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My sister, holding her daughter :)
born January 9, 2022
7 lbs, 3 oz.
This baby is very special because she’s my niece—I’m an aunt! (Yes, Madeleine may call me Auntie Em :) )
Everyone is doing well and I can’t wait to meet this little peanut and snuggle her!
January 6, 2022
Alice is the daughter of my friends Tiffany and Bill. You may remember them because I wrote about their son Billy, who was born in March 2020 and lived for seven days before he died. So Alice is their rainbow baby, hence the rainbow onesie she’s wearing. She has her daddy’s black hair and her mother’s facial expressions!
Baby #2, my niece, will have her birth announcement post soon! :)
I’m not sure whose Christmas tree this is. :)
You can read all the blogmas posts here!
As a kid (I mean up until about the age of 9, I think), we spent Christmas in Pittsburgh. That meant that my brother and I got our Santa gifts early, which made us very happy and made our classmates very jealous. At the time, there weren’t as many grandkids as there are now, so my brother and I were pretty spoiled with presents by our grandparents, aunts, and uncles.
We would arrive in Pittsburgh on Christmas Eve and stay at one grandparents’ or the others that day, and then spend the next day with the others. I seem to remember that we usually spent Christmas Eve with Dad’s family—his two sisters, their husband, kids, and my grandmother (my grandfather died when my dad was 20). Being southern Italians, they did the Feast of the Seven Fishes for a long time—I don’t think they it when I was old enough to actually partake, or they did, and the kids just didn’t get the food. Gifts were after dinner in the living room. Bryan (my brother) and I were (and still are, but with the addition of Melanie!) the youngest grandchildren on this side of the family, so we got most of the gifts (I think?). I do remember adults opening things as well, but being a kid I didn’t really pay attention!
at the Heilmann Christmas party. L-R: Diane [Patty’s mom!], Jeff, me, and Julie holding my screaming brother.
The Heilmann Christmas was multi-parted. My great-grandmother lived in a nearby apartment building and we would have a Christmas party there in the building’s “party room”, which you see above. This was also the location for a lot of my early birthday parties. (Remember, not a lot of grand kids on this side, lots of people who wanted to spoil small children.)
I don’t remember sequence, exactly, but we would open gifts at Grandma and Pa’s (mom’s parents), and then at some point there was the party at Nana’s, which wasn’t far away. Diane and her family (my Aunt Sue, Uncle John—mom’s brother—and her sister, Megan) lived in St. Louis and it was always a lot of fun to see her, since we’re only six months apart in age. Julie (seen above at the right) is the oldest grandchild, I’m second, and Di is third. (Also, the first child in every family on my mom’s side was a girl, too!) We spent a lot of time playing Barbies. (Well, Di and I. I don’t think Julie was into Barbies.)
I loved the way we spent Christmas. It evolved, of course, as we got older, but it was really magical when I was little, especially getting to spend so much time with my relatives.
Gifts I remember getting? A Sesame Street sleeping bag and a banjo (also Sesame Street), and the My Little Pony Pink Perfume Palace! (I loved that thing so much I took it to Walt Disney World when I was seven. It was my carry-on. I’m not kidding.)
Christmas Music: TWOFER!
1) O Come, All Ye Faithful, from the Dominican Friars of the Province of St. Joseph!
For some reason, I remember singing this at my grandparents’ church. I don’t know if it actually happens, but I have a very strong memory of it (I was wearing a white dress with navy blue anchors on it). So, I’m sharing this one today!
2) I should’ve posted this yesterday since it was the feast of the Holy Innocents—Loreena Mckennit singing the Coventry Carol.
Sinus surgery was successful!
There was a lot of stuff in there, according to my ENT—the sinuses were actually “overflowing” (which I could’ve told ya.) It’s so nice to be able to feel air in my nose again! Yay!
So I’m taking the next few days to just putter and rest/work on house things that have been neglected during the massive “I have no energy because I have massively infected sinuses!” campaign. I want to work on my travel sketchbook and get some of my Amish Country sketches done/finished, and I have a few knitting projects that need repaired or blocked. I’m done with Madeleine’s blanket (she’s my niece!) and I’ve moved on to the next Christmas gift on my list, a scarf for one of my best friends.
Maddie’s blanket (not blocked)
And here’s a nice little treat for all of you—I didn’t know there was a Dominican blessed named Emily! You can read all about her here!
Detail of Bl. Emily in Bernadette Carstenen’s “The Dominicans”
How are you doing? Are you preparing for Christmas? Are you celebrating Advent? Are you doing both or neither? :)
Side view of the Carlisle Inn
It was snowing on Friday when we left, but it was the “good” kind of snow that doesn’t stick to the roads, so we weren’t worried about driving home.
After we packed up the car, we went to Der Dutchman for breakfast (part of staying at the Inn is that you get one free breakfast buffet at the restaurant), which was excellent. Buttermilk pancakes for the win!
Before we left, we stopped at the attached bakery to get some goodies to take home. I got a strawberry fry pie, ground coffee, bread and butter pickles, and Amish popcorn (apparently this is a big thing, Amish popcorn!). Mom and Dad also got some things. It was a really nice bakery, with plenty of items, from bread to doughnuts and other goodies. They also had things like mugs and gift baskets and candy.
Some of my bakery purchases.
On the way home we passed a lot of Amish farms and more buggies (I counted 11!) and Amish kids on bikes. There was more laundry on the line, and lots of cows, goats, horses, and sheep in the fields. Some people had their laundry hung on their covered porches, to keep it out of the wind and snow.
Hills behind the Inn.
This was a great trip that I’d long been wanting to take, and I definitely want to go back as soon as possible, hopefully in the spring so we can use the porches and balconies of the Inn!
Breakfast menu
Wednesday morning
Wednesday was our big day out, since everything was closed on Thursday. Surprisingly, some stores were also closed on Wednesday or had shortened hours, so I was glad I’d done some research ahead of time and ID’d places that were open. Because of that, some of the places on our list we weren’t able to go to, but we can save them for next time.
We had breakfast at the hotel and then headed to Millersburg, where both my aunt and I wanted to hit Farmhouse Frocks.
Uncle Frank checking out the candles (which are awesome)
Farmhouse Frocks is run by a local woman and her two daughters and features clothing in sizes 5-28. All the clothing is made by Amish seamstresses from fabric that Lena (the owner) picks out. Clothes shopping really doesn’t get more local that this!
The shop carries clothing, accessories, and all sorts of home goods, from cowhide rugs to ornaments to kitchenwares and stationery. This is my kind of store and I could have spent hours in here!
We did spend about an hour and a half in here, trying on clothes and looking at everything. Aunt Judy and I got some great pieces—I got two dresses (two prints of the same dress) and a top, as well as two hair clips (I’m SO GLAD claw clips are back!) and a leather pouch, because my purse is like Mary Poppins’ bag, and I always need pouches to keep things organized.
All of the pieces that I got are versatile, beautiful, and comfortable. All important things! I was hoping I’d find some great things here, and Aunt Judy and I were not disappointed.
All decorated for Christmas!
After shopping we were, understandably, hungry. So, lunch time! This was a bit tricky because, as I said, some places were closed on Wednesday or had special hours. But fortunately we found a great cafe, the Olde World Bakery and Bistro in Berlin, right off of state route 39 (which is the main road that connects Millersburg, Berlin, Walnut Creek, and Sugarcreek.)
mmmm, bakery case!
The food here was delicious, and as an extra perk, the shop also makes their own sodas, including Cream Soda, which my dad and Aunt Judy love. I had the grilled cheese and tomato basil soup, which was perfect after a morning of shopping.
Perfection.
The bakery/cafe is part of a bunch of shops and craft malls, so after lunch mom, Aunt Judy, and I headed to the craft mall while the men checked out the leather and shoe shore. In the craft mall, I found some hand spun and hand dyed yarn! I totally wasn’t expecting that so it was a lovely surprise!
Yay, yarn!
It was a really nice day, sunny and sort of breezy and not too cold. I had my sketchbook with me so I was able to sketch a bit while people finished up their shopping.
After the antique/craft malls, we split up. Our hotel had a promotion with a local forge where guests could get a free commemorative ornament, so mom and dad and I headed out to Wendell August Forge. They’re actually based in Pennsylvania but have a local store in Berlin; we loved seeing all the Pittsburgh things! (Dad actually got a Pitt keychain, which probably proved lucky, since they just had their first 10 win regular season since nineteen eighty-one…..) Mom and I got some coasters and we all got our ornaments.
Another fun part of the store? They have the world’s largest Amish buggy!
It be BIG.
On the way back from the Forge, we saw this:
This was the first time on a trip I’d seen a horse and buggy in a parking lot. We actually saw five buggies that day (holy moly they’re loud I can hear them better than cars!), but since this one was parked I could actually get a photo.
We also saw a lot of Amish teenagers wearing the safety vests (you can see these in the back of the photo) while they rode bikes around the area. Most of them had saddlebags on their bikes and the teens seemed to be making deliveries. It also seemed like wash day in the area because a lot of the houses had their laundry on the line.
Once again we went to Der Dutchman for dinner—they were one of the only places open—but there was so much on the menu we wanted to try that we didn’t mind going there again! It was definitely much more crowded (see—no other place open!) but the service and food were still excellent. I had the local bologna and Swiss sandwich (YUM) with potato salad, and a sampler size of the fudge cake (Really, sampler size is all you need, it was a rich cake. So good.). (Yes, I think one must talk about food when one is talking about Amish Country, because the food is really good.)
Then back to the hotel (next door! Walk off dinner!) where we chatted for a little bit in the second floor gathering room. The hotel had filled up quite a bit from the night before; lots of people were checking in all day. Apparently some people do this every year (I can see why!) and they bring their entire extended families for the holiday.
Amish quilt work in the hallways.
Carolers tucked away on the second floor.
Stained glass details off the lobby.
AKA, Thanksgiving!
We all slept in to varying degrees. It was raining so it was very cozy to enjoy a comfortable bed and watch the Harry Potter marathon on USA. (We got through the first and second movies before dinner.) Aunt Judy had stopped at a local market yesterday and picked up some lunch fixings, including baby Swiss cheese, so lunch was delicious.
I sketched a bit, then put on one of my new dresses, as well as a necklace mom had gotten me at Carlisle Gifts. Around 4:15 we headed down to the basement event center for dinner.
There weren’t just hotel guests, there were people from all over the area, so apparently this is a big thing, and after we ate, we could see why—it was great! It was buffet style but there were waiters and waitresses who took drink orders and cleared your plates.
Table setting.
Sadly I didn’t get photos of the buffet, bad me, but it was really good. There was turkey, ham, chicken, and bunch of sides to choose from, including Amish noodles (which my dad tried). The mashed potatoes were particularly good! There was also an entire table of pie, plus spice cake trifle.
It was pretty easy to walk away satisfied, let me tell you.
A quilt on display near the banquet room.
View of the lobby from the staircase
After dinner, we played Apples to Apples for a bit, and then sadly we had to go pack up. Aunt Judy and Uncle Frank were leaving before us in the morning so we said good-bye then—which I hate doing, but I was so glad that we’d gotten to spend time together!
Packing was hard, since my suitcase didn’t have room for all the things I’d bought! But we managed to get everything a bag and in the car—success! (Yarn takes up space, people!)
This Thanksgiving my family decided to do something different—we took a road trip! We decided to go to Holmes County, Ohio, and spend Thanksgiving in Amish Country.
Ohio has the largest Amish population in the country, and “Amish Country” really includes quite a few areas in Northeastern Ohio, but the epicenter, if you will, is in Holmes County, around the areas of Millersburg, Berlin, Walnut Creek, Charm, and Sugarcreek.
My parents had taken a day trip up to Holmes County years ago and had really enjoyed it, and when my grandmother spent a weekend there recently, Mom thought it would be fun for us to go there for Thanksgiving, along with my dad’s middle sister, Judy, and her husband.
The view from my balcony
I had only been to Millersburg once, to attend a wedding of a college friend who grew up there. But I’d been interested in Amish culture for a long time and I’d always anted to spend more time there, so when my parents suggested this trip, I was totally on board.
We stayed at the Carlisle Inn in Walnut Creek, which put us really close to Millersburg and Berlin. The plan was to get there Tuesday, spend Wednesday shopping and exploring, chill on Thursday (since everything was closed for the holiday), and leave on Friday.
This will be in a few parts so that it’s not a huge deluge of text and photos.
We only live about two hours from Holmes County, but there’s no direct way to get there, really, so we took the “back” roads—what the Ohio Department of Transportation calls the “Amish Byway”. I had been on this route once, but I’d forgotten how hilly it is here! (People who say Ohio is flat haven’t really seen Ohio.)
We arrived at the Inn around the same time as my aunt and uncle, who were making the trip with us. My Aunt Judy is my dad’s “middle” sister (he has two older sisters), and I hadn’t really seen them since my brother’s wedding. We’d had lunch with them this past summer after Kelly’s wedding, but that’s not the same thing as really spending time with people, in a place where I can hear them. So it was great to see them.
We checked in and got settled into our rooms. The Inn was already decorated for Christmas and they did a wonderful job.
The lobby fireplace—a great place to sit and read or nap!
Almost every room has a balcony or porch, and garland and bows were strung from them. I’m sad it was too cold or too rainy to use the balcony—next visit!
Looking down from the second floor breakfast room.
Outside of every room were these lanterns, bedecked with a wreath and ribbon.
We had a very early dinner at Der Dutchman next door (it’s owned by the same company that owns in the inn), and it was delicious. I had broasted chicken, which, if you’re not familiar with it, is a way of cooking chicken that gives you crispy skin and juicy meat, without frying it. It’s an Amish specialty (sometimes you’ll see Bob Evans offer it, so you can try it then.). With it I had potato salad and green beans. Portions here are BIG, so be prepared. You get your money’s worth but it’s a lot!
We all had dessert, because, hello, PIE, but they also have a pie sampler, where you can get cuts of three different types of dessert. (We did this the second night and I have to say it really was a perfect size). I got the Butterscotch custard pie; my aunt had cherry, and my parents had the pie sampler.
I’m not a huge pie fan, but here, I definitely am. These were good pies.
There was a gorgeous sunset that night…
We spent the evening in front of the fire place, talking and enjoying catching up with each other. We al went to bed pretty early, which is one of the things I like about vacation—if you want to go to bed, go to bed! Want to stay up? Stay up! No worries!
I forgot to take pictures of my room (bad blogger), but every room has a wooden bedstead covered with an Amish-made quilt. There were also watercolors in the rooms, a small refrigerator, TV, and the bath/tub combination (which I love. I dislike places that only have showers!). The floors were wood with some inlaid carpet.
One o the things I really liked was that it was dark outside. No random electric lights, no light pollution—the night skies were gorgeous.
Because of COVID, you had to ask for maid service, and if you wanted fresh towels, you put your towels in the laundry bag outside the door. The housekeepers would then collect the bags and return them with fresh towels. The desk clerks all wore masks, as did the rest of the staff, but that was the only thing I really noticed, COVID wise.
Amish art in the lobby lounge.
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Hey everyone! Welcome to fall. (AKA, the return of hockey season!)
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On the blog this past week, I wrote a piece that I think is pretty important, and if you haven’t read it, here it is: Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics.
If you’ve been a reader here for any length of time, you know that I take the idea that “everyone has worth” seriously. This is because I have been frequently told that because my genetic code is messed up, my life is “too hard”.
Life is hard for everyone. Everyone will suffer. Everyone will die. I wrote a book about this, for Pete’s sake.
Yet some people think we can control suffering. We can control unhappiness.
We can’t.
So whenever the ugly head of eugenics rears its face, I try to play whack-a-mole with it and beat it down into the dust where it belongs. This piece is my latest Whack-A-Mole entry, but with the caveat of a really, really grim statistics at the beginning.
95% of children with CF are aborted in utero.
Anyway, read the piece to get all the sad facts and see exactly how I feel about this. :)
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Happy news, yes? :) How about some Patty?
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Also in HUGE news, I’m an auntie to a little girl! I have a niece coming! Her name is Madeleine Grace and she will arrive in the world in January and I am so excitedddd. (She is my sister and her husband’s little girl)
This is the first grandchild for my parents, so obviously we are all really excited.
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I’m having sinus surgery in December! My ENT had a CT of my sinuses taken and apparently there is lots of “mucus and junk” hanging out in my ethmoid sinuses (which are really cool, btw), so he’s going to go in, get the crap out, and then flush in lots of antibiotic stuff to keep things happy!
This is all part of CF. The mucus that’s really think and causes so many issues in my lungs also causes issues in other places, mostly the sinuses, the pancreas, and the reproductive tract (most men with CF are sterile—not sure if it’s all, but most are.) For me, my transplant took care of about 98% of my CF issues—but not my sinuses. Fortunately I have really good sinuses (I had a friend who needed sinus surgery every nine months) but it’s been about 10 years since I had a clean out and that means I’m overdue. So, December! Surgery! Yay!
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Dad and I are reading the Cormorant Strike series and we love them. I just started watching the TV series. Have you read these? I’m not super into mysteries/crime, but I love these. And I mean it helps that they’re ghost written—it’s actually JK Rowling who write them. :) So as a massive Harry fan, that helps. (I didn’t like her first adult novel, btw. So that’s why I was slow to pick these up. But these are good.)
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Knitting? I finished the Beatrice Shawl, and I’ve got four colors for a mystery KAL.
Beatrice shawl on the mats
The KAL is a 6 week thing, and I have five of the clues so far, so I joined late, but I’m really chomping at the bit to get started. I just needed some more size 4 needles, so once those arrive I can dive in!
“At the Millinery Shop”, Degas
If you weren’t a 90s kid/teen, you might not know this song:
(Yes, I just dated myself. And no, I’ve never seen the video, so I hope it’s not questionable. :-P)
(Also for some reason “Danny Boy” is involved. Never was sure why.)
Anyway, that’s a lot of what my life is like, and my dad said this to me yesterday.
“It’s like you start to exercise and have plans and then….you get sick! And you can’t do those things!”
“Welcome to my life,” I said.
And it’s true. It’s sort of frustrating, but it happens a lot. It happens in the hospital when I was 19 and had to learn how to…..sit up again. Or go to the bathroom unassisted. The body is durable, but it’s also surprisingly forgetful. “Huh? We used to ….sit up? All day? Nah.”
So that’s what’s going on right now. The Cipro caused my Achilles’ tendons, especially on my right foot, to get unhappy. Not so unhappy that something actually snapped or swelled, but enough that I went, “OK, we can’t use that foot.” I spent Sunday not putting weight on it, and most of yesterday was the same. It’s feeling OK today. I’m waiting on word from clinic to see if I should stop the Cipro early or if they want me to finish it and damn the torpedoes.
But….that means that my house was sort of a wreck. To put it kindly. Because I was sick most of the month of August, and then I got on the Cipro, which limited my movement, and even with limited movement, I still ended up with issues.
Fortunately my parents are a big help here and will help me dig out from under the avalanche of…stuff. But the other thing means that since I can’t stand for too long, I can’t really cook, which is detrimental both to health and to me, because I like to cook. I have lots of recipes I want to try out. But it’s hard because I can’t stand over something and stir or chop or slice. There is one recipe I have that I love and is really non labor intensive, so I’m making that tonight for dinner, but….I like to cook!
I am very thankful for my parents’ help (and my brother’s, when needed.). It can be hard to feel like a bump on a log and I hate having people clean up after me because I feel like the world’s biggest slacker. But…allowing people to help you in a part of growing in humility. So I’m growing, I guess.
The hope is that I’ve kicked this infection and I can resume regularly scheduled programming soon. I see my ENT next week and I’m going to see if we can do some antibiotic rinse in my sinuses to keep them happier long term, because I’ve been getting a lot of sinus things lately and I don’t really want that to continue (especially if my body can’t tolerate the antibiotics anymore….fingers crossed we can still do them.). So we will investigate some long-term solutions, if there are any.
All this to say that, yes, in life we have setbacks, sometimes huge setbacks, an it can seem like we’re not going to recover from them. But most of the time, we get knocked down and we get up again. :)
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Hi! Happy Long Weekend, US readers! :)
If you’re a subscriber, this post just landed in your inbox. If you’re not (and why not may I ask?), then: Ave Maria Press is having a Labor Day Sale! 10% off everything with the code LABORDAY21 at checkout!
So be sure to get your copy of Living Memento Mori (for yourself or friends!).
In the post I also talk about Ave’s new note taking bible. It’s great! And it’s also included in the sale! So you can check out my notes on that.
The sale runs through 9/6 (Monday). Hop to it!
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OK so in the last quick takes I said I was feeling better. Hahah I LIED. By the 26th I felt so crappy that I didn’t have the energy to make coffee. So I called clinic (called=emailed) and got a script for Cipro which is making me feel better.
However, Cipro is a strong (as in, it’s used for plague and anthrax) antibiotic and can mess with tendons. I don’t really like that, but I like that cipro works. I’m on antibiotics all the time as a matter of course so there’s not a whole lot to pick from when I do get sick that’s in pill form. It’s basically Cipro. So I’m used to it, but I don’t really like it. I mean I like feeling better but it’s still a nasty bit of work.
I have less than a week to go on it so that makes me happy, because then I can stop freaking out about my tendons!
And yes, I am getting back to normal energy, which is great.
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Since I want to not mess up my tendons, I’ve been doing a lot of sitting, which means reading and knitting mostly. Fortunately my Aunt Mary (who is also a bookworm of the first degree) sent me a box of books so I can have something to do while I sit! She sent me We Are the Brennans, Klara and the Sun, and A Swim In A Pond In The Rain.
So far I’ve read Brennans and really liked it. I’m reading Klara now, and I’m looking forward to Swim because I like Russian literature. (Mostly. I still need to read War & Peace which is in my library, mocking me for not reading it yet.)
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In Knitting, I have a lot going on but there was a Great Knitting Mystery Adventure this week.
I got a lot of yarn….
And then wound the pretty champagne colored yarn (Quince and Co Crane) for a project.
I was confused on said project. I posted it on Facebook to numerous excellent knitters. WE WERE ALL SO CONFUSED.
Finally, we figured out what to do. It was insane, my friends. Many minds were flabbergasted about this pattern.
But WE DID IT.
BEHOLD.
Anyway now it’s chugging along and is going to be a gorgeous shawl but man, figuring out this pattern was ROUGH!
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The rest of the yarn will be used for two shawls (I LOVE SHAWLS, OK? I really do. They’re so fun.) and a cowl. And yes, I am going to start my sweater soon!
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What are your weekend plans? Mine involve two dinners, lecturing at Mass, and…that’s it. :) But one of the dinners is for Tiffany’s 40th birthday!
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You know Tiff as the mom of Billy, most likely. Well, she’s pregnant again (with a little girl this time) and today is her 40th birthday!
Here she is with Billy…
And this is one of my favorite pictures of us. :)
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Hello! Happy Friday!
Last week I didn’t write because I had a nasty cold/virus bug thing. It wasn’t the plague. :) But I had some dental work two weeks ago to replace an old filing, and some grossness must have come out during the work and flown right up to my left sinus cavity. For teh first few days it was just sort of sore throat, but then it became a nasty cold that had me pretty well sidelined. Sigh. At least I can take cold meds now—I couldn’t pre-transplant!
Anyway, mostly over now, which is good. Yay!
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This next bit is something that’s been gnawing at me for awhile, but it came to full flower yesterday. That’s the movement of people to not tell the truth. Not necessarily intending to lie, per se, but to not be accurate with their words.
During COVID, I’ve noticed this a few different times, and especially now with vaccinations. There seems to be a persistent myth—and it is a myth—that people who are immunocompromised can’t receive the vaccinations.
We can. I have.
So I’ve taken to calling people out on this—nicely!—when I see it. yesterday on twitter, I did this. The response I got was (and I’m paraphrasing): “well, we only have 140 characters, so we don’t have space to make distinctions.” I was told (and this is a quote) that I was “mincing words.”
No. I was being accurate.
The words we use do matter. That’s not just because I’m a writer and words are what I use to earn my living, but I think we all know that words can be dangerous or healing. Truth or lies matter, and facts matter.
It matters that people believe what’s true, which is that immunocompromised people can get the vaccine. Some people cannot get it, just like all people cannot get every vaccine. (I can’t get the shingles vaccine, because it’s a live vaccine.)
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Being told that it’s mincing words to want to be accurate—to be truthful—was very strange to me. (besides the fact that to “mince words” means to not be truthful or to beat around the bush. When people say “let’s not mince words”, they mean, “let’s be totally honest.” )
When I studied journalism and wrote for my college paper, the goal in writing as to get across the facts in as few words as possible, because all journalists (well, and all writers) know about words counts and space. To say that a word or character limit doesn’t allow you to be honest is…..weird.
I think it also bothers me as a Dominican. The motto (well one of the mottoes) of the order is veritas— “truth.” The order was founded to spread God’s truth throughout the world, not the “truth” that the Albigensians believed. Truth is important, in every sense. Jesus called himself the way, the truth, and the life. Truth isn’t “mincing words”.
So that’s been something I’ve been thinking about lately.
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Another thing I’ve been thinking about? BABIESSSS.
Here’s some Patty:
“Mom, I LOVE PAPER TOWELS!”
She’s 13 1/2 months old, is working on more teeth, and is walking like a champ. She can also walk while holding her mom’s phone and have a “conversation” (in baby talk) with you. And she kisses the screen, which I think is adorable. Her big siblings have gone off to school, leaving her and Johnny (seen above) at home with mom—at least until Johnny starts pre-school in a few weeks. (He won’t go every day).
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And in other BABY NEWS—My sister is pregnant! I’m an auntie! Yay!!!!! This is my first niece or nephew and I am insanely excited. Of course baby blanket knitting will begin as soon as my sister lets me know what colors she wants. I’ll be making the same one I made for Patty, just different colors.
Patty snuggled under her blanket. <3
Since Mel and her husband live in Colorado, I won’t have to worry so much about using wool, like I did with Patty, who lives in Texas! I kept worrying that she’d overheat under it, but she seems to do A-OK with it and takes her blanket everywhere, which makes me very happy. I hope that my niece or nephew love her/his baby blanket just as much!
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I’ve been re-reading/re-watching the Harry Potter series. (And the baby’s bedroom is Harry Potter themed!) And while I do that, I’ve done some HP knitting….
For Christmas last year, Mel got me Knitting Magic, a book of Harry Potter projects. These are the horcrux washcloths, so there is a set of seven. I started with Harry, and then made Hufflepuff’s Cup.
Hufflepuff’s cup—it’s not as easy to see as Harry, but it’s there!
Next up will be Ravencaw’s diadem. My Ravelry notes are here.
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The local school district has started back here, and Patty’s siblings all went back on Tuesday:
Has school started back where you are?
After two tries—thank you, COVID!—my cousin Kelly finally married her fiancé, Vladimir (or Vlad, as we call him) in a lovely ceremony in the ‘Burgh.
It was a beautiful ceremony. I knew it would be, because Kelly and Vlad have great taste, but Kelly is also the principal flute for the Toronto Symphony (yes, I like to brag on my family when I can), so the music was exquisite, with some special touches. The first one was that some of the music was in Croatian, because Vlad’s family is from Croatia.
The second was, well, this:
This requires some explanation.
Kelly’s mom and my mom are sisters—my mom is number 3 out of 8, and her mom, Patty, is 6 our of 8. This piece of music was written by their father, our grandfather, Francis. He was a trumpeter, composer, arranger, and elementary school music teacher. He had a “side gig”, I guess we’d call it, called “Orchestra for Little Fingers”, where he arranged and composed music for young players. He used to put on classical music in the family room and then have my brother and I name what instruments were playing.
He met my grandma at Duquesne University, where they were both studying music. They both sang in their church choir. So, music is important to our family, and almost everyone plays or sings, or does both.
My grandparents on their wedding day.
He died 11 years ago. Of course we think about him often, but especially in moments where there are big milestones, like births or marriages. So I was thinking about him anyway.
And then as I was flipping through the program, I saw this.
I didn’t even know he’d written this. I have no idea if he’d written more parts of a Mass setting or not. It’s a piece of music I’d never seen and none of us had ever heard performed—this was the premier.
It was gorgeous. Of course Kelly’s friend, who was the vocalist, sang it beautifully. But it, itself, was gorgeous. To see his writing brought back memories of seeing his pens and watching him write out manuscripts.
There may have been tears. Maybe. :)
OF COURSE I enjoyed getting to see Patty! (more on that in another post) This was her first time meeting the extended family and of course everyone wanted to see her and her siblings.
And since the wedding fell on Kelly’s birthday, there was also some “Happy Birthday.”
(Also do I even need to tell you that hugging my grandma felt amazing?)
Weddings are always special, but this one in particular? Yeah. It was darn special.
Congratulations, Kelly and Vlad!
Oh, gosh, how can I leave these people? :(
But I did.
There were last minute snuggles and kisses and stories.
And then we were at the airport and I said goodbye and flew home.
I am really hoping I’ll see them all at Christmas this year because I need a regular dose of these folks.
But it was a wonderful trip.
As per usual, getting everyone ready for church was wild (I mean, is it ever NOT wild in a house with more than two people?). But everyone looked nice!
Johnny is ready
Frankie with Amanda the Panda
Red, White, and Blue Patty!
Diane’s church is amazing. Seriously. On all levels. I could understand everything! WOW! Go church sound system! And there was a great choir and an excellent cantor, and a fabulous homily….it was great. Di had to take the littles to the cry room so it was mostly Susie, Bridget, and I in the pew, but that’s no biggie. It as a great Mass. And it ended with singing “America”, which I love to do. Some parishes do patriotic hymns and some don't, and I was glad we did this one as the recessional because it’s FUN TO SING, dang it.
After that, we went to Pecan Creek Grille, where I had….an English breakfast? :) (Minus the black pudding)
Yes, it was proper American bacon. :) Also, GRILLED TOMATO IS YUM.
We had a nice, leisurely brunch and were surrounded by other families, which as nice. Lots of kids! I talked a little bit about the homily, which had talked about gratitude and our blessings. I didn’t want to be that person who quizzes the kids on the homily, but I did want them to sort of think about it, if that makes sense. We should be grateful for our blessings!
After this we headed home and Di and I put on The Sandlot for the kids, which they enjoyed. Susie came in at the end and Di said she’d have to watch it start to finish because she’d probably like it (she would), and it’s just such a Fourth of July movie (especially with a scene that takes place on the Fourth.).
Then we decided to play Settlers of Catan—well, Susie, Frankie, Di, and I. Bridget was playing with her dolls, Johnny was chilling, and Patty was napping. So we figured we could play. None of us had ever really played before—my cousin Kelly tried to teach me one Christmas, but I hadn't retained any of it—so that was good because we were all starting from scratch.
It took a long time, but it was fun. Di won. Afterwards we had pizza and—you guessed it!—ice cream! We didn’t go to see the fireworks, and the kids couldn’t really see them from the house, but that’s OK. Matt had bought some little ones for the kids on Friday night and they’d played with those in the driveway for awhile (always under supervision!)
It was my last night (sigh) so I had to do things like pack, but I did still get to have some downtime with Susie, Patty, and Di once the other kids were in bed. I love how Patty is still cuddly. She loved being read to and sung to, which also made me happy.
In our Fourth of July best.
I took a bath in the awesome tub one more time (want to be clean for travel, right?). And I definitely wasn’t ready to leave these people that I love so much.
We love Buc-ee’s!
(Previous installments: Day One, Day Two, Day Three, Day Four) (And SIGNED BOOK SALE!)
On Saturday morning, Diane decided to make banana pancakes for breakfast, and lo, they were delicious. :)
So Patty took her morning nap, I had art time with Bridget (I taught her about wet-in-wet watercolor, which she immediately proclaimed perfect for her drawing) and then Patty got clean!
All the girls—Bridget wanted she and Patty to “match”, so they wore the tops their grandmother (my aunt Sue) had made them!
Patty loves being wrapped up in her towel, but hates being unwrapped to get dressed, so…..she was unhappy, briefly. But then looked so pretty, and made dinosaur face for us!
After everyone was ready, we headed for Nimblefingers. Apple Maps got us a it lost but we figured it out. (Darn you, Apple Maps!)
The store is really cute—it’s knitting/crochet on one side and needlepoint on the other. I have been known to do cross stitch in my time, so that side was also appealing to me, but I didn’t want to keep Di and the kids in the car all day (Susie, Bridget, and Frankie came in with me). So we stuck to knitting. Susie got some lovely yarns, including a baby alpaca in a bright green that Frankie wanted made into a scarf, and I got her a ball of cashmere blend yarn, because it was an OBSCENELY good price (FIFTEEN BUCKS, PEOPLE) and who doesn’t want to knit or crochet with cashmere?!
I fell into the Madelinetosh wormhole and came out with three items:
(They got bounced around a bit in my luggage—they were wound very neatly by the store ladies. More on that in a second)
The top two are Tosh DK in Texas Tulip, because….I was in Texas. :) I’m going to use them for a honey cowl. The bottom one is Tosh Mo Light in matcha. Normally this isn't the sort of color way I’d pick but I was drawn to the name (it’s named for Japanese green tea), and also the subtle, neutral colors. I think this will make a nice lightweight shawl. I also got some notions.
I asked the women to wind my yarn. Normally I don’t do this but I wanted it to be nice and solid for the trip home. Frankie was entranced by the winding—the swift and the ball maker working together was just too cool. So he watched and then made sure that the ends were tucked in neatly! He loves any sort of engineering so this counted as engineering and coolness.
After we were done, we headed for the big mall (Memorial City) to visit the AG store. Bridget and I had been planning this trip for months—not kidding. We’d discussed which doll she would get when we went. We had it all planned out. She had saved money so this was HER doll and we were proud of her for that amount of savings. So, money in hand, we were ready to shop.
First, though, we had to have lunch. Chik-Fil-A for all!
Patty likes nuggets, yes she does.
After we had lunch, we headed for the AG store. I’ve been to three AG stores (NYC, Chicago, and Columbus) and this is a nice sized store. Bridget had decided to get Kira, the girl of the year, and Susie had thrown in some of her money so that Bridget could get Kira’s pajamas as well. I also got Bridget a doll hairbrush, to hopefully save her dolls from the hair tragedy that mine so often endured. :)
So we got in line and Bridget counted out all her money, very seriously. The woman behind the counter was so nice here. BUT—we were short! The girls had forgotten about tax. So I threw in a $20 to more than make up for it (when I was a kid, I saved my money for AG catalog items and mom threw in shipping, so I felt like I was participating in the AG Circle of Life here.) Then Bridget and Susie continued to explore the store while Di had the littles at the play area. (Which was right by an ICE RINK. I told you this mall was huge.)
After this, we went to ride the carousel. I don’t have photos of me and Patty doing it, but we did, and it made me so happy. I took my godson, Ryan, on his first carousel ride at Kennywood (the amusement park in Pittsburgh), so this was a rite of passage I enjoyed and wanted to do again. This wasn’t Patty’s first ride—she’d done that with her mom. But she still had a bit of the “what is this, will I like this” look on her face.
We chose a horse that didn’t go up and down, and eventually she remembered that she liked this and patted the horse’s mane, and also loved the red and white “jewels” on the bridle. It’s just so cute watching her little face light up and enjoy the ride. There were feels, let me tell ya. (And gosh, it’s just so fun to hold a baby.)
After that it was raining hard, so Di went to get the van and we waited for her, watching the carousel go around and people smiling at Patty (happened a lot).
We got home, and it rained the rest of the day, so no swimming. We had dinner and Bridget and Susie went upstairs to introduce Kira to the rest of the doll family (they have Mary Ellen, Courtney, and a Truly Me doll named Catherine, whom you met in an earlier post, as well as lots of other dolls that are not AG).
We also played Clue!
Frankie is READY.
Diane had to run to the store for a few things, so I watched the house while the kids were sleeping. However, Patty woke up SCREAMING, so I ran in and tried to comfort her. I was running through all the scenarios: Diaper? Nightmare? Too hot/cold? But nothing doing until Mama came home and fed her. It’s just so sad seeing her cry her heart out and nothing I did was working, because I wasn’t mom. But once Mama was back, she was happy and she joined Di and I for some adult talking time in the family room.
The next day was the Fourth and it was also Sunday, so we made plans to go to the 11:00 Mass at their parish and then go out for brunch afterwards, which sounded great to me!
In case you need to catch up: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 (also my signed book sale is on!)
The day got off to a great start because Di brought us kolaches for breakfast!
Kolaches (pronounced Ko-LACH-ees) were new to me, but they are a Big Thing in Houston, and Di had promised me we’d have them—and she delivered. They’re sort of like danishes, in that it’s sweet pastry that holds fruit surrounded by puffy dough. Above we had raspberry, cherry, apple, lemon, and a frittata sort of one, so they can be sweet or savory. There were also sausage rolls!
Patty enjoys National Review with her breakfast. Yes, she is my godchild.
We hung around for a bit while Patty took her morning nap—I read Johnny more books, including Eat Pete! , which I love now. We also read Corduroy’s Christmas, Green Eggs and Ham, and Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons.
Patty also enjoyed her birthday books!
The Daffodil page is her favorite for some reason.
Wizard of Oz!
Then we headed to Blue Willow Bookshop. Di had to get some books for the kids’ summer reading, and I….just wanted to visit a local bookstore. :)
I had actually browsed their site the day before and had ordered some books for pick up, being I’m insane like that. :) So not only did I have a bag waiting for me, but I bought more books. Because, that’s what I do. One of them was Llama Llama Loose Tooth Drama for Johnny and Patty.
The store was so kid-friendly, which was great—there was a kids’ sized table and chairs for the kids to sit at and the staff didn’t seem to mind the kids being there (which, some places do.) The women who worked there were very friendly and accommodating when I couldn’t understand them! (The store had a mask policy in place) So that’s always a plus for me.
We went back to the house and then Di went to the old house to do some cleaning. Patty was definitely in “I am tired but I WILL NOT SURRENDER TO A NAP” mode, so Susie and I had to deploy emergency measures (as in, lay her down in her parents’ room, singing, patting, and closing the blinds) until she finally dropped off.
VICTORY!!!!!!!
before nap, though, she watched Susie play Minecraft.
we had a visitor from space….
This was the day I had one of my “susie please get me a glass of juice because I do not trust my hands” moments. Fortunately Di came home soon and we went to the local Cracker Barrel because I needed to stuff a lot of carbs into my body immediately! So we all went out to eat.
Patty: There is WINE at Cracker Barrel?!?!?!
Everyone was happy post-dinner and the kids got ready for bed.
Matt was called to do some state guard duty over the weekend and he would leave early Saturday morning, So it was really good I was with Di so we could tag-team on the kids. :) There was going to be a trip to the mall, after all, AND Mass, so tag-teaming would be a good idea!
Oh also, note: Patty understands what “no” means. Which I think is great, because she’ll stop doing things when you say “no”. I discovered this telling her “NO!” (As in, do NOT put that in your mouth!) She dropped the item, and then sort of cried a little bit, but she knew what it meant, and I appreciated that she obeyed the no. Good work, Patticake!
Birthday cupcakes for breakfast! (With a sippy cup that DOES NOT SPILL, it’s amazing folks.)
Day Three!
If you’ve missed the other installments—Day 1, Day 2
So today was sort of like “Adventures in Baby-Sitting”.
Diane and Matt had recently moved to a new house. They wanted to get their old house on the market quickly (because, hot market, also, long weekend for house browsing!), and the last things standing in the way of that were installing new carpet and Di doing a final clean of the house.
The carpet guys had failed to show THREE TIMES. So today, they were coming and Di was gonna make them work! So she took Patty to the old house around 9 and it was me and the kids.
We started with breakfast, and the had art time.
My sketch page, based on Lupe Tortilla. Big fan of the border.
There was lunch—sandwiches for all!—and snacks (popsicles and ice cream.)
There were YouTube videos.
There was King Domino.
There was Luca.
And yeah, there was some squabbling, but that’s OK, we didn’t burn down the house and no one died.
Di came home with Patty with COMPLETED CARPET YAY! (well except for the stairs, which would be done the next day, Friday) We had a really good dinner of chicken and fettuccine Alfredo. (And ice cream).
Patty loves ice cream.
She is BITING the spoon here. She will not let me take it away.
ICE CREAM ICE CREAMMMM
So, it was a successful day because we had carpet, no one burned down the house or died, and Patty had ice cream. :)
Also, I promised a cat photo, and I think this is the only one I took!
This is Beppo! He is the “guard cat” who watches over Patty while she sleeps. He has a friend, Wilma (who is beautiful). They are quite old but very nice cats.
Patty, about to try her birthday cupcake.
The 30th was my first full day in Houston and was also Patty’s first birthday!!
Our day started with this…
Yes, Patty is very mobile—she can stand, crawl, go up and down the stairs, and walk while holding on to things, so walking is probably not far off! This was a great way to start the day.
I also read Johnny The Monster at the End of This Book, which is one fo my favorite things to read to kids.
We had breakfast…
and art time (I had brought my sketching supplies and the kids had a lot of fun with my watercolors and water brushes!)
Patty wore one of the dresses I’d gotten her for her birthday….
After her morning nap, with Frankie :)
After everyone was dressed and Patty had had her power nap, we went to Lupe Tortilla for lunch. It as raining but that did not deter the boys from playing in the play area!
The dress I got Patty is an 18M, so it’s big on her, but Diane put her in it anyway, which I appreciated :)
Outside Lupe: L-R Bridget, Frankie (green shirt), Johnny, Susie
Lupe was really delicious—I had the cheese enchiladas which were amazing.
We had planned on doing the yarn store after lunch. Susie crochets and wanted some more yarn (she wanted to build a stash, which made my yarn loving heart flutter). So after Diane did some banking things, we went to the store, only to find that it had moved! ARGH! Sadness! No new yarn! But it probably was for the best, since we had to go home and make birthday cupcakes for Miss Patty and get ready for family to come over to celebrate.
Diane made these amazing chocolate cupcakes, which I need the recipe for, and vanilla buttercream frosting (HOMEMADE VANILLA, people—we’re talking a big old mason jar worth. Massive props to Di.) If I get the recipe, I’ll share it here. But folks, these were goooood cupcakes.
For the party, some of Matt’s siblings came over—one of his sisters, her husband, and their four kids (she’s pregnant with their fifth), and also Bart, Matt’s youngest brother and Patty’s godfather.
Patty and Bart
Di took Patty out of her birthday dress, in preparation for messiness…..
we sang, and then….we ate!
“What is this thing.”
“I think I might like this….”
Going whole hog…..
“I think it’s good.”
“Yeah, it’s good.”
For her birthday I got her clothes, and also two Baby Lit books: The Secret Garden and The Wizard of Oz., because I have to get Patty books, it’s the law. Her aunt and uncle got her a pop cupcake (sort of like this one—I had never seen these until I got to Houston!) an a book with the same pop-up thing in the pictures. The popping is quite satisfying, I have to say. (Her older siblings also enjoyed the pop cupcake!)
After the party we cleaned up the bebe….
And then relaxed the rest of the night. Di and Matt started watching a Three Stooges movie, which I had never seen, but it was funny—but I was TIRED. So I went to bed while they kept watching it, because I am an hour ahead of them and also my body was like, SLEEP NOOWWWW.
(Blood glucose does not like really hot or cold conditions, and Houston is warmer than I am used to. I knew that, going in, but I wasn’t sure how it would affect my BGLs. It turned out that I need a lot less insulin than I thought I would and there were times I had to ask Susie or Di to get me a cup of juice because my hands would have dropped it to the ground because my BGLs were low. But hey, learning experiences!)
So that was Miss Patty’s first birthday party!
I’m going to give you a recap of my Houston trip—not exactly a blow-by-blow, but a sort of recap, since I like to read people’s travel recaps and I figure other people do too. And of course this is the best way to share photos. :)
So I got to Houston on the 29th, the day before Patty’s first birthday! Fortunately my flight was on time for takeoff, but we did have to go around Houston to avoid some rain and ended up flying over the Gulf Coast and then back up
Everyone was on hand to meet me at Carousel 12 and I was excited—and so were they!
Patty, fortunately, did not cry when she met me (great relief). Instead she studied me very intently. You could see the wheels turning in her little head, but then it clicked (Oh wait, I’ve seen this person on the phone….I know this voice….) and she smiled and giggled for me.
Dinner was at Matt (Patty’s dad)’s parents house that night—pizza and garlic knots for all!
Susie, with Patty and Frankie, in their grandparents’ kitchen.
Here’s a cast of characters for the trip:
Diane—my cousin, who is 6 months younger than me and shares a birthday with my sister and one other cousin of ours, Jill. Her father (John) is my mom’s older brother. (he’s number 2 out of the 8 kids).
Matt—her husband, whom she met at Notre Dame. He’s a CPA and a member of the Texas State Guard.
Susie—oldest of the 5 kids. She’s 12.
Bridget—second kid, age 9
Bridget and her AG doll, Catherine, in matching PJs.
Frankie—third kid, age 6 (he’ll be 7 next month)
Johnny—fourth kid, age 3
Patty—fifth kid, just turned one (we know Patty, right?)
Beppo and Wilma—the cats
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OK because I am a Royal Family NUT (I am, if you do not know this about me), I was very happy for Prince William and Katherine as they celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary yesterday!
Look at this adorable video!
But something even better than a video? CAKE.
Namely, the groom’s cake that Prince William had at his wedding reception.
Courtesy of Darren McGrady, one of the queen’s former chefs (he also cooked for Princess Diana and Princes William and Harry at Kensington Palace after her divorce), shows us how to make it, and it’s FOUR INGREDIENTS!
(You will need a 6”x 2” cake ring, though. I’m getting this one.)
Happy anniversary, Your Highnesses, and many more!
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Yesterday was also St. Catherine of Siena’s feast day, and you can read all about her in a post I wrote a few years ago!
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Patty is TEN MONTHS OLD TODAY.
She likes to blow raspberries!
I mean how is this possible she’s so big, she is STANDING UP now!
She likes swings, baths, kolaches, most food, her siblings, and…food. :)
I swear when I see her I will kiss her face off.
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I watched a few movies this week! I used to do movie reviews pretty regularly, so I’ll do a few here for you.
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, based on the August Wilson play of the same name, is on Netflix right now, and was nominated for several Oscars, including best actress (Viola Davis as Ma Rainey) and best actor (Chadwick Boseman, in his last role). The play focuses on one day in Chicago in the 1920s, when Ma Rainey and her band are recording an album at the behest of her white manager. I learned, in researching this, that Denzel Washington has a contract with Netflix to produce all of the plays in Wilson’s Century Cycle (also called the Pittsburgh cycle) as movies for Netflix. The first one in the series was Fences, starting Washington and Davis, and was also Oscar-nominated, with Viola Davis winning Best Supporting Actress for her work as Washington’s wife.
Ma Rainey is an intense film, with the tension rising right from the start. Levee, played by Boseman, is a member of Ma’s band, but he doesn’t want to play her music the way it’s always been done—he wants to rearrange it and make it faster and hotter. He has a sort of jittery energy that parlays into deep pain and pathos as the story moves on. The other members of the band are older men, well-seasoned musicians who know what they have to do to get along in a world that’s run by white people. Their interactions make up most of the film and you can tell that the dialogue is adapted from a play, because it’s melodic, dense, and intricate.
Davis, in the movie for less than a half-hour, hits all the right notes (and I’m not trying to make a pun) as the titular band leader. When she arrives late to the session, the energy revs up, and so does the tension.
I don’t want to give away the plot, but the performances are searing. Boseman, in particular, delivered two monologues that are so wide-ranging in color and tone, and so intense, that you have no choice but to watch him. I really felt like I was in theater during those scenes. He really is the highlight of the entire movie.
The film won two Oscars, for costume design and for makeup.
![Chadwick Boseman (Levee), front, with the band members (l-r: Glynn Turman [Toledo], Michael Potts [Slow Drag], and Colman Domingo (Cutter).](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/55a47902e4b07518efd81256/1619751382118-SHL5TJTGPS0BAU5VVQ0A/Mov-768x432.jpg)
Chadwick Boseman (Levee), front, with the band members (l-r: Glynn Turman [Toledo], Michael Potts [Slow Drag], and Colman Domingo (Cutter).
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The Heiress came out in 1949 and stars Olivia de Havailland (Melanie in Gone With the Wind) in an Oscar winning performance. Based on Henry James’ novel Washington Square, The Heiress tells the story of plain, awkward—but very wealthy—New Yorker Catherine Sloper, who would rather spend time on her embroidery than on polishing her social graces. This continually frustrates her father, Dr. Sloper (Ralph Richardson), who cannot believe that Catherine is the daughter of his ‘perfect’ wife, who died when Catherine was small. (Of course no one can measure up to the picture of his wife that he has in his head). His casual cruelty toward his daughter is like a razor, cutting any self-esteem or confidence she has to shreds.
Things come to a head when, at a party, Catherine meets Morris Townsend (Montgomery Clift), a young man who takes interest in her in a way no man has before. But her father forbids her to marry Morris, saying that he’s only after her money. Is he? Or has Catherine found true love?
Again, no spoilers here, but De Havilland’s performance is incredible. I wish that it was in color so we could really appreciate Edith Head’s costumes, but they’re also gorgeous in black and white. I love De Havilland in Gone With the Wind, but I’d never seen any of her other movies, so I really wanted to see this one.
Montgomery Clift (Morris) and Olivia de Havilland (Catherine) in The Heiress.
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A Little Chaos (2014). While going through my Netflix queue, I saw that I had this, and thought, eh, what the heck? I am so glad I watched it! Directed by Alan Rickman (who also stars as the French King Louis XIV), the story focuses on the construction of the gardens around the palace of Versailles. He chooses landscape architect Andre Le Notre (Matthias Schoenaerts) to supervise the planning. Surprisingly, Le Notre chooses Madame Sabine de Barra (Kate Winslet) as one of the designers, assigning her the task of creating an outdoor ballroom, with fountains and landscaping.
This sounds….like an odd premise for a film, right? But in Rickman’s hands it is enchanting. There are so many good actors in even small roles, including Jennifer Ehle, who plays one of the king’s mistresses, Stanley Tucci, who plays Duke Philippe, the king’s brother, and Helen McCrory as Madame Le Notre (McCrory sadly just passed away from cancer—you might know her as Mrs. Malfoy in the Harry Potter films) Watching Winslet and Rickman interact in a scene in the garden, where the mourning king is mistaken for a gardener by Winslet, is one of the best scenes in the film. (I mean, Sense and Sensibility reunion!)
Winslet and Rickman in one of the Versailles gardens.
I’d never seen a film that Rickman directed, and based on this he was delightful director. The film has a delicate storyline, focusing on love, loss, and relationships (with a gorgeous score). Schoenaerts, who I’d never seen before, is a wonderful actor. His scenes with Winslet shine.
(And gosh it made me miss Alan Rickman!)
Sabine de Barra (Kate Winslet) and Madame de Montespan (Jennifer Ehle) at Fontainebleau.
It’s a hidden gem of a film, really lovely to watch and think about.
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And on that note—-have a lovely weekend! Watch some movies and read some books! :)