Summer travels

We travelers, walking to the sun, can't see

Ahead, but looking back the very light

That blinded us shows us the way we came,

Along which blessings now appear, risen

As if from sightlessness to sight, and we

By blessing brightly lit, keep going toward

That blessed light that yet to us is dark.

--Wendell Berry 

Sabbaths 1999, VI

Kalliope and I went away - the two of us, intrepid travelers.  We flew far away to Washington state for a special visit.  We stayed in Seattle for a few days with a dear friend and her family. This is one of those friends with home whom you've shared your youth and early adulthood...and with whom you always feel a whiff of "home".  Then Kalliope and I drove through a piece of the Cascade Range (Wow - how beautiful!) to a charmed valley and the inviting town of Ellensburg.  There we visited very new friends, but ones with whom we share a great deal.  They showed us their town and schools and church...and shared their home and extended family.  These are those friends who, eventhough you've just met, you know you share a deep kinship.  A few days later we returned to Seattle for one last visit and then flew home.  But not before we stopped at Bakery Nouveau to get treats for our trip home.

It was good to get home, and yet, that trip was such a wonderful moment in time.

Here are some photos:

Study of Mary

Our parish currently meets at a Roman Catholic high school outside of which is a life-sized statue of Mary.  

Enjoyed taking some photos of it today.  

These are my favorites.  

Nature

"Nature is a sister, and even a younger sister: a little, dancing sister, to be laughed at as well as loved."  

-GK Chesterton, Orthodoxy

Daybook: May 13th, 2014

outside my window . . .  We are nestled back in our green camouflage making the house seem so private and cozy.  Our yard needs lots of work (compacted and mossy lawn, messy and weedy beds).

listening to . . . fan blades whirring, grandmother clock chiming, pots already boiling, and some NPR morning news.

wearing . . . my favorite pjs - white with bright orange, pink and lavendar flowers.  Later: jean capris, white shirt - plain for a cleaning day.

pondering . . . how life will be different with one less child in the house.

reading . . . Ivanhoe, Figures of Speech, Quiet, The Faith - and not a few online articles.

creating . . . a plan for a baccalaureate celebration; some nice mounted icons for a prayer corner.

around the house . . . Artemisia has asked to earn more money in her allowance by taking on the laundry.  She had a "test" run this week and has done an amazing job. She even delivers the cleaned laundry with sweet notes. Is the goal to work my way out of a job?

from the kitchen . . . Oh, my kitchen is a "hot" kitchen.  I have discovered that cooking in the late afternoon is a recipe for a VERY warm house.  So, I've decided to try to do any open flame cooking (seems to make the kitchen the hottest) in the early morning hours.  Thus the boiling pots and whirring fan blades.

real education in our home . . .  We are STILL reading Watership Down.  We sit outside and read while Kalliope plays.  Both my middle kids are determined to catch up/get ahead in math this summer.  So, we are still doing math all summer, it seems. 

rhythm and beauty in our home . . . I've determined to start a new tradition: Sunday family dinners.  My eldest has been very active in our church's youth group, which meets on Sunday evening.  However, things are changing (eldest leaving for college and a new youth leader to be hired).  It's time.

the church year in our home . . . I'm working on setting up a prayer corner.  I'll post some photos later this week.  Kalliope likes to make sure the holy water is always ready.  

one of my favorite things . . . my bullet journal:

recent milestones . . . Athos submitted 8 applications and received acceptances from 6 colleges and was waitlisted at a 7th.  He has decided to attend my and my husband's alma mater: James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA!  We visited in the late fall and he fell in love, so when that acceptance came it is was almost an instant decision.  Go DUKES!  AND his younger brother, Faramir, is finishing up the classroom portion of driver's ed.  How did they get so old?

the week ahead . . . Mom and step-dad arrive today!!  Athos turns 18 tomorrow!!

picture thoughts . . .

"CURLY TREE"    Taken in mid-March on an early spring hike.  

on a frigid morning

"There is nothing like bad weather to reveal the shortcomings of a dwelling, particularly if it is too small. You are, as they say, stuck with it and have leisure to feel all its peculiar irritations and discomforts." from Watership Down by R. Adams (chapter 12)

Daybook - November 20th

outside my window . . .  most of the leaves have fallen, but the trees are still clinging to quite a few.  The raking will continue for a few more weeks.  Today is beautifully sunny and makes the remaining leaves look like amber jewels.

listening to . . . dogs excitedly running to the backdoor for their morning romp.  Hubby trying to quietly let them out.

wearing . . . still in my fuzzy blue robe, soon to be in my running clothes.  Later?  No idea.

pondering . . . appreciating moments, activities, and things for their simple "goodness" with no thought to achieving some goal through them... and productivity as vanity

reading . . . "No God Zone" by Cristina Odone (Kindle Single)

creating . . . a crocheted infinity scarf for myself, and soon to start the same for the girls.

around the house . . . laundry has piled up in the laundry room and den.  Time to get my laundry-helper (Kalliope) on the job!  Still have towers of boxes to dismantle. 

from the kitchen . . . leftovers tonight for dinner.  Need to make pasta salad for lunches at CC the next two days.

real education in our home . . .  the girls and I finished A Samurai's Tale  last week and have now started Watership Down.  I'm sure Kalliope doesn't get most of it, but that's ok!  

rhythm and beauty in our home . . . still finding my footing here in this new house, and in this new phase of life (teaching outside the home).  I'm finding it is very odd how a home can shape your family life. 

the church year in our home . . . Advent is just around the corner.  We had a family meeting last night to discuss some of our Advent and Christmas activities.

one of my favorite things . . . my new favorite tea: cinnamon spice.

recent milestones . . . Athos has submitted his first two (of about 8) college applications! (Elon U and Chapel Hill)  

the week ahead . . . the week is half over, already!  School and co-op preparation today, Challenge tomorrow, and Foundations on Friday.  Need to prepare my tutor gifts for the Foundations group as Friday is our last day before Christmas!

picture thoughts . . .

Our Artemisia-designed All Hallow's Eve pumpkins

Red Wine Beef Stew

Recipe from Southern Living One Dish Meals, Jan 2011.

This is so yummy and warming!  It is a fairly simple recipe, but does take several hours to cook.  (ie., It isn't something you can decide on for dinner last minute)

4 lbs beef boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 2" cubes
4 T flour, divided
1 3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
2 T veg oil
1 c dry red wine
2 (14 1/2 oz) cans beef broth OR 1 (32 oz) carton (I prefer the cartons)
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1 small turnip
1 8 oz pkg fresh mushrooms
1 16 oz pkg baby carrots

(I use slightly less beef and quite a bit more veggies just for my family's preference.)

Pat beef with paper towels to absorb excess moisture.  Combine 3 T flour, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp paprika, and 1/2 tsp pepper in a bowl.  Toss beef with flour mixture to coat.

Cook beef in batches in hot oil in a dutch oven over med. high heat, stirring often, 4-6 minutes or until just brown.  Remove beef from dutch oven.  Add red wine, stirring to loosen particles from bottom of pot. Return beef to pot; add broth, thyme, bay leaf, and 1/2 tsp salt.  Bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, 1 hour.

Meanwhile, peel turnip, and cut into 1 inch cubes.  Halve mushrooms.  Add all veggies to pot (including carrots) to stew.  Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until meat is fork-tender.

Whisk together remaining 1 T of flour and 1/4 tsp salt until blended.  Whisk 1/2 c of hot broth into flour mixture until smooth.  Whisk flour mixture into stew until smooth.  Cook, stirring often, 20 minutes or until thickened.

Serve with thick crusty bread, or rice to soak up all the gravy.  Don't forget a nice glass of red wine for the adults!

Productivity and Stew

You know how you enter a house where someone is making something delicious for dinner, and the whole house is filled with that aroma?  Earlier this evening, I stepped outside for a minute to talk to some roving missionaries, (the good kind -collecting donations for Thanksgiving meals) and when I stepped back in I was enveloped by the overwhelming scent of beef stewing in a rich red wine sauce.   It is so nice when that good smell is coming from my OWN kitchen!

My pathetically-congested eldest son, Athos, actually commented on how good it smelled..and that is saying something coming from someone with little sniffing ability left.

This recipe is actually one of my favorites - "Red Wine Beef Stew".  I discovered it several years ago in a  "One Dish Meals" magazine while I was looking for good meals to make in my new-at-the-time dutch oven.  And while it isn't a difficult recipe, it is quite time-consuming. In fact the directions state: "This takes some time to prepare, so make it on a day when you have a bit of spare time."

Spare time?  Who has "spare" time these days?  I've been feeling a distinct LACK of spare time in the past several months.  The sale of our home, the crazed search for another, the complicated move from home to apartment to home (and all the storage and moving details), and then the start of college visits and applications on top of our eldest's high school football season (his first!), and trying to homeschool and direct our Classical Conversations Challenge 3 level!  Honestly, when I start to really think about it, I start to get heart palpitations.

Beyond the heart palpitations, I also realize that I have done what I set out NOT to do...become too overburdened with "doing" leaving me with very little "spare time".  I've not even had time to really unpack from our move!  There are still boxes filling my sun-porch, dining room, and upstairs hallway.  Which wouldn't be so bad, but I've no hope of really making much headway until the late spring when our classes end.

All this "important" stuff, stuff that is leading to some worthy goal, is keeping me from getting to the "good" stuff, stuff that is just good in itself: reading a good book, taking time for favorite hobbies, having time to make our new house feel more like "home", etc.  But the tyranny of the "to do list" keeps me ever pushing forward.  If it isn't a productive use of my time, I'm forced to skip it, or suffer the consequences.

Liz Horst, in her article at Human Pursuits, makes a case for the "good" being goal enough.   Imagine that, reading a book just for the sake of the enjoyment of it!  Not to check it off some "BBC List of 100 Books Everyone Should Read", or to complete some assignment. Ms. Horst's ideas about things being "good" in and of themselves is something I do believe, but have not been living out lately, maybe not ever, really.

Well, that isn't altogether fair, but perhaps it is fair to say I've only succeeded in fits and starts.  Perhaps fits and starts isn't so bad in this day of uber-productivity and multi-tasking (which it turns out may not be so productive after all).  Ms. Horst even goes on to make the case that it is vanity to pursue productivity.  I'm inclined to agree.

I read her article while the Red Wine Beef Stew was simmering away, and it made me wonder about other areas in my life where I seek productivity or some "goal" over simple enjoyment of an activity or moment, or even worse, where I encourage (or force) my kids to do the same.  And, darn it, that isn't why we started homeschooling!  Their education was to start a fire (ie. desire to learn) rather than fill a bucket (industrial/productivity/checklist - cram it all in model).  Credit to William Butler Yeats.  My recent focus on the pursuit of productivity in our homeschool, church, daily life, hobbies, and work needs to be reconsidered.  

What is good?  Seek it.  If something productive comes of it, all the better.

So, in an hour when I serve up that delicious Red Wine Beef Stew, I'm going to really enjoy it - not just as fuel, but as a delicious meal.

Want the recipe?   Red Wine Beef Stew

the small things

Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.

JRR Tolkein,  The Hobbit

Oh, the un-boxing (a school-year planning post)

It goes so slowly.

Of course it doesn't help to have school to plan for.  And with a start date only 1 weeks away....well, the boxes (those not homeschool-related, anyway) are languishing while I get all the books in order, pages copies, files prepared, and notebooks set up.

Want to take a peek?

The girls will be studying the Middle Ages and Renaissance in history and Ecology & Astronomy in science.
Most of these books I've read with one or several of the kids before, so it is really fun to cycle back through them.  (see my boxes peeking out back there...mocking me.)

Here's my new homeschool set up.  No homeschool room means we are juggling with where to store our daily needs.  This cabinet is in the laundry room just off the kitchen where the girls and I will mostly do their school work.  The boys may work here or in their rooms.  Age has its privileges!

Part of the set up is a set of files for storing their work.  In the past I haven't always been good about sorting this out and keeping up with it during the year.  Usually it just goes into a general file for each child to be sorted (or not) at the end of the year.  But this year I did this:

Each child has his or her own color: Red for Athos, Blue for Faramir, Yellow for Artemesia, and Green for Kalliope.  (Extra yellows in the back for general or group records)

And my Challenge Director supplies are looking good!  I've discovered Washi Tape - so much fun!  I'm using it to jazz up all those boring black and white binders.  It does make a remarkable difference...makes everything seem so coordinated and intentional.  All for $3 a roll.

Also, dolled up the girls' binders with their own design of Washi tape...

And then there are the boxes... and boxes.  I swear I'm never moving again.  Not until I've graduated the last child, anyway.