Living and Learning: The Week Ahead...

Church in the Home
This Friday is the feastday of one of my favorite saints, Saint Martin of Tours.  We are really looking forward to our little lantern walk through the woods and  the taste of the first clementines of the year.  To read more about our celebrations, you can check read my posts from years past:  2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, and 2010

On My Wishlist
Little Women is one of my favorite works, and I just found out today that The Annotated Little Women was released earlier this month.  I enjoyed looking at some of the sample pages on Amazon and am adding it to my wishlist!

Following
I really love when my sisters suggest new people for me to follow.  Last week, Kate, mentioned the blog Mandarine's.  In addition to her wonderful blog, Melody has a lovely Instagram account and podcasts on YouTube to enjoy. 

In the Kitchen
It is hard to believe, but the Nativity Fast is nearly upon us!  On November 15th (a Sunday this year), Orthodox Christians will start preparations for Christmas by fasting from meat and dairy products.  I am hoping to make a few favorite foods these next few days to use up the things that we have that are not fasting-friendly.  I am also planning on making a tidy little menu plan and corresponding grocery list this week so that we are not caught unprepared on Sunday after Liturgy with nothing in the larder for lunch! 

Clickity-Clack
I am thisclose to casting off on my Audrey hat, but am saving the last bit for tomorrow.  I don't want to make another blunder at the very end!  It will be nice to have finished something...  I have had very few of those lately.  Our daughter has been working on a little rabbit and I can't wait to show you photographs of that!

Weekending...

 

 

Today was our Saint Michel's Day party.  We had lots of little ones dressed up as various saints and angels:  Saint Herman, Saint Helena, Saint Alexander the Coal Burner, Saint Xenia, Saint Sebastian, The Prophet Jonah, Saint Mary of Egypt, etc.  Their costumes were so impressive!  The activities that parents brought were a lot of fun (and sugary!):  a doughnut tree (you must eat a doughnut dangling from a ribbon without using your hands), bobbing for apples, a pinata, a candy guessing game (the youngest child guessed the exact number of candies in the jar!), and coloring page station.

The children spent a few hours with their grandmother this afternoon while Father John and I went to see Spectre.  It is the latest 007 film and I absolutely couldn't wait to see it.  I think that it was my favorite James Bond movie yet!

I've been knitting furiously on my hat this evening.  Unfortunately, when I cast off on it last night, I  found that I had inadvertently dropped several stitches.  The hat was pretty much beyond repair (for my meager abilities, anyway), so I frogged it this morning and began again in the car on the way to the theatre.  After I put the little ones to bed, I was able to get in a few hours knitting and am a little over a third of the way into the pattern.  It's a quick knit and so redoing it is not as painful as redoing a larger and more complicated project, thankfully.  I am looking forward to wearing it this week, as the weather has gotten a bit chillier!

Saturday Pursuits...

 

 

Though I hated to do it, this morning was spent doing a little school work.  We are right where we should be with our lessons, but with a few day trips, visitors, and Thanksgiving coming up, I don't want to fall behind.  The children were troopers about it, though, and we were finished relatively quickly.

I made pancakes and bacon this morning for breakfast, which we ate by candlelight.  It has been gray all day, with off-and-on rain showers.  We used the last of our dear little pumpkin candle and now I am thinking about what I should replace it with.  I have a nice little collection of plain beeswax tapers and votives that will look lovely on the table this time of year.  My mother sent me a text the other day to tell me that she was ordering my favorite Christmas candle (Balsam) for us as an early gift!  I prefer to use pure beeswax candles all year long except Christmastime...  then it just has to be a Christmas tree scented one!

Tomorrow is our Saint Michael's Day party at church.  All of the parents bring an activity or two for the children to enjoy and so we bought apples for bobbing and a pinata for smashing.  I also have a guessing game and coloring pages to print.  It should be a fun day!

Crepe Myrtle Color...

With each passing day, our crepe myrtle trees are becoming more and more colorful!

Sunshiny Table...

Our dining room has two walls of windows and the brilliant light that pours in during breakfast time on sunny days, makes early mornings a bit easier.  I made oatmeal this morning and couldn't help but linger at the table with my knitting. 

We're back in full swing after our busy weekend and it feels like we're all acclimating to the time change.  The weather has been unbelievably gorgeous here - a real Indian summer.  It will be cold before we know it, so we're soaking it up all the outdoor time we can.

I had a nostalgic moment today when Sugar Plum started reading "B" is for Betsy to me aloud.  I ordered the book a few days ago and when it arrived, we immediately dove in.  I distinctly remember borrowing the Betsy books from my school library when I was a little girl and am really excited to share them with my girl!

Reading...

She had so much love to give-she had always felt that-and now there was somebody to whom she could give this love, and that, she knew, was good; for that is what redeems us, that is what makes our pain and sorrow bearable-this giving of love to others, this sharing of the heart."

Alexander McCall Smith

In the Company of Cheerful Ladies

Living and Learning: The Week Ahead...

Church in the Home
It's hard to believe that we have to start thinking about the Nativity Fast and the feasts that occur during November and December.  One of the tasks that I must accomplish as soon as I can, is to order our chocolate coins for Saint Nicholas Day.  I love the ones that Paidea Classics stock.  They are beautiful and delicious and it is such a thrill to see a few golden coins in our shoes on Saint Nicholas Day morn.

On My Needles
I just cast on to my second Audrey Hat this afternoon and am really looking forward to having a second wool hat (view my Yarrow Bloom version HERE) to wear this autumn and winter.  I've chosen to knit this one in the Onyx colorway of Madeline Tosh in DK weight yarn.  Hopefully, this will be a quick knit!

Watching
My husband and I really enjoy going to James Bond movies and I am really hoping that we'll get a chance to sneak out on a date to see the latest installment:

In the News
Have you seen the article, Hygge:  A Heart-Warming Lesson from Denmark, on the college in the United Kingdom that is now teaching students how to practice the Danish art of Hygge?  Hygge is the concept of coziness, and all things that give the feeling of warmth, comfort and joy.  Apparently is a huge movement around the world.  I would love to audit that college course, wouldn't you?

Sweet Treats
I made two pies for our Thanksgiving dinner's dessert and I wanted to serve it with some ice cream.  On a whim, I bought Yuengling's Vanilla Ice Cream and was thrilled with the delicious flavor.  Our store carries several flavors and I plan to get a little more before the fast to taste test.  

Thanksgiving, No. 1

 

The Monday after a big weekend (plus, Daylight Savings Time!) is always a rough one.  We anticipated a quiet day, but since I had a bad headache, it was even more low-key than we had planned (fortunately, it is gone now).  I was very thankful that we had lots of leftovers to enjoy for an easy lunch and dinner while I was feeling poorly...  one of the many benefits of all the work that hosting a large group is the abundant food for the week's meals!  

P.S.  I wanted to mention that after seeing a few photographs of the pumpkins people carved on Instagram on Friday and Saturday nights, I decided to cut the top off my Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good in a pointy sunshine design.  It was a lot easier to cut than a circle and the interesting design made a nice visual impact!  

November 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.

Almost Ready...

 

 

  The house is cleaned (though I still need to give the kitchen and dining room a good sweep), the bacon onion dip, green bean casserole, and Christmas Cauliflower are prepped, the pies are just about to come out of the oven, and the table is set for h'ordeuvres...  time for bed!

Beauty in the Preparation...

 

 

There's still lots to do to get ready for our Thanksgiving weekend, but I can't help to notice the pretty little details as I work.  Autumn really is the most lovely of the seasons!    

Our Thanksgiving Menu...

Hors d'oeuvres

Vegetable and Dip Platter

Bacon Onion Dip 

Cheese Platter

Main Course

Turkey

Mashed Potatoes*

Gravy

Cranberry Sauce*

Christmas Cauliflower

Squash Casserole*

Grean Bean Casserole

Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good

Creamed Onions

Dessert

Monica's Pumpkin Pie

Sour Cream Apple Pie

Vanilla Ice Cream 

* made by my mother-in-law

Tea Time...

Tea Time Notes: 
Emma Dishes from Pottery Barn 
Twinings English Breakfast Tea
Twinings Christmas Tea
Harney & Sons Holiday Tea
No Name Loose Leaf English Breakfast Tea from Our Local Coffee Shop
Finum Disposable Tea Filters
Perfect Cup of Tea Scoop
Weck Jars
Bee House 22oz Tea Pot
No Name Wooden Spoon 

Living and Learning: The Week Ahead...

Learning
I pulled out our huge stack of Thanksgiving picture books the other day and am really looking forward to reading them with the Trio.  Some of our favorites include The Story of the Pilgrims, Sarah Morton's Day, Samuel Eaton's Day, Tapenum's Day, On the Mayflower, N.C. Wyeth's Pilgrims, and Over the River and Through the Wood.

Reading

As long-time readers know, I love North and South (both the novel and the BBC miniseries), but I am not above a little good-natured mockery:  North and South summary from The Toast.

Homekeeping
We have family arriving next Sunday for an early Thanksgiving feast (we celebrate with my husband's family in early November and my family on the actual day of Thanksgiving) and so I am busy cleaning my way through the house.  The children and I worked very hard getting all of the bedrooms, bedroom closets, hall, entrance way, and hall closet cleaned and organized after lessons today.  It is a good feeling to see things looking so nice.  I've divided up the rest of the rooms of the house for the remainder of the week.  Once things are clean, I'll turn my focus to the shopping and cooking for our party.  Stay tuned for our menu in the next day or two.

Watching
As usual, I am a little late to the view the most recent offering on Masterpiece.  Home Fires takes place in a rural English village at the cusp of World War II.  I have only seen the first episode, but I have a feeling that I will enjoy the whole season.  Have a look at the trailer below:

Knitting

I am still working hard on my black sweater and have plans for some Madeline Tosh Dk weight yarn I purchased on sale last month.  One of our parishioners just sent me a great article on the benefits of knitting.  I won't feel so guilty when I sit down to work a little on my sweater this week (despite the huge To Do list I have compiled)...  it will lessen my stress and hopefully make me a little kinder to my family!

Pumpkin Picking...

 

 

  I wasn't sure if we would be able to get to a pumpkin patch this autumn (every pumpkin mysteriously disappears on October 31st in this area), but when this sweet baby nephew came to visit, I just had to take him to get his first pumpkin!  

The first patch that we tried was basically a pumpkin graveyard.  Every pumpkin was in a state of decay and it looked like the proprietor had gotten a truck load of them in August and sort of tossed them haphazardly around a field of weeds.  Not what I was envisioning.  Anyway, the second patch was so nice.  The setting was beautiful and the pumpkins were so perfect! 

I am so glad  that we were able to go...  especially with sweet Sampson.  Isn't he the cutest?

Dahlia...

Saturday Pursuits...

 

 

 

 

Though our leaves have been slow to change,  these brilliant views are a favorite of mine.  The smell of woodsmoke permeating the air seems to go with these scenes and luckily, our first delivery of firewood arrived today.  The split wood was stacked in less than an hour by willing hands.

My sister and her family will be arriving for an overnight tomorrow.  I will bake an apple pie and we'll build a fire to sit around when it gets dark.  Before they leave, there will be a trip to the pumpkin patch and pictures of the baby taken in a pile of leaves.  Golden, glorious October.    

                               

Reading...

 

Even if something is left undone, everyone must take the time to sit still and watch the leaves turn."

Elizabeth Lawrence 

Returning to Routine...

 

 

We have been back for a few days now, and have found comfort in the little routines that make up our day:  cooked breakfast, watering the plants, freedom to roam through the woods playing imaginary games once lessons are over, baking cookies, raking leaves, taking long baths...  it is wonderful to adventure, but lovely to be home. 

Creating a Floral Centerpiece...