...and for today...

I gave this book to Mr. Husband 

as a belated ordination (now subdeacon) gift.

I admit I am now one of those who starts planning

for Christmas in July.

And begins accumulating gifts by August... 

I had stocked up on flour a while back

and now have the two new glass canisters in use...

*

I made goals for the next months and

baking a new bread, an apple pie and apple cakes DV

come October on are the list... 

Well, is this why they say don't put plastic in the 

bottom rack of a dishwasher?

Oops. 

*

We had a lovely full day yesterday for the 

Feast of Holy Dormition.

*

The eve of the Feast I felt that I was 

coming down with something.

I am now taking vitamins and the like; drinking tea.

I am still tiring more quickly than I would like

so I am seeking to rest a bit more.

*

I get Mr. Husband home through Monday

and I am so glad.

We have a plummer coming tomorrow

to fix our bathtub.

I am so thankful for this esp.

as the plummer seems very good, peaceful and upright.

*

I am struggling to nail down a routine for September;

I need to get a day set for Sunday school planning 

and I can't seem as of yet to clear things inwardly to do so;

the first lesson is done but so much more to do.

*

Prayers most welcomed.

*

I am so thankful for my life here and all

that it entails....hoping it will soon include

a chicken and broccoli casserole (clearing out the over-filled freezer)

and perhaps a non-vegan peach crisp, once I check on how 

those left over peaches are doing...

*

What does this day find you doing,

as August so quickly is slipping by us?

{Our time in PEI} ~ Farm at Green Gables

It is easy to wish for a simpler past

but in our current life and how we live 

it would require a lot more than what we have:

namely community I think.

Even my Grandmother canned her fruits and vegetables 

with family; farms and community were made for a world

where there was more interdependence and working together.

 I think it is the latter that we actually miss

when wishing to be living in a different time;

this and the beauty that the past has that is not always continued

or replicated today.... 

{Our time in PEI} ~ the Grounds of 'Green Gables' ~ a visit with family

Green Gables is a federal site seeing place on PEI.

A cousin's house of Lucy Maud Montgomery where

her famed books on Anne of Green Gables is

situated and taken from.

*

I had a lovely walk there with Mr. Husband. 

Who could not walk down "lover's lane" while there with

one's best friend, one's husband?

So beautiful.

I could of spent a lot more time there

being quiet in these woods.

I heard this gentle stream... 

I can't help but wonder how the author's 

church experience could of been better....

nature is for sure a beautiful healing place

but I can't help but think of how my understanding of

Orthodox Liturgy in contrast to this.

The red clay of PEI.

Beautiful, so verdant, so well kept.

This was a new stove made to look

old and is a place that Mr. Husband and I bought

a bowl of ice cream to share.

We sat on a bench outside eating with two spoons;

a woman with children said she had not seen

anyone do this is a very long time

and that it was romantic.

This was lovely but even more lovely was just that

what we were doing was merely simple and comfortable.

I am so glad for my Mr. Husband.

Lots of flowers here, a beautiful spot. 

I am grateful that our lives included this day.

We were with my Aunt and Uncle and my 

cousin and her son that day,

who were also holidaying in this part of Canada.

It was a very lovely day.

Ottawa...a few more pictures from my visit

Saturday night vespers.

Visiting a dear friend's place who

will soon DV have baby # 3.

A beautiful peaceful visit...

My Ottawa parish, 

baskets of fruit to be blessed.

The one with the blueberries in the middle is

the woman who with her husband are like the

grandparents of the parish.

After the liturgy I was given a strawberry from her basket,

she asked me if "I'd found a job yet" and when she heard

that I was doing a lot of volunteering for church she understood:

you're too busy to have a job, that's good! 

*

It was a beautiful moment...

*

I went to a dear friend's home in downtown Ottawa...

I loved her kitchen and am hoping in time to 

have a shelf over my 

kitchen sink like she does..

Her beloved cat :)

Dump truck at the monastery playground

where I spent time with my godson.

Such special needed times,

my visit to Ottawa...

Yarn Along ~ Simple knit and a profound read

Doing some cream coloured wash clothes.
As I transition slowly but quickly into fall
(funny how transitions are!)
I have a lot of things that need tending...
so simple wash clothes is my go to knit for now!
*
I have begun the article in the latest Road to Emmaus:



I began the longer essay
A Feeling for Beauty: The Aesthetic Ground
of Orthodox Ethics 
when we were newly living in this home, before
my three weeks of kids-in-the-house
and then we had my wonderful visit of my parents-in-law and then
PEI and then Ottawa...
Meanwhile Mr. Husband was overseas for business and took
the journal with him and read this essay and began re-reading it,
he, like I, found it so very good.
It's astounding actually.
So good that we are thinking of getting extra copies
to share...
*
What are you reading and creating?
Yarn along with us!

{baking & enjoying} ~ Peach Crisp for the Dormition Fast

I remember that when I was newly married,

Mat. Anna told me that part of being married

was establishing traditions...

*

That has held me in good stead!

Soon it will be two years of Mr. Husband and I being wed!

Last year for the Dormition Fast I made 

this peach crisp. 

I made it again last night...

using coconut oil instead of margarine. 

I love how versatile coconut oil is...

The only thing I would do differently is that I mixed it all

up together in the pan that it baked in.

I liked how I did it last year when the topping was more

unified on top. 

*

But it is still good!

We had a bite of it hot out of the oven but 

are looking forward to having some tonight after dinner!

*

EDIT:

we had some for dinner... I think I will stay with

the margarine and be sure to add a bit more brown sugar (I was a bit skimpy on this)

and more cinnamon; it was just too 'blah'.)

*

I can tell that I am still adjusting to our new home by how

I feel 'homesick' for the times I had 

newly married in our first home.

I know it just takes time and 

I do indeed love our new home!

I think it's just been such a busy summer 

that I have not had a 

lot of time to feel that I have done enough 

to make this place feel 

home...so many changes and all so good 

but everything takes time.

*

Speaking of time...

I am having a hard time staying present within time...

I've already been working on Christmas presents and wrote

a list of all I need to do in the next few months.

*

I am reading a bit more on our most Holy Lady's 

Dormition though and am trying to stay in the present,

in this small sweet late August fast. 

{Our time in PEI} ~ Gran's Haven ~ Our Blue Bedroom

Lovely wall paper, a sleigh bed, lace and wood floors.

 Dolls and period lamps...

A beautiful face of a time gone by.

*

I kept thinking when I was in PEI:

this bedroom is very adequate in the sense of

a British home where all is there

but all is essential. 

*

I found myself wishing to use the pitcher and bowl for washing

one's face and I did enjoy some time reading books

in this room; including the forward to Lewis' 

A Grief Observed by Madeleine L'Engle that a new but

did not feel new to me friend at the wedding said

is the main thing she remembers reading of Lewis' book.

*

It seemed somehow though appropriate,

that one reads of marriages that lasted till death parted them

on that weekend of my dear friend S. wedding

where so many gathered to celebrate the joining of 

a couple in Holy Matrimony, that creating a unity of one 

from two lives;

weddings are like a birth and marriage is a 

long fulfillment and working out of that birth.