Wednesday, May 16, 2018


Husband and I went to Jordanville for a beautiful baptism!
Here's photos from our drive there and back (about 4+hours
from where we live in NJ)... it is so beautiful up there,
and living in the city that we do, I crave beauty like this
and feast my eyes on it like a woman living in a desert
with a dry thirsty ground under her feet!











Breakfast the day of the baptism!
I loved how they did not butter my English muffin because I asked
for peanut butter, just the way I wanted it, without my even asking!





Jordanville is a beautiful Monastery and they also have a wonderful














We got back Monday late... 
Tuesday we had the AC guy, a great one from Poland,
come and give us more Freon (about 3 lbs this time!)
and now our AC is working again!


Roof top access, why I had to take everything out of the pantry!
We had a great lunch afterwards!



Mr Husband got the rest of the things out of the Pantry that I had not and
put them on the dining room table and he swept and vacuumed
(then we figured out our vacuum needed a new bag etc so that took time!)
and I washed all of the pantry shelf liners before they went back in...
I was determined to reorganize the pantry so I could better use it,
so I while I worked at a steady state, I put thought into it
and redid a lot of it, keeping what I loved and worked and redoing the rest....
Meanwhile, we went early to our favourite diner, as there was to be a storm
coming in.... I had been talking about rootbeer floats and how I had not had one in at 
least 1 decade that I could remember...so we ordered one... 


Then, as I wrote on social media yesterday:

"We knew that there was to be a thunderstorm at 6 but a good 30+ minutes before the winds whipped up, the huge construction orange barrel the size of a garbage can flew into traffic ad hit a car!!! And we heard the servers talk of a mini-hurricane (!!!) and we downed the have-not-had-in-a-decade root beer float, had the food packed up quickly, asked for the bill, Husband ran to car while I paid and I ran out, we got home just as it was starting to pour rain .... hash tag if I used them would have been "now that was intense! "


So here's our burgers after the fact on our card table,
since the dining room table was full of pantry items!
We watched the storm from our big windows
and saw lots of lights on the bridge...
there is a lot of construction happening and eventually 
we will not be able to see that bridge, from what we can tell...
yesterday I zoomed in with my camera phone so I could see 
what the lights were, as the rain and distance made it hard to see
and it was a fire truck, ambulance, cop cars....I hope whatever happened
that the people survived :( ... Lord have mercy!



This pretty much is how it is now, after the reorganization. 
As my sister commented, rightly, it's very "American" of us to have 
so much food on hand... (like a mini-version of the huge grocery stores
we have here)... but there are many reasons why each family does as they do
and we have a lot of reasons for this, including the times of sickness we had
and that it is great to have on hand what I want to use to bake, cook or even to share.
Most of my readers (unless they are very new) know that I do a lot of baking for
St. Nicholas Day, Christmas and Pascha (Easter) and all of this is because we have our pantry.
I also make tea blends (2 new ones to do this year DV!)
 and have been given a lot of tea, treats, jam and honey, all of which is a real blessing!
I was actually told "Bravo" for having such food on hand to offer hospitality 
at any time by a pretty strict (to me anyway!) monastic priest, so it does have a place
and I can't wait to do more hospitality! I am dreaming of making a 
ginger cake next week!  And cherry tarts!! 



So I finished the pantry today and have been resting this afternoon...
the trip + doing the pantry restocking all by myself was a lot of work
and I am weary.  Best thing to do then is rest so I can do the next thing...
which is vespers and DV tomorrow the Feast of the Ascension of Christ!
Friday is laundry day (I am learning not to tackle more than I should
when I am already having a big cleaning / housework / pantry restocking day...)
Saturday I am going to NYC and Sunday is liturgy + baby shower for a friend in 
the afternoon, so if I don't blog again until next week, you know why! 
Meanwhile, for the last times of this Paschal Season:

Christ is Risen! 
Indeed He is Risen! 

7 comments:

Lilly's Mom said...

I'm so happy to see you've recovered from this big job of putting the pantry back together. I'm wanting to have my kitchen cabinets refinished and I dread the job of clearing everything out! Please rest and regain your strength so that you can enjoy your weekend. I'm happy you weren't harmed in the big storm that arrived in your area. Hugs, Pat

Lisa said...

Yes, those storms came here, too, and were scary! We did not have the worst of it, thank God. But I guess there were two tornadoes confirmed in our state. I'm glad you still had your root beer float. :D

Paula said...

Looks like you had a great time. I envy you your beautiful churches. My church in Ottawa is nearly as beautiful, but the ones around here are much more plain and Protestant looking. I think your pantry looks great.

GretchenJoanna said...

What I think when I read all of this:

1) How wonderful that you and your husband have each other with whom to share all these adventures and simple delights, everything from a 4-hr drive and church services to your favorite diner and working together to maintain your dwelling and eat out of your pantry. Wasn't your marriage - isn't your marriage - a precious gift!

2) You have a lot of energy and strength! Glory to God for that, too! Every day that I am able to walk around, I think, Well, at least I can walk still, and be aware that I am alive and thank God for it. And I thank God that we share that, too.

3) I also think it truly wonderful that you have that big pantry - it is just natural for someone who likes to cook as much as you do. If you didn't, you'd have to spend a lot more time shopping instead of cooking!

I'm glad you were able to write a nice long report with lovely pictures for us.

Christ is ascended!

elizabeth said...

Thanks everyone!

Thanks G-J for your love and encouragement!

Tracy said...

How BEAUTIFUL the church in Jordanville!! What a wonderful building, and such tranquil surroundings. So glad you had some time away celebrating new life in Christ with friends and enjoy some time away. Loved seeing all the photos! English Muffins... oh, I miss those a lot sometimes! We don't have them here, not ready-made, anyway. I should learn how to make some! VERY fun to see you pantry and how well stocked and organized you are! What a big job! I appreciated a well stocked pantry. Ours is a bit low at the moment, and some things do need restocking as we have used up some winter stores. My health and strength can be up and down sometimes, so I like having having a good stocks of basics on hand. NICE book you are reading at the moment. I like Kathleen Norris's writings. We just celebrated Pentecost, and the Easter season is over for now, and back to Ordinary Time... Christ is Risen!
Indeed He is Risen! :))) ((HUGS))

elizabeth said...

Thanks Tracy!!! Pentecost for us is this Sunday! We are a week behind! Yes, having a good stock of basics is so wise!!

I wish I could send you some English Muffins!