carefully trace the tale

Posted on March 31, 2013 by Kim Halloran-Fry

"Now close by the church, past which Piccola often romped in her play, there stood a mass of old gray stone, carved with quaint figures that told of the life of Jesus. Stiff and queerly fashioned were the figures, but they had been carved by those who loved the story, and Piccola loved it too. As she carefully traced out all the tale, she said to herself with a heart full of reverence:

'It was Jesus who taught men to know the good God as their Father, to let His Goodness shine in their hearts, and to love one another.'"

So…Piccola had no thought but that all the earth must rejoice."

-American Cardinal Readers book 3

redeemed

Posted on March 30, 2013 by Kim Halloran-Fry

We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee,

Because by Thy Holy Cross, Thou hast redeemed the world.

– Stations of the Cross

(top: Charles Bridge, Prague

bottom: outdoor stations, Germany)

O’er all the pleasant land

Posted on March 27, 2013 by Kim Halloran-Fry

"The stately Homes of England,

How beautiful they stand!

Amidst their tall ancestral trees,

O'er all the pleasant land."

– Mrs. Felicia D. Hemans

I do so love houses. They fascinate me as the keepers of untold stories. This one made me pull over and hang out of my car window in the rain.

all this filled my days

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Kim Halloran-Fry

To have the children near me, to occupy myself with them, to try to raise them in the noblest sense of that term and to impress on those little souls things that will never be effaced; to interest myself a bit in everyone and to make our home into a living center, to give it soul – all this filled my days.

– The Secret Diary of Elisabeth Leseur

Yes, all this.

Espresso Bundt Cake

Posted on March 24, 2013 by Kim Halloran-Fry

We had dinner with friends today and had planned to make a tiramisu cake until we realized there had been a marscapone mishap. Some quick thinking resulted in this moist espresso flavored chocolate bundt cake which was just as well. I have been feeling nostalgic for vintage desserts and my bundt pan has been left forlorn in the recesses of the storage cabinet for too long.

This cake is a part of a bigger circle of friendship. A few days earlier I came home to find a dozen eggs left by an older local woman I have come to know. She has what they call a "small holding" nearby, the equivalent of an American hobby farm. We talked of chickens and dairy goats when we visited over the gate a couple weeks ago. It really warmed my heart to see my name penned on the carton. I have smiled with every egg I have cracked from it and a couple of them went into this dessert.

the white snow lay in many a place

Posted on March 23, 2013 by Kim Halloran-Fry

Daffy-down-dilly came up in the cold,
Through the brown mould
Although the March breeze blew keen on her face,
Although the white snow lay in many a place.

Anna Warner—Daffy-Down-Dilly.

We thought maybe it was just us, but it seems this is the coldest March that the British have seen in some 50 years and they aren't enjoying it any more than we. It would make no difference to me really, except the daffodils were just beginning to bloom. I have been looking forward to seeing the explosion of color along the road where there are mounds of daff's all budded out and just beginning to open. Very sad to see those yellow blossoms in the garden drooping under the falling snow this afternoon.

Norwich Market

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Kim Halloran-Fry

A foggy stroll through the open air market in Norwich. If you haven't been to England you are probably saying that wrong. We Americans like to say WHICH or WITCH when in fact all those w's in many British place names are actually silent. So the East Anglia town of Harwich for instance, I learned is pronounced "Harridge."

Your cultural language tidbit o' the day. : )

Norwich boasts the country's largest open air market and a very nice pedestrian shopping area.

you can read the sign yourself. Like to try it at home? Directions here.

Lots of pictures of patisserie shop windows to take home to Alannah, since she prefers this sort of baking to Cake Boss fondant.

Indian textiles.

There were a couple men pushing copies of The Big Issue like carnival barkers. They were really rather charming. "BIIIIIIG ISSUUUUUUE, get yer BIG ISSUE! Now, ladies don't crowd me all at once. There's plenty of 'em to go 'round." And so it went. <g>

Turns out the Big Issue employs formerly homeless individuals as vendors, whom I can tell you work very hard and most sincerely. Awesome.

Mushy peas, just what they sound like – smashed green peas. A very popular side dish. My clan is nearly evenly split between mushy pea fans and not. Ok, fan might be generous.

Sign – quote from Noel Coward's Private Lives

in every fair flower

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Kim Halloran-Fry

Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful for beauty is God's handwriting – a wayside sacrament.

Welcome it in every fair face, in every fair sky, in every fair flower, and thank God for it as a cup of blessing.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

of figs and feast days

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Kim Halloran-Fry

I am eating my words – and a lot of other stuff, looks like – by telling you that we did do a second celebration this month after all. St. Joseph's feast day follows right on the heels of St. Patrick's. As we read today the boys were pretty certain we "could" pull off a semi-traditional St. Joseph's celebration. Traditional in that we had the symbolic foods, 'semi' in that we picked it all up on the way to soccer. Do we plan ahead or what?

So real quick 'cause it's late here is what we did. We read Good St. Joseph together over lunch. (after Kieran swore he could find it if I promised to read it. He did. I did. : ))

We looked up online traditional St Joseph altars in Italian communities. They said the table typically had three tiers to symbolize the 3 persons in the Trinity and the 3 people in the Holy Family. We made ours with stackes of books and paper.

The little girls ran to the toy bins and brought a tool set.

Kieran and Brendan grabbed some white beans and made the FAVA sign to tell the story of the famine.

I ran into the store and got Fig Newtons (fig pastries are traditional but time consuming), spaghetti and sauce, and premade cream puffs.

We ate it all up.

Then they retold the story to Dad. Voila.

They are sleeping off their cream puffs and I am joining them the minute I hit publish.

For references and printable projects to be done when you wake up say oh yeah! It's a feast day! Like right now….. you can find a ton on Catholicicing.com

Fig pastries are one traditional dish. Catholicicing (pretty sure) suggested carving traditional symbols into the fig newtons which thrilled the little boys for some reason.

Cream puffs. Frozen. I sprinkled the sugar on top. I think that makes them semi-homeade.

Does too. : )

the wearin’ of the green

Posted on March 17, 2013 by Kim Halloran-Fry

A double blessing today: our priest sharing our special saint day and blessing our current home.

Poor St. Patrick, courageous, faithful, selfless – reduced today to green beer and Lucky Charms. (don't get me wrong though – we do plenty of silly, happy things to celebrate too) He was brutally kidnapped from a comfortable family home on the island where my own family now lives. Taken by force, enslaved for YEARS, in cold isolation. Where many would grow bitter and their hearts as frigid as the windy hills where he was charged with wet, wild sheep, he took refuge in prayer. Year after year, exposed to the elements he cried out to God, Who heard and rescued.

He was not content to live the rest of his days in safety. He knew this world would never be that. It called for service, not ease. He answered that call by returning to minister to the very people who abused him. In constant danger, he stayed there in the midst of them, bringing them truth and light.

In a world that worships liberation and insists happiness rests in saving oneself, he is a paradox, a puzzle. A saint.

A fervent Irish prayer to say and share this day:

Bless this house, o Lord, we pray.
Make it safe by night and day.
Bless these walls so firm and stout,
Keeping want and trouble out.
Bless the roof and chimney tall,
Let thy peace lie over all.
Bless the doors that they may prove
Ever open to joy and love.
Bless the windows shining bright,
Letting in God's heavenly light.
Bless the hearth a-blazing there,
With smoke ascending like a prayer.
Bless the people here within…
Keep them pure and free from sin.
Bless us all, that one day, we
May be fit, O lord, to dwell with Thee.