Reunion, Day Four...

 

 

  Today was all about the $1 children's film at the theater, swimming, chili and corn bread, card games with cousins, and Harper Lee's Go Set a Watchman in the mailbox!

Reunion, Day Three...

 

  This weekend was the local Greek Orthodox Church's Greek Festival and we made a quick appearance on Sunday with some of our extended family.  I had my annual chicken gyro (so, so good!) and we were able to bring home some baklava to enjoy.  I secreted a piece away for this morning's breakfast.

  My cousins (who are closer to my children's age than mine) are amazing artists.  I keep spying little drawings left around the house and am in awe of their talent.

Reunion, Day Two...

 

 My aunt and uncle made the most amazing dinner for our second day of the family reunion:  teriyaki steak and chicken on the barbeque, corn on the cob, baked potatoes, and tomato mozzarella salad.  We are all taking turns cooking (the first night I made baked ziti, meatballs, salad, and bread), so we are getting a chance to not only share some of our favorite dishes, but have a break from cooking as well.  

Reunion, Day One...

 

  We are hosting our family reunion this week!  The house is clean and tidy, the fridge is filled to the brim, and we are ready for lots of fun visiting!

Yarn Along: Winter Woodland Pullover...

I'm one skein of yarn into my second boatneck pullover.  It is a lovely jet black color (Cascade 220 sport) and I have decided to name it Winter Woodland Pullover.  I am really happy with how it is turning out so far and though it is going a lot more slowly than my Stone Cottage Pullover there's plenty of time to get it finished.

Now that I am watching Poldark on Masterpiece on Sunday nights, I've started listening to Ross Poldark (the first book) as an audiobook.  It is very good!  I'm also reading a little of Mary Oliver's poetry.  I discovered her work through a few friends on Instagram and so far I have liked what I have read. 

The Opposite of a Bear...

 

 

I went out in the blazing heat to return library books, buy eggs, and take care of the banking.  Now I'm on my bed with the fan whirring, enjoying the stillness before I take the children outside to swim.  I'm the opposite of  a bear:  I'd like to hibernate in the summer and come alive again when the weather cools. 

Reading...

 

 

 

Berries in the bramble patch

Pick them (but mind the thorns don't scratch)"

Colours

Shirley Hughes 

Living and Learning: This Week...

 

 

Church in the Home  
Our little girl has a namesday this week (July 5th) and we will be reading one of our favorite books on Saint Elisabeth the New Martyr.  One of the gifts we are giving her is this little figure of Saint Elisabeth hand painted by Sue of In the Loft.  I am so pleased with how it turned out and cannot wait for Sugar Plum to see it!


Homekeeping
We were away from home this past week and got home quite late on Friday.  Needless to say, Saturday was a flurry of laundry, grocery shopping, and tidying.  I also forced myself to clean the bathrooms.  In recent months, I have begun to clean them on Saturdays after one too many visitors to our church have come through our front door and made a beeline for the potty before realizing that it was a bathroom in the rectory and not one in the church!  To be fair, people only enter our house when I forget to lock the door!

Watching 
Have you seen Poldark on Masterpiece yet?  I watched the first episode a week after it aired and loved it!  It is the tale of Ross Poldark's return to England after the Revolutionary War to rebuild his life.  If you like what you see in the trailer, you can watch the episodes you missed online.

Kitchen, Pantry, Table
Peach season is here!  We will be going out to pick them this week and I cannot wait to eat a ripe, juicy peach right off the tree...  complete decadence!  I want to make a plum torte this week, but use peaches instead.  I have a feeling that it will be wonderful and will report back on my findings!

Style
I've finally found the polish that I will be using for my at-home summer pedicures this year and it is Essie nail polish in Vanity Fairest. I love the delicate color!  I am terrible at keeping up with my polish, so this pale color helps to hide that.

Saint Elisabeth the New Martyr...

Causing meekness, humility and love to dwell in thy soul,
    Thou didst earnestly serve the suffering,
    O holy passion-bearer Princess Elizabeth;
    Wherefore, with faith thou didst endure sufferings and death for Christ, with the martyr Barbara.
    With her pray for all who honor you with love.
    
    +++

Saint Elisabeth's life can be found here.

Overheard...

Mama: I really love you.

Sugar Plum: I have a deep regard for you, as well.

Axios!

Today is Father John's ninth anniversary of Ordination to the Priesthood.  AXIOS!

July Sponsor News...

 

Welcome back to Liturgical Time! 

Liturgical Time provides handmade infinity veils, chapel veils, mantillas, and Christian headcoverings for their patrons to wear in church, at prayer, or in everyday life. They are the creators of the Eternity Veil - the original infinity scarf style head covering. They are able to take special orders, and to provide some customization, so don't hesitate to make special requests. Their veils are made with prayer and packaged with care. Please stop by their shop to buy a beautiful headcovering!

 

Remember:  Ten percent of gross sales from Chapel Veils at Liturgical Time Veil Shop is always donated to charity. At the present time, this money is being used to provide emergency assistance to the victims of the recent earthquake in Nepal.

Fantoosh...

 

I cast off the Fantoosh shawl last week and it is really a beautiful pattern.  I was a little taken aback by how small the littler version turned out to be, however, I am hopeful that will be a great shawl for my tiny sister-in-law.  She just finished up her residency and is going to be starting her first job as an anesthesiologist in the next few weeks.

I used Dr Zhivago Madelinetosh in Tosh Merino Light.   

A Wee Bit of Length...

Our girl is getting such long legs that we have been on the lookout not only for longer length dresses and skirts, but also for a slip with lace to extend some of the current things her wardrobe.  Enter, Hanna Andersson's pretty little girl slips.  They are light, airy, comfortable, and have a generous eyelet edge that adds the sweetest touch to my sweet girl's outfits.

Beautiful and Useful...

I bought a few little treasures at Purl Soho yesterday:  a packet of Fringe Supply Co. knitting stitch markers, one little metal measuring tape made in Germany, and finally, a Bellocq copper tea strainer.

Monday, Funday...

Today was the feast of Saints Peter and Paul and we were so happy that we were able to celebrated with my father-in-law's parish on their patronal feastday.  My husband grew up in this church, we were married here, this is where Father John was ordained, and our daughter was baptised here, as well.  There are many happy memories for our family in this church.

After Liturgy and the festal meal, we went on a family trip to New York City.  The sole purpose of this adventure was to visit Purl Soho.  Sugar Plum and I had been there a few years,aho, but that was before we knew how special this little shop is to the crafting community.  We got to spend a lot of time perusing the gorgeous wares and even took home a few small treasures. 

Our day ended with bacon cheeseburgers - my very favorite food.   I hope that you had a Monday that was full of fun, too! 

Joyous Feast!

Tomorrow is the patronal feast of my Father-in-law's parish and 2015 is their hundredth year anniversary!  I am so thankful that we are able to celebrate the Divine Liturgy with them on this special feast!  Holy Saints Peter and Paul, pray unto God for us!

Reading...

 

On the hottest days, animals pant gently in the shade, children grow fractious, insects drone, everyone is enervated until the cool of the evening.  No one eats anything, except fruit and ices.  But tall glasses of cold drinks, tinkling with ice, floated with fruit, sucked through straws, are endlessly welcomed.  Iced lemon tea.  Iced coffee.  Milk shakes.  Homemade ginger beer, lemonade, elderflower or red-or black-current cordials, topped up with soda or sparkling mineral waters.  Summer punch."

Susan Hill

Through the Kitchen Window

 

 

Living and Learning: This Week...

Living Well
Earlier in the week, I dropped off my trusty leather tote (which was looking rather battered) at the cobbler for cleaning and polishing.  It is back to looking it's best...  I'm so glad that I can extend the life of something that I enjoy so much.

Theater
Have you seen Ida yet?  Completely filmed in black and white with English subtitles, it tells the tale of Anna, a young novitiate about to take her vows.  Before she can do so, her Mother Superior instructs her to visit her only living relative to find out her family's story. 

Learning
We've wrapped up our school year and have swung right into the summer reading program at the library, $1 movies at the local cinema, trips to the zoo, lots of swimming, and even some new experiences the next few weeks!


Reading
Jennifer L. Scott has a third book in her Madame Chic library coming out in October and I can't wait to read it.  Here is her book announcement from a few weeks ago:

In Season
Cherries!  We've been buying them by the bagful and I love pouring them into my favorite bowl and enjoying their beauty in the sunshine on our table all day long.  The only downside is the endless pits I find scattered around the house!  Button's godmother forwarded on this great article from Saveur chock full of cherry recipes.  I am really looking forward to baking cherry clafoutis after the Saints Peter and Paul Fast ends on Monday.

Basic Black Wool...

I am all ready to cast onto my second neck-down boatneck pullover.  I decided to go with black for this second sweater and am using Cascade 220 Sport (8 skeins for a size large) ordered from yarn.com.  I plan to come up with good name for this black version of the sweater.  I love my grey Stone Cottage one and can't wait to wear it when the weather cools.

Some notes:  
-  For my last sweater I used worsted weight yarn and am going to try this one in DK.
-  I will be using a size 5 16" circular needle for the neck (the pattern recommends a size 4 for the ribbing and a size 6 16" for the first few inches.
-  I will use a size 6 29" circular for the remainder of the sweater.  I used a larger size (maybe a 7?) for the last one.
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