Poetry Friday: Mary Oliver

An apt poem in this season of preparation and waiting....















Making the House Ready for the Lord 
by Mary Oliver

Dear Lord, I have swept and I have washed but
          still nothing is as shining as it should be
for you. Under the sink, for example, is an
          uproar of mice it -- is the season of their
many children. What shall I do? And under the
eaves
          and through the walls the squirrels
have gnawed their ragged entrances -- but it is the
season
          when they need shelter, so what shall I do? And
the raccoon limps into the kitchen and opens the

(Read the rest here.)

~~~~

Buffy Silverman is hosting the round up this week is at Buffy's Blog.

More Book Joy (and More Gift Ideas)

An eclectic mix today:

• Feast!: Real Food, Reflections, and Simple Living for the Christian Year by Haley and Daniel Stewart is a lovely book that includes a lineup of the the liturgical year, stories of saints and stories of three-year-olds, and lots of great-looking food. If you read Haley's blog, Carrots for Michaelmas, you know that her style is warm and practical, smart and down to earth, and utterly delightful. Her new book is, too.

• If you and a child you love never read Melissa Wiley's The Prairie Thief  together, you should remedy that right away. My review of the book is here (and don't forget to throw that Prairie Thief luncheon, complete with bucket of hazelnuts.) 

• Lissa's husband, Scott Peterson, hooked me immediately with his Uncivil War series. I am eagerly awaiting more installments, and can't wait to find out where this story is going. Uncivil War: The Island and Uncivil War: After the Fall are both compelling page-turners that plunge us into a world in collapse. Scary but oh-so-good. (These ones are for adults - language and violence.)

• Quinn Cummings' Pet Sounds is on sale (on Kindle) for $2.99! Quinn has been making me laugh for some time now, and Pet Sounds did not disappoint.

• Betsy and I both really enjoy Kate Morton's novels. I'm reading The Secret Keeper right now, and also loved The Forgotten Garden. 

And regarding gift ideas, I've heard there's a book about Deathbed Conversions that might be worth a look....

Book Joy (and Gift Ideas)

Great stuff, in no particular order:

• Adam S. McHugh's Introverts in the Church: Finding Our Place in an Extroverted Culture. Loved this book. If you're an introvert, read it then give it to every introvert in your parish. And every extrovert, too.

• Anything and everything by Mike Aquilina, including his great new book, Good Pope, Bad Pope: Their Lives, Our Lessons, which is a thoroughly enjoyable and enlightening read. Mike Aquilina consistently turns out amazing stuff that, while full of scholarly research, reads like what C.S. Lewis called a "rattlin' good yarn."

• Daria Sockey's The Everyday Catholic's Guide to the Liturgy of the Hours 

• Pope Francis: The Pope From the End of the Earth

• Paul Thigpen's new A Year With the Saints: Daily Meditations with the Holy Ones of God. Beautiful book.

• The Miraculous Medal: Stories, Prayers, and Devotions by Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle, and her newest,  Angels for Kids 

• Sherry Weddell's important and spot-on Forming Intentional Disciples: The Path to Knowing and Following Jesus

More to come....

What Do a Teacher and Melissa Wiley Have in Common?

They both thought that a video of Lissa reading Hanna's Christmas would be a great idea.

It was! It is!

I was lucky enough, a few years ago, to snag a used copy of the book for far less than the going rate of eighty or ninety dollars, but for everyone who hasn't been so lucky (and even for those of us who have,) this video is delightful. Inspired!

Here is Lissa's introduction and her explanation of where the idea came from.

Here is the reading of the book. I can't think of a better St. Lucia day gift!

Thank you, Lissa! 

St. Lucia Bread!

On this feast of St. Lucy, this bread is once again on the menu:

Can I just say how funny it is that a bread that I make has made the rounds on Pinterest? My daughters -- they are the pinners in this family, I just can't seem to get going with it -- noticed this recently. For someone who once approached yeast bread recipes with crippling fear and trepidation, this is the ultimate irony. But it's not ironic that this bread is what's getting pinned. It's delicious. And easy. It takes time, yes, but it's easy. If I can make this great-looking-and-even-better-tasting braided bread, you can, too.

You can do it! Be not afraid!

Go to this post for the recipe.

Happy Feast of St. Lucia!

Where to Find Me: Upcoming Interviews

Coming up Thursday and Friday (all times are central time):

Spirit Catholic Radio, Spirit Mornings:
Thursday, December 12, 7:05 a.m

Radio Maria, Meet the Author:
Thursday, December 12, 2:30 p.m.

EWTN, Sonrise Morning Show:
Friday, December 13, 6:35 a.m.

Sirius XM Radio, Seize the Day:
Monday, December 16, 7:35 a.m.

Poetry Friday: Mark Jarman

I've shared this poem once before, but it bears repeating. I love it so much.

Prayer for Our Daughters
by Mark Jarman

...May they find a place to love, without nostalgia
For some place else that they can never go back to.
And may they find themselves, as we have found them,
Complete at each stage of their lives, each part they add to.

May they be themselves, long after we've stopped watching....

~~~~~~

(Read the whole thing here, at The Writer's Almanac.)

Robyn Hood Black has the round up this week at Life on the Deckle Edge.  Robyn's post today is all about haiku, which made me hunt up the haiku posts on my blog -- bunches of them, here.

Oh, no! I forgot I had a blog!

No, not really.

We've just been busy here, getting Advent off the ground. Here's the Jesse Tree this year:

And the Jesus stocking on the mantle:

(And above the mantle is a lovely garland and print from the lovely Lesley Austin.)

The daily prayers for Advent are up: 

And the hutch holds Advent calendars:

And here is Sydney, saying, "See? You can too have nice things."

Happy Eve of the Feast of St. Nicholas!