Ugly/Cute

 

We found this wee snapping turtle on the driveway today. He's been moved to a safer location! 

A Little Work Trip

 

 

2020 has been a very strange year! My husband does a few filming jobs for his business every year, but he has been focused on helping parishes build better websites because of the pandemic. However, he was recently hired for his first on site filming job of 2020, so we all piled in the car and took the trip with him.  It was great to get out of town and visit a church that is not too far from us. The filming came out well...  now comes the hard task of editing!

Our Nephew's Baptism

Our littest nephew on my husband's side was baptized today at his home parish!  He is the sweetest little one! May God Grant Him Many Years!

My Ikea Haul

 Join me as I share the things that I purchased on a very quick trip to Ikea yesterday!

Day Trip

 

 

 

Day Trip Essentials: last weekend's unread WSJ, knitting, current book, masks, cords, water, etc.

 

Father John is filming at Holy Apostles Russian Orthodox Church this weekend. They're in the process of renovating this pretty little church. We're so happy to be taking our first little trips out of our neighborhood.  

Chasing Glimmers of Light

Autumnal Steps

Breaking Habits at Forty

 

I'm trying so hard to break my nail biting habit and I think this Londontown duo is really helping. 

Rose Glass for My Bedside Table

 

 

My dear sister Anna and her husband Justin surprised me with this wonderful bedside carafe this week! Isn't it lovely? I had one before I was married and it smashed one fateful day. I have always wanted a replacement and it means a lot to me that they saw this and thought of me!

Training Himself Out of a Job

Father John taught our daughter to cut her youngest brother's hair! She watched her papa do our middle son and then she went for it! My husband is slowly working himself out of jobs: our daughter mows the lawn, does the livestreaming at church, and now cuts hair and our middle son uses the leaf blower!

A Good Article

 

I enjoyed reading this excerpt from 'Between Two Millstones, Book Two' by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn from Saturday's WSJ. I think I may try to read the first volume as soon as I get through a bit of my reading pile. 

 

Also, nice: freshly whipped cream in a mug of hot chocolate. 

Colors of the World

Fading

 

I've been hanging on to this bouquet of dahlias as tightly as I can. Every few days I remove the faded blooms and rearrange the remaining ones in a new vase with fresh water. 

Swedish Meatballs for the Feast of Saint Innocent

 

Swedish Meatballs in Cream Sauce for my husband's Namesday! O Holy Saint Innocent Pray Unto God for Us!

Notes: The recipe is from Vikalinka's blog. I made the meatballs without the allspice and baked them at 400 degrees for 25 minutes (instead of frying them). I doubled the sauce and added 1 tsp of beef stock base The sauce needed to be thicker, so I made beurre manié with two tbsp of flour and two tbsp of butter and stirred that in at the end. I served the meatballs over egg noodles and sauteed baby bella mushrooms. 

Beautiful, Natural Things

 

Living and Learning: Week of 4 October

Sunday Dinner and Sunday Drives

 

 

 

Ina Garten's Boeuf Bourguignon was a hit! I cooked it in the crockpot for four hours on high instead of using a Dutch Oven (I don't have one large enough). Scrumptious!  

 

We started to take Sunday Drives during the pandemic and have continued this summer.  We ended up taking a road we had never go on before and spotted this estate. I wonder who lives there?

Dahlias

Beautiful Packaging - My One Weakness?

 

I 100% bought this Pommery red wine vinegar for it's beautiful bottle. Can't you just see it filled with roses? 

The Height of Elegance

 

Our Kiwi Crate this month was a Soap Making Kit and it was so much fun to do! We now have bespoke soaps in every bathroom. 

Everyday Things

 

 

 

 

 

I have my beloved Grand Union flag up! It was the first American flag and is flown in Colonial Williamsburg. 

 

I scrubbed the backsplash behind out stove and am so please with the result.  It was a task that was making me quite nervous because the tile is fancy and very textured. Walmart has been out of many of the cleaning supplies in their cleaning aisle, so I had a very limited choice in scrubbers and spays.  I went with the last bottle of Ecos All-Purpose Cleaner (it says tough on grease and grime on the label, which I figured couldn't hurt) and a pack of Scotch Brite original scrubbing pads. The backsplash is now very clean and very matte (which is the original finish! 😂). No more grease!

 

Our daughter and I sat on the front step this evening and bathed in the golden evening light. She's the dearest love.