Carrots for Michaelmas

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

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This Week’s Miscellany: Vol. 173 (Queen Bees, Solo Parenting, and a Giveaway)

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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 big news. 

This summer has been so busy! Last week the kids went to Farm Camp at the non-profit farm where Daniel works. It was “bug week” and Gwen was the Queen Bee in the last day presentation for parents. This will surprise no one who has ever encountered her. Force. to. be. reckoned. with.

But probably the most important update is that I survived Daniel’s 12 day work trip to El Salvador. Longest stretch I’ve ever solo parented and even the longest time we’ve spent apart since before we were engaged. It was….weird not being able to talk to Daniel on the regular since he was up in the mountains and off the grid for much of his trip. But he had an amazing time connecting with the community the farm partner’s with there and he also got to see tons of the Bl. Oscar Romero sites which was an incredibly moving experience.

We tried to keep busy going on walks at the park (you would think it was a hike due to these getups but no, just a walk in the park with overdressed kiddos who are apparently channeling Wes Anderson) and other fun things. I couldn’t gripe online because I didn’t want to tell the internet that Daniel was out of town. I was convinced doing so would mean we would DEFINITELY get murdered.

And my friend Cate even drove her sweeties all the way up from Austin to keep us happy and busy on a fun day trip to the zoo and the local creamery. It really went better than I expected despite Gwen getting an ear infection (thank goodness for essential oils and no trips to urgent care!) and our roof leaking during a super strong storm.

But we were so glad to get Daniel back to Texas safe and sound! Especially Gwen who kept saying how much she missed her Daddy (and the huge increase in insane temper tantrums and meltdowns while he was gone proved that she was telling the truth. Whew.)

Lately it’s just been keeping things running at home and trying to get the most out of summer and making progress on the book. We did get all fancy for a dear farm friend’s wedding last weekend:

I don’t get a chance to get glammed up very often so I tried to make the most of it:

The Quotable Gwen (age 4):

“I had to clean up when what I wanted to do was have fun. The cleaning wasn’t any fun at all.”

STORY OF MY LIFE.

On My Bookshelf:

This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

I finished The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey (loved it!) and am just beginning Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton for our next Fountains of Carrots book club episode of the podcast (grab a copy if you want to read along with us). I also read Dark Matter by Blake Crouch which is a sci-fi mind-bending kind of page-turner (very compelling but a lot of sex in it–married sex mostly but it was….descriptive). And the kids and I recently finished Five Children and It (one of my favorites!) by E. Nesbit and are about halfway through Tuesdays in the Castle by Jessica Day George. (At bedtime Benjamin and I are reading The Green Ember by S.D. Smith and Danny, Champion of the World by Roald Dahl.)

Podcasts:

Last week we published our most recent episode of The Fountains of Carrots pocast: Uncharted Territory: Getting Real About Natural Family Planning with Jenny Uebbing

Links:

Yesterday was the bicentennial of Jane Austen’s death so I rounded up all my Jane-related posts for you here.

I also talked about how we share the “mental load” of homemaking and made a bachelor’s guide for Fiddler on the Roof because WHY NOT?!

What Love Looks Like Now: Mothering Spirit

Body Image, Pregnancy, and Keeping the Eating Disorder Demons at Bay: The Evangelista

The Catholic Church Says No to Gluten-Free Communion. Here’s Why.: Washington Post

Holy Tattoo! A 700-year-old Christian Tradition Thrives in Jerusalem: Catholic News Agency

And the Little Women casting is out! And it looks good.

Giveaway

My friend Shannon over at ChewsLife has a lovely deal on her beautiful essential oils bracelets (I’m wearing mine as I type!).

She’s offering Carrots readers 10% off as well with the discount code CARROTS. So definitely head on over. I like to add either an energy-boosting blend (like En-R-Gee) or my favorite anti-anxiety blend Peace & Calming.

To go with the EO theme,  I’m offering $25 cash back on Young Living essential oil starter kits to folks who order through me in July. And I’m giving away a bottle of Peace & Calming and a bottle of Thieves (my go-to immune booster) to a lucky reader (US or Canada only due to shipping costs).

To enter just sign up for my email newsletter and then leave a comment letting me know you did (or that you’re already a subscriber). For an EXTRA ENTRY, use the CARROTS 10% off code to get your ChewsLife EO bracelet (and free earrings) and leave an additional comment letting me know you did!

I’ll pick a winner this weekend! (GIVEAWAY CLOSED. Winner is Tracy G)

Lots of love,

Haley

P.S. You can follow me…

…by subscribing to my newsletter that goes out monthly, following with Bloglovin’, Feedly, or subscribing to posts via email. You can also follow me on  Facebook, Twitter (@haleycarrots), Pinterest (haleyofcarrots), and Instagram (haleycarrots).

Comments

  3. Love the safari-like photo of your kids 🙂 And thanks for the ChewsLife link. I love me some jewelry so I promptly ordered up a bracelet. Fun!

    Reply

  5. I am a subscriber! And soon my hubby will be away for 18 days of training so I could use some Peace and calming while I solo parent 3 kiddos 4 and under ?

    Reply

  15. I subscribed! I love your blog! And having just had my third baby last week, we could use some Peace & Calming.

    Reply

  18. I’m already a subscriber. 🙂 LOVE the blog! I ordered my girls some bracelets from Chews Life for Easter and they love them!

    Reply

  24. Subscribed !
    Just entering the world of EO and would love to win!
    I’m so glad I found your blog. ❤️❤️

    Reply

  29. Already a subscriber!
    I totally understand the being away from your hubby thing, we did it for 10 weeks when I went to Ethiopia! But we were lucky, we didn’t have kiddos, just our dog!

    Reply

  32. Such a difference when the husband is away.. Those who have to do it often are amazing. I have been a subscriber and I enjoy reading your blog- Catholic ..literary and contemporary- delightful!

    Reply

  42. I’m a subscriber, and I really want to try out thieves and see what all the fuss is about.

    Reply

  55. I’m already a subscriber! My husband and I are just getting into essential oils so I’d love to expand on what we’re already doing!

    Reply

  64. I am a subscriber. Even as a Nana of ‘8’ I enjoy reading your posts. Loved your ‘cheese stick story’ and how you took it all in stride realizing the teaching it brought.

    Reply

  68. Solo parenting is hard! I did it for a week earlier this summer and it was tough. We survived but goodness…we had our days.

    I’m a subscriber.

    Reply

  69. Already a subscriber. Thanks for the giveaway. I took advantage of Chews Life’s deal last week! I’m excited to get my Miraculous Medal necklace!

    Reply

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