random feelings of the heart

The purple-leafed plum was blooming a week ago, and it was exciting to see: the first blooming tree. Four days later, it was over! We did have cold weather last week, but maybe it's a short-lived thing anyway - we haven't had that tree long enough for me to remember it's blooming habits. But now the cherry trees are all pink with the crabapples right behind. The grass is emerald, and everything is lush and hopeful. 

I ripped the sleeves off the dress bodice, and detached it from the skirt. I took in the sides an inch. I think I want to make a lining, give it some substance. This may take a while.

Random feelings of the heart,
Ravings of a lone exile,
Stranger to the rules of art,
Let me robe in homely style.

-  James Kennedy, 18th century

"just live your ordinary life"

 "Whoever said that to speak about Christ and to spread his doctrine, you need to do anything unusual or remarkable? Just live your ordinary life; work at your job, trying to fulfill the duties of your state in life, doing your job, your professional work properly, improving, getting better each day. Be loyal; be understanding with others and demanding on yourself. Be mortified and cheerful. This will be your apostolate. Then, though you won't see why...you will find that people come to you. Then you can talk to them, quite simply and...about the sort of longings that everyone feels deep down in his soul, even though some people may not want to pay attention to them: they will come to understand them better, when they begin to look for God in earnest."

                                                                     -  St. Jose Maria Escriva

April Saturday

I tend to plan my blogging for the end of the day, but it often happens that I'm tired, or involved in something, or it's too late, or my mind just isn't there - anyway, I need a new routine.

My dress is slowly coming together - the bodice is sewn, the sleeves are on, the skirt is attached. It went over my head easily and I decided I wanted a higher bodice/skirt seam, so I've brought it up an inch. But I won't try it on until tonight - I don't always feel like putting my clothes on and off. I also noticed that the shoulder seams are too low; I mean that ideally, the bodice needs to be trimmed and the sleeves re-attached. I have also considered making two thin tucks along the top of each shoulder area to "bring in" the shoulder seam, without having to do it the long way.  I chose the bodice size which I thought would fit me, but it's big. That's okay, but how much will I have to take things in before I have a hard time pulling it over the head? Which is why I didn't line the bodice. I was going to, but realized there might be issues. So, I creep along.

It really looks like nothing! I'll try to get a close-up of the fabric. 

I saw a rabbit outside during the daytime - you've been waiting for me to say something about rabbits, haven't you?

Enjoying the light, the warmer air? Who knows; they are survivors.

a tranquil spirit

 "We must contain ourselves in patience, remembering each morning that our main job is to love God and to serve him and if we don't get things done due to interruptions, well, it cannot be helped, and God will take care of what we leave undone. But a tranquil spirit is important. Saint Teresa says that God cannot rest in an unquiet heart. I have to remember that many times during the day."

                                                               -  Dorothy Day, from Magnificat, April 2026

suddenly warm

 

a woodland themed towel from Debra!

I figure that normal temperatures for this time of year should be in the mid-fifties. Not this week, though! It is going to be in the eighties for a few days, so here we go, trying to get some more variety in the closet.

I finished my skirt, which is just an a-line with elastic waist - very basic. Now I want to make a dress with some thrifted fabric.

the Mr. Kibble statue holding down the pattern piece

It's a soft brushed cotton, a very small pine green and beige check. I was able to mark it with a piece of soap, since the colors were dark enough to show it up. 

Here's my inspiration, stolen off the internet from here

I cut out a bodice piece from a dress pattern I have, and sleeves from another. I'd like mine a little longer, like below the elbow. I've been trying to figure if I want to interline the bodice to give it more structure, or just line it. I think I'll just line it. I hope it will be something useful! One doesn't always know how a thing will come out, or how well it will fit. It is a bit girlish, but I hope that won't be a problem. 

by whose spirit

 God of everlasting mercy,
...increase, we pray,
the grace you have bestowed,
that all may grasp and rightly understand
at what font they have been washed, 
by whose Spirit they have been reborn,
by whose Blood they have been redeemed.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

- Magnificat, April 2026

still Easter

 I hope everyone had a lovely Easter observance. Our orthodox friends will have it tomorrow. The season lasts until Pentecost - we have a nice, long way to go.

"But after pondering Christ's Passion, we will spend the rest of April and beyond rejoicing in the light of his Resurrection, learning to come alive in his life."

                                         -  Fr. Philip Nolan, from Magnificat, April 2026

with the dead hath been

 Love lives again,
That with the dead hath been.
Love is come again
Like wheat that springeth green...

Dierec Bouts

the strange, still day

Holy Saturday almost escapes us in the rush from Good Friday to Easter. What are we to make of this strange and silent day, thousands of years later and already knowing the outcome that tomorrow holds? Should we just focus on the festivities of Easter, only a few hours away? No, for Jesus did not pass instantaneously from death to the Resurrection, skipping over the loneliness and sadness that death introduces into our world. Thus, Holy Saturday consoles us, revealing that even the painful cold and deafening silence of death has been embraced by the Lord.

                                               -   from Magnificat, April 2026

"Holy Saturday is a strange, still day, hanging in an unresolved poise between the darkness of the day before and the light that is not yet with us."

This is ground zero, emptiness and space
With nothing left to say or think or do,
But look unflinching on the sacred face
That cannot move or change or look at you.

-  Malcolm Guite

Diego Velasquez

enough for everyone

Upon this wood his body bore
The nails, the taunts, the spear,
Till water flowed with blood to wash
The whole world free of fear. 

Giotto's Christ Crucified