I've been reading The Social Art of Homemaking. I certainly wouldn't recommend all of it, but I'm enjoying engaging with another perspective on homemaking. The book talks a lot about rhythm and it is nice to read something on the topic as we settle into our new rhythms here. This place is above all flexible, which means that we need to create some structure for ourselves. I watercolored a weekly schedule the other day and gave each day a 'purpose'. Of course, our daily purpose doesn't mean that we will only clean on Saturdays or pray on Mondays..., but it is meant to give us a focus and help keep the work in check as we study and play.
Here is our new rhythm, we'll see how it works.
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Monday - Prayer (Monday mornings at L'Abri there is a prayer meeting for everyone to attend and then everyone signs up for a half-hour slot in the day to pray for community needs and the ministry. The boys and I enjoyed our prayer room this past week as they joined me for my half hour on L'Abri's weekly day of prayer. I also want to be really intentional about praying for our future during this time of unknowing and setting aside a day to focus on this seems helpful.)
Tuesday - Clothing (laundry, folding, sorting...)
Wednesday - Garden
Thursday - Adventure (Thursday is the 'day off' at L'Abri and we want to take lots of hikes and a few day trips over the next couple months.)
Friday - Food (I have a ride to do our big shop on Fridays, so meal planning, etc. happen on Friday.)
Saturday - Cleaning (a day to catch up on anything that was overlooked through the week)
Sunday - Rest
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We spent our first adventure day on Thursday in Lausanne. The trip resulted from the need to get a highchair. We tried finding one used, but didn't have any luck and desperately needed somewhere to set the baby. (Plus, he is eager to try solids and I will relent soon... why does he have to grow up so fast?!) Anyway, after exploring IKEA, which the boys want to go back to they loved it so much, we climbed the hills of Lusaunne and saw the two main historical churches and enjoyed crepes for lunch. It was a fun adventure.
6 comments:
I'm joining you in praying for your future. I'm sure that God has something special planned for you. At least you have a beautiful place to enjoy in the mean time!
Everything is just so beautiful there....even the fire hydrant! Can't wait to see pics of the little man in his highchair. And I hear you on holding him off more. They DO grow so fast!
Erica,
Thanks, we appreciate the prayers!
And Jenny,
Yes, so many things here are beautiful - that is exactly why I took the picture of the fire hydrant, not something that is normally 'beautiful', but the swiss pay attention to detail!
I love your schedule--seems a perfect combination of a helpful direction while still leaving lots of time in the day. And oh, I wish I was only doing laundry once a week! I work on it daily with at least a couple of hours of ironing each day (since it is wrinkly when air-drying all the cottons and dresses) since we are still unpacking all the textile items from storage as well as the usual. And you sure do have the perfect life! I'd love an adventure Thursday! I think the last time I had an adventure of that caliber was...ah...when we met up with you in Leavenworth, WA 5 years ago? Or maybe my visit to Biltmore in NC in Jan 2009. But seriously, enjoy every moment! What an amazing life you have! And now I will untangle my baby from the garbage in the kitchen since I think I just heard the bag being pulled over...
Oh, I definitely do laundry more than once a week, I'm just trying to do three loads on that day and put away all the clothes that have come off of drying racks in the previous week. This past week I've been dressing us from the folded stacks on the ironing board as they never got put away. Sometimes I think about a system where you have a laundry room/dressing room makes a lot of sense and all the clothes not on bodies stay in one room.
Good luck with the garbage, that sounds too familiar :o)
I like your laundry/dressing room idea! We almost have that going since we set up temporary bedrooms in the basement while we wait for our 2nd floor to have the wood floors refinished so the laundry/clothes-line/ironing board is right next the the bathroom where I have the diaper changing station set up and a furniture basket thing of the kid's clothing. The rest of our clothing is hung in a couple of armoirs/wardrobes/hooks around the basement. I have wondered whether it might make sense to have one of the large pantry closets (the one we're currently using as a bedroom) be my very own posh dressing room with clothing/vanity etc someday since the shower is actually located in the bathroom on that floor. I don't know. There are perks to dressing in one's bedroom as well...when you arrive here sometime, you'll have to see what ended up happening in my world of laundry! Thanks for all the input! I love and miss you.
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