How to make a Southern Belle Costume

Mrs. Schaeffer says From my own experience of sewing, making my own and the children's clothing, I would say that nothing gives one the possiblity of 'fitting in' with a wide variety of people like being able to say "I made it myself."

This entry makes up part four of the stories explaining what my mother taught me as queried by Donna in a Friday Five.

The short answer is that she taught me how to sew. She taught by example, by assisting, by providing lessons, and by encouraging.

Once upon a time a college-aged daughter needed a costume for a skit. The skit was set in the ante-bellum South. This is where my memory gets a little fuzzy because the college was in Michigan (what do *they* know about the South?) and I cant remember the songs or story lines, but suffice it to say that it was for a rush party. I wish I had a picture for my dear readers.

My mother tore apart one of her *old* party gowns which we used as pattern pieces for my costume. The dress turned out well. Not only did I wear it for the skit, but I also wore it to a costume party on my first *real* date with my now DH. My daughters played dress-up with it later.

While sewing is not one of my favorite tasks (frequently I have to rip out a seam), I am accomplished at it, having made anything from a lined bathing suit to a french machine-sewn cotton bastiste little girl's dress complete with inlaid lace bow. In my party days, I made all my evening dresses. I found a certain pattern which was flattering on me and then made it with four different fabrics: red velvet, white, floral and plaid.

Am I passing this talent on to my own daughters? Well, maybe...maybe not. They all have sewing boxes complete with their own sets of Gingher scissors. And I have made with each individually a sundress, which we wore for a family photo. They all can hem a dress and sew on a button. They havent had lessons, but there is still time for that, as they are young :) And, I'm only a phone call away.

Do you own a sewing machine?

How to set the table

Does this task strike you as simple? meaningless? unimportant? Well, take a second look. This chore is a key example of the well-run household where I grew up and learned so keenly from my mother.

One of the most striking parts of our routine for setting the table was that we did it the night BEFORE! This preparation made breakfast time go more smoothly. My mother had two sets of flatware and dinnerware, so that, if one set was in the dishwasher, there would be no excuse for not setting the table for the next meal. In short, part of cleaning up after dinner was setting the table for breakfast the next day.

Each place was set completely with three pieces of flatware: knife, fork, and spoon. We used paper napkins when we were very young, but it was not long before she graduated us to cloth napkins held in place with a personalized ring. Juice cups were turned upside down and plates were placed in the warmer.

There was an intricate schedule that we all understood and operated under. Division of labor and the laws of supply and demand were demonstrated clearly in our little eco-system. There is no need to record the minute details, but we six children knew what was expected of us and there were consequences when one's obligation was not completed properly.

This is home economics at its finest.

Biscuit Story

Recipe follows. I actually posted that first and then remembered I was supposed to be telling stories about things my mother taught me. Well, my mother taught me how to cook. Her method was simple.

See one. Do one. Teach one.

It started early when I was very young. I watched her cook. She tells me I always wanted to help her stir (stirrl, I said). When she let me stir the oatmeal and I didnt place the spoon all the way to the bottom of the saucepan, and some of it burned, she sighed. I watched our maid cook, too. Before she left for the day, dinner was sitting on the hottray ready to serve at six o'clock sharp. I have fond memories of her, fixing a pot of homemade hot chocolate as an after school snack on a cold winter day. Down the street, I watched my friend's mother (a Yankee!) cook, tasting sweet and sour pork for the first time ever.

I first remember baking brownies at age eight. I think there is a good picture of me and my older brother working together at the kitchen counter. In sixth grade social studies, we studied world geography and had to prepare a report on each country. I always chose *Cooking*. My written report was always accompanied by an authentic dish which I shared with the class. For example, for France: chocolate mouse Russia: it was an iced pastry item with raspberry filling Italy: homemade stuffed manicotti with both red and white sauces. By the time I finished with that meal, I think I was too tired to eat. But you get the point.

By age twelve, I could bake a yellow, three-layer all alone and ice it with chocolate buttercream frosting. This recipe continues to be a favorite birthday cake in our family.

For the next five years came lots of watching and helping. In our family of six children, we rotated kitchen duty which not only included the after-meal cleanup, but also started early in the day with meal prep. If your turn fell on a holiday or Sunday, you could count on devoting the better part of your day to the kitchen.

Long about age 18, I took a cooking class from Nathalie Dupree when she was Director of Rich's Cooking School. When I lived at home for four months after college, I cooked for the family in exchange for room and board.

In short, my mother continues to be an example of an excellent cook and hostess. She was always there to show me what to do next or answer a question about why something didnt turn out right. She read and collected cookbooks. She kept several recipe boxes well organized. She prepared a variety of menus, in fact making a list of vegetables in order to make sure we had tried ALL of them. You never know where you will eat one day, she would say. To this day she states that cooking is not one of her favorite tasks, but because she had a family to feed, she chose to do it well.

Thanks, Moma!

How to fix biscuits

I think I have posted my recipe before. No matter. I will post it again. For any cooks out there, you know that recipes evolve, and this one is no different. When I first learned to prepare biscuits, I was using white flour and Crisco shortening. Furthermore, each cook puts her own *stamp* on her biscuit recipe. So, be ready to own up to your style of this Southern quickbread.

Dry Ingredients:
2 Cups whole wheat flour
2 Cups unbleached white flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder (optional, but it will lighten your biscuit)

Wet Ingredients:
1 Cup Oil (I use safflower)
2 1/2 Cups buttermilk

Combine five dry ingredients in large mixing bowl. In a one quart pyrex mixing cup, blend wet ingredients with a wire wisk. Pour over dry. Stir with wooden spoon until all is combined without overworking batter. It should form into a loose ball of dough. Dump onto floured surface. I dust again with flour, before rolling out to 1" thickness. Cut into 2 1/4" rounds and place on large baking sheet. Do not allow edges of biscuits to touch. Bake 20-25 minutes in 425 degree PREHEATED oven or until browned.

Serves 8 adults.

Enjoy plain, buttered, jammed, honeyed, sorghumed, or stuffed with a sausage patty. I NEVER throw these out. Leftovers are *planned* and stored in ziplock freezer bag. If they are not used up on soup night, or crumbed for use in meatloaf or squash casserole, they are a prized ingredient for my Cornbread Dressing at Thanksgiving.

How to be mean

Better tell this story quickly or one might get the wrong impression. She doesnt look mean, does she?

The whole concept ties into Bobbie Pingaro's 1967 essay/poem entitled The Meanest Mother in the World and strikes at the heart of my parenting style.

When I was a child, did I really believe my mother was mean? No, but she implemented a lot of the tactics described in this essay and I am the better for it. So, when another mother-friend of mine regaled me with the story of how she made an executive decision based on *I'll bet Mrs. Jago wont let her children see that movie,* I knew I had learned well.

Obviously, the use of the word *mean* was an attention-getter. I sometimes joke with my own children about *meanness* being a positive trait in a mother. Take Kipling's poem Female of the Species, for example.

Some of my favorite parenting books are The Bible, Proverbs for Parenting, Withhold Not Correction by Bruce Ray, Grist from Adams' Mill by Jay Adams, Six Points for Raising Happy, Healthy Children by John Rosemond, and Shepherding a Child's Heart by Ted Tripp. My parents havent written a book, but if they had it would be on the list becasue they were and continue to be models of excellent parenting.

What parenting book has most influenced your style?

Five Things My Mother Taught Me

1. How to use a blackboard.
2. How to set the table.
3. How to be mean.
4. How to make a Southern Belle costume.
5. How to fix biscuits.













Self Portrait

Since last Friday's Five I have been pondering what my mother taught me.

She taught me lots of things and she continues to teach me, but I have come up with a short list identifying five very specific tasks.

Stories to follow.



Inspiration from Quiet Life .

Orange Chicken with Avocado

What a treat to have someone else prepare dinner!! DD#2 has outdone herself. Not only did this food taste deliciously but the presentation was down right artistic!

Summer Dinners

There are six around the dinnertable now. When I had only two children, I still cooked for 6-8 and invited the neighbors over. I suppose in larger families there is no such thing as leftovers. But I rely on leftovers. I plan for them and market them :)

The collegians have been home for almost a week and we're trying to settle into a routine. I'm thinking out loud about meal prep, grocery shopping, laundry days, and general housekeeping. Transportation is a big issue because we have six drivers and three vehicles.

But back to the issue at hand....food. We love to grill and eat cold salads when the weather is hot. There's no time like the present to give everyone a chance to be chef for the day.

What's your favorite summer meal?

Hair







Dear Reader,
I like you to meet my faithful hairdresser of 40 plus years, Mr Paul Hensler. I cant say enough good things about him, but let me try.

First, note that he is still working at age 75! What a testimony to his industrious nature. Although he no longer owns his own shop, after retiring and recouperating from some knee surgery, he just missed *hair* too much.

I first met him when he trimmed my hair at age 7, right before the beginning of second grade. He styled my hair on my wedding day, gave me a perm after the birth of my first daughter, and has kept me feeling young and beautiful with highlights and up-to-date hairdoos.

While I'm not entirely sure who gave this advice, it has worked well for me: If you have to choose between getting your hair done (cut, styled, whatever) or buying a new dress (for a special occasion), choose *hair*

Which is where I'm headed right now. When was the last time you had your hair *done*?

Alice Frances Cheeseman

Happy Birthday to someone who made a big impression on me when I was young.

Several weeks ago, in the Friday Five, Donna asked us to name a funny teacher we had had. I couldnt really name one, but I do have very fond memories of Miss Cheeseman, who taught me well. She was my teacher not only in the fifth grade, but also in the seventh. I think I even had her for one class as a fourth grader.

She had beautiful handwriting, taught us three different ways to write the date, offered bonus points for vocabulary words, like prestidigitation. She taught me how to diagram sentences, how to outline a history lesson, and made me work hard! She gave me the opportunity to plan all the chapel services for the middle school, gave me my favorite cookbook as a wedding present, Joy of Cooking, and was an example of an overall good person.

Why I remember birthdays, I will never understand. Some things/facts just dont stick in my brain, and then others never fade.....like this birthday....and even tho' she's deceased, I just wanted to highlight her enduring influences.

Do you have someone you want to talk about today?

Introductions

Cindy has tagged me to reveal six interesting things about myself.

1) I left high school after my junior year and headed off the college, where I graduated summa cum laude in three years with a BA, major: History with minors: French and German. I wanted to be an international business woman (ie, executive assistant).
2) I married at age 22 after *dating* my husband for over four years. We met in college, so we have known one another over 31 years! We have four daughters aged 21, 19, 18, and 16.
3) I was born and reared in Atlanta along with my five siblings, who are now scattered, but we have given our folks 29 grands. We gather for a family reunion at Callaway Gardens each July.
4) In addition to serving my husband at home, I have for ten years now assisted him by managing his private family practice. We have a passion for keeping medicine free from governmental control and independent of insurance companies.
5) I enjoy lots of things: reading, cooking, organizing, most things Southern, politics, theology, and economics.
6) I had the privilege of knowing and working for Congressman Larry McDonald who was killed along with 168 others by the Soviets in 1983.

Carolina Wren

This bird is one of my favorites because s/he sings so loudly and so lovely. S/he perches on the railing of my desk and his whole body warbles as the song travels out of his mouth. I like the different shades of the brown and white markings on this bird.

Do you have a favorite bird in your backyard?

Photo credit www.aviary.owls.com/carolinawren

National Day of Prayer

Thursday marks a special day set aside to pray for the concerns of our nation. Use this page to figure out what's going on in your neighborhood. Elisabeth Eliot's devotion today mentions some good guidelines for prayer, as does the National Day website.

In other news, today marks the fifteenth anniversary of the opening of DH's private practice :)

Lots to pray/praise about.

It Isn't the Church - It's You
Author Unknown

If you want to have the kind of a church
Like the kind of a church you like,
You needn't slip your clothes in a grip
And start on a long, long hike.

You'll only find what you left behind,
For there's nothing really new,
It's a knock at yourself when you knock your church;
It isn't' the church - it's you.

When everything seems to be going wrong,
And trouble seems everywhere brewing;
When prayer meeting, young people's meeting, and all,
Seem simmering slowly - stewing,
Just take a look at yourself and say,
"What's the use of being blue?"
Are you doing your "bit" to makes things a "hit"?
It isn't the church it's you.

It's really strange sometimes, don't you know,
That things go as well as they do,
When we think of the little -- the very small mite-
We add to the work of the few.
We sit, and stand round, and complain of what's done,
And do very little but fuss.
Are we bearing our share of the burdens to bear?
It isn't the church - it's us.

So, if you want to have the kind of a church
Like the kind of a church you like,
Put off you guile, and put on your best smile,
And hike, by brother, just hike,
To the work in the hand that has to be done--
The work of a saving a few.
It isn't the church that is wrong, by boy;
It isn't the church - it 's you.

In Memory of Our Cat, Ralph

by Garrison Keillor


When we got home, it was almost dark.
Our neighbor waited on the walk.
"I'm sorry, I have bad news," he said.
"Your cat, the gray-black one, is dead.
I found him by the garage an hour ago."
"Thank you," I said, "for letting us know."
We dug a hole in the flower bed
With lilac bushes overhead,
Where this cat loved to lie in spring
And roll in dirt and eat the green
Delicious first spring bud,
And laid him down and covered him up,
Wrapped in a piece of tablecloth,
Our good old cat laid in the earth.
We quickly turned and went inside
The empty house and sat and cried
Softly in the dark some tears
For that familiar voice, that fur,
That soft weight missing from our laps,
That we had loved too well perhaps
And mourned from weakness of the heart.
A childish weakness, to regard
An animal whose life is brief
With such affection and such grief.
If such is weakness, so it be.
This modest elegy
Is only meant to note the death
Of one cat so we won't forget
His face, his name, his gift
Of cat affection while he lived,
The sweet shy nature
Of this graceful creature,
The simple pleasure of himself,
The memory of our cat, Ralph.

Posted in memory of our cat, Mittens, who died February 16, 2006.

I Corinthians 13:1-13

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am know. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

King James Version

Mealtime Poetry

Be present at our table, Lord;
Be here and everywhere adored;
Thy creatures bless, and grant that we
May feast in paradise with Thee.

We thank Thee, Lord, for this our food,
For life and health and every good;
By Thine own hand may we be fed;
Give us each day our daily bread.

We thank Thee, Lord, for this our good,
But more because of Jesus’ blood;
Let manna to our souls be giv’n,
The Bread of Life sent down from Heav’n.

John Cennick

1718-1755

British itinerant evangelist

This is the blessing I said, when it was *my turn* as a child. I found it in The Lion Book of Family Prayers by Mary Batchelor. Post a comment and tell me what poem you prayed.

Confederate Women
Subject of Praise

Butts County (GA) Progress

EDITOR PROGRESS:
Your paper of some weeks past was handed to me on sick-bed in McDonough.
I read a suggestion from my brother Wilson Smith on the Women of the Confederacy and I was forcibly impressed. I dare say there is hardly an ex-confederate soldier in Butts county but what would vote to give the monument to the Women of the Confederacy instead of the Soldier, if the Daughters in Butts county decide to build one. And the new idea, the spinning wheel instead of the gun, is grand.
Yes, while other sections are raising the shaft in honor of the men who stood in line with gun and bayonet, let Butts county raise the shaft in honor and memory of the noble women who stood behind the lines and prayed and spun and wove, and buried the dead that were sent home. God bless them, heroines all. Who is it that went through that fearful ordeal that can now meditate upon the sacrifices, suffering and hardships of those mothers, wives, sisters and daughters and keep back the tears?
I can tell you what it was that caused the Confederate soldiers to astonish the world by their endurance of hardships and heroic bravery. It was the mother, wife, sweetheart and sister at home. And who has attempted to write the history of their heroic struggle? No one. And the half can never be told.
A personal explanation will illustrate the cause of the Confederate solders staying in the last ditch until killed or captured. Two years of the war had passed before I was old enough to go. My older brother as well as many neighbors had been brought home shot to pieces and many other dear friends left dead on the battle field. We knew then what it meant to go to the war. The time for my departure had come. My clothes were packed and I, a small boy (stature 5'8"), had put on the Confederate gray. My mother, with tears all streaming down her cheeks, stood in the hall, at the foot of the stairs. Throwing her arms about my neck she said, "Put your trust in God and He will bring you through. I would rather you would die in battle than desert." And those were her last words of farewell.
Too full of emotion to utter one word, I left her with those words indelibly stamped on my conscience and memory. I was at once a man. From that moment I was a changed being.
In all the crack and onslaught of battle I did not stay there because I was brave but because my other told me to. And I know that was the experience of thousands of others who suffered the pangs of hunger, cold and heat, shot and shell, sickness and death, on account of the loved ones at home.
They gave their sons, husbands, and brothers, lovers, all and received back a fragment of battered and torn limbs, and they nursed them back into the greatest industrial struggle the world has even known.
Yes, give the women the monument.

W. F. Smith
Captain, Confederate States of America
McDonough, GA
April 23, 1909

This letter to the editor is copyrighted and published in the book Rival Lovers by William Ferguson Smith, edited by Harriet Stovall Kelley.

Rival Lovers
A story of the War Between the States
by William Ferguson Smith
Edited by Harriet Stovall Kelley



Written more than 125 years ago, Rivals is a story of a young Georgia boy who went away to war in 1863, fell in love and into great adventure and returned to write of his experience. It is a courtly tale of romance that lay lost and forgotten until his great niece discovered the original text while cleaning out the old Smith Family home in Flovilla, GA in 1971.

The second half of the book contains a biographical sketch and other writings by Smith, who became one of his county's leading and most conscientious citizens.

Meaning

When I die, I will see the lining of the world.
The other side, beyond bird, mountain, sunset.
The true meaning, ready to be decoded.
What never added up will add Up,
What was incomprehensible will be comprehended.
- And if there is no lining to the world?
If a thrush on a branch is not a sign,
But just a thrush on the branch? If night and day
Make no sense following each other?
And on this earth there is nothing except this earth?
- Even if that is so, there will remain
A word wakened by lips that perish,
A tireless messenger who runs and runs
Through interstellar fields, through the revolving galaxies,
And calls out, protests, screams.

Czeslaw Milosz

Intimations of Mortality

on being told by the dentist that this will be over soon


Indeed, it will soon be over, I shall be done
With the querulous drill, the forceps, the clove-smelling cotton.
I can go forth into fresher air, into sun,
This narrow anguish forgotten.

In twenty minutes or forty or half an hour,
I shall be easy, and proud of my hard-got gold,
But your apple of comfort is eaten by worms, and sour.
Your consolation is cold.

This will not last, and the day will be pleasant after.
Ill dine tonight with a witty and favorite friend.
No doubt tomorrow I shall rinse my mouth with laughter.
And also that will end.

The handful of time that I am charily granted
Will likewise pass, to oblivion duly apprenticed.
Summer will blossom and autumn be faintly enchanted.
Then time for the grave, or the dentist.

Because you are shrewd, my man, and your hand is clever,
You must not believe your words have a charm to spell me.
There was never a half of an hour that lasted forever.
Be quiet. You need not tell me.

Phyllis McGinley

Jehovah Tsidkenu

by Robert Murray McCheyne


I once was a stranger to grace and to God,
I knew not my danger, and felt not my load;
Though friends spoke in rapture of Christ on the tree,
Jehovah Tsidkenu was nothing to me.

I oft read with pleasure, to sooth or engage,
Isaiah’s wild measure and John’s simple page;
But e’en when they pictured the blood sprinkled tree
Jehovah Tsidkenu seemed nothing to me.

Like tears from the daughters of Zion that roll,
I wept when the waters went over His soul;
Yet thought not that my sins had nailed to the tree
Jehovah Tsidkenu—’twas nothing to me.

When free grace awoke me, by light from on high,
Then legal fears shook me, I trembled to die;
No refuge, no safety in self could I see—
Jehovah Tsidkenu my Saviour must be.

My terrors all vanished before the sweet name;
My guilty fears banished, with boldness I came
To drink at the fountain, life giving and free—
Jehovah Tsidkenu is all things to me.

Jehovah Tsidkenu! my treasure and boast,
Jehovah Tsidkenu! I ne’er can be lost;
In thee I shall conquer by flood and by field,
My cable, my anchor, my breast-plate and shield!

Even treading the valley, the shadow of death,
This “watchword” shall rally my faltering breath;
For while from life’s fever my God sets me free,
Jehovah Tsidkenu, my death song shall be.

Why Do Birds Sing?

Let poets piece prismatic words,
Give me the jewelled joy of birds!

What ecstasy moves them to sing?
Is it the lyric glee of Spring,
The dewy rapture of the rose?
Is it the worship born in those
Who are of Nature's self a part,
The adoration of the heart?

Is it the mating mood in them
That makes each crystal note a gem?
Oh mocking bird and nightingale,
Oh mavis, lark and robin - hail!
Tell me what perfect passion glows
In your inspired arpeggios?

A thrush is thrilling as I write
Its obligato of delight;
And in its fervour, as in mine,
I fathom tenderness divine,
And pity those of earthy ear
Who cannot hear . . . who cannot hear.

Let poets pattern pretty words:
For lovely largesse - bless you, Birds!

Robert W. Service

The Rose Family


The rose is a rose,
And was always a rose.
But the theory now goes
That the apple's a rose,
And the pear is, and so's
The plum, I suppose.
The dear only knows
What will next prove a rose.
You, of course, are a rose-But were always a rose.

Robert Frost

Illlustration by Redoute

Lord, Make a Regular Man Out of Me

This I would like to be - braver and bolder,
Just a bit wiser because I am older,
Just a bit kinder to those I may meet,
Just a bit manlier taking defeat;
This for the New Year my wish and my plea -
Lord, make a regular man out of me.

This I would like to be - just a bit finer,
More of a smiler and less of a whiner,
Just a bit quicker to stretch out my hand
Helping another who's struggling to stand,
This is my prayer for the New Year to be,
Lord, make a regular man out of me.

This I would like to be - just a bit fairer,
Just a bit better, and just a bit squarer,
Not quite so ready to censure and bland,
Quicker to help every man in the game,
Not quite so eager men's failings to see,
Lord, make a regular man out of me.

This I would like to be - just a bit truer,
Less of the wisher and more of the doer,
Broader and bigger, more willing to give,
Living and helping my neighbor to live!
This for the New Year my prayer and my plea -
Lord, make a regular man out of me.

Edgar Albert Guest

Advice to Writers
For the Daily Press

When you've got a thing to say,
Say it! Dont take half a day.
When your tale's got little in it,
Crowed the whole thing in a minute!
Life is short - a fleeting vapor -
Don't you fill the whole blamed paper
With a tale which, at a pinch,
Could be cornered in an inch!
Boil her down until she simmers,
Polish her until she glimmers.

Joel Chandler Harris

Paul Revere's Ride

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Some poems are long, some short, some rhyme, some dont. Some tell a story.
So, in honor of the anniversary of this midnight ride, I commend to the attention of all my readers, this excellent poem.

Time Is

Time is
Too Slow for those who Wait,
Too Swift for those who Fear,
Too Long for those who Grieve,
Too Short for those who Rejoice;
But for those who Love,
Time is not.

by Henry Van Dyke
1852-1933

Up from the grave He arose

Low in the grave He lay, Jesus my Savior,
Waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!

Refrain

Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes,
He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever, with His saints to reign.
He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Vainly they watch His bed, Jesus my Savior;
Vainly they seal the dead, Jesus my Lord!

Refrain

Death cannot keep its Prey, Jesus my Savior;
He tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord!

Refrain

Words & Music: Ro­bert Low­ry, 1874

Hall of Thorns



Tread lightly among the thorny growth
Below the eaves of filtered sun and
Dead, brown limbs of barbs still sharp with use.
Dare to lift your head and see the greenly growth,
A crown of leaf above the thorn and
Arching boughs that sprout anew with
Fresh rows of thorns on limbs of green.
A roof of sun, held by beams of the live
And dead branches,
Beams that twine and gather to form
A hall of thorns,
lit by blossoms, white and fading,
like flickering lights in the shadows
of the briary corridor.
Tapestries of white and golden hue
To grace
A hall of thorns.

Margaret Jago
May 2002

The Lamb

Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?
Gave thee life, and bid thee feed,
By the stream and o'er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing, woolly, bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice?
Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?

Little Lamb, I'll tell thee,
Little Lamb, I'll tell thee.
He is called by thy name,
For He calls Himself a Lamb.
He is meek, and He is mild;
He became a little child.
I a child, and thou a lamb,
We are called by His name.
Little Lamb, God bless thee!
Little Lamb, God bless thee!

William Blake
English Poet
1757-1827

Image "Worthy"
by Amy Crews
American Artist

To My Family Doctor

A woman's work is never done
That's what they always say,
But what about your Doctor
Where does he end his day?
His day starts with an office full
Of people who complain,
And need to give the small details
Of all their aches and pains

When office hours are over
You'd think that would be all,
Then he sits down for dinner
And here comes that frantic call:
"My baby has a fever,"
"My husband has a cough,"
"My big toe hurts so badly
Could you PLEASE just cut it off"

We really haven't got a clue
Of the things he must endure,
While listening to our problems
And seeking out a cure,
Let's be kind to our Doctor
Cause it's not an easy life,
So have compassion for him
And sympathy for his wife.

by Linda Brown
copyright 2004

Always Marry An April Girl


Praise the spells and bless the charms,
I found April in my arms.
April golden, April cloudy,
Gracious, cruel, tender, rowdy;
April soft in flowered languor,
April cold with sudden anger,
Ever changing, ever true --
I love April, I love you.

Ogden Nash

Whole Duty of Children


A child should always say what's true
And speak when he is spoken to,
And behave mannerly at table;
At least as far as he is able.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Myself

by Edgar Guest

I have to live with myself, and so
I want to be fit for myself to know,
I want to be able, as days go by,
Always to look myself straight in the eye;
I don't want to stand, with the setting sun,
And hate myself for things I have done.

I don't want to keep on a closet shelf
A lot of secrets about myself,
And fool myself, as I come and go,
Into thinking that nobody else will know
The kind of man I really am;
I don't want to dress up myself in sham.

I want to go out with my head erect,
I want to deserve all men's respect;
But here in the struggle for fame and pelf
I want to be able to like myself.
I don't want to look at myself and know
That I'm bluster and bluff and empty show.

I can never hide myself from me;
I see what others may never see;
I know what others may never know,
I never can fool myself, and so,
Whatever happens, I want to be
Self-respecting and conscience free.

The Strife is o'er

The strife is o’er, the battle done;
The victory of life is won;
The song of triumph has begun: Alleluia!

Refrain

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

The powers of death have done their worst;
But Christ their legions hath dispersed;
Let shouts of holy joy outburst: Alleluia!

Refrain

The three sad days are quickly sped;
He rises glorious from the dead;
All glory to our risen Head! Alleluia!

Refrain

He closed the yawning gates of hell;
The bars from heaven’s high portals fell;
Let hymns of praise His triumphs tell! Alleluia!

Refrain

Lord, by the stripes which wounded Thee,
From death’s dread sting Thy servants free,
That we may live, and sing to Thee: Alleluia!

Refrain

Miracles
by Walt Whitman

Why, who makes much of a miracle?
As to me, I know of nothing else but miracles,
Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,
Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,
Or wade with naked feet along the beach just in the edge of the water,
Or stand under trees in the woods,
Or talk by day with anyone I love, or sleep in the bed at night with anyone I love,
Or sit at table at dinner with the rest,
Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car,
Or watch honeybees busy around the hive of a summer forenoon,
Or animals feeding in the fields,
Or birds, or the wonderfulness of insects in the air,
Or the wonderfulness of the sundown, or of stars shining so quiet and bright,
Or the exquisite delicate curve of the new moon in spring;
These with the rest, one and all are to me miracles,
The whole referring, yet each distinct and in its place.
To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,
Every cubic inch of space is miracle,
Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread with the same,
Every foot of the interior swarms with the same.
To me the sea is a continual miracle,
The fishes that swim--the rocks--the motion of the waves--the ships with men in them,
What stranger miracles are there?

The Female of the Species

by Rudyard Kipling



When the Himalayan peasant meets the he-bear in his pride,
He shouts to scare the monster who will often turn aside.
But the she-bear thus accosted rends the peasant tooth and nail,
For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.

When Nag, the wayside cobra, hears the careless foot of man,
He will sometimes wriggle sideways and avoid it if he can,
But his mate makes no such motion where she camps beside the trail -
For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.

When the early Jesuit fathers preached to Hurons and Choctaws,
They prayed to be delivered from the vengeance of the squaws -
'Twas the women, not the warriors, turned those stark enthusiasts pale -
For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.

Man's timid heart is bursting with the things he must not say,
For the Woman that God gave him isn't his to give away;
But when hunter meets with husband, each confirms the others tale -
The female of the species is more deadly than the male.

Man, a bear in most relations, worm and savage otherwise,
Man propounds negotiations, Man accepts the compromise;
Very rarely will he squarely push the logic of a fact
To its ultimate conclusion in unmitigated act.

Fear, or foolishness, impels him, ere he lay the wicked low,
To concede some form of trial even to his fiercest foe.
Mirth obscene diverts his anger; Doubt and Pity oft perplex
Him in dealing with an issue - to the scandal of the Sex!

But the Woman that God gave him, every fibre of her frame
Proves her launched for one sole issue, armed and engined for the same,
And to serve that single issue, lest the generations fail,
The female of the species must be deadlier than the male.

She who faces Death by torture for each life beneath her breast
May not deal in doubt or pity - must not swerve for fact or jest.
These be purely male diversions - not in these her honor dwells -
She, the Other Law we live by, is that Law and nothing else!

She can bring no more to living than the powers that make her great
As the Mother of the Infant and the Mistress of the Mate;
And when Babe and Man are lacking and she strides unclaimed to claim
Her right as femme (and baron), her equipment is the same.

She is wedded to convictions - in default of grosser ties;
Her contentions are her children, Heaven help him, who denies!
He will meet no cool discussion, but the instant, white-hot wild
Wakened female of the species warring as for spouse and child.

Unprovoked and awful charges - even so the she-bear fights;
Speech that drips, corrodes and poisons - even so the cobra bites;
Scientific vivisection of one nerve till it is raw,
And the victim writhes with anguish - like the Jesuit with the squaw!

So it comes that Man, the coward, when he gathers to confer
With his fellow-braves in council, dare not leave a place for her
Where, at war with Life and Conscience, he uplifts his erring hands
To some God of abstract justice - which no woman understands.

And Man knows it! Knows, moreover, that the Woman that God gave him
Must command but may not govern; shall enthrall but not enslave him.
And She knows, because She warns him and Her instincts never fail,
That the female of Her species is more deadly than the male!

The Naming of Cats

by T.S. Eliot

The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn't just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.
First of all, there's the name that the family use daily,
Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James,
Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey--
All of them sensible everyday names.
There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,
Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:
Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter--
But all of them sensible everyday names.
But I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular,
A name that's peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?
Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,
Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat,
Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum-
Names that never belong to more than one cat.
But above and beyond there's still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover--
But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name.

from Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats

PS Comments should be working as you see I have chosen a new template and the updated model allowed by specifications to work :)

Sick

"I cannot go to school today,"
Said little Peggy Ann McKay.
"I have the measles and the mumps,
A gash, a rash and purple bumps.
My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,
I'm going blind in my right eye.
My tonsils are as big as rocks,
I've counted sixteen chicken pox
And there's one more--that's seventeen,
And don't you think my face looks green?
My leg is cut--my eyes are blue--
It might be instamatic flu.
I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,
I'm sure that my left leg is broke--
My hip hurts when I move my chin,
My belly button's caving in,
My back is wrenched, my ankle's sprained,
My 'pendix pains each time it rains.
My nose is cold, my toes are numb.
I have a sliver in my thumb.
My neck is stiff, my voice is weak,
I hardly whisper when I speak.
My tongue is filling up my mouth,
I think my hair is falling out.
My elbow's bent, my spine ain't straight,
My temperature is one-o-eight.
My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear,
There is a hole inside my ear.
I have a hangnail, and my heart is--what?
What's that? What's that you say?
You say today is. . .Saturday?
G'bye, I'm going out to play!"

Shel Silverstein

Love this poem and just about all of his. We read the books and listened to them on tape.

What Life Have You?

What life have you if you have not life together?
There is no life that is not in community,
And no community not lived in praise of GOD.
Even the anchorite who meditates alone,
For whom the days and nights repeat the praise of GOD,
Prays for the Church, the Body of Christ incarnate.
And now you live dispersed on ribbon roads,
And no man knows or cares who is his neighbor
Unless his neighbor makes too much disturbance,
But all dash to and fro in motor cars,
Familiar with the roads and settled nowhere
Nor does the family even move about together,
But every son would have his motorcycle,
And daughters ride away on casual pillions.

Much to cast down, much to build, much to restore;
Let the work not delay, time and the arm not waste;
Let the clay be dug from the pit, let the saw cut the stone,
Let the fire not be quenched in the forge.

T.S. Eliot (1888-1965)
From *The Rock*

NOTE: To my readers: I cant figure out why comments cant be posted, so I am listing my xanga site, so you can *talk* to me there.

Outwitted

Poem of the day, short after two long ones.

He drew a circle that shut me out --
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But Love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle that took him in!

Edwin Markham

Click on the time to comment.

How Sweet and Awful Is the Place

I cry every.single.time we sing this in church. Listen.

How sweet and aweful is this place
With Christ within the doors,
While everlasting love displays
The choicest of her stores!

Here every bowel of our God
With soft compassion rolls;
Here peace and pardon bought with blood
Is food for dying souls.

While all our hearts and all our songs
Join to admire the feast,
Each of us cry, with thankful tongues,
“Lord, why was I a guest?

“Why was I made to hear Thy voice,
And enter while there’s room,
When thousands make a wretched choice,
And rather starve than come?”

’Twas the same love that spread the feast
That sweetly drew us in;
Else we had still refused to taste,
And perished in our sin.

Pity the nations, O our God!
Constrain the earth to come;
Send Thy victorious Word abroad,
And bring the strangers home.

We long to see Thy churches full,
That all the chosen race
May with one voice, and heart and soul,
Sing Thy redeeming grace.

by Isaac Watts

I commend to you this article about Watts' writing.

Click on the time to comment.

The Betrothed

This poem is posted in honor of LPMcD, whose 71st birthday would have been today. He read this poem at the dinner table one night in 1980, and ever since it has been a favorite of mine. Why he loved this poem, I will never know...since he was not a smoker. However, he did like Kipling.


"You must choose between me and your cigar."
-- BREACH OF PROMISE CASE, CIRCA 1885.

Open the old cigar-box, get me a Cuba stout,
For things are running crossways, and Maggie and I are out.

We quarrelled about Havanas -- we fought o'er a good cheroot,
And I knew she is exacting, and she says I am a brute.

Open the old cigar-box -- let me consider a space;
In the soft blue veil of the vapour musing on Maggie's face.

Maggie is pretty to look at -- Maggie's a loving lass,
But the prettiest cheeks must wrinkle, the truest of loves must pass.

There's peace in a Larranaga, there's calm in a Henry Clay;
But the best cigar in an hour is finished and thrown away --

Thrown away for another as perfect and ripe and brown --
But I could not throw away Maggie for fear o' the talk o' the town!

Maggie, my wife at fifty -- grey and dour and old --
With never another Maggie to purchase for love or gold!

And the light of Days that have Been the dark of the Days that Are,
And Love's torch stinking and stale, like the butt of a dead cigar --

The butt of a dead cigar you are bound to keep in your pocket --
With never a new one to light tho' it's charred and black to the socket!

Open the old cigar-box -- let me consider a while.
Here is a mild Manila -- there is a wifely smile.

Which is the better portion -- bondage bought with a ring,
Or a harem of dusky beauties, fifty tied in a string?

Counsellors cunning and silent -- comforters true and tried,
And never a one of the fifty to sneer at a rival bride?

Thought in the early morning, solace in time of woes,
Peace in the hush of the twilight, balm ere my eyelids close,

This will the fifty give me, asking nought in return,
With only a Suttee's passion -- to do their duty and burn.

This will the fifty give me. When they are spent and dead,
Five times other fifties shall be my servants instead.

The furrows of far-off Java, the isles of the Spanish Main,
When they hear my harem is empty will send me my brides again.

I will take no heed to their raiment, nor food for their mouths withal,
So long as the gulls are nesting, so long as the showers fall.

I will scent 'em with best vanilla, with tea will I temper their hides,
And the Moor and the Mormon shall envy who read of the tale of my brides.

For Maggie has written a letter to give me my choice between
The wee little whimpering Love and the great god Nick o' Teen.

And I have been servant of Love for barely a twelvemonth clear,
But I have been Priest of Cabanas a matter of seven year;

And the gloom of my bachelor days is flecked with the cheery light
Of stums that I burned to Friendship and Pleasure and Work and Fight.

And I turn my eyes to the future that Maggie and I must prove,
But the only light on the marshes is the Will-o'-the-Wisp of Love.

Will it see me safe through my journey or leave me bogged in the mire?
Since a puff of tobacco can cloud it, shall I follow the fitful fire?

Open the old cigar-box -- let me consider anew --
Old friends, and who is Maggie that I should abandon you?

A million surplus Maggies are willing to bear the yoke;
And a woman is only a woman, but a good Cigar is a Smoke.

Light me another Cuba -- I hold to my first-sworn vows.
If Maggie will have no rival, I'll have no Maggie for Spouse!

Rudyard Kipling

Day Before April

The day before April
Alone, alone,
I walked in the woods
And sat on a stone.

I sat on a broad stone
And sang to the birds.
The tune was God's making
But I made the words

Mary Carolyn Davies

Kudos to me!! I walked the neighborhood and fyi this hill is only one of nine uphills I encounter. Yes, I want a brownie point. The reason this is so important is that most of my winter walking has been in two local parks, where it is flat, flat, flat. So, the neighborhood *course* is more aerobic :) and therefore, more fat burning!

Click on the time to comment.

National Poetry Month

Understanding verse is not one of my strong points. But every now and then I run across a poem which really speaks to me. Therefore, in honor of National Poetry Month (April), I plan to post each day a poem I like.

"For poems are not, as people think, simply emotions (one has emotions early enough)—they are experiences."
-Rainer Maria Rilke

Funny article in opposition to the celebration.

Click on the time to comment.

Highschool Cheerleading

I made the team for five years. It was fun and I enjoyed it. This post is for Donna, who helps me *remember*

Click on the time to comment or check me out at xanga.

Swan Coach House

Today the girls and I enjoyed a ladies luncheon at an historic Atlanta restaurant. We had a lovely time. The picture of the girls had too many shadows, so you will have to enjoy this one of the swan.

Click on the time to comment or visit my xanga site.

Abdul Rahman

Is this trial a case of religious persecution or a test of the rule of law?

The news reports (Chicago Tribune and Houston Chronicle) are interesting. Chuck Colson chimes in at Breakpoint and TownHall.

Update: 3/28 The judge dismissed the case due to lack of evidence and the accused is seeking asylum in another country.

What do you think? Click on the time to comment.

Bible Meme

1)Who is my favorite Biblical personage, other than Jesus?
I tend to relate to the *little* people....like when reading about the exodus/wandering, I tried to imagine in which tribe I would be and how we would line up in *formation* Or in the NT, I pray that I would NOT be one of those conservative, culture-preserving Jewesses, but one of the ladies who attended Jesus, meeting his boat and gathering to hear his teaching.

2)Which is my favorite OT book?
In terms of which one I read most often, THE PSALMS, hands down!

3)Which is my least favorite OT book?
I probably dont refer enough to Song of Solomon :)

4)Which is my favorite non-gospel book of NT?
Probably Romans, because of its *controversy* Guess that makes me a type *C*

5) Which is my least favorite NT book?
Revelation, simply because I'm have trouble with the imagery. Must be a genetic defect.

6)Which is my favorite Bible verse (life verse)?
John 17:3 *And this is eternal life, that they might know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.*

Click on the time to comment.

Grandparents


Gustie and Sheffield 1918


















Albert and Dorcas 1925


















Aren't these old photos interesting?
I clipped them from our family website.

Does your family have a website?

Click on the time to comment.

Or find me at my xanga.

Kitchen Meme

1. How many meals does most of your family eat at home each week? How many are in your family?

We eat most of our meals at home, although more have been out of late due to conflicting schedules. There are six in our family, but two are off at college.

2. How many cookbooks do you own?

I own too many cookbooks to count, since I started collecting as a teenager :) I have a nice Time-published set of cookbooks entitled Food of the World.

3. How often do you refer to a cookbook each week?

Less than I used to.

4. Do you collect recipes from other sources?

I collect recipes from all types of sources: friends, family, websites, food containers.

5. How do you store those recipes?

I have index card file boxes, a basket, and a spiral-bound *Family* cookbook.

6. When you cook, do you follow the recipe pretty closely, or do you use recipes primarily to give you ideas?

The first time I follow a recipe very closely, ie I measure. But after that, I may change it or follow it again exactly.

7. Is there a particular ethnic style or flavor that predominates in your cooking? If so, what is it?

No particular ethnic style. We like all types of food from boxed MacNCheese to gourmet five course meals.

8. What's your favorite kitchen task related to meal planning and preparation?

I like all the parts of feeding my family from coming up with the plan, preparing the plan, executing the plan, and redoing the plan.


9. What's your least favorite part?

My least favorite part is..... not have all the spots filled up around the table :)

10. Do you plan menus before you shop?

Sometimes and sometimes not. I am often persuaded to change my plan once I get to the store and find something else on sale. But I have also be known to drive a few extra miles to buy the precise ingredient for one of those elegant meals.

11. What are your three favorite kitchen tools or appliances?

My favorite kitchen tool is my food processor. Then my knives. Then the dishwasher, but I did live without one for three years.

12. If you could buy one new thing for your kitchen, money was no object, and space not an issue, what would you most like to have?

I would love two sets of Cutco knives.

13. Since money and space probably are objects, what are you most likely to buy next?

New sponges.

14. Do you have a separate freezer for storage?

Yes, we have an extra refrigerator in the garage as well as a separate freezer out there too.

15. Grocery shop alone or with others?

I have done both: once a week with all four daughters in tow, but right now I am mostly alone running in at least three times a week. I have learned to be more flexible with my meal planning based on the extra-curricular activities of the two highschoolers at home.


16. How many meatless main dish meals do you fix in a week?

At least one....I try to slip them in more often, but usually when hubby is NOT home for dinner.

17. If you have a decorating theme in your kitchen, what is it? Favorite kitchen colors?

I am lucky enough to have just had my kitchen re-wallpapered and painted, after 17 yrs of the same decor. I dont categorize it, but you might after viewing the photo on my xanga page.

18. What's the first thing you ever learned to cook, and how old were you?

Brownies....and I was 8 y o.

19. How did you learn to cook?

I learned to cook from my mother and watching others. I was fortunate to take some lessons in my late teens from Nathalie Dupree.

20. Tag two other people to play. Want to play? Click on the time to comment.

Sharp Weapons

Spurgeon's comments today on I Sam 13:20 are intriguing:

We might learn from our enemies if we would, and so make the Philistines sharpen our weapons.

Learning from our enemies is a dangerous enterprise, since one unless well-grounded might be persuaded to join their ranks. But nevertheless, today I will ponder learning from my enemies, identifying my weapons which need to be sharpened (axe, plowshare, coulter, and mattock). And then I will turn them over to the other side for sharpening? Isnt that interesting? There was no smith found througout all Israel....but all went down to the Philistines to sharpen....

First, however, I will beg the Holy Spirit to sharpen my zeal TODAY, so that I may seek whom I shall bless.

Imagine

Truth be known, I am not particularly gifted in the *imagination* realm. For example, I dont read fantasy/science fiction stuff. And I have never read C S Lewis' Narnia series. Gasp!

But borrowing a phrase from Spurgeon's devotional today, I am going to try and *let the thought of what life would be without His enhancing His preciousness* govern my imagination today.

Seriously. This should affect my actions.

Click on the time to comment. Or comment on my xanga site.

Hymns

I like to sing. And I especially like to sing hymns. It's my favorite part of worship, after hearing the Word preached, that is. I like to hear others sing, too.

I oftentimes use hymns for my devotions, so I was particularly glad to read Christopher Wordsworth's (nephew of William) quote: *It is the first duty of a hymn to teach sound docrine and thence save souls." One of my favorite evening worship formats is to learn about hymns, their writers and their tunes.

I learned Wordsworth's hymn O Day of Rest and Gladness to Lowell Mason's tune, Mendelbras.

Click on the time to tell me about one of your favorite hymns.

PS There was a posted dated 2/18/06, in which I answered Donna's Friday Five, but it vanished!

Voice Recital



DD#1 and her voice professor just after her wonderful performance. She sang the following eleven songs beautifully.















With Verdue Clad from The Creation by J Haydn
Bois epais by J B Lully
Chanson d'Amour by G Faure
Ouvre ton coeur by G Bizet
Gretchen am Spinnrade by F Schubert
Spirate, pur spirate by S Donaudy
Memories by C Ives
Talk About a Child by R Chenault
Willow Song fm The Ballad of Baby Doe by D Moore
Strictly Germ-Proof: Antiseptic BabyPeter by J Sacco
So anch'io la virtu magica fm Don Pasquale by Donizetti

Check us out on my xanga site. Or click on the time to comment :)

Prayer

Having finished a lengthy series of sermons on The Lord's Prayer, JCM exposited Luke 11:5-13 during yesterday's worship. This week I intend to study this parable in light of its ability to instruct my prayer life.

Last week I meditated on Paul's evangelistic sermon found in Acts 17. I was captivated by verses 30-31, which encapsulate the Gospel.

Click on the time to comment :)

Word Cloud



Find me at www.xanga.com/hiddenart

Or click on the time to comment :)

Remodeled



DH worked long and hard to paint, replace hardware, regrout, and basically spruce up this bathroom. Isnt he wonderful!!

Fours

Jobs
1)Dept Store Sales clerk
2)Congressional assistant
3)Banking Customer Service
4)Medical Office Manager

Movies
1)Gone With The Wind
2)Ground Hog Day
3)Home Movies
4)

Books
1)Bible
2)Etiquette
3)Dictionary
4)Cookbooks

Homes
1)Atlanta, GA
2)Hillsdale, MI
3)Alexandria, VA
4)Charleston, SC

TV Shows
1)House
2)24
3)So You Think You Can Dance
4)Sue Thomas FBI

Vacations
1)Monaco
2)St Simons Island, GA
3)Callaway Gardens, Pine Mtn, GA
4)Europe

Websites
1)ajc.com
2)accuweather.com
3)wabe.org/radio
4)bartleby.com

Foods
1)Coffee
2)Cheese
3)Chips
4)Salads

Tagged
0)Noel
1)Giles
2)Margaret
3)Vivian
4)PeggyDee

Click on the time to comment.

WORD OF THE YEAR 2006

FOCUS

Allow me to be the first *lol* to admit that I am lacking in this area: focus. But every year, especially in Januarys, I renew my commitments and plod along. I look back, especially in Januarys, and assess myself with far less stringency than I should. Shame on me. Nevertheless, I hereby announce my 2006 intentions.

F stands for friendly
O stands for observant
C stands for creative
U stands for understanding
S stands for service

Click on the time to admit to your new year's resolution.

Birds of a feather

Will gather together.

Out of respect for Dr King, I am going to work today. I did read his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, focusing on the part about obeying just laws and disobeying unjust laws. Be sure and read Chuck Colson's article and references. And I found Richard Neuhaus's 2002 article in First Things rather interesting.

Click on the time to let me know what you think of MLK.

Blustery Day

The wind is so vocal today that I have not been inclined to turn on the radio, a normal Saturday afternoon pasttime while working around the house.

Reminds me of Pooh and that video my children enjoyed so much. :)

Unbelievers

Following are nine concepts which the unbeliever does not even know (won't admit) about his very own self!

1)He knows that God is there.
2)He knows who God is.
3)He knows that God is to be worshipped.
4)He knows that his idols are lies.
5)He knows what sin is and has a sense of guilt.
6)He know that sin deserves punishment.
7)He knows that sin is inexcusable.
8)He knows that he hates light and loves darkness.
9)He knows he is made in God's image.

For proof texts, read Romans 1, 2, 8 and John 3.

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus,.... And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strenghtened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.
Acts 3: 13&16

May you, oh unbeliever, be healed (saved)!

Bring It On

I think I am finally ready to begin 2006. The holidays are behind me. The anniversary celebration recorded. And DD#4 celebrated her birthday. I am contemplating making a new year's resolution, but probably wont make it public. It's alway nice to turn over a new leaf and begin afresh though.

Back to walking. Just finished 3.5miles :) That's resolution enough.

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Twenty-five years of Love



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Happy 25th Anniversary






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Christmas Quartet



Hearing them sing together is the best Christmas present ever!

Brown Thrasher



Unusual for this bird to be at the feeder, as they are *ground feeders,* usually *thrashing* about the leaves underneath bushes. Hence, the name. At any rate, I captured just this frontal view which doesnt really do justice to the actual size of this bird. Ignore the splashes on the window panes as they are above my kitchen sink and impossible to keep pristine.

I hope to capture the Carolina wren one day. He sits on the deck railing and sings his heart out: his entire body warbling with his song.

Finally remembered to post the picture of the split pea soup over on my xanga site.

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Jehoida

I commend to your attention this article at Breakpoint.

Powerful!

Click on the time and let me know if you have ever read anything by Moore.

Work and Joy

Each day I live I thank the Lord
I do the work I love;
And in it find a rich reward,
All price and praise above.
For few may do the work they love,
The fond unique employ,
That fits them as a hand a glove,
And gives them joy.

Oh gentlefolk, do you and you
Who toil for daily hire,
Consider that the job you do
Is to your heart's desire?
Aye, though you are to it resigned,
And will no duty shirk,
Oh do you in your private mind
Adore your work?

Twice happy man whose job is joy,
Whose hand and heart combine,
In brave and excellent employ
As radiantly as mine!
But oh the weary, dreary day,
The wear and tear and irk
Of countless souls who cannot say:
'I love my work.'

Robert W. Service

Boredom



There is no reason why you should be bored when you can be otherwise. But if you find yourself sitting in the hedgerow with nothing but weeds, there is no reason for shutting your eyes and seeing nothing, instead of finding what beauty you may in the weeds.
Emily Post


I have always thought that the statement *I'm bored* reveals more about the speaker than the situation at hand. But today I have found a tool to share (probably only with my own children) which explains precisely what to do when that phrase does run across your mind.

A Very Special Artist



Check out her work.

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Pumpkin Soup

Here's yet another picture of a soup I've made this month.

I had some for lunch with brown bread.

That *wedge* in the picture was my dessert:

Brie stuffed with fig preserves and roasted, salted pecans and baked in puff pastry.


Yum!



Here's the link for the recipe.

Stay tuned for more photos because the split pea will be served next week as well as turkey noodle.

We Gather Together



Eight adults were in the dining room. The kitchen table was set for five first cousins.

Italian White Bean and Sausage Soup




Yummy and different! Check out this recipe from Janet who is the sister of Donna. I shared this with my office friends, who gave it rave reviews.

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Family Poetry

Absence

With leaden foot Time creeps along
While Delia is away:
With her, not plaintive was the song,
Nor tedious was the day.

Ah, envious Pow'r! reverse my doom;
Now double thy career,
Strain ev'ry nerve, stretch ev'ry plume,
And rest them when she's here!

Richard Jago
English Cleric
1715 - 1781

Wonder if we're related?

Magnolia


I would like to plant a magnolia in my back yard. Click on the time to tell me about a favorite tree in your yard.

Turkey Stock

Today I am slow-roasting a turkey. I know it's a little early. Thanksgiving is still five days hence. But I will need the stock. So, after pulling all the meat off the bones this evening, I will freeze the meat for later use. I will put all the bones and skin in a large (8qt) stock pot and add two carrots, one very large white onion, two stalks celery, a clove of garlic, a few peppercorns, and enough water to cover all that. After bringing it to a boil, I will reduce the heat and let in simmer four hours with the lid cocked. After it cools downs a bit, I will drain the stock, toss out the bones/skins etc, and place the remaining liquid in the refrigerator to chill. The next day, I will skim the hardened fat off the top of the stock and relish in the taste of homemade turkey stock.

Now you are wondering what I will do with that stock. I need at least six cups for the cornbread dressing and four cups for the pearl onion gravy. Oh, and six cups for the pumpkin soup. That only leaves a bit for turkey noodle soup or turkey tetrazzini, two of my favorite Thanksgiving leftovers.

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Thanksgiving Blessings

Today I made two dozen of these treats. Plus I roasted some Georgia pecans for the upcoming holidays.

Fun website for stirring up creative and organizational juices.

How ready are you for next Thursday?

Onlookers by Lucy Shaw

Behind our shield of health, each
of us must sense another's anguish
second-hand; we are agnostic
in the face of dying. So Joseph
felt, observer of the push
and splash of birth, and even Mary,
mourner, under the cross's arm.

Only their son, and God's,
in bearing all our griefs
felt them first-hand, climbing
himself our rugged hill of pain.
His nerves, enfleshed, carried
the messages of nails, the tomb's
chill. His ever-open wounds
still blazon back to us the penalty
we never bore, and heaven
gleams for us more real,
crossed with that human blood.

Wow! Have you ever had a poem grab the the first time you read it? To me it usually takes reading over and over to comprehend most poems. Furthermore, there is a Flannery O'Connor quote after the title in the book Sacrifice of Praise where I found Onlookers.

Sickness is a place...where there's no company, where nobody can follow.

Suffice it to say that I am praying for those who are ill and infirm today.

Click on the time to comment and leave the name of a sick friend who needs prayer.

Hillsdale in the News

Wish I could have been at this dinner party.

Kudos to Michael Sessions

Isaiah's Job

Albert Jay Nock is the author of a very insightful article written in 1936. Carmon mentions it. And to you, I commend it as well.

Be encouraged :)

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Integration

In the second to the last paragraph of Mrs. Schaeffer's chapter entitled *Integration,* she states: 'This true integration comes only when man is integrated with the Trinity.'

I am mildly intrigued by Rosa Parks

O Lord, help me to see people the way You do.

Quick Tortellini and Spinach Soup


2 Tbs olive oil
4 cloves garlic, pressed
1 large onion, minced
2 tsp dried Italian herbs
13 Cups chicken broth
13 oz spinach/cheese tortellini
30 oz crush tomatoes, packed in puree
10 oz fresh spinach, coarsely chopped



Heat olive oil in large stop pot over medium high heat. Sautee onion and garlic, until translucent. Add herbs. Stir well. Add broth and bring to a boil. Stir in tortellini. Simmer 10-12 mins until tortellini is cooked. Stir in tomatoes and simmer another 5 mins. Add spinach. Cover and turn off heat.

Ladle soup into warm bowls and top liberally with grated parmesan cheese.


This was sooooo easy and sooooo yummy on our first very cool night of Fall. Click time to comment :)

Mrs. Schaeffer's quote for the day:
*Food and meal-times shared have always been thought of as a closer kind of communication than simply talking to people, without eating together.*

Color and Organization

This post is actually a test of my ability to add pictures to my site. You're looking at a book shelf in my office and the canvas baskets are a tool to help with organization. A before picture would really add to the explanation. Not sure if I have one. This Fall has seen some accomplishment in weeding out the unnecessary clutter. Click on the time to comment on one area where you have succeeded in organization!

Dana

Bold : Irish


Charming, witty, original and idealistic you have a creative and inventive mind with great intuition. Your broad vision, perceptive powers and compassion gives you an instinctive understanding of peoples needs. You are a natural leader who has a talent for inspiring and teaching others and always display fairness, honesty and integrity. You are always seeking a new challenge for your vast creative potential.


Click on the time to post a comment about your name.

Dessert

One Marble Brownie
Scoops, Breyers Coffee Ice Cream
Drizzle, Hershey's Chocolate Syrup

Enjoy after a long day of cleaning, scrubbing, and re-organizing.

Click on the time to comment about one of your favorite desserts.

Chicken Ritz

Dip boneless, skinless chicken breasts in melted butter. Then dredge in a crumb mixture which is made from 1 lb of Ritz Crackers crumbled and stirred with 1/2 cup grated Parmeson Cheese.

Bake for 20 - 25 minutes on foil-lined baking sheet in an oven which has been preheated to 325.



Planned-over meal from this recipe: Homemade Chick Fil-A Sandwich

On a fresh bun, layer mayo, lettuce, tomato, and pickle before adding warm 1/4 chicken breast. Serve with chips and coleslaw.




Many moons ago, this chicken was served with a sauce, which I never prepare now. But for the sake of posterity, here it is - 1 can condensed mushroom soup and 8 oz sour cream. Stir together and warm over low heat.

News Flash

The most important thing that one can do this week is sit under and listen to the preaching of the Word of God. What was proclaimed in the sermon you heard this morning?

Despite the fact that I heard lectures all weekend from some of the most important Christian theologians/preachers/evangelists in the US, despite the fact that a Supreme Court nominee is being questioned for his *fitness*, despite the fact that two of my daughters participated in the GSU Honor Chorus this weekend, NOTHING surpassed the sermon I heard on the exposition of the Word of God, found in Amos.

Pray that in this time of famine of sound hearing and preaching, which represents God's judgment on our apostate culture, that many more would be convicted not only to hear and but also to preach.

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Labor Day*s*

Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work. Exodus 20:9

Dont get me wrong; I love Monday holidays...no mail to sift through. But do turn your attention to Chuck Colson's commentary today. Be mindful that being *able* to work six days and rest on the seventh is a blessing.

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Spurgeon

*But wait in faith. Express your unstaggering confidence in Him; for unfaithful, untrusting waiting, is but an insult to the Lord.* Morning 8/30

I despise the thought that I could be labeled unfaithful, untrusting, or insulting to my Savior. But in fact, I have acted as such. Forgive me, Lord.

Eureka

Used to express triumph upon finding or discovering something.

I am so tickled that I thought to wear a pair of 20 year old glasses, while I work on my computer. Now I can see without holding my bifocals at a crazy angle!

Let me explain. Ordinarily I wear contacts: one for distance and one for close-up for the entire day. Also, I own a pair of prescription bifocals, which I wear for approximately one hour in the early morning and one hour in the evening. But I have noticed that the bifocal glasses are not comfortable to wear while working on the computer. If I take them off completely, the screen is a blur. If I wear just a set of reading glasses, the screen is still a blur. Hmmm What about those very old glasses in which the distance prescription is too weak. TaaDaa!

Are you impressed that I could find those *old* glasses. What a pack rat!!

Click on the time to leave a comment. One day I will figure out how to change that>

Sermon Recap

*Lead me not into temptation* Part Two was today's sermon topic. This is the sixth petition in the Lord's Prayer. I know I have studied this prayer before: when I was very young and memorized it; when I was catechized as a teenager; once in a Ladies Bible Study; with my children; and now under the care of a very fine teaching elder. Just last week at a funeral when the congregation prayed this together, the words were felt even more deeply.

When I say those five words, I am asking the Lord to 1)keep me from temptation (keep me from caving in) ref John 17:15; 2)keep me strong in the face of temptation (make me aware of Your presence immediately) ref John 17:11 and 3)recover me (sanctify) quickly from the effects of temptation ref John 17:17

Hear the Word of the Lord!

Favorite Quote

I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.


I have lots of favorites, but this one came to mind rather quickly when I was reading Donna's Friday Feast.

Garlic Cream Cheese

















8 oz cream cheese (softened to room temp)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 lg cloves garlic, pressed (added 2024 - I use as many as 4 now)

Mash together all ingredients. I use a potato masher :)

Serve as sandwich spread; it especially enhances tomato sandwiches or BLTs.

Or serve as cheese spread with crackers or melba toast.

Fourth Petition:Daily Bread

Our pastor is working through a series of sermons on The Lord's Prayer.

The indepth study is fascinating, always capturing my attention.

As we are contemplating *Give us this day our daily bread", we are reminded of Luther's Smaller Catechism explanation of this *bread*


Everything that belongs to the support and wants of the body, such as meat, drink, clothing, shoes, house, homestead, field, cattle, money, goods, a pious spouse, pious children, pious servants, pious and faithful magistrates, good government, good weather, peace, health, discipline, honor, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.

That is some multi-grain nutrition packed bread....unlike the white bread flavor delivered from most pulpits today....and served at most dinner tables.

Today I praise God the bountiful mercies he has displayed on me and my family in the form of daily bread. Amen and Amen