Small Things - Last Saturday of February 2025

"Life is not, for most of us, a pageant of splendor, but is made up of many small things, rather like an old fashioned piecework quilt. No two people have the same, but we all have our own, whether it be listening to Beethoven's fifth with a beloved friend, or seeing a neighbor at the back door with a basket of white dahlias. Or after a long, hard day, having the family say, "That was a good supper."

- GLADYS TABER

It's hard for me to believe that we are in the final week of February, and that next Wednesday we enter into the holy and somber season of Lent. And while the calendar says it is true, my mind begs to differ. In some ways it feels like we have been on an extended Christmas holiday and that Winter will last forever. We had another round of snow this week with everyone home together again for several days, which I love, but I have to say, it does make for keeping up with routines and rhythms a bit challenging. If there is such a thing as too many pajama days, I think I may be reaching it. With that, I'm **hoping** that with Lent, spring cleaning and de-cluttering, I can regain whatever sense of order and control I naively believe I have, but then again, it's early March, we're still not out of the winter woods in this area for probably six weeks yet. With that, my inspiration this week deeply reflects where my heart is these day, our home. 

Here, in particular order, are six small things that inspired me this week.

1. This Mama's Faith

I first came across Tabitha's Instragram account, which led me to her website, and finally to her You Tube channel, which is probably my favorite of the three! I especially enjoyed Keeper At Home: A Practical Guide to Christian Homemaking as well as Homemaking Is A High Calling. She also has a Proverbs 31 Studay that I'm excited to dive into, probably after Lent.

2. The Legacy of Home

I came across this blog as I was going through some of my bookmarks I have saved on my computer this week. I had saved a post from many years ago (almost 13 years ago, in fact), and was happy to see that in that time Mrs. White has continued to update her blog with more posts! I spent quite a bit of time there one snowy afternoon this week, and enjoyed my time there. I found her most recent post, Lessons on Thrift, inspiring.

3. Joyfully Domestic

Another lovely blog. I particularly enjoyed her Liturgical Living archives.

4. Inspired You: Letting God Breathe New Life Into Your Heart and Home

by Marian Parsons

Free to borrow from the archives. Might try to work this one in prior to beginning my Lenten reading.

5. The Seasonal Reset

I've long been inspired by This Pilgrim Life, and this post in particular is a good one to revisit.

6. Cooking With Karli

One of my favorite places to meet a friend for lunch is a little sandwich shop in our area, Blue Ridge Bagels. My favorite sandwich is The Bully, but they make a pretty good chicken salad, as well. But the thing I probably like best is taking home a bag of my favorite bagels to enjoy another day, my absolute favorites being Asiago Cheese and Jalapeno. I've thought often of trying my hand at making them myself, but as with so many other things in life, just never got around to it. However . . .

This week a recipe for an Asiago Cheese bagel just happened to pop up in my Pinterest feed which swept me away to the world of Cooking With Karli and OH MY! Not only is there a recipe for an asiago cheese bagel, but just about every bagel you could hope for! I even found a recipe for a jalapeno bagel! Not only that, but this Crumbl Sugar Cookie copycat recipe looks divine, and since my daughter LOVES Crumbl, I might have to give this one a try! 

❊