Leila Marie Lawler's Blog, page 27
July 20, 2019
{bits & pieces}
The weekly “little of this, little of that” feature here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!
It’s hot!
But that’s okay, we’ll survive. We’ll survive the thunderstorms, the floods, the tornados, and the earthquakes. If we don’t survive them, it will be because the good God wants to call us home — let’s be prepared — in our souls — for that!
What I personally may not survive is alerts on my phone every ten minutes every time we have a summer storm!
A little lull before the schedule hots up again, with friends’ weddings and our own 40th anniversary celebration, which will be low-key with a beautiful Mass in the Extraordinary Form celebrated by our good friend who just became a priest (see Rosie’s updates on IG for more) and a family vacation (with all my kids and grandkids!).
If I’m not here, you’ll know why!
The chicks are doing well so far, and the garden is growing.
My even more committed no-dig approach has made a huge difference in how much time and effort is needed for weeding. We shall see how it works out for actual harvesting! So far the lettuce has been much better.
These are my Armenian cucumbers. I planted them out a little late because our nights were still cool and to try to fool the beetles. In the past few years I haven’t had any luck at all with cucumbers, so we’ll see! (I’m wearing a black skirt because I went out there right after Mass this morning. Don’t worry, I’ll change now.)
There’s a Canadian crookneck squash in the center along that fence; I’m hedging my bets with the squashes, sticking them in various places in my garden.
Is it really not so photogenic to just use a wire shelf as a support for whatever those are — some cucumber-like volunteers that I plunked there, in front of some tomatoes (which are lined front and back with zinnias and marigolds). “We shall see” is the motto of my gardening adventure!
By the way, in that pic you can see the two extremes of my aesthetic: galvanized watering can (sweet! so country!) and wagon full of milk jugs of water (trashy but necessary, because dragging the hose down can be done, but results in too much water use in this heat).
Pull the garlic yet or no? (If “pull,” say in a couple of days when the heat breaks!)
On to our links!
“The visitor to Bob Jones University campus [to their amazing art museum] who knows only of the school’s unfortunate reputation will be bemused and bewildered. “How is it that a school once known for being racist, rabidly fundamentalist and virulently anti-Catholic could have acquired such an outstanding collection of Catholic art?” The questions continue: “What do the fundamentalist students make of the art collection? How do the anti-Catholic supporters of Bob Jones University feel about the overtly Catholic artwork?” — edited to say that the museum has been closed.
The Cathedral of Notre Dame came closer to being destroyed than we realize. The article has stunning graphics.
Yes, Parents Are Capable of Choosing How Their Children Should Be Educated
Psychiatry, politicized.
Ancient Roman concrete: sometimes older is better!
If you are a baseball fan and a moon landing fan and also have a sense of humor, you’ll enjoy this little, wonderfully written recollection from my husband.
The life-changing magic of making do: “When Prince Charles opens his closet, surely he does not ask if his fine double-breasted suit sparks joy. Instead, he asks: “Does this fine double-breasted suit fulfill my need for today, which is to wear a fine double-breasted suit while pointing at my subjects with two fingers?” It is a profoundly simple question, the spirit of which has been lost entirely today.” I don’t know that I would conclude, as the author does (in an admittedly contrarian vein), that we need to be more materialistic; we certainly need to be more ordered in our consumption, is what I’d say!
Another telling of the amazing (and harrowing) story of the miracle for the canonization of John Henry Newman.
Here is a comprehensive article that is a must read — and must bookmark/save — on transgenderism: The Cracks in the Edifice of Transgender Totalitarianism. This is an article that you can hand to a medical professional, your pediatric practice, your friend who is losing her perspective, or what have you. Is transgenderism a kind of cult or social contagion? I have heard of many medical professionals who self-censure, against their better judgement, and of some who have already lost their jobs for merely questioning a diagnosis (a diagnosis with irreversible consequences). Harm is being done to people and those who resist are being silenced. What would you call that?
“There is not and never has been any scientific basis for Money’s dichotomy between gender and sex, interpreted as the idea that a person can be born into the “wrong” body. (As pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Quentin Van Meter puts it, “There is zero point zero zero” science behind the concept.) Yet Money’s social–political construct now dominates medicine, psychiatry, academia, and the culture at large.”
Dr. John Money — not a medical doctor — is mentioned in the article. I highly recommend that everyone read the excellent account of how Money became the “father” (more like “anti-father”) of the transgender movement: As Nature Made Him (affiliate link). Money exploited a tragic event and vulnerable, ignorant parents to drive his patient to suicide, abusing him and his brother in the process. This side of his “treatment” is never mentioned when his name is brought up, by the way, although evidence that he was a sexual deviant is easily found in a simple search online.
Here is a shorter article on the same subject, from a pediatrician who wants to warn of the corruption of his field by this ideology.
The one factor not mentioned in these articles, but observed anecdotally by me, is the common thread of divorce in the lives of those struggling with their sex. Divorce or the absence of any sort of union at all between mother and father. At some point we have to face what happens when marriage is no longer the defining relationship in a society. Children can survive if most families are intact — even children from broken or never-made families can find their way. But when most children come from what is euphemistically (or mendaciously) called “irregular situations,” you have mass delusion and self-destruction.
From the archives:
Are people (or your own thoughts) making you feel guilty for not working?
If you can afford a housekeeper, go for it. But if you can’t, it’s okay. Here is what you can learn from a housekeeper and all the reasons why you should (instead of just “blessing the mess”).
Some of us don’t have AC because our houses are too old to convert, we live where it’s usually not hot (but then a heat wave comes through, like this week!), and we prefer to have doors and windows open. Here is how it’s done!
Today is the feast of St. Apollinaris!
Follow us everywhere. I have removed the Ravelry link (see my post on IG about why — all the comments are interesting!).
Stay abreast of the posts when they do happen:
Like LMLD on Facebook.
Follow LMLD on Twitter.
I just share pretty pictures (never political until this past week):
Auntie Leila’s Instagram.
If you want politics, rants, and takes on what is going on in the Church:
Auntie Leila’s Twitter.
Auntie Leila’s Facebook (you can just follow — my posts are public — sometimes I share articles here that don’t make it into {bits & pieces})
Pinterest is annoying me right now for many of the same reasons as Ravelry, but if you want to see my boards:
Auntie Leila’s Pinterest.
Or the boards of the others:
Rosie’s Pinterest.
Sukie’s Pinterest.
Deirdre’s Pinterest.
Habou’s Pinterest.
Bridget’s Pinterest.
And the others on IG:
Rosie’s Instagram.
Sukie’s Instagram.
Deirdre’s Instagram.
Bridget’s Instagram.
Habou’s Instagram.
The post {bits & pieces} appeared first on Like Mother Like Daughter.
July 13, 2019
{bits & pieces}
The weekly “little of this, little of that” feature here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!
The garden finally got some rain yesterday, so I’m feeling not too bad about it. Certainly there are some things out there that seem not to have grown at all for a month, so that’s odd, but we’ve not bought lettuce for a few weeks, which is most gratifying!
The chicks (we have a dozen), which are now about 7 weeks old, are now in the newly painted and fixed stable. This is a relief for all concerned.
Of course they are not quite used to it yet, and the night we moved them (just two nights ago) we had the anxiety of knowing one was still down by the little temporary coop (but not in it, of course, by closing up time, and we definitely heard a curdling cry after dusk) and one was up somewhere in the brush around the stable.
But by morning the really lost one was in the small coop and could be re-homed, and the sort-of-lost one was trotting around outside in the irises.
Phew.
Here is a BEFORE of the stable (this used to be the color scheme of the house, before we painted it about 10 years ago):
And now, AFTER (or, as they say, during, because the two hidden sides still need to be painted and can you just imagine a climbing rose out there?):
On to our links!
Misc:
Deirdre has been following Architecture Here and There, and was reading from this post for my edification. Some tidbits:
“Corruption is wrong, but I am even more upset by the state’s insistence upon ugliness as a key feature of state-sponsored development.”
“Ruggerio’s legislation illustrates what Nietzsche called the “will to power,” but it also facilitates what we might reasonably call a “will to ugliness” that is already ubiquitous in development here and elsewhere.”
“Unlike political and financial corruption, which operate hand in glove to offend the wallet silently in the future, the ugliness of almost all public and private development offends the eye in real time, every day. It is pointless to say which is the more abhorrent. It may be argued that ugliness is the more direct and immediate harm. It robs each citizen of beauty, which is part and parcel of the pursuit of happiness.”
Our friend Geoffrey Vaughan puts forth an interesting idea about the “federalization” of education, in the style of the Oxford and Cambridge — specifically to oppose the onslaught of politically correct (and academically impoverished) ideology that has taken over our institutions.
Devotions:
We need more Eucharistic processions if we want to see fewer Pride parades (and less of what they represent)! This one is epic — 38 miles by water!
Speaking of devotions, let’s just do our best to have more. Attendance at Mass is not meant to bear the weight of our entire spiritual life, although it is, of course, the source and summit of it. Amy Welborn on clericalism and the disappearance of popular devotions.
As anyone who knows me knows, I am devoted to Bl. John Henry Newman. I love that this miracle in his cause for sainthood is so closely bound up with babies, fertility, and a marriage open to life, just because I know that Newman appears to some as a particularly dry old bachelor and I’ve heard some attempt co-opt him as “gay.” “I was cured through Newman’s intercession so that I could continue an ordinary life, if you will, but at the same time be completely devoted to him and especially God himself and our church,” [the mother] said.
Cultural survey:
Excellent article about the pride movement. I don’t agree with quoting Andrew Sullivan without overtly pointing out that he owes the world an apology and reparation for his key role in legitimizing “gay marriage” — but it is remarkable to think that every single thing opponents predicted has come true in so short a time.
To understand the phenomenon of cultural domination, perhaps it would be good to revisit this essay by Václav Havel, The Power of the Powerless. What is that power? To speak the truth, wherever we can. The St. Gregory Pockets can be the place we meet to read just such things and discuss them together, encouraging each other to resist attempts to silence us.
The effects of divorce (and even more so of IVF) are philosophical, explains J. Budziszewski, harming the person’s very ground of being. Sometimes we aren’t sure of the good we do just by being home, taking care of our family, and living an ordinary life, but be assured that these wounded children desperately need a vision of the good — they need your family and your happy children to give them hope.
You can buy almost any book on Amazon (including many truly vile books), but you cannot buy Joseph Nicolosi’s books on reparative therapy for those seeking a way out of homosexuality, because the company has banned them. Go to this site to read about Nicolosi’s work and to buy the books if you are so inclined.
History:
Bastille Day? Fr. Rutler on convenient myths.
Will you be studying American History this year? Highly recommended: Catholicism and the American Founding. Add it to your high schooler’s reading list!
From the archives:
How to make a summer salad to feed your large family
Books for your boys
Spray paint all the things
Today is the feast of St. Henry.
Follow us everywhere, BUT — I am removing the Ravelry link (see my post on IG about why — all the comments are interesting!).
Stay abreast of the posts when they do happen:
Like LMLD on Facebook.
Follow LMLD on Twitter.
I just share pretty pictures (never political until this past week):
Auntie Leila’s Instagram.
If you want politics, rants, and takes on what is going on in the Church:
Auntie Leila’s Twitter.
Pinterest is annoying me right now for many of the same reasons as Ravelry, but if you want to see my boards:
Auntie Leila’s Pinterest.
Or the boards of the others:
Rosie’s Pinterest.
Sukie’s Pinterest.
Deirdre’s Pinterest.
Habou’s Pinterest.
Bridget’s Pinterest.
And the others on IG:
Rosie’s Instagram.
Sukie’s Instagram.
Deirdre’s Instagram.
Bridget’s Instagram.
Habou’s Instagram.
The post {bits & pieces} appeared first on Like Mother Like Daughter.
June 29, 2019
A little break
I’m going to let you look through some posts you might have missed (and all those links!) while I enjoy having eight (of 14 and counting!) grandchildren at home for a bit!
I’ll keep up my Instagram in the usual desultory fashion. Come visit me there.
Follow us everywhere, in fact BUT — I am REMOVING the Ravelry link (see my post on IG about why — all the comments are interesting!).
Stay abreast of the posts when they do happen:
Like LMLD on Facebook.
Follow LMLD on Twitter.
I just share pretty pictures (never political until this past week):
Auntie Leila’s Instagram.
If you want politics, rants, and takes on what is going on in the Church:
Auntie Leila’s Twitter.
Pinterest is annoying me right now for many of the same reasons as Ravelry, but if you want to see my boards:
Auntie Leila’s Pinterest.
Or the boards of the others:
Rosie’s Pinterest.
Sukie’s Pinterest.
Deirdre’s Pinterest.
Habou’s Pinterest.
Bridget’s Pinterest.
And the others on IG:
Rosie’s Instagram.
Sukie’s Instagram.
Deirdre’s Instagram.
Bridget’s Instagram.
Habou’s Instagram.
The post A little break appeared first on Like Mother Like Daughter.
June 22, 2019
{bits & pieces}
The weekly “little of this, little of that” feature here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!
We have winners of the giveaway of the three liturgical living books — one here, one on Facebook, and one on Instagram! (Be sure to follow there for other opportunities!)
If you won, an email is wending its way to you.
If you didn’t win, I have a code for you, just for our readers! Go to Sophia and enter Cooking30. You will receive 30% off your order of the three books, Cooking with the Saints, The Little Oratory, and Around the Year with the von Trapp Family (or any of the three if you don’t want all three).
These books make the perfect gift for anyone starting their life as a Christian, wanting to start again, getting married, baptizing a baby… you get the idea. I only wish I had had them when I started out! (Had to write one of them to get it!)
On to our links!
Expressing, as only Chesterton can, how elites must keep their privilege in mind, lest they destroy life for the rest of us: No Place Like Home.
“For the truth is that to the moderately poor the home is the only place of liberty. Nay, it is the only place of anarchy. It is the only spot on the earth where a man can alter arrangements suddenly, make an experiment or indulge in a whim.”
I would say that the ordinary man actually does not want to be given a home — he wants to earn it! We can make it possible, however, for him to do that, if we hold it as a goal.
John Cuddeback on Becoming a Better Lover.
I don’t know who among us has the energy to fight public libraries, but they are locally controlled and the scope is there for the ordinary citizen, working with other ordinary citizens, to restore order. Thinking here not only of relentless LGBT-agenda matters, but even of tarot workshops for teens, promotion of YA lit, and general deviation from the true purpose of the institution. What we are up against: Top US library group colludes with local librarians to ‘sneak’ LGBT content to kids and a “toolkit” that might explain some things on the shelves that you have no idea how they could have gotten there. I could see a St. Greg’s Pocket mustering up a few people to join a Friends of the Library group or run for library board, though! That could work!
Peter Kwasniewski unfolds Rublev: This 15th-century Russian icon is a window into the Holy Trinity
I have delved into this icon with my classes of 7-11 year olds, during the season of Pentecost. Children are full of wonder and sit totally absorbed as you speak to them of these mysteries, especially if you read the story of the three men who visit Abraham with them, from Scripture. You can make a stencil of the outlines of the three angels and have them trace onto a nice piece of card stock; then they can embellish with the symbols and colors for themselves — you can get inspiration from this post.
Speaking of religious instruction, I have always recommended using the Baltimore Catechism with children above the age of reason. In this post, a priest makes a good point for those parents who are trying to make up for the laxity and lack of good doctrine of our age on the subject of scrupulosity. His advice highlights the role of affection in the family. All firmness must be balanced with affection! The fact that God loves us (and loves us right into being and keeps us there) is most exemplified by the love that parents have for their children. Don’t fall into the error of coldness when you are trying to confront the lawlessness of our time! Firm and warm.
The exciting story of Msgr. Flaherty, “The Vatican Pimpernel“! (Sorry, you have to register to read.). Relatedly, make sure you have read the actual story of The Scarlet Pimpernel (affiliate link, but try to find an old hardback copy if you can)! Great read-aloud for your older children. I also love the movie but which one was it?
From the archives:
I’m suddenly getting a lot of emails about three-year-olds.
Some of those fancy-shmancy cooking sites try to tell you how to clean your cast-iron pans, but my way is best. (Pro-tip, really, don’t use vegetable oil. I get that some people are vegetarian, but vegetable oils won’t work to cure your pan — they will simply gunk them up. You could use flaxseed oil.)
Today is the feast of St. Thomas More! This begins the “June Triduum” — the three feasts that beautifully demonstrate the glory of creation and particularly of marriage. This weekend, take a little time to celebrate summer’s glory at the solstice with this cosmic spiritual reality!
While you’re sharing our links with your friends, why not tell them about Like Mother, Like Daughter too!
We’d like to be clear that, when we direct you to a site via one of our links, we’re not necessarily endorsing the whole site, but rather just referring you to the individual post in question (unless we state otherwise).
Follow us:
Follow us on Twitter.
Like us on Facebook.
Auntie Leila’s Pinterest.
Rosie’s Pinterest.
Sukie’s Pinterest.
Deirdre’s Pinterest.
Habou’s Pinterest.
Bridget’s Pinterest.
Auntie Leila’s Ravelry.
Auntie Leila’s Instagram.
Rosie’s Instagram.
Sukie’s Instagram.
Deirdre’s Instagram.
Bridget’s Instagram.
Habou’s Instagram.
Share this:
The post {bits & pieces} appeared first on Like Mother Like Daughter.
June 15, 2019
Cooking with the Saints Liturgical Living Bundle Giveaway! ~ {bits & pieces}
Three books, three winners! {details of how to enter at the end of this post!}
Today with our {bits & pieces} we have a fabulous giveaway of three books for liturgical living. I wanted to be sure you saw Sophia Press’s new Cooking with the Saints book!
We love and treasure our old cooking with the saints books — foremost for me is Evelyn Vitz’s A Continual Feast (and you can find it hardcover second hand). So many European saints and culinary favorites, with some other cultures represented as well. Timmie (as she is known) has a sophisticated palate and a comforting presence in this book.
I find Cooking with the Saints will appeal to you too — the foodie who can’t help wanting those luscious photos we are so used to now with the internet. Many of the saints in this book are newer (but some are quite old) and the cultures are more varied than what you usually find in such books from the past.
I was excited to see some recipes for Kateri Tekakwitha! Not your usual offerings!
Since I think it makes a great wedding gift or any gift for someone who wants to live the liturgical year and also has some skill cooking, we just had to give it away here on the blog!
But since there are two other books I think the person getting this one also needs to have, we are giving them away in a bundle!
So today, if you leave a comment on this post here, you can enter to win all three books: Cooking with the Saints, The Little Oratory, and Around the Year with the von Trapp Family!
And I will be giving away two other bundles, one on my Instagram page and one on our Facebook page!
I got going on this giveaway when the other day, Deirdre pulled out the cookbook and made this dish for a weeknight supper on the deck (it wasn’t April 18 or the feast of St. Apollonius, but since we had a freezer full of sausages we had gotten on sale, it seemed like the thing to do, and it was the feast of St. Anthony!):
We all enjoyed it mightily. Here is the recipe — you can see that it’s written very clearly and helpfully. The authors even have included shopping lists, and of course, information about the saints whose days they are recommending the dishes for.
Strongly looking forward to the feast of St. Therese so that we can pull out this show-stopper:
Leave a comment here for a chance to win this bundle! These books would make the best gift for that couple who are marrying or having a baby or for a friend entering the Church.
On to our links!
Noted surgeon Dr. James Andrews wants your young athlete to stay healthy by playing less.
Also kids should ride bikes. (These long quotes are because I know a lot of you don’t subscribe to the WSJ.)
Please accept this wisdom from a not-very-wise man. Riding a bicycle is one of the best decisions you’ll ever make. Trust me: You’re going to make some bad decisions in your life. You’re going to take the interstate at 4 p.m. on a holiday weekend because you think “it doesn’t look so bad.” You’re going to buy a fancy hat that nobody will tell you makes you look like a detective in a school play.
Those are bad decisions.
Riding a bike is not.There are a million reasons why. We can start with the fun of riding a bike, what it’s like to put a pedal over a pedal and propel yourself down a roadway, or a dirt path—or the living room (I don’t care about your parents’s new carpet). It seems hard to learn, and it can be, but you just have to stick to it, maybe hit the deck a couple of times, and then there you go. For life. The cliché is true: You don’t forget. Ever. I cannot remember what I had for breakfast this morning, but I remember how to ride a bike, always.
A bike ride will clear the noise in your brain like nothing else. I’m assuming that since you’re a person living in 2019, surrounded by screens and drama, there’s a lot of noise in your brain. There sure is in mine.
It works in seconds, it really does. You get on a bike, and you feel more alive, instantly.
Maybe you’ll get into the gear, and, oh, how there is gear—the bicycle is a perfect machine, a wonder of efficiency and simplicity, and you can learn to fix pretty much all of it yourself.
But really the reason I want you to ride a bicycle is this:
You’ll be free.
A beautiful reflection on fatherhood. How fathers bring about the home in their wives’ and children’s lives. The first sentence struck me: “Because he is not related to his children with emotional or physiological ties of the same intensity as a mother’s, the father of a family is in an extremely precarious position.”
I want to visit every village in France. However, this one might make me a little dizzy: The French Town on the Edge of a Giant Hole. But I’d still go.
John Cuddeback’s reflections are always insightful — and brief. This one is possibly the best: The Key of Peace.
From the archives:
Should have posted this last week, but there is still time for some of these things in our fabulous father’s day gift guide!
Today is the feast of Sts. Vitus, Modestus, and Crescentia. If you follow the link, you can also read about today’s Ember Day observance.
Leave a comment here for a chance to win this bundle; enter on my IG for another chance; enter on the Like Mother, Like Daughter Facebook page for another chance! Three winners in all!
The post Cooking with the Saints Liturgical Living Bundle Giveaway! ~ {bits & pieces} appeared first on Like Mother Like Daughter.
June 8, 2019
Science lessons that “remember the whole” {bits & pieces}
The weekly “little of this, little of that” feature here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!
Very rarely does one come across just the thing. As a would-be classical homeschooler, I always found the issue was putting into practice the wonderful ideas and thoughts I had about education.
Oh, it’s all very well to know that Aristotle thought we must keep the whole in mind when examining the parts, and C. S. Lewis made the case in Abolition of Man that the urgency is real, but I certainly was not equipped to develop a science curriculum for my children that would observe this dictum, and all that was available was yet another baking-soda-and-vinegar-style workbook.
Just shoot me now.
But Christopher Blum and John Cuddeback, two friends who each unite in his person the vision for education and the ability to express it, wrote just the thing, Nature’s Beautiful Order, a biology curriculum.
I found it in time to do it with Bridget, and it came to mind again when I was discussing, as one does, what to do for science with a friend.
I’m not getting paid for this post — I’m just passing along an important, though modest, resource that will help you get closer to the goal of passing along to your children the understanding that knowledge isn’t a matter of packing in the discrete facts but of seeing the ends of things, their essence, and their causes.
There will be time later to delve into, for instance, the workings of the cell. But I can attest for myself (and I did do college-level biology) and for my children, that the ancients, though lacking in technology, were correct in saying that we won’t grasp the meaning of these particulars if we don’t see what they are for.
Don’t make the pedagogical mistake of starting with the cell (as virtually every biology book today does).
This meaning is what this curriculum aims at. “In eighteen lessons, students are led through the animal kingdom from the invertebrate animals through the five great vertebrate classes to the culmination of the natural order, a consideration of man as the knowing animal and as a steward of Creation.”
The selections are from “writers including John James Audubon and Jean-Henri Fabre, [who] were some of the greatest observational biologists of all time. They remain useful guides, for the advances in biological science that have happened since they wrote cannot invalidate our first-hand experience of organisms as unified living beings.”
Thus, you will also need an encyclopedia and some visual references, but you will have the all-important overview. This curriculum will not be easy! Your student (and you) will be challenged.
Although it comes with a workbook and a teacher’s guide, it will not be the sort of thing that you just hand over and let the child check off boxes. To get the most out of it, a patient reading together will be the best path.
The workbooks help if you see them as facilitating your conversation; I would not recommend them as a force-feeding sort of exercise.
To get the idea of what I am talking about — where you read and discuss a book (or essays, as in this curriculum) together, see my post about Faraday’s Chemical History of A Candle.
I think it could liberate your home school to approach things like this: reading together, so that the child can see that the parents take this seriously and that we too would like to delve into the meaning behind phenomena.
This curriculum could be good for the very precocious sixth grader who demonstrates a nerdy interest in science — I do think such a child needs to know that real knowledge isn’t about accumulating facts but in seeing their relationship and causes.
It could be good for the reluctant ninth grader who feels unmoved by science as it is presented — this child needs to connect with the actual material world around him. The motivated high school student could do a lot of the work on his own, however, and learn a lot about how to use other resources to tackle difficult texts.
Both the authors are excellent writers and steeped in classical education. Memoria Press has done a great service in keeping this curriculum current and offering it to homeschoolers everywhere.
By the way, the publisher tells me that the text itself goes with either the first or second editions of the workbooks (student and teacher). But the workbooks only work within their edition, because the second one is updated with quizzes and tests.
On to our links!
Changing the wording of the Lord’s Prayer has been in the news. Our friend Mark Langley on the reason the ancient translations say what they do.
Christian feminism is an oxymoron, not upheld by Scripture or tradition.
Fr. Weinandy with a masterful treatise on the uniqueness of Christianity, well worth taking to prayer.
Jeffery Tucker on why parish music is a joke. “What’s completely amazing about the entire OCP family is how lacking it is in self-awareness. The poor quality of contemporary Catholic music is a cultural cliché that turns up in late-night shows, Woody Allen movies, and Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion. It is legendary among real musicians. Ask an organist what he thinks about today’s Catholic music, and you will receive a raised eyebrow or a knowing laugh.”
From the archives:
If we are going to be thinking about next year’s curriculum:
The beginning of science is observation (keeping a nature journal is more important than you may think!)
Again, the Faraday candle resources.
Some thoughts for next year.
As the children get older, family culture:
An “Ask Auntie Leila” post on the subject of older children.
Is it too late to get my kids to help?
While you’re sharing our links with your friends, why not tell them about Like Mother, Like Daughter too!
We’d like to be clear that, when we direct you to a site via one of our links, we’re not necessarily endorsing the whole site, but rather just referring you to the individual post in question (unless we state otherwise).
Follow us:
Follow us on Twitter.
Like us on Facebook.
Auntie Leila’s Pinterest.
Rosie’s Pinterest.
Sukie’s Pinterest.
Deirdre’s Pinterest.
Habou’s Pinterest.
Bridget’s Pinterest.
Auntie Leila’s Ravelry.
Auntie Leila’s Instagram.
Rosie’s Instagram.
Sukie’s Instagram.
Deirdre’s Instagram.
Bridget’s Instagram.
Habou’s Instagram.
The post Science lessons that “remember the whole” {bits & pieces} appeared first on Like Mother Like Daughter.
June 1, 2019
{bits & pieces} with garden progress
The weekly “little of this, little of that” feature here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!
We have now reached peak “I’ll just leave this here while I go deal with those other things” time at the Manse; my yard looks like Ma and Pa Kettle* had a spree with all the plastic.
I have carefully edited the plastic buckets and other truly objectionable detritus in the pictures, but things still look pretty unkempt.
Yesterday it was time to remove the plastic sheeting from my DIY greenhouse — you can see how I made it here on IG, and here.
It was hot in there, the plants needed to be planted, and in the back of my mind I am itching to get that bed back to plant my potatoes in!
If I were a gardening guru I’d be able to take pictures in which you could figure out what the heck is going on.
As it is, I think I need a horde of interns to help me make things barely presentable. If you want to come over and help, you are welcome! Actually, just send your teenagers.
So right now the greenhouse is storage in the garden.
Soon I think I will put the shelves behind the compost bins and try to clean the heck up.
Garlic doing fine; beans struggling in the background there but really, it’s just now June and I have to remind myself not to be impatient!
Here is the herb garden with the many plants that still need to find a spot.
*Are you familiar with these characters? I haven’t seen the movie but the book The Egg and I is quite funny (as are all Betty MacDonald books) if a little disappointing in the denouement — a light summer read if you are looking for one!
On to our links!
Do you want a short and sweet explanation of the concept of Natural Law — for yourself or your high school student? The ever-lucid J. Budziszewski has this handy page for you.
“What is necessary is to rectify names.” An essay on using the right words for things.
I always love thinking about Dickens and his world view. Doing Justice to Good and Evil: Barnaby Rudge
If you didn’t listen to Amy Fahey on children’s literature, make time to do so this week! Not only does she helpfully guide today’s parents on the matter of books, she makes the important argument for simply being in nature.
Along the lines that she (and we here at LMLD, particularly in the Library Project) suggests: Turkish Garbage Collectors Open Library Full of Discarded Books. Be like Turkish garbage collectors!
Tonight my husband will be speaking tonight at St. Francis of Assisi School in Litchfield, NH — if you are in the vicinity, come here him on the subject of Why the Catholic Revival will begin in New England. This talk is a continuation of the series sponsored by the Center for the Renewal of Christian Culture. You can find the talks archived on that site.
James Matthew Wilson always has insightful things to say about culture, poetry, beauty, and education. Here is a talk of his on those subjects.
IVF is wrong, very wrong. We must be honest about this, no matter what the consequences, and they are very grave. In My dad was a sperm donor. My lack of identity reflects his, by Elizabeth Howard speaks honestly about what it has meant to her to be conceived this way. I would even take objection to the term “donor” which attempts to paste a positive connotation over a vile — and monetarily compensated, not donated — act.
Amadeus is a favorite movie around here; Alex Ross sets the record straight, or at least brings out some ambiguities of the legends surrounding Mozart and Salieri.
From the archives:
We almost just don’t have a pattern for how summers should be when we are not part of the frantic popular culture than just can’t imagine life without every moment scheduled and filtered through a screen. Here is my post on the subject.
We have lots of wedding planning ideas — search the blog — but here’s a classic post about being unstressed.
Do you have the growing sense that the family Rosary is something you want to do, but you just don’t know how to go about it? Here’s a post on how to start — and there’s a chapter about it in The Little Oratory as well.
Today is the feast of Justin Martyr. It is worth it this month to take a glance at the calendar — lots of feasts coming up! I believe that if we live this time between the Ascension and Pentecost with a fervent love for the Holy Spirit, and take care to keep the Pentecost time with a closeness to the liturgy, we will call down a lot of grace; surely we need this now more than ever!
While you’re sharing our links with your friends, why not tell them about Like Mother, Like Daughter too!
We’d like to be clear that, when we direct you to a site via one of our links, we’re not necessarily endorsing the whole site, but rather just referring you to the individual post in question (unless we state otherwise).
Follow us:
Follow us on Twitter.
Like us on Facebook.
Auntie Leila’s Pinterest.
Rosie’s Pinterest.
Sukie’s Pinterest.
Deirdre’s Pinterest.
Habou’s Pinterest.
Bridget’s Pinterest.
Auntie Leila’s Ravelry.
Auntie Leila’s Instagram.
Rosie’s Instagram.
Sukie’s Instagram.
Deirdre’s Instagram.
Bridget’s Instagram.
Habou’s Instagram.
The post {bits & pieces} with garden progress appeared first on Like Mother Like Daughter.
May 25, 2019
{bits & pieces}
The weekly “little of this, little of that” feature here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!
Last Saturday was graduation day at Thomas More College, and even though our baby graduated last year, we were in attendance for several reasons.
First, we have three faculty members in our household — Phil is director of the Center for the Restoration of Christian Culture and teaches a course in the spring semester, Bridget was the Sacred Music Guild Master this past year, and John, our son-in-law, is the Sacred Art Guild Master and teaches in the Way of Beauty program.
So we had to represent.
That’s Kevin Ryan and his wife, Marilyn, on the right, William and Amy Fahey on the left, and Paul Jackson on the far left. William is president of the college, Amy teaches there as well, and Paul is the development director. Kevin received an honorary doctorate to recognize his considerable achievements in furthering the cause of Christian education.
In addition, Phil was asked to give the commencement speech, and he was also awarded an honorary doctorate. You can read about his talk here and watch it if you like. If you want to see a grown man get choked up about the Holy Eucharist…
I love that this is the photo the school shared on its Instagram…
Phil’s students loved his class (“Just War”) and asked for a photo:
We had a great time on a beautiful and classic New England spring day (so unlike the chilly dampness of last year!) and we wish the class of 2019 all the best!
I would be happy to answer any questions you might have about the school; if you have high school students, do consider the summer programs and/or a visit in the coming year.
On to our links!
We just got a dozen chicks! I’m looking forward to a flock again, and my grandchildren are too! We’re excited about fresh (and colorful) eggs (white ones too for Deirdre’s pysanky), and also for clearing out the ticks. I liked this article on putting chickens to work in the garden.
How to find an OB/GYN who will work with your body, not against it.
Rural Americans [and indeed all those Americans not living in certain key states] would be serfs if the electoral college were abolished.
Why don’t we encourage people to try to save their marriages?
A reflection by Cardinal Gerhard Müller on Pope Benedict’s assessment of the sexual abuse crisis in the Church and in the world. “The scandal reaches its pinnacle when the blame is not laid upon those breaking God’s commandments, but instead the commandments themselves are made responsible for their transgression: The cause of sin becomes God, who is allegedly overtaxing us.”
When we consider sacred music and sacred art, we must understand that the whole of salvation history must somehow be embedded in every element — there cannot be expression only of crucifixion or only of triumph in resurrection. Even the Nativity carries within it something of the sacrifice of the cross. We touched on that in our reading of The Spirit of the Liturgy here on the blog; this article examines the same reality: The Paradox of Haec Dies.
Not to go on and on, but the Thomas More College site hosts a great blog from the school librarian, so all you book lovers, see what you think! Also, Amy Fahey’s lecture is the latest one in the Center’s series — you’ll want to hear her on the state of children’s literature.
Continuing the vaccination discussion: the moral and medical realities of using aborted fetal DNA in vaccines.
From the archives:
People always ask about good books for their children — what you find in most libraries and most bookstores is truly horrifying and in my view, much of it is downright abusive! Imagine a grocery store for kids that had aisles of sugary cereal, sugar, candy, and a nicely decked out cyanide bar! No, build your own library and feed your child’s imagination with good, hearty food for the mind. Here is the page with the book lists I’ve collected. Don’t forget the LMLD Library Project! You can find all the posts here.
I have a series on what I call “destruction-proofing” your marriage. There are no guarantees in this life, but these are the four factors that I have identified as the necessary foundation for preserving your family intact.
Today marks three feasts: St. Bede the Venerable, priest and doctor; St. Gregory VII, pope; St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, virgin.
Coming up this Thursday, the Solemntiy of the Ascension! If we ever have a chance to update The Little Oratory, I will add a section on this most necessary and beautiful (but sadly neglected, even by us) moment in salvation history! Be sure to celebrate!
While you’re sharing our links with your friends, why not tell them about Like Mother, Like Daughter too!
We’d like to be clear that, when we direct you to a site via one of our links, we’re not necessarily endorsing the whole site, but rather just referring you to the individual post in question (unless we state otherwise).
Follow us:
Follow us on Twitter.
Like us on Facebook.
Auntie Leila’s Pinterest.
Rosie’s Pinterest.
Sukie’s Pinterest.
Deirdre’s Pinterest.
Habou’s Pinterest.
Bridget’s Pinterest.
Auntie Leila’s Ravelry.
Auntie Leila’s Instagram.
Rosie’s Instagram.
Sukie’s Instagram.
Deirdre’s Instagram.
Bridget’s Instagram.
Habou’s Instagram.
The post {bits & pieces} appeared first on Like Mother Like Daughter.
May 18, 2019
Rescuing maple syrup hardened in a jar ~ {bits & pieces} too!
The weekly “little of this, little of that” feature here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!
This post about rescuing your maple syrup has no befores, no process, just the information.
It won’t be of the least interest to you right now.
It is a message to the future, the future over-maple-syruping contingent who are looking for support.
I don’t even have a great picture. (But I did find that little blue-green glass bud vase at the thrift store!)
But — I had a jar of absolutely solidified maple “syrup” (well, it was syrup when I poured it in) and a pretty extensive internet search was really no help at all. This is my way of fixing that for you, next year’s searcher of answers.
Yes, sure, it’s all easily fixable, well, easy-ish, if your cemented maple er… block… is still in the pot. Add water and try again.
But what if instead it’s in a glass Mason jar? Things seem trickier. It’s good and stuck in there. Putting water on top doesn’t do much, and it’s glass!
This year’s syruping was highly successful, even though my stovetop wasn’t functioning, other than the back (small and inadequate) burners, necessitating finishing off what we boiled outside in the Instant Pot rather than my usual 20 qt. stockpot.
And that method actually works all too well. I came in to find my syrup boiled quite down (but not burning or spilling over as it would have on the stovetop, because I had put it on the slow cooker function while I attended to other things).
This was the last of it, and I was pretty stinking tired of boiling by then. I was not in an inquiring mood.
I poured it into a jar that already contained some syrup, sort of… not thinking things through.
Well, when it cooled, it was solid as can be.
Here’s what you do (and yes, it took me two months to deal with this; basically, I half-heartedly put some water in and hoped for something other than mold to happen. Mold happened, so I had to deal.) (You deal with mold by re-boiling, but clearly more was necessary here.)
Pour a little hot water on top of your maple-mess-in-a-jar. Warm the outside of the jar under hot water from the tap. Put the jar in a pot of simmering water that reaches above the line of the contents. You are trying to avoid cracking the glass by creating a huge temperature difference anywhere, and the most likely place would be where the contents meet the air.
Gently heat things up and using a sharp fork (like the one that came with your carving knife — it’s jobs like this that I use that thing for), hack away at the sugar block as it warms, while carefully avoiding hitting the glass. Right? Right.
Keep doing this. Little “weak” spots will develop in the sugar and you can exploit those to loosen things up further. Eventually the crystals will loosen from the bottom and you will be home free.
Pour everything into a pot, boil (watching carefully! It’s nearly at the syrup stage already, remember!) until the tiny bubbles appear (soft ball stage, just under 235° because we are not trying to replicate our sugar cement block again), then remove from the heat, cool somewhat, and pour into a new jar (because the other one will have leftover crystals that will mess you up again).
On to our links!
Kid playing football (who goes on to be an NFL kicker) finds himself asking his buddy “big metaphysical questions” and returning to the Catholic faith— one thing I took away from his story is never underestimate the power of being a good friend or of finding a good friend.
Thinking about the state of health insurance and its effect on actual medical practice (and availability), I found this article informative: A Short History of American Medical Insurance.
The Cornell Collection of Blaschka Invertebrate Models includes hundreds of glass models of sea creatures — teaching tools and works of glassmaking art. You can also see the Ware Collection of Blaschka Glass Models of Plants, the “Glass Flowers” at Harvard’s Natural History Museum. This unique collection of over 4,000 models, representing more than 830 plant species, was created by the same glass artisans Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka, a father and son team of Czech glass artists, who did the sea creatures at Cornell. In case you’re doing an Ivy League road trip or something…
I wrote a post offering tips for reading aloud a while back (link down below) — here is a post from the Community of Classical Educators site — 7 Tips for Read-Aloud Success — that complements it very well.
Charles Murray on the importance of women in the neighborhood. Just a man being appreciative. I wonder if we can hear over the sound of our own shouting…
And one from an unmarried, childless, successful career woman. If you don’t subscribe, here are the money quotes:
I’m not a mother, and at 48 I’m unlikely to become one. My whole professional life, I’ve been leaning in. It wasn’t until things went badly wrong that I realized the human-capital value of a group of women modern society tends to ignore or dismiss—stay-at-home-moms.
*******
When I picked up the phone during that dark time, the lifelines at the other end were married stay-at-home mothers. As I fought legal battles, struggled to save sinking investments, looked for work, and moved back to the U.S., my full-time mother friends saved me from sinking into financial and emotional depression. They took my calls in the middle of school runs and playdates. On different continents, three of them put a roof over my head—free. They made sure I ate regularly, got some sleep and generally took care of myself.
*******
All these women were successful professionals before they married and had children. All chose to stay at home and, as one put it, “invest in the most important corporation—my family.” Another said she realized she was “outsourcing my life, including my family, and I didn’t like to think where that might lead.” She gave up her role at a Fortune 50 company. Their career sacrifice gave their families solid foundations and emotional security.
*******
They are leaning in—to people, not organizations.
If it’s not enough for me to incite outrage with my women-at-home links, I’m also going to post this article about measles. The information in it is from the CDC and NIH, so I’m hoping it can just be a contribution that offers reasonable discussion, not polarization. Full disclosure: I have always been “mildly pro-vaxx” — against immorally derived vaccines, rejecting of “lifestyle” ones given to infants and young children (e.g. hepatitis b, Gardasil), and skeptical of the increasingly intense schedule of vaccines given to infants in this country, but agnostic-to-approving of the others. But the rising hysteria is completely unwarranted by the facts. And the more I find out, the more cautious I am becoming.
Check our comment guidelines before coming at me ;)
Some math and science of knitting.
From the archives:
May is the perfect time to begin living the liturgical life at home with children! Note my new bud vase, the little blue-green glass one, that I recently found a thrift store, in the picture at the top of this post! The world needs more little bud vases, especially in May.
Reading aloud — how to do it!
As you think out your summer plans, consider lining up some leisurely reading aloud with the whole family.
Today is the feast of St. Paschal Baylon.
While you’re sharing our links with your friends, why not tell them about Like Mother, Like Daughter too!
We’d like to be clear that, when we direct you to a site via one of our links, we’re not necessarily endorsing the whole site, but rather just referring you to the individual post in question (unless we state otherwise).
Follow us:
Follow us on Twitter.
Like us on Facebook.
Auntie Leila’s Pinterest.
Rosie’s Pinterest.
Sukie’s Pinterest.
Deirdre’s Pinterest.
Habou’s Pinterest.
Bridget’s Pinterest.
Auntie Leila’s Ravelry.
Auntie Leila’s Instagram.
Rosie’s Instagram.
Sukie’s Instagram.
Deirdre’s Instagram.
Bridget’s Instagram.
Habou’s Instagram.
The post Rescuing maple syrup hardened in a jar ~ {bits & pieces} too! appeared first on Like Mother Like Daughter.
May 11, 2019
{bits & pieces}
The weekly “little of this, little of that” feature here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!
(This will all look and work better if you click on the actual post and do not remain on the main page.)
It’s a rare sunny day — no time to chat! I need to get out in the garden!
Also, ever hear of Buckeye chickens? Their eggs are brown, so I’d have to get some layers of white eggs as well for Deirdre’s pysanky, but suddenly I feel the need to have Buckeye chickens (there is someone who sells chicks not far from me).
Please advise!
This is my make-shift greenhouse. I will try to tell more soon and make a better video than this one (well, it has the virtue of being wicked short).
So far so good! Next year I am getting a solar-powered battery because colored water in jugs didn’t heat anything up in an unsurprising development of practice over theory.
Plant all the things! Get all the chicks!
Happy Mother’s Day!
On to our links:
Alice von Hildebrand: Wrong Approaches to Art. This is a long piece and something to ponder. Von Hildebrand makes many valid points that will spark conscience (since beauty is the radiance of truth, we ought to be conscientious about it). Failure to recognize beauty can be a defect in the person, and in our culture we almost insist on ugliness. We see how far we are from being able to see beauty with proposals for rebuilding the Notre Dame cathedral, and our anxiety level rises higher with each wrongheaded idea. I disagree with her overall association of art and beauty only with high culture — to me, this attitude reflects an unconscious enlightenment bias, demonstrated by her acknowledgement that a man can return from viewing the most exalted forms of art to find comfort in his home, yet attributing that to “homeliness” or comfort rather than art. Yet, the medievals saw art as simply “that which is made,” as opposed to nature; or rather, not opposed, but perfecting the raw materials around them by bringing order, through reason, to them. Looked at this way, the home can have a simple, humble kind of true art, the beauty of pattern and order that brings harmony to life, and doesn’t have to descend to the kitsch or sentimentality she rightly deplores. I wonder what you make of the essay?
Two articles about daycare: Does Daycare Harm Rich Kids? and Harvard Study Shows Danger of Early Childhood Education.
From above and within, how fire hit Notre Dame — the heart of Paris — amazing panoramic view. Note as you scroll down the jarringly ugly modern ambo and altar, now both demolished.
“… Children’s books have become increasingly squeamish when it comes to addressing genuine human problems, let alone the idea that vice must be painfully overcome through virtue.” I’m not sure I would go all-in on Frog and Toad, but the critique of today’s children’s books (and shows, I would add), is spot on.
Who is your doctor? Would you be surprised to find out that it’s a hospital administrator?
The New York Times had an op-ed by Helen Andrews (linked within this post): Here are some reasons why we don’t have a Phyllis Schlafly now. I’d add that she was unique and the times were still living on the capital of traditional family life, however much things were about to come crashing down. Before anyone starts rolling their eyes at nostalgia for the 50s, just consider: Marriage rates are staggeringly low compared to the 60s; among blacks, a devastating trend of unwed motherhood obtains.
I have recommended Leila Miller’s book Primal Loss, about the real effects of divorce on children, here before. Not only should you read it, you should give a copy to your pastor! Leila has generously offered a PDF of the book for free and you can get it here.
Mr. Mehan’s Mildly Amusing Mythical Mammals, illustrated by our own John Folley (Deirdre’s husband), was included in the National Catholic Register’s Top 5 Children’s Book picks!
Still thinking about Fr. Schall, may his memory be eternal.
Finding the tomb of St. Peter. “Having actual material evidence of the death of Peter in the way in which tradition told us is extremely important. Likewise, the inscriptions boldly codify in stone the very same beliefs that we have today. They stand as a rebuttal for those who claim that Christianity was an evolving cult or seek to introduce false doctrines.”
From the archives:
Self-control for children and for ourselves.
My latest talk is up on the Speaking page.
Moving? I have a method for cleaning when you have to sell your house.
Today is the feast of Mary, Queen of Apostles and St. Francis di Girolamo.
While you’re sharing our links with your friends, why not tell them about Like Mother, Like Daughter too!
We’d like to be clear that, when we direct you to a site via one of our links, we’re not necessarily endorsing the whole site, but rather just referring you to the individual post in question (unless we state otherwise).
Follow us:
Follow us on Twitter.
Like us on Facebook.
Auntie Leila’s Pinterest.
Rosie’s Pinterest.
Sukie’s Pinterest.
Deirdre’s Pinterest.
Habou’s Pinterest.
Bridget’s Pinterest.
Auntie Leila’s Ravelry.
Auntie Leila’s Instagram.
Rosie’s Instagram.
Sukie’s Instagram.
Deirdre’s Instagram.
Bridget’s Instagram.
Habou’s Instagram.
The post {bits & pieces} appeared first on Like Mother Like Daughter.
