The Gadbois Family

Brigid’s Footsteps

Brian and Nissa Gadbois — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:43:56 +0000

Photography by John Evans

The footsteps of St Brigid are everywhere I go
Rising out of darkness from the earth below
Little bells of Spring time -
Pure and white as snow.

The footsteps of St Brigid
Have travelled far and wide
Unconstrained by boundaries,
Monarchies or tides -

An abbess and a foundress
A holy one of God
Whose prayers rose up like incense
From rock and field and bog.

O Saint Brigid, Ireland’s children
Still recall with greatest pride
All you did for church and country
With the Cross your truest guide.

Ask the Saviour now to bless us
Ask Our Lady to enfold
In maternal wraps of goodness
All we are and all we hold.

Dear to us is Mother Ireland
Dear to us this faith passed down
Help us to uphold and value
All that won for you a crown.

May we follow in your footsteps
As you look from heaven above
May you shower upon your children
Heaven’s grace and heaven’s love.

Winter has given us a miss, it seems, and we’re headed straight into spring. While that isn’t such good news for sugaring, we’re happy to have the mild weather. The temperatures are forecast to reach 60 degrees here today. On the feast of St. Brigid. When we are normally watching the skies for freezing rain.

We will still have porridge oats with all of the fixings, and a pot of hot tea with breakfast, despite the warm weather. Perhaps we’ll make a barmbrack for snack time. I found a new, gluten free recipe.

I haven’t planned any activities for this feast, as I generally do. Perhaps we’ll have a go at creating Brigid’s Footsteps (snowdrops) from white packing paper and pipe cleaners. Something sweet and simple, reminding me so poignantly of the drifts of snowdrops all over England near her feast day.

I hope that your day is blessed in every way.

Conquering a Mountain

Brian and Nissa Gadbois — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 20:53:30 +0000

“You can never conquer the mountain. You can only conquer yourself.” – James Whittaker {mountaineer}

My to-do list is growing and growing. There’s something about the beginning of the year, isn’t there? I mentioned some of the things I had to do here. And I started pondering some of the other things I want to accomplish this year:

- Learn to speak French

- Learn how to take better photographs {I’m so serious about documenting our life. I am pretty sure that I need a new lens.}

- Get some more curriculum written. It may be my grandchildren who use it, but there we are…

- Get through all of the recipes in Mrs. Beeton. {no, seriously}

- Design and sew some clothes for the family. I’m so weary of trying to find things that fit both our bodies, and that are my notion of good-looking and practical.

- On the Farm: Design our veggies gardens and feed crop fields, schedule tapping for the birches, and decide what to make the remaining trees into.

- Try to come to some conclusion about changes to one of our businesses.

- Schedule some workshops, talks, and classes at the farm {cooking, sewing/handcrafts, kids’ classes…}

- Put together an apprenticeship/intern program on the farm with the Office of Youth Ministry.

- Decide how much (if any) wedding business I want to pursue this year.

- Make it all pretty and practical.

- Have myself duplicated, or call on {a LOT of} help from my friends…or lower my expectations and accept this as more of a wish list than a to-do list…

What’s on your wish list for 2012?

Not-so-Bleak Midwinter

Brian and Nissa Gadbois — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 16:49:31 +0000

50 degrees in January? It has been an incredibly mild winter here. There have been only a handful of days below freezing. Everyone thinks that it is spring.

Come January, I’m usually holed up in my big chair, wearing a thick wool sweater, feet covered in my Nana’s afghan, thumbing through garden catalogues, while snow falls outside and frost traces lacy patterns on the windows. This is all very confusing to mind and body.

I’m still leafing through seed catalogues.

The gals out for an afternoon nibble. It was an unauthorised outing, but who can blame them when the weather is so lovely?

This year, we’re also checking out milking equipment, breeding bucks (or their, um, produce), boars for breeding, poultry and fowl to increase our flocks… We’re trying to come up with a schedule for harrowing the hilltop ‘fields’ which were left with lots of stumps as well as some logs, and the lower fields we’re creating from the old tree nursery. We’ve asked around about the idea of doing a controlled burn to get rid of undesirable debris. Still not sure how I feel about it. It beats making huge holes in the ground and moving stumps down to the trench.

We’ve got 30 acres in hay, and can’t keep up with demand. We need more hayfield. We’re excited about changing over to a mix of alfalfa and timothy. Just loaded with good stuff.

The pigs have grown! The boys will be going off to the processor next week, and the gals breedings will be planned. That should save some on the feed bill.

We are also allotting space for growing feed crops for the critters. In case you weren’t aware, pigs eat A LOT. They do a lot of very valuable rooting and fertilizing, but they also need additional feeds to grow big and healthy. We’re trying to get to the point where we’re not dependent on outside products. Whole, organic grain mix is spendy when you need 50+ pounds a day.

Our Blue Slate tom. He is a handsome love. We're hoping that he and his gals will be very productive. A large flock of these beauties would be very nice.

And this mild weather is making me more impatient, if that is possible. I know that there are still many weeks until spring, but I feel like it has already arrived.

Perhaps the early weeks of growing someone infinitely more precious will become a pleasant distraction? I do hope so.

What is occupying your winter days?

{A is for Ambrose}

Brian and Nissa Gadbois — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 21:33:06 +0000

Long ago, in the land of Gaul, was nestled the beautiful town of Trier. The hillsides were covered, and still are today, in vines, which – every summer – grow heavy with grapes. And in one lovely house, on one of those hillsides, lived the family of Aurelius Ambrosius – his very wise and pius wife, his daughter Marcellina, and son Satyrus. The house was blessed once more with the birth of a baby – another son, whom they named Ambrose.

Ambrose was a very special child.

One day, when his mother placed him in out in the garden in his cradle for a midday nap, a swarm of bees entered from the vineyard and began to dance around the infant’s downy head. Round and round they flew, buzzing merrily, as his parents gazed on in amazement. Not a single bee offered to sting their tiny boy. And just as suddenly as they had appeared, the bees gathered themselves and flitted away back to their hives, leaving on the child’s lips

a single drop of honey.

“Surely this is a sign that the boy will grow in wisdom, and eloquence, and sweetness!” cried his father.

And he was right.

Ambrose grew to manhood and became a lawyer, then a governor, and was later elected the Bishop of Milan in Italy. He was known far and wide for his wisdom, his elegant turn of phrase, and his sweetness – especially to the poor.

St. Ambrose Day is celebrated on 7^th December, during the season of Advent.

Picking up Stitches

Brian and Nissa Gadbois — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 16:44:18 +0000

Christmastide is winding down and real life is waiting patiently on the doorstep. After Epiphany, we will take the denuded tree out to the woods to compost and turn our attention back to the busy-ness of life. And there is a growing to-do list. Life keeps on going, despite our festal suspension of time.

Diaconate classes have resumed, and there are assignments to be completed. And an ordination celebration to begin planning.

The farmhouse is ready for kitchen and bathroom fixtures to be installed – just as soon as the new floors are in.

Before Christmas, I began designing each of the rooms to maximise space and natural light, and collecting some inspiration. There will be considerable thrifting and building and painting and curtain sewing to be done.

Goats to be bred. Pigs to go to the processor. Seeds to be ordered.

A perpetually neglected workbasket to be seen to.

EZ style longies back on the needles. I love those vintage colours. And say, there's that calico I'd been looking for. Isn't it pretty?

Curriculum to be compiled or written from scratch from notes jotted hastily on handy bits of paper and filed not-so-carefully in a crate.

New work projects to give time to, some that have been waiting for their time to come for several years. For them, it would appear, the time is now.

How is it, then, that we’ve managed to find the time to be planning space in our bedroom for the bassinet?

A basket full of {washable} merino being knit into a receiving blanket. Just right for the arrival of autumn babies.

So I was thinking…

Brian and Nissa Gadbois — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:33:36 +0000

…and quite a lot, about beauty. And femininity. And grace. Then a couple of weeks ago, I saw a post by Katrina along the same lines. And then I read this post and shared it with my friends on Facebook. And there was some lively discussion about what is pretty, what is appropriate, what is modest, what is socially acceptable.

{I wrote an article for the Catholic Free Press about “Normal”, and whose standards we should be conforming to. It was re-published here, if you’d like to read it.}

Mostly, the FB responses were from women who are also longing for a return to femininity. And many of us agreed that we’d like to revive traditional beauty AND get some inspiration and support AND have a way to stay accountable for our collective resolution.

Now that Christmastide is winding down, I have given more thought to how I can work on reclaiming my femininity, embracing my womanhood. At first, I was thinking just along the lines of fashion and beauty. Then, after talking with my sister-friend Jenn, decided that a broader range of topics could be included for our collective edification. I suddenly remembered a project outline I had jotted down last fall. Yes, yes! Perfect!

{Isn’t it amazing, wonderful, glorious how perfect God’s timing is?}

So, not only will we be concerning ourselves with our own appearances, but with our behaviour, our home-making, marriage, parenting, friendships… It’s a whole package.

We’re going to try to revive some of that graceful, feminine {inner and outward} beauty and industry of our foremothers. There will be posts to inspire you, suggestions toward changes that you can make, and probably also some tutorials. And Family Centered Living™ will be joining in the fun as well, with articles about why we should think about all of this a little more, and how reclaiming our traditional motherhood can positively impact our families and community.

I’m working on a kind of manifesto for the endeavour (your suggestions welcome!), and then we’ll set up a page with information and a linky form. After that, I’ll begin scheduling posts. All you’ll need to do is post a comment after your blog post is published and the nifty little CommentLuv plugin will pick it up.

Life is full right now, so I don’t know how regular posts will be. It’s a good idea if you subscribe to blog email notifications so you know when another has gone up.

For now, here’s a peek at the graphic:

{Renaissance Mama}

Are you excited? Because I am SO excited.

{this moment}

Brian and Nissa Gadbois — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 16:47:19 +0000

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ at SouleMama for all to find and see.

James

We’re still in the midst of Christmastide here at Chez Gadbois. I hope that yours is, and will continue to be, blessed!

{this moment} Trimming the Tree

Brian and Nissa Gadbois — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 15:22:24 +0000

Sophie

James

Louis

Joséphine (with Caroline's help)

Glittery vintage bulb. Photo credit: Cat Gadbois

Our last Christmas at the little house…

Tutorial:: Silhouettes

Brian and Nissa Gadbois — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 18:45:12 +0000

{From the archives – September 24, 2007}

I fell in love with paper art when I was first married. It is an easy and economical way to decorate your home. Making silhouettes of people you love makes the art more special, even an heirloom. This type of home-art is the epitome of Simple Gifts, I think! Below are silhouettes of my three oldest children, done just before Christmas of 1999. Catherine was 7, Andrew “Jack” was 5, and Caroline was all of 3 years old.

Over sixteen years of married life, I’ve made simple birth and baptism certificates and complex pictures. But I love silhouettes because they are so personal. They are portraits, really. The lack of details like color and shading makes the portrait even more intimate. The viewer is drawn to look more closely at the shapes of the subject’s features, the tilt of the head, the chubby roll under a baby’s chin, or the way a stray lock curls.

I’m not a true silhouette artist who can cut silhouettes from life. That is a very high art indeed. I take my studies from photographs. It may take a bit more time and effort, but I think it’s worth every bit.

When I’m going to make silhouette studies, I first take profile photos, trying to eliminate as much shadow under noses and chins as possible. I have found that using a natural light photo with a strong light (like sunlight) shining right on the subject works well. Flash works best when shot at the exact same height as your subject, but sometimes it can be too much, washing out important features. The beauty of digital cameras is that you can take several shots and chose the best. It’s also extremely quick – no waiting for film. You can, of course, use an instant (Kodak type) camera, but you are limited to the image size it puts out. Be sure to maintain the exact same distance from each of your subjects so that they are in perfect proportion should you want to do a group study. A tripod is extremely helpful.

You can scale digital photos in your computer to whatever size you wish. It is helpful to print your scaled photos on card stock or matte photo paper to make the template sturdy. I chose to make all of my silhouettes the same size so that each one will fill its own frame. If I were making a family study, I would need to be careful to respect the relative proportions between subjects so that baby’s head is not larger than big sister’s.

Gather acid-free scrapbooking supplies including a VERY sharp X-acto knife. I like to put a foamy pen grip on my knife for comfort. I have arthritis in my fingers and they become fatigued very quickly without it. Choose whatever papers suit your decor. As a rule, you want to have a dark solid for the image and a lighter pattern or solid for the background. But experiment! It’s fun and you can re-use your template if you aren’t happy with the results.

Here’s what the backside of your silhouettes might look like. Be sure to mark the subject’s name and the date the study was taken. You may want to pack away your template for later use. Maybe you want to make a page with successive years’ studies of the same subject. It’s nice to do baby, toddler, child, teen. You could even make a study of your entire family and place the silhouettes together to form one family portrait. And when you get more skilled, you can use a still-life photo of your family and create and silhouette portrait!

And here is a close up of my study of Louis. Notice that lashes, curls and chubby rolls can be enhanced lending more personality to the study.

Here is another close-up of a study I’ve done of myself (my daughter Cate was the photographer). Notice that the glasses have been carefully cut out and provide some interest.

Next, you will want to trace your template onto the back of your scrapbooking paper. Most scrapbooking papers are colored on one side and white on the other, which makes the tracing very easy to see. For my project, I chose to use a black card stock, which is colored on both sides. I’ve used a light colored pencil to make my tracing. Be sure to trace the mirror image, that is, the opposite, to what you want in the frame. And make sure your pencil is quite sharp for the finest possible lines. See how nice the white templates look on black?

Carefully cut out your image *just inside* the tracing lines, paying special attention to the small bits. In fact, do the smallest bits first. It is extremely important to have a *very sharp* X-acto so that your paper won’t tear. Avoid tugging to separate the silhouette from the paper. Careful cutting will also prevent the white from peeking out from underneath. If you do get “fluff-its”, just go back and nip them off from the right side very carefully.

You will notice that my templates have a flat bottom. Your silhouettes will be much more attractive if you trace out the contour of the near shoulder and cut it away, sloping elegantly towards the chest and back.

Mount your image onto your background paper (which you will have cut to fit in your chosen frame), being careful to position it so that the effect through the glass is pleasingly even. Another rule of thumb is to leave more head-space than at the bottom. This grounds the image nicely. You can use a glue stick or mounting tape. Please do not use liquid glue of any kind, you will surely be disappointed in the results. Tip: Leaving the edges of the image free gives more dimension to your image after framing. It appears to float.

Finally, you can embellish your compositions with journaling, or elements as desired. Be sure, at the very least, to sign and date your work. It is a good idea to mark your subject’s name on the finished piece somewhere, even on the back of the frame.

If you are going to mat your work, be sure your silhouettes will fit comfortably inside and that the mat is a good compliment to the overall composition. You can also embellish your mat-board if it’s plain white or cream. My recommendation is to let the piece live in the frame for a little while first to allow the piece to speak to you. Then you will know just what to do with the mat. Of course, you may already have a clear, complete vision. In which case, zhuzh away! In the event that your mat board and backing board are not acid free, you can purchase a spray-on product to neutralise the acid.

It’s also fun to mount the silhouettes on a letter, copywork, or essay hand-written by your child or spouse. Use a copy, of course! You could use the silhouettes to decorate scrapbooks, photo albums, notebooks. They can be used to make unique name signs for children’s bedrooms, or to assign a coat hook or cubby. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination.

Silhouettes are a beautiful way to preserve a precious moment in time. Have fun, and send me pictures of your projects!

{I want to thank Monica at the Crafty Nest for linking this tutorial from a wonderful article on stencils and silhouettes. I LOVE how she’s done her silhouettes on patterned paper! They’re beautiful!}

Tutorial: Paper Ornaments

Brian and Nissa Gadbois — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 20:27:08 +0000

Another little tute for you to try with your children while pies and cookies are baking. Our midwife, Sue, posted this craft on her Facebook page to make with last year’s cards (or leftover ones if you have them). We had neither, so I pulled out our trusty scrapbook paper stack – the same stack we have used for three years running.

This one is a little more challenging than the Vintage Christmas Lights, and should provide some joy for the maths enthusiast in your family, too. Alternately, have the kids do piles of different sized circles and have them figure up the inscribed triangles and call Maths done for the day.

You need:

Scrapbook paper or cards

A large paper punch or compass

Scissors

Cardstock or scrap of cardboard (for triangle template)

Ruler

Glue

Paintbrush

Micropunch, awl, or sharp yarn needle

Stringing cord

This is my huge lever punch, which makes a super big 2.5" circle. I LOVE it. Find out why below.

Gather your materials. If you're anything like me, this will take half the day because we have too much {stuff} and not enough {space}.

Punch out circles from your cards or paper. If you haven't a punch, use a compass to scribe a 2.5" circle onto a piece of cardstock to use as a template. Then cut out a whole bunch of circles.

ABout 300 circles done in short order with my punch. Did I mention how much I LOVE this punch? {Save your scraps, this paper is spendy.!}

On the wrong side of your circles, make a nice, even triangle or...

create a template for an inscribed equilateral triangle. Lots of fun for the engineer in the family. The formula is:: a=3R/√3, where "R" is the radius of the circle. That literally made me lightheaded, but Brian had tons of fun.

That formula again:: a=3R/√3

Cut your triangle template out of cardstock. Trust me, you'll be glad you did. Remember to cut it out INSIDE the lines so that it trims out neatly inside the circles.

On the wrong side of your circles, score around the template using your scissor blade.

Fold all three flaps toward the right side of each circle.

You'll need FOUR folded circles for each ornament.

Using thinned glue and a paintbrush, glue only the flaps of the circles.

Stick flap of the second circle to the first...

More glue and the third and fourth circles.

Gather the children and have them finish up the rest of the circles. They'll love it!

Set your ornaments aside to dry. You could add glue and glitter around the edges, too. This hides any mismatched edges, if you’re concerned about that sort of thing. I like the imperfection – but I also love anything that sparkles! When everything is dried, punch a wee hole in one flap of each ornament and thread some cord through for hanging.

About that punch…

It’s a “Recollections” lever punch, available at Michael’s stores. I bought a 2.5″ circle as well a gift tag cutter. Why do I LOVE it so much? I have pretty bad arthritis all over, but the inflammation in my hands can make crafting really difficult and not much fun. Cutting with scissors takes me extra long and hurts after only a short time. This lever punch allows me to use my whole palm for pressure, which relieves my fingers enormously. I punched more than 300 circles really quickly. I call that a brilliant invention. Well worth the $16 I paid!

*I don’t get paid by Michael’s, this is my own opinion of a great product I wanted to share with you.