spring cleaning and home things

While at a Passover Seder last weekend, I saw a fine contrast  between the Jewish homekeeper performing an all and out cleaning of her home during Passover because absolutely no leaven could be kept in the home at this time, and the modern act of what is known as spring cleaning.

This inspired me a bit, and the small fact that I had several visitors over the weekend and with all the extra cleaning and pulling out and putting back that having guests entails, I began an immediate campaign of my own form of spring cleaning. I make the rules...one room at a time. And most days  only one room gets done in a day.

But this morning, while I observed the redbuds being blown in the spring winds outside my window,  I made a batch a Wednesday Granola...and I then showed Charlotte how to cut out the back of a whole chicken, cut through the breasts, and then create a simple marinade for the later grilling of the chicken. All the while I was mind- planning my dinner of sauteed spinach and roasted sweet potato fries.

Wise silent note was made: furniture that does not have curlicues, curves, and bent places gather less dust.

The sunroom was today's room to spring clean. All those windows too, successfully cleaned...it just makes a body feel good!

“A household has to be tended if it is to flourish and grow. Housework is never 'done' in the same sense that gardening is never done or that God's providential involvement in the world is never done. Housework and gardening and God's providence itself are exercises not in futility but in faithfulness - faithfulness to the work itself, to the people whose needs that work serves, and to the God whose own faithfulness invites our faithful response.” 
― Margaret Kim Peterson, Keeping House: The Litany of Everyday Life

I love this quote. What are your thoughts or ideas about spring cleaning?

on turning thirty

It seemed like a rather auspicious occasion, Alan coming home for a visit and all. All the way from Bangkok, nonetheless. 

But you only turn thirty once, and some things should only be  celebrated with your family. Don't you agree?

Charlotte and I made a three-layered coconut covered cake with a thick layer of lemon curd interspersed between the layers. What a time we had with it slipping and sliding as we were putting on the frosting. But it minded itself with the most perfect manners after it spent the night in the refrigerator.

He Is Risen... Indeed!

He that spared not His own son, but delivered Him up for us all,

how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

 It is Christ that died, yes, rather, that is risen again

who is even at the right hand of God, who makes intercession for us.

For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels , nor principalities, nor powers, 

                                            
                                     nor things present, nor things to come,

Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature

shall be able to separate us from the love of God,

Which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
 Romans 10:32, 34, 38-39

His story... and a story of us, in photos, of our glorious day...

silent saturday

"But after I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee." Mark 14:28

three hours of darkness

"And when the sixth was come, there was darkness* over the whole land until the  ninth hour..."

                                                                                                 Mark 15:33

*obscurity, literal darkness

Today, the day the Church calls Good Friday, the sun hides between clouds for the most part, a silvery shady sense of questioning is in the sky. I am trying to imagine what it would be like to be enveloped in darkness as the Scripture states- obscure, black, no shadows, groping in the dark- perhaps lighting an oil lamp, hands trembling.

 Once more  my moments prioritize being a Martha with a Mary's heart...my role is etched on this day.


Whoever is present at my house on Good Friday at 3:00 p.m. will be served tea and hot cross buns. We gather, we remember, we read the Word, and we pray.

Maundy Thursday

Reading the excellent Lent devotional, Reliving the Passion, by Walter Wangerin, Jr.

But here true to home I am pondering foot washings. Sometimes it looks like it involves serving childen and grandchildren that abound; visiting, creating joy, life colliding, messes being made.
Yet through it all I learn the humble act of foot washing...and it is glorious.

"If you know these things, happy are you if you do them." John 13:17

coffee shop waiting

Another Wednesday, another coffee shop...and this one is a keeper for sure.

And attaching the collar to same sweater, then on to the sleeves!

 

march...

... a month of wind,  soft snow falls, monogram embroidering, and knitting, of course, always knitting.

 One morning while Charlotte had her violin lesson, I sat in a coffee house while the snow swirled outside.

Outside one balmy afternoon, the wind was playing the most lovely tunes on my wind chimes, and I was embroidering boutis (another guild project). 

Louie, Charlotte was downstairs practicing her violin and he hates it!

My smocking(sewing) guild started a project several months ago that I have found extremely enjoyable, hand- monogramming onto pillowcases using the satin stitch. The satin stitch takes some practice, but I can say my stitches became more even by the time I had completed the second pillowcase. A good tutorial can be found on NeedlenThread.

tea relish

Funny how little things scurry into my mind these days. Things "au nouveau" that prick interest, the voice in the back of my mind until I absolutely must do something about it. So here I am this first week of spring, with chai tea of the brain. 
Yes, it helped that I had an wonderful day with a long-time friend this past Saturday and as we hopped into a little shop of tea on State Street, there on the wooden shelves was what my brain had been voicing...masala chai tea. At $13.00( 2.7 oz. bag) I knew my next assignment was to gather all my needed ingredients to make my own masal chai tea mix in the future. 

I am presently searching what I need. I will let do a future post on chai tea making 101. 

For now, I am happy to turn on my tea kettle, heat up my milk, and scoop my purchased loose masala chai tea into a cup to steep for 3-4 minutes. 

days of clouds

upon which we do sensible things such as turn on lights and make chicken stock.

Many days of clouds and amazing rainy skies give opportunity for Charlotte to accomplish her science experiment in predicting the weather. We have witnessed such a variety of fantastic cloud formations lately. But inside we find ourselves drooping unless we find ways to create a sense of cosiness.

Upon talking to several younger women this past weekend, I discovered many do not know the art of stock making.  I know I have spoken of how to make soup stock several years back, but it is noteworthy and timely to revisit because I know from experience that making your own stock can become as second nature, and after tasting the difference, it is worth the extra 1/2 mile you  go to make it happen.

    I always make chicken stock on home days. I take the bones I have been saving and break them up as much as possible...and I know some chicken bones can be hardy, do the best you can... and then I add  the vegetables: onions, carrots, celery, herbs.  Bring all this to a boil on the stove, then reduce the heat to simmer.
 After your simmering time is complete, and honestly I never time this process, I just go about my day at home, watching and adding more liquid (water) if necessary. The longer it simmers the richer  and thicker the broth as the marrow from the bones has time to cook into the liquid.
 Allow to cool and place the pan into the refrigerator until all the fat rises to the top, skim as much fat as you can off the top, do this while it is still cold.

See the thick congealed broth? That is exactly what you want. Heat the mixture once again, then strain off all the bones and vegetables which I toss. When  the juice cools  you have a jar of this thick, rich broth. If I plan to make soup soon I keep it in the refrigerator, but if not I freeze it.

commonplacing

"...my standards are not speed, ease, and quantity. I have already left behind too much evidence that writing with a pencil, I have written too fast, too easily, and too much. I would like to be a better writer, and for that I need help from other humans , not a machine."
 
The Art of Commonplacing: The Agrarian Essays of Wendell Berry

I have been jotting quotes from books and other written materials for many years. Sometimes I find scribbled bits of paper tucked in a bedside drawer or a school folder, bits where I have written something that I wanted to reread and remember. I began the book in the above photo several years ago.
               

       Who knew at the time of its beginnings there was a formal name for such keeping?

In 2018 one of my purposed goals is to organize all my keeping books in order to get them completely up to date. I am still finding quotes I've written down in other places, and when I do it is immediately  transposed into this one single book.