Goings On and On and On

  Stinky Kitchen posted a really delicious recipe for spinach, onions and peppers eggs.  Not so much because I needed a recipe for this but I hadn't thought to add spinach and sautee it first. Most people say ugh to spinach but it is actually very good sauteed with peppers and onions.  Just this morning when the plain ol' boring eggs without a stitch of anything were made I sauteed up some of these and just added them in.  Delicious and full of nutrients.

 Aragorn had wanted some italian sausage in his.

 My first following of the recipe looked ugly but still tasted delicious.

 It's that time of year to clear off the fields for winter.  This year we will plant rye for a nice spring harvest. No time lost or nutrition wasted.  Perhaps we'll even try grinding rye for bread.

 Just a lovely little local road-side chapel.

 Unfortunately I cannot remember what it was in memorial of... maybe someone local remembers.

 Trying to get the house re-sealed-painted-stained.  Frodo has no height-qualms.  He did not get that from me. Believe me.

 Just taking the picture gave me the willies.  This week I learned of 2 people asking for money. So if you feel so inclined, a large local family with many little ones are looking for money towards winterizing their house HERE and Fr. Z had some donation requests HERE.

 Girlies and kitties

 Kili was not very happy when the sides of the pool were coming down, he was trying to push them back up.

 Of course, it was perhaps silly to take it down as fall has been just about the same as it was all summer! Today is suppose to be 80 as it was yesterday. But nights are cooler and shortly we know it will simply be cold.

 Who wants to take a pool down when it is cold?!

 Eating with a fork is tedious work.

 With the little wingie-dingie curls sticking out, all he needs is a little propeller on top of his head....

 Please note that no child... or parent... was hurt in this display of Karate moves.

 Spectators.

 Just playing at the church playground while the school-age children were at drama.  The first play this year is St. George and the Dragon.  Frodo is St. George, Galdariel is Princess Saba and a doctor, Eowyn is Mother Christmas, Rosie is the King and a turkish knight (can you tell we are short on males?), Eleanor is the Queen, Merry is the Egyptian Knight, Pippin and Bilbo are Mummers.

 Once again we were blessed to attend a Shakespeare Play at the American Players Theater with our homeschooling group.

 This week we saw an outstanding production of Much Ado about Nothing. It was fantastic.

 This week some of us will see Romeo and Juliet.

Photo day at Holy Family Homeschoolers.

Exaltation of the Holy Cross & the Sorrowful Mother

 In the year 326 the mother of Constantine, Helena, then about 80 years old, having journeyed to Jerusalem, undertook to rid the Holy Sepulchre of the mound of earth heaped upon and around it, and to destroy the pagan buildings that profaned its site. Some revelations which she had received gave her confidence that she would discover the Saviour's Tomb and His Cross. The work was carried on diligently, with the co-operation of St. Macarius, bishop of the city. The Jews had hidden the Cross in a ditch or well, and covered it over with stones, so that the faithful might not come and venerate it. Only a chosen few among the Jews knew the exact spot where it had been hidden, and one of them, named Judas, touched by Divine inspiration, pointed it out to the excavators, for which act he was highly praised by St. Helena. Judas afterwards became a Christian saint, and is honoured under the name of Cyriacus.During the excavation three crosses were found, but because the titulus, the title of the Cross, namely INRI, was detached from the Cross of Christ, there was no means of identifying it. Following an inspiration from on high, Macarius caused the three crosses to be carried, one after
the other, to the bedside of a worthy woman who was at the point of death. The touch of the other two was of no avail; but on touching that upon which Christ had died, the woman got suddenly well again.

 Let us, therefore, not be ashamed of the Cross of Christ. You openly seal it upon your forehead that the devils may behold the royal sign and flee trembling, far away. Make then this sign at eating and drinking, at sitting, at lying down, at rising up, at speaking, at walking: in a word, at every act.
(From the Fourth Catethetical Lecture by St Cyril of Jerusalem)

 According to an ancient legend, the wood of the Cross upon which Christ was crucified, was taken
from that tree which was the source of the fruit of the fall in the Garden of Eden. When Adam died,
the legend states, Seth obtained from the Cherubim guarding the Garden, a branch of the tree from
which Eve ate the forbidden fruit. Seth planted this branch at Golgotha (the place of the skull), which is so named because Adam was buried there. As time went on, the Ark of the Covenant, the pole upon which the bronze serpent was lifted, and other items were made from this tree.

 Apart from the Cross, there is no other ladder

by which we may get to Heaven.

St. Rose of Lima

If God gives you an abundant harvest of trials, it is a sign of great holiness which He desires you to attain. Do you want to become a great saint? Ask God to send you many sufferings. The flame of Divine Love never rises higher than when fed with the wood of the Cross, which the infinite charity of the Savior used to finish His sacrifice. All the pleasures of the world are nothing compared with the sweetness found in the gall and vinegar offered to Jesus Christ. That is, hard and painful things endured for Jesus Christ and with Jesus Christ.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola

 SEVEN SORROWS

The prophecy of Simeon. (St. Luke 2: 34, 35)

The flight into Egypt. (St. Matthew 2:13-14)

The loss of the Child Jesus in the temple. (St. Luke 3: 43-45)

The meeting of Jesus and Mary on the Way of the Cross.

The Crucifixion.

The taking down of the Body of Jesus from the Cross.

The burial of Jesus. 

See if there be any sorrow

like to my sorrow.

From the moment of conception, Our Blessed Mother was full of grace. Each day, because she was free from any stain of sin, She grew in holiness and unity with God.  When Christ died on the Cross, she felt it deeply within her heart, mind and soul,  Because her unity with Her Son was so perfected, her pain must have been the most intense pain any human ever suffered, next to Christ Himself. She will never fail us in our sufferings and trials. Bring them to Her!

The Children of Mary are, above all

and forever, the children of the Cross.

Random Picture Thoughts

 Just hangin' around waiting for the legs to grow longer.

 My freckle-faced punk.

 "Caution vehicle driven by blind man."

 Too short.... again.

 Hey, ma, I've got work to do!

 Our choir celebrated the birthday of Our Lady after choir practice.

 One of our splendid tenors!

 After classes I came down to discover the mess creativity of the tots.

 They were very pleased with their work.

 Our newest member of our zoo is Chi-chi the chincilla.

He came with a lovely hutch. I'm thrilled as it has been many years since we've had chinchillas.