Carrots for Michaelmas

Cultivating a Catholic family through literature, liturgical living, and urban homesteading

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This Week’s Miscellany: What I’ve Been Into Edition (Vol. 165)

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Welcome to This Week’s Miscellany, the occasional round up of Carrots family updates, photo dumps, books I’m reading, links I loved, and events where you can find me. 

Number one thing I’m into lately: giant, messy buns. But first, let’s talk about this no Lent until March situation. My friend Cari brought this up on social media the other day and I was like YES, GIRL. PREACH: February is just an awful month. Usually Lent coincides at least partly so you feel like the blah grey misery is at least making you holier. But this year, there’s no Lent until March 1st. So we go through February and THEN we start getting all penitential for 40 days. What we have here folks is basically A DOUBLE LENT. I know, I know, it’s not really a double Lent it’s just a month of ugh and then Lent actually starts, but you know what I mean. The worst. I like it when Lent is early.

Anyhow, let’s do something light today with TWM: things I’ve been loving.

image via Summit

1.La La Land

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS FILM?! I have just obsessed. My best friend Ellie and I snuck out to the movies one afternoon and it was everything I dreamed it would be and more. The music is great, it’s fun, it’s beautiful, it’s so reminiscent of classic Hollywood musicals (there’s even a DREAM SEQUENCE!). Emma Stone is a little bit of a floppy dancer and a little bit of a weak singer but I still loved her in this role! And Ryan Gosling is no Gene Kelly but WOW. I didn’t realize that there was something missing in my life and that something was Ryan Gosling singing and tap dancing. TREAT YO SELF.

2.These Almond Power Bars from Kitchen Stewardship.

I’ve been trying to figure out a cheaper snack than Larabars and I’m not even sure these fit the bill because buying the almonds to make them is pricey, but they were delicious! The kids loved them and because there’s a little bit of chocolate on top, they thought they were dessert. Win.

3.Sneaking out for writing time.

I’m more convinced than ever that the best self-care for me is time away to go to a coffee shop and write and read. I felt guilty about this for YEARS, but now I’m giving myself the grace to realize, hey! I homeschool my kids! I’m around ALL THE TIME. It’s ok to get a break from 24/7 parenting!

4. Our new cat, Lily.

I’ve never been a cat person, but she really IS pretty darling. Except when she pokes me in the face with her nose in the middle of the night and then proceeds to purr loud enough to wake the dead.

5. The occasional warm day that allow lunch picnics in the backyard and sunshine.

I know it makes me a total wimp because I live in Texas and we don’t have real winter, but gloomy chilly weather makes me blue. High of 82 is perfect, in my opinion and I can’t wait til summer.

6. Literary Twitter accounts.

I think because Facebook has been so divisive lately, I’ve been spending more time on Twitter (you can follow me here). And I’ve found a few accounts that I LOVE following, most notably The Library Haunter run by a Catholic guy named Boze that I hope to discover is actually a long-lost cousin. I mean…pure gold:

If you like Narnia, Harry Potter, King Arthur, Dickens, Jane Austen, and Murder Mystery jokes, follow Boze immediately.

6. The Fountains of Carrots Raspberry Cordial Social Club

And while Facebook has been hard to navigate lately, I’m happy that a bright spot is the group Christy and I started for our podcast. It’s called The Fountains of Carrots Raspberry Cordial Social Club and it’s full of the most delightful people on the internet, in my opinion. Almost 1,000 ladies who are ready to talk The Crown, Anne of Green Gables, and Catholicism. Come join us! It’s free (of course) and lots of fun.

7. The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery

I read this one to prepare for our upcoming book club episode for The Fountains of Carrots podcast. My first time! It’s SO delightful. If you love the Anne books, I highly recommend The Blue Castle! There’s still time to grab a copy from the library or Amazon before we publish the podcast about it.

And there you have it! Let’s chat books and my favorite things on the web lately before we wrap up.

January Reads:

I’ve been really pleased with how my 2017 reading list kept me motivated to get through some great books in January.

Books I Finished:

This was a fun one to discuss on The Simple Show with Tsh Oxenreider! Co-hosting these books episodes is such a treat.

This one was pretty incredible. I recommended the book to my parents and my dad said, “I wouldn’t want David Bentley Hart critiquing my arguments!” For real. Now I want to read The Beauty of the Infinite, another of his books that’s been sitting on my shelf for ages.

  • ✓ Lila by Marilynne Robinson

Ah, this one was so good! I absolute adored Gilead, so when I didn’t love Home as much, I was a little disappointed. But then Lila really knocked it out of the park! I still think Gilead‘s my favorite, but Lila‘s a close second.

Listened to this one to fall asleep to at night. Nesbit’s children’s books are so comforting and lovely.

Current reads:

I’m reading this one for a book club with some friends in Waco and it’s really incredible. But intense! Not a light-hearted read, but very thought-provoking.

  • Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (audiobook re-read–free on Librivox)

This is the book I’m falling asleep to these days. Always a pleasure.

The Kids and I Finished:

I can’t recommend these books enough for the 7+ crowd! They are so clever and exciting takes about courage and friendship.

A quick, fun read about a little boy who travels in time and meets St. Patrick. The kids are begging for more in this series.

We all enjoyed listening to this one on audiobook. From what I hear the later books get morally ambiguous, but the first one, although dark, I really enjoyed.

Currently Reading with the Kids:

I really like this one. But I think maybe it’s a little bit beyond Lucy and Gwen. Benjamin is enjoying it, but I may hold off a few months so the girls can enjoy it more, too.

The girls particularly like this one. Each chapter is a little story that can stand alone so we just pick it up off the shelf whenever the right moment strikes.

This is the read aloud Benjamin and I are doing together at bedtime lately. Really love this series.

The girls are still reading The Little House books with Daniel at bedtime.

Upcoming Speaking Events:

February 11th: Grace Not Perfection Retreat, Sacred Heart Catholic Church, San Angelo, TX

-(email Patricia Gonzales, pazingaro@gmail.com to register)

March 25th: Catholic Women Blogging Network Midwest Conference, St. Paul, MN

-(sign up here to register and you’ll get an email from the conference organizers with details)

Podcasts:

Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries and Everyone Brave Is Forgiven: The Simple Show

Had a blast talking books with Tsh Oxenreider last month and chatting about how books about war make us feel.

What’s Working for Us Right Now: Organization and Prayer in the Everyday: Fountains of Carrots

And Christy and I answered listener questions about how we run our lives on the last episode of FoC.

Links:

President Trump’s Refugee Order: 5 Things You Need to Know: Preemptive Love Coalition

‘Victoria’ Star Rufus Sewell on Becoming a Sex Symbol at 49: Harper’s Bazaar (There’s some language in this one, but since I’m currently loving Victoria and Man in the High Castle, I found it interesting.)

The world is never ready: Mothering Spirit (If you’ve been following the journey of my friend, writer Laura Fanucci after the death of her twin daughters, you’ll want to see this update.)

How to listen to Audible audiobooks for free (without a membership): Modern Mrs. Darcy

The Craft and Courage of L.M. Montgomery: The Rabbit Room

How to Achieve the Perfect SAHM Body: This Ain’t the Lyceum (tears of laughter!)

“The Crown” and the Fundamental Values of a Society: Word on Fire (Bishop Barron FTW)

Posts to Your Inbox?

After some techy issues (that I THINK I’ve solved) I’ve set up a way to receive Carrots posts via email and you can  sign up here. It’s free, of course.

If you’d also like to sign up for my secret posts that I send out monthlyish, you can sign up for my email newsletter (which is a separate thing).

Hope you have a splendid weekend!

Lots of love,

Haley

P.S. You can follow me…

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Comments

  1. Tell me more about how you make this sneaking off to write and read happen! It’s my best self care too, but somehow I can only find the opportunity every other month. I pay a mothers helper every other Monday afternoon but I only have two hours and hate to waste a half hour of it driving to and from! Is it worth it anyway? 🙂

    Reply

    • I think it’s probably worth it to drive somewhere! It just makes all the difference to be able to LEAVE. Does you husband have to be at work really early in the morning? Sometime I leave the house at 5:45 am to get to a coffee shop when it opens at 6am just so I can have an hour and a half to write. Then on the weekends I usually go somewhere for a big block of time.

      Reply

  2. I LOVE The Series of Unfortunate Events! They were a favorite when I was in middle school and I just reread them all since the Netflix adaptation recently came out. Although the later books do get morally ambiguous, the children explicitly grapple with the things that they do. They wonder, “What makes us different from our enemies? What things are acceptable for us to do in order to stay alive?” Lemony Snicket invites his readers to ask those questions, too, and so I am absolutely okay with the moral ambiguity as the series goes on. My kids are too little for ASOUE so I don’t know at what age I’d be comfortable with them reading it, though.

    Reply

    • Benjamin is super into them and Lucy likes them, too. We’ve been listening to them in the car and sometimes Gwen (almost 4) gets freaked out about Count Olaf. (“He’s SO MEAN to Baby Sunny!”)

      Reply

  3. You are so right about the late Lent! I get the February blahs big time and it always feels like an appropriate time for penance.
    However, the big benefit of late lent is late Easter! For those of us in cold climates it means we may not need to wrestle our dressed-up children into their winter coats for mass. It may actually feel like spring!!! And I LOVE a warm sunny Easter!

    Reply

      • This is us, too. We got record amounts of snow and cold this year and the whole city looks like a snow fort. It’s finally starting to go away (warmed up immediately after the feast of the Presentation, lol) but I’ve been thinking it looks like lent weather, too.

        Reply

        • We didn’t get any snow (and today is actually feeling nice and warm) but it’s been cloudy and gloomy and chilly and very lent-y!

          Reply

  4. Okay, so I enjoyed La La Land, but am still undecided about how I feel about the ending. I had to go home and hash it out.
    I was just telling my best friend that she needs to join the Fountains of Carrots Facebook group because it’s one of my favorite places on the internet. Each time I’m there I think: THESE ARE MY PEOPLE. And thanks to you, I just finished The Blue Castle so I’m excited for the podcast about it!

    Reply

  7. The Blue Castle is my favorite book of all time! I know lines by heart. Funny story, I was at a meeting of the Catholic Student Association in College and as an ice breaker we were paired up and had to ask our partner questions and then present each other to the group. One of the questions was, what is your favorite book. I, excitedly said, “The Blue Castle.” And, the guy I was paired up with said, “The Bible.” Said guy is now a priest. 😉

    Reply

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