StarrySkyRanch's Profile

No work was ever done in the shade...

St John Bosco has long been my model for true Christian education. Gentle, empathetic, wise. I've read much about his work with boys, and even material about his mother who worked along with him. Somehow yesterday was the first I... Continue reading

Posted May 15, 2024 at Starry Sky Ranch

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Look at it in this way...

February's read for me was Ida Elizabeth. I did not know if I was going to stick with it, much less enjoy it a great deal. I should have remembered that Undset pulls you along slowly, slowly dropping little nuggets... Continue reading

Posted Mar 3, 2023 at Starry Sky Ranch

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Lovingkindness

Every year my esteem for St John Bosco grows exponentially. I was not introduced to his teachings until the late 90s however there are many parallels in the Montessori method: respect, peace, observation of the child, alternating large muscle movement... Continue reading

Posted Jan 31, 2023 at Starry Sky Ranch

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For love

“Why do farmers farm, given their economic adversities on top of the many frustrations and difficulties normal to farming? And always the answer is: "Love. They must do it for love." Farmers farm for the love of farming. They love... Continue reading

Posted Jan 24, 2023 at Starry Sky Ranch

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Against Rash Judgement

Having in vain exhorted a certain nobleman to forgive one with whom he was at variance, he invited him to his private chapel to assist at mass, and there desired him to recite with him the Lord's Prayer. The saint... Continue reading

Posted Jan 23, 2023 at Starry Sky Ranch

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Soldiers in Petticoats

To make history "matter" and come alive I try to weave in literature and film and music that fleshes out the eras we are covering. I have watched all of Call the Midwife twice and am going through a third... Continue reading

Posted Jan 7, 2023 at Starry Sky Ranch

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He knows what He is about

"He has not created me for nothing. I shall do good, I shall do his work, I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of the truth in my own place-- if I do but keep his commandments and... Continue reading

Posted Jan 6, 2023 at Starry Sky Ranch

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Gluten/Grain Free Christmas

I had three different women close to me enter this past holiday season unable to indulge in the treats they normally would have made this time of year. One newly diagnosed celiac. If you find yourself in a similar situation... Continue reading

Posted Jan 5, 2023 at Starry Sky Ranch

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Use Every Means

I am not one to make resolutions at set times, preferring to start wherever I am as soon as I am able. There is nothing magical about a day on the calendar after all and there is no guarantee that... Continue reading

Posted Jan 2, 2023 at Starry Sky Ranch

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Into the Midst

"For while gentle silence enveloped all things and night in its swift course was now half gone, Thy All-powerful Word leaped from heaven, from the royal throne, into the midst of a land that was doomed." Wisdom 18:14-15 These words... Continue reading

Posted Dec 24, 2022 at Starry Sky Ranch

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4 Steps that Lead to Peace

MY CHILD, I will teach you now the way of peace and true liberty: Seek, child, to do the will of others rather than your own. Always choose to have less rather than more. Look always for the last place... Continue reading

Posted Dec 23, 2022 at Starry Sky Ranch

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The 24 Days

"What's the surprise for the first day of December?" It wasn't completely a surprise because each year it's an advent calendar, but it's partly a surprise because it's always a new one. Advent means coming and it's the four weeks... Continue reading

Posted Dec 2, 2022 at Starry Sky Ranch

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A Mother's Worry

Years ago a friend gifted me a wonderful novena booklet called Sacred Motherhood by M. Kley from the Schoenstatt Center which had prayers for each month of pregnancy. Remembering how inspiring it was to me then, I pulled it out... Continue reading

Posted Dec 1, 2022 at Starry Sky Ranch

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November

“November is usually such a disagreeable month...as if the year had suddenly found out that she was growing old and could do nothing but weep and fret over it. This year is growing old gracefully...just like a stately old lady... Continue reading

Posted Nov 29, 2022 at Starry Sky Ranch

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Things we somehow did not know about St Catherine...

Things we somehow did not know about St Catherine Laboure before today: Her first name, before religious life, was Zoe. I am not sure I have ever heard of a Zoe before recent times and this intrigues me now. She... Continue reading

Posted Nov 28, 2022 at Starry Sky Ranch

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Don't Miss It

“The season of Advent means there is something on the horizon the likes of which we have never seen before … What is possible is to not see it, to miss it, to turn just as it brushes past you.... Continue reading

Posted Nov 27, 2022 at Starry Sky Ranch

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Santa Fe Cathedral

Santa Fe has long been a bucket list destination for me. Literally some 25 years now. From the first time I saw Mary Emmerling mixing chintz and kilim and turquoise and blue willow in her historic adobe home there the... Continue reading

Posted Apr 29, 2021 at Starry Sky Ranch

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Pantry Refresh

It has not been that long since we painted and set up the current pantry but it has already needed to be reordered and straightened up more than once, thanks in part to bulk food stocking. We also cleared, sanitized,... Continue reading

Posted Apr 16, 2021 at Starry Sky Ranch

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the greatest grace

The book we read for book club last month was He Leadeth Me by Fr. Walter Ciszek. I did not print a notes pdf for this study unfortunately but have been mulling over different passages, particularly relevant during the Easter... Continue reading

Posted Apr 15, 2021 at Starry Sky Ranch

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Ladder of Humility

This morning during my reading I dug a little deeper into the original "twelve steps" program St Benedict laid out for us. It is not to break addiction from substances but from pride, which is ultimately even deadlier. The original... Continue reading

Posted Apr 9, 2021 at Starry Sky Ranch

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Everyday Magic

What goes around comes around. The cool part is that the ratio of big hands to small is more evenly balanced with grandchildren. Just pure pleasure. "Look at everything as though you are seeing it for the first time, with... Continue reading

Posted Apr 5, 2021 at Starry Sky Ranch

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St Patrick's Tea

These are the most beautiful pictures I have from St. Patrick's Day and they were actually taken today since yesterday was so full. There was no month of St Patricks Irish dancing and pub performing this year thanks to Covid... Continue reading

Posted Mar 18, 2021 at Starry Sky Ranch

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After the storm

The forecast sounded ominous all last week. A fierce winter storm was projected to move through our area and power outages were expected. We replaced the generator we sold when we left the mountain West and stocked up on food... Continue reading

Posted Mar 15, 2021 at Starry Sky Ranch

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In Our Domestic Cares

Our copy of the unabridged Butler's Lives of the Saints has been such an inspiration to me. How we came to own it is a funny story. I had borrowed the first volume from the library. Upon returning they insisted... Continue reading

Posted Mar 9, 2021 at Starry Sky Ranch

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February Book Club: Farenheit 451

We just finished this month's read and I am pasting our notes below. This was my third go at Bradbury's classic. My son encouraged me to read it about 5 years ago. It spoke to me on so many levels... Continue reading

Posted Feb 28, 2021 at Starry Sky Ranch

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