality is, like us, cats may like the flavors of these undesirables. I mean, how much junk food have we liked in our lives? So, it's good to be aware, and then to find the balance between something more healthy and something kitty likes to eat.
the steppe will rejoice and bloom.
They will bloom with abundant flowers,
and rejoice with joyful song.
Thursday, April 4, 2024
spring things
I hemmed my skirt today,
We had a lot of rain the other day, and a wind advisory yesterday. But today there was snow! I went outside.
Tuesday, April 2, 2024
fancy quiche
There are these young women online here and there who like to dress in Little Women attire, and who share their old-fashioned crafts and recipes. It's very interesting. They seem to want to embrace a home-centered and healthy way of doing things, or maybe they want to escape modernity for a while. But I've seen quite a few.
Anyway, I made a quiche recipe today from one of these sites, and it was very good - more work than the usual quiche I make, since I tend to use already cooked things like leftovers in mine, but it's a holiday and I enjoyed making it. I had most of the ingredients, and substituted another cheese for the one in the recipe. The big thing is, I made a butter pie crust according to her recipe.
I learned to make pie crusts in junior high school, I believe. That would mean I was just pre-teen. My mother never was good at it. Of course, they taught me to make it with Crisco, and that's what I got used to and what I did for years, until it became known it was unhealthy stuff. Then I switched to an oil crust.
Since then, I've not been able to crimp the edges, or do anything to pretty it up because oil crusts are soft - at least, the recipe I use is.
Today I decided to make the butter crust, and it was just as easy as I remembered: I floured the counter and just rolled the thing out! No rolling it between sheets of waxed paper, and then gingerly peeling it off, hoping it won't tear.
no white poodles
"May the children come and have tea with me? I'd like Edith to get accustomed to me and the house. Sunday?"
"Yes," said Joanna. "Thank you very much. I wish there was something we could do for you."
"I want a cottage tabby cat," said Mary. "And I want it rather quickly to prevent Mrs. Hepplewhite persuading me into a white poodle."
From The Scent of Water, by Elizabeth Goudge
Sunday, March 31, 2024
Happy Easter!
For the past few years I've been able to go to the Holy Thursday mass, the Good Friday service and the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday, and they are so beautiful and such a fitting end to the struggles of Lent.
the beginning and the end,
all time belongs to him and all the ages.
Friday, March 29, 2024
Tuesday, March 26, 2024
daffodil tribulations
Right after the daffodils bloomed, it got quite cold, and I saw them one day with their heads just laying on the rocks in front of them. But now they've revived, spring is in the air again and Easter is around the corner.
Monday, March 25, 2024
a small mercy, and a great one
Now let us all with one accord,
In company with ages past,
Keep vigil with our heav'nly Lord
In his temptation and his fast.
Sunday, March 24, 2024
nearing the end of Lent
But then there appears on the horizon a new and radiant dawn, and we gather the fragrant fruits you have brought to maturity in spite of our imperfect behavior. In the face of such miracles of your divine love, we understand the deepest meaning of suffering: It is the price that we had to pay.
Lord, I thank you for the existence of suffering. Had you not permitted it, we could not have followed you, nor would we know the deep joy of personal union with you.
If I close myself up in sorrow, I end up contemplating my own misery. But when I remember that on that night you too were overcome by fear, and when I pour my own drop of sorrow into your heart, then I realize that all this serves to open wide my heart to all of humanity and to shower the world with your graces."
- Chiara Lubich, from Magnificat, March 2024
Saturday, March 23, 2024
staying dry
We had rain all day again; so much that I ordered the groceries for delivery.
Puddles everywhere.
But we were cozy in the house, and I made broccoli soup. Which is so easy, so little effort, and while it's cooking, there's the onion, garlic and chicken broth aromas, which are very salutary when you've recovering from a headache. That, and tuna sandwiches were a perfectly fine supper.
I made the casing for the skirt today, and I've got to thread the elastic through it to see if I like the fullness. If it's too much, I'll have to re-do one of the side seams to make it narrower. Which is a relative term, since it's going to be as gathered as will look well. It's a very drapey and thin-ish rayon fabric, so it shouldn't be bulky even with a lot of gathers. We'll see how it looks.
I make small granola batches on the stovetop, which are very fast to do. The other day I was about to put away the rolled oats, when the container dropped and oats went all over the floor - I probably spilled two cups or more! Without a second thought, I scooped them off the floor and put them back in the box. Please don't imagine my floor is clean; I just could not bear to lose those oats, so I put the idea of any grossness right out of my mind instantly. But I also told myself that maybe I should make a batch every day for a while, basically to keep my eye on any unwanted somethings in the container, rather than be wondering if any crawlies are in the box. To use it up sooner than later seemed a good idea. So I made another batch today; it takes fifteen minutes or less from start to finish. And I didn't find anything unusual in the oats, so far.
Well, Holy Week is upon us. There is a little piece in Magnificat today about Elizabeth Jennings, the poet. She struggled with mental illness, but her poetry and her faith kept her going.
Teach me how you love and have to die
And I will try
Somehow to forget myself and give
Life and joy so dead things start to life
Let me show now an untrammeled joy
Gold without alloy.
Something to remember for this week, I think.
Thursday, March 21, 2024
cold and dry
I was cooking one day, came into my room briefly, and realized I could hear a mockingbird not very far off. He was in our neighbor's apple tree!
It's been cold the past few days - like we expect March to be - and my friend has been silent. Of course! He thought it was April, and it wasn't!
We got a new clothes dryer delivered today; I hope it will be half as good as the old one, which I hated to see go. But it was getting loud - the motor. We bought a very stripped-down model. No smart dryer for us, thanks. I have no problem telling it what to do.
Sunday, March 17, 2024
a pot full of vegetables
It seems every year that I could never have a pot big enough to contain the corned beef, the potatoes, carrots and big cabbage wedges on St. Patrick's Day. I resent the potatoes, basically just a starch and taking up space better used by the vegetables, but what to do?
Today I had the idea to cook the potatoes with their skins in another pot, and just mash them up, with lots of butter. Everybody would like that, and there'd be more room for the vegetables. This worked beautifully! I had cooked the meat yesterday, so I just increased the liquid and used that for the veg. I'll have to make a note of this.
We sang Be Thou My Vision at mass, and I felt very Irish singing this very obviously Irish melody.
I ever with thee and thou with me, Lord.