Pictures...

A dinner during Cheese-fare week.

I don't know if I will ever tired of 

trying to capture day to day life at home.

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Mr. Husband and I got a letter from his Dad 

yesterday, or yesterday when I am writing this, at any point;

they are going through the many letters he wrote home

to them when he was in grad school...

My husband often talks of this time,

when he read and read and read...

he has read 4 books in two months or so now; but he used to 

read, when he was in 8th grade, a book a day...

by grad school he did not have quite that much time, but still

his parents were amazed at looking at those letters how much

he read and wrote then....

I don't know how to explain it, but I feel like I am slowly falling in love

with my husband of all the ages he has been;

hearing stores, reading things he read, talking about current things,

theology, history... 

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I could never capture or take pictures of all the conversations we have

during these meals or how our delight in similar things

echoes in the room and though there is much darkness in the world,

still much light is found around our dinner table....

What going to Ottawa looks like...

{This book is wonderful and published by Holy Dormition Monastery

and is about the special days of Great Lent from the

Orthodox Christian perspective.}

{From when Ancient Faith Publishing had a great sale.}

.....Preparing for Ottawa always includes emails just a few days before leaving

to friends with children who I give books too;

my godson's family and others need 

books and I always bring new ones with me....

*

Soon my TX goddaughter will be a bit bigger and then,

well, I'll just have to mail her a whole bunch!

Place Your Hope in the Lord, Remains of the Day, Blue Blanket

I have 4 full squares/'checkers' done now! 

Ravelry for this blanket is here.

I will start on another part of the blanket soon

and will leave this one to be sewn together at the end.

I think the ribbing will be the least repeated part

of the pattern, depending more on seed and garter stitches. 

It's going to be fun to create different patterns and

colour block arrangements for this blanket!

I am thinking it will be a lap blanket size...

I am still reading Remains of the Day and

am enjoying not only the Britishness of it

but how it captures a time period and history in England,

a time that is no longer with us...

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I also read a delightful book, an 'easy read' as it were,

that was insightful, funny and full of love and encouragement. 

Place Your Trust in the Lord is the story

of Fr. Lazar who helped many in Serbia rediscover

their Lord Jesus Christ and Orthodox faith.

It is different from but reminds me of the book

Everyday Saints and is well worth the reading time!

The publisher blurb drew me in to buying this book at 

Holy Dormition Monastery two years ago

and I finally had the right moment to read this book.

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"A man of few words but great compassion, Father Lazar of Serbia and Montenegro sought neither attention nor accolades, yet became a revered spiritual leader not only for his monastery but for those both within, and without, the walls of his monastery. The words and actions of this modern-day spiritual father, born of an unfailing hope in Christ, cut through the din and clatter of a turbulent world. Those willing to listen - to Father Lazar's own words and the words of those shepherded by him - have an opportunity to enter the empathy that he had for all people."

-Publisher of Place Your Hope in the Lord

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What are you reading and creating?

Yarn Along with us!

Cleo and Suitcases

Invariably Cleo wants to be in whatever suitcase 

is open!

She is a Cat through and through... 

Lenten Icons

Somehow I rearranged my buffet icons and 

it is so pleasing the way it is done now,

it's like it has opened into a perfect

symmetry of help, beauty, line and light.

When I took these pictures,

it was still in the Feast time of the 

Meeting of the Lord.

Such a joyful feast.

My house is now ready for Lent.

All mu Lenten icons are in place.

Now I just have to get my heart ready...

May God have mercy on us this 

Lent and help us!

Dinner in Butter Week...

I am not sure about all Orthodox traditions,

but the one my husband and I follow we

can have fish during Butter Week.

Mr. Husband took me out the other night

to the diner and the next night we had left overs!

Plus our own salad of course...

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Since this is the last week for yummy dairy treats,

I had my first milk shake from the diner! 

It was an extra thick one!

The whipped cream on top was really yummy too!

It's almost Great Lent now

and I am savouring the last of the non-Lenten treats.

I will admit I had a small bit of 

Swiss Chocolate for breakfast... :)

A Simple Brunch with a friend and the first week of Lent

Two pots of tea,

toast, scrambled eggs, juice, fruit...

 It was very nice and a welcomed treat before Lent!

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The first week of Lent, next week,

is going to be quite different for me.

*

 I have a plane ticket to leave next week

and I will be with my Ottawa parish for the second half of Clean Week

as we call it, with the Canon of St. Andrew, presanctified liturgy on Friday night,

one of my most loved services, and I will get to see the kids,

process with their icons around church,

something my church down here does not do.

Each church has different traditions; my church down here does

the blessing of Candles and my Ottawa one does not;

just different, not worse or better, but different. 

*

I am still getting ready to go,
while preparing my home for Great Lent...
I will be bringing with me very warm clothes since 

Ottawa was the coldest place on the planet last weekend.

I will back to some things I know well...

Bridgehead Tea, familiar restaurants, some of my closest friends,

and a family who I just love to stay with...

And, my hairdresser.  Seriously never want to leave her;

I have thick curly hair and she does such a good job...

So it's good but wow, I always miss Mr. Husband when we are apart.

*

I am going this coming week in part because it was the only time
that would fit in my schedule, really.
And I have things that I need to do there.
*
Meanwhile I am doing the restore workshop and
am really appreciating it.
*
I have come to some realizations about
ways I need to take better care of myself
and have been making steps towards
this.  It's exciting but hard to change habits
but it is quite possible....
*
I don't know how much if any posting I will do next week during
what we call Clean Week due to travel
and it being a week with lots of Church Services.
So if you don't see posts here next week, don't worry!
Blessed Beginnings to everyone for Great Lent!

Books I found at the Strand a few weeks back...

I hope to write more about this book yet.

A Christmas book find!

Fun postcards.

I keep saying,

Chocolate is Vitamin Ch for Woman! 

This is a really fun Christmas cookbook,

with lots of stories!

A St. Lucia book :)

Icons...going towards Great Lent...

I got out our first Lenten icon... 

The one with the deep blue border.

St. Ephraim the Syrian.

It's from a calendar, a friend cut them out for me years ago

and I bought some coloured paper at at art store in Ottawa

and got the frame at the dollar store on Bank Street 

years ago now and my Ottawa spiritual father blessed it...

Icons, as I've said before, do not need to be expensive 

and you can make your own!

After being here since late May,

last week I finally found our Guardian Icon again.

So very glad.

Don't know if I showed you our new to us St. Nicholas icon

from Holy Dormition Monastery.

It's a copy of a larger copy of an icon that is in one of the

guest house rooms (each room has it's own Saint) and

this room was the first one I was ever in

when I stayed my first time over night, back in 2004 I think.

I remember sitting on my bed and just looking at this icon...

St. George, such a wonderful Saint!

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I still don't get my lampadas lit everyday these days,

but I always have some lit and we do what we can.

Soon I will be getting out our other Lenten icons...

Lent begins this Monday!

Tartine, Remains of the Day & Blue Checkered Blanket

 

I have all four colours in for the blanket I am working on!

I am loving doing textured patterns and 

am getting the seed stitch down well now!

I am doing this now on size ten corded needles

so I will start a larger section when I am happy with the length 

and keep this 'on the cord' next to it while I work

the new section to compare, etc.

I am reading  studying Tartine

to see how Chad Robinson makes bread.

When I first began baking bread

I was sent this video and never forgot it:

I am going to do more research via the web as well...

so far found these two links and will look further. 

Eventually I will decide where I want to go 

further in my bread baking adventures and

am loving reading about the Tartine method.

I've also begun Remains of the Day and 

it is a good read so far!

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What are you reading and creating?

yarn along with us!

A Beautiful Baptism

Mr. Husband and I were at a baby's baptism

this weekend in the morning hours of Saturday.

It was so very lovely!

I kept thinking how we were seeing a human being

being reborn in Christ before our very eyes...

The Meeting of the Lord in the Temple

This past Sunday we celebrated the

Presentation of the Lord in the Temple...

40 days after Christmas...

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I love this icon of St. Symeon holding Christ

and Christ reaching for His Mother and His

Mother looking at Him so lovingly...

I also love that candles are blessed at this service...

It was such a joyful day

and a delightful feast!