Megachurch Parody

Every church has a liturgy. It's just that some won't admit it. This wouldn't embed for some reason, but go to Mommy Life to watch it:

http://mommylife.net/archives/2010/05/megachurch_wors.html

Summer Plans

Last summer I spent just about every spare minute on my older daughter’s wedding preparations. It was fun and enjoyable, and I wouldn’t change any of it, but since Girl of the House isn’t likely to get married in the next three months, this summer is looking quite different. I’m foreseeing hours and hours of free time. Well, maybe not. But this summer I’m going to spend my spare minutes working on a scrap quilt and reading. I’ve never quilted before, but Anna has made it look so easy that I’m ready to give it a whirl. I’ll keep you updated.

I’m going to read. Somehow I’ve gotten it into my head lately that when I’m reading I should be doing something else, something More Important. Bah! I love to read, and during the schoolyear finding time is hard, but I’m going to read this summer and not feel guilty about it. I’ve bought a fair number of books in the past twelvemonth (don’t you love that word?) that I haven’t cracked, and that’s about to change. Just as soon as I get my classes wrapped up and Girl of the House’s year-end portfolio together, that is. We are leaving for a three-week tramp across the Midwest and New England soon, and it will be a perfect time to get started. I’ll keep you posted about that too.

Of course, there is a good chance we will be moving this summer, and if that happens all my eager plans may be a total wash-out. We shall see.

Simple Woman's Daybook--May 26, 2010

FOR TODAY May 26, 2010...

Outside my window... is sunshine and blue sky and green everywhere!

I am thinking... of how glad I am that the schoolyear is almost over! I taught a new class this year that took *a lot* of time, but it is winding down now, and I feel like I’m coming up for air.

I am thankful for... growing older. Not everyone gets to do that, you know? I’ve learned a lot and have hopefully grown in wisdom over the years.

From the learning rooms...Macbeth, fractions, noun clauses, human nervous system, Aaron Copland, Igor Stravinsky, and John Rutter, the Iliad

From the kitchen... good ol’ hamburgers and French fries

I am wearing... denim capris, striped top, and white canvas slip-ons

I am creating... Girl of the House’s portfolio for her annual evaluation. In fact, I should probably be working on that instead of this!

I am going... nowhere today, except Man of the House and I took a walk around our neighborhood this morning.

I am reading... Green Dolphin Street by Elizabeth Goudge and listening to To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis

I am hoping... I won’t mind being away from home for so long when we take our three-week trip to Missouri, New England, and Indiana (in that order) in June.

On my mind… I’m looking forward to a change of pace this summer.

Noticing that… my outlook is brighter with the heavy load of schoolwork lifting

Pondering these words… “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” (Hebrews 12:1)

I am hearing... the scritch-scratch of Girl of the House's pencil as she works on math.

Around the house... finishing up laundry, watering the garden, picking lettuce

One of my favorite things... peas fresh from the garden

A few plans for the rest of the week: taking Girl of the House to her voice lesson, grading, concert Friday evening

Here is picture thought I am sharing...



I made these pillows for Girl Out of the House's couch.

More daybooks at Peggy's!

House Tour--Kitchen and Back Porch

Let's move on to my kitchen. It's a small room without enough room for a table, sparse counterspace, and a less-than-wonderful view out the windows, but it's my kitchen and I love it. I feel deeply satisfied when I cook something for my family and see them enjoying it and being nourished by it. It's one of the most rewarding tasks of homemaking, I think. We don't go in for fancy food in our household. Man of the House commented last week that I cook like my grandma. He meant it as a compliment. (I think! I hope!) We are more like hobbits than any other of Tolkien's races; we like "plain food and plenty of it."

This is what you see as you enter. A major problem with the design of this kitchen is that it has only one entrance to the dining room. If we aren't careful we run into each other! When we moved here, this room had a major 70's hangover. We eventually painted the dark brown cabinets a creamy off-white. Man of the House pulled down the striped olive green wallpaper and painted the walls the same color as the cabinets. Once upon a time I had stencilled various quotations in blue and yellow on the walls, but they have since been painted over. The countertops are still yellow, but by using a yellow and blue color scheme, they work pretty well. Besides, they are still in good shape.



Here's the kitchen looking from the other end of the room. See that homemade bread? Alas, it's from the bread machine. I wish I could say I made it all by me little onesie, but I never learned that craft. Auntie Leila says not to store bread in plastic bags, so I'll have to think of something else. And those are blonde brownies in the pan underneath. We had company last night. :-) The recipe boxes between the toaster and the sink are mine and Girl of the House's. Girl Out of the House kept hers here too before she got married. It made me happy to see all three recipe boxes stacked up, but of course, hers lives with her now in her new home and is being put to excellent use!



What's behind the curtain, you ask? My bread machine, cooling racks, electric mixer, cutting boards, etc. That space used to have a microwave (came with the house), but it has long since gone to its reward. It was a huge monstrosity that filled that space, but all of our subsequent microwaves weren't nearly that big, so I put a curtain over the opening and use it for storage. See that thing to the right? It's my organizer. Yes, indeed it is; it's just not very . . . organdized (as my very great friend Pooh Bear would say). Yes. Well. One of these days.



This is the view leading out of the kitchen into the dining room. (Sorry it's so blurry! It's the camera's fault, I tell you!) See my blue and white transferware on the wall? I L~O~V~E blue transferware! I hunt for it at yard sales, antique shops, even shops like Marshall's, which sometimes has Spode at deep discounts. We use it everyday. These two plates were gifts from a friend, and I got the rack at the dollar store. The toile heart is re-purposed Christmas ornament. See why I chose yellow and blue as the color scheme for this room? The pictures on the far wall were, I think, $6 each from Aldi, and they have adorned many walls in this house.



Here's a close up of the plates for your viewing pleasure:



Here's a pitcher I bought at an antique shop. I use it for gravy most often. And see? Even my houseplant is sitting on an orphaned transferware saucer!



Off the kitchen is this little ramshackle porch. It's drafty and leaky and not terribly attractive. We use it as overflow for the kitchen, a make-shift mud room, plus the Cat of the House's litter box is there. I'll spare you a picture of that. ;-) It's such a tiny room that I can't get a decent picture of it, so these will have to do.





The shelves are just the right height for these window boxes. I'm growing parsley, oregano, and basil.



If you look out at our eency-weency backyard, on sunny Saturdays you'll see sheets on the line. Is there any felicity in the world like climbing into a bed arrayed in sheets that have been dried on the line? Methinks not.



Thank you for touring my kitchen! Next, we'll move upstairs and see my bathroom.

From My Commonplace Book

“A well-spent day brings happy sleep.”~~Leonardo da Vinci

“A garden is an evidence of faith, and it links us with all the misty figures of the past who also planted and were nourished by the fruits of their planting. The truth is, none of us belongs merely to today; we are a small part of the whole progression of mankind. We have a responsibility to pass to the next generation as much good as we can, and we are also responsible for those who went before us.”~~Gladys Taber

“To remain ignorant of things that happened before you were born is to remain a child.”~~Cicero

“To live within a just order is to live within a pattern that has beauty. The individual finds purpse within an order, and security—whether it is the order of the soul or the order of the community. Without order, indeed the life of man is poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”~~Russell Kirk

House Tour--Dining Room

Let's continue on the house tour with the dining room.

Here is the view as you enter from the living room. There are double French doors in between which we keep open most of the time, so the living and dining rooms together make a quite large, open space. We don't have space in the kitchen for a table and chairs, so this is where we eat all our meals.



Now here are some close-ups. The first is of the parlor organ that my grandmother gave me when she moved out of her house and into her apartment. I like it because it isn't too big. I have many memories of my sisters and me playing it when we were little.



And a close-up of the organ. The lamp and gargoyle were gifts from Girl out of the House, and the candlesticks were another gift from my grandmother given to me a few months before she died.



See this blue bookcase? This bookcase has lived in just about every room in our house, serving us well. In fact, we have another just like it, except white, in Girl of the House's room.



That's where I keep the books I use for teaching my classes, plus a few other sundries, like my Treasury of Daily Prayer. Girl of the House's school happens in the dining room, so we keep her current schoolbooks on the bottom shelf. That also explains the whiteboard in the corner. Can you resist looking at the bookshelves in other people's houses? I can't, so here's a peep at mine:



On top of the bookcase are a few blocks that Man of the House's mother played with when she was little. She told us they were old when she played with them. She was going to throw them away~~throw them away, I tell you!~~when she and Man of the House's father were moving, so I asked if I could have them. I like to think of how many generations have played with them over the years, including any little visitors who come to our house now. :-)



The looooong mantle is difficult to know what to do with. I bought the banners at Walmart when we first moved in as an inexpensive temporary fix until I could find something better, but fourteen and a half years later, here they still are. lol I'll show you the mantle in two separate shots. It extends the full length of the wall. The built-ins hold my good china, Christmas dishes, soup tureens, crystal, plus some odds and ends. We are not getting a close-up of them because . . . well . . . ahem . . . they are raaawwwther dusty.



The red chair in the corner? Well. . . I trash picked it. Yes, I'm a trash picker. Our garage is full right now of chairs and a small table I've picked up by the side of the road waiting to be fixed up and painted. I'm amazed by what some people throw away!



We bought the ship in Williamsburg, VA. It says it's the Mayflower, but I have my doubts as too its authenticity. Still, it looks good there, yes?



The daisies are a gift from our neighbor. She plans functions for the local university and brought these to us after an event. I've been longing for some daisies! How did she know?



This is Girl of the House working on math. I couldn't resist posting this picture. She doesn't know I took it because she was so engrossed in her math, not her favorite subject! lol Isn't she cute?



Thank you for visiting! Next up~~the kitchen!

Too Funny Not to Share

House Tour--Living Room

Let's continue the house tour with the living room.

This is what you see as you come in the front door. We replaced our monster grand piano with this little dwarf version because it will be so much easier to move whenever that time should come.



If you look to your left, you see this staircase. Man of the House says this staircase is eminently suitable for a man in his position in life, being neither too narrow nor too steep.



Then if you turn around, you see our front door. There aren't really aliens landing in our front lawn. That glow is just the sunshine.



Look to your right, and you'll see this. The house isn't really crooked, but my camera angle was.



Here's our couch. Looks like someone actually sat on it!



And our coffee table. The pewter candlesticks (which you can hardly see because I'm a dismal photographer) were a gift from my mother and are some of my favorite things in my house. That little violin is 1/10th size and sounds like a cheap plastic toy from the dollar store.



This is a piece of embroidery that my grandmother's friend did for her and my grandfather just after they were married in 1928. She gave it to Girl of the House when we visted her at Christmastime in 2009. She died the next April. This is one of my favorite things too. Though it's Girl of the House's, she was happy for me to hang it in the living room. The threads are faded and the fabric is yellowed, but that makes it all the better to me. (Sorry it's so blurry! As I said, I'm a dismal photographer!)



Here are the crowning glories of our living room~~our Martin and Katie Luther bobbleheads:



And here are some random shots just because I like them:







Thank you for visiting!