fall rhythm

The sense of external rightness and order is fleeting, isn't it?  My littles and I have a good rhythm right now; every action and event has a proper place in our daily timetable.  There's a time for cleaning and cooking, preparing our lessons and toiling at them, but also for enjoying the cooler weather, playing games, and creating.  I'm conscious that we're in the eye of a storm right now, a feeling that's persisted since we shipped our loved ones off to Greece this past summer and our life was very, very quiet. (I know I said I was all over the place, but I was rested and enjoying my people.) Despite our current jammed schedule, gratitude and peace are my own prevailing emotions.  What internal switch has been toggled from almost constant anxiety to overwhelming calm, I can't say.  But I am so, so thankful for respite from my runaway-train mind.  It's preparing me to face whatever is just around the corner with equanimity and magnanimity.  (Remind me of the above words whenever that thing around the corner does appear and I start freaking out, please.)

 

A huge part of our weekly peace is knowing there's a delicious dinner awaiting us each night.  My sister and I talk regularly about the cost of groceries and how to nourish our families with high quality food on a budget.  For the past few weeks, I have been using up our pantry and deep freeze ingredients, both to save a few dollars and to use what we have before it stops tasting fresh.  I'll put the week's menu below.

I spent a good deal of time beading as a freshman in high school, both with a loom and with a simple needle and thread.  Clasps for my scads of necklaces and bracelets were safety pins.  I still have a jar of seed beads that I pull out on occasion for my children to use.  I was really inspired by the Purl Soho projects found here and here, so I ordered some supplies (and the patterns) to make them.  My boys like to help with the the beading, which has been a delightful way to be together.  The black project on the loom will be a necklace of my own design, although I've not made any decisions about the clasp.  Another button?  Lobster clasp?  I'm still puzzling it out.  

On the Sundays when we're at home after Liturgy, I've been stitching away at G's quilt.  I finished the quilting, made the binding, and pinned it to the quilt all in one afternoon.  There's another quilt already in the works, this time a Christmas throw for my sister-in-law, using fabric I hope she'll like.  

Outdoors, I am putting plants into the ground that I ordered from here and helping Little M with her math using hopscotch games.  High Country Gardens impressed my with their communication; the estimated- arrival-date emails helped me to block out some time to put the lavender in the ground right away.  I've got some snow drop bulbs coming from another company that hasn't communicated as much, so who knows when they'll be planted! 

This week we're eating:

Monday: oregano roast chicken legs, dakos + cucumbers, and oregano oven fries from Simple
Tuesday: IKEA meatballs and gravy, mashed potatoes and fresh salad

Wednesday: fasolakia (with broad beans rather than green beans)

Thursday: slow cooker pot roast with mushroom gravy, egg noodles, and steamed green beans

Happy fall to you! xo

edit:  The knitting!  I neglected to mention my new project, one for which I've had the yarn for a while now, and which I hope will be finished in time for cooler weather at the end of October (or sooner!).