Homemaking Meme

Aprons – Y/N?

Yes, I make a giant mess when I cook.

Baking – Favorite thing to bake:

Bread.  I used to grind my own wheat and bake four loaves at time, three days a week.  I ended up developing what they call "Baker's Asthma"--a wheat allergy. Now, I don't bake much of anything.
Makes me very sad.
Clothesline – Y/N?

No, our homeowner's covenants don't allow it.  So, I have a wooden drying rack inside that I drag outside on sunny days. 

Donuts – Have you ever made them?

Yes, but I make them in little balls, Italian style. They're called zeppole.

Every day – One homemaking thing you do every day:

Dishes

Freezer – Do you have a separate deep freeze?

No, but I have a large upright in the garage.

Garbage Disposal – Y/N?

Yes and a large blonde labradoodle.

Handbook – What is your favorite homemaking resource?

My neighbor when I first got married was a Mormon.  She's still my go-to gal when I need to know how to do something homemaking-related.  Her church really trains young women to be very good homemakers.

Ironing – Love it or hate it?

Hate it! 

Junk drawer – Y/N? Where is it?

Hmm, in the kitchen, in boxes at the bottom of my husband's closet, in each child's desk...

Kitchen: Design & Decorating?

Warm.  Warm pine cabinets, muted rose walls and tiles, brown granite. Really yucky vinyl floor that my husband promises will become warm wood very soon.

Love: What is your favorite part of homemaking?

Being home with my children. 

Mop - Y/N?

Not me! It's a job better done by a big, strong teenager who can't sleep.

Nylons - Wash by hand or in the washing machine?

Tights, in the machine on gentle.

Oven - Do you use the window, or open the door to check?

Open the door.  I have to see it, smell it, taste it.

Pizza - What do you put on yours?

Sigh...I wish.

Quiet - What do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment?

I'll let you know when I get one.

Recipe card box - Y/N?

3-ring binder, lots of cookbooks, and the web.

Style of house -

Virginia colonial

Tablecloths and napkins - Y/N?

Tablecloth. The table I handpainted 4 years ago is chipping mightily--I'm waiting for Michael to work some magic. For now, I cover it. 

Napkins? Yes, many, many napkins and dishtowels, and paper towels, and cloth diapers to be used in all sorts of ways.

Under the kitchen sink - Organized or toxic wasteland?

Organized following a giant pipe issue which destroyed the floor of the cabinet.

Vacuum - How many times per week?

Every day. Big blonde labradoodle whose fur thinks he's all lab.  If someone tells you labradoodles are like poodles and they don't shed, don't believe them.  But do believe the part about them being really smart and very loveable.  He's wonderful, which is why I put up with all the fur everywhere and own stock in Oreck.

Wash - How many loads of laundry do you do a week?

At least 3 loads a day.

X's - Do you keep a daily list of things to do and cross them off?

No. I blog everything I do:-)

Yard - Who does what?

Christian does all the grass things on a tractor.  Mary Beth does the detail work.  Michael and Patrick help the two of them with gardening and landscaping duties.  I sit here and think of great ideas that require child labor and then call them education.

Zzz's - What is your last homemaking task for the day before going to bed?

Folding laundry.

Every Family Shall Carry Home a Blessed Candle

"On Candlemas Day every family should carry home a blessed candle, which will have a special place on the home altar and will be lit in all moments of danger, during thunderstorms, during sickness, in time of tribulation." ~ Around the Year with the Von Trapp Family

My pastor announced that he will bless candles on Candlemas Day, February 2nd. Now, my only challenge is finding a box big enough to carry our candles to church to be blessed! This feast, so rich and sensory, is a true treasure, nearly lost to modern times.

I am just beginning to understand how the candles of Candlemas are inextricably tied to the Feast of the Presentation.  My dear friend Donna is such a good listener.  I think that she is especially blessed with this virtue because she has suffered so in her lifetime.  She was widowed very young and has since cared for her aging mother. Whenever I go to her to sort my own trials, she prays with me on the phone.  And then, she promises to "light a candle." She almost always has a prayer candle lit, I think.

When Our Lady took Jesus to the temple and Simeon greeted them, he recognized the light first. He said that Jesus was "the light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel."  Then, he told the Blessed Mother that she would suffer: "Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted and you yourself a sword will pierce so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed." 

She did not understand but she did know that she knew the Light, the Lord, was hers in her suffering.  When we suffer, we turn to the Lord, who came as light and life to the world. And we can light a candle to remind us of those words of Simeon who coupled forever the suffering with the Light. What beautiful sacramentals candles can be in the domestic church!

I've always loved candles; I am drawn to light and beauty.  In candlelight, the hard edges of the world are softened. Now, I feel drawn to them as I'm drawn to prayer.  Christ settles over the candlelit room and softens the edges of the harsh world while illuminating my soul with His holy will.  We appeal to our senses when we prepare our homes with candles to use throughout the year.

For many years, my family has enjoyed advent candles.  My children like to light them, like to snuff them, like to sing about lighting them.  Those pink and purple tapers bring the liturgical year to light every night at our dinner table and I'm always sad to put them away. They are replaced right after advent with gold candles for the Christmas feast, but when that season ends, there are no candles on our table.

This year, I decided to buy some blue pillar candles for the table for the Feast of Mary, the Mother of God.  I was so pleased with this new tradition (just once and it's a tradition), that I started thinking about how we could bring the liturgical year to our table all year 'round. Combined with traditional prayers keyed to the calendar, the candles would be a visual reminder of the life of Christ in the Church.

I researched traditional symbols for different seasons of the liturgical year and I bought pillar candles in appropriate colors. To the traditional green, purple, and gold or white, I added blue candles to use for Marian feasts. Next year, I will make the candles from beeswax, but in the interest of time, this year I purchased paraffin candles.

Using very thin beeswax, the children cut liturgical symbols and melted them onto the pillar candles. There are flowers and hearts on the Marian blue candles, fish and loaves of bread on the green candles, an empty tomb and an egg on the white candles for Easter. The result is a series of liturgical candles to use throughout the year at the dinner table.

Then, we made some blue novena candles using beeswax and soy wax with some blue dye in large Mason jars. We'll use these throughout the year on our Marian prayer table. I love the idea of a perpetual candle to remind us to continually come to the Blessed Mother for a good chat. What the children don't know is that my husband will be reminded on all the Marian feasts to bring home flowers for Mary.  With fresh flowers and candlelight, this table will always look lovely.

We also have some tapers to bless.  These belong with our miniature Mass kit. Katie is particularly fond of lighting candles when she sets the altar. And she is also fond of snuffing when she has finished there.

Finally, I stocked up on beeswax votive candles. These are sweet smelling candles that I will light when I offer my prayers for friends and family.  And I ordered an extra box for Donna--I figure I've used at least that many in her house over the years.

Don't Forget

Tomorrow is National Pie Day.

From where I stand

Margaret asked that we post the view from the kitchen sink. This is where I stood this morning, Margaret, and offered prayers for you and your baby. 

the sunroom is on the other side of the pass-through window:

The big windows overlook a soccer field in the backyard but I can't get a picture without so much glare you can't see anything.

Many of us on the east coast and in the central and mountain time zones will be in our kitchens with lunchtime duties this morning/afternoon when Margaret goes for a sonogram.  Please pray for her and for her baby as you stand at your sink.

Herbal Medicine Nature Study

 

We've always dabbled with herbal medicine:  a tin of Baby Balm here, a tincture of echinacea there, some Sambucol every November, chamomile at bedtime.  But I've never stopped to take the time for a comprehensive, systematic study of herbs that heal. The herb books were Mom's reading and usually it was reading done under the time constraints of some acute condition. Still, alternative medicine, and particularly herbal healing, is a burning interest of mine--one I want to pursue.

As the days grow shorter and darker this year and as the viruses threaten our home, I've decided that the perfect late fall and winter nature study is one that takes botany and brings it home for our health. And, in the true spirit of "getting things done," I am going to share our plans here for Dawn's late autumn field day, while trying to compensate for the fact that I missed her Loveliness of Homemade Fair.

Our booklist for this rabbit trail is fairly short.  For the children, I purchased a Kid's Herb Book for Children of All Ages.

This is a great book!  I read it through one evening during a nursing marathon and I learned so much.  The author, a dedicated practicing herbalist, familiarizes with sixteen medicinal herbs. It's a children's book, but her respect for the intellect of children is readily apparent.  The information in this book is not dumbed down.  interspered with the science, there are fictional stories about natural life but even those are well done and my children enjoy them. For each herb, we will learn a new "technique." For instance, comfrey is the knitbone herb.  We learned, at long last, how to make an herbal healing salve. I used this kit from learningherbs.com to jumpstart me.

We all enjoyed turning a small crock of simmering herbs

into little tins and pots of healing salve to give as gifts and to tuck into diaper bags and soccer backpacks.

Each child made a notebook page for comfrey which will be added to his or her own personal herbal reference book. I'll scan at least one child's entry each week and post it at Blossoms and Bees so we have an online herbal guide as well. This might be the first (and only) notebook that everyone from 4-18 completes.  Katie is too little to make her plants look much like plants and I do want her to have a keepsake so I am using coloring pages from Dover's Medicinal Plants Coloring Book. I got two of these, because I have a little guy who tends to freeze if he can't do something perfectly (where'd he get that trait?) and the coloring pages will get him over the drawing hump.

I'm making notes as we do this over the winter so that when the growing season comes again, our herb garden can reflect what we learned.  Hopefully, I can cut down on shipments like these from Mountain Rose Herbs.

Truth be told, much of that is my attempt to make my own postpartum-and-beyond tea.  My cuppa now has equal parts Raspberry leaf, Nettle, Lady's Mantle, and Lemon Balm with some Lavender and some Cinnamon chips. Still debating whether or not to add Red Clover...

We will follow the Kids' Herb Book through the rest of the fall and into the winter, learning one a herb a week and making things like elderberry syrup, ginger ale, and slippery elm lozenges.

Before Christmas, I plan to make milk and honey herbal soap and some soy candles scented with essential oil.  So far, we haven't a had huge success with honey soaps but we did make nice soap out of a simple combination of melt and pour glycerin, a little beeswax, some lavender from our garden and some lavender essential oil.

After reading about paraffin candles (HT:As Cozy as Spring), I decided there would be no more Yankee Candles here. Did you know:

"the EPA has confirmed that those candles, and the smoke and soot they give off, contain several dangerous chemicals in significant quantities. These chemicals include known or probable carcinogens, neurotoxins and reproductive toxins.

The American Lung Association also warns that burning paraffin candles can emit toxins (in measurable amounts) into your home’s air."

Instead, we are making soy candles and scenting them with natural fragrance oil.  We made our first batch last week and I'm very pleased with the result.  I used a starter kit to get us going, but now we're ready to tinker with combination scents and try some longer burning, larger candles.

Following the natural theme, we are also making beeswax angel ornaments.  I think that this combination of natural, yet lovely, items makes a pretty gift package.

In an effort to keep everything from being dried and bound in a book, we're going to grow some herbs indoors as well. This way, the children can gain an intimate knowledge of the plants and further appreciate what a gift they are to us. With this kit, we'll even bag our own tea!

So, there you have it:  lots of little goodies for thoughtful (and natural) gift baskets, the beginnings of an herbal medicine chest, some notebook pages, an ongoing nature study, and quite an education for Mom!