Friday | The One Before the Coronation

We are expecting some peeks of sunshine today! It feels like the last two weeks have been a solid wall of rain, but my notebook reminds me of pockets of sunshine and plenty of outside time despite that. And the weather seems to be shifting out of this rainy patch and moving towards some sunnier days. Fridays are typically about finding joy here in my Cozy Burrow and today I’m sharing three things that have been on my mind this week.

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On the Coronation:

I will preface this by saying that I recognize how problematic the English Monarchy has been for centuries. We have been working our way through the Curiosity Chronicles for the last three years in our homeschool and I have learned so much about English Imperialism and Colonization. We’ve also learned about different styles of monarchy and how kings and queens have tweaked their authority to ensure they gain the most in riches and power. And as for the current royal family — they certainly have their own interpersonal dramas and habits that leave a lot to be desired.

On the flip side, I love learning about the history of the royal family and we are watching history unfold right now. King Charles III’s coronation is a historical occasion! The pomp and circumstance, when you don’t think too much about how it’s being paid for, is incredible to watch. And to know that it’s following centuries of tradition is so exciting. Elizabeth II reigned between 1952 and 2022 — think of all the people who lived and died during those years who never got to witness a coronation themselves!

In honor of the coronation, I created my very first display at the library last week! It’s the opening picture of this post. It was so much fun to comb the catalog and find books that fit in with the theme. And I’m planning to wake up at my usual time tomorrow (4am) and shut down my computer at 5 to watch the coverage here in the US. I will be prepared with a pot of tea and an early breakfast — maybe we’ll be watching together in spirit?

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On Rushing:

I’ve seen a lot of warnings against rushing lately. It started with this short video from the Daily Stoic: Why Stoics Don’t Rush Through Life. And then there was a quote in our new readaloud this week (The Last: Endling, Book 1) that stuck with me: to rush is not necessarily to arrive.

And my goodness: those were reminders I needed. I’ve tried to fill our week up with all sorts of things, including a ton of baking on Monday morning. Why would I decide to bake a batch of cookies and a lemon cake on a Monday morning when we’re all returning to our typical routines after a vacation? Bronwyn loves to help with these things but I was rushing her and losing my patience over every misplaced grain of flour. Rules of thumb for myself: only bake one thing at a time. Don’t bake anything immediately upon the return from school break. Laugh when you want to growl. It’s about the process, not the end product. These are all things I have to constantly remind myself!

Cooking with my children always reminds me of Loré Pemberton’s art – I love it so much! These pictures taught me the value of moving all of our baking things out of the kitchen and onto the dining room table when we’re all cooking together. There’s so much more room to move around and we can all get involved in our own ways. Plus – the height of the dining room table makes it easier to roll things out and get them nice and flat (like these crackers). That one tweak has made a huge difference for us.

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On Vacation:

Matthew’s vacation started last night! We have both been counting down the days until his vacation given that he hasn’t had time off since Thanksgiving. It’s such a tremendous relief to have back-up in the evenings! We won’t be doing anything special other than starting the third season of Yellowstone. And I am hoping to make some progress on some of these stitching projects thanks to the bonus time on the couch! And maybe clean out the basement? No – I’m taking things too far again. We won’t be cleaning out the basement. We both deserve plenty of evening couch time next week!

I started watching Yellowstone because I wanted to watch the series with Tim McGraw and thought I needed a few seasons of the original under my belt first. But this has become our go-to weekend watch and we’ll probably watch all of the available episodes before moving to the spin-offs — we are really enjoying this show! Have you watched it?

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I’m going to put this in writing today to ensure that I’ll get some stitching done this weekend: I will be back on Monday with an update on my stitching projects. It has been two weeks since I’ve worked on any of them, but I’d like that to change. I don’t know how much progress I’ll have to share after just three evenings, but that’s okay. Something is better than nothing!

I hope your weekend is full of exactly what you need. Take good care!