Commitment to Loveliness Update

Last week I joined Emily at Charming the Birds from the Trees for her "Commitment to Loveliness." So how did I do? Update below ~

1) Pick out paint for the bathroom. I've been stumped about this bathroom since we moved here in June, but I think I've gotten myself unstuck by deciding to get a new shower curtain. I just couldn't reconcile the old one with the large swaths of white tile. And since Girl of the House only has vague recollections of the shower curtain before this one (which means it must be twelve or so years old), I decided it was okay to buy a new one. Here 'tis:



Now that I've made this decision, everything is beginning to fall into place in my mind. I'll share pictures when it's finished. So while I didn't pick out paint, I did get the ball rolling in the right direction. That counts in my book. :-)

2) Get started knitting new dishcloths for the kitchen. I've got one about half finished in pretty Peaches~n~Cream yellow. I did just say I'd get one started . . .

3) Move the box of Christmas dishes out of the laundry room into the garage. (Help required.) Man of the House did this for me (without help!) while I was gone last Monday. Thanks, honey! It's so nice to have it put away!

4) Write a thank you note on a pretty card for the lunch we enjoyed today with an elderly parishioner. (Spread the loveliness, yes?) Sent Thursday. Mission accomplished.

5) Attend Ash Wednesday services and contemplate the loveliness of the Savior. Said service duly attended, though I am sure I never contemplate Jesus as much or as well as I should.

Not bad, eh? I'd say it was a successful week as far as this is concerned. :-)

{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real} ~ February 24, 2012

{Pretty}

(Girl Out of the House and That Boy, you may want to skip this part if you don't want to know what one of your baby gifts is going to look like.)

Girl of the House has been diligently putting together a quilt for her niece who will be making her appearance in June, Lord willing. It's coming along very nicely! She's past the assembly stage and is on to the quilting, which she is doing by hand. I think it's going to be adorable!




(Girl 2 had just washed her hair, which is why it's wet and messy. lol)

{Happy}

Man of the House's birthday was Wednesday. Because it fell on a major church holiday (Ash Wednesday), our celebration was rushed and low-key. Here he is in the middle of the day opening his presents.




I have to explain about this box (which I think qualifies as funny!). Like most men, Man of the House is not very adept at wrapping presents, so he came up with the idea of a box with a generic label on top. He decided to make it as tacky as possible, so the label, which is printed on scrap paper, says:

"Dear (insert name) ______________

Happy (insert occasion) _______________

It is a pleasure to give you this gift. I (we) hope you will find it fulfills your expectations {and this part is handwritten in as an afterthought} and discharges our obligation.

Best Regards or Many Happy Returns of the Day."

The box is kind of beaten up, and it sits on a closet shelf, so the purple bow is dusty. Well, he uses that box at Christmas, birthdays, etc., and we decided to use it for his gifts this year. We all think it's funny, and now a holiday cannot go by without it being put to use. It's a family tradition! :-)

Another {happy} ~ the lettuce I planted last week has sprouted!




We needed to go to Fort Wayne, Indiana, on official church business yesterday, so while there, we visited a favorite spot ~ Hyde Bros. Used Books. We spent over two {happy} hours browsing their extensive inventory and petting their sweet and docile cat. Here's what I found:



I also found something which will be a gift, so it's not in the picture.

Mrs. Miniver is one of my very favorite movies despite its heart-wrenching ending. I want to be like Kay Miniver when I grow up. Such poise! Such fortitude! Such strength of character! I have not been able to find the book at our library, so I went to Hyde Bros. hoping to find a copy. Hurray! There was a first edition in excellent condition!



{Funny}

Girl of the House got new glasses today. She's been switching between the new pair and her old pair until she gets used to the new ones. This evening, she had a unique way of carrying the old ones. I call her "six-eyes."



{Real}

Alack and alas, Man of the House and Girl of the House have been under the weather today. This is the third week in which someone (not I!) has been sick. It's days like these I pretend I'm Mrs. Miniver. After all, if she can bear up under her house being bombed and capture a German pilot single-handedly, then surely I can minister to my sick family members for a few days. But I hope spring gets here soon!


Visit Like Mother, Like Daughter for more {phfr} fun!

Commitment to Loveliness

Emily from Charming the Birds from the Trees has designated next week as a "Commitment to Loveliness." She's invited other bloggers to join in, so here I am. This is a time of year when a little extra beauty goes a long way!

Here are five ways I hope to add a little loveliness to this week:

1) Pick out paint for the bathroom.

2) Get started knitting new dishcloths for the kitchen.

3) Move the box of Christmas dishes out of the laundry room into the garage. (Help required.)

4) Write a thank you note on a pretty card for the lunch we enjoyed today with an elderly parishioner. (Spread the loveliness, yes?)

5) Attend Ash Wednesday services and contemplate the loveliness of the Savior.

I will report back next week to share how it went.

{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real} ~ February 16, 2011

Well, will you look at me. I'm on time for {phfr} this week!

{Pretty}

I just happened to be in Walmart yesterday and saw these marked half off. I had contemplated buying one for a couple weeks, but waiting until after Valentine's Day paid off. At this time of year I am absolutely longing for flowers, so a miniature rosebush seemed ideal. It's a bright spot in a usually dreary month.



{Happy}

It's always a happy day when the first seed catalog of the year arrives, but it's an even happier day when the seeds themselves come! We've got seeds for butternut squash, peas, pole beans, carrots, tomatoes, decorative gourds and little pumpkins, flowers ~ oh, lots of things. Later when the weather is warmer, our apple trees, strawberry plants, lavender, shasta daisies, prairie mallow, lemon tree (for indoors), and climbing roses will arrive. Today, I started lettuce in a pot. It's too soon to plant lettuce outside, but I've read of people growing lettuce indoors in pots, so I decided to try. These pellets from Henry Field's contain a few different kinds of lettuce. I'm anxious to see how it gets on. For now, I'm happy to have something growing again. Last year we moved here too late for a garden. This year we may have bitten off more than we can chew, but I hope not!



See the seed pellet?






How much happier can a homeschool mother be than when her daughter raids her father's bookshelves for pleasure reading and chooses Cicero, Euripides, Ovid, and the like? Girl of the House has a love for ancient literature. It's her father's DNA, not mine, that's responsible!



{Real}

I don't have a photo for {real} this week. I would not subject the world-wide web to it. You see, Girl of the House had a stomach bug this week. Did I mention she had a different stomach bug last week? Sigh. Poor thing. She's much, much better today. I only hope she's met her quota for illnesses this winter!

Man of the House is susceptible to migraine headaches and he has a had one for the past four days. Or maybe it's four different headaches. That (and worse!) has been known to happen. I feel for him because he cannot take off work. He just pushes through them as best he can, and I help him as best I can. Thankfully, next week there is no on-line school, so he'll only be working one job and can rest some. That's what he needs most . . . that and prayer.



**An announcement: I hereby do pledge and resolve to try to post more often. I have lots of ideas, just not lots of time. I make no promises except to try. :-)

{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real} ~ Feb. 10, 2012

{Pretty}

February, not April, is the cruellest month no matter what Mr. Eliot says. Winter has lost its charm and spring is still too far off. This week was a dull, gray one in my part of the world except for Thursday when we had a day of welcome sunshine. Even scissors are beautified by sunshine!



More glorious sunshine:









{Happy}

What's happier than a birthday? Last Saturday was Girl of the House's 15th. The tradition in our family is that the birthday girl/boy gets to choose the dinner menu. Girl 2 chose corned beef, put-back potatoes (readers of Milly-Molly-Mandy will recognize those!), peas, homemade bread, and blueberry pie instead of a cake. After she opened presents, we played Settlers of Catan. We are addicted! The next day Girl 2's friend, who wasn't available on Saturday, went with us to a local pasta place after church. Then we played more Settlers, but I forgot to take pictures, alas. Here are some shots of Saturday:








Visit Like Mothers, Like Daughters for more {phfr} fun!

From My Commonplace Book

"Of all the tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely expressed for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent busybodies." ~ C.S. Lewis

"One of the strangest disparities of history lies between the sense of abundance felt by older, simpler societies and the sense of scarcity felt by the ostensibly richer societies of today." ~ Richard Weaver

"We cannot teach citizenship if we are not citizens; we cannot free others if we have forgotten the appetite of freedom. Education is only truth in a state of transmission; and how can we pass on truth if it has never come into our hand." ~ G.K. Chesterton

"We are needy creatures, and our greatest need is for home—the place where we are, where we find protection and love. We achieve this home through representations of our own belonging, not alone but in conjunction with others. All our attempts to make our surroundings look right—through decorating, arranging, creating—are attempts to extend a welcome to ourselves and to those whom we love." ~ Roger Scruton

{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real} ~ Feb. 3, 2012

Joining Like Mother, Like Daughter for {Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real}. . .

There's not been a lot of {funny} or {real} going on here lately, but there is plenty of {pretty} and {happy}! First is the happiest of all~ ultrasound pictures of our first grandchild. It's a girl!



We are all so excited to have a baby in the family once again. Her due date is June 12 (Magna Carta Day! lol). Isn't she sweet?

Girl Out of the House and That Boy have decided to do the nursery in Classic Pooh, which I love, of course! I've been trying to find Classic Pooh fabric, but it's not so common anymore. I was happy to find two coordinating CP prints unexpectedly at Jo-Ann Fabrics today, so I bought some of each and also some polka dot prints to round things out. Now Girl of the House can begin making her baby quilt. Won't it be sweet?



I've been a bread machine devotee, but ours started acting erratically not long before we moved, so we got rid of it. Since I haven't bought a replacement yet and we had a hankering for homemade bread, I decided to try to master the art of breadmaking. Up until this week I have only had moderate success, but when the Living on a Dime newsletter came through my inbox with some tips and recipes, I decided to try their method. It worked like a dream! This is the most delicious bread I've ever made by machine or hand. Man of the House raves about it. I just hope it wasn't beginner's luck and I can replicate it. It does look delicious, if I do say so myself!