Greetings! The Ancestral Homekeeper is a weekly newsletter dedicated to asking questions about what it means to live slowly and simply in our modern era. I’m Kristina, and I believe that the way we shape our lives at home will be reflected in our society at large. By blending the wisdom of our ancestors with contemporary thoughts on mental health, self nurturing, and social justice, we can find the path to changing our world. New letter is out every Sunday!
Welcome to Monthly Miscellany, an assortment of stories, moments, books, newsletters, and beautiful things I’ve been collecting for the past month or so. I hope they bring you joy, a moment of calm, or spark some interesting thoughts for you.
Thank you for being here!
The Italian prune plum tree I planted four years ago have finally come of age with its first big display of these gemmy beauties. I gathered these fallen ripe ones from the base of the tree in my garden, and I am just awestruck. The color is haunting, especially with the delicate bloom still clinging to the skins. These are the absolute best plums to use in my favorite German plum cake (Pflaumenkuchen if your family hails from the High German-speaking north, Zwetschgendatschi if they are from Bavaria, like mine. There’s about five other regional names for it as well!) Perhaps I will make it today, if I can get to them before my daughter snatches them all away from me. She adores them just as much as I do.
A Word of the Season. For years now, I have chosen a word of the year, which is such a great practice to keep myself focused on an overarching theme. It is a touchstone to come back to whenever I start to feel a bit rudderless and lost in time. Luisa Skinner at Salted has turned me on to also choosing a Word of the Season, which feels like a set of perfect little Matryoshka dolls, words nestled into each other to create a roadmap for the year. My word for Autumn is believe. I am in the thick of some growing pains in a few areas in my life, but I know they will all even out, eventually. I believe in writing, I believe in showing up, and I believe I am exactly where I am meant to be at this place in time. What do you think? Have you chosen a word of the year and is there a word that is particularly resonant for you as we edge into autumn?
I bought my copy of Enchantment by Katherine May the day it was published, and I gobbled it up within a week. Yesterday, I decided to revisit it, slowly this time, and go back over all the pages that I have underlined and scribbled notes in. Ostensibly this is to put my own thoughts into words in my Zettlekasten, a personal knowledge system that helps one take better notes. (Zettlekasten are a whole world of newsletters in and of themselves, but perhaps one day soon I will write about what my experience has been like trying to create one.) Her explanation and examination of Mircea Eliade’s thoughts on hierophanies is striking something within me, and I know this means I must wrestle with it further.
From Mackenzie at The Lovely Road, we have a collection of her favorite slow and simple reads. There are some beautiful books on this list that I haven’t gotten around to yet, but I am looking forward to making a lavender latte and curling up under the blanket with a few of these.
Speaking of lavender lattes, I have been making my own at home with a homemade lavender blueberry syrup, but my last batch spoiled on me rather quickly. I decided to buy a bottled version and excuse myself of any traces of guilt. Grace is most certainly one of my most beautiful things I have given myself this past month!
And while I try my very best not to dawdle on Instagram unless it is for work, it can sometimes be super useful for digging up inspiration. Last week I was feeling the urge to cook something new, but I didn’t have loads of time to devote to it. I knew I had a kale-basil-walnut pesto I’d made up in the fridge, and then I happened upon this lovely little recipe from Sophie Wyburd. I was able to deploy some cherry tomatoes and zucchini from the garden, and a good handful of those purple speckled dragon tongue beans I wrote about last week. It was a good meal, made infinitely easier because I already had a base for the sauce on hand! Recipes can make fine inspiration, even if we don’t follow them exactly as written. Finding a recipe treasure in the attention-ravaging IG is always a win for me.
Finally, I have to share the biggest sigh of relief that is headed my way. My children begin their one-day-a-week outdoor school program next week, which means I will have a full six hours to write, to work, to just sit under a tree and meditate. This kind of child-free time has not existed for me since before the pandemic, and I am CELEBRATING. It feels like the dawn of a whole new era, once in which I more fully actualize my Self after birthing two humans. It has been almost eight years since my brain has had the ability to connect complex thoughts that aren’t exclusively centered around my children, and I am profoundly grateful. I suppose my parting question to you is, what is shifting in your life that you can feel profoundly grateful for? If you feel stuck and buried, can you find a small joy or a sliver of beauty to spark that gratitude? I want this so much for you, because the radiant joy that spreads out from our hearts when we feel deeply grateful for something is irreplaceable. If this is hard to access right now, I see you. I have been there before, and I am holding your hand. Maybe this joy can rub off a bit on you.
Until next week,
Kristina
Love letting go of guilt and GRACE is often a word I repeat over and over to myself as I continue to just do the best I can with the chaos that is my life. So excited for you to get this one day to yourself. You can't even imagine what is coming your way. WOOHOO!! And good for you in recognizing that IG and the like are designed to suck us in...I am starting a bookclub with my co-workers at the beginning of Oct on "How to break up with your phone" It will be my 4th time leading a group and it is always transformational for me no matter how many times I read the book - and life changing for those going through the club together. Reading Digital Minimalism right now. If we dont take control, we lose it that's for SURE!!! Sending love and a big hug.
Those plums looks so decadent and delicious! 😋 I feel like I could just grab one through the screen!
Thanks for the mention Kristina. I am glad you enjoyed the post 🥰