morning gift

To see the morning as gift – this is the prayer of the tired mother. When even the day itself threatens to become one big inconvenience, it must be remade in this whispered offering, made into the day I can rejoice in. To let go of the covers is to give up the warm comforts of self and most coveted sleep, and I open my hands and stumble down the hall and into what I hope is grace to make these steps firm today.

Cries from the crib change to coos in my arms and a big flannel smile. The fire flickers into a blaze and the coffee blooms in the French press, and I can feel some warmth seeping in. It’s not the warmth of the bed, no; it is the warmth of a day begun, a day chosen. A day I may have to offer again so I can live this gift and not let it slip away, not stomp all over it because it is not going my way.

A little boy bounces with joy, wide eyed for the wide open day, and I smile too, whisper a thank you for the day – yes, even the morning.

~lg

{pretty, happy, funny, real} on March 1

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Brought to you by Like Mother, Like Daughter

March is here - hooray! (Or as Arden says, "hoo-hay!")

{pretty}

Arden helping Daddy with maple tree taps 

Pretty carnations last a long time!

We made pipe cleaner jewelry this week.

{happy}

Nothing says happy like flannel jammies! 

Jack is crawling and cruising everywhere these days.

{funny}

The cats have claimed the news chairs.

{real}

Micah got this cute cast iron pan as a Christmas present. It came with a brownie recipe, but it's perfect for one egg!

Happy March to everyone!




~lg

Positions Available: The School of Young Women

The School of Young Women: INSTRUCTORS WANTED IMMEDIATELY

Position: Older Woman

Number of positions available: Infinite

Tenure is permanent, full-time

Positions needed immediately; class enrollment is high

Qualified applicants will have the following qualities:

Reverent behavior

Ability to teach what is good

Personal experience with the course subjects

Applicants will be disqualified for:

Malicious gossip

Too much wine

See course description below:

The School of Young Women

Instructors:         Older Women of the Church

Timetable:          Ongoing

Location:              Various homes

Course Objectives:

·         To promote and sustain the formation of the godly wife, mother and homeworker.

·         To uphold the honour of the word of God

Course text:

·         Titus 2:3-5

·         The word of God

Subjects:

·         The love of one’s husband

·         The love of one’s children

·         The work of the home

·         Character cultivation:

o   Sensibility

o   Purity

o   Kindness

·         Christian marital submission

Specialists currently wanted in the following areas:

Whiny children, time management, sleep deprivation, curbing cabin fever, prayer

Applications many be submitted to your local church.
Alternatively, private tutoring may be offered at any time to the nearest frazzled mother.

{pretty, happy, funny, real} on February 21

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Brought to you by Like Mother, Like Daughter

Thanks to everyone who made suggestions about my living room! I haven't made any big changes yet, but a few bits and pieces are coming together...

{pretty}

This may be a bit odd for a {pretty}, but I think it is!

I've wanted this exact cupboard in my house for a long time. Almost three years, actually. When we first moved here, it was in the old shed, sitting on the dirt floor, covered with cans of oil and other manly sorts of things. I kept asking Micah to bring it in for me, but I don't think he took me seriously! Finally, in the fall, he brought it in to the basement to dry out and fix up. The bottom of the thing had to be cut off because it was rotting, and we considered adding new wood in its place, but in the end, we just left it and added a shelf at the bottom for stability and usefulness.

It is naturally distressed, as you can see. And I love it. Furthermore, it has helped me realize that something has been missing in my living room - a place for pretty things! I'm not sure it will stay in this exact location, but for now, here it is, making me happy.

{happy}

I'm also {happy} with a weekend furniture find for the music room/library!

I purchased these wingbacks in excellent condition for an excellent price. Yes, they are pink, but are part of a larger vision for the living rooms that I'm working on. (And that is Micah's fabulous homemade cat scratching post in the background...)

I love how they create a nice cozy seating area under the chandelier.

Slowly but surely, I know I'm getting somewhere!



~lg

{pretty, happy, funny, real} on February 14

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Brought to you by Like Mother, Like Daughter

{pretty}

Arden's teaset

Watching Daddy throw wood down the wood chute off the pantry

{happy}

I stole a few moments to myself at lunchtime and went out for a bit of a walk. (One of the blessings of having a husband who works from home!) Though not sunny, the day was mild, and I was happy to wander about the property.

{funny}

Fur in motion!

{real}

Since we got our new old kitchen stove, I haven't had a place to hang towels in the kitchen. The current ones I don't mind draping over the cupboard doors or through drawer handles, but I wanted a place to hang the dirty things to dry. This week I found the perfect spot!

Eventually, this part of the house will need to be prettied up. It's a door
(which we cut in half!) off the pantry which leads down to the furnace room.
We always leave the top half open because of the window,
and this is where the wood chute is. 

Now I can just reach over the door and leave things here to dry where they won't be seen! Micah found the towel rack in the basement. (Part of the odd assortment of things we inherited with the house.)

~

And as an aside, I'd like to say Sukie's living room looks lovely! I am in the midst of figuring out what to do, furniture-wise and paint-wise with our two adjoining living rooms, so it is inspiring to see someone else making things work. I came across this picture in one of my copies of The English Home magazine, and I think it would be a lovely look for our music room/library!

Speaking of second hand furniture finds, I have my eye on a few items on kijiji that I think could potentially work! Stay tuned...



~lg

{pretty, happy, funny, real} on February 9

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Brought to you by Like Mother, Like Daughter

{pretty}

{happy}

{funny}

{real}

A link to an evening reflection on contentment and real life that I wrote a little while back.





~lg

{pretty, happy, funny, real} on January 31

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Brought to you by Like Mother, Like Daughter

{pretty}

The morning sun, my daughter being creative. . .

{happy}

Our first try making homemade paint! It wasn't an ideal consistency, but Arden didn't know the difference. (I may have messed it up by adding the dish soap before the cornstarch mixture was cooled down, which made it bubbly instead of smooth.) Anyone have any good recipes for homemade, washable paint?

And here is Jack at 9 months - he is growing fast, and is such a happy little boy. 

{funny}

Jack and the cats!

We recently acquired two new cats from the humane society. (Our dear Scratchy went to cat heaven back in September, and we figured it was time for a feline presence in the house again.) They pulled on our heartstrings with their "Mommy and Me" program, in which you buy a kitten and get the mother for free!

Arden loves the cats (and they put up with her attentions very well, I might add!), but Jack has also taken a keen interest in them.

Here he is crawling over to the mother cat, Milly.

And here he is  crawling as fast as he can after the kitten, Pickwick!

Pickwick. When I first saw him I thought he looked like he'd had a jar of
black ink spilled on him! I simply had to give him a literary name.

It's so nice to have cats in the house again! Two feels just right, and these are lively without being crazy. They were strays and had been in the pound since November, so I think they were grateful for a home. We are happy to have them!

{real}

I am at my wits' end with the living room. Maybe it's cabin fever, I don't know, but I am just so dissatisfied with it. It's never really felt like me. I've been able to arrange second hand furniture and bits and pieces of things in every other room in the house, but this one is just not coming together. (You can see its various versions over the last three years in these posts.)

I moved the furniture last night so that the couch isn't blocking the traffic and view from the main door. But this room has three doors, which makes it quite tricky for furniture arrangement.

This is the view from the door we use to enter the room most often.

The couch is now on the far window wall, instead of facing the window as you come in the room. I like how it opens up the room. That organ, which is currently being used as a tv stand, has to go! It's too dark and big for this room. I have to figure out another tv option that is also babyproof! One of the other issues is that the far corner is the only place we can put the tv (due to the cables and location of power outlets) if we want to keep it in this room.

There are so many doors! Any ideas for furniture placement?

This room, and the adjoining music room, also desperately need a coat of paint. But how do I choose a colour?? I don't want to pick the colour based on these couches. I find them too dark and busy, especially at this time of year, so I am thinking of putting our other old set (currently in the basement) back into the room. But I struggled with finding a paint colour to go with them too.

View into music room. 

Since taking these photos this morning, I went to town and bought a big, neutral drop cloth. I am going to experiment with the drop cloth as a couch cover on our other set of couches. Then I can add colour with other fabrics and cushions, and maybe paint the walls a colour I like! I don't know if it's going to work - it might look a little rumpled. But at this point I am willing to risk rumpled to see if I can get a look that I feel at home in! Any thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions? :)

~lg

Queen of the Realm

I come downstairs after both kids are tucked snugly into bed, one-and-a-half out of two asleep. The house has that disheveled look of a day well lived.

Peepo, one of our favourite books, pulled off the shelf. The table strewn with after-supper artwork and bowls of homemade paint. Pickwick, our new kitten, chasing cheerios and peas across the dining room floor. More socks than the number of children’s feet in this house dropped in diverse places. (They multiply on the floor and disappear in the dryer – oh the strange magic of socks.) One last pile of laundry waiting for a bath. A stray, sticky pot. Bits and pieces of our little life, the evidence of moments spent and shared and sewn together, stitching us together.

For today I’ve held little hands and whole squirming bodies of babies and what seems like a dozen things at once, yet somehow it’s all holding me, and it’s all here.

A sense of accomplishment sneaks up on me, as that of a sovereign surveying her domain with the satisfaction of a realm at rest. The cat looks at me as if I’m being ridiculous.

Yes, I am still going to have to finish the dishes, do that laundry, pick up those socks, sweep the floor, put the hedgehog family (and all their miniature friends and relations) back in the play barn, and otherwise tidy up.

But by some special grace, I am able to see this to-do list tonight as a to-thank list. To take joy in this quiet moment of messy contentment.

To feel somehow like a queen in the midst of a maidservant’s work.

~lg

thankful

Inspired by my amazing sister over at Backwoods Wife to be thankful. . . .

For the moments, however few, that both children are napping at the same time!
For freshly roasted, freshly ground coffee
For the sun shining on the snow
For the cute girl who fits into these cute pajamas that are hanging to dry
For a hardworking husband
For the cuddles that only a nine-month old can give
For friends who pray
For chocolate, of course!


~lg

Once upon a thought

I know it's hard to think, let alone write, in the midst of napless children and sticky tabletops. I'm not even sure why I try, especially when it feels like I have nothing to say. I don't write out of expertise, or completion, or even inspiration. I don't have many "thoughts" about life and home these days, as the subtitle of this blog suggests - I'm too busy living life in this home to think much about it! And maybe that's ok.

~lg