Vinca in Her Hair...

 

  Tomorrow's weather is going to be rainy, so we spent a lot of time out-of-doors today.  Our yard is bursting with spring-time blooms and I was enchanted when Sugar Plum wandered over with vinca flowers woven through her braid.  I just love this girl!  She has her ninth (!) birthday coming up at the end of May and has requested an April Cornell dress.  I found one on clearance and already have it tucked away.  I cannot wait to give it to her!

I am so happy that one of my blog readers, Emmie (make sure that you check out her wonderful blog!), mentioned that Cheryl Mendelson was the author of a few fiction books in the comment box.  I ordered a used copy of Morningside Heights last week and have been enjoying it a lot.  Mendelson is a great writer!

 

Favorites...

 

 

On of my favorite scenes from Road to  Avonlea, was of Aunt Janet and Felicity setting pies out on the window sill of their kitchen. Ours has no windows, so I use the porch to cool our baked goods. Then I sit on the swing and try to imagine the sink full of dishes away!

I baked a pound cake yesterday and just before I went to bed, I cut it in half, wrapped it well, and tucked it into the freezer for Mother's Day.  I'm dreaming of a homemade trifle made with cake, vanilla pudding, strawberries, blueberries, and whipped cream.  An easily assembled dessert sounds like it will be just perfect.

This fading rose on my bedside table was from the wedding we went to on Sunday. The couple placed two roses at the end of every pew and the wedding guests held them in an arch as they walked up the aisle as man and wife.  I was so impressed with the wedding.  I hadn't seen the bride before she entered the church, and was happily surprised when she came in (I was expecting an American wedding dress). I love everything that she chose (especially that she didn't opt for matchy-matchy with the red of her dress, but instead added in dark purple for her shoes and flowers). She was so beautiful and unique (which you don't see at weddings much). Also, her dress and his shirt were made together in Romania, which I thought was such a nice thing, both symbolically and because it was so pleasing to the eye).

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  Greek Pascha Bread recipe HERE.
Pound Cake recipe HERE.

Just the Ticket...

 

 

 

  After a busy morning and early afternoon spent working on lessons, visiting the doctor for a well-check, grocery shopping, and speech therapy, I took a break.  I gazed at the peonies gracing our table for awhile, lolled on the sofa with my girl, and mixed up some dough to make another loaf of Greek Pascha bread.  After a busy, busy weekend, a low-key afternoon was exactly what I needed.        

Reading...

The soul grows into lovely habits as easily as into ugly ones, and the moment a life begins to blossom into beautiful words and deeds, that moment a new standard of conduct is established, and your eager neighbors look to you for a continuous manifestation of the good cheer, the sympathy, the ready wit, the comradeship, or the inspiration, you once showed yourself capable of. Bear figs for a season or two, and the world outside the orchard is very unwilling you should bear thistles.”   

Kate Douglas Wiggin

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

Crown Them with Glory and Honor...

 

 

 

We were so happy that we were able to attend (with Father John as one of the two priests officiating) the wedding of our friends yesterday!  They are a Romanian couple and I loved seeing the different traditions that they incorporated into the festivities.  Aren't their wedding outfits amazing?!  The wreath of flowers in her hair is stunning!  Many Years!   

Back to the Museum...

 

 

 

 

  We were able to pop into the art museum again on this trip and though we were creatures of habit and visited the same galleries, so many different works caught my eye this time.  When I am by myself with the trio, I don't have much time to linger in front of the art, so I take a snap with the phone and for days afterward, I enjoy scrolling through the images I took, enlarging the little details as much as I want.  The brushstrokes are really my favorite thing to look at!  Next time I need to remember to take photos of the information on each painting.  I remember bits of each, but it would be helpful to have it all available quickly without having to look everything up later.

Overnight...

 

 

 

 

 

Father John needed to take an overnight business trip and we were able to tag along, which was a nice change of pace for us.  After we got into the city and Father John got settled in at the hotel for his work, the children and I went out on the town.  We took our first taxi rides, visited the Art Museum, and went shopping at Whole Foods.  We walked a lot and enjoyed the beautiful weather.  We really are country mouse people, but 24 hours in the city is just right to get the wanderlust out of our system.

Discussing Time Saving Tips...

Here's another video of Cheryl Mendelson and Martha Stewart discussing time saving tips.  Mendelson wrote a delightful book, Home Comforts, which is a favorite.    I hope you enjoy this little video!

Effective Dishwashing...

I was paging through Cheryl Mendelson's delightful book, Home Comforts, this evening (a gift from Courtney many moons ago!) and decided to look her up online.  One of the first things that came up was this little video she did on Martha Stewart's show on washing dishes.  I loved it and hope that you will, too!

It Matters...

 

 

You can tell a child a thousand times to go make the world beautiful, but I don’t know how he is to believe you without watching it done. Whether your art takes a traditional form like music or painting, or whether you are an artist in chemistry, cooking, gardening, politics, or befriending the lonely, that part of you still matters. It matters for your children to see that it matters, too."

My Mother Practiced the Piano 

Rebecca Reynolds 

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We planted daffodils this past autumn and are really enjoying their slow emergence this month.  I picked a few stems for my bedside table this evening and love how very fragrant they are.  I see a lot of older farmhouses in our area with banks of daffodils in their front yard and in their fields and love to imagine generations of  mothers and children tucking dry bulbs in the earth for years and years of families to enjoy.  

Sunday...

 

 

 

 

Bright Week is over.  Our daughter commented this morning that she wished that she had a time machine so that she could go back to Holy Saturday and enjoy Pascha and Bright Week all over again.  I feel the same way!  Do you?  It was such a great week!

         

Bright Saturday...

 

 

Rejoice, O holy and divine abode of the most high!  For through you, O Theotokos, joy is given to those who cry:  Blessed are you among women, O all-undefiled Lady! 

Bright Friday...

 

 

 

 

 

Bearing Life and more fruitful than paradise, brighter than any royal chamber:  Thy tomb, O Christ, is the fountain of our Resurrection. 

Bright Thursday...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the tomb with the body and in hell with the soul, in paradise with the thief and on the throne with the Father and the Spirit, wast Thou, O boundless Christ, filling all things. 

Bright Wednesday...

Thou didst descend into the tomb, O Immortal, Thou didst destroy the power of death!  In victory didst Thou arise, O Christ God, proclaiming "Rejoice" to the myrrh-bearing women, granting peace to Thine apostles, and bestowing resurrection on the fallen.