:: 1 ::
A few years ago, if you recall, I sprained my ankle very badly. I was down for the count for a number of weeks, and it really took me about a year to feel normal again. Near the end of that year, I learned about Ruta Graveolens. I was told that some people find it helps even with old injuries. I figured I didn’t have anything to lose, so I tried it. It made such a difference! A residual achiness that I just couldn’t rid myself of disappeared in a couple of days and never returned.
Ruta is an indispensable tool for families that are out hiking. I have a number of remedies I carry with me when we go — for things like head injuries, snake bites, and such. Ruta is definitely in that group, and it’s come in handy more than once. There is nothing worse that trying to make someone finish a hike on an injured ankle!
As you know, I’m not a doctor. But I figure we can share things like this, just mom to mom, right?
:: 2 ::
The fourth episode of AfterCast came out this week!
As per usual, you can scroll down and listen on the page, or listen in your favorite podcast player. Bonus points for leaving a review. You know I appreciate those!
:: 3 ::
This means that for years I used deodorant crystals. This worked fine for me, but once some of our children started needed some, um, assistance in this area, I realized the truth: deodorant crystals don’t work for everyone. With that said, I was certainly not going to put aluminum on my children’s skin.
And then I learned a trick.
It’s inexpensive. You don’t have to make it. It’s totally aluminum-free. Most importantly, it works. It’s Milk of Magnesia! If you’re going to try it, you want one with no additives — the only inactive ingredient listed should be purified water. You can even fill up an old roll-on bottle if you have one, or put it in an essential oil bottle. Or using hands works well, too!
:: 4 ::
You know my undying affection for The Triumph of St. Thomas Aquinas? When I was at Grace to Build, Riverbend Press was selling a beautiful print. Unlike a lot of prints I’ve seen online, it is tall and includes The Descent of the Holy Spirit above, instead of being wide and only showing The Triumph proper. I badly wanted a copy, but I couldn’t contrive a way to get one safely home. Someone from the conference was incredibly kind and generous — she bought me a copy and had it mailed to me! ♥ I am forever grateful.
The question that followed was how to frame it. I started to look around online and was saved by a friend again, this time Dawn Duran. She explained to me that Hobby Lobby makes an affordable frame that works perfectly due to the black matting. She was right. It looks lovely! I am thrilled.
I must apologize for the photo. It’s not great. I know. I’m not that wonderful of a photographer to start with, and then I forgot to take it until after the sun was down and the lighting was terrible. But still, it gives you an idea. The words at the bottom are the text of Charlotte Mason’s 20th principle, which is also dear to my heart.
:: 5 ::
Speaking of hanging pictures, here is another one:
My husband gave me this picture (isn’t the frame lovely?) for Christmas, and he hung it up over the weekend. It’s above my piano, if you can’t tell. I love it. She’s reading … with the windows open … and the breeze blowing … and out the window is the ocean. My beloved ocean. I love the whole thing. ♥
I remember when we went many months ago to an auction for a furniture company that was going out of business. We were walking around looking at pieces. Everything was an amazing deal. We bought an $800 end table for fifty bucks! I remember looking through the pictures and telling him that the picture were worth buying for the frames — that frames like this (real wood) would cost $100 in Mexico, and a lot more here. I guess that piqued his interest. Apparently, he went back and bought this one and then hid it in his office at work for months.
Such a lovely surprise.
:: 6 ::
This month in 2014:
I still think about this — it’s an idea I’ve run across a lot over the years, that story is a very powerful thing.
:: 7 ::
This week’s links collection:
- That Time I Turned a Routine Traffic Ticket into the Constitutional Trial of the Century from The Witherspoon Institute
- Yes! I hate traffic cameras on principle!
- CA Attorney General Nominee: No First Amendment Rights for Religious Organizations from California Family Council
- I’m starting to think that secularists really don’t understand what it means to have a religion. Also, they clearly don’t agree with the Bill of Rights. Sigh.
- Trump and the American Divide from City Journal
- I love reading Victor Davis Hanson. He feels like a piece of home every time, what with all his farming stories from the Central Valley (I live in the Southern Central Valley). I know most people don’t think farming when they think of California, but it’s a Thing, you know.
- Plus this piece is good.
- Funny enough, one of my daughters and I read about the Athens of Pericles this week!
- Also, it’s inauguration day, so ready or not, here we come.
- Donald Trump and the Death of Freshman Relativism from The Huffington Post
- I had to share, since this was not only fascinating, but written by my college roommate’s husband.
:: 8 ::
A couple weekends ago, we had a birthday party in honor of Daughter Q. turning 10. This was different than other parties we’ve done in the past. It was Epiphany (not her birthday, but the party), so the logical thing to do was roasting marshmallows around the fire pit and indulging in way too much hot cocoa. Here’s how we set it up:
As you can see, fire pit at the forefront. The two little tables right behind it have supplies for roasting marshmallows. The table on the right against the house was for the hot cocoa bar (yum!). The JOY table in the background is where people left donations for a local charity (no gifts, which also means she invited a bazillion people). You can’t see it, but to the left was a trampoline for the children to jump in, and of course they ran like crazy all over the yard. What else do children do when it is dark out and 40 degrees?
It was totally fun and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Except for the part where I drank way too much hot cocoa. There are better ways to stay warm is all I’m saying.
The post Thoughtworthy: What’s Hanging on my Walls, Birthday Parties, and MORE! appeared first on Afterthoughts.