Leila Marie Lawler's Blog, page 45
October 22, 2016
{bits & pieces}
The weekly “little of this, little of that” feature here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!
The other day on Instagram I was all like “here I go with the Mod Podge” and there was a clamor for an “after” (if you can call one person asking for an “after” a clamor) so here you go — I’ll have the other little project next week, as it’s a bit more involved.
This is just my little ensemble on the kitchen table. Seasonings, matches, candle. Sometimes a stray button, but we try to keep that to a minimum. The salt and pepper grinders sort of shed their contents over time in little messy dustings, and I like to keep everything in one place. That way I can whisk the whole shebang off to the sink to wipe things up. I had a little tray, but it got rather shabby (and not in a good way, just in a ground-in-ground-pepper kind of way).
There was this little red wooden tray that a kid’s Melissa & Doug toy came in. I couldn’t bear to throw it out, but on the other hand, it had “Melissa & Doug” emblazoned on the side. Since we are not Melissa & Doug, I decided to decoupage. Voila!
On to our links:
A thoughtful lecture on modesty.
We are so afraid — as a nation. We are afraid of babies and the trouble they bring to our safe, frightened little world. We need more encouragement, and this post by our friend Kelly Mantoan might help with that: I Am Not Exceptional and So Can You.
Really breathtaking: Using medical technology to heal a baby in utero: A baby “born twice.”
Rosie brought this article to my attention, about Franz Jagerstatter and his martyrdom. I had read about him in the book of our friend Robert Royal, which I highly recommend for your high school student’s spiritual reading (and yours): The Catholic Martyrs of the Twentieth Century: A Comprehensive World History. The complete letter of Franz, an obscure family man whom we might well never have heard of, will move you to tears.
If you love to hate on bad design, you have to see this blog. It might help, too, when making choices in building — it’s always good to know what not to do!
Guys just have a different way of doing things!
From the archives:
A post about good design.
Ten reasons not to have separate finances — marriage is about wholehearted trust!
Today is the feast of Saint Pope John Paul II! Enjoy!
~We’d like to be clear that, when we direct you to a site via one of our links, we’re not necessarily endorsing the whole site, but rather just referring you to the individual post in question (unless we state otherwise).~
Follow us on Twitter.
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Auntie Leila’s Pinterest.
Rosie’s Pinterest.
Sukie’s Pinterest.
Deirdre’s Pinterest.
Habou’s Pinterest.
Bridget’s Pinterest.
Habou’s Blog: Corner Art Studio.
Auntie Leila’s Ravelry.
Auntie Leila’s Instagram.
Rosie’s Instagram.
Sukie’s Instagram.
Deirdre’s Instagram.
Bridget’s Instagram.
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October 20, 2016
p.s. we’re having another baby.
One more bit of catching up before I return to my regularly scheduled regime of sporadic and unreliable posting.
We’re having another baby!
To be precise, we are having another baby girl, despite Pippo’s many prayers for a baby brother. (“I’ve been trying and trying to make it a boy!”) He is awfully excited to meet her, even if she will be another little sister.
He’s probably not as excited as Nora (or as excited as she would be if she knew what was going on), who is as eager as any 18-month-old to get her hands on any baby in sight.
For instance, when we were up in Massachusetts and trying to get a photo of all the cousins (on my husband’s side) together, she wouldn’t stand still even for a minute until we offered to let her hold her 6-week-old cousin, and then suddenly she was the most cooperative one of all!
Check out these pro moves:
And she didn’t move until the photos were done.
Or when she got to hold my friend’s sweet six-month-old, who was over half her size:
Nailed it.
Totally ready to do this big sister thing.
We found out we were expecting right before leaving Oklahoma, and goodness am I even more thankful than usual that I don’t get terribly morning sick, because I don’t know what I would have done. As it was, I was perhaps not functioning at 100% during all our travels, but we still managed to have fun.
Now that Capt. P is back in the fleet, we’re back in the cycle of field exercises and deployments — we got a little spoiled having him around so much at our last duty station.
(This is a big part of why we decided to live on base here, so we have more flexibility, support, and security when he’s away, and so it’s a shorter commute for him while he is around.)
We’d originally been told that there wouldn’t be any deployments in his immediate future, but naturally I didn’t take that promise very seriously. Sure enough, the plans changed as soon as we arrived, and by the time we’ll have been here a year, I think he’ll have been home for only about 3 months.
Alas, that time does not overlap with the baby’s due date, and yes, you better believe that means I’m calling in all my reinforcements! Thankfully, those are many.
This is how we help Daddy pack.
Anyway, all this (moving, traveling, figuring out various solo parenting logistics) is to explain why we’ve managed to make it halfway through this pregnancy before telling the internet. It also helps explain why I found this move so much harder than the last one — I was pregnant that time, too, so I couldn’t figure out why it should be such a big deal this time around.Am I just getting soft? Turning into a big ol’ wimp?
It was a huge revelation to me one day when I realized that we moved to Oklahoma when I was in the Nesting Stage of pregnancy, and moved away from it when I was in the Exhausted Stage of pregnancy.
(Not to mention we now have three little ones running around and “helping” unpack, instead of just one.)
Ooohhhhh…. excuse me while I go take another nap.
The logistics might be a little trickier this time around, but we are so very grateful to be looking forward to welcoming this baby girl around the beginning of March. I will keep you posted!
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October 19, 2016
Doings.
How are you doing?
Me too!
How warm it’s been, and how lovely. I was in a shop a while ago, and the shop lady was saying to a customer, “We’ve had a drought, so the leaves won’t be good this year.”
Now, it’s undeniable that there’s been a drought, and that a drought is not a good thing. But in my experience, it’s not true that less rain means less of a leaf show. They — and you know who “they” are — agree that no one is quite sure what makes the leaves beautiful one year and not quite as stunning the next. But in any case, drought or no, the leaves are amazing this year.
The raspberries! Between finally making a proper row for them with supports, and an amazingly long warm season, I feel like a raspberry success over here! (In contrast to abject failure in the squash/cucumber/bean department.)
To me, raspberries are the ultimate prize. First of all, they are amazing. Secondly, an itty bitty bit at the store requires you to hand over gold bullion or something. So this harvest feels very winning to me!
We harvested the honey. (You can put the messy things outside and the bees will clean them up!)
The drought has made the bees less productive, so we only got about a third of last year’s harvest, boo.
They will have enough for themselves, and they have lots of pollen, so hopefully next spring will start off in a sprightly fashion — they need pollen to feed the brood, and they need brood for the troops to get out there and get the nectar so they can make honey!
I collected all the green tomatoes, and will make chutney today. (Me: did I ever post about that? Me: Yes! Ha — it’s getting so that I’m forgetting what’s on this blog!)
I think I need a bigger pot — this 8 qt. one is too full already!:
I got an Instant Pot (electric pressure cooker — mine is this exact one). Do you have one? I’ve been experimenting and so far, so good. Today I’m making broth from these nice beef neck bones. I browned them in the oven and am about to scrape off the browned bits before tossing everything (bones, carrots, celery, onions, garlic, bay leaf, salt, pepper, mustard, water, wine) in the pot to pressure cook.
So far I’ve made beans, pot roast, and baked potatoes. Tell me if you’ve had any great successes — I really like it, I must say, even though the truth is, I don’t have enough counter space for it. Like, what was I thinking…
I’m also trying to finish up this little knit vest. Isn’t it cute? Those are owls, in case you are wondering!
Trying to figure out if I left a big enough hole for the head. On the one hand, that bind-off is very stretchy. On the other, we have big heads in this family…
And I re-did my to-do list notebook. I think I will give you more details on Saturday…
Just in case you missed it, I published my little book, a guided reading of Casti Connubii (the Church’s teaching on marriage) last week: God Has No Grandchildren. If you’ve read it (or had read the posts here on the blog), do leave a review if you can on Amazon and/or Goodreads! Thank you!
And don’t miss my article on Crisis: A Family-Friendly Guide to Sex Education. Truthfully, I would have put a different title on there. I don’t actually believe in sex education, and I explain why! See what you think!
So those are the doings and goings on. What have you got where you are?
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October 15, 2016
{bits & pieces} and waxing leaves
The weekly “little of this, little of that” feature here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!
Finnabee and I did some leaf waxing the other day.
Every once and a while I see ideas floating around (on Pinterest or elsewhere) that demonstrate that certain folks make the leaf-waxing process more difficult than it needs to be. Now, I’m not saying that my leaves are the best. I’m just saying, as your humble, New Englander friend, that you don’t have to get too complicated in order to have waxy leaves.
Step 1. Gather leaves. Being in NE certainly helps.
Step 2. Put each leaf between two sheets of wax paper and press down with a hot iron. The waxier your paper, the better. You should see the wax get melty and pool up a little, like this:
You also want to be strategic about how you use your paper up. If you start with your first leaf in the middle of a big sheet of wax paper, you are going to lose a lot of the waxiness when your iron goes down over the better part of it. Instead, use the sides of your paper and work your way around, using the middle of the paper for your later leaves. I mean, unless you’re looking to burn through wax paper at an accelerated rate. The key here is that the best results come from fresh, untouched wax paper melting onto your leaves.
It doesn’t bother your iron. At least, that’s never been an issue with me. I grew up doing this.
Step 3. Remove your leaf and use it for any decorative/gift purposes you have in mind, or just to enjoy having its color preserved!
I have to say that, as simple and fun as this is, I seem to find that it doesn’t work as well as it did when I was a kid. I recall them being shinier. Maybe my wax paper just isn’t up to par.
Any secrets to add in the comments, Mom?
This week’s links!
You know how I’m interested in healthcare reform and price transparency in medicine. I was fascinated to hear, via Samaritan Ministries, about The Wedge of Healthcare Freedom, a new movement to help doctors and providers connect directly to patients and thereby sidestep the mess that our government has gotten us into.
Lessons from a Boy About to be Canonized – just a few sentences to sum up this young man’s martyrdom are all that is necessary to be deeply moved. The author provides some reflection about how we should be raising our children to follow Jose Sanchez del Rio’s example.
A light and interesting perspective on the occasional need to back off; a fun piece with some reality (from a mom with eight kids!) thrown in: Suzuki Method Uberparenting.
Just for some fun: GIFS that demonstrate the cleverness of Japanese wood joinery.
And, probably the top read for this week, from Public Discourse (Anthony Esolen alert!): Pronouns, Ordinary People, and the War Over Reality. I’m often reminding myself to take pride — and help others take heart — in being the type of ordinary, simple person who can go ahead and identify the emperor as naked. This piece is one of those reads that helps bolster such resolutions.
In-house news:
Did you catch yesterday’s post about Auntie Leila’s latest book being now available on Kindle? God Has No Grandchildren: A Guided Reading of Pius XI’s encyclical Casti Connubii, On Chaste Marriage. (If you get our posts by email, you might have only seen the version with the wrong links, grrr…. click now for corrected linkage!) As of now, it is only available as an ebook. You can read it on any device that supports a Kindle App. Only $3.99!
And did you further read her article in Crisis Magazine this past week? If not, catch up now: A Family-Friendly Guide to Sex Education. By family-friendly, she means sex education belongs in the family. There are links to important documents in this article, especially this one: The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality. For two good articles about this document, go here and here. Please share this article far and wide — we’ve forgotten that this delicate responsibility of teaching children about life and love belongs in the family!
Auntie Leila is answering questions about the topic of sex education in the comments of this post.
In the Liturgical Year:
Today is the feast of St. Theresa of Avila, Doctor of the Church!
~We’d like to be clear that, when we direct you to a site via one of our links, we’re not necessarily endorsing the whole site, but rather just referring you to the individual post in question (unless we state otherwise).~
Follow us on Twitter.
Like us on Facebook.
Auntie Leila’s Pinterest.
Rosie’s Pinterest.
Sukie’s Pinterest.
Deirdre’s Pinterest.
Habou’s Pinterest.
Bridget’s Pinterest.
Habou’s Blog: Corner Art Studio.
Auntie Leila’s Ravelry.
Auntie Leila’s Instagram.
Rosie’s Instagram.
Sukie’s Instagram.
Deirdre’s Instagram.
Bridget’s Instagram.
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October 14, 2016
God Has No Grandchildren: My new book is here!
Dear Readers, I am excited to let you know that I have published my study guide — God Has No Grandchildren — on marriage! It’s now available on Kindle — all the posts from my Casti Connubii series in one place, completely revised and expanded!
And yes! George Cardinal Pell of Australia, Prefect, Secretariat for the Economy (as in, he works in the Vatican!), has graciously endorsed your humble servant in this endeavor.
Why? Because he wants you to know: We need to understand as deeply as we possibly can the mystery of marriage!
This! This is the most important battle today, the “ground zero” of all our struggles to bring good into the world: Forming and keeping happy families!
As you will recall, back in the day I wrote some posts here that guided you through the encyclical (apostolic letter) of Pope Pius XI.
Why did I do this? I don’t know! It doesn’t seem like the kind of thing that drives traffic to the blog or makes me famous, does it?
It does seem odd. But. I was really compelled by the need to bring this prophetic pope’s teachings into our world today (it was written in 1930, at the very start of the disastrous era of World War II). I can’t explain it, but I knew that if I didn’t do it, no one else would, and I also knew that I had to try, as quixotic an adventure as it might be.
The encyclical not that easy to read.
But it’s really, really wise.
My reading of it may help you.
Many people have changed their lives when they have read this letter. Their marriages have changed. They suddenly got it.
Father Jerry J. Pokorsky is a priest of the Diocese of Arlington. Fr. Pokorsky co-founded both CREDO and Adoremus, two organizations deeply engaged in authentic liturgical renewal. He says:
God Has No Grandchildren is a splendid new book. It is a beautifully presented treatment of a crucial theme which time is only revealing ever more to have been prophetic.
We need to rediscover Church’s ancient teaching on the meaning of marriage as found in Pius XI’s encyclical Casti Connubii, and Leila Marie Lawler has provided just that.
Well, if you have read along with us here, I hope you will be happy to know that instead of hunting around the blog for the material, it’s all in one place!
I think you will find a lot of good things in this book (available only on Kindle):
Where does marriage come from?
What is God’s plan for marriage?
What are the goals of marriage?
What does “wives, submit to your husbands” mean?
What is mutual submission?
How do I balance my desire to do good in the world with demands at home?
It’s not a long read. Here would be my suggestions for you:
Read it alone.
Read it with your spouse.
Give it to your engaged children or friends.
Read it with your St. Gregory Pocket — in your ladies’ group or as a couples’ activity.
Invite your pastor to read with you.
It’s a short book on its own, and it’s a study guide to use in a group. Instead of finding the scattered posts here, just bring your tablet/reader to your meeting. (Of course, they will still be here!)
You can trust its contents: Several orthodox priests have read it and helped me fine-tune its message. Cardinal Pell’s introduction testifies to the importance of this message to our world today.
If you find that it’s helpful, can I ask you a favor? Can you leave a review on Amazon for me, and/or on Goodreads? Thank you!
Thank you so much for being our readers!!
(By the way, the cover is designed by our own Deirdre’s husband John Folley. Isn’t it beautiful?)
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October 13, 2016
Solidarity, sex education, and happiness: Ask Auntie Leila
I’ve gotten these sorts of questions in the past couple of months from various readers, so I thought I’d round up some representative ones and give it a go:
From a parish priest:
Dear Leila,
I hope you are well. I am planning a discussion with some parents who are looking for some guidance on how to raise their kids with the truth about marriage in our current situation. [The subject line of the email was “Parenting in a post-Obergefell* world.]
I was wondering if you have any particular advice or things to read on this issue.
God bless you and your family.
Fr. C.
*Obergefell is the Supreme Court decision that upheld “right to same-sex marriage” laws in this country.
From a mother:
Hi Auntie Leila,
Can I pester you for some specifics on how to explain to my girls all about (ahem) “growing up” stuff? … You know what I mean. Marriage. Sex. Everything that surrounds it emotionally and spiritually. What makes this harder is that I didn’t get it right in my own life, not by a long shot.
You know? I mean, I’m a Christian *now*….but there’s so much baggage.
I thought it was going to be hard a few years ago to have these conversations, but now, with the explosion of just everything — everything! — being okay in our bent culture, it feels like trying to open a door against a hurricane. I mean, I know this is not all up to me and my husband, but even we aren’t on the same page with some things…
… I’m not without inner gumption. And I know that at a certain point on these issues, after we’ve done our duty, we give our children over to God’s protection as they go off to college, etc…. But I feel like what used to be swimming against the tide is now swimming against a tsunami wave. (Maybe all parents feel this way. But it really feels like how the world sees these matters is inexplicable.)
Thanks for any thoughts/resources/encouragement you may have.
M.
From another mom:
I am leading a small group of young couples with small children from our parish we are discussing the incorporation of Theology of the Body into the upbringing of our children. I’m not sure if you’ve already posted about this, but in your experience, what have been some good age-appropriate answers to questions like “where do babies come from”? and age-appropriate discussions of their bodies and anatomy? We want to preserve their innocence, but we also don’t want them to be ignorant and learn things from their friends on the playground down the line (like some of us did!). We are considering two age groups: babies until about age 5, and elementary age, from about 5-9 or 10. Thank you!
C.
The answer isn’t an easy “get this program/book for your child and you’ll be good.” The answer will likely get you in trouble with all sorts of people — including probably the bishop!
I wrote out my answer and Crisis Magazine published it today. It’s called A Family-Friendly Guide to Sex Education. Go on over there to read it!
Then come back here and we’ll talk. I’ll answer questions in the comments, because over here we like to talk things out, don’t we?
(And may I ask you to please share the important encouragement for families to, in the words of Pope Saint John Paul II, “become what you are!” — Thank you!)
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October 11, 2016
Starting to catch up.
Oh goodness. It’s been quite a while since I last checked in here, and a lot has happened. I only just now feel like I’m able to put my head up and look around. Let me explain.
No, it is too much. Let me sum up.
As you know, we sold our house in Oklahoma, and I was able to fulfill my long-term goal of recreating this picture I took of Pippo in the treehouse on move-in day.
Aw, isn’t he a cute little squirt?
And during move-out, our expanded crew looking more cooperative than they were actually feeling at the time (the girls aren’t posing so much as poising themselves strategically for a cranky escape down the ladder, while Pippo tries his gallant best to humor his mother). But I was determined to get the shot to close out our time here.
Actually, before we completely turn away from Oklahoma, I still would sort of like to do a house tour/before and after photos, so long as it wouldn’t be too lame to do it now that we’ve already moved. But at least that solves the eternal problem of when to declare a room done! Unless you tell me that it would be totally boring, I’m going to try to pull it together.
We hit the road mid-July with our gang, driving nearly 4,000 miles over the next month, from Oklahoma to Virginia, up to Massachusets for a visit, then back down to Pennsylvania for a family vacation by the lake with my side of the family.
Which was exactly as wonderful (a week with all seven of us siblings plus our spouses and children, my parents and Habou all under one roof) and as crazy (a week with all seven of us siblings plus our spouses and children, my parents and Habou all under one roof) as you might imagine. It was great.
Then back up to Massachusetts for some more visiting, including some time spent at my in-law’s (again, nearly everyone – 8 siblings plus spouses and children – in one house again, so again, wonderful and crazy), where we got to meet my newest niece, witness my sister-in-law professing her final vows as a sister, and celebrate my brother-in-law’s engagement.
And then — Molly turned 3! She had her cousins over for cake on Habibti’s deck the day before we hit the road again.
(She very strongly requested “pink cake.” I used a trusty buttermilk cake but subbed some pureed strawberries for part of the liquid. And then I added food coloring too, because the birthday girl wanted pink cake and I was not going to let a foolish desire to go all-natural make me fail to deliver on the pink front. A few more drops of food coloring in the cream cheese frosting, and we were good to go.)
And with that, we loaded the car up one more time, paused before strapping in the kids to take a few last pictures with Papa and Habibti (aren’t they all so cute?), and headed down meet Capt. P down in North Carolina, where he’d checked in to his new unit the week before.
So now we’re not quite two months in to settling in to our new home, which was honestly a little daunting when we arrived. I’ll have much more to say about it later, of course, but for now let’s just say that it was smaller, more awkward, and considerably more inhabited by insects than we had been prepared for. (And we were moving into older military housing, so we thought we were prepared!)
I know that lots of folks are concerned about the risks of using chemicals and such when it comes to pest control. But basically, I figure there are risks to having bugs take over your house, too. Like, if you have a toddler who’s inclined to put things in her mouth, and she might pick up a dead you-know-what and decided to eat it, and then you would just have to leave her on a mountaintop.
That’s a risk too.
The pest control guy gave me a condescending smile and a “Welcome to Swamp Lejeune,” then tried to convince me that since this is the outdoor kind of cockroach (as opposed to the kind that infests your pantry, which I grant you is even worse), and they wash themselves a million times a day (no joke, he stood there and told me they were cleaner than I am), that basically I should be thanking them for gracing my home with their presence.
And I did my best to explain to him that while I am, deep down, a bug wimp, I just moved from Oklahoma where I had scorpions in my bed and tarantulas on my doorstep and yet I can say with confidence that these are definitely very yucky bugs that I did not want in my house. Seriously.
So even though the truck had unloaded everything, we held off a few days on unpacking beyond the very basics until we’d hit the little (and not-so-little, downright enormous) wretches with everything we’d got, and firmly established our own residency. Which we have done, and (for the record, in case anyone reading this plans on visiting us or is even a very sanitary outdoor cockroach) intend on maintaining.
File this interlude under {real}.
Really, though, we’ve mostly figured out where to put the furniture and it is starting to really feel like home. (It was a month before we’d unpacked the last box, which made me feel like a real slacker, since dear Cristina had just told me over on Instagram that she and her husband get the house “done” in just two weeks! I bow down to their efficiency.) We’re also very happy to be living on base again, and especially to be living near the beach again! Oh, ocean, how I missed you.
I’m hoping to be able to pop in here more often now that we’re no longer nomads. In theory, I should have new projects and adventures to share, so I’ll see what I can do!
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October 8, 2016
{bits & pieces}
The weekly “little of this, little of that” feature here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!
It’s that time of year, when my one, count ’em one, hydrangea bush puts forth its bounty and I bring it inside.
Note to self: Don’t turn on the fan! And maybe just turn it a little, that might look better.
Our links today!
Education department:
Are you studying Ancient Rome? Here is video of a detailed 3D reconstruction of the house of Caecilius Iucundus. Pretty amazing.
This is pretty cool: Revolutionary War Veterans Who Lived Long Enough To Have Their Pictures Taken. If you are doing a timeline, it might be good to think about when you and your kids think the earliest photographs were, and then look at these!
Food for thought:
In different places, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (who was to become Pope Benedict XVI) speaks of the “two trumpets” of the beauty of Jesus Christ. Here is a meditation of his on the subject — it’s really splendid, as our friend Fr. Chris Seiler characterized it. I plan to read it again when I’m at prayer…
Beware the juvenilization of Christianity. A priest looks at youth ministry.
A good (brief) discussion of C. S. Lewis’ Abolition of Man, a work that, despite its brevity, many find opaque. There is still one more layer to be uncovered — maybe we will talk about it another time. For now, this is a good read.
The secret Jews of the Hobbit.
“Stumble across medieval manuscript” time:
Books as relics:
At the moment of his own martyrdom in Canterbury Cathedral on 29 December 1170, [Thomas Becket] died commending his soul to Saint Alphege. It is just possible that Becket was holding his psalter. This, then, is a manuscript which was indeed a relic in the middle ages, seen by every pilgrim to the shrine (including Chaucer, no doubt), but which becomes a different kind of relic in our own time, for it is a tangible link with one of the great figures of history.
Precious objects, except to kids! No matter what the era! At least today, when our toddler draws a cow in our book, we haven’t painstakingly copied it out by hand, on vellum…
The feast of the Guardian Angels brought this sweet post to my attention. It’s always a good time to sing a beautiful ode to your angel!
From the archives:
Another post about Lewis, in which I am inspired to do variations on a theme of his — and readers had chimed in — lots — but then the comments got lost when we moved the blog. Ah well, we could start again! Feel free if you are inspired.
If that priest’s essay about youth ministry makes you wonder what it is that we should do, then, to evangelize, my answer is in my series about the Liturgy: this one (all the posts linked in this one) and this one (ditto). Worship is the goal, not the afterthought! Put your energy, ask your priest to put his energy, into understanding and prioritizing the act of worship.
Related: that post from Ratzinger, also above. Beauty — beauty that is true and that contains the paradox of harmony and suffering — will save the world. Jesus Christ, the beautiful One, gives Himself to us in the Liturgy.
Mapping out the electoral college votes — do you or someone you love not quite get how the President is elected? What is this “electoral college” we sometimes hear tell about? Now is the moment to learn! (The comments are all good too.)
Read about today’s saints here, and also about the month of October here. When the family prays and lives the liturgical year in union with the Church, the children learn about their faith. That’s what our book, The Little Oratory, is about!
~We’d like to be clear that, when we direct you to a site via one of our links, we’re not necessarily endorsing the whole site, but rather just referring you to the individual post in question (unless we state otherwise).~
Follow us on Twitter.
Like us on Facebook.
Auntie Leila’s Pinterest.
Rosie’s Pinterest.
Sukie’s Pinterest.
Deirdre’s Pinterest.
Habou’s Pinterest.
Bridget’s Pinterest.
Habou’s Blog: Corner Art Studio.
Auntie Leila’s Ravelry.
Auntie Leila’s Instagram.
Rosie’s Instagram.
Sukie’s Instagram.
Deirdre’s Instagram.
Bridget’s Instagram.
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October 5, 2016
New laundry room, old house!
Remember when we first started out here, and I explained to you about how “if I can do it, so can you”?
Like, everyone has a mental spectrum, and on that spectrum there are two ends. One end is a paragon of fabulousness, of the unreachable stars of whatever it is that you are thinking about doing; the last word in perfection. This end is represented differently for different people.
The other end is that person who does stuff, slaps it on the internet, and causes you think to yourself, “well, gosh, if she can do that, so can I!”
In this post you will see how I’m that end. You’re welcome!
Want to find out how we went from this:
To this?
So, some disclaimers. (There will be more sprinkled throughout this post, never fear.)
An online friend recently commented about how hard it is to take pictures of a bathroom. Yes, yes it is.
I’m not a professional photographer, as you well know. My camera is fairly basic.
Remember that the pictures here that make the room look big are taken with a wide-angle lens. It’s pretty small, actually — about 8 x 9′.
I did Pinterest things up a little. I took out our ugly trashcan — will keep an eye out for a nicer one. But yes, we actually do dispose of trash in this room! And I put some hydrangeas in there because it looks nicer that way, don’t you think? I don’t know that I would normally do that if I weren’t showing off to you here.
Okay, some BEFORES — don’t judge, I beg! Think of how big this house is, and how many things, all chronicled here and more, needed to be attended to before this room! And how many children I had to send to college! (If you go here, you will see the map of the upstairs and the relationship of this room to the rest.) (We could actually tell you stories about this room, as I think the visual evidence bears witness.)
Note the rectangular fixture in the ceiling. This is important for later.
So this is a copper tub, from the 1800s. (That is true, not me being funny.)
I know, right?
Kind of paralyzing.
No claw feet, no actual charm. But old. We like old. (Needless to say, Bridget was the most pro-tub.) But maybe not this much…
Commence the gutting, the hauling, and the plumbing.
Keep in mind that all the money went into the plumbing. That kills, because of course, you don’t see it.
Discussion:
By the time you get done with the plumbing and the appliances that are way deeper than that tub, you are pretty far out into the room.The dryer door has to open. Plus, on the second floor, we really wanted to have that pan under the washer, just in case (even though the floor is waterproof).
So pedestal sink it was. (If I could have done things differently, I would have tried to find a dresser and repurpose it into a vanity. That’s actually not that hard! And it’s cheap! But there just wasn’t room.) I found this one on Craigslist.
Please note the hanging of the blow dryer on the command hook under the sink (the hook is on the chest of drawers). Not much room to put things + not many outlets = problem — but I solved it!
(I’ll put all the particulars on sources/products at the end of the post.)
I don’t know whether it was the plumber or the issues with the house, but there was a lot of exposed junk behind the appliances. Anyway, it is what it is.
DURING:
(I’m only showing you this bad pic so that you know that there is a stage where it’s all blurry…)
AFTER:
As I said, the $$ went to the plumbing. So the shelving was put together by my handy Chief — stained and beeswaxed pine boards and the cheapest brackets available, spray-painted that pop of blue (I don’t think they turned out too lurid, do you?).
I went to all the stores, you know, Marshall’s, TJ Maxx, etc. for likely storage bins/baskets/holders. This part took even longer than the forever of the other parts!
Rosie gave me a pep talk: “Mom, just buy the things. They will be $6 and you need to just buy them.”
So I did. In the end, I will return some of them (not pictured). The baskets are all “shopped from the house.” The wire basket was from Homegoods or one of those places. The real challenge was to find things tall enough to conceal the bleach and ammonia jugs (I use them all the time — go to my laundry posts for more info).
I was in Joann’s, actually, and those metal Eiffel tower bins were $5 and $6 each on clearance, so I did get those.
The laundry detergent will be stored in the enameled bin on the dryer — right now, I’m working on a jug of liquid detergent that I was able to store in the cupboard when the washer was in the mudroom. I see that on Pinterest, the thing to do is put your liquid laundry detergent in attractive bottles, but I don’t know… seems… like it won’t actually work in terms of being hasty and needing not to drip detergent everywhere.
It was really hard to figure out what to do about the huge rectangular hole in the ceiling, short of putting in yet more money and labor into redoing what was otherwise not a problem. Finally I decided to combine the large medallion with the big fixture. The ceiling is actually quite low, so it wasn’t easy to find one that was both big and fairly flush to the ceiling:
The sconces are the ones that were there, moved closer together, spray painted black, and endowed with new glass shades. I sort of love these bubbly ones:
And here’s how the mudroom, where the laundry used to be and where you enter, looks now:
Okay, on to sources!
Floor: The same as in the other bathroom, which is on the other side of the wall with the appliances. Here’s what I said about it over there: Shaw’s Matrix Regency Vinyl Plank Flooring in Gunstock, from Lowe’s (I bought this after buying a similar product from Home Depot; I was actually hoping for a lighter color (which I think doesn’t show as much dirt). I was checking out with enough flooring for both bathrooms and caught sight of a sample laid out. My, it was ugly! So I turned right around and returned it all! After much texting of photos to Rosie and a considerable amount of agonizing over the fact that some colors are in stock and some are decidedly not and anyway how are you supposed to tell, I found this one at Lowe’s. I love it.)
Paint: Walls and trim, Valspar Bistro White — this was a real shot from the hip in the store, when I wanted them to match the Benjamin Moore White Dove and their computer wouldn’t show it up for them. I really love how the white turned out; it made me want to paint every room this white.
Big shout-out to Bridget, who painted this room and basically rescued the bits that were not gutted (the walls on the window and radiator sides) and all the trim from despair. She worked really hard and did a great job. I made the decision to put wallpaper liner on the wall with the window – what you have to know is that we didn’t remove the fake panelling that was there before, but it wasn’t in good condition under the wallpaper. Old-house nightmares…
Ceiling paint: Take a tip from me and use glossy paint for your bathroom ceilings, preferably one that is mold-resistant.
Lighting: The ceiling medallion and the fixture were from Amazon. The sconces were there already — the Chief removed them for me, I spray painted them, and he put them back. The glass shades are from Lowes and are pretty cheap, under $10. I use those chandelier lights in them — vintage bulbs would have been nice but they are too pricey for me.
Shelving: Nice pine boards from Home Depot; Varathane wood stain in dark walnut; white brackets; Valspar blue spray paint.
Black chest of drawers: Brown chest of drawers in the guest room, something that Habou picked up, spray painted black.
Sink: This is a Kohler Archer pedestal sink, which I was lucky enough to find, brand-new in the box, on Craigslist, for $120. This kind of sink requires an 8″ spread faucet, which we got from Home Depot, I think.
Toilet: Kohler Memoirs, purchased from Lowes. It had been in the other bathroom, before we decided that no, we weren’t actually abandoning the almond.
Fabric: The fabric is from Joann’s, quite a while ago. I really loved it and then made peace with the fact that I was not going to make a black-and-white quilt. I had juuuuussttt enough for these curtains — used every inch!
Metal bins: From Joann’s and Homegoods.
Mirror, washboard, and other sundries: Thrift stores and yard sales.
(The Amazon links are affiliate links — thanks for using them!)
The post New laundry room, old house! appeared first on Like Mother Like Daughter.
October 1, 2016
{bits & pieces}
The weekly “little of this, little of that” feature here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!
Hmm… has there not been a post since the last {b&p}?
There are so many things I want to be posting about these days. Like that chick from Julie & Julia, “I have thoughts.” I mean, all of us do. (Mom has already explained how she’s taking more time to work on her book, so at least you know you’ll be hearing lots more from her eventually.) But man is it hard to get the time to write a blog post, huh?
Especially since – and I’m so, so happy to say it – I’ve been keeping busy with artwork recently. You know I’ve been working on prioritizing art for a while; sharing my website (and quitting my part-time, from-home, online, neglected job) was a big push towards making this even more of a priority.
Keeping it real for ya: this is a non-staged, non-tidied view of “the other end” of my kitchen table/home work space (that is to say, the end opposite where we eat; that side is generally clear of clutter):
Now to figure out how to get a little writing time in, as well…
This week’s links:
Some anniversaries, observed:
15 Years After O, Brother, taking a look at that movie’s influence on bluegrass. I know that watching that movie and owning that soundtrack had a big impact on our family!
On the occasion of James’ Herriot’s (would be) 100th birthday, noting his influence on the vet profession.
Politics:
Is it ethical to vote? Or to choose not to? Some considerations: Catholic Voters and the Ethical Strategy of Abstention
Religion:
Are you connected with the 40 Days for Life Campaign near you?
Miscellaneous:
This is a remarkable story (if in need of some editing) about a Very Humble Medal of Honor Recipient.
From the Archives:
Ask Auntie Leila: Some Homeschooling Talk — in which she covers many topics; so open this up when you’re ready to browse through and pick up on some reading recommendations.
In the Liturgical Year:
It’s Oct 1 already! Which means it’s the feast of St. Therese of the Little Flower! Happy Feast Day!
~We’d like to be clear that, when we direct you to a site via one of our links, we’re not necessarily endorsing the whole site, but rather just referring you to the individual post in question (unless we state otherwise).~
Follow us on Twitter.
Like us on Facebook.
Auntie Leila’s Pinterest.
Rosie’s Pinterest.
Sukie’s Pinterest.
Deirdre’s Pinterest.
Habou’s Pinterest.
Bridget’s Pinterest.
Habou’s Blog: Corner Art Studio.
Auntie Leila’s Ravelry.
Auntie Leila’s Instagram.
Rosie’s Instagram.
Sukie’s Instagram.
Deirdre’s Instagram.
Bridget’s Instagram.
The post {bits & pieces} appeared first on Like Mother Like Daughter.
