Easter

It's about time I shared some Easter photos, eh?  The grandkids and I colored eggs a few days before.  I always use the old-fashioned method with food coloring and vinegar.  It's the way my sisters and I did it when we were kids and it never occurs to me that there is any other way!

I love Easter morning service.  The more pomp and circumstance, the better I like it.  The processional and recessional, the decorations reminding us of the resurrection of our Lord, the brass instruments adding to the excitement--it all makes for a glorious celebration! 

The nave Easter morning

Our house was the gathering place for Easter dinner and egg hunting.  I have such wonderful memories of holidays at my grandparents, and I believe we are making great memories too.

Hannah listening attentively to her niece

Arane

Verity

Elizabeth and I--Our first selfie together!
(Why we never did it before I don't know.)

Justin and Arane

And in other news~

I've got a hobbit for a granddaughter!

The road goes ever on and on . . .

Spring at My House

New mailbox which actually closes!

April Already

Whew, it's April already!  That means the redbud trees are blooming and the daffodils are just about over.  Dave and I have been hoeing in the vegetable and flower gardens in preparation for planting.  He's going to till once or twice still, and besides, it's too early to plant.  I did get some pansies into pots.  The allium are growing full speed ahead.  When they bloom, I'll share pictures.  They are absolutely stunning!

The grandkids have been here everyday for the past six workdays. It's always fun, but it's sooooo exhausting!  They'll be here tomorrow too, but then it's back to normal.  We've made crafts, baked cupcakes, played games, played outside (between rainstorms), fed the geese and ducks, worked in the garden, washed cars, sorted Hannah's buttons, watched movies, read books, had baths, been to church, ridden a carousel, eaten and played at Chick-fil-A, visited the baby chicks and bunnies at the farm store with Grandpa, been grocery shopping, laughed a lot and even cried a little, because that's life.  Here they are helping to clean house~

What sweeties!  We are so happy to have everyone together in the same town now.  It's been year since Elizabeth and her family moved here and it has been great.  Grandma duty has kept me busier than ever, but I'm thrilled we can offer more hands-on support and encouragement.

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Hannah has been working hard on things for her Etsy shop.  She's got some really neat stuff, including Hamilton-related things, baby quilts, doll quilts, and some kitchen items.  The embroidered tea towels are exquisite!  Her prices are reasonable and the workmanship is excellent.  Check it out!

Two of My Favorite Blogs

Among my favorite blogs, I have two that rank high on the list.  The first is The Daily Connoisseur written by Jennifer L. Scott, author of the Madame Chic books.  Now, "chic" is not the first word that comes to anyone's mind~ including my own~ when describing yours truly, but the books and blog reflect so much of my own thinking over the years.  Jennifer's main point is to live beautifully, and she demonstrates her idea of how to do that coupled with encouragement to her readers that we can too.  She generally posts twice a week, including short videos.  Her blog is refreshing and positive and she is very accepting of imperfection, so don't be intimidated!





Another favorite is Charming the Birds from the Trees written by MamaBirdEmma, the wife of an Orthodox priest and mother to three.  Emma also lives a beautiful (though imperfect) life and graciously shares it with her readers.  She likes to post about her daily life~ her flowers, her cooking, her children, their travels, with the daily living out of her faith woven throughout, all accompanied by lovely photos. I am not Orthodox, but I love the glimpse into this segment of Christianity that I don't get to see very often.  Emma's blog is a quiet, beautiful place on the internet!

Signs of Spring

This has been a crazy winter.  We had long stretches of unseasonably warm weather in February, which did make late winter more bearable, but I hope it does not bode ill for March, April, and May.  The last time that happened, we had cold, wet weather in mid-spring, just when I, at least, really don't want it.  And our garden suffered.  Ah, well. . .

The signs of spring are appearing early due to the warm weather. These crocuses and mini daffodils are planted at the edge of the woods where we can see them out a window from a back window.  No one sees them but us, but I like tucking little bits of beauty in unexpected places.

The bushes are already getting leaves.  It's very early, but the green is most welcome!

What has the weather been like where you are?

Life Under Compulsion by Anthony Esolen

Last week I finished a book by one of my favorite authors of cultural commentary, Life Under Compulsion: Ten Ways to Destroy the Humanity of Your Child  by Anthony Esolen of Providence College.  It's a follow-up to his Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child.  However, it's not written in Screwtape-esque style as was the first one.  As you would expect if you've read anything by Esolen, the prose is well crafted, lucid, and fluid.  I'm looking forward to attending a conference in April in which he will be the plenary speaker.

Here are a few choice quotations from the book~

If you are not in love with beauty and goodness, you will be clutched by the drab and the listless if not worse.

What happened to this freedom-making education?  The short answer is that John Dewey happened to it.  Dewey, mild of temperament, was as narrow-minded a reformer as the world has ever been plagued withal.

Every encounter with what is good--the chivalry of General Lee, the willing poverty of Mother Theresa, the shy greathearted youth of Alyosha Karamazov--can expand the soul; it helps to set us free from the compulsions of false goods, which Christians have long grouped under the headings of the seven deadly sins.  Every encounter with beauty--the glint of a simple word in a poem by Herbert, the meditative subtleties of the late Shakespeare, the sweet charm of a ballad by Burns--can expand the soul; it helps to set us free from the heavy accretions of the drab, the dull, the mean, the spiritually sluggish, the smog of contemporary workaweek life.  Every encounter with human truth--Jane Austen deftly showing how little we know our own motives; Dickens revealing the meaning of "economy" in the cheerful and charitable housekeeping of Esther Summerson, his finest heroine; or Shakespeare offering us the foolish Lear, mad and childish and yet 'every inch a king'--can expand the soul; it helps to set us free from the common delusions of our time, the lies we believe and the lies we tell.

 That's just a taste.  Perhaps I'll post more another day.  Now, I'm off to read Esolen's latest release, Out of the Ashes: Rebuilding American Culture.

Hannah's Birthday

Hannah's 20th birthday was yesterday and we no longer have teenagers.  I'm not exactly sure when I got old enough to have two children in their 20's.  I think it happened last week, because the week before I was still 25.  Or at least in my mind I was.

Hannah has relaunched her Etsy shop and has some lovely quilted and knitted items.  She will be adding embroidery at some point as well.  Her prices are reasonable.  Click on the picture in the sidebar to visit.

At Hannah's request, we had a quiet celebration at home with Elizabeth and her family and a big bucket of chicken from KFC (plus sides).  Our family tradition is for the birthday person to choose what's for dinner.  Some years have required a lot of preparation and cooking, and other years, like this one, I get off easy. :)  Some highlights~

A new computer!  Necessary since this 6yo one is dying. . . 

You can never have too much Tolkien.

Two candles for two decades

An excellent father and his two girls (Photo credit: Elizabeth)

Instead of cake, we had low-carb cookies and frozen yogurt.  I followed this recipe.  They were very easy to make.  Each cookie has about 1/4 teaspoon of confectioner's sugar, so they are not super sweet, but the almond flour has a good flavor and there was plenty of butter.  The texture was excellent, too.  I used sugar-free apricot preserves for the jam.  Definitely a keeper!