Thank you to all of you who prayed for my grandmother. She is home from the hospital as of Friday, and while we have a long road to recovery in front of us, we’re glad to have her home again. Please continue praying for her health!

It was a quiet weekend on the homestead, and all of us were able to take some much needed time to breathe and rejuvenate. I was tempted to say that we did “nothing”, but that’s really not true. We did quiet things: things that bettered our homes and our souls.

On Friday my mom took out her nice camera and got some fun pictures of Michael as she practiced using different settings. I put him in an adorable plaid shirt and suspenders and suddenly he looked so grown up…

She got some adorable shots, and I even posed for a picture or two. When she sends them to me I’ll be sure to post a few of them here.

Saturday was delightfully slow and peaceful (well, as slow and peaceful as a weekend can be with a nine month old who abhors sleep). We made our favorite chai pancakes for breakfast and spent time doing chores leftover from the moving process around the house.

We hung a gallery wall over my piano with some prints from my favorite artists, including Loré Pemberton and Sleightholm Folk. I have two embroidery projects that I need to finish and hang in the places where the empty hoops are, but otherwise it’s complete. I love being able to look up at artwork full of wonder and magic as I play the piano.

I’ve already played a handful of hymns and simple classical pieces, and I look forward to playing Christmas carols by candlelight this winter.

My parents spent their Saturday laboring in their garden and preparing it for late fall and winter vegetables. It had fallen into disrepair as we threw everything we had this past month towards moving into our house, but now the dead plants have been cleared away and replaced with rich compost and baby seedlings.

They also seeded some of their pomegranates, as their tree is bursting with fruit. We’re hoping to seed as many pomegranates as possible and freeze them to juice at a later date for jelly. I’m excited to have a kitchen ready for our afternoons of preserving — it’s so satisfying to see the gleaming jars and hear the pop as the lids seal after all our hard work.

We ended Saturday with Jake and I having a date while my parents stayed home with Michael. We went to Vespers and then had dinner at a new pub near our house.

Sunday we had church and choir practice. Michael has learned how to climb up my parents’ stairs, but not down them. It’s his new favorite thing to do.

We ate with my parents, and then Sunday night we sat in our living room listening to the dishwasher hum while I knitted and we watched our tv show, a candle softly burning beside me.

It may have been a weekend where we did “nothing”, but I cherish weekends like these. It was full of the things we love the most: music, and family, and gardening, and good food, and worship. A perfect end to a week, and a beautiful start to a new one.