Easter Hymn

Praise the Savior now and ever;
Praise Him, all beneath the skies;
Prostrate lying, suff’ring, dying
On the cross, a sacrifice.
Vict’ry gaining, life obtaining,
Now in glory He doth rise.

Man’s work faileth, Christ’s availeth;
He is all our righteousness;
He, our Savior, has forever
Set us free from dire distress.
Through His merit we inherit
Light and peace and happiness.

Sin’s bonds severed, we’re delivered,
Christ has bruised the serpent’s head;
Death no longer is the stronger,
Hell itself is captive led.
Christ has risen from death’s prison,
O’er the tomb He light has shed.

For His favor, praise forever,
Unto God the Father sing;
Praise the Savior, praise Him ever,
Son of God, our Lord and King.
Praise the Spirit, through Christ’s merit,
He doth us salvation bring.

Venantius Fortunatus

cir­ca 530-609

Music: Upp, Min Tun­ga
 Swed­ish Kor­al­bok, 1697

Lemon Curd Trifle with Fresh Berries

*Trifles and Truffles are easy to eat Delicious Delightful Delectable Treats

 * A trifle is an English treat
 It's tasty and it's very sweet
 It's made with cake and jam and cream
 So fattening it could split a seam.

 Frederick S. Goldstein Bobbye S. Goldstein

 Recipe Links
 http://hiddenart.xanga.com/2009/04/14/lemon-curd-trifle-with-fresh-berries/ http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/lemon-curd-trifle-with-fresh-berries-recipe.html

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.

Now, of my threescore years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy springs a score,
It only leaves me fifty more.

And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.

A.E. Housman
1859 - 1936

Parting with a view

I don't reproach the spring

for starting up again.
I can't blame it
for doing what it must
year after year.

I know that my grief
will not stop the green.
The grass blade may bend
but only in the wind.

It doesn't pain me to see
that clumps of alders above the water
have something to rustle with again.

I take note of the fact
that the shore of a certain lake
is still-as if you were living-
as lovely as before.

I don't resent
the view for its vista
of a sun-dazzled bay.

I am even able to imagine
some, not-us
sitting at this minute
on a fallen birch trunk.

I respect their right
to whisper, laugh,
and lapse into happy silence.

I can even allow
that they are bound by love
and that he holds her
with a living arm.

Something freshly birdish
starts rustling in the reeds.
I sincerely want them
to hear it.

I don't require changes
from the surf,
now diligent, now sluggish,
obeying not me.

I expect nothing
from the depths near the woods,
first emerald,
then sapphire,
then black.

There's one thing I won't agree to:
my own return.
The  privilege of presence-
I give it up.

I survived you by enough,
and only by enough,
to contemplate from afar.

Wislawa Szymborska

 1923 - 2012

 Polish Poet

 1996 Nobel Prize Literature

HT: Carol Bakker

Blogger Friend

Photo Credit: Yours Truly
Gibbs Gardens, Ball Ground GA

Nothing is so beautiful as Spring   -     

   When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush;         

   Thrush’s eggs look little low heavens, and thrush         

Through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring         

The ear, it strikes like lightnings to hear him sing;

   The glassy peartree leaves and blooms, they brush         

   The descending blue; that blue is all in a rush         

With richness; the racing lambs too have fair their fling.         

What is all this juice and all this joy?         

   A strain of the earth’s sweet being in the beginning

In Eden garden. –
 Have, get, before it cloy,         

   Before it cloud, Christ, lord, and sour with sinning,         

Innocent mind and Mayday in girl and boy,         

   Most, O maid’s child, thy choice and worthy the winning.         

Gerard Manley Hopkins
English Poet
1844 - 1889

Mustard Sauce

1/2 cup Duke's mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
2-4 Tbs prepared mustard (according to taste)

Stir until smooth.  Store/refrigerate in glass container.

I use this sauce in a variety of ways.  In addition to trying different mustards (dijon, stone ground), I substitute prepared horseradish (for the mustard) when serving with corned beef or roast beef.

Here are some examples:

topping for steamed broccoli
*icing* for baked fish
sandwich spread, especially *Flat Rocks*

Fashion on Fridays

Released last September, Pantone's Spring palotte is just now coming onto my radar.

Marsala (bottom left) is the *color of the year* which has received mixed reviews.

I'm open to incorporating these colors into my wardrobe planning and home decor, even when I dont *like* them because they help me feel organized.

Like Lucite Green....

stay tuned for a picture of my fashion statement necklace,

and Happy New Year!

Coconut Pound Cake

Sharing food is a delight for me, whether it's around the dinner table or the proverbial water cooler.

In this case, I wrapped up pieces of coconut pound cake and shared with whomever I met the weekend after Christmas.

Here's the recipe ~

1 1/2 cups butter
3 cups sugar
5 eggs
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup half 'n half
1 tsp rum flavoring
1 tsp coconut flavoring
1 cup shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Sift together two dry ingredients and set aside.  Add flavorings to milk/half 'n half and set aside.

Cream together butter and sugar.  Add eggs one at the time.  On low mixing speed, alternately add dry and wet ingredients until combined.  Do not over beat.  Stir in shredded coconut.   Transfer batter to a large greased and floured tube pan.

Bake for 1 1/2 hours or until golden brown and cake test comes out clean.

After removing the cake from the oven, allow it to rest in pan for 5 minutes.  Turn onto platter and glaze with the following mixture.

Glaze:
Combine these four ingredients in a saucepan and cook 2 minutes over medium heat after sugar is dissolved.

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tsp almond flavoring
1 tsp coconut flavoring

Fashion on Fridays

Yesterday I wore this outfit... probably for the last time this Fall now that the temperatures are actually cooler.

In August, as I was prepping for the change of seasons and the new palette, I was pleased to discover these floral twill pants already in the closet.

I had worn them a couple of times last month before I realized that the pattern is a perfect blend of aurora red, cognac, and cypress.

Bronze (very similar to cognac) flats complimented the scheme and were comfortable for working on my feet.

Since September is a hot month in Georgia, it's tempting to keep wearing the same summer outfits.

But where's the fashion in that?  

The key is changing to autumnal colors in light-weight fabrics.

Pantone's palette is helping me do that.

Constitution Day

“Dedicated to the coming generation of Americans, with the prayer that they will:
 1)restore the Constitutional principles we have abandoned,
 2)protect the freedoms we have neglected, and
 3)preserve the Republic we have almost lost,”

 Larry McDonald thus introduced the 1976 reprinting of his insightful commentary on the U.S. Constitution, We Hold These Truths.

Re-read the US Constitution today and purchase a copy of this insightful book. Our future depends on an informed electorate.

Fashion on Friday:Fall Palette

Independence Day

O! say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming:
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming,
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there:

O! say, does the star-spangled banner still wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mist of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam—
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream

‘Tis the star-spangled banner, O! long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is the band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion
A home and a country would leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave!

And the star-spangled banner in triumph cloth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O! thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the foe’s desolation;
Bless’d with victory and peace, may our heaven‑rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just—
And this be our motto—“In God is our trust!”

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Francis Scott Key

IF EVERYBODY DID

Favorite book I plan to read to my grandchildren ~

Easter Feast

Honey Baked Ham
Squash Casserole
Roasted Asparagus
Beet Salad
Deviled Eggs
Black Olives
Pretzel Rolls

Zinfandel




German Chocolate Cake

H. Baptism II

Since, Lord, to thee

A narrow way and little gate
Is all the passage, on my infancy
Thou didst lay hold, and antedate
My faith in me.

O let me still
Write thee great God, and me a child:
Let me be soft and supple to thy will,
Small to my self, to others mild,
Behither ill.

Although by stealth
My flesh get on, yet let her sister
My soul bid nothing, but preserve her wealth:
The growth of flesh is but a blister;
Childhood is health. 

George Herbert
English Poet, Anglican Cleric
1593 - 1633


Photo taken 10 April 1988
on the occasion of the baptism of DD#3

After church we (17 adults & 8 children) enjoyed the following menu at Cochise ~
Fresh Ham
Sausage-Cheese Grits
Marinated Cold Asparagus
Tomato-Artichoke Aspic
Orange Fruit Cups
Zucchini Bread

Bloody Marys or Mimosas
Sun Tea
Coffee

Potato Chip Cookies
Fudge Bars
Lemon-cheese Cake

Southern Living, April 1986

Don’t Be Cross, Amanda

Don’t be cross, Amanda,

Amanda, don’t be cross,
For when you’re cross, Amanda,
I feel an albatross
Around my neck, or dank gray moss,
And my eyes assume an impervious gloss,
Amanda,
Dear Amanda,
Don’t be cross.

Do not frown, Amanda,
Amanda, do not frown,
For when you frown, Amanda,
I wamble like a clown,
My mouth is stuffed with eiderdown,
And I spatter coffee upon your gown.
Amanda,
Dear Amanda,
Do not frown.

Don’t clam up, Amanda,
Amanda, do not clam,
For when you clam, Amanda,
I dont know where I am.
What is it that I did you damn?
Shall I make amends for a sheep, or a lamb?
Amanda,
Dear Amanda,
Do not clam.

Please be gay, Amanda,
Amanda, please be gay,
For when you’re gay, Amanda,
The stars come out by day,
The police throw parking tags away,
And I want to kick up my heels and bray.
Amanda,
Dear Amanda,
Please be gay.

by Ogden Nash

Annabel Lee

It was many and many a year ago,
   In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
   By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
   Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,

   In this kingdom by the sea,

But we loved with a love that was more than love—

   I and my Annabel Lee—

With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven

   Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,

   In this kingdom by the sea,

A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling

   My beautiful Annabel Lee;

So that her highborn kinsmen came

   And bore her away from me,

To shut her up in a sepulchre

   In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,

   Went envying her and me—

Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know,

   In this kingdom by the sea)

That the wind came out of the cloud by night,

   Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love

   Of those who were older than we—

   Of many far wiser than we—

And neither the angels in Heaven above

   Nor the demons down under the sea

Can ever dissever my soul from the soul

   Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams

   Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes

   Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side

   Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,

   In her sepulchre there by the sea—

   In her tomb by the sounding sea.

By Edgar Allan Poe

Sonnet LXXI

No longer mourn for me when I am dead
Than you shall hear the surly sullen bell
Give warning to the world that I am fled
From this vile world with vilest worms to dwell:
Nay, if you read this line, remember not
The hand that writ it, for I love you so,
That I in your sweet thoughts would be forgot,
If thinking on me then should make you woe.
O! if, I say, you look upon this verse,
When I perhaps compounded am with clay,
Do not so much as my poor name rehearse;
But let your love even with my life decay;
   Lest the wise world should look into your moan,
   And mock you with me after I am gone.

William Shakespeare

#iheartfaces #reflection

#iheartfaces #out&about

Gibbs Gardens, Ball Ground, GA

#iheartfaces #up

The path of life leads upward for the prudent,

    that he may turn away from Sheol beneath.

Proverbs 15:25

#iheartfaces #small

#iheartfaces #tgif

#iheartfaces #shadows

#iheartfaces #green

Katydid

#iheartfaces #starts with "s"

#iheartfaces #night lights

#iheartfaces #fresh

#iheartfaces #tells a story

#iheartfaces #a pair

#iheartfaces #sign

#iheartfaces #round

#iheartfaces #on the go

#iheartfaces #friends

#iheartfaces #colorful

#iheartfaces #smile

#iheartfaces #where i am

#iheartfaces #looking down

#iheartfaces #light

Tiffany Lamp at The Driehaus Museum, Chicago

Diagramming Fun

Challenged by a grammarian to diagram a sentence, I gladly agreed.  Below is my rendition and this link is for my friend's ~

Let's you and me pray about it. (an imperative)

(You) let us (you and me) (to) pray about it.






(You) implied subject of let.

let is the main verb.

us is the direct object of the verb

you and me  compound direct object explaining *us*

(to) pray is an infinitive phrase acting like an adverb and modifying the verb let

about is an adverb modifying pray;  alternately, it could function as a preposition, but I prefer adverb since that enhances the way we pray ;-)

it is the direct object of pray

Fashion on Fridays:Radiant Orchid

Meet Pantone's 2014 Color of the Year!

She was introduced last Fall and I'm just now warming up to her.

In the spirit of my fashion posts,
that is,
searching the recesses of my closet and repurposing items already owned, I am on a roll.

It all started with this beautiful scarf given to me at Christmas by DD#2.



Then in the proverbial closet, I re-discovered a reversible vest (gray/orchid), a striped blouse (black/orchid), a statement sweater, and a navy dress with an orchid-colored yoke!



I didnt even think I liked this color.

What about you?


PS  More pictures later ~

A Barn to House Thee

There was no room for Him, once long ago, Only a cold and drafty barn, and, like a blow, The smell of dung did greet Him, Who came from heaven, none to meet Him, save the displaced cows and sheep Whose restless night disturbed His sleep. Only some sheep men came to pray. No scholars came to mark the day. Still as of old the world denies Room to its King and from Him shies, The Cross His only gift from men And man as brutal now as then. Lord, if again a barn do not offend Thee, This dung and filth would comprehend Thee, Here is my heart, with its unclean floor A barn to house Thee, as of yore. ~ R. J. Rushdoony, 1951

Chocolate Martini

Chill two martini stems ~

Fill a large cocktail shaker with ice cubes and add these four ingredients in order.

3 oz Absolut vanilla vodka
3 oz Godiva chocolate liqueur
3 oz Patron dark cafe liqueur
3 oz half and half (not pictured)


Shake vigorously.  Dampen the rim of both glasses and coat with powdered cocoa mix.  Shake mixer once again.

Strain into stems.


PS  Light a candle, place a flower, and grab your napkin - Cheers!

A Christmas Colloquy

THE country farmer has his joys 
Of little city girls and boys 
When brother Thomas brings his brood 
Of motherless brats in Christmas mood 
To try our country air and food. 
And O what splendid pies and cakes 
Their pleased and pretty grandma makes! 
And O what squeals and stomach-aches! 


Poor Thomas shepherds him a flock 
Of city souls as hard as rock, 
And though they will not fill his larder 
He only preaches Christ the harder. 
But Ann, though seven years my niece, 
Is still a pagan little piece, 
And as she often hints to me 
She hates the sound of piety. 
Fair Inez is my ancient setter 
Who lies by the fire when we will let her: 
Alas, this amiable dog 
Heard all the bitter dialogue 
That passed between my niece and brother 
Misunderstanding one another. 

ANN: 
Father, what will there be for me 
To-morrow on the Christmas tree? 
Have you told Santa what to bring, 
My pony, my doll, and everything? 

THOMAS: 
My daughter, Santa will know best 
What to bring you, and what the rest. 
But father and his little girl 
And everybody in the world 
Should dwell to-night on higher things, 
For hark! the herald angel sings, 
And in a manger poor and lowly 
Lies little Jesus, high and holy. 

ANN: 
Father, don't talk of little Jesus, 
You're only doing it to tease us, 
It isn't nearly time for bed, 
And I want to know what Santa said. 

THOMAS: 
Jesus is better than any toys 
For little sinning girls and boys, 
For Jesus saves, but sin destroys. 

And O, it gives him sad surprise, 
There must be tears in Jesus' eyes, 
When little girls with bad behavior 
Forget to own their Lord and Savior. 

ANN: 
I didn't, you know it isn't true! 
I say my prayers, I always do, 
I know about Jesus very well, 
And God the Father, Heaven, and Hell. 
O please don't say it any more, 
You've said it so many times before, 
But tell me all about Santa instead, 
And about the horns on his reindeer's head, 
And what he will bring me on his sled. 

THOMAS: 
This night he was born on earth for us, 
And can my daughter mock him thus, 
And care more for her worldly pleasures 
Than Jesus' love and heavenly treasures? 
For Jesus didn't like to be 
So crowned with thorns and nailed to tree, 
But there was a sinful world to free, 
And out he went to Gethsemane-- 

ANN: 
And left the twelve and went apart-- 
O father, I know it off by heart, 
Please, father, please don't finish it out, 
There's so much else to talk about! 
I ask about Santa, and there you go, 
And now you're spoiling my Christmas so, 
And you are the wickedest man I know! 

Disgraceful scenes require the curtain, 
But lest the moral be uncertain, 
I briefly bring the good report 
That valiant Thomas held the fort, 
And wicked Ann was quite defeated, 
In vain denied, in vain entreated, 
In vain she wailed, in vain she wept, 
And said a briny prayer, and slept. 
While Inez, who had been perplexed 
To see good kinsfolk so much vexed, 
When peace descended on the twain, 
Lay down beside the fire again.


John Crowe Ransom
American literary critic, poet, essayist
1888-1974


Bonus Link to Robert Penn Warren's essay
 John Crowe Ransom: A Study in Irony