Life on the Home Front: The Weekend

In which I discuss Sundays, books, and weekend life.....

The weekend has come and gone and a new week stretches before us. I feel as if we are sitting with a time bomb -- wondering if this will be the week it goes off. I know for my friends in NYC it has already gone off.

The moment that sticks in my memory from this weekend is when we logged online to join our congregation for an evening "online meet up." As each person or group began appearing on the screen I was surprised to find myself becoming teary. I think the reality of the situation was clearest at that point -- we are physically removed from these people with whom we have had weekly interaction for fourteen years now, some even twenty-six years. I don't talk much here about my husband's job -- he's a pastor. That means our congregation is like our extended family -- all these people on the screen feel like aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews. And last night felt like a big family pow-wow. We all heard a report from each person/family and there was good news: a baby coming on Friday, an engagement announced. And everyone now knows how to pray for each other in the coming week.

Are you texting more than normal? I feel like my texting time has nearly doubled -- it's the easiest way to stay in touch with people and staying in touch is more important than ever. A friend sent a voice message on WhatsApp and that was fun to listen to. I should try that more.

We had a family meeting Saturday morning in which Michael went over all the Covid-19 information in great detail for the kids so they would understand the seriousness of the precautions we are taking. It's hard when one has a son who should be getting ready for prom, having his senior pictures taken, attending championship basketball games, and getting ready for graduation and an open house. No one wants the last months of their senior year ruined like this. All I can do is try to make life at home as fun as I can and then pray, pray, pray.

Today begins two weeks of "Spring Break" -- which is oddly going to look a lot like life last week. But the kids won't have to be on their computers to do school in the mornings. (But the schoolwork did help to occupy them.) Michael has made a new schedule for the next two weeks and we've decided to keep the same afternoon tea baking schedule.

I met my mom in a parking lot on Saturday afternoon for "Heather's drive-by tax service." We handed checks and paperwork through the windows and I felt oddly like I was nine years old again playing bank drive-up teller with my sister at an open window in our old Pennsylvania house. That's one person's taxes done, only three more to go.

Saturday night I got a text to check my porch and there in a beautiful bag was a book a friend knew I would love: "The Private World of Tasha Tudor." How special was that?! I decided to save it for Sunday and relish it. I read it all on Sunday afternoon. I kind of disappeared into a Tasha rabbit hole and could almost feel like I was in her garden or sitting in her house (though I wondered how it smelled with 42 birds inside and if my allergies would tolerate that???). I felt deeply inspired after reading the book, but also a longing to the depths of my soul for the kind of beauty that surrounded Tasha.

I also spent time on my bed with two of my current "book mentors": Harriet Beecher Stowe and C.S. Lewis. I'll have to talk more about Harriet some time but suffice it to say many of the circumstances in her life are things I have gone through or am going through and it is comforting to read someone else's life story and see how they got through it. I'm reading letters CS Lewis wrote to friends (in a book called "Yours, Jack") and right now I'm in the WW2 years, which are oddly applicable to our times!

I cooked a lot on Saturday: a deep, rich chili for the family, persimmon pudding, a very sweet chocolate lava cake, and banana blueberry muffins. Somehow the food seems to have only lasted the weekend, with some small leftovers today. Cooking is an energy-consuming task and there isn't much break with a family of six right now. But I'm very thankful we have plenty of food, and time for cooking as well.

Sundays are completely different for us right now. As a pastor's family, Sunday is the day which our entire week works toward (okay, that should be true of all of us, but it's especially true for ministers). Right now we can sleep in as late as we want (which is a great physical blessing for us and not something I consider to be laziness) and we can do our church at the best time for our family (which is 11am and Michael's mom comes to join us). We work through the order of singing, Scripture readings, and prayers sent out by Michael and then we watch a recording of the week's sermon. Most Sundays we have company -- for sure we have both our mothers, often we have others too. Now we just have Michael's mom because my mom must be very very careful to avoid contamination.

This Sunday afternoon after I took my rest time on my bed I pulled out a quilt top I was given several years ago and finally got it put together with the batting and backing in preparation for hand quilting. I am especially glad to have this quilt top because as a child I had several quilts that looked just like this -- made by a great-grandmother. I was very attached to them and their beauty but in our many moves they were lost. So I feel I have my quilts back again with this. I've ordered some hand quilting thread on Amazon and can't wait to get started!

I need to end this and get to work on "flower therapy" -- I never know what day might be my last.

Food Eaten: Saturday: leftover scones for breakfast, leftover rice and corned beef for lunch, Laura's shortbread for tea, leftover turkey soup for dinner (while the family ate chili). The family enjoyed chocolate lava cake for dessert and I had a piece of persimmon pudding. Sunday: fresh banana blueberry muffins for breakfast, turkey soup for lunch while the family ate tater tots covered in chili and cheese, we all had persimmon pudding for teatime and then I made leftover mashed potatoes into potato pancakes for the family with cheese and veggies and cut apples and I ate leftover scones with leftover sausage gravy and cut apples. (I have to stick to the foods I can tolerate....which is often not fun, but I am thankful for the results.)

Words and Wool

It's time for another round of projects and books. Here is a picture of Rachel's finished knitting project for 4h this summer. She put many, many hours into it and the shawl turned out just beautifully! It looks much better in person than it does lying on the carpet in this picture. I'm afraid I have no idea what the name of the pattern is!

I spent more time working on quilts this summer than knitting. I managed to finish this quilt for David for his birthday. He was the only child who did not receive a quilt from me at their birth so it was high time I made up for that! I found the star squares at Goodwill Outlet and enjoyed putting the quilt together around them. David LOVES his quilt!

I did start into this beautiful skein of Madelintosh (Rainwater I think). It's a test knit of one of my sister's patterns.

I found six handmade lace placemats at Goodwill Outlet this summer and had to bring them home. They were very yellow but cleaned up beautifully. I can't imagine all the work they must have been to create!

I did make one flower for an order that requested "green". I have a number of tea cozies on the go and must get them finished up for the shop.

The other knitting project that I get a row done now and then is with this gorgeous baby alpaca wool with which I am knitting this Jared Flood pattern.

As I recently mentioned, my family and homeschool responsibilities have increased in such a way as to leave me less time for these types of creative outlets. I am thankful to be okay with that just now. Reading has become my main relaxation outlet and at least that gives me lots of food for thought.

The Shepherd's Life: Modern Dispatches from an Ancient Landscape by James Rebank. Perhaps you saw me mention this a few weeks ago in the Scottish Farm post. I just really enjoyed this glimpse into the everyday life of a modern shepherd in the English Lake District. Do beware that there is significant amounts of language in the book.

Art Before Breakfast: A Zillion Ways to be More Creative No Matter How Busy You Are by Danny Gregory was a quick, inspiring book aimed at getting people to draw. The pages and drawings were fun and the book definitely made one think, "I could do this". No, I didn't really do any of the exercises, but I did find my daughter looking at it, asking for a sketchbook, and then later finding her drawing in it. I also found myself drawing more as well. Purpose accomplished!


The Penderwicks in Spring by Jeanne Birdsall. Finally! A new book in our beloved Penderwick series. We've enjoyed following the adventures of this modern-day largish family that live on the East Coast. This book's major themes deal with the loss of the family dog as well as the processing of grief over the death of a parent some time ago. These are both topics that are important for children and I think the author did a good job of walking kids through the realities of this without making it an overly dark story.

When Wanderers Cease to Roam: A Traveler's Journal of Staying Put by Vivian Swift. This was a fun book to browse through over the months as it is a scrapbook/journal of sorts organized by the months and seasons of the year and includes watercolors, anecdotes, quotes, and the author's personal memoirs of travels. I found it when I had looked up "Susan Branch" on Amazon as the style of the book is similar to Susan's.


  The Carousel by Rosamunde Pilcher was a very fast read, probably too fast.  Some of Pilcher's novels are among my very favorites but this book was too easy to predict and everything happened too fast. The book has some points with me since it is set in England, but I probably wouldn't ever read it again.

Born Under an Assumed Name: The Memoir of a Cold War Spy's Daughter by Sara Mansfield Taber was a fascinating book. Taber grew up moving frequently as her dad's work (a spy for the CIA) took the family to various places around the world and the USA. Initially I thought the book was going to tell all sorts of interesting things about spy-life. Rather, it talked about what it was like growing up in so many different places and cultures. I found myself connecting deeply with what Taber related.

I haven't lived in as many cultures as she has, but I did spend several years of my childhood in Africa and then of course spent four years in Scotland as an adult. In between, my family moved multiple times. Taber talked about saying goodbye to people and places, finding her heart torn between two countries, wrestling with how to be American and yet love other countries, prizing mail and communication with old friends, and coming to grips with the fact that you can't escape unscathed from the downside of moving so much and through so many cultures. It was like therapy reading this book!!!

That said, Taber and I do not share the same world view and so while sharing many of the same emotions and experiences, I do look at these things in my life through a different lens. However, this book was still very fascinating and personally helpful.

I think that's it for now! You can find more ideas for knitting and reading at Ginny's Yarn Along.

Please note: this post contains affiliate links.

Words and Wool

It's very much feeling like a different season of life around here. I'm not sure where the boundaries of this stage began. I think one never knows. At each stage of my children's lives my crafting has taken on a different look. 

When they were babies I only dabbled in knitting and once in awhile sewed something. The elementary years proved to be a boon for me. I managed to find a lot of time for hand sewing felt flowers by the dozen and cranking out knitting projects by the basketful (well, not quite). 

By the end of this summer I will have two teenagers and only two children left in elementary school. 

The crafting has again taken a turn. There is less hand sewing, less knitting, a bit more machine sewing, and more tea cozy crochet (which requires little thought and can be done nearly anywhere). Mostly there is more reading because I'm finding that to keep up with the energy demands of these busy teens/older youngsters I have to do nothing but read when resting rather than just taking time for me to go and do my own projects. 

I have a number of crocheted tea cozies waiting to be finished. I did complete this one as a wedding gift for my cousin.

And I sewed up a few of these cute bunnies for other gifts.

I've had these quilt squares cut out for years but this summer I pulled them out, laid them out, and collated them into piles for sewing. This quilt is based on one of Jane Brocket's.

I'm also hard at work trying to finish up a quilt for David's birthday using these vintage star pieces I found at Goodwill by the Pound last year. I have the top all sewn! I hope to put the quilt together this week so I can start tying it as soon as possible.

Gift-giving is a big motivator for me to get into crafting mode. Here is another gift I made this past month, modifying the pattern for Maggie Rabbit from Posy Gets Cozy. I used a felted sweater instead of wool felt.

I made this in May for a baby shower gift. I loved utilizing bits of my Harris Tweed stash and other pieces of wool I have as well as some very soft corduroy. The pattern came from a library book.

As for reading:


A Glass of Blessings: A Novel by Barbara Pym was a book on my "wanted" list that I picked up in New York City. However, it did disappoint. I think the idea of a glass of blessings sort of showed up on the last page or two, maybe? Anyway, the book didn't appear to have much plot but rather just told about the life of an earlier 20th century middle class English woman. I've read better Pym.

Beyond Codependency: And Getting Better All the Time by Melody Beattie. I read Beattie's first book "Codependent No More" last year and loved it. This one, if possible, is even better. I learned so much.

The Castle on the Hill by Elizabeth Goudge was a good story of countryside England during World War II.

  The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry. Now this was a GOOD book! So good, in fact, that we listened to it on the way to North Carolina and then again on the way back!! At first glance you might be horrified -- there is talk of parents disliking their children and children trying to get rid of their parents. But, if you can take this as a comedy, the author is a genius at capturing the sort of everyday things that happen in families. There are also illusions to probably 15 other classic children's stories in the book, which makes it even more fun. And there is a happy ending for this "old-fashioned family".

Breaking Stalin's Nose by Eugene Velchin was a short book that gives a helpful look at the realities of communism from a child's perspective in the midst of an engaging story.

When Books Went to War: The Stories that Helped Us Win World War II by Molly Manning was a fascinating read. Did you know that there was an organization set up during World War II to print and distribute hundreds of thousands of books to our soldiers? This book talks about how it was done, which books were chosen, and the incredible boost to morale this created.

  All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr is a novel that is popular right now. Again, a World War II story that alternates between a child in Paris and a child in Germany. It took me awhile to get into the story (more than 100 pages) but I ended up really enjoying it. And, it is so easy to read because all the chapters are 1-3 pages long!

In My Father's House by Corrie ten Boom. I wanted to read more about Corrie's childhood and the influence her parents, especially her father, had on her. This is a beautiful glimpse into a family from 100 years ago.

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith was on my special list of "classic" books that I want to read. It's a coming of age story set in the English countryside (where else?!!) and is written in the manner of a diary (except without dates). The book was surprisingly on the cleaner side though the movie trailers I see have taken liberties and I'm thinking I need to just stick with the book! The ending was not what I expected but on further thought decided it was a good ending.

And that's it for now! Time for me to log off and get to work on what needs to be read this week!

For more ideas on crafting and reading, visit Ginny's Yarn Along.

Please note: this post contains affiliate links.