Thursday, August 31

Hamlet




Our August habit of going to see an outdoor show at a local stage came to a close with a production of Hamlet.  To prepare for this play, we listened to a the chapter on Hamlet in Edith Nesbit's Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare for Children and watched a video detailing the main plot points.  There were some point of the performance where the children were restless, but they were able to watch the entire thing and were well behaved.

One of the things that I really enjoyed about our little Thursday night adventures was our pre-perfomance ritual of eating dinner and ice cream after we set up our blanket.  It was such a nice treat in the midst of the hectic weeks we had this month.


Wednesday, August 30

Growing Up




I've been fighting a pretty bad cold and cough since last Wednesday and as a result have been sleeping in the playroom at night.  Though it has been tough hacking at all hours of the night, it has been nice to wake up to sunlight through lace curtains and the pretty view of our nature table.  Here's hoping for a good night in my own bed with a solid night of sleep, though!

I finished preparing all of the children's curriculum today, printed everything out, and organized things for our first day of school.  I still would like to print up a little checklist for us to use on a daily basis, but other than that, we are ready for our lessons to begin.  It's hard to believe that we have a sixth grader, a fourth grader, and a second grader.  

I put away a basket of bath toys that have sat next to the tub in our bathroom since we moved into this house five and a half years ago.  The children are now taking fast baths or showers and are not interested in lolling around playing, so it was time to put them away (I have them under the sink for when the cousins visit), but it does feel a little bittersweet.  Our babies are growing up.  I do have to say that I enjoyed the little tableau I created during my own leisurely bath tonight.

Tuesday, August 29

Tomato sauce




A friend from church gave us a grocery sack full of gorgeous home-grown tomatoes on Sunday.  Though I have always wanted to try my hand at making homemade tomato sauce, I have always been intimated by it, partially because I have a tendency to burn things that simmer on the stove for a long time and partly - mainly- because I was positive that I couldn't make sauce that tasted good.  Enter the following recipe for oven roasted tomato sauce.  It appears to be quite forgiving and genuinely makes a yummy tomato sauce.  I'm looking forward to trying it on pizza and with other pasta recipes like baked ziti and lasagna.

Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce   

6 lbs of fresh tomatoes
1 bulb's worth of garlic cloves, peeled
Generous glug of olive oil
1/2 cup of water (or broth or red wine)
oregano leaves (or basil, if you prefer)
2 medium onions cut in chunks
salt and pepper

Instructions
Pre-heat the oven (s) to 425 degrees. Wash and cut up the tomatoes into large chunks (core if you'd like) and place in a large roasting pan.  Add garlic, oil, water, oregano, onions, salt, and pepper.  Mix everything up well and roast for 45 to 60 minutes, stirring every so often, until the tomatoes and their juices have reduced.  Use immediately or freeze to use later.



Monday, August 28

Living and Learning: The Week Ahead...




Watching
I'm looking forward to the new season of The Crown in December, so I was thrilled to spot this little video on my Facebook feed this morning:
  


On My Bedside Table
I am slowly but surly reading through the Emily of NEw Moon books.  They are a pure joy to read...  dare I say that I like them even better than the Anne books?

Learning
I'm putting the finishing touches on our lesson plans for the new 
homeschool year.  This piece in the New York Times was timely, as I am hoping to add poetry memorization to our learning time this year: Memorize That Poem

In My Knitting Basket
It will be no surprise that I have neglected my knitting for over a week now.  Whenever things get hectic, my knitting is the first thing to drop off.   I'm still working on a third pair of Amelie socks in some charcoal sock yarn that my sister gave me.

Inspiration
I recently came across Lainier Ivester's blog after having lost touch with it for a few years.  It was been a joy to read her words again.  Though she recently suffered through the tragedy of loosing her home, she has retained her faith and has been able to continue to see the beauty in the world.

 

Saturday, August 26

Liturgy with Metropolitan Tikhon

The Greeting of the Metropolitan


Archdeacon Joseph

Vesting the Metropolitan



Tonsuring a Reader


Father John is awarded the Gold Cross

Washing of the Metropolitan's hands

A new Antimension for our parish

Metropolitan Tikhon giving a relic of Saint Herman to the parish.

Father Daniel and Matushka Dunia

Our Parish Family and Friends

Friday, August 25

Celebrating Father Daniel





The weekend's festivities to honor Father Daniel for his 90th birthday have begun.  We hosted a party tonight with Metropolitan Tikhon and many of Father Daniel's friends, followed by Vespers.  Thankfully, everything went off without a hitch and there was plenty of food!  It was so nice to see everyone and watch them enjoy one another's company! 

Thursday, August 24

Ballet



We took a break from preparing for our busy weekend to eat a ice cream and watch a little ballet this evening.  The ballet was a compilation of all of the different shows the state ballet theater is putting on this year.  I was pleased to see a little bit of The Sleeping Beauty as well as a few dances from a Rachmaninoff ballet.

Wednesday, August 23

Polishing Silver


Metropolitan Tikhon is coming on Friday and staying through Sunday, so naturally I'm polishing silver (that will just sit on a shelf looking pretty) rather than cleaning the kitchen or the bedroom (where the HEAD of the Orthodox Church in America will be SLEEPING for TWO nights).  Priorities, People.  Priorities.

Tuesday, August 22

Eclipse 2017


It was a historical moment for our little Trio!  The eclipse was such an exciting event for them.  We were able to use the glasses that Papa bought and also enjoyed viewing it on television as it occurred throughout the country!

Sunday, August 20

Blush and Bashful




Do you remember that wonderful tear-jerker, Steel Magnolias?  The colors I spotted today reminded me of some of the dialogue in the beginning of the movie:

Truvy: What are your colors, Shelby?
Shelby: They're blush and bashful.
M'Lynn: Her colors are pink and pink.
Shelby: My colors are blush and bashful, Mama.
 
 

Saturday, August 19

Roses All Winter


Here is this week's bedside table bouquet!  

I rang up the company that produces the rose bushes that we bought because I was worried about leaving potted roses outside through the winter.  Apparently, if I bring them indoors and keep them fertilized and watered, they will bloom all winter long.  Imagine home grown roses in January...  What a lovely thought!

Friday, August 18

The Little Mermaid



We went to an outdoor performance of The Little Mermaid musical last night.  It was so nice to be able to enjoy something fun and light-hearted.  Before the show started, the Trio and I had a little ice cream at a nearby ice cream parlor.  It was delicious! We had such a good time that we are planning to attend next week's show!

Thursday, August 17

Amelia Socks in Grey


My sister gave me a skein of this gorgeous grey yarn a few months ago.  It's Sweet Georgia sock yarn in the charcoal colorway.  I was hoping to knit a pair of slippers with this wool, but in the end I decided that another pair of Amelie socks would be better suited to the weight of the yarn.

Wednesday, August 16

Lularoe


I bought a few Lularoe pieces at a friend's party yesterday.  I love the shades of pink in each of these items.  I will say that the style and color of these things are not exactly in my comfort zone, but I had fun trying them on and was happy with freshening up my look a bit.  I'm hopeful that these clothes will perform well over the long haul (I haven't worn Lularoe before).  I'll keep you posted!

Tuesday, August 15

Dormition Flowers








Joyous Feast of Dormition!


In giving birth thou preserved thy virginity, 
 In falling asleep thou didst not forsake the world, O Theotokos. 
Thou wast translated to life, O Mother of Life, 
And by thy prayers, thou deliverest our souls from death.

Monday, August 14

Morning Basket


I like to use August as our 'ease back into homeschooling routine' month.  We resumed violin lessons last week after taking July off and this week we are beginning our breakfast reading again.  Here is what we have in our basket:  Albert Einstein (science biography), Vincent's Starry Night (art history), Treasury of Children's Poetry (poetry), The Story of the World (history), D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths (myths, legends, and fairy tales). I read a little from one book each day at breakfast and then the children do their writing exercises.

Sunday, August 13

Iceburg Roses in the Rain


We bought several rose bushes in June in honor of our twelfth wedding anniversary, which I planted the bushes in large pots on the patio.  I chose five different varieties, but the Iceberg roses have been our most prolific bush. These flowers are not only abundant, but the blooms hardly fade away before more buds appear.  I have always loved roses, but it has really shocked me to find that I truly enjoy tending our bushes.  I especially adore how they look with raindrops glistening on their petals.

Saturday, August 12

Rainy Saturday




Today was an incredibly rainy day with lots of flooding on the church grounds (the chapel and the house were perfectly safe as they are situated on higher ground).  We spent a lot of time wandering around the yard, looking everything over and waiting for the water to recede.

I also finally got going on my next knitting project. It was too much of a challenge to knit slippers with my sock yarn held double, so I frogged that project (until I find a skein of dk weight) and just cast on to a third pair of Amelia socks.
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