{bits & pieces} and a bird’s nest
The weekly “little of this, little of that” feature here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!
In recent months, I’ve had some issues with my dryer. Without warning, it started to fail to produce dry results. The same sized load on the same settings was coming out… damp. And it sure is frustrating to find that you’ve run your dryer for a good, long, (not thrifty!) cycle only to have damp laundry!
My landlord pulled the dryer out of the wall and found a nest in the vent. Well, there you have it!
It happened again, and he found another nest, this time with eggs! Oh no – poor things! Poor silly animals, why did you do that? This time he put in some mesh so that there could be no re-entry.
But then, I was having a little picnic lunch in the back yard with my kiddos and looked up to the outside opening of the dryer vent coming out of our second floor apartment and spied a little bird popping in and out — with bits of grass in its beaks. Oh dear.
This time I asked my landlord to check it out before I ventured to use the dryer again (fortunately for all involved, the weather had meanwhile taken a definite turn towards summer and, therefore, line drying). This time he went up on a ladder on the outside and, sure enough…
Poor, persistent creatures! I hate to be responsible for their displacement, but I also didn’t want to roast their young by trying to get my clothes dry! So now there’s a mesh barrier on the outer part of the vent as well (I guess the original nest had been farther in). The nest (shown above in the hands of my landlord’s son) was relocated into a nearby tree, but I’m not sure what the odds are that the birds are going to settle back in after it’s been handled. Sigh. It was a treat to get to see it up close, though!
This week’s links:
On love & marriage:
I don’t think I agree with 100% of what’s in this NYTimes opinion piece — Why You Will Marry the Wrong Person — but I do think that it offers a lot of helpful food for thought. Recently I was talking to The Artist about what it takes for two young people in our culture to make the decision for marriage. He spoke of the relief that he felt when he learned that he didn’t have to find the One Woman who would meet all his needs (good thing for me!) – yes, it is a feeling of relief when you learn that you don’t have to find someone who won’t disappoint you in any way. That is too tall of an order to try to fulfill; letting go brings so much peace. Of course what this article is lacking is the observation that there is indeed a Person in whom we find fulfillment… and we don’t have to go on a lot of first dates in order to meet Him.
We hope you are already familiar with all of Jane Austen’s great works. But in case you haven’t yet read it, you need to move Sense & Sensibility to the top of your list. The article linked above has a line that brings this great novel to my mind: “Romanticism has been unhelpful to us; it is a harsh philosophy.” The character Marianne is a romantic. We tend to think that this means she’s sentimental and therefore probably a soft sort of person; gentle and mild and even saccharine or flimsy. In fact, she is harsh! The Artist and I recently read this book aloud together and, reading and discussing it with him, I had the pleasure to re-learn about Eleanor’s virtues. Her self-sacrificing gentleness is a much stronger quality to poise her for a happy marriage than Marianne’s idealism, which leads her to be selfish and hard on others.
Just to pop some Archives material in right here, because it’s so appropriate: You Are Building Something. Part of the series on Casti Cannubii.
Looking for a recommendation for a long movie or a short miniseries? I absolutely loved Dr. Thorne, an Amazon original film written by Julian Fellowes (whom you know from Downton Abbey… but this is much better [I only watched through Season 2 of that before I’d had enough, begging the pardon of you DA enthusiasts out there]). It’s just a straight-up delightful British period drama about love and money duking it out for marriage. My only complaint is that too much time was spent in fireside introduction and recaps with Mr. Fellowes, and I’d rather have spent those precious minutes developing some of the characters further. NB: I haven’t read the Trollope novel on which it’s based, so I can’t judge it as an adaptation, but it definitely makes me want to read the book now! Plus: the proposal scene!!!
Miscellaneous:
This Obituary of Jane Fawcett is well worth reading to learn about an extremely interesting woman with many accomplishments (ballet dancing, code-cracking, opera-singing, historic building-saving… no big deal). Read between the lines, as well, to see how women before the feminist revolution were able to pursue their interests – just a little “anti-narrative” perspective.
Also in memoriam: a Tribute to La Leche League Co-Founder Mary White, a woman to whom many of us are indebted for her work to promote breastfeeding when it had gone out of style, and who also happens to be the mother/grandmother of dear friends of ours!
Gorgeous Pictures of the Holy Land from 120 Years Ago — these are unreal!
In the Liturgical Year:
Today we observe The Immaculate Heart of Mary. I do love this title for her!
From the Archives:
I’m just leaving you one option (other than the one above) because it’s just so good – I really want you to re-read it. Ask Auntie Leila: How Do I Tell People We’re Having Another Baby?
~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.
Bridget’s Instagram.
The post {bits & pieces} and a bird’s nest appeared first on Like Mother Like Daughter.
