An end-of-year retrospective and a little looking ahead, with your {bits & pieces}

The weekly “little of this, little of that” feature here at Like Mother, Like Daughter! 

(This will all look and work better if you click on the actual post and do not remain on the main page.)

 

 

(My bread is getting better — have you been making sourdough?)

 

Let’s do a little end-of-year retrospective, shall we?

The top ten most popular posts here this year (in a manner of speaking — a couple of them could be thought of as “controversial posts that got a lot of traffic” although beats me what is so incendiary after all) —  some from this year and some from past years, due to our decreased blogging schedule:

This little post right at the beginning of 2018, in which I did no more than reiterate the very themes and purposes of this blog, only to find myself in quite the firestorm (mainly fueled by willful misinterpretation of what I wrote by some who cravenly put their own words in front of partial quotes from mine or who shared said misrepresentation — a discreditable practice that should cause a complete loss of reputation in the absence of contrition and reparation).
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle was apparently the hill I would be dying on next, but I’m happy to do it. In this post I deplored — and I still deplore — the bait-and-switch tactics that adults perpetrate on young people. Draw them in with the fun, corrupt them with the agenda.
At the bottom of our site there is a widget that shows you what people are looking at “now” — it always amuses me that my post on how to cope with your almond bathroom fixtures is usually on it! But for real — not everyone can rip out all the fixtures and start from scratch. Who has $30,000 just lying around? But bathrooms need to be updated! Well, I did solve this one problem for you, so you’re welcome.
The Reasonably Clean House — this post is actually a collection of the whole series I did back in the day. This is what you need to stop ricocheting around the “boom or bust” methods you may currently employ. Let’s be honest, the only way to have a Perfectly Clean House is to get rid of the children or at least stop educating them, and just “blessing the mess” doesn’t cut it, because we’re actually happier when things are reasonably clean!
Easy and Good Pot Roast. Nothing controversial there, but a secret ingredient I bet you hadn’t thought of, and no, it’s not a packet of ranch dressing.
Taking Care of Children when They are Sick — don’t go to the doctor for every little thing, and don’t wait for a child to collapse, either. The Collective Memory for when you need to put on your nurse’s cap.
Deirdre explains more about Samaritan Ministries, the Christian cost-sharing plan you join instead of paying a mortgage-sized amount to an insurance company that may or may not cover your health bills. I am a member as well, and a huge fan.
Restoring sanity and helping people get married. Reflections inspired by a documentary on dating that Deirdre and I saw.
One post I worked hard on and hope will be helpful to you in the coming year: A book (and other reading) list for the St. Gregory Pocket! Which of course you will be starting, or joining, or reviving, or continuing to enjoy, because friendship is the way forward in this crazy world of ours! (I just got an email from a gal who found some kindred spirits this way — these other ladies had been involved in a St. Greg’s Pocket but it was too much of a drive for them, so they started their own, and good thing they did, for my correspondent!)
And of course, my friend Amy Fahey’s recommendations for children’s books –– now that the Christmas rush is over, it might be easier to track some of these down through used book vendors. By the way, a friend of mine has a great book shop on Etsy. I am always tempted by her offerings when I see them on Instagram! But how many books do I need? (Rhetorical question, I need all the books.)

 

 

Another list: Things I want to know more about this coming year:

Always wanting to know more about sourdough.

 

Kombucha. Tell me your ways. A friend gave me a scoby and it is currently languishing in the cupboard, pending my increased learning curve. Tell me why it’s not just… vinegary tea…

 

Banjo. I am trying to learn, though the holidays interrupted my groove. Also, it’s way heavier than I thought it would be. But Nick gave me some online lessons for Christmas so… I’m on it. My hope is that someone, anyone, in my family will decide that he can do it better… but one way or another, we need a banjo player! I mean, I can strum some chords, right?

 

Not a New Year’s thought, but I have a favor to ask:If you loved The Little Oratory, would you consider going over to Amazon and leaving a review? It helps bring it to people’s attention as they are buying related books. I recently was reminded of this book by Robert Hugh Benson (whose book A Child’s Rule of Life I had written about at one point) — isn’t it darling? Fits perfectly with our “living the liturgical year in a traditional way” encouragement.

 

What are you hoping to accomplish in the coming year? Remember, behind your resolutions are these two keys to actually making any changes. 

 

Today is the feast of Thomas à Becket, bishop and martyr. Our friend Tony Esolen wrote a piece about him that weaves in the flavor of medieval culture and insights into the meaning of the university. And Fr. C. J. McCloskey wrote about how this saint is a role model for bishops.

 

I want to say how grateful I am for all our readers! We really love you and cherish each one of you, the ones known to us with many or few comments and interactions, and the ones who just silently follow along. 

Every once in a while someone from that latter group emails me, and it never fails to brighten my day — to hear “I don’t ever comment but I love the blog and have learned so much” — this is why we are here! We learn from you too, and are very happy to be able to welcome you here to our little internet home.

Merry Fifth Day of Christmas — and a Happy New Year!

 

 

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