Ordinary Time

This is a bit late and it's not Monday, but I didn't finish it up until yesterday. Last week I took a class on the Theo Moorman inlay technique. This is a way of weaving where yarns are floated on top of a stable woven fabric and secured by very thin warp ends which tie them down. The finished project was a series of exercises designed to teach us how to do the technique. Here is what I ended up with.  A little explanation of each section.  The bottom three rectangles was to demonstrate what the inlay process is and how it differs from regular weaving. The set of smaller rectangles was to learn how different yarns cover (or don't cover) the warp. Then the figure at the top was introducing working with more than one color at a time.  Those overlapping rectangles are transparencies where color mixing happens. I wasn't pleased with my first attempt (bottom), so I did it again. I was much happier with the second. Above the transparencies is the exercise teaching how to use ...

Let's talk about food and grocery shopping again. It's one of those topics which fascinate people in regard to large families. I know this because it is one of the usual questions I get when people find out how many children we have. And even just with six children at home now, that is still more than is typical. There are two other reasons, though, that I want to revisit this topic. The first is my grocery bill this past week and because I recently finished reading Ultra-Processed People: The Science Behind Food That Isn't Food by Chris Van Tulleken.  [I realize that a definition of ultra-processed should be added here. It is any food that contains ingredients that you wouldn't find in your kitchen or have names you don't recognize and cannot pronounce.] Before I begin, let's just address the elephant in the room and that is that RFK, Jr. has a vendetta against ultra-processed food. Frankly, the man is a loon and shouldn't be in charge of matching his own s...

Today is the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. It also happens to be the one night in weeks where we can't see the moon because of cloud cover. But we still celebrated, as we celebrate the lunar holidays... with food.  The traditional treat for the moon festival is moon cakes. For years I have run to the Asian market to buy them, often at the last minute. For Y., though, one of the things that makes them a holiday is making the special food, so a while back I purchased a set of moon cakes pressed. Today Y. spent the day in the kitchen making them.  Well, actually, she started yesterday because the salted egg yolks which go inside needed to sit in their salt overnight. Then this morning Y. rinsed the salt off the egg yolks as her first task. It seems wrong to wash an egg yolk under water, but it works. Y. made two kinds, pineapple and red bean paste. The last time I was at the Asian market I thought I was being so prepared by bringing red bean paste home ahead of schedule. No last minu...

Raise your hand if you are in desperate need of escapist reading. You know, light books where people are nice and kind, where there are happy endings all around, and even the supposed villain of the story turns out to be not so bad. If you are one of many raising your hand, turn have I got a series for you.  Have you ever heard of the Aunt Dimity series by Nancy Atherton? I hadn't until a few weeks ago. It sounded intriguing, so I put the first (of 24!) books on hold. I binge read the first one in about two days and immediately put the next one on hold. I've now finished the first three and am about to put the fourth on hold, but I want them to last a bit, so am forcing myself to read a couple of other books first. Be forwarned, these books are light. I told J. last night that it was surprising that it didn't float off my lap due to its lightness. They are also a little silly and fantastical. I find myself consumed with the current book I'm reading, then a bit after I f...

After one too many comments in various places that imply connected parenting is merely permissiveness with a fancy name. I thought perhaps a little vocabulary lesson might be helpful.  Connected Parenting - Connected parenting is a style of parenting which says that children do the best with what they have and that behavior is communication. It is based on the belief that children really do want to connect with their parents and to do well. The trouble is there are so many things that can make it difficult for a child to do well and instead allow fear and shame to hijack any higher order thinking skills. If a child is struggling, parents do not focus on the behavior but address the root cause of the behavior. With their fundamental needs met (felt safety and connection), then they are better able to do well. While natural consequences can be useful, artificially imposed consequences are not employed.  Natural Consequences - The natural outcome of a person's choice. Some easy...

I mentioned on Monday the book about the embroiderers in Afghanistan. I finished it a few days ago but one part has stuck with me and I want to share it with you.  Are you familiar with the exhibits of clothes women were wearing when they were sexually assaulted? The clothing covers a wide range of styles, and the intent is to show that assault is assault and has nothing to do with the clothes a woman was wearing. But I fear this mindset of blaming the woman for wearing the "wrong" clothing and thus "asking for her own abuse" is still far too pervasive. I think that's why the paragraph I'm going to share is still taking up real estate inside my head.  "When walking, burqa-clad women often faced contentious sexual harassment. Men whistled, yelled offensive words, or touched the women's bodies. Should a woman respond to the aggression, others on the street would assume she must have done something to attract the attention." - Embroidering within ...