(Just getting this posted from last night.)
Outside my window- There is darkness. The snows are melting leaving the fields streaked white and brown, but as the white fades it gets easier to imagine green. And little bits of green are indeed out there to be found.
I am hearing- Anna is blowing a bugle calling the Writing Committee to come to order. Kateri is chattering, asking Anna to read her 'story' - a list of three letter words. I hear dueling in the foyer with theater practice rapiers. TPR's are thin pvc weapons used for sword practice, similar to the ones Jonathan sees the theater students using to practice their swordfighting sequences. This is often the first sound I hear when I wake up in the morning and the last sound I hear when going to bed at night.
I am wearing- Olive green skirt, cream shirt with little green flowers, a toasty thrifted hand knit wool fisherman's cardigan, my green crocheted scarf with cream rose, brown boots.
I am thankful for- My children seem to all be healthy again. And a friend who had an accident with a snow blower still has all his fingers.
I am thinking about- How fast Lent is going by, probably because we spent the beginning of it ill. Also, Jonathan is always talking about and planning the liturgies to come so it seems to make time go by faster.
I am reading- True Devotion to Mary, Divine Intimacy and The Fellowship of the Ring. Quite a mix, no?
From the kitchen- Mondays are piano lessons so it's always a quick meal night - this time garlic pasta with broccoli and olives, topped with olive oil and Parmesan. We had simple raisin biscuits for second breakfast and tea. We mix up a batch of scone dough, stir in some raisins, and pat it into a well floured cookie sheet.
Raisins are as good as chocolate during Lent. :-)
In the learning house- Jonathan is teaching us Ave Maris Stella. We're on 'Q' this week with the little girls. The three big girls have formed a Writing Committee, and they all sit and write together by the fire every evening, each working on her own story.
Kateri likes to join them.
Current read alouds for afternoon tea time include Anne of Green Gables -funny how we just got to the part about Anne's Story Club today (but she and Diana Barry don't have a bugle). We're also reading The Hidden Power of Kindness - this book is indeed so powerful I only read a couple of pages at a time. Perfect for Lent. We also just started Enid Blyton's Nature Lover's Book which looks lovely, though I was surprised by the meanness of the children's dialogue and chose to edit a bit. Do they get nicer?
Living the Liturgical Year - Moving along with the rhythms of Lent. We have sung Compline after evening Mass on Wednesdays, and Stations of the Cross followed by a monastic style meal and Compline on Fridays.
We are creating- Lydia and I are very behind in the quilt-along, but that's okay. She is spending most of her extra time writing, and I didn't sew at all while people were sick. Lydia is still working on her quilt top, while mine is done and ready for quilting.
Michael kindly bought me a free-motion quilting foot (you know you have a good husband when he goes to the sewing machine shop for you) and I am almost ready to start my quilt. I can't decide if I should do another practice piece or just go for it.
Around the house- I keep picturing quilts! And pillows! I have caught this quilting bug and have all sorts of floral cotton imaginations. Not good when you're trying to focus on detachment.
A few plans for the rest of the week- I simply must start my peppers and petunias this week. I usually like to get them seeded in February but I'm running a little late here. I hope to quilt my quilt. Wednesday and Friday as above.
One of my favorite things- The little daily interactions of family life and how we are all very comfortable in our life here.
The other night the girls were making galettes in honor of it being Sunday and we had a new box of apples and Eliza asks for galette about thirty-five times every day. The little girls were happily watching the big ones, who were working together to get the job done. I was on the sunroom floor making my quilt sandwich.
Lydia is always in charge of the pastry. All of a sudden she declared, Eliza just poured a whole cup of water on my rolled out crust. It sounded so utterly ridiculous I just started laughing and laughing. And laughing and laughing. And Eliza was giggling. I just kept laughing and went on with my pinning.
And then I thought , oh dear, what if Lydia doesn't think it's quite so funny - I'd better go make sure she's not upset. So I stood up from my quilt.
But one peek at her smiling face and I knew all was well. She loves her special sister like nuts and she's quite used to her antics. And it's really very simple to mop up a pie crust with paper towels after all. Eliza thought that was hysterical.
A picture thought I'm sharing-
