This week has been fabulous! It is so good to be back at school, in the old familiar routines. They fit like a glove and feel very comfortable 🥰
New Computer Set Up
I have a new computer set up now to make it easier for me to blog. Gary bought me a key board which attaches by Bluetooth to my iPad enabling me to use it for my blogging. This means blogging is mobile for me. I don’t have to sit in our very very cold hallway, download photos off my camera, write my posts… I can literally write them anywhere. I already have an iPhone, so I have started taking photos using that. This means that I no longer need to upload photos. They just magically appear from my phone on my iPad. It’s so crazy easy, I can’t believe I didn’t do it sooner! Charlotte has lent me her portable table, so when Gary is fast asleep (he gets up very early so needs to tuck down earlier than me), I can set up my blog and write at night when all is quiet. I might just manage to blog regularly this year!!
Time Alone for Reading
I have been enjoying my quiet time each day. Although I have aimed for an hour at lunch each day, I haven’t yet managed a whole hour. None the less it has been a worthwhile endeavour. I am reading ‘Mum Heart Moments’ by Sally Clarkson which is a yearly devotional book. From the back of the book: ‘A mother living well is of great beauty and inestimable value to the future of any generation. Her impact is irreplaceable and necessary to the spiritual formation of her children. Fun, comfort, humour, grace, spiritual passion, compassion, hospitality, chores, meals, training, life giving words, hours and hours of listening and playing and praying and reading – all are parts of the mosaic of soul development.’ It is wonderful each day to be injected with some motherly wisdom. I pray that I am a mother living well.
Theology of Home and Hospitality During Covid
Another book I am reading is the Theology of Home by Gress, Mering and Schrieber. It is written by a Catholic, so there is a deep thread of Catholicism running through the heart of it, but I am thoroughly enjoying all it has to offer. It’s first chapter was all about creating a welcome entrance to our home, in terms of attitude, love and the willingness to always ensure the door is open to all who need a place to rest:
Any book which quotes C S Lewis has my vote! It is much harder at the moment to welcome in those who visit. It is now against the law to meet up with anyone outside your bubble (ie our family plus my mum) on your own grounds. We can meet up with one other for a social distanced walk but that’s it. An old friend dropped by the other day, and I was confused by what I should do. In a normal situation I would immediately invite them in. Of course. No question. But what do you do when the law states you can’t? I was on the spot and I didn’t do myself proud. I said hi, and chatted a few moments, and then excused myself as quickly as I could. Was I welcoming? No. Did I offer hospitality? No. I did not do myself proud. I have thought long and hard about what I should have done. It was freezing out. Should I have broken the law and invited them in? Should I have offered tea and stood outside with them, still breaking the law? Or perhaps offered to go for a socially distanced walk off our property, thus staying within the law? How do we show hospitality during a lockdown? How do I create a welcoming entrance when I am not allowed to invite anyone over the threshold?
I don’t have any answers, but I am giving it much thought 🧐
For now though I will do what I can with the people God has given me within my bubble. I will welcome them, I will love them and I will show hospitality to them. I may not be able to do much for those I am not now legally allowed to invite into my home, but I can work hard to care for those already under my roof (and living next door).
Making Homemade Stock and Homemade Pet Food
One of the reasons the girls use workbooks in the morning is that it gives me a little bit of time to do housework, homemaking and cooking. They are completely independent. This week I have been making homemade broth. Each Thursday I have a delivery of Organic box fruit and vegetables, with a small selection of meat. One thing I always buy is an organic chicken as well as a chicken carcass. Both come with the offal attached in a plastic bag.
I have been making my own stock for the past few weeks. Usually I just give the dog any left over chicken, but this time I kept both the cooked flesh and the vegetables, added some rice and stock and made a huge pot full of homemade dog food for the rest of the week. He kept me company the whole time, desperate for any tiny bit of food:
He thought if he sat there like a good boy I would give in…and of course I did, just a little…
Praying you are all wringing as much joy as possible out of this tricky season xx