The Wine Dark Sea

Come to my new site!

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 03:06:33 GMT

I have a new website design using new software and so there is a new address and RSS. Please use these new addresses immediately. The site is http://www.thewinedarksea.com/index.php and the RSS is http://thewinedarksea.com/index.php/weblog/rss_2.0/. Thanks!

Christmas

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 06:16:38 GMT

The table on Christmas Eve. We had our traditional Christmas Eve feast, the modified Feast of Seven Fishes. This year it was four: lobster, shrimp, stuffed clams, and...

The Reason for Bridal Showers

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 06:17:44 GMT

As I mentioned before, my little brother recently got engaged. He and his fiance just set a date for the wedding, next September. (Yay!) After the excitement died down a bit and as I had time to start thinking through all the steps they will be going through as they plan their wedding,...

In Heaven It Is Always Autumn

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 05:08:58 GMT

Too good not to steal. Mrs. Darwin shares a passage from a sermon of John Donne, Christmas Day 1624:

God made Sun and Moon to distinguish seasons, and day, and night, and we cannot have the fruits of the earth but in their seasons: But God hath made no decree to distinguish the seasons of his mercies; In paradise, the fruits were ripe, the...

Why We Go to Midnight Mass

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 14:58:04 GMT

Well last night we we survived Midnight Mass with four children with not a single child fall asleep or needed to be taken out. In fact no one fussed at all. Or at least not what anyone but me would have called fussing. Ben did whine and complain in a loud toddler not-whisper but I don't think anyone who wasn't our immediate neighbor heard him. And Bella did cry quietly when she realized she'd forgotten her blanket at home (Especially frustrating because the only reason she even wanted it...

Make Your House Fair as You are Able

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 03:52:55 GMT

One of my current favorite Advent/Christmas songs is People, Look East. I've been trying to learn all the words and so have been singing it over and over and over again. The funny thing is I used to think it was a dumb song because all I heard were the final lines of each stanza: "Love, the Bird, is on the way" etc. Sappy and silly, I thought. But then I started paying attention to the actual verses. Here, I'll just give you the whole song:...

Divine Office, Done Badly

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 06:05:45 GMT

Recently Daria of the Coffee and Canticles blog had a lovely post titled Worth Doing Badly in which she responds to a promoter of the Liturgy of the hours who stressed the importance of praying on a schedule, finding a quiet time and place for contemplation. Daria says, yes, that is the ideal but suggests that there is a danger in making the perfect the enemy of the good enough. I love what...

Anthony at Nine Months

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 21:21:21 GMT

Caught in the act. Anthony climbs on a box to get to the remote controls. Anthony had his official checkup on Tuesday (and I haven't been able to finish this post...

On St Lucy's Day

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 04:38:33 GMT

I was so proud of my braid, Bella was a bit perplexed when I announced I was going to make a special bread for St Lucy's day. "We don't know anyone named Lucy,"...

At the Cathedral

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 17:18:15 GMT

Friday night we all went to Holy Cross Cathedral in Boston for a Mass of Blessing for the new community the Daughters of Mary of Nazareth. Dom has worked with Sr Olga Yaqob, the new Mother servant...