Being Lectured By My Daughter is Another Milestone

This is absolutely bonkers, but by goodness, I'm going to start blogging on this platform again!

Life continues even when I'm not blogging, it's true. But then the milestones, the daily victories or tragedies, get left behind in a cloud of dust and become murky and translucent, like ghosts. 

For that reason I'm just going to continue here, on blogger. 

This morning I found some of my posts in my old email account and they warmed my soul, brought back such lovely memories, and had me longing to resume publishing content about my life as a mom of one incredible child.

For instance, last night my amazing daughter, who is all grown up now, taught her first lecture in her masters level theology class. Last weekend she presented this lesson to me, and, well, it took my breath away. She is brilliant, and grows more so every day.

This is a photo of her presenting her lecture to me. 

This photo was taken just before she left to go to her class...

Honestly, the lecture was about environmental theology, and it is so complicated I can't even explain it, but it was so enlightening that I feel changed by it.

I'm excited about having this outlet for gushing over my daughter's accomplishments, for writing about my life, too, and for connecting with all of you.

Hope you are having the best day, but if you are not, hang in there, tomorrow is another day.

DMC (aka Faith)

Casa Loma Field Trip

Today we went on a homeschool field trip to Casa Loma in Toronto.  I have lived in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) for many years and I have never been there, so going with my daughter was a real treat.  Isn't it beautiful?

We were very lucky to see Mozart's Magical Castle by Opera Atelier. The children were mesmerized as the performers sat on the floor with them and sang actual songs from The Magic Flute.  It truly was magical.

  Casa Loma was begun in 1911 and took 300 men nearly 3 years to complete.  It cost $3,500,000 to build at that time. At 98 rooms, Casa Loma is the largest house in Canada.  Sir Henry Pallatt who built Casa Loma, enjoyed his new home for less than 10 years before financial misfortune forced him to abandon his castle home.  It is a sad story, but not surprising, considering the scope of the project and the changes in the economy due to World War I. 

 

From secret stairways....

.....to beautiful furniture....(this chair was kind of hard  on the elbows)

...to amazing architecture, like this, The Round Room...these chairs are very special--Louis XIV...

...to 800 foot secret passageways that link the main house to the garden shed, garage and horse stable...



 ...to the best views in the city...

...to everything from Dragons....

...to Santa...

 

Casa Loma is a great place to visit anytime,

but especially over the holidays, as they have many more programs.

DMC

Old-Fashioned Baked Beans French-Canadian Style

Here is the recipe for Old Fashioned French-Canadian Style Baked Beans that I promised I'd share.  It is a wonderful recipe which involves 7 hours of baking. Anything that one bakes for 7 hours with molasses and brown sugar and bacon just has to be wonderful!  

The first step is to get the beans ready.  Use navy beans and sort them, removing any shrivelled or damaged beans.  Then soak them for 24 hours.  After that boil them until they are tender and split.   Once they are done, drain them.  Then put them in a big pot, or you can mix them in a bowl and then put them in the pot, like I did.

 

Put in chopped onion.  I also put in garlic.  I will share the recipe video at the end of this post for all the measurements, etc.

 Then I added some molasses, ketchup and a bit of bbq sauce.  The recipe called for 1 and 1/2 cups of ketchup, so I did about half and half with bbq sauce and ketchup.  I incorporated several recipes, and took the parts of each that I liked best.  This is a great recipe to personalize with whatever you like best.

 Then brown sugar, cider vinegar and mustard powder.  Again, mustard powder is from a different recipe, but I chose to use it instead of regular mustard.

 Then bacon that I pre-cooked (from another recipe) but this recipe says you can just chop it up and add it.  They also recommend salt pork.  Then you add some water.

 I added some bacon in on the top because that is what they recommended.  It is nice to find those pieces of bacon in the beans.  Doesn't it look yummy?

 Then cover for some slow baking on low, 250-300 degrees F. for 6 - 7 hours.  Check on them every hour, add water if they are too dry and molasses if they need thickening. 

 

This is how they came out.  They were great the first day, but by the second day the flavours were really fantastic.

 

Here is the link for the video.  Old Fashioned French Canadian Baked Beans.   

 

 

 

 

 

Our Jesse Tree

Last year we discovered a great treasure.  For years we struggled to keep Christ in Christmas amid the bustle of pre-Christmas shopping and endless preparations, activities and distractions.  Consumerism was definitely taking over our Christmas despite our efforts to prevent it.  Then last year I was looking for ideas for advent and there it was, a blog post about the Jesse Tree.

The Jesse Tree is not a real tree.  It is symbolic.  It represents the lineage of Jesus which began with Jesse, King David's father.

"There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,

and a branch shall grow out of his roots.^"

Isaiah 11:1

 

The devotions begin on December 1st.  Each day in December, up to and including Christmas Day, there is a wonderful devotion that tells, incrementally, the story -- the real story -- of Chist.  We purchased a little book from Amazon last year, The Advent Jesse Tree which we really enjoy, but there are many versions and you can choose the one that is just right for your family.   Last year it was about $5, this year I saw one for $232 so it is wise to shop around. 

Each day includes a memory verse, a list of hymns to sing and two sets of devotions with corresponding prayers.  One devotion is for children and the other is for adults.  They both have scripture readings that correspond to that days particular story about Christ.  Each day also has a corresponding symbol which can be made into ornaments.  Here are some of ours:

We made these by hand last year out of felt, using an online source for inspiration. Here is the link.   Feels Like Home Blog, it also has a devotional similar to the book for younger children.

 

We hang the ornaments from branches that we suspend from our ceiling because of our cats, who really love the branches to eat, and the ornaments to play with.

 

When we do our Jesse Tree devotional, it usually goes something like this:

 

First we sing a song, read the scripture verses, do the devotion and pray...

Then we hang the ornament...

and finally we have our treat.

The Jesse Tree is a wonderful tradition.

 

Merry Christmas!

 

 

A Day in My Life

Today I thought I would do a Day in the Life post.  Please note that I have PTSD and fibromyalgia and other stuff, so my day can get a bit hectic and chaotic just because I mess things up regularly.

I start my day as early as possible with a little kitty love.  This is integral for the cats and for myself.  You'll see why later.  I literally sit on the floor and just cuddle with whoever is in need of affection. 

I try to always always start my day with a Bible study.  This is very grounding and really sets the tone for the day.  I highly recommend it. 

Next I do some planning.  This is so important, because without it I just get lost lost lost.  Here I am rescheduling some schooling that we missed this week.  I'll try to post about the program I use sometime next week. You can see by that giant fuzzy tail that someone did not get his lovin' fix at the love-in when I got up.

Exercise is next on my list of things to do.  Whether it is a few stretches, a short walking tape or some calisthenics.  I have fibromyalgia and I find it really helps just to move every day. 

Then I get dressed and do a bunch of chores, breakfast, family Bible study and usually we start school.  Today however we have errands, cleaning and cooking to do.   I decide to make pulled pork in the slow cooker:

and baked beans from a recipe I found online...sorting the beans made me think of my mom because I remember watching my mom sort beans.  It's a nice memory, especially when I'm thinking about Christmas.

 

Of course, one kitty love-in in a day is not enough. Now it's my daughter's turn.  There's nothing like a good belly rub to soothe the soul of both the giver and the receiver.

Pulled pork in slow cooker, beans soaking, we head out to run errands including grocery shopping.     

 

We come home, have lunch and relax for a bit and then in the afternoon we clean the rest of the house.  I did some yesterday.  I also have to find a better recipe for the baked beans because the one I am using isn't working, which is very frustrating.  I'll post the recipe for the baked beans on Monday.  

 

Then we head out for a fast food dinner (not planned, but the baked beans were not even close to done).  After dinner we went to look at Christmas lights.

 Then we headed to an Edwardian Christmas House Tour at a local museum.  The museum contained this piano, which I love because I had one almost just like it as a child.  Love the kitchen too.

 Then we head into town.  They had horse drawn carriage rides and the stores are open late.  There is also hot chocolate and music.  The town will be featured on a television program in January.  Our favourite stop of the night was the antique store.

By this time I am tired and achy, but not done.  We checked out one of our favourite displays:  my daughter pointed out the Ontario Hydro line-workers paying homage to the saviour.

Then a bit of shopping and home.  One local store has just posted a giant sign that they are open 24 hours a day until Christmas, so of course we had to go.  By this time I am exhausted and it is late.  I do not finish the beans or anything else.  No blogging either, hence why I am doing this now (Saturday night).

It was a good, full day.  I enjoyed it. 

DMC

Horseback Riding Lesson

Horseback riding lessons are wonderful. 

The horses, fresh air and open space calms the spirit and refreshes the soul.

They also teach many skills.

Grooming the horse.
 

The Lesson:  learning new skills and practicing old ones.

 

Done the lesson.

 

Heading back to the barn.

Big Smile

Horse Treats

 

Kitten!

 

DMC

Home Reno Update

There are areas in my home that are a mess....still.  I say 'still' because of posts earlier on this blog that show just how messed up things are.   It is very frustrating and at times extremely disheartening.  Because of my PTSD I have a difficult time following through with plans, keeping track of stuff, you know?  I just forget about it.  It is unpleasant to have a basement that is a mess and unfinished due to a flood, so I just kind of block it out.  It is part of PTSD and therefore part of my life.

Soooo...I thought I would use the blog as a tool to help get me on track and keep me there.  There are three main areas that I need to fix:  basement recroom,  my bedroom, and the basement storage/laundry room.  I would also like to redo the upstairs bathroom and decorate the basement bathroom.

I have done lots of work on the basement...ok...I have done some work on the basement.  I scrubbed the floor, moved around the furniture, decluttered and sorted almost all the boxes, and came very very close to buying floor paint.  Here are some progress pictures:

 

Things do look better now.  The walls are done and lots of clutter is gone.  This gives  me hope.

 

I took this picture today:

It still looks really messy, but it is organized  chaos~~really.

Those big boxes are all Christmas decorations~~truly.

 

Oh heck, I think I better go down there and tidy that mess up

so that it doesn't look so terrible and then

I will post another pic that tells a better tale. 

DMC