(47) Clean and Quiet

I was finally able to do some phone errands today!

And the house did get a cleaning...

I had to rest too, however, not sure what the cause was,

but I did not feel that good in the afternoon...

I did have my flu shot yesterday and my arm was still

hurting today from it!

I am feeling a lot better tonight, thank God!

Mr Husband brought home this beautiful bouquet of yellow flowers!

I am praying that tomorrow is a good day for me and that I can 

prepare the food as planned for the small Sunday dinner.

***

I was missing Cleo today, I miss her presence,

her being nearby.

***

I pray that each of you, no matter what exhaustion, illness or worry

you may have, that yet you are given the grace to keep on,

and that you are reminded that you are alone and 

that we have much to grant us hope...

Tuesday ~ Wet and Wiley

Let's start today's report from the end,

this old crock pot / slow cooker,

the smell of onions cooking slowly, with garlic, ginger,

chicken and chicken bones with liters of filtered water...

so simple, such a delicious smell.

It will be done by 5 PM tomorrow...

I hope to get 2 soups out of it and am so so glad for this! 

***

The rest of today...

I struggled.  

The weight of 5 weeks, of continued concern and care for 

my beloved, a pile that seemed unending of things to do,

and feeling inwardly barren, to say the least.

***

I lit a thick blessed candle and that steadied me more than anything.

But it was a struggle.

***

Made beef broth for lunch, with triscuits, chicken liver pate, cheese,

salad, clementines.

Made hamburgers with multi-grain English muffins for dinner,

with salad... black tea, mint-rose tea, decaf black tea, more mint-rose tea...

Lots of dishes washed, dried, put away, and then all over again;

NYC was wonderful yesterday and that sunshine!

But we left after lunch and those dishes were waiting for me yet 

this morning... I find disorder to make myself feel as disordered,

of course I know this is a real weakness, 

but there it is...

***

Social media was my main communication with the outside world today,

of which I was very grateful.

***

I am hoping to make a lemon pie this coming weekend, 

after I made the soups.

I am hoping to do a small grocery run tomorrow.

I ordered my first tart pan, with a removable bottom, today,

for this lemon pie I have long wanted to make...

Snow is expected Thursday, potentially a lot.

Mr Husband was to have end of week doctor's appointments, 

so not sure how that will play out.

10 inches of snow may derail it, if this snow does come.

Thank God we have plenty of everything we need.

I have the roast chicken, still frozen, up here in my kitchen fridge's freezer,

from my birthday party that so many could not come to,

but that we had ordered catered chicken and pork for, (organic, etc etc).

So that's great.  Plus bread to warm in the oven, so much tea to enjoy,

and all else... I am reading my new book and am enjoying it.

So much to digest about this part of culinary culture and the past.

***

The beautiful tulips and the eucalyptus in vases are both such 

pools of brightness for me.

***

The opportunity to get out tomorrow, and a good end of today,

make me feel anticipation for such things

and the fact that my kitchen counter is clean,

the slow cooker is doing a soup,

and that I have hope to get out tomorrow,

are all great blessings to me.

***

As are all of my kind friends here, who read these words... 

On the 7th day of Christmas...

A gift basket from my parents-in-law for Christmas came!

It's official: 

I think will all the wonderful goodies given to us I could

open a tea store :)

We are so thankful!!! 

*

We had our seconds Ladies tea with Matushka...

and our dear friend, the mother of Mr. Husband and I's 

goddaugher was there for one of the last times....

Lovely tea.

Lovely desserts.

Beautiful. 

Delicious. 

We gave our dear friend an icon of

St. Alexander Hotovitzky as 

he founded our parish here in NJ.

*

It was a very special 7th day of Christmas,

on which the world finally heard that 

Elder Paisios is now Saint Paisios!

May we have his blessing!

*

And May God bless each of us during these holy days.

Sunny Tuesday ~ 5th Week of Great Lent ~ 2014

 Here we are.

Sunshine on a Tuesday nearly not-morning

and things are racing around like 

cats chasing a catnip toy, but perhaps worse! :)

But some good things and peaceful things of this day...

*

My beloved has a birthday around this time of year

and he was given these lovely, cheery, beautiful

yellow tulips for his birthday.

We are just loving them.

I am loving my window sill and savouring the light,

the beauty and this small place of light...

I always want my homes to be places of light,

of beauty, of icons, the warmth of Christ,

the hope of the Saints and the 

protection of the Holy Spirit... 

 It is a real challenge to keep

one's eyes on Christ,

the One who saves us,

who we can walk to with steady steps,

regardless of the waves that may surround us.

May Christ have mercy on us and help us! 

Palm Sunday, Holy Week and the love of knitting

I don't have any pictures from
this weekend at our
near-to-us church,
but it was beautiful, vast,
Palm branches green and outstretched like fans,
beautiful pussy willows with
warm grey fur
clergy in green
so profound:
realizing the link between Palm Sunday and Pentecost:
the coming of Christ
the coming of the Holy Spirit.
*
I've been tired.
Mr. Husband went to church Friday night and Saturday morning.
I stayed home,
mainly ensconced in bed with blankets,
sleeping, or knitting, with water bottle
near by and many books.
*
On Friday lunch I was falling asleep at the dinner table
while Mr. Husband was eating and talking to me;
it's been a tiring time.
*
But I managed to get an email out
and blog posts asking for prayer.
I know I am being prayed for.
*
I've been able to sleep through the night
for the last couple nights.
I made it to Saturday vespers,
Sunday liturgy and the
first of the Bridegroom matins.
*
That may sound like I am over doing it
but in truth when I was at church
I was sitting
and when at home often napping.
*
A few days before all this,
when I had insomnia
I re-found my first knitting project from my class:


I had way too many stitches and it ended up
being a nice looking mini-blanket.
But I had no way to know how to fix the top of it. 

So I frogged it all back.

But took some pictures first ~ 

~ before it became a very large ball of yarn.

I remember now that it was this that
I was knitting at the conference
in February,
when the med clinic doctor told me I could go to it
and I sat, listened, and knitted.
I went back to the second class
with the teacher surprised that I had knitted
through the whole skein.
What can I say?
I told them I was at a conference and had lots of time.
I think my teacher would be surprised to learn
of all the things I have knitted since then.
I hope one day to be well enough to go back
and tell her!
*
Meanwhile,
to assure you of how I am being cared for...
Mr. Husband made fish for us yesterday for lunch
on Palm Sunday
and I was napping the whole time.

The fish is underneath...
Mr. Husband is nothing if not efficient. :)
He has been a wonderful husband to me
through all of this.
*
Just last night I was looking up my order
for more baby wool so I can finish up the
baby blanket
and this morning when I awoke
there was a small box
Mr. Husband had put on my chair!
It had come late last night or early
this morning!

The needed wool
and the clearance knitting needles:
a set of 7 circular needles:
 10.5, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, and 35.

I've had fun looking at them,
comparing them to others I have
and thinking of all the things
I can experiment with. 

And I am so happy to know I can keep
knitting the baby blanket.

 

Who knew a year ago that I would be
collecting knitting needles,
yarn and dreaming of things to make?
*
And this weekend I started darning up old slippers of mine
that my Oma made over many years
and I always kept them,
even if the bottoms were very much done in.
It is surprisingly easy to fix them
now that I have yarn and the right
Large-Eye Blunt Needles...
*
I was aware of a deep contentment/happiness 
at being able to just sit and knit.
It reminded me of the love of solitude and 
of clean kitchen counters
I wrote about years before I was blogging
and wrote small poems...
*
And the beauty of the church this weekend;
I felt like I could of been in an Elizabeth Goudge book.
*
So while the exhaustion has been
at times quite high,
God is blessing me in the midst of it.
*
It's really a blessing to have a quiet life,
there are so many tragedies on a global scale
at all times,
that we know about more and more
with the Internet and
the like.
*
It is no wonder that I am drawn to reading
blogs of women who go to church, raise children,
knit and seek to make a safe haven for
their children to grow up in,
all the while chronicling the struggles of
everyday life of raising a family and
seeking to love God.
*
Well,
we do hope I can get better again and soon
but I am seeing at the same time,
anew ~ again ~ as if for the first time
how we are to rejoice in all things
and trust in God's mercy,
all the while asking for God's mercy on us.

poetry says it best

 

Just got info on Mr. Husband's
Christmas Party.
*
I think I will need prayer for this one.
I know what to do to survive;
focus on others and pray.
And be present to the beauty and take pictures.
This will make it good, even very good.
And it's on St. Nicholas Day night and
we can eat fish.
*
It's the crowds and noise that worry me most.
I will have to fight back that worry
and be thankful.
*
Reminds me of this poem by Jane Kenyon.
*
May 1987
After the dinner party
by Jane Kenyon

A late-blooming burgundy hollyhock sways
across the kitchen window in a light breeze
as I draw a tumbler of well-water at the sink.
We’re face to face, as in St. Paul’s Epistles
or the later novels of Henry James.

The cold rains of autumn have begun.
Driving to Hanover I must have seen
a thousand frogs in the headlights
crossing the gleaming road. Like sheep urged
by a crouching dog they converged
and flowed. They do it every fall.
I couldn’t help hitting some.

At dinner I laughed with the rest,
but in truth I prefer the sound
of pages turning, and coals shifting
abruptly in the stove. I left before ten
pleading a long drive home.

The smell of woodsmoke hung
over small villages along the way.

I passed the huge cold gray stone
buildings left by the chaste Shakers.
Any window will still open with one finger. ...