Outside my window- It's so hot and dry out there, even the crab grass is dying. We have to water faithfully to keep the fruits and vegetables and flowers alive. I did go out for a bit to do some weeding and harvesting today, and I still feel like an overcooked noodle for being out there. I saw five kinds of butterflies on the flowers!
I am hearing- Bach on the piano. Teenagers carrying on together. Someone singing. Jonathan playing around on a vintage trumpet. Someone whistling the Bach.
I am wearing- Yellow floral skirt, yellow shirt, white socks with my Mary Janes to soothe my feet, dangly yellow crystal flower earrings. (I'm wearing both of them now; this morning I went to church wearing two different earrings. My helpful children told me no one could have noticed at that hour, and you could only tell if you looked at my head straight on. Encouraging.)
I am thankful for- The slower, no-pressure pace of summer vacation, in which the only thing we have to decide is stuff like paint colors, pie vs. cobbler, and who to invite to the next tea party...
I am thinking about- The lovely weekend. On Saturday, the Commemoration of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, we attended a most beautiful Solemn High Nuptial Mass in the Extraordinary Form. It was so joyous to witness the wedding of this dear, devout couple as they joined their lives together in the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony.
the priest gives the couple a special blessing-
It was the most beautiful wedding celebration, clearly focused on the sacrament and the vocation and the blessing of Christian marriage. While 'destination weddings' are rather trendy right now, this wedding was more about our final hoped-for destination of heaven. And the beauty of the Mass and the mystery of Marriage do give us a little foretaste of heaven, do they not?
I asked Lydia to paint a wedding card with the bridal couple before Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and I think it turned out beautiful-
The music was beautiful too, the 'Full Bach Special' as Jonathan fondly dubbed the couple's selections. The schola also sang some lovely pieces, including an Ave Maria in three part harmony for the presentation of flowers to Our Lady, and the vespers hymn of St. Joseph for flowers presented to him.
I do love weddings! I started crying before the bride even got to the doorway...
I am reading- Chesterton's The Flying Inn to the big kids, and The Fellowship of the Ring to them when Michael is home as well. Unfortunately, Kateri is listening to too much of this and her siblings fear she's going to know the whole plot. But she does get things rather mixed up: the other day she had her peg doll 'sailing away in the lily water like Frodo'. (Sorry Kateri, but that was Prince Caspian.)
From the kitchen- Oh, summertime! The garden is overflowing and the eating is good! Zucchini this and zucchini that, lemon cucumbers to snack on all day (some folks even eat them for breakfast), and oh, joy, the little tomatoes are just starting to ripen. The raspberries are slacking off, but the blackberries are in full swing. We tried blackberry pie last week which wasn't fantastic, but hello, blackberry cobbler! We use the 'apricot raspberry cobbler' recipe out of Rustic Fruit Desserts, using about a quart of fresh blackberries for the fruit, and it is just fabulous every time, which is currently about every other day. (with all natural vanilla ice cream, of course) (and tea)
In the learning house- We're on summer break, which means lots of extra time for reading, creative writing, and art work.
Living the Liturgical Year- Last evening I lit a candle in a beautiful icon-filled chapel dedicated to St. Anne, Mother of the Theotokos. Elizabeth has a lovely post up on preparing to celebrate the feast of St. Anne coming up on the 26th. She is a wonderful saint for all mothers.
Around the house- A bit of sprucing up here and there as the summer allows a bit more time for such things. Mary Rose wants her room to look medieval, to go along with the pictures she got for her birthday. You have to love an eleven-year-old girl whose favorite picture is The Accolade, and I got her Leighton's Godspeed to go along with it as well. Lydia has decided to take down the dozens of horse drawings on her side of the room, but she'd like to replace them with barn owls, so we'll see how it all works out...
A few plans for the rest of the week- Hope to get the girls bedrooms painted before company arrives on the weekend.
One of my favorite things- Watching my children make art. I especially enjoy seeing Josiah use this easel my father made many years ago-
A picture thought- I don't think I've shown you the missing tooth!
