"Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God" ~ a Book Review

Our family spent the month of June and part of July reading The Story of the TrappFamily Singers.  For those of you who loved the movie, The Sound of Music, this is that story even better! It is the complete story.  It is a very faith filled read. For those of you, who like my husband rather detested The Sound of Music, trust me, you will enjoy this story very much.

The truth, this speaks of many things that were happening between WWI and WWII and are seen through the life of an European family. They experienced the depression first hand and adjusted.  They had to leave their home and countrymen with only the clothes on their backs so as not to cause suspicion.  They left because it came to a choice of truly practicing their faith or turning their back on God and following what MAN was instructing them to do.

So the father of the family, Georg, when facing this decision with his family said, "We have now the precious opportunity to find out for ourselves whether the words we heard and read so often can be taken literally: 'Seek ye first the kingdom of God and HIs justice: and all these things will be added unto you.' " (pg. 126)

And so all throughout the story that is told by the mother, Maria, we see how God is with them at every step. It is not an easy path.  Some times seem very dark and uncertain, but they continue to show us how to trust ~ truly trust that God will shelter, cloth and feed them.

What a wonderful example that is SO needed in our lives today.  It was an eye-opening experience for my family to read through this story together. We had great discussions about forgotten customs and rituals of our faith.  We were able to talk a little about WWII in both America and in Europe. 

I would like to highly recommend that you put this on your reading list.  Whether it can be a family read or just something for you to read, it is a wonderful, honest story. One that I believe will compel you to think about your relationship with God. Something we should think about every day.

Thanks for stopping by!

God Bless,
Kate

Please spread the word

The symbol below is how the Muslims in Iraq are marking the property of Christians in Iraq.

URGENT - WE BEG ALL CATHOLICS TO JOIN IN ADORATION ON AUGUST 1st, DAY OF PRAYER, ADORATION AND SOLIDARITY FOR PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS IN IRAQ, SYRIA & MIDDLE EAST

In solidarity with our Persecuted Brethren in Iraq and Syria

Friday, August 1, 2014

This was the day chosen by the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP) for a worldwide day of Public Adoration of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament in supplication for our persecuted brethren in Iraq, Syria, and the Middle East:

The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter asks all of its apostolates around the world to dedicate Friday, August 1 to a day of prayer and penance for the Christians who are suffering terrible persecution in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East.

August 1 is the First Friday of the month and the Feast of St. Peter in Chains, which is celebrated as a Third Class Feast in FSSP houses and apostolates. It is the feast in which we read of the great power of the persevering prayer of members of the Church: “Peter therefore was kept in Prison. But prayer was made without ceasing by the Church unto God for him.” (Acts 12:5)

This feast of our Patron should be an invitation to the faithful to join us in Holy Hours and other fitting prayers to beg the Most Holy Trinity that these members of the Mystical Body may persevere in the faith, and that, like St. Peter, they may be delivered from this terrible persecution. May such a day serve as a reminder to us of the stark contrast that stands between our days of vacation and ease, and their daily struggle for survival as they are killed or exiled from their homes. (Source)

It is a day, we believe, chosen wisely by that Fraternity: we please upon all our Catholic brethren, East and West, attached to the Ordinary Form (Mass of Paul VI) or to the Extraordinary Form (Ancient Mass), whatever their theological bent, to join this worldwide prayer day. Whether you consider yourself a more liberal, conservative, traditional, or just plain Catholic, let us join together in this worldwide Adoration of Our Lord Jesus Christ, together with all the Angels and Saints.

It is also appropriately chosen because Pastors and Chaplains will have 10 days to prepare properly, to contact projects that help Christians in need and collect all kinds of contributions for the Christians of the Middle East (from Aid to the Church in Need to CNEWA, the Syrian and Chaldean Catholic Churches, and other organizations), and, in particular, to add to their bulletins and convey to their congregations how to participate next Sunday, July 27.

Please, spread this initiative around. No need to link to us, or to even mention you saw it here -- just copy, paste, and just let this idea spread around throughout the world, through the web, through social networks, to your family and friends.

Bishops, Pastors, priests, join us. First Fridays are a special day of the month, and nothing better next First Friday, August 1, than for all Catholics around the world to join in Adoration before Our Lord to implore his mercy and kindness for our most neglected brethren in Iraq, Syria, and throughout the Middle East.

Color Experiment ~ lots of color!

So I managed to take some more pictures.  Then I managed to get them onto the computer.

So here are the rest of the colors we have done so far.  I asked MK to spin the green and the blue together.  She is not thinking too highly of that but I think it will look really neat!

Enjoy! And thanks for stopping by.

God Bless
Kate

Color experiment #1

So this is the result of our first kool-aid dying.  We didn't use enough kool-aid and the result was a very PINK fleece.  I thought I had pictures of our purple attempt but I can't find it. 
We did green on Saturday and are waiting for the blue to finish up today.  Blue seems to take a longer time to completely soak in.

MK plans to soak yarn once spun in vinegar to make sure that the color stays.  Other than that it is very easy.  We are just taking 4 packages of kool-aid. We started with 2 but that is why we ended up with pink.  So we decided to up the amount.  So we use 4 packages to 2 ounces of fleece.  We are using our white merino/corriedale fleece. ( ika ~ Bones). I take the kool-aid, boil some water (about a cup to a cup and a half) add the boiled water to the kool-aid in a small jar and then stir to make sure the kool-aid completely dissolves.  Then I pour the kool-aid mixture into a large kettle that I don't use for anything else.  I add about 2 to 4 quarts of water to this to cool it down so I am not shocking the fleece.  Then I lay the fleece in.  I try to put the fleece in a little at a time so that it enters the dye fairly evenly.  
Lastly we just let it sit in the kettle covered for about 24 to 48 hours.  As I said early those dyes with blue in them seem to take longer.  The pink and green only took a day.  You remove the fleece once the water is clear when you press down the fleece.  The dye is completely absorbed and the water runs clear.  It is so cool! 

I am hoping to post the green and blue later this week. Not sure if I can manage to get them posted but I will try.

Thanks for reading.
God Bless,
Kate

Didn't Realize

Hi Everyone,

Didn't realize that it has been almost a month since I last posted.  We have been busy.  We dyed some fleece with kool-aid.  It was fun, easy and not messy.  The first batch didn't turn out as dark as we were hoping and then second batch we used different fleece so again we weren't real happy with it.  As they say, we are hoping the third time is a the charm.  I don't have the pictures loaded yet but will try to get them up on Friday.

Meanwhile, MK has been spinning the fleece we recently washed.  It is really turning out great! I want to call it Fudge Marble because that is what it reminds me of Fudge Marble Ice cream.  Let me know what you think.

Hoping to post some colored fleece pictures on Friday.  

Thanks for stopping by!

Answer Me This...

1. Do you have a land line? No we no longer have a land line.  It was more economical for us to purchase a cheap cell phone and purchase minutes.

2. What is you least favorite food? Lima beans and Rutabega ~ in general I like vegetables and all sorts of other stuff but these two particular ones I won't be serving.  Actually, I serve lima beans because we have strange people in our household who actually like them. 

3. What's on your summer reading list? The list is pretty long as I am pre-reading some stuff for the kids classes next year. I will be finishing up THE INTRODUCTION TO THE DEVOUT LIFE quite soon.  Then I plan to move on to CONSECRATION TO JESUS THROUGH MARY. Next up is HOW TO READ A BOOK; PHILIP II OF SPAIN; ISABEL OF SPAIN; THE LAST CRUSADE.
Can't say that I will not have any light reading.  I will probably squeeze something in that is a little lighter.

4. Is there something people consistently ask your advice on? What is it? No.  I don't think there is.  I find it interesting to arrive at this answer but there we have it. 

5. What's the most physically demanding thing you've done? Okay ~ besides give birth to six children?  I have to say milking a jersey cow twice a day every day for three years.  I did have really nice looking arms though. :)

6. How do you feel about massages? I love them!  Although I have only ever had one done by a professional.  We give each other shoulder rubs and foot massages a lot in my household.  So I like them.
To view other people's answer head on over to this website.

Take care & God Bless,
Kate

 http://www.catholicallyear.com/

First attempts at processing our fleece

So ~ I finally got around to washing a little bit of our fleece.  We purchased a dog comb per Cary's suggestion for a cheap way to comb fiber.  We also used Cary's suggestions for washing the fiber.  It turned out pretty good I think.  MK is loving working with and I am loving the colors that are coming out.  I can't wait for her to spin it and see what that looks like!  Here are some pics that I had promised to post.

Hope you enjoyed them!  I hope you can see all the mix of colors in the last picture.  We used George's fleece.  He was a CVM/Corriedale/Merino mix.  What can I say ~ we tend to go for mutts. :)
Thanks for stopping by!
God Bless,
Kate

Just Pondering

I recently had a discussion with my spiritual adviser about my writing.  His advice ~ just do it and see if it bears fruit.  ON the way home today , I realized that I also really enjoy teaching. I don't always like the response of the students or all the paperwork, but the actual working to engage students in the discussion that I really enjoy. Unfortunately, it would seem that neither one of these are something I am really capable of doing to earn a living. I haven't truly tired writing, especially Catholic writing. I have thought several times about writing about our experience over the past two years. Larry's illness, our shift in focus, our spiritual growth both as a family and as individuals. So the invective to just do it ~ I am not sure what writing that should be. Should it be fiction, sort stories, essays? Dose it matter if the invective is to just do it? I guess not .So my first endeavor will be to go find a play I wrote a VERY long time ago and see what it reads like now.
Wish me luck and grace!

God Bless,
Kate

Spring!

Spring finally made it!  I know that it has been here for a bit but it took so long that I wanted to make sure.
We have finally burst out of the winter snow cover.  Trees are in bloom and so far I think we have a good chance at getting fruit this year.
The apple trees were buzzing as were our plums.
I snapped some pictures of our lilac bush and one of the many projects I have been working on.  This one has a deadline though so it is currently getting priority.

Thanks for the visit and I hope you are enjoying your spring!

God Bless!
Kate

Answer Me This ~

I decided to participate in this weekly blog starter....these are my answers to this week's questions.  Enjoy!
1. Are you becoming your mother?
Okay, so my first response is "No".  My mom was pretty amazing and much better organized than I will ever hope to be.  It just boggles my mind to think about all the parties we had and the planning and cooking she did, while raising 10 children.  We had a birthday party for each of us every year.  The party included a cup of m&m's mixed with mints at each place at the table.  The birthday child got to pick out the menu and the cake.  She had a book of animal/possibly some other figures cakes that you could pick from.  I usually just went with a plain double layer round cake because I didn't like all the coconut that was usually involved in the other cakes.  I don't have time to go into what was planned for Christmas.  I try every year to do something similar and so far have not succeeded.  SO no in that sense I am not becoming my mother.  I am however saying things that she said that I vowed never to say: "Because I said so." "This is my house and it gets done my way.  When you grow up and have your own house you can do it anyway you would like." 
I have said these things and then realized why she said them. :)
2. Coffee or tea?
Coffee in the morning and tea in the afternoon or evening.  I cannot start a morning off without a good cup of coffee.  But that is usually the only time I drink coffee.  If I need a little pick me up later in the day I usually drink caffeinated tea.  In the evening I drink decaffeinated tea.
3. What foreign country would you like to visit?
The short answer ~ Ireland.  Actually what my husband and I have discussed is taking a tour of Europe visiting all the holy shrines we would like to see....so that would include more than just Ireland.
4. Do you cry easily?
Yes, I do.  I can cry during a movie or while reading a book.  I was accused once of crying to get sympathy.  I don't think that I have ever been able to "make" myself cry.  I am just one of those people who when I get upset...i.e. angry, or saddened, or extremely contrite I cry.
5. How often do you wear heels?
Rarely.  When I do wear heels they are usually only 1/2" high. I have never been all that comfortable in high heels and that has been a hallmark of my dressing style ~ is this comfortable?
6. Do you play an instrument?
Not regularly.  I know how to play the piano somewhat and I played the clarinet in the school band for a few years.  I love music though and my children are taking piano lessons and are wonderful to listen to...my husband seems to think that they get all of that talent from me. :)
So those are my answers.  I had fun joining in.  I hope anyone who reads this will keep checking others who have joined in.

God Bless,
Kate

So Happy I Married an Engineer!

I will do my best to post some good pictures.  My daughter, MK, is spinning wonderfully on my louet.  She is having a lot of fun.  I read a recent post on knitty about finishing the spun yarn.  So she has tried a technique to get the yarn stretched out and a little firmer.

Our fist attempt went okay but then we thought about and realized that we needed to dry it with more tension to pull out the kinks.  So we went to the Man ~ he said that we needed more tension.  We said RIGHT!  How?  So he said it is really simply just hang a bucket of water from it and you can adjust the amount of tension with the amount of water in the bucket.

My darling daughter understood better than I.  And then the Man walked over and just did it. lol  

Not only did it really stretch all the kinks out; it also helped to pull out the water and thus the skein dried quicker.  I do not have pictures of the dried skein but I do have some of the  tension.  Sorry they are a little blurrier than I thought.  So No it is not  your computer or your eyes.

Not quite a year....this needs work

So, I once again have been quite the absent blogger.  We are doing okay.  The homeschooling is going quite well.  Daughter #2 MK, began spinning this past year.  She is doing amazing well.  She is having fun creating some beautiful color combinations.  She recently spun three fleeces thick , then plied them and then knit a hat.  It was so cool to watch.  
She is also a budding herbalist.  We recently all came down with a cold that nicely circulated through our house.  She was making tea every night for everyone.  She will be making a batch of vinegar garlic~ at least I think that is what she was calling it.  She has made two batches of chutney...not to her liking yet but she will soldier on to create some that is spicier and more to her and her father's taste.
The boys are spending their time growing like weeds! These are the two that are still at home.  M is 14 and eats .... just eats.  It is rare that you don't see him with some type of food in his hand.  When he gets cranky, we usually ask when was the last time he ate something. :) .  S just turned 13 recently.  He has taken becoming a teenager fairly seriously.  He is now going out and splitting wood by hand on a regular basis.  The other day he had split enough wood that his father didn't have to go out split more after he got home.  A really great feeling!

We are anxiously awaiting spring.  We have been in the deep freeze for quite long enough ~ thank you very much.  It is coming....just in very small doses.  

I will try harder to post more often...

Take care and thanks for hanging in there with me.