Sisters of Divine Love and Mercy

 

I am over the moon happy!

After more than a decade, my sister was able to canonically establish her order!!

She's the one on the left; isn't she beautiful!!

If you don't know how this works, she was asked by her bishop to found an order of teaching sisters in Ghana.

In order to found an order, the new foundress (and the first few sisters) are formed by an established order, in this case the order my other sister is in: the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT).

The superior of that order is the sister in gray.

If all goes well, after full formation, the foundress and her new sisters make their vows and receive their new habit, and a new order is born: The Sisters of Divine Love and Mercy!

They made their new vows on the feast of the Annunciation, just about this time last week!

I can't tell you how happy and proud I am of her - this is so much more exciting, even than when she got her doctorate.

It's been such an incredible blessing to accompany her on this journey.  Please say a prayer for her and her new order!

Wordless Wednesday: Spring!

 

Gospel Desserts

 

Week 5's Gospel mentioned the grain of wheat (which must die before it will bear fruit).

We tried making rice crispie treats with puffed wheat (and added chocolate and peanut butter chips).

They were pretty good!  Not as crispy, but still very tasty, and we shaped them into giant wheat seed shapes, so that was..  Extra thematic!

Palm Sunday has been a source of some of our strangest Gospel Desserts.  My favorite is still the time I scooped ice cream directly into the hands of the Zoomlians for  Palm Sundaes.  

For some reason, they weren't big fans of that.  I don't know, something about being scarred for life or something.

I can't believe that it never occurred to me: we get actual food from palm trees.

I made a date cake!  I would have gone with coconut, but we have a few who are not coconut fans.  

Anyway, mission accomplished for another Lent, next Sunday is Easter!!

Quick Takes From Zoom: In Praise of Small Projects

 

1. I had a sudden realization that small, fun projects that can be finished in an evening are wonderful.

I'm not a seamstress by any stretch, but I can make pillowcases for my window seat decorative pillows out of any pretty fabric that catches my eye.

Because sewing 3 sides of a rectangle is something I can do!

2. Which led me to the realization that a bag is basically a pillowcase with handles.

I realized this specifically when I saw the Art Deco stained glass fabrics at JoAnn's (I don't get paid by them, just mentioning it in case you love the fabric).

So now I have a knitting bag for my complicated knitting project (for waiting rooms and audiobooks) and one for my simple knitting project (for knitting during movies).

3. In actual fact, I am helping Klenda on a really fabulous sewing project of hers... but I'll have to wait for it to be done to show you.  It's a bit nerve wracking to be the expert advice on something when you are seriously NOT an expert.  It helps to have Mumpy on board.  She has forgotten much more about sewing than I am ever likely to know.

4.Here's a picture of some fresh, clean, delightful smelling crocuses.

I think it's a much nicer picture than a picture of the sewer back up in our basement.

Or me cleaning it up.

But, I tell myself, is it really Lent if you don't have some sort of unpleasant minor disaster to offer up? 

 

 

5. On a happier note, have I mentioned how much I love having my parents living with me?

They are truly some of my favorite people in the world, and we have so much fun together! 

 

 

6. Which reminds me that one of the funniest things I've ever seen was when I showed my parents The Mandalorian, thinking that my dad would really like it, and my mom would be ok with it. 

Well.  My dad really did like it, but my mom totally fell in love with Baby Yoda/Grogu!

We got her a doll for Christmas, and had fun binge watching all the episodes.

Actually, my sister, now vaccinated, is coming for her home visit next month, and we'll probably watch them all again with her!

7. I should mention that my sister is a SOLT sister out in North Dakota, coming on a home visit, as opposed to getting out jail or something.

I haven't seen her in nearly 2 years because of the pandemic, so I'm super excited!

There's just something special about the bond between sisters!

More fun with Kelly!

Mushrooming

 

Let me start off with the fact that I'm not getting paid off by the mushroom people.

Sometime in February, I picked up a mushroom kit from a big box store.  As soon as I opened it, I realized two things: 

1.  It looked nothing like the other two kits I've bought in my life.

2. The store had left it outside so that it had frozen and  thawed most days of the past two months.

It did say on the box that the mushrooms were guaranteed to grow, so I shot them an email.  To my surprise, after getting the information about the box, they simply sent me a new kit, completely free!

And boy, did it grow!

One reason I wanted the kit was that the last time we had grown mushrooms, they convinced Choclo that he didn't hate mushrooms - he hated button mushrooms, but oyster mushrooms are delicious!

I was reading the information that came with the kit, and they said they grew the mushrooms in used coffee grounds.

I decided to experiment with our spent kit by burying the mycelium in some of our own spent coffee grounds (in a large plastic container.  

To our delight, over the course of a a few weeks, we saw the mycelium grow to turn all of our coffee grounds white.

I popped the whole thing out of it's tight fitting container and started giving it extra water.

On the left is that mycelium, now budding new fruiting bodies (mushrooms).

On the right is the older plastic container.  Some of the mycelium stuck to the sides, so I've started filling it with more coffee grounds, and you can see the white patches growing along the sides.

Where will it end?  I have no idea!

But it's been a super fun experiment while it's still too cold to garden, and, the fact is, we all love oyster mushrooms!

Guest blog by Oob: Floyd, Bob and Robert.

 This is a short story of a person (Floyd), his cockatiel (Robert), and their next door neighbor (Bob)

There was once a man named Floyd. There probably still is, really. Floyd lived with his bird, Robert. One day, however, Floyd decided he needed a vacation. Sadly for him, his bird could not come along. So he asked his friend Bob if he could look after Robert while Floyd was gone. Bob said he already had a large dog and thus Robert couldn't come and stay in Bob's house, but he said that he could go and visit Robert a few hours per day. After packing up, Floyd left. What he didn't realize was that he had left a well opened chocolate bar on the counter. Now, you see, chocolate is quite poisonous to birds.
Bob took care of Robert while Floyd was away, but on the day that Floyd was to arrive home, Bob accidentally left the cage door unlocked. When Floyd got home, he saw his bird on the floor, pacing in circles, with a large bite mark in the chocolate bar. Floyd absolutely panicked, and drove Robert to the vet. however, they said he had not eaten any chocolate. Floyd then drove Robert to a science laboratory where they examined Robert with many things, like an MRI (but he was fine afterward. Somehow). They told him he hadn't so much as stepped in any kind of chocolate his whole life.
Perplexed, Floyd took Robert home and then after putting Robert in his cage, walked to his neighbor Bob and asked if he saw Robert eating any chocolate. Bob said he hadn't, but he knew why there was a bite in the chocolate bar anyway.

Bob was the one who'd taken a bite.

Happy Birthday, Klenda?

So, her actual birthday was... a while ago.

But she turned 22, and had a great time!

 Leena helped make the cake, and I helped decorate it.

She got one of the most fun presents I've ever seen for a young adult!

It was a a package of a ton of different candies from Japan, another package with a variety of savory snacks, and a third package of a variety of Japanese drinks. 

Watching her open things and try to translate them, and try different things was a hoot!

22 Great Things About Klenda

1. She is learning Japanese.
2. She has amazing art skills!
3. She stands up for what she thinks is right.
3. She plays the piano a bit and guitar a lot.
4. She loves to read great books.
4. She has the same birthday as the Fourth Doctor.
5. She is a loving and supportive sister.
5. She loves to learn.
6. She seems to be able to teach herself pretty much anything. 7. She has a great sense of style.
7. She's a careful driver.
8. She sees more colors than I do!
9. She sees beauty everywhere.
10. She's a fun dancer.
10. She's a careful observer.
11. She's a very supportive and compassionate friend.
12. She's an integral part of Team Valtapaz.
13. Her chocolate buttercream pie is swoon-worthy.
14.  She's a talented and creative cook.
14. She's an excellent baker.
15.  She's got a green thumb.
16. She's always up for an adventure.
16. She always does more than the minimum.
17. She's an out of the box thinker.
18. She makes great mixtapes.
19. She's always willing to lend a hand.
19. She's very good at puzzles.
20. Her critical thinking is the key to her success.
21. She's Ultra cool.
21. She shines in multiple fandoms.
22. She loves to support other artists.
22. Her love of God shines.

Poem of the Week: I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

 I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

By William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Our First Daffodils This Spring!

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed—and gazed—but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

 

HT: Poetry Foundation

Seven Quick Takes: The End of the Lockdown

 

1. Wednesday was a huge day for us!

Green for St. Patrick, and 3 gold stars for the Trinity

Yes, it was St. Patrick's Day, but it was also the first day of full immunity after getting our second dose of vaccine.  I credit St. Patrick with making it happen!

With 10 people in the house including my medically fragile parents, we qualified as a group living situation and we all (except our two youngest) got the Pfizer vaccine and had no problems.

We went to Mass in person at a parish for the first time in a literal year.  I can't even express what that was to us, but may I never take Mass for granted again!

2. We couldn't cook for the homeless for St. Patrick's Day, but we were able to bring some corned beef and cabbage to some folks we knew, and that was super fun, if we couldn't be together for the meal.

For one friend going through a rough time, I put together a bouquet of almost every kind of flower I have blooming.The big ones are double Lenten roses which I love!

I also have crocuses, but I've never figured out how to use them in a bouquet.

 

 

3. Speaking of the garden, I noticed that my metal blue herons were getting rusty, so I repainted them.

I first painted them white, but then I thought they looked like storks... twin storks.

And, as menopause continues it's weirdness, I just couldn't!

So I added some blue and they ended up looking rather sky colored.

So I decided I liked that and moved on!

I had actually started out repainting white wicker baskets for the parish Easter decorations, so this was a side project since I had the spray paint in hand.

4. And speaking of the parish Easter decorations, my library looks like a jungle.

A jungle where a plane carrying books and legos crashed.  But landed in a pile of laundry, so all the people escaped unscathed.

This is partly because the plant prices at my usual plant place have been crazy (seriously $14 for a single small Easter lily?!), so I've been buying plants hither and yon.

And partly because I was sure that I had room to start my dahlias in pots this year.

And partly because I started my seeds too early and had to put some of them in pots.

I actually did have room for any one of those. 

5. Which brings us to the lily debate.  

I am quite allergic to Easter lilies, but my mom is dangerously allergic to them - the reaction gives her heart problems, and she can't attend Mass where there are lilies.

This, combined with the ludicrous lily prices made me think about going with calla lilies this year.  

So I polled the Hyatts hive mind (an email group of over 100 women) about how essential the trumpet lilies were to their Easter experience.  The answers all came back that they didn't need the lilies, especially if there was an allergy issue. 

 I realized that, after that response, no one would want to come out and say the lilies were really important to them, so I invited people to email me privately.

I got exactly one private email, which I opened with great trepidation, but it said: "Actually, they smell like cat pee to me, I'd love to skip the trumpet lilies!"  

6. Another advantage to vaccination, the boys went off and got actual professional haircuts!

I've been cutting 10 heads of hair for a year. 

I used to cut all the kids' hair before they hit their mid teens, so I had some experience, and I definitely got better over the course of some 40-50 haircuts, but...

They weren't looking as stylish as this!

7. THANK YOU!  I know that a number of people who read this blog, even if only through the Quick Takes, have prayed for us.  Having my parents (and the rest of us) make it through the pandemic safely had been a huge strain and a humbling experience in a lot of ways.  Thank you for your prayers, and please know that I am praying for you and yours until we are all safe.  God bless you!

More with Kelly!

Chemistry

 

Believe it or not, we aren't done with the high school chemistry class yet!

Usually I do two classes a week, both of which are lecture and lab, and I finish by mid December at the latest.  

This time I am doing one class most weeks because...2020-21 is life on hard mode?  I also only have one other student besides Choclo and Oob, and he has been attending via Skype with his mom as his lab partner.

 

 

That's actually about to change now that most of us have been vaccinated, and not a moment too soon.  

We only have three classes left, but they are the classes I've been super worried about how to do over Skype.

This week's class, for example, has us splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen gases which we then light on fire!

Great time to go in person (with masks and social distancing).

Wordless Wednesday: Spring Hikes

 

Gospel Desserts Week 3 and 4

 

The Gospel for the third Sunday had Jesus cleansing the Temple by making a whip of cords (and flipping tables and what not).

I went with the theme of "whipped," and we had a whipped pistachio mousse topped with whipped cream.

I totally cheated on the mousse.  It's instant pistachio pudding (a long time guilty pleasure), sifted to remove the nut fragments and folded into whipped cream to lighten it up.

Honestly: super easy and soooooo good!

Which brings us to last Sunday when it was an extremely complex and abstract Gospel, and Laetare Sunday, and Pi Day, AND Daylight Savings Time horrible switch.

And it's the only day for dessert, so...

We had pink lemonade (pi)es with chocolate chip snakes on them because Jesus mentioned "Just as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the dessert desert, so will the Son of Man be lifted up."

He also talked about being the light of the world, and the pies were super light and fluffy.

Did I mention the time change may have made me a little loopy?

Anyway, it's another easy dessert: 1 can of pink lemonade concentrate, two tubs of whipped topping, 1 can of sweetened condensed milk, and one (softened) brick of cream cheese.  

The original recipe had no cream cheese and 2 cans of condensed milk, but I knew from experience that that would be too sweet for us, and the cream cheese also stabilized the texture.

Gospel Desserts Week 1 and 2

 

The first Sunday of Lent always has the gospel about Jesus going into the dessert desert.

This year's gospel was the super short one from Mark.  It doesn't give a lot of detail, but it mentions that Jesus was in the desert for 40 days among the wild beasts.

Beasts are good!  I have a ton of animal cookie cutters!

I made sugar cookie dough and kept adding cocoa powder so that I had 4 different shades of dough that, when the chunks were mixed together,  blended beautifully as I rolled them out,.

They were pretty, but not very sweet, especially as we got into the darker cocoa sections, so I made them into sandwiches with a bit of frosting.  

 

That had the added effect of halving the number of cookies so that they all disappeared the same day!

The second week's gospel was the Transfiguration, when Jesus revealed his glory.

So we made this nice chocolate cake...

That, when opened, revealed a "glorious" interior!