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!
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