I have another loaf rising
right now for lunch.
*
I am making a bag for my knitting class
but it is so slow and does not look like anything
but a long pile of stitches, so
I did not yarn along post today.
I can say that I am slowly getting the seed stitch down
but wish I was faster at it.
Pictures from Princeton a week or so back...
A beautiful old church
but one that was made into a new contemporary one.
right now for lunch.
*
I am making a bag for my knitting class
but it is so slow and does not look like anything
but a long pile of stitches, so
I did not yarn along post today.
I can say that I am slowly getting the seed stitch down
but wish I was faster at it.
Pictures from Princeton a week or so back...
A beautiful old church
but one that was made into a new contemporary one.
They kept some of the beauty
but then inside
the praise band and big screen.
When I went to BC I was reminded
of the sincere love of God that the protestants have.
I saw it deeply at the reunion.
But the jettison of all beauty,
what a great and true loss,
not to mention many other things they
do not know that they lost along the way....
Where ever Mr. Husband and I go,
our icons come too
and they make the room alive, comfortable and
well, real and blessed...
I just love our Cleo Cat.
She's so funny.
I kinda got out of rhythm
or forgot to be thankful,
you know one of those upside down inside days
but yet, God is so good and
I was reminded again
of how we need to just be with God everyday
and to serve where I am.
*
The chicken broth is still slowly cooking away
and it smells so good;
it's going to add a lot of flavour to the butternut squash soup
I plan on making this weekend.
Question for those who cook soup:
I have two recipes in my new to me thanksgiving cookbooks,
both say you can do this soup up to three days in advance.
One uses half and half and the other cream itself.
For doing it three days in advance,
which would you do?
*
I finished the book the help and
I am still pondering it.
It deserves a post of it's own.
I am reading a book about a midwife called
A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812
and so far it is quite satisfying.
I am finally reading more books, now that I am not glued to FB all the time.
Been meaning to write a post about that too,
why FB was interfering so greatly with things
and the gains and losses in not using it.
Well, I guess I should just do this now.
*
Really it is quite simple.
FB was sucking my life, my time,
my attention away from me.
It became an addiction, and I knew it as such for years,
ever since I was at a family reunion in MI
before I even knew Mr. Husband and
relatives were talking about their addiction to it,
though in a light-handed way,
as if addictions do not matter, so long as they are not
to drugs, or such things.
I could not deny it then and lived with it for years.
When I got mono it was even worse and
I turned to FB because I was so lonely,
not having the strength to leave the couch
and most often with no one but Mr. Husband to visit me
(not that I am discounting Mr. Husband who
is one of the greatest blessings in my life!).
And years before, it was a great help to me also,
when I was in Ottawa in-between jobs.
*
But in the end I realized that when I would be done with scanning
FB, I would feel so inwardly disheveled,
I would feel more lonely, not less
and my sense of isolation instead of being decreased
the minute I left I felt it was worse.
Then Mr. Husband emailed me an article
about how the more one uses FB, the worse one feels
and that depression can often result.
Then came that day right before we went to Ottawa.
I realized I had gotten nothing done that day;
no book read, no knitting, no baking, nothing but one and off the computer.
Not that I am not on it now, writing this.
But that was it.
I knew I had to change.
I told Mr. Husband the computer had to move into the office
and I needed my living and dining room free of it.
*
I needed to live,
I needed to have my time back.
*
Well that was the end of FB for the most part.
I still have it and
I still use it a bit, but no more than 5 minutes a day
and often just to check up on a certain person or people.
The loss of using it is that many of my dear
friend are on it and I don't know how they are doing that day.
That is a real loss.
Something I had to accept;
just because I stopped using FB, it does not mean
that anyone else did and I had to face it.
*
Yet, I had to break free of it.
It was high time I did something about it.
So now I read, bake and look at cookbooks,
call friends, email on real topics,
and continue to blog.
Since I quite FB I've either listened to or read about 5 books,
with another 5 in the works.
*
I've been able to have a better routine to my day.
While I still can feel lonely at times,
it's not as bad.
*
Since then I've talked to people
and found they too have not read books like they used to
because of FB or even that they do not spell well,
of all things.
*
I cut down even on blog reading though I still enjoy many
and comment on them.
*
Well, I am off to bake bread for Mr. Husband and I's lunch
and do other things, like ironing and listening to
an audio book...
*
Life is a process and even on mixed up days,
I am so glad for God's mercy in it all.
She's so funny.
I kinda got out of rhythm
or forgot to be thankful,
you know one of those upside down inside days
but yet, God is so good and
I was reminded again
of how we need to just be with God everyday
and to serve where I am.
*
The chicken broth is still slowly cooking away
and it smells so good;
it's going to add a lot of flavour to the butternut squash soup
I plan on making this weekend.
Question for those who cook soup:
I have two recipes in my new to me thanksgiving cookbooks,
both say you can do this soup up to three days in advance.
One uses half and half and the other cream itself.
For doing it three days in advance,
which would you do?
*
I finished the book the help and
I am still pondering it.
It deserves a post of it's own.
I am reading a book about a midwife called
A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812
and so far it is quite satisfying.
I am finally reading more books, now that I am not glued to FB all the time.
Been meaning to write a post about that too,
why FB was interfering so greatly with things
and the gains and losses in not using it.
Well, I guess I should just do this now.
*
Really it is quite simple.
FB was sucking my life, my time,
my attention away from me.
It became an addiction, and I knew it as such for years,
ever since I was at a family reunion in MI
before I even knew Mr. Husband and
relatives were talking about their addiction to it,
though in a light-handed way,
as if addictions do not matter, so long as they are not
to drugs, or such things.
I could not deny it then and lived with it for years.
When I got mono it was even worse and
I turned to FB because I was so lonely,
not having the strength to leave the couch
and most often with no one but Mr. Husband to visit me
(not that I am discounting Mr. Husband who
is one of the greatest blessings in my life!).
And years before, it was a great help to me also,
when I was in Ottawa in-between jobs.
*
But in the end I realized that when I would be done with scanning
FB, I would feel so inwardly disheveled,
I would feel more lonely, not less
and my sense of isolation instead of being decreased
the minute I left I felt it was worse.
Then Mr. Husband emailed me an article
about how the more one uses FB, the worse one feels
and that depression can often result.
Then came that day right before we went to Ottawa.
I realized I had gotten nothing done that day;
no book read, no knitting, no baking, nothing but one and off the computer.
Not that I am not on it now, writing this.
But that was it.
I knew I had to change.
I told Mr. Husband the computer had to move into the office
and I needed my living and dining room free of it.
*
I needed to live,
I needed to have my time back.
*
Well that was the end of FB for the most part.
I still have it and
I still use it a bit, but no more than 5 minutes a day
and often just to check up on a certain person or people.
The loss of using it is that many of my dear
friend are on it and I don't know how they are doing that day.
That is a real loss.
Something I had to accept;
just because I stopped using FB, it does not mean
that anyone else did and I had to face it.
*
Yet, I had to break free of it.
It was high time I did something about it.
So now I read, bake and look at cookbooks,
call friends, email on real topics,
and continue to blog.
Since I quite FB I've either listened to or read about 5 books,
with another 5 in the works.
*
I've been able to have a better routine to my day.
While I still can feel lonely at times,
it's not as bad.
*
Since then I've talked to people
and found they too have not read books like they used to
because of FB or even that they do not spell well,
of all things.
*
I cut down even on blog reading though I still enjoy many
and comment on them.
*
Well, I am off to bake bread for Mr. Husband and I's lunch
and do other things, like ironing and listening to
an audio book...
*
Life is a process and even on mixed up days,
I am so glad for God's mercy in it all.
Seed stitch is very slow, all that constant switching between knitting and purling!
ReplyDeleteI remember when a few Orthodox friends came to visit and set up their icons in our family room, next to our Sacred and Immaculate Heart images. When you talk of the loss beauty in Protestant churches, I think too of how that beauty is a window into Heaven for us here on earth, and it is meant to teach us through our senses. Because of religious images my 1 year old knows the names of Jesus and "Mama Mary" and likes to give them kisses; already he is learning, but without those images he would not have any idea who Jesus is.
I've had the same feeling about FB lately, and am working to curtain my time on it. I go back and forth about deactivating my account, but then I think I would lose track of large numbers of people in my life permanently, so not worth it (yet). Glad you are feeling better--you sound happier and more even keel.
ReplyDeleteAlso, about your soup (from the earlier post), cream or half and half is fine--they will both give it a nice richness; the main difference is calorically, so it just depends what your interest is. I tend to make things the way they are written the first time and then fiddle with it the next time if that helps.
FB is a terrible time-waster for me; I am trying to use it less and devote more time to other activities.
ReplyDeleteIt is good news that you are feeling much better and enjoying doing other things!
i so appreciate your honesty about FB! i've been feeling the same things about it for a bit and wondering if i need to cut back. i've lost focus on prayer and on other things i find enjoyable: weaving, knitting, baking, writing. i hope your thanksgiving was wonderful!
ReplyDelete