Mother Culturing: Fourth Quarter 2024 (and new year goals!)
What we need is a habit of taking our minds out of what one is tempted to call “the domestic rag-bag” of perplexities, and giving it a good airing in something which keeps it “growing”… Is there, then, not need for more “Mother Culture”?
“MOTHER CULTURE” PARENTS’ REVIEW – VOLUME 3
Wilt thou forgive that sin where I begun,
Which was my sin, though it were done before?
Wilt thou forgive that sin, through which I run,
And do run still, though still I do deplore?
When thou hast done, thou hast not done,
For I have more.
Wilt thou forgive that sin which I have won
Others to sin, and made my sin their door?
Wilt thou forgive that sin which I did shun
A year or two, but wallow’d in, a score?
When thou hast done, thou hast not done,
For I have more.
I have a sin of fear, that when I have spun
My last thread, I shall perish on the shore;
But swear by thyself, that at my death thy Son
Shall shine as he shines now, and heretofore;
And, having done that, thou hast done;
I fear no more.
~ A Hymn to God the Father by John Donne ~
We have reached the halfway point of the 2020s. In some ways, this is hard to believe, as 2020 seems like a lifetime ago, but simultaneously, just a few months ago. It’s a paradox. I still find it hard to believe that I don’t have little kids anymore. In the last year or so, I’ve looked at the moms with toddlers and even early-elementary-aged kids and wondered when I passed that threshold. What did it look like? Where did it go? It’s hard not to be a little melancholy in those moments, but then I’m prone to melancholy anyway.
The fourth quarter was quiet for us, which was a nice change from the frenetic pace of the earlier part of the year. Other than our regular weekly hikes and our various book groups, we didn’t have much else that happened in October. We had originally planned to make a trip to either New York to see my husband’s family or Arizona, also to visit his family, but his travel schedule ended up exploding again, so we couldn’t make it work. I totaled up all of the days he traveled this year for his business, and it was over 100. Quite a year.
In November, he and I celebrated our twentieth wedding anniversary by making our annual trek to the golf course where we got married back in 2004. It snowed the night before and into that morning, so we had to trudge through two feet of fluff when we finally arrived, but it was worth it. We’ve made this trip every year (except in 2017, when our 20-year-old cat died the same day), and I love this tradition.
Thanksgiving was also quiet, with just the four of us at home. Last year, we finally realized that none of us really likes turkey, so instead of spending a lot on a giant bird and cooking it for hours, I made a roast chicken (a staple in our house) and focused on sides. Finding gluten- and/or grain-free Thanksgiving sides has been challenging, so every year feels like an experiment, but we’re getting there.
December was also pretty quiet, with three weeks of school followed by two weeks off for the holidays. On Christmas Eve, we had our annual Jólabókaflóðið tradition, which meant we spent that day (for the kids) and the next (for me) reading and eating chocolate. It was wonderful!
And now, here we are in 2025! Resolutions are such a cliche, but cliches don’t have to be bad things, and I always start the year with goals. I love the fresh start that 1/1 provides. In some ways, it gives me an excuse to be a little lazier at the end of the year in anticipation of being “better” at the beginning of the year.
New Year Goals
Usually, in my first posts of the year, I like to share the resources I use to make things a little easier for me in terms of new year goals, and I have a few new ones to share this year!
Food
My food goals are always multi-faceted. I made a lot more meals at home this last year, which is a good thing, but I want to get into a better routine (as I said last year) of stocking up on make-ahead meals. I do sometimes make a double-batch of whatever we’re having for supper on a given day and freeze half of it, but I’d also like some meals that don’t have to be frozen. There are a few canning recipes at the back of Everything Worth Preserving that I want to make, and I also want to explore this book more.
I made some changes to how I use Plan To Eat last summer that have helped with meal planning, including creating a tag for our staple meals and making a list of the staple items we get at the grocery store almost every week. I did this not just for the regular grocery store but also for Costco. I thought about doing it for Azure Standard well, but I keep a list of favorites there that serves the same function. While I do already buy quite a bit of our food in bulk, I want to get into this even more in 2025.
And, of course, eating better. This always has room for improvement. I took advantage of a sale on Nourishing Meals memberships during the holidays and have access to all of Alissa Segersten’s excellent recipes for a year! I am excited to have this resource to also make meal planning a little easier.
Cleaning/Organization/Chores
I always reset our filing system at the beginning of the year, but I think I need to spend some time purging it this year as well, as the number of papers we have is getting out of control. Freedom Filer comes with guidelines for how long to keep certain paperwork, so I’ll definitely refer to those.
I also took some time to redo our cleaning routine using The Complete Book of Clean as a guide. I really like this book as it offers recommendations for all the different tasks involved in keeping a house clean using natural cleaning methods. I also picked up The Complete Book of Home Organization as inspiration for keeping our house organized and decluttered.
Finances
My love of You Need a Budget marches on as well. Late in 2023, I read Simple Money, Rich Life by Bob Lotich, as well as the book the founder of YNAB wrote, and though I have been familiar with their method for a long time (I’ve been using it for over 13 years), it was a good refresher and made me want to change a few things about our budget going into 2024. These were very good changes as we were able to get our “Age of Money” to a much higher number than it was at the end of last year. If you are looking for a way to manage your money in the new year, I can’t recommend YNAB enough (and you can get one month free with my link!). It has helped us stay debt-free, aside from our mortgage, for many years.
Health
Beginning in May of last year, I started walking for 30 minutes (about 1.5 miles) in the mornings. Though I took a few breaks occasionally, I remained consistent with this new practice throughout the year. In late August, we also joined a local hiking group that meets once a week, and both of these activities have been great and easy ways to get exercise on a regular basis.
Reading Move Your DNA was also very motivating. It inspired me to adopt some new practices in our house, mainly that instead of sitting on the couch while I’m reading during our school time, I sit on a folded blanket on the floor and try and change my position often. I also got a balance ball to sit on while I’m working, and I can already tell that these small changes have made a difference in my mobility. I highly recommend this book as well!
Spiritual
…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23
Several years ago, I read somewhere the advice to choose a “spiritual mentor” each year, meaning an author with published books about spiritual formation, and read their books throughout that year. I kept it in the back of my mind with the intention of following it one of these years, but never got around to it and just read whatever spiritual formation books looked interesting during my morning liturgy instead of being more systematic.
Last summer, when I was listening to the CMEC 2018 retreat recordings and was so inspired by how Celeste Cruz used the method of addressing specific needs or growing in certain areas by having her children read books about those topics, I was inspired to combine that with the practice of choosing the “spiritual mentor” for my own growth. As my kids had just finished memorizing Galatians 5:22-23, I decided to let these verses be my spiritual mentor, and I made a list of books for each of the fruits of the spirit. These are the books I’ve read or plan to read:
I’m guessing I won’t make it through all of these books this year, but that’s okay. I’m looking forward to diving into all of these!
And now on to what I’ve already ready!
Read (or Finished Reading)
For Me
Move Your DNA: Restore Your Health Through Natural Movement by Katy Bowman. Highly recommended! This was very inspiring and was a great thing to listen to during my morning walks.
101 Famous Poems compiled by Roy Jay Cook. Cindy Rollins recommended this years ago on a podcast as a resource for Morning Time, so I decided last year to finally go through it.
To Love as God Loves: Conversations with the Early Church by Roberta C. Bondi. This was thought-provoking, especially what she said about lying. While I don’t know that I necessarily agree with everything in the book, the idea of the wheel and growing closer to God in the center along with others (like spokes) was inspiring.
The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert M. Edsel. I thoroughly enjoyed this! I think if I had been around during WW2, I would’ve pursued a role in this.
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. This is the discussion book for the 2025 Charlotte Mason Educational Retreat. Of course, I knew the story beforehand, but it was interesting to actually read it. (For the Tea & Ink Society Classics Challenge – “A spooky classic or short story collection”)
The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer. This was recommended by a friend, and I chose it for my Jólabókaflóðið selection. It did not disappoint and was such a fun read and I can see myself reading more of her books in the future! (For the Tea & Ink Society Classics Challenge – “A classic recommended by a friend”)
O Pioneers! by Willa Cather. This is my third Cather in the last two years and by far my favorite.
For (or With) the Kids
The Whisper of Glocken by Carol Kendall. I actually enjoyed this more than the first book in the series, The Gammage Cup. Both kids also liked it!
The Ark by Margot Benary-Isbert. This was for the kids’ book group, and we all enjoyed it very much!
I, Juan de Pareja by Elizabeth Borton de Treviño. I picked this up at a library sale a few years ago and finally got around to reading it. It offered a wonderful view of Juan de Pareja as well as Diego Velásquez (I also added it to the Living Art Book Archive).
The Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens. Another read for the kids’ book group. Not my favorite Dickens, but I did appreciate the twist at the end.
Sacajawea by Joseph Bruchac. I chose this because my daughter is reading about the Corps of Discovery this year, and I’ve liked other Bruchac books. However, I didn’t necessarily agree with how he presented William Clark and his interaction with York, and that, along with the description of Merriweather Lewis’s death at the end, made me decide not to hand it off to her.
For School
A Man for All Seasons: A Play in Two Acts by Robert Bolt. I read this with my son for school, and it was such an interesting way to learn more about Sir Thomas More.
Fierce Wars and Faithful Loves by Edmund Spenser. Another one read with my son. There were some adult themes that I wasn’t expecting which were interesting to deal with on the fly.
1493 for Young People: From Columbus’s Voyage to Globalization by Charles C. Mann. I pre-read this, and B read it on his own. This was a fascinating read, and I’m glad I chose it for his geography book.
Currently
I am currently reading Home Education, The Good Earth, The Scent of Water, Images of Faith, Reclaiming Quiet: Cultivating a Life of Holy Attention, and The Message: Solo and Let Go: To Get Peace and Real Joy for my morning liturgy.
With B, I am reading The Fellowship of the Ring, and with C, I am reading Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.
Made
The CSA we joined earlier in the year ended in the middle of October, and the last few weeks were an abundance of peppers, tomatoes, and jalapeños, as well as a few heads of cabbage. I made a few batches of sauerkraut, curtido, and fermented salsa (cilantro is painful, so I used parsley instead). I love that all of the ingredients for these (except the salt) came from the CSA!
I finally, finally also got around to canning again and made a few jars of red pepper garlic jelly, which is absolutely delicious with cream cheese on crackers. We’ll be snacking on that throughout the winter.
For family projects, we dove into the world of game birds in November when a friend of our family asked if we wanted any extra quail eggs as she was ordering more than she wanted. We incubated them in our kitchen for a little less than three weeks, and out of the seven she gave us, we got five little birds (one was not fertilized, and the other one never hatched). We did lose one of the chicks a few days after transferring them to their brooder, which was sad and concerning. Fortunately, all the others are doing well.
My husband and son decided to take on the daunting task of building a hutch. We looked around online, but most of the ones we saw for sale were either designed more for chickens or looked very flimsy. We have foxes, raccoons, bears, and other wildlife in our neighborhood (all of which we’ve caught on our trail cam at one time or another), so we wanted something very sturdy. They came up with an impressive little structure with a double-hinged door that can be opened all or halfway, a separate hiding area with an inside door that can be raised or lowered via a pulley (so we can keep them in there when cleaning the hutch), and an extra area just for their food and water. It is also equipped with a heated water bottle so their water doesn’t freeze and a coop warmer, which they have been huddling next to at night as it got down to 12 degrees a few nights ago. Now we’re just waiting for eggs!
The whole experience has been so good from the start (aside from the death of the chick). It was hard to be patient for them to hatch, but then watching the eggs wiggle and break open (zipping is amazing!) was worth it. It has also been a good experience for the kids to care for these little birds who will, hopefully, provide us with eggs, and they can eat the fruits of their labors.
On the Blog
New in the Shop
Bird Sightings
This post is already long enough, so I’ll leave you with just a few images from the birdcam for early in the quarter. We’ve been having some problems with the memory card, so I don’t have as many pictures as last quarter. Hopefully, we’ll figure it out!
And I wish you all a very happy new year!
