Leila Marie Lawler's Blog, page 4
January 25, 2025
Chatty thoughts and lots of links!
What should we talk about?
We had fun in Texas! We enjoyed each others’ company, played with the kids, took walks, and were well fed by Rosie.
We did all our Texas-ing in one go, seeing the running of the Longhorns, the US Mint, and the rodeo at the Cowtown Coliseum in one day, and then having BBQ (the brisket! ahhh!!) at Heims the next. (Phil and I talk about the rodeo in our podcast, at the end — maybe have a listen!)
I took one photo, of my grandchildren (but not even all) upholding the family honor, with all that ice cream:
Maybe Rosie can send me more. She is a great photographer and it’s hard to feel motivated to take pictures when around her!
Now I’m home and in recovery. I’m just not a person who moves quickly anymore! But last night I made pasta. Rosie and I were discussing, as she made a tasty batch for us, the need to make homemade pasta more of a feature in the weekly or monthly menu.
I couldn’t spread right across the island with all this due to things at the other end, out of the frame…
She actually had given me the attachment for my Kitchenaid quite a while ago.
Here are my issues: It actually takes time to make it. And when you’ve churned out an entire batch, you actually don’t have enough for a big family! It takes a lot of pasta for, say, 8-10 people, some of whom might be teenage boys… Dry pasta is more space-efficient.
For the two of us it’s fine, of course.
Maybe in that population there are kids who can take the job over? Make a batch one day and cook it the next? Do you normally make pasta at your house?
I don’t have a picture of the finished dish, which was spaghetti tossed with ricotta that had been mixed with an egg, a splash of lemon juice, fresh thyme, and parmesan. A little pepper finished it off. I think I probably should have added oil.
My grocery-store thyme is doing pretty well, I must say! My black thumb hasn’t struck yet!
The pasta dish was pretty good… I think for this thin pasta you need a really giant pot of water so it doesn’t stop boiling, and I am used to cooking it in less water because I’m a cutting-corners kind of person.
The truth is that by the time the water gets back to the boil in a smaller pot, the pasta is not as al dente as it really needs to be. If I had cut it thicker, it would be fine.
I’m not sure why the strands at the forefront there got thicker — most of the pasta was pretty thin.
In other news…
The girls and I discussed that same question you have asked me — should one keep one’s dried oranges! Do they store?
Bridget saves them! She says they are fine.
So I’m going to do it. I don’t know any other way to end up with a good showing, because although they are not difficult to make at all (drying the oranges is pretty simple), the actual slicing and garland-making is time-consuming. If I want an abundance of garlands, I think I will have to increase the supply over the years by adding to what I have.
The days are so cold! But the sun is brighter, so things are looking up!
After I finished the lavender sweater for my granddaughter, I cast on a little sweater set which I’ll keep mostly under wraps for now, and a pair of socks. Having enough knitting for two flights and a week away is vitally important — never leave without the right things!
These are the “Syncopation Socks” that I have made before. I like them because they are stretchy and so handsome! The yarn is a charcoal gray that has some blue in it too.
This is my sofa “nest” currently:
Nest notes:
The project bags were given to me quite a while ago now, by a sweet reader.
The music is an Ave Maria our choir is learning… I hope we get it soon!
The note is about winter sowing… have you started thinking about the garden yet?
It makes me feel organized, though it has little in it right now after a week away.
Since it’s black, I decided to put the sticker Rosie gave me on it. It’s from her husband’s Marine battalion, 1-11, the motto of which is “Lead, Inspire, Prepare for Battle.” I’m probably saying this all wrong.
However, she was telling me that the chaplain back in California at Camp Pendleton where the Battalion is based manages to work the motto into most of his sermons, and I have to say, I’m inspired to pass it along to you, as their unofficial mother-in-law.
In our families, we must Lead — we must not be followers of the world, inclined to accept ideas and patterns that are not motivated by care for the common good or our well being. We have to understand that there is disorder prowling about, ready to take away our peace. We can overcome that disorder by accepting the responsibility, given to us in our state of life by God, to lead, not conform (be not conformed!). As soon as we see ourselves that way, as leaders, we immediately get the courage to help others rather than allow ourselves to be led by.
We must Inspire. People are lost. They have no one to follow. By living according to God’s, not man’s, law, we inspire others without even really thinking or knowing about it. Trusting in God’s goodness, we will inspire others. Even when we feel like failures, our willingness to do God’s will is itself inspirational.
And we too, we mothers and wives, have to be Prepared for Battle. For us, it’s the everyday battle of doing the little things with care and love — it’s a battle of love!
Anyway, if you catch a glimpse of a snake and cannons on my planner, that’s what it’s all about! Maybe I will come across a pretty sticker too…
Curriculum Corner
Rosie mentioned this book to me, which she says her family benefits from reading daily:
A Character Calendar (affiliate link)
From the description: “Beginning with a brief introduction to the saint of the day, augmented by excerpts from the Imitation of Christ and from the Mass for the day, as well as an ideal to ponder and an “action item”, this is a wonderful way to focus on the virtues of each of the saints, and thereby to make our lives an imitation of theirs.”
I have found the courses offered by Hillsdale College pretty good for the most part, and accessible for the motivated high school student. Here is one on Classical Greece and Rome, filmed during a conference there. I see there is a lecture on why we read the Aeneid, a topic on which I posted a link (from Thomas Aquinas College) last time. So maybe this is a hot item right now! Anyway, I haven’t done this course but I am confident it would be a good one.
bits & piecesAn article that puts very well what I try to emphasize here: You Can’t Pass on Faith…But You Can Pass on TraditionA raw and well written account of a college student’s experience at his family’s home during the LA fires. He was very brave. Makes you think: do I have a preparedness plan? Could I protect my home from looters? Do I have a way to put out a fire? Would I have something to eat? (Do our sons keep a journal? Maybe this article will inspire them!)
Fr. Naugle on the failures of authority in Church and State and our responsibility.
The always edifying Mary Eberstadt on her friendship with Fr. Paul Mankowski, SJ:
He said something in that email I have never forgotten… he wrote something that became an enduring consolation, not only in that moment, but on later occasions throughout the years. Dismissing the enraged interlocutor and citing Jesus instead, Mankowski wrote, “Mary, never forget that you have chosen the better part.”
This was the first lesson I learned from Fr. Paul Mankowski: Never, ever lose sight of what’s most important about your time on this earth. There was nothing more critical in that moment than the crying little baby.
I think ultrasounds in pregnancy should be approached with caution. Common sense tells us that physical waves are physical and can have an effect on the developing baby. Risks have to be weighed against benefits — there’s a big difference between needing information when there’s an issue and exposing a healthy person to possible damage for no reason. Just for thought: The Forgotten Dangers of Ultrasound.
The updated Tasha Tudor website!
Let’s become better informed about public health in general. Lockdowns were long studied and rejected for the harm they cause, and this collective wisdom was simply overridden by political motivations in 2020: In the Asian Flu of 1957-58, They Rejected Lockdowns
from the archivesThere is no other plan — marriage is the plan to protect the unbornEasy and good pot roast with the secret to making it tender
liturgical living
Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul
follow us everywhere!
Here is all the info:
Visit me at The School for Housewives and recommend it to your young friends!
My “random thoughts no pictures” blog, Happy Despite Them has moved over to Substack! — receive it by email if you like, or bookmark, so you don’t miss a thing! The old one is still up if you want to look at the comments on past posts. It will take me a while to get things organized, but you’ll be patient, I know!
There you will find the weekly podcast done by Phil and me, called On the Home Front. Do let us know what you think!
My book, The Summa Domestica: Order and Wonder in Family Life is available from Sophia Press! Also in paperback now! All the thoughts from this blog collected into three volumes, beautifully presented with illustrations from Deirdre, an index in each volume, and ribbons!
My podcast, The Home Truths Society, can be found on the Restoration of Christian Culture website (and you can find it where you listen to such things) — be sure to check out the other offerings there!
Stay abreast of the posts here at LMLD, when they happen:
Consider subscribing to this blog by email. We would love to pop into your inbox! The subscription box is on this page on the sidebar!
We share pretty pictures: Auntie Leila’s Instagram, Rosie’s Instagram, Deirdre’s Instagram. Bridget’s Instagram.
Auntie Leila’s Facebook (you can just follow)
The boards of the others: Rosie’s Pinterest. Sukie’s Pinterest. Deirdre’s Pinterest. Habou’s Pinterest
Here is my affiliate link to my Amazon page — the only affiliate thing that goes on here on LMLD, which is why the blog loads quickly and you don’t have to keep closing pop-ups etc! It opens up an Amazon tab and anything you purchase using that tab for 24 hours sends a bit over my way without cost to you. Thank you for opening it and shopping if you are so minded — as some have asked me. If not, don’t worry one bit.
January 11, 2025
I almost got sidetracked by my “curated abundance”; January fog; links!
January for me always has the same arc, I’ve come to realize: around the second week I find, after the holiday busyness and socializing, that I’m so cold and so sleepy. I used to wonder if I was sick, and of course sometimes I am, but not always.
I’m just actually… hibernating!
So this past week was a bit like that.
It would have been good to take a walk but there was an icy wind for days and I just couldn’t. I took solace in some targeted, limited, focused tidying and a bit of bread-baking and then spent the rest of the time knitting!
When I had kids around I’d just try to do what I could early in the day and then we’d read lots of chapter books and Mama would have to put her head back for a little snooze while they played with their new Legos and what have you.
I’ve learned that in another week or two I’ll be okay!
(And actually next week I’ll be going to visit Rosie and family in Texas, so we’ll have a little break here as well).
Or if you’re not a knitter or even really that interested, perhaps if I chitchat about it, you can transfer the organizing principles to whatever craft you are called to?
I have been thinking about minimizing vs. curating and I have to say, I really appreciate having materials to work with all around me.
Whether it’s a dowel, a scrap of fabric, or a box of old cards, this is actually how I live! And always have.
Whenever I have purged the random bits and bobs, I’ve regretted it later. I am certainly not the most creative or crafty person I’ve ever met, but when the urge seizes me, I appreciate having materials to execute.
The latest thing is to bandy about the idea that you have seasons of life and some of them require minimalism. It’s so often said that maybe it would be worthwhile to think about it just a little before accepting all its implications.
Is a busy time of life the time to get rid of everything, rather than reasonably assess what you have, with an eye to creativity? Actually, it’s when your kids are young, boisterous, and draining that having random stuff to create with — for you and for them — means the most.
The thought of deciding beforehand what my gang will make (and am I deciding? I find they decide, inspired by what they see) and then going out to shop for it is what exhausted me. Later you still have a lot of stuff to deal with — and it cost you time and money to boot.
Unless the idea is you are outsourcing all that to school… Then your house will be tidy, sure, but also lacking in busy hands, laughter, and a connection between creativity and home.
Granted I have a big house (and enormous cavern of a garage). You can only keep what you can fit!
And organizing the things — or as I like to think of it, curating — is very important. If something is trash, throw it away. If it was a silly trend, probably not good to store it. If it’s broken and not worth fixing, toss it.
But good things with which to make other things merit baskets, sturdy shoeboxes, plastic bins, and jars. There are plenty of busy moms who also knit! and quilt! and make things with wood! Don’t let the time to be creative slip you by because some other people think it’s not worth it.
For something to be handy when you need it, you have to know where it is — where to look. I admit I’m not the best at this aspect. Right now, in the middle of winter when it’s too cold to do anything about it all, certain areas are looking pretty darn hoard-y!
The other day, the Chief asked me if now (meaning post-gift-shipping-season) he could burn or discard boxes out in the garage. I am that person who clasps all the boxes to her heaving bosom, but I relented just a bit.
Anyway, having finished knitting and blocking the little sleeveless cardigan for my granddaughter*, all I had to do was bop up to my sewing room** to find three buttons.
*The yarn for which was in my stash and actually was from my mother’s stash so we’re talking generational stashing here.†
** Not everyone has a sewing room! But we’re talking about a jar or two of buttons…
†My yarn stash comprises not much more than one of those little three-drawer plastic organizers. Well, two of those… and my mother’s yarn is in a few small plastic bins. She really liked putting things into other things…
Well, I almost got fatally sidetracked…
I do have them roughly organized into jars of multi-colored + metal, white, and shell/bone (also white). The latter are quite precious, actually, really finishing off a garment in an elegant and timeless way.
But finding three lavender, purple, or white buttons the right size was a bit of a challenge!
Here is where a determined young child would have come in handy. It’s like doing a jigsaw puzzle but has a real purpose: sorting through the shapes, sizes, and colors to find the matches.
If you went out and bought buttons (or ordered them) for each project, it would take a lot of time and be much more expensive.
And honestly I’ve tried — and the nice variety just isn’t there anymore. Sewing used to be a much more serious occupation, with much more variety and quality than exists today.
After being sorely tempted to sit down and sort these all out, I decided I don’t have three lavender buttons (close, though; and if I had a 7-year-old to do the search, I bet he would come up with them) and needed to stay on mission.
So in the interest of not getting sidetracked but posting this post, I settled on these white ones:
I used a bit of the mohair to sew them on.
If you too would simply prefer to have your own “store” of things like buttons, I recommend starting with a button jar. Eventually you’ll branch out with your categories.
When anything is worn out and you are tossing it, first take off the buttons. (For instance, if a flannel shirt is on its last legs, you can cut the fabric up for great rags and harvest the buttons.)
Lots of men’s dress shirts have basically the same buttons anyway! So you can replace one down at the bottom, where it will be tucked in, moving the matching one from there up higher. Some come with extra buttons in a little plastic bag — toss it in the button jar if you don’t want to take the time to sew it on the inside of the shirt for safe-keeping.
It’s helpful for the future hunt if you take a needle and thread, or safety pin if there aren’t many of them, and get them all connected.
When you’re out thrifting, pay attention to garments with buttons even if you don’t want the item itself. It’s worth paying $3 or $4 for a set of shell buttons or a few really pretty brass or pewter ones!
Sometimes a sweater with fancy buttons loses one, and you have to replace them all so they’ll match. Take the old ones you’re removing and pop them in the jar, again, somehow securing them together.
I want to also mention that not only will an older child profitably sort them for you, a very young child (2-4 for instance, but even older) will be entertained for a long time if you set him up with a tray or pan and let him pour the buttons out. Heck, even the stray husband has been known to sift through buttons on a tray! Buttons are pleasing to touch and look at! Nothing bad will happen.
bits & piecesMy friend Mary Eileen pointed me to this wonderful lecture, Dr. Andrew Dinan Makes the Case for Virgil’s Aeneid. Home educators can be encouraged by it and everyone will learn something profound from its deep and well reasoned argument. You can prepare your young children for the later challenge of the poem by having them read the story first — there’s this one.Tony Esolen on the new theology of sex and why it’s no good
An excellent article on how modern mothers are perplexed by having a young child at home and what they could do (instead of worrying about pre-school or curriculum); I’m gratified at the mention of my work!
Pine trees have great medicinal value and an amazing healing substance that can be collected and used as medicine! The bees collect it and make propolis, which we try to harvest but need to get better at. It’s so interesting that some speculate that the reason bees don’t have much of an internal immune system is their reliance on pine resin, which offers a sort of externalized one for them instead. I found this video helpful to visualize collecting it, even though Natalie lives in the Pacific Northwest and I don’t think there are many Douglas Firs here in New England. But I think there are fine substitutes.
Speaking of general health, do you make kefir? I have started making it (thanks to grains given to me by my friend and knitting comrade Kathryn) and it’s so much easier than yogurt! Here’s a primer on the benefits. I generally make a smoothie with frozen fruit and some honey syrup (honey dissolved in warm water so it mixes rather than clumps). Do you have any good tips for me?
from the archivesVisualize Curated AbundanceToddler lifeDinner every day when the kids are little
liturgical living
Pope St. Hyginus, St. Theodosius, Abbot or Cenobiarch
The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord is celebrated tomorrow in the Novus Ordo and commemorated on the 13th in the Traditional Latin Mass.
follow us everywhere!
Here is all the info:
Visit me at The School for Housewives and recommend it to your young friends!
My “random thoughts no pictures” blog, Happy Despite Them has moved over to Substack! — receive it by email if you like, or bookmark, so you don’t miss a thing! The old one is still up if you want to look at the comments on past posts. It will take me a while to get things organized, but you’ll be patient, I know!
There you will find the weekly podcast done by Phil and me, called On the Home Front. Do let us know what you think!
My book, The Summa Domestica: Order and Wonder in Family Life is available from Sophia Press! Also in paperback now! All the thoughts from this blog collected into three volumes, beautifully presented with illustrations from Deirdre, an index in each volume, and ribbons!
My podcast, The Home Truths Society, can be found on the Restoration of Christian Culture website (and you can find it where you listen to such things) — be sure to check out the other offerings there!
Stay abreast of the posts here at LMLD, when they happen:
Consider subscribing to this blog by email. We would love to pop into your inbox! The subscription box is on this page on the sidebar!
We share pretty pictures: Auntie Leila’s Instagram, Rosie’s Instagram, Deirdre’s Instagram. Bridget’s Instagram.
Auntie Leila’s Facebook (you can just follow)
The boards of the others: Rosie’s Pinterest. Sukie’s Pinterest. Deirdre’s Pinterest. Habou’s Pinterest
Here is my affiliate link to my Amazon page — the only affiliate thing that goes on here on LMLD, which is why the blog loads quickly and you don’t have to keep closing pop-ups etc! It opens up an Amazon tab and anything you purchase using that tab for 24 hours sends a bit over my way without cost to you. Thank you for opening it and shopping if you are so minded — as some have asked me. If not, don’t worry one bit.
January 4, 2025
Being ready to do what needs to be done; keeping Christmas yet; planner talk; and more!
In today’s Office of Readings for the feast of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, there is a passage from a conference to her spiritual daughters that we who run households can take very much to heart!
She asks, “What are our real trials?”
Remember, she was a wife and mother before her husband died and she became a religious sister, taking on the task of reforming the whole Catholic educational system in America (which she did; she’s rather remarkable and a wonderful role model).
After naming some trials, interior and exterior, she says “Our dear Saviour was never in extremes… [we must] do his will because God wills it, that is, to be ready to quit at any moment and to do anything else to which you maybe called… “
This readiness is very important for the mother at home. We can have in mind what we would like to do and even what we should be doing. But things come up and we have to cultivate the ability to attend to them without losing our calm and peace!
St. Elizabeth says, “Yet we know certainly that our God calls us to a holy life, that he gives us every grace, every abundant grace; and though we are so weak of ourselves, this grace is able to carry us through every obstacle and difficulty. But we lack courage… ”
Okay, let’s pray for courage!
Christmas CornerNext week we’ll begin to respond to the lightening days, gradually emerging from holiday mode (but not completely, as Epiphany-tide still has treasures to unfold). There’s no rush, and the Christ Child wants us to linger with Him a bit longer!
Chesterton has some spicy words about the necessity to go against the world a bit for what really matters:
“There is no mark of the immense weak mindedness of modernity that is more striking than this general disposition to keep up old forms, but to keep them up informally and feebly… Why take something which you could easily abolish as a superstition and carefully perpetuate it as a bore?”
The world after Halloween insists we need Christmas cheer now, but even before Christmas, they are weary and sad. Just get rid of it then!
If you don’t want to, then keep it! Formally and strongly.
“The world will never starve for want of wonders; but only for want of wonder.”
Edit: I meant to say, I was reminded of these great Chesterton quotes by an Instagram post from Marlon at her St. Cecilia Schole account. So timely, and as she says, he just knows how to nail it!
Knitting Corner
I made a total of 11 hats!
Seven for my Colorado family and four for the boys in my Virginia family.
The four are the Musselburgh pattern, which is unbelievably popular. I made mine with a bit of color work just to give myself something to mess up and have to do over on each hat!
The seven are a sort of pattern of my own, with a twisted-rib brim and a stockinette crown. The yarn is Lamb’s Pride and I like how its one-ply structure makes the knit stitch a little interesting, where one leg twists more than the other. I know some people don’t like it, but I like it!
That kind of hat is very stretchy. So I’m hoping the bigger ones aren’t too big!
I will update my Ravelry later on if you’re interested in the particulars of these hats.
Then I cast on a sweater for Deirdre’s 6-year-old, for whom I had made this one, but then it got thrown in the dryer… boo hoo, waaaah….
(the old one)
(I see from my Ravelry notes that it took me two weeks to make it. I think I’m getting slower… )
Here’s the new one, which to be fair to me was made over the Christmas days:
(the new one)
It still needs to be blocked and I need to find three buttons for it!
Basically I have to remind them that woolen things hardly ever need to be washed, unlike acrylic and polyester, which always seems dirty and gets worse every time you do anything to it.
Woolens can be spot-cleaned, and then if they do need a real wash, they can be handwashed (I will do it!) or go in the delicates and then be spread out on a towel, on a rack, to dry. So there’s one sort of big headache about them, until you get used to it, and everything else is just so nice; vs. not nice at all, though washable, but not really.
We like this style because it’s very warm; but the lack of sleeves makes it non-bulky for kids and therefore more likely to be worn, especially over a little jumper dress.
I’m now moving on to a pair of socks and hopefully a layette of some sort for Deirdre’s new baby, due at the end of the month! (Number 7 for her!).
Today I have to put away some knitting things from the sweater!
Sprucing Things Up Corner
For a while I’ve been wondering if I should get new sofas; these have gotten quite the workout and are a bit shabby these days. But honestly, I don’t have as much energy for moving huge pieces of furniture around, though I was sorely tempted by one Facebook Marketplace offering…
But just before Christmas I ordered these sofa toppers (called “Lounge Cushions”) from World Market. This is not any sort of sponsored mention; I just like them!
They are quite reasonably priced compared to others I’ve seen, comprising the whole cushion with the cover, whereas the only other place I found such a thing (in natural fibers) sold the cover separately, and it got pricey. These were delivered quickly and are just my style! They are reversible too!
Full disclosure, they just sit on top of the sofa cushion and do move around when you sit down. I don’t know that I would have loved them when I had kids here. Maybe I would have made some sort of anchor straps for them to go under the cushion (and I do just have one long cushion on the bottom).
It annoys me to have to tuck and re-tuck things, but with just the two of us, it’s not a big deal.
Organizing/Planning Corner
Even though of course I’m still celebrating Christmas, I had to pick up a new planner. I got this one at Marshalls for $10:
I’m not sure why it already looks somewhat chewed up, but it’s a trick of the lighting. Trust me, it’s still pleasingly new, offering the promise of a fantastically organized and planned year, with me at peak performance and efficiency! I’m full of hope and certainty!
I thought it might be helpful and fun for us to discuss the relative merits and features of planners.
The past few years, I’ve had the most strangely fulfilling conversations with various friends about what we do and do not like in a planner!
I still use my post-it note system for to-dos and plans, but I’ve incorporated it into a pre-printed calendar planner for date-specific items.
So for me, that elastic band to hold everything closed is a feature I like.
And I really was hoping for an integrated pocket to hold said sticky notes, index cards, and scrap paper, each of which has its particular use for me:
On the inside cover I put my prayer lists.
I’m always wanting a paper clip to attach some scrap of paper or prayer card as well, so I like the pocket for holding those.
I even carefully snipped out the old pocket and popped it into the new planner in the back:
Can you see where I did that?
I had to remove two pages of fairly useless stickers featuring little airplanes, “REMINDER” stickers, “happy hour” (not sure I need even one of those!), and birthday cakes, palm trees, and other random things that I think the grandkids will enjoy later when I need something to keep them occupied.
I really wanted tabs. These are sturdy and nice:
It’s just me, but I really don’t want prompts and pre-packaged lists of the “to-do, menu, workout” kind.
I don’t want much! I want the days laid out with ample room to write things that are scheduled for that day, along with notes I would need to add. I want zero clutter and one week following the next:
And I want the week laid out for me this way, with Monday first.
As you know, my mentality is to have the whole week oriented to Sunday. But even though Sunday is the first day of the week, that’s not how I approach my time when I’m organizing it.
This one has a calendar spread at the start of each month, along with one page preceding it with an overview — since I put all the dates on the calendar, I don’t really need this page, but it might make it easier next year when I have to transfer everything.
It says “Goals and Ideas” on the cover, but honestly there’s just one tiny “motivational phrase” at the start of each month, and that’s the best you can expect these days! It’s light on the “be the best version of yourself” sort of thing. Some are not bad; the one for June is “Wisdom starts in wonder” which is certainly true.
This is what’s on the back if you’re looking for a simple planner like this:
I looked them up on Amazon but didn’t find my exact one.
I can’t believe my luck!
What do you look for in a planner?
bits & pieces
I am always complaining about how bad clothes are these days. Everything is polyester, even at once high end (and still pricey) stores. Polyester/acrylic sweater for $150? No thanks! In the 2000s, you could get a real wool sweater at Old Navy. Now good luck finding one at Talbots. What happened? This video explains a lot. I’m a firm believer in supply and demand. If people continue to buy bad items, bad items will be supplied. We simply have to change our demand. Let’s go back to buying 12 things a year and make them good ones (we can thrift or make them if need be!).
I liked this article by Joel Salatin, someone I regard as having common sense: Planes are designed to fly level.
from the archives
‘Tis the season for all the influencers to peddle all the plastic storage containers. But I don’t know… sometimes they are handy, but we have to think before purchasing. Here’s my solution to storing seeds, which has served me very well! And involves no plastic (and some whimsical repurposing of nice cards that I don’t want to get rid of).
As we look forward to the blank pages of our new planner, let’s think hard before filling up every hour with activities. In the home, we are invaluable for our flexibility! Our unscheduled time is of the utmost importance! Here’s a pep talk about it from me.
liturgical living
Tomorrow (or Monday, either way) is the Epiphany! And the coming week is rich in feasts and observations!
follow us everywhere!
Here is all the info:
Visit me at The School for Housewives and recommend it to your young friends!
My “random thoughts no pictures” blog, Happy Despite Them has moved over to Substack! — receive it by email if you like, or bookmark, so you don’t miss a thing! The old one is still up if you want to look at the comments on past posts. It will take me a while to get things organized, but you’ll be patient, I know!
There you will find the weekly podcast done by Phil and me, called On the Home Front. Do let us know what you think!
My book, The Summa Domestica: Order and Wonder in Family Life is available from Sophia Press! Also in paperback now! All the thoughts from this blog collected into three volumes, beautifully presented with illustrations from Deirdre, an index in each volume, and ribbons!
My podcast, The Home Truths Society, can be found on the Restoration of Christian Culture website (and you can find it where you listen to such things) — be sure to check out the other offerings there!
Stay abreast of the posts here at LMLD, when they happen:
Consider subscribing to this blog by email. We would love to pop into your inbox! The subscription box is on this page on the sidebar!
We share pretty pictures: Auntie Leila’s Instagram, Rosie’s Instagram, Deirdre’s Instagram. Bridget’s Instagram.
Auntie Leila’s Facebook (you can just follow)
The boards of the others: Rosie’s Pinterest. Sukie’s Pinterest. Deirdre’s Pinterest. Habou’s Pinterest
Here is my affiliate link to my Amazon page — the only affiliate thing that goes on here on LMLD, which is why the blog loads quickly and you don’t have to keep closing pop-ups etc! It opens up an Amazon tab and anything you purchase using that tab for 24 hours sends a bit over my way without cost to you. Thank you for opening it and shopping if you are so minded — as some have asked me. If not, don’t worry one bit.
December 21, 2024
The double miracle of grace
In the Liturgy, the days of Advent offer all sorts of almost kaleidoscopic meditations on Salvation History. The ancient and new events are recalled at a brisk pace; linearity is given little heed!
Elijah, John the Baptist, Isaiah, Joseph, Mary, the Second Coming of the Lord — the readings at Mass and in the Hours keep us jumping back and forth.
The intensity of this way of perceiving time reminds me of how I felt as labor came upon me and my baby was about to be born — how every woman feels: my mind went everywhere and my spirit felt completely unsettled, because all the little iron filings of my soul were involved in the seeming chaos of aligning to the True North, the one necessary goal: making this hidden person present.
Today, in the Office of Readings, St. Ambrose offers an incredibly rich commentary on the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth. (I am putting it below so you can read it all — I encourage you to read it out loud to your spouse and maybe older children too.)
A rationalistic person trying to invent a liturgical season would do things in chronological order, probably; certainly the Visitation would not appear today, four days before Christmas!
God’s ways, though, are wise. Apparently, we simply must have our faces taken by His hands and made to look at certain things — really look!
I think we women can profitably consider the episode as women. Our world (and increasingly, worldly voices within the Church) seems capable only of regarding us as disorderly functionaries who must be pacified with assurances that we can take our place alongside and in opposition to men wherever they happen to be managing things, not questioning how we came to this pass. Sadly, many women cooperate in this pathetic wrangle, robbing us of our true destiny.
But if we delve into the Visitation, letting the words settle in our hearts, we see, as St. Ambrose says, Our Lady bringing her womanly consolation to her elderly cousin whom she knew to be barren, hastening out of her own surely preoccupied state, eager and loving.
When Mary heard this she did not disbelieve the prophecy, she was not uncertain of the message, she did not doubt the example: but happy because of the promise that had been given, eager to fulfil her duty as a cousin, hurried by her joy, she went up into the hill country.
The two women become prophets, St. Ambrose tells us. How often is everyone berated about our neglect of women’s voices in our modern society (where to tell the truth they are only too shrilly heard)? But perhaps we are the ones who have become deaf to every way of communicating except the one that’s strident, most lacking in texture and refinement, and most crashingly utilitarian.
Perhaps we need to recover a different way of seeing:
Elizabeth was the first to hear the voice [of Mary] but her son John was the first to feel the effects of grace. She heard as one hears in the natural course of things; he leapt because of the mystery that was there. She sensed the coming of Mary, he the coming of the Lord — the woman knew the woman, the child knew the child. The women speak of grace while inside them grace works on their babies. And by a double miracle the women prophesy under the inspiration of their unborn children.
St. Paul tells us that “Woman will be saved by childbearing.” We are used to scorning old St. Paul. We have it ingrained in us to dismiss him as misogynist, culture-bound, grumpy, mean. We are Paul-resistant.
However, the greatest surprise and truth of man’s existence as flesh and spirit is that God became a Child. Logically, then, the one who bears the Child is the highest of our race. Mary is creation’s boast, saved and blessed by the One she bore!
The “double miracle” of Mary and Elizabeth’s prophecy comes about “under the inspiration of their unborn children” — an inspiration for which their souls were prepared by their goodness and an authentic, exemplary sisterhood. As women, we can, if we desire it, participate in the miracle and be saved by bearing, as we can (but we women by nature can), the Christ:
“Let the soul of Mary be in each one of you, to proclaim the greatness of the Lord. Let the spirit of Mary be in each one of you, to rejoice in God. According to the flesh only one woman can be the mother of Christ but in the world of faith Christ is the fruit of all of us.”
St. Ambrose addresses the precise nature of their virtue: “For every soul can receive the Word of God if only it is pure and preserves itself in chastity and modesty.” He hearkens to the Sermon on the Mount, the words of Our Lord Himself: “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.” Mary is most pure, blessed among women, as Scripture tells us Elizabeth called her.
St. Ambrose ends his sermon this way:
“The Lord’s greatness is proclaimed, as you have read elsewhere, where it says Join me in magnifying the Lord. This does not mean that anything can be added to the Lord’s greatness by human words, but that he is magnified in us. Christ is the image of God and so any good or religious act that a soul performs magnifies that image of God in that soul, the God in whose likeness the soul itself was made. And thus the soul itself has some share in his greatness and is ennobled.”
I wish you a blessed feast of our ennoblement — the great Nativity of Christ, in which “the soul feels its worth.” I pray you receive every grace offered you by the Good God, in love and joy!
From a commentary by St Ambrose on St Luke’s Gospel
The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The angel Gabriel had announced the news of something that was as yet hidden and so, to buttress the Virgin Mary’s faith by means of a real example, he told her also that an old and sterile woman had conceived, showing that everything that God willed was possible to God.
When Mary heard this she did not disbelieve the prophecy, she was not uncertain of the message, she did not doubt the example: but happy because of the promise that had been given, eager to fulfil her duty as a cousin, hurried by her joy, she went up into the hill country.
Where could she hurry to except to the hills, filled with God as she was? The grace of the Holy Spirit does not admit of delays. And Mary’s arrival and the presence of her Son quickly show their effects: As soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting her child leapt in her womb and she was filled with the Holy Spirit.
See the careful distinction in the choice of words. Elizabeth was the first to hear the voice but her son John was the first to feel the effects of grace. She heard as one hears in the natural course of things; he leapt because of the mystery that was there. She sensed the coming of Mary, he the coming of the Lord — the woman knew the woman, the child knew the child. The women speak of grace while inside them grace works on their babies. And by a double miracle the women prophesy under the inspiration of their unborn children.
The infant leapt and the mother was filled with the Spirit. The mother was not filled before her son: her son was filled with the Holy Spirit and in turn filled his mother. John leapt and so did Mary’s spirit. John leapt and filled Elizabeth with the Spirit; but we know that Mary was not filled but her spirit rejoiced. For the Incomprehensible was working incomprehensibly within his mother. Elizabeth had been filled with the Spirit after she conceived, but Mary before, at the moment the angel had come. “Blessed are you,” said Elizabeth, “who believed”.
You too, my people, are blessed, you who have heard and who believe. Every soul that believes — that soul both conceives and gives birth to the Word of God and recognises his works.
Let the soul of Mary be in each one of you, to proclaim the greatness of the Lord. Let the spirit of Mary be in each one of you, to rejoice in God. According to the flesh only one woman can be the mother of Christ but in the world of faith Christ is the fruit of all of us. For every soul can receive the Word of God if only it is pure and preserves itself in chastity and modesty.
The soul that has been able to reach this state proclaims the greatness of the Lord just as Mary did and rejoices in God its saviour just like her.
The Lord’s greatness is proclaimed, as you have read elsewhere, where it says Join me in magnifying the Lord. This does not mean that anything can be added to the Lord’s greatness by human words, but that he is magnified in us. Christ is the image of God and so any good or religious act that a soul performs magnifies that image of God in that soul, the God in whose likeness the soul itself was made. And thus the soul itself has some share in his greatness and is ennobled.
follow us everywhere!
Here is all the info:
Visit me at The School for Housewives and recommend it to your young friends!
My “random thoughts no pictures” blog, Happy Despite Them has moved over to Substack! — receive it by email if you like, or bookmark, so you don’t miss a thing! The old one is still up if you want to look at the comments on past posts. It will take me a while to get things organized, but you’ll be patient, I know!
There you will find the weekly podcast done by Phil and me, called On the Home Front. Do let us know what you think!
My book, The Summa Domestica: Order and Wonder in Family Life is available from Sophia Press! Also in paperback now! All the thoughts from this blog collected into three volumes, beautifully presented with illustrations from Deirdre, an index in each volume, and ribbons!
My podcast, The Home Truths Society, can be found on the Restoration of Christian Culture website (and you can find it where you listen to such things) — be sure to check out the other offerings there!
Stay abreast of the posts here at LMLD, when they happen:
Consider subscribing to this blog by email. We would love to pop into your inbox! The subscription box is on this page on the sidebar!
We share pretty pictures: Auntie Leila’s Instagram, Rosie’s Instagram, Deirdre’s Instagram. Bridget’s Instagram.
Auntie Leila’s Facebook (you can just follow)
The boards of the others: Rosie’s Pinterest. Sukie’s Pinterest. Deirdre’s Pinterest. Habou’s Pinterest
Here is my affiliate link to my Amazon page — the only affiliate thing that goes on here on LMLD, which is why the blog loads quickly and you don’t have to keep closing pop-ups etc! It opens up an Amazon tab and anything you purchase using that tab for 24 hours sends a bit over my way without cost to you. Thank you for opening it and shopping if you are so minded — as some have asked me. If not, don’t worry one bit.
December 14, 2024
Gifts galore! And good links!
I’m really, really trying to enjoy this Advent season and not let myself get stressed.
I’m glad I’m the grandmother now and not responsible for fulfilling everyone’s dearest wish!
I tend to get more creative with my ideas the closer Christmas gets, which is frustrating I must say — why can’t I be inspired in October? (I stand by my request that we have an extra month between October and November, is that too much to ask.) I’m leaning into our commitment to doing the most gift-giving at Little Christmas, Epiphany! I think the children like getting a box from us when they have some attention to give to it.
I cut my finger pretty badly so I can’t make this post too long. I have some gift ideas for you if you are interested! So let’s quickly get to that (the Amazon links are affiliate links):
People are always asking me if there’s a book for men that would complement The Summa Domestica. I hadn’t really found one because I don’t think men want to go into all the details the way women do. Now I have I recommend this one for a brisk presentation of fundamental ideas for establishing a flourishing family and maintaining a moral life:
As a great-great-grandson of Emperor Franz Joseph, Habsburg is distantly related to the great Blessed Karl of Austria, who I am convinced is a model of true, servant manliness for our time.
Eduard Habsburg’s book, you might be surprised to know, has a light touch about his imperial heritage (eclipsed though it might be in this small-r republican era). His advice comes from gratitude for the generations before him who lived in fidelity to their faith and their responsibilities and personal experience in a happy marriage with many children.
He offers the lessons he learned to anyone who will emulate them, no privilege of status required. In God’s kingdom, we are all royalty, and the book relies on time-tested truths about human nature, morality, and grace to guide the perplexed.
These two highly readable, intelligent books will change your ideas about “health care” and what taking care of the sick could really look like: God’s Hotel and Slow Medicine, by Victoria Sweet.
She is not writing from a perspective of faith but from one of her own experience as a doctor, her observations, and her studies, especially of medieval medicine. You won’t think about hospitals or doctors or nurses the same way, ever again, after you read these books. Give them to your husband and then you can read them later!
Lists:
For my “orphans” gift book guide, go here.
Nice gifts, go here (I have ordered that little doll for several of my grandchildren. The maker is super helpful and ships very quickly, and the dolls are darling, well made, and made with lovely materials.)
For my “men, why are they so hard to buy for,” go here. (Yes, it’s my Father’s Day list but it will have to do.)
{By the way — open any one of my Amazon affiliate links and whatever you purchase for 24 hours will result in me getting a small amount as well, thank you! Or use this link. This blog opens for you with no pop-up ads or promotions — so using my Amazon link helps me pay for using the platform and a little tech help! But no problem whatsoever if you think of a different way to shop for the things mentioned.}
For kids:
Office supplies. Hear me out. Your child is constantly raiding your paper, scissors, rulers, staplers, tape dispensers, and hole punch. Get him his own. Get a box. Tart it up. Put the things in. These make great stocking stuffers too.
Here are some ideas for that:
First, put on your wish list (or quickly just go buy): a paper cutter. Just do it. You will use it all the time. And that way you can get your child:
A stack of his own paper. I recommend one step up from the cheapest printer paper and maybe a supply of cardstock too. Now, cut it all at least in half with your paper cutter. Maybe in quarters. A picture drawn on 8 1/2″ x 11″ paper is dreary and unpleasant. And how do we feel about one small flower on a whole sheet of paper? Not good.
The same one drawn on a half or quarter sheet is charming. I don’t know why. The smaller paper is more appealing to them too. A half-sheet can be folded to make a card. The quarter ones can be hole-punched, tied with ribbon or pipe cleaners, and voila! A book.
Hole punch. Three-hole punch. Star-shaped hole punch.
Heavy-duty stapler. Staple-less stapler.
Washi tape (my understanding is that this tape will fit into the tape dispenser).
Wood clipboards.
Good pencils and pencil sharpener to mount on the wall somewhere.
Painter’s tape.
Post-it notes.
And branching out a bit:
Dried flowers. (affiliate link)
Flour sack towels. Poor man’s play silks! In the spring you can start dyeing them with plants and avocado skins (pink!).
Bandanas (they usually have a good supply at stores like Michaels).
For older kids (probably girls?): a label maker. I haven’t tried this one but I’ve seen it recommended.
At least one of our grown sons listens to this podcast.
Leila Miller on those “standing” for their marriages, heroically. And here is an expanded verson,a talk she gave at a unique retreat. It’s well thought out and calmly delivered. I think we can all learn a lot from it about what marriage is and how to protect it.
In France, the government is silencing those opposed to abortion and even trying to suppress images of people with Down Syndrome. Deadly Silence: France’s Abortion Censorship. That the land of Jerome Lejeune would do this is doubly tragic.
I totally agree with this article: Encouraging and cultivating a moral reflex: Making the most of the current backlash against gender ideology.
from the archivesGaudete Sunday Vespers memory
Take some time to make this elderberry cordial. You won’t regret it when people start coughing and getting scratchy throats! (I’ve updated the recipe with a longer simmer time.)
Of course, the nicest thing is to make gifts! Last week in the comments the question was asked, but what? Here is one answer — little matchboxes decorated by the children. There are some excellent suggestions in the comments too! The older I get, the more I appreciate a good bookmark! See also in the comments my links to my Pinterest boards for ideas.
liturgical living
Tomorrow is of course Gaudete Sunday! And on the 17th begin the O Antiphons.
follow us everywhere!
Here is all the info:
Visit me at The School for Housewives and recommend it to your young friends!
My “random thoughts no pictures” blog, Happy Despite Them has moved over to Substack! — receive it by email if you like, or bookmark, so you don’t miss a thing! The old one is still up if you want to look at the comments on past posts. It will take me a while to get things organized, but you’ll be patient, I know!
There you will find the weekly podcast done by Phil and me, called On the Home Front. Do let us know what you think!
My book, The Summa Domestica: Order and Wonder in Family Life is available from Sophia Press! Also in paperback now! All the thoughts from this blog collected into three volumes, beautifully presented with illustrations from Deirdre, an index in each volume, and ribbons!
My podcast, The Home Truths Society, can be found on the Restoration of Christian Culture website (and you can find it where you listen to such things) — be sure to check out the other offerings there!
Stay abreast of the posts here at LMLD, when they happen:
Consider subscribing to this blog by email. We would love to pop into your inbox! The subscription box is on this page on the sidebar!
We share pretty pictures: Auntie Leila’s Instagram, Rosie’s Instagram, Deirdre’s Instagram. Bridget’s Instagram.
Auntie Leila’s Facebook (you can just follow)
The boards of the others: Rosie’s Pinterest. Sukie’s Pinterest. Deirdre’s Pinterest. Habou’s Pinterest
Here is my affiliate link to my Amazon page — the only affiliate thing that goes on here on LMLD, which is why the blog loads quickly and you don’t have to keep closing pop-ups etc! It opens up an Amazon tab and anything you purchase using that tab for 24 hours sends a bit over my way without cost to you. Thank you for opening it and shopping if you are so minded — as some have asked me. If not, don’t worry one bit.
December 7, 2024
Ask Auntie Leila: Do you like your open pots and pans cupboard?
Last week Laura left a comment:
We’re beginning the design process in our kitchen remodel and I’ve found your posts to be a wealth of practical inspiration! Question — because I dearly love the idea, and both my husband and the cabinet builder are secretly wondering if I’m insane — do you like the open shelf by the stove where you have your pots?
The first time I saw that photo it just made my heart flutter with functional love, haha. Space RIGHT THERE for my Dutch ovens, IPs, glass pans, and crockpots!! (instead of the only place where they fit now… in another room off the kitchen).
But other voices are commenting on “the dark void” that “will get splatters and mess and little hands all in it and don’t you want a door to cover it?” And every time I think about how wonderful it will be to not move a door but just reach down and grab one of those tools that I use at every single meal without opening a door.
ANYWAYS. So. Are you still enjoying the open shelf? If you were to make the decision again, would you go for a door or leave it an open shelf? I’m all ears!
Dear Laura,
I promised I would take pictures to show you, so here we go!
Maybe I should have cleaned my lens… sorry about that!
I do enjoy this layout. I had open shelves for my pots and pans ever since our first go-round with this kitchen. (Click the link and you can see a peek of them behind the island.)
Rosie suggested it (I think she was 16 or 17 and was painting all the cabinets for me!). I have to say I was sold almost right away! I had a brief moment of fear — can one really not have doors? Remember, this was the early 2000s and we didn’t have one million inspo pics to consult.
But — I don’t love the extra dose of sensory experience of opening and shutting cabinet doors and reaching beyond them, on top of all that goes into cooking daily for what turned out to be 11 or even sometimes 12 people, depending!
My father was an operations engineer — he sort of specialized in efficiency and reduction of extraneous movement. I inherited from him a desire not to waste motion — plus, extra steps make me tired. I know I sometimes come across as having endless energy, but it’s not so. I often just need to lie down! It’s all just that much.
A couple of notes on the decision-making:
My corner is tricky. I wrote in my post about it all the decision-making that went into figuring it out, given the limitations (mostly, the door to the left of the oven on the [north] wall, going into the dining room, that limits the width of the opening next to the stove — and part of that is really wanting the 6-burner, 36″ range).
If there were even a smidge more room, for instance if I had chosen the 30″ range or moved the door further to the left, I probably would have gone for the corner Lazy Susan with the door that shuts it all out of view. But there is not room for it — it needs a certain amount of square footage to work.
I wanted that stove and I did not want to move the door. It was proposed! But this house has a lot of doors and you don’t have many sight-lines. One nice one is being able to see through the dining room to a little bit of the living room.
In this pic, taken the day after Thanksgiving, I’m in the dining room, but if I took a few steps back, I’d be in the kitchen and could see through like this.
In A Pattern Language (affiliate link),Christopher Alexander talks about the importance of these sight-lines in our feeling of knowing where we are in a house. I thought that moving the door would break up this nice glimpse through the rooms; often people go no further than the kitchen — would they go away thinking that was it? Nothing more to this house? Besides, the dining room has a floor that cannot be replicated or repaired once you fiddle with it.
Rather than lose the space, and some people do make the choice to ignore the corner, just make it “blind” and forget about it, I decided to leave it open.
I only ever saw two inspiration photos with this particular setup, and they did make my heart go pit-a-pat! (Here’s my board for corner designs. I tried to focus on kitchens that seemed to have the same limitations re: doorways.)
One inspo pic involves the gal putting a pretty curtain there, but from the context, I would guess she does not cook much, and her whole kitchen is really for the decorating. That’s fine, it’s just not me!
I cannot handle even the thought of all the grease spatters I produce, landing on fabric. So even though it’s pretty, it’s not for me. (I would go for it if the corner were not near the stove, though!) But it does show a corner without a cabinet!
The other one has the shelves quite open, like mine, and you can only get a glimpse… it’s actually out of focus! But it was enough for me!
I can easily wipe the shelves down. It’s not super easy for me to get way back into the space, so I have it set up with those little organizational shelves in the corners, for shallow pans, in an attempt to make it really useable. I was okay, too, with not using every inch, the way you would with the Lazy Susan (minus the corners left by the circular trays of it).
I guess it’s good for me to squat to reach those (admittedly not used daily) items!
My crockpot is in the pantry and I really never use it! I keep thinking I should get rid of it; the only thing that holds me back is the knowledge I will suddenly need it as soon as I give it away!
I go strictly by the 80-20% rule, so it’s only my most-used things right here in my high-value space. (I have a detailed post about the organization here.)
The IP is under the vintage sink. That cabinet is quite roomy because the sink is so wide — there’s a trash bin, cleaning things, and the IP pot under there! I usually use it over on that side of the kitchen. You can see the organization over there in this post.
The very most used are truly just at hand, with my cast iron skillet actually living on the stovetop. The somewhat less used (maybe 50%) are further back and NOT heavy or requiring two hands to haul out. If you do the math, you will see that the back of the corner is really far back, the altitude of a right triangle from its right angle to its hypotenuse being the geometric mean of the lengths of the segments and all.
If I used the crockpot and IP every day, I could see putting them in there I suppose, but the shelving wouldn’t work in the current configuration, as the IP is quite tall.
I’m used to kids crawling over and getting pots and lids — isn’t that what they are for? I can see a tot getting right in there and actually giving me a bit of peace for a time! When I think more about it, I am sure my kids would have used it as a prime hide-and-seek spot!
There are pros and cons to every choice. There is no one perfect solution! You have to know yourself and what you really care about. I love to see and easily access the things I use!
It makes me happy not to open a cabinet door of any kind in the corner, truly.
I came across information about Rex Brasher, incredible naturalist and bird lover (“He quietly painted every bird species in North America”) , and sent it to my friend Jana, whose husband Sam Schmitt curates the artistic legacy of his grandfather, Carl Schmitt, who was based in Connecticut. She in turn told me about another Connecticut legend, Eric Sloane. His farm and workshop are a museum, and his work is important especially for boys who, as Jana says, need “that necessary view of competent, purposeful practical wisdom and craftsmanship and the handed-down ways,” and his artwork helps them be good noticers of the details of things.Here is a short film about Sloane’s contribution to New England history and culture.
She also mentioned this group, TradesUp, that seeks to pass on apprenticeship in the trades. This video describes their effort. The Sloane museum hosts their events as well, “with a mind to introduce the old ways and the trades to young people who might thereafter dabble or make it their life’s work.”
I apologize for forgetting to post the Advent calendar from Lydia! Your kids can catch up!
I’m going to try this with my grandchildren who live nearby: . We love making Springerle and I have a nice collection now of molds they love, but a whole batch of that dough disappears rather quickly with this number of bakers! I think they need a different dough outlet! Making ornaments is the perfect solution, I think.
The latest climate-change insanity, targeting cows and of course, ultimately, our health: methane-reducing strategies: introducing the additive Bovaer to cattle feed. I’m too old to start with a dairy cow!
Some “conspiracy theories” that are now just simple facts: An Accidentalist’s Guide to Denying the Obvious. “The solution isn’t fighting their systems directly – it’s building parallel structures that make them irrelevant” — and that is why I encourage you to live according to the liturgical year and to make real friends in real life, using social media to connect, not to replace.
Like I’ve been saying all along: COVID Select Subcommittee Releases Findings: Vaccine Mandates ‘Not Supported by Science,’ Mask Rules Useless
follow us everywhere!
Here is all the info:
Visit me at The School for Housewives and recommend it to your young friends!
My “random thoughts no pictures” blog, Happy Despite Them has moved over to Substack! — receive it by email if you like, or bookmark, so you don’t miss a thing! The old one is still up if you want to look at the comments on past posts. It will take me a while to get things organized, but you’ll be patient, I know!
There you will find the weekly podcast done by Phil and me, called On the Home Front. Do let us know what you think!
My book, The Summa Domestica: Order and Wonder in Family Life is available from Sophia Press! Also in paperback now! All the thoughts from this blog collected into three volumes, beautifully presented with illustrations from Deirdre, an index in each volume, and ribbons!
My podcast, The Home Truths Society, can be found on the Restoration of Christian Culture website (and you can find it where you listen to such things) — be sure to check out the other offerings there!
Stay abreast of the posts here at LMLD, when they happen:
Consider subscribing to this blog by email. We would love to pop into your inbox! The subscription box is on this page on the sidebar!
We share pretty pictures: Auntie Leila’s Instagram, Rosie’s Instagram, Deirdre’s Instagram. Bridget’s Instagram.
Auntie Leila’s Facebook (you can just follow)
The boards of the others: Rosie’s Pinterest. Sukie’s Pinterest. Deirdre’s Pinterest. Habou’s Pinterest
Here is my affiliate link to my Amazon page — the only affiliate thing that goes on here on LMLD, which is why the blog loads quickly and you don’t have to keep closing pop-ups etc! It opens up an Amazon tab and anything you purchase using that tab for 24 hours sends a bit over my way without cost to you. Thank you for opening it and shopping if you are so minded — as some have asked me. If not, don’t worry one bit.
November 23, 2024
My Thanksgiving to-dos today!
{No post next week! Enjoy the day!}
Today I have on my list some things to make me feel more peaceful as I’m cooking and baking:
Finish making a couple of beds upstairs (we are expecting nine out-of-towners!) and giving the rooms final touches. I’m not the greatest at this, but I try!Dust and vacuum the living room. The bathrooms and kitchen will get their sparkle and shine closer to Thursday. I got most of the cleaning done last week (with help from a high school girl, the daughter of friends, who is just great).Bake some bread I mixed up yesterday. We left the house at 3:30 and were gone all evening, so I put my mostly risen dough in the fridge, and shaped it this morning. Usually I let it rise and shape it and then put it in the fridge overnight, but this will work too.It’s not over-proved, it just rose up to the shelf above and so started going over the edges of the bowl!
I left it out for a bit more than an hour. Nice hot oven — 475°F with the fan on.
A tray of boiling water on the top rack, and two thick stainless steel baking trays that fit in my oven the long way facing me, so I was able to bake all four loaves at once.
I put ice cubes all around them too, and sprayed them as I put them in.
Finish off this squash. I baked it the other evening. It sits out just fine on the cool stone.
(In this post, you can scroll down for the method, which makes peeling a breeze rather than the issue preventing people from enjoying butternut squash, which is the best squash). This past week I bought up many of these squashes at the grocery store. They were a great price and come from a local farm. They are a kind of butternut that is just so incredibly delicious, and they keep in the pantry all winter! I will probably freeze some of what I cooked here, and serve the rest with plenty of butter and salt, a little pepper, and a big bunch of fried sage leaves. The sage is doing well out in the garden!
Decide on seating, and iron tablecloths and napkins. Ironing canNOT be left to the end! Doing so makes me feel utterly frantic.
I will have a kids’ table in the kitchen (cousins have more fun that way!) and I can fit the adults at my dining room table if I add a card table at one end. I got great wooden folding chairs some years ago at a yard sale — they come in so handy!
Gather up some decor. I do sort of wish American Thanksgiving were in October, like Canadian Thanksgiving. I have never quite managed to be ready in all the little extra touches for the big feast and Advent. Sigh. I think I will start dehydrating some orange slices. I got a big bag at Aldi the other day!Maybe this evening during the Notre Dame game, I can start addressing Christmas cards, alternating with knitting!
And I have to make a list of the lists I need to make!
These “background” preparations help me be peaceful as the intensity of kitchen work revs up. There are so many things that must be (or simply are) last minute. Let’s get a lot of it done now, even in little bits of time that come our way, if possible.
If not, then not! It means it didn’t really matter! Do your best, but — and — don’t stress!
When my children were little, I came to realize that it stresses me out to abandon the house to disorder on the grounds that I was creating a lot of disorder in the kitchen! (Of course, because creativity, including in preparing a big feast, has its corresponding disorder!)
That’s the main idea behind my prep guide. Young children tend to go around undoing whatever you have so carefully arranged, but at least the corners of your mind will be unburdened!
What I mean by that is this: the normal messiness of kids is so much easier to handle without stress if you know in your own mind that the remote corners of your home are basically clean.
A mess in the middle of the room is not a big deal. The usual blocks, books, trains, coloring pages, important projects using twigs and pinecones, special castles and racetracks, and so on added to stray dirty socks and dust bunnies under the beds, bedding that needs to be washed, fingerprints on the door jambs, random debris piled up on dressers and hallway tables… that’s what make me feel like I’m gasping for air.
Putting in a bit of effort now yields a more patient attitude later in the week about normal life. Listen, even if you pop what doesn’t belong into a laundry basket or two and stick those baskets somewhere out of the way, you’ll feel better walking around seeing dusted surfaces.
At least, I feel calmer when I hear the legos being poured out of their giant bin, knowing my laundry is caught up! It’s a state of mind! Otherwise, I really don’t think guests even notice. Isn’t that a funny thing?
Oh my goodness, speaking of being peaceful, last week in the middle of supper prep, when Deirdre was here with all her six hungry kids, suddenly my stove stopped working! I had to finish the soup in the instant pot!
What the heck? My new stove!
We pulled it out a bit to check the gas valve and see what we could see about why the burners were not lighting.
Stove pulled out, mess all over, manuals on the island (why does my fridge have like 7 manuals), panic in my heart!
After much internet searching and scrutiny of the owner’s manual, late in the evening (after choir practice), Phil said, “maybe… we ran out of propane?”
What??
“You’ll have plenty” they said. “No one uses that tank in a year” they assured me.
Well, I did! Eleven months, actually…
God is good, because, people, can you imagine that happening one week later i.e. the night before Thanksgiving??
I can’t even. I am very grateful to the angels for running me out of gas this week.
Advent is indeed coming. Maybe assign one small part of your mind to be in charge of making sure you have candles (even nice plain candles if you can’t find purple and pink — you can tie ribbons on them if you need to) and are getting everyone mentally prepared for the coming time of preparation and penance right after Thanksgiving.
It’s perfect to start out slowly. Not every single thing you want to do during Advent has to be ready a week from tomorrow!
In fact, the slowness of your preparation, the gradual turning from darkness to the splendor of Christmas, follows the Holy Family on their journey to Bethlehem, just as it follows the journey of the people of God from darkness to light.
Advent is given to and for busy mothers!
bits & pieces
I only really have one link for you — please, I beg you, read it and pass it along to everyone, including all the men!
Mom: The missing ingredient in the MAHA movement – Suzanne Venker
From the archives:I made my IG Thanksgiving “live prep” into a highlight!The best way to make sweet potatoes! For Thanksgiving, I peel them and place them attractively in a serving dish to be reheated on the day. You will need no extra sugar of any kind with this method!
On the chat last week at The School for Housewives, some lovely ladies were wondering if it’s okay that their children play together without her — is this good for their development that mom is not interacting with them, “not investing in them enough” were her words.
Oh my, yes! This is the goal, actually. Mother has her activities and interests, children have theirs. During rest times, of course, they sit down cosily to read a book together, and there are many times in the day that little conversations happen and so on. But getting your kids to play — and run off to explore and adventure — together without you is actually the dream!
By the way, you do not have to subscribe to read that Substack. You do to comment on some posts and to start threads on the chat. But the content is free!
These holidays are your extra busy days. Being free to have busy days is a precious way of life, one that doesn’t depend on riches but does depend on being willing sometimes to seem un-busy and un-scheduled and basically, almost hanging around doing nothing, or “just” chasing after kids. Don’t be fooled, though, into giving it up for something else.follow us everywhere!
Here is all the info:
Visit me at The School for Housewives and recommend it to your young friends!
My “random thoughts no pictures” blog, Happy Despite Them has moved over to Substack! — receive it by email if you like, or bookmark, so you don’t miss a thing! The old one is still up if you want to look at the comments on past posts. It will take me a while to get things organized, but you’ll be patient, I know!
There you will find the weekly podcast done by Phil and me, called On the Home Front. Do let us know what you think!
My book, The Summa Domestica: Order and Wonder in Family Life is available from Sophia Press! Also in paperback now! All the thoughts from this blog collected into three volumes, beautifully presented with illustrations from Deirdre, an index in each volume, and ribbons!
My podcast, The Home Truths Society, can be found on the Restoration of Christian Culture website (and you can find it where you listen to such things) — be sure to check out the other offerings there!
Stay abreast of the posts here at LMLD, when they happen:
Consider subscribing to this blog by email. We would love to pop into your inbox! The subscription box is on this page on the sidebar!
We share pretty pictures: Auntie Leila’s Instagram, Rosie’s Instagram, Deirdre’s Instagram. Bridget’s Instagram.
Auntie Leila’s Facebook (you can just follow)
The boards of the others: Rosie’s Pinterest. Sukie’s Pinterest. Deirdre’s Pinterest. Habou’s Pinterest
Here is my affiliate link to my Amazon page — the only affiliate thing that goes on here on LMLD, which is why the blog loads quickly and you don’t have to keep closing pop-ups etc! It opens up an Amazon tab and anything you purchase using that tab for 24 hours sends a bit over my way without cost to you. Thank you for opening it and shopping if you are so minded — as some have asked me. If not, don’t worry one bit.
November 16, 2024
Conscience and Prudence; Moving on to Plain Sourdough; Links!
Conscience
I wrote a piece about conscience. It is my belief that we are losing our understanding of what it is, in part because some forces want us to act against that inner voice telling us we are wrong; in part, ironically, because those who strive to defeat those forces, moved by moral panic, want to replace conscience with an external authority that amounts to a talmudic descent into legalism.
It’s so important for parents to ponder the question, responsible as we are for our children’s moral formation. And it’s not an easy one. If you go rummaging in the writings of St. Thomas or the other Fathers and Doctors of the Church, you find they are not as clear about it as they are on other matters.
Perhaps it’s because they, unlike us, took conscience for granted as an integral part of being man.
Certainly, if you look at very old catechisms such as the one promulgated by the Council of Trent, no real definition of conscience is undertaken — it’s simply spoken of as “good” or “bad” or “clean” or “in need of rectifying.” It’s a kind of “let the reader understand” situation.
They really don’t talk about “a well formed conscience” as we do today, with its implication of some outside authority that can substitute for it. They assumed everyone knew they have to know and study and pass on the 10 Commandments; they took a basic moral landscape as a given.
I’m working through the Four Cardinal Virtues over at The School for Housewives — I’m up to Justice and getting ready to post on Temperance. We wives and mothers, like everyone in every walk of life, have to ponder how to grow in virtues, and these are the cornerstones.
As always, I dove back into my much-thumbed copy of Josef Pieper’s The Four Cardinal Virtues and came across this passage that, long ago, entered my consciousness and has motivated everything I write and say about the topic of conscience:
It’s so funny that it’s in the section on Temperance that Pieper connects conscience with Prudence. That’s what made it so hard for me to find it when I went looking for it some time ago.
But it makes sense.
St. Thomas succinctly defines Prudence as “right reason in action” and Conscience as an action (as opposed to a faculty, technically, but even here, I believe, there is some blurring of lines).
Taking all that into consideration and remembering how faithfully Pieper follows St. Thomas, Pieper’s statement that “prudence is the perfection of conscience” reveals the paramount importance of being able to put into action the things we see we ought to do.
Prudence really connects our knowledge of right and wrong with who we end up being (not the person in our heads but the real person others encounter and God sees). Thus, Pieper: prudence as the perfection of conscience is “the innermost source-region of the moral person.”
Dear Cardinal Carlo Caffarra left just this observation as his “Final Testimony” before he died, in a talk he was meant to give on how taking away conscience takes away what makes us man — not animals, not computers, not angels, but creatures willed by God in His image. Its title is The Restoration of Man.
As I periodically do, I urge you to read it.
Sourdough Bread Corner
How are things going with your sandwich bread? The milk, butter or oil, and sugar or honey in that recipe make it so your technique in handling the dough and baking it is forgivable — you don’t have to be super particular in the details. If you let it rise well, don’t let it overproof, and bake it to doneness (test each loaf with the thermometer — it should be 200°F), it will be good.
Have you tried making larger quantities? I am incapable of measuring my ingredients, but I know that if I fill my 5 qt Kitchenaid with starter, flour, water, and the other ingredients proportionately, I will have enough dough for 4 sandwich loaves or 2 pullman loaves and one regular (8 x 4 x 4) sandwich loaf.
In meme terms:
Readers: Auntie Leila, can you give us your exact recipe for four loaves?
Me: Best I can do is vague hand-waving.
The good news: if you put your good strong starter in there, you will end up with bread!
Would you like to try to move on to some loaves of classic simple sourdough, if you haven’t gone ahead already?
Here’s the King Arthur recipe.
Give it a go!
Here are my suggestions, though — also here and here — (those loaves look really fab, so maybe I will revisit the diastatic malt situation!)
Make sure the whole wheat flour is quite fresh. If you’re not storing your whole grain flour in the freezer, I have my doubts and it would be better to leave it out.If you’re getting good at seeing how much your mixing bowl holds, try just adding that amount of flour and a proportional amount of water — plus a bit more salt. See how much dough you have and divide it into however many loaves it yields (if they weigh somewhere between 700 and 900 g you’re good — I think, more or less… ).
Take 1/4 cup of the WW or if you’re not using it, cornmeal, oats, or semolina. Semolina gives a wonderful lift and taste to sourdough! Place it in a bowl and take 1/2 cup of the water from the recipe, boil it, and pour it over the grain, whisking. Let it stand for a few minutes, then whisk in another 1/2 cup of the recipe’s (cold) water over that mixture. (You can also use leftover porridge, up to about 3/4 cup.) Add it to your dough.
Let the dough rest for 25 minutes or more (not 15 as called for in the recipe) after you mix it. Then proceed with the recipe, making sure the dough is in the temperature range of about 75°F.
You can use bowls or random baskets of the right size and shape to rest your shaped dough in, if you don’t have those bannetons. I lay an old and spotlessly clean cloth napkin in whatever I’m using. I long ago threw away the cloths the bannetons came with.
I never pre-heat my dutch oven, if I’m using it.
I usually bake two loaves together, on a cookie sheet with parchment, leaving the other one or two loaves in the fridge. I put a pan of boiling water on the top shelf of my oven and a handful of ice cubes strewn about the loaves. Take the tray of water out after about 18 minutes. It’s helpful to put another sheet under the one you’re baking on, to prevent burning the bottoms of your loaves.
Make sure the final loaf is 200°F or even a bit more. The “extra” gadget I find quite essential is the instant-read thermometer (affiliate link) — I really use it nearly every day and always note to myself the frequency with which loaves would have tricked me into thinking they were done had I not had it.
Let me also note that the bread is much tastier if it has a darker crust and has baked to a bit over 200°F. If your loaves are looking anemic, try going for it. Since there’s no added sugar, it’s really not going to burn. I’ve (mistakenly) left loaves in the oven for so much longer than is reasonable and really thought they were burned, but honestly, they had much more of an “artisan bakery” taste than my normal loaves!
They also last longer if the crust is thicker. It’s not great for little kids, of course. But I just discovered that in Austria, mothers (grandmothers, probably) cut into the crust for their littles. This makes much more sense than cutting them off entirely!
Try the sourdough bread if you are feeling adventurous. I will try in the coming week to take pictures of my process and to note quantities — thoughts and prayers!
bits & piecesIf, on the other hand, you want loaves with thin, crackly crusts, here is a method. I will try it next time (and it’s close to how I do it anyway).
A short video from scientists in Greenland, of interest to your kids too: “What do ice cores tell us about the history of climate change and the present trend? This video explains one perspective – arguably the most accurate one. And if you skip to 2:25, you will see the huge error we have made and the assumptions and extrapolations based on that error.”
I can’t believe I didn’t know about this monument! Auntie Therese just told me about it — it’s right here in Massachusetts. I’ve lived here for 37 years!
“Thought to be the largest solid granite monument in the United States, this 81-foot-tall granite statue was built to honor the passengers of the Mayflower. Boston sculptor Hammatt Billings designed the monument which features allegorical figures depicting the virtues of Faith, Morality, Education, Law, and Liberty. On the main pedestal stands the heroic figure of “Faith” with her right hand pointing toward heaven and her left hand clutching the Bible. A dedication on the monument reads, “National Monument to the Forefathers.Erected by a grateful people in remembrance of their labors, sacrifices and sufferings for the cause of civil and religious liberty.” The original design called for the monument to be nearly twice as tall at 150 feet (just under the Statue of Liberty’s height of 151 feet).
A Priest Reveals the Dramatic Last Words of Cardinal Caffarra. (The Cardinal I mentioned above in the first section.) “He was dressed like a simple priest. He also went to greet everyone who was sick, as well as their relatives. A true man of God.”
from the archivesLearn to live liturgically — simply, without doing that thing everyone does of turning good ways into stressful dead ends. Living liturgically simplifies everything — it doesn’t complicate. It’s the complication antidote! The key is the Little Oratory and living along with the Church. She has set it all out for you.
10 Survival Tactics for Rescuing a Bad Day.
How to set the family table — important in these next days, so we don’t just spring the holiday table on our young’uns! They need practice.
liturgical living
St. Margaret of Scotland, St. Gertrude
follow us everywhere!
Here is all the info:
Visit me at The School for Housewives and recommend it to your young friends!
My “random thoughts no pictures” blog, Happy Despite Them has moved over to Substack! — receive it by email if you like, or bookmark, so you don’t miss a thing! The old one is still up if you want to look at the comments on past posts. It will take me a while to get things organized, but you’ll be patient, I know!
There you will find the weekly podcast done by Phil and me, called On the Home Front. Do let us know what you think!
My book, The Summa Domestica: Order and Wonder in Family Life is available from Sophia Press! Also in paperback now! All the thoughts from this blog collected into three volumes, beautifully presented with illustrations from Deirdre, an index in each volume, and ribbons!
My podcast, The Home Truths Society, can be found on the Restoration of Christian Culture website (and you can find it where you listen to such things) — be sure to check out the other offerings there!
Stay abreast of the posts here at LMLD, when they happen:
Consider subscribing to this blog by email. We would love to pop into your inbox! The subscription box is on this page on the sidebar!
We share pretty pictures: Auntie Leila’s Instagram, Rosie’s Instagram, Deirdre’s Instagram. Bridget’s Instagram.
Auntie Leila’s Facebook (you can just follow)
The boards of the others: Rosie’s Pinterest. Sukie’s Pinterest. Deirdre’s Pinterest. Habou’s Pinterest
Here is my affiliate link to my Amazon page — the only affiliate thing that goes on here on LMLD, which is why the blog loads quickly and you don’t have to keep closing pop-ups etc! It opens up an Amazon tab and anything you purchase using that tab for 24 hours sends a bit over my way without cost to you. Thank you for opening it and shopping if you are so minded — as some have asked me. If not, don’t worry one bit.
November 9, 2024
Remote preparation for the holidays; Idly chatty!
On the fly here — I need to clean my house and get ready for Thanksgiving! And so do you! There must be something in my genes or upbringing that prevents me from realizing something big is barreling down on me. Every year I get to October and sort of stall out! As I’m 64 years old, I don’t anticipate changing, much as I would want to, I guess.
Anyway, over the years I’ve developed a few strategies for dealing with my need to think ahead without really wanting to.
Read about how to do it here — a timeline for the remote prep and the immediate prep and how to do it with a lot of kids including nursing baby!
A quick announcement: I have so many emails and messages to deal with from readers and I’m so behind… a little thought about when you message me: if it takes me super long to answer you, it’s either because it’s a heavy topic and I need to find time to sit down and give a good response, or it’s something I’ve posted about and you need the time to search for it 
If you have a particular question it’s fine to ask me on social media, and then I can usually give a quick answer. But know that if you DM me on Instagram with something global and heavy, your message might slip down and be lost.
Sourdough Corner
This week, pay careful attention to how the dough feels at the various stages. Can you make it without the recipe — just by noticing where the ingredients come up to on the bowl?
Do you notice a difference in how it turns out, depending on how you shape the final loaves?
Have you tried doubling the recipe?
The School for Housewives
Just to keep you updated, over at The School I’ve started a tutorial about the Four Cardinal Virtues along with the practical posts. We’re up to Justice.
I think it can change one’s life to think and pray about the virtues in this ancient way: the Four Cardinal Virtues and the Three Theological Virtues: respectively, Prudence, Justice, Temperance, and Fortitude; and Faith, Hope, and Charity.
It’s a good way to purge ourselves of the relentless focus on our feelings! Feelings are fine and can be good (they can also lead us astray). They have to be reined in by reason just the way horses are controlled by the charioteer. They can’t guide us or there will be mayhem in our souls!
This Substack is my little project of short, near-daily messages about the importance of making the home and how to do it. So far it’s pretty successful, despite my abrupt and unplanned start, what else is new! Some seem to appreciate the voiceover, which does make it take a bit longer to produce, but is probably worth it.
Maybe there’s someone in your life with whom you could share it? Someone who likes that approach. I would appreciate it if you could send it to one or more people on your list!
On to our links!
bits & piecesA really beautiful and paradigm-shifting way of looking at the cosmos: Why the Sky Is Blue. As I commented when I shared it: “If we pull things apart and then ascribe to them the most reduced possible explanation, we will miss their true meaning. Yet it’s right there for us to see! Be like a Medieval!”Reclaiming Our Catholic Schools. I know that many of you are involved in Catholic education in the parishes or in the new initiatives for private schools. I consider this effort a logical outgrowth of homeschooling.
I’m sure the books mentioned in the article are good. I also suggest that anyone and everyone read this important encyclical: Divini Illius Magistri by Pius XI: On Christian Education. You can do it! It would be a good book-club read.
As Peter Kwasniewski says, “All educational theories, congresses, reforms, programs, and budgets will be fruitless until they recognize this elemental truth about man’s nature, fashioned after the divine image, fallen into misery, restored to grace by Jesus Christ.”
In this article, The Three Necessary Societies, Russell Hittinger brings out and elaborates on the depth of the encyclical, which in the course of teaching about Christian education, explicates a vision of political philosophy informed by theological realities:
Our framework in social matters should be the three “necessary” societies—that is, societies necessary for human happiness. They include domestic society (marriage and family), polity, and Church. Pius XI, who developed Leo’s vision, states: “Now there are three necessary societies, distinct from one another and yet harmoniously combined by God, into which man is born: two, namely the family and civil society, belong to the natural order; the third, the Church, to the supernatural order.”
The encyclical also addresses important practical matters, often overlooked by eager moderns anxious to start an institution. Do we think about the harms of co-education? Pius XI explains why separation of the sexes in the higher grades is crucial to the healthy development of the child. He also firmly rejects sex education. I highly recommend it from all points of consideration, and any educational theory should begin with a strong signal that it has been read and understood.
I’ve been trying to warn of the dangers of IVF. This article is dense and will take some time to read, but I encourage you to read it. There is a reason God made us so the child would be conceived in the intimacy of the marital act, in the deepest recesses of the mother’s womb. In His plan, He provides the greatest protection for the least and weakest of creatures. We are venturing into a place more dangerous than the most evil one imaginable when we venture there. We have to understand it because it is absolutely coming up in conversations with people and in policy decisions. Our reactions must be firm, visceral, but also highly informed. There is no “accompanying” or false charity in this matter, which is one of standing up for our very existence and its meaning.
from the archivesElderberry Cordial — a nice tonic for immunity this seasonThe moral life of the child and how to nurture it (Part 1 of a series)
follow us everywhere!
Here is all the info:
Visit me at The School for Housewives and recommend it to your young friends!
My “random thoughts no pictures” blog, Happy Despite Them has moved over to Substack! — receive it by email if you like, or bookmark, so you don’t miss a thing! The old one is still up if you want to look at the comments on past posts. It will take me a while to get things organized, but you’ll be patient, I know!
There you will find the weekly podcast done by Phil and me, called On the Home Front. Do let us know what you think!
My book, The Summa Domestica: Order and Wonder in Family Life is available from Sophia Press! Also in paperback now! All the thoughts from this blog collected into three volumes, beautifully presented with illustrations from Deirdre, an index in each volume, and ribbons!
My podcast, The Home Truths Society, can be found on the Restoration of Christian Culture website (and you can find it where you listen to such things) — be sure to check out the other offerings there!
Stay abreast of the posts here at LMLD, when they happen:
Consider subscribing to this blog by email. We would love to pop into your inbox! The subscription box is on this page on the sidebar!
We share pretty pictures: Auntie Leila’s Instagram, Rosie’s Instagram, Deirdre’s Instagram. Bridget’s Instagram.
Auntie Leila’s Facebook (you can just follow)
The boards of the others: Rosie’s Pinterest. Sukie’s Pinterest. Deirdre’s Pinterest. Habou’s Pinterest
Here is my affiliate link to my Amazon page — the only affiliate thing that goes on here on LMLD, which is why the blog loads quickly and you don’t have to keep closing pop-ups etc! It opens up an Amazon tab and anything you purchase using that tab for 24 hours sends a bit over my way without cost to you. Thank you for opening it and shopping if you are so minded — as some have asked me. If not, don’t worry one bit
November 2, 2024
Four Cardinal Virtues, Thrifting, Knitting, Sourdough, and links!
Long ago I had the idea to write about the Four Cardinal Virtues for the Homemaker, and I think I did do it, but by weaving them into other thoughts and not by addressing them all directly.
(The Four Cardinal Virtues are Prudence, Justice, Temperance, and Fortitude.)
My plan now is to go over them on my Substack, The School for Housewives; hopefully the very abbreviated format will help keep me on track! If that appeals to you, follow me over there! (It would also help me greatly for you to share that project with any mothers’ or girls’ group you might be involved with, or send to a struggling young lady!)
The only thing that makes life worth living is to try to be good (which is another way to say “strive for virtue” but sometimes I think we complicate things). Only God is good, which is why we need His life in us. But He made us, so there is good in us just on that account. (There’s a theological point in there about the error of total depravity but let’s keep going.)
Everyone everywhere can ponder the good and try to live it.
One symptom of failing to do our part, of turning away from this effort, is when we find ourselves lapsing into whining! Of thinking that there is some ideal, magical solution to the human condition!
Women tend to do this, and feminism makes it much, much worse.
I see it all the time: a woman becomes convinced of the lies she’s been told since forever, ratified by the unhappiness she feels within herself and can clearly see in the previous generation and all around her.
Yet she cannot break free of a debilitating dynamic of questioning everything and seeking some outside validation — in the end, validation that comes in the form of worldly honors and a paycheck. Her initial sense of freedom, glimpsing the truth, devolves into a paralyzing effort to parse all the opinions about how women should live instead of just living the way she sees is good (and that’s why I don’t want to validate that fake conversation by my participation).
It’s just too hard, it seems, to give those affirmations up or even the agonizing (its own obsession), even when one’s own children are begging to be nurtured and educated, one’s husband could use some attention (the third rail! the forbidden question! what makes a man happy! only we are allowed to feel miserable — don’t go there, not allowed!!) and one’s home dwindles from the sacred place it ought to be, a holy place in service of the hungry, lonely, and needy.
These problems pretty much disappear, truly, when we think in terms of Prudence — seeing things as they are and knowing how to put big principles in practice; Justice — giving everyone, God, others, ourselves, what they are owed; Temperance — reining in our cravings, including for affirmation; Fortitude — emulating the Mother of the Maccabees, who “bravely exhorted every one of [her seven sons] in her own language, being filled with wisdom; and joining a man’s heart to a woman’s thought.”
I got a few treasures on recent yard sale/consignment forays, including a black cashmere cardigan for me for $1.50 (totally unphotogenic, due to blackness), a beautiful woolen vest for the Chief, who likes to wear them with his tweed jackets when he’s off to teach his course at the college, and a few little gifts as well.
I’ve only ever thrifted yarn once before (awesome New Zealand wool that I used for my “Breaking Bad” afghan, so-called because I knit it while watching that show, as there was no way I was going to make it without some sort of protective intensity layer, IYKYK).
But at the consignment store I found this cone of 2-ply fingering wool yarn (it does seem like wool from the burn test I applied). If the info I found online about the weight of the cardboard is correct, more or less, it seems to be about 400 g.
I’ll think about what to make with it when I’m finished with my big project for Christmas involving these yarns:
Sneak peek… shhhh…. :
Is your sandwich bread starting to look like this? Squishy but with good structure (i.e. holds up in a sandwich and doesn’t sort of disintegrate, lasts for days), nice flavor, even bubbles throughout, not heavy?
If not, try again!
Checklist:
Rise your starter just until it reaches its peak, then put it in the fridge.Use your levain after it just starts to look puffy (even just an hour in a warm spot like your oven with the light on will do the trick).Rest the dough for 25 minutes after you mix it, then give it a bit of a knead (1 or 2 minutes)Gently fold it in on itself after it has fermented for about 45 minutesLet it rise (ferment) long enough to reach its peak — the surface should be smooth, the dough should have risen double, it should look neither pillowy (overproofed) nor heavy (underproofed) — you will start to get it if you practice!You can quickly move on from your less optimal loaves by cubing the remains for stuffing for Thanksgiving and of course making breakfast casserole, breadcrumbs, and toast.
Or are you having great success? Let me know!
bits & piecesSome cakes are better when you leave them be for a bit. Knowing this takes the pressure off entertaining. I like to make dessert first when entertaining, even a day or two before. Some cakes “rest” better than others — one thing the article doesn’t quite say is that the less leavening a cake requires, the better it is for keeping. So a sponge is nicer after a day or two than a cake with fewer eggs and more baking powder.
A very soothing video of how cranberries are harvested.
I’m not an indoor plant person, but I am super cheap. Therefore, I bring certain plants inside to try to avoid buying them all over again in the spring, including my red geraniums (do we think it’s posher to say pelargonium the way the Brits do?), the two big hibiscus trees, and some herbs. However, as we have discussed (on my IG), I am just hopeless at keeping herbs alive. But I got some actual information about rosemary from this post and will try it: they prefer getting moisture from the air!! What do you think? (NB: I also really, surprisingly, enjoy the plants indoors. Until Spring.)
Some things should just be obvious, but nevertheless: ‘Gender-Affirming Care Is Dangerous. I Know Because I Helped Pioneer It.’
The Relic of St Peter’s Chair Exposed in the Vatican Basilica — interesting history and pictures of the newly deep-cleaned shrine.
from the archivesI’ve updated this post so you can find resources for a really engaging, interactive civics lesson for the whole family: printable electoral college maps. I recounted how my two youngest, who were keenly interested in the election back there in 2012, kept track of what really matters: the electoral vote. I also mentioned other important lessons to be sure to include in your civics curriculum.
What can children do? A guide
liturgical living
Today is All Souls Day. Some notes.
follow us everywhere!
Here is all the info:
Visit me at The School for Housewives and recommend it to your young friends!
My “random thoughts no pictures” blog, Happy Despite Them has moved over to Substack! — receive it by email if you like, or bookmark, so you don’t miss a thing! The old one is still up if you want to look at the comments on past posts. It will take me a while to get things organized, but you’ll be patient, I know!
There you will find the weekly podcast done by Phil and me, called On the Home Front. Do let us know what you think!
My book, The Summa Domestica: Order and Wonder in Family Life is available from Sophia Press! Also in paperback now! All the thoughts from this blog collected into three volumes, beautifully presented with illustrations from Deirdre, an index in each volume, and ribbons!
My podcast, The Home Truths Society, can be found on the Restoration of Christian Culture website (and you can find it where you listen to such things) — be sure to check out the other offerings there!
Stay abreast of the posts here at LMLD, when they happen:
Consider subscribing to this blog by email. We would love to pop into your inbox! The subscription box is on this page on the sidebar!
We share pretty pictures: Auntie Leila’s Instagram, Rosie’s Instagram, Deirdre’s Instagram. Bridget’s Instagram.
Auntie Leila’s Facebook (you can just follow)
The boards of the others: Rosie’s Pinterest. Sukie’s Pinterest. Deirdre’s Pinterest. Habou’s Pinterest
Here is my affiliate link to my Amazon page — the only affiliate thing that goes on here on LMLD, which is why the blog loads quickly and you don’t have to keep closing pop-ups etc! It opens up an Amazon tab and anything you purchase using that tab for 24 hours sends a bit over my way without cost to you. Thank you for opening it and shopping if you are so minded — as some have asked me. If not, don’t worry one bit!
