The Bertie Saga, Mulled Wine, and Stu was RIGHT!
Hi friend,
After explaining the wild week that we’ve had to my Italian tutor, Alessandra, she taught me a new saying:
Piove sempre sul bagnata.
“It always rains on a wet floor.”
If you follow our journey on Instagram (@shayeelliott), you may have heard a bit of the Bertie saga that I shared over there a few days ago. What began as a normal dog, doing normal farm-dog stuff, has resulted in two weeks of absolute chaos!
In the past few days, Bertie has managed to:
fall in love with the neighbor’s dog, going so far as to jump out of open windows and break through doors to seek her affection
swallow a chicken bone that became lodged in his intestine
get sick from said chicken bone
work on passing the same chicken bone
get neutered to fix the girl problem
He’s currently lying at my feet, a clear plastic cone wrapped around his head, wishing that his life looked much different in this moment. Yet somehow it’s amazing how much affection I still manage to find to comfort him — about $1,200 worth. Ha!
On the plus side, since I practice my Italian by journaling, I was able to learn the words for “vomit,” “poop,” “testicles,” and “veterinarian” all in one week. If that doesn’t get this email kicked to your SPAM folder, I don’t know what will!
Besides the endless drives to the vet’s office, the unexpected expense, the electric-collar training, and the thrice-a-day medicine, we’re doing just great.
Truly. It’s been a great week! Here’s what’s been happenin’ on the homestead…
Little by Little
Nowadays, finding a large chunk of time for anything feels almost impossible. I fought it for years — trying to hold on for dear life to a season where I felt in control of everyone’s schedule, including my own. However, over the years, we’ve added new activities, new friends, and new challenges to our schooling. I’m having to surrender to this new lifestyle and find a new way of making a home.
In this week’s video, I’m bringing you in with me as I learn how to find quick wins in fleeting moments… without losing the joy of slow living that means so much to me.
Flashback!
While four children bickered on the way to piano this week, I decided to change the soundtrack and found an old album that Stuart and I spent years of our early married life listening to. (Remember when you would put five CDs in your car and play them on repeat for a solid year?)
I BLASTED IT. So loud that I couldn’t hear their bickering over the fiddle-licks. By the time we got home, they were buzzing with joy. Truly. They loved it, and since then, we have spent hours enjoying this beautiful album. It’s wild, vibrant, catchy, expressive, and wonderfully musical. It’s an absolute rainbow of instruments and harmonies and melodies.
I had forgotten how much I loved it, too! (Why do we do that?)
Please give it a listen, especially if you are trying to drown out bickering. The louder the better.
Mulled Wine
I have a family dinner tonight to celebrate my Mom’s 66th Birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!) and I’m taking a pot of this to the taco party, because mulled wine goes perfectly with street tacos. Follow me for more pairing tips! (This is a joke.)
Mulled wine warms and soothes in all the most wonderful ways. It’s worth noting: this should be served warm, but not hot. Also, I drink mine unsweetened, but honey is a lovely addition if you’re so inclined.
Ingredients:
1 bottle good red wine
3 cinnamon sticks
1 star anise
5 cloves
3 large strips of orange peel
3 tablespoons sweetener (if desired)
Instructions:
1. Combine all of the ingredients in a saucepan.
2. Place over a very low burner until warm.
I fell in love, but it took a heart change.
On Tuesday, I shared vulnerably about a counter-cultural shift we’re making in our family. Thank you for your responses to that letter. The comments alone brought tears to my eyes, and I feel like I’ve been living this week with an entirely new lung, heart, and brain capacity. Perhaps the best side-effect has been falling in love with something right in front of me.
It took me the entire summer to read The Fellowship of the Ring. Not because I didn’t like it, but because I found it genuinely hard to sink deep into Middle-earth and the language, songs, and landscape. While it’s not hard reading, it’s certainly not a beach read. There’s too many names and nuances to track. While reading, I found the pull of the modern world was constantly grasping for my mind. I got distracted, my thoughts wandered, and I’d somehow end up on my phone instead. Gag.
Last week, after devoting myself to a change, I began reading The Two Towers, and I find myself in love with every word, every poem, every lengthy description of landscape and language and place. I wake up in the middle of the night wanting to dive deep into its pages to spend time with my beloved friends.
I couldn’t help but think of my favorite movie, A Good Year, in which Fannie Chanel tells Max: “It’s not this place that doesn’t fit your life, it’s your life that doesn’t fit this place.”
The Lord of the Rings is an objectively fantastic work of art; the type of art that wants to change you and change your affections.
(Hey, Stu: you were right.)
I may have ended the week with a gigantic vet bill that flipped the monthly budget in the wrong direction, but in spite of that, here are some pieces of my week that make me feel rich indeed:
Off to stack firewood… I hope you have a peaceful weekend, my friend.
