"filled with good things"

 I was continuing on with Watership Down, when it got so tense I couldn't leave it; so I made more progress than I expected to. I've read it before when I first started at the library, but only remembered what tribulations they had, what dangers they faced. Now I'm marveling at the wonderful story-telling ability of Richard Adams. 

I put the book down to go turn on the light out back; there was a rabbit out there. I so wanted to say to him, I've been reading Watership Down! But how do I do that? So I watched while he enjoyed the clover with which our yard is plentiful - thankfully - and then hopped away toward the brook. The humid air has blown away in the past few hours. We will make the most of it.

These all look to thee,
to give them their food in due season.
When thou givest to them, they gather it up;
when thou openest thy hand, they are filled with good things.

- Psalm 104: 27, 28

 

"By sunset the whole party - twenty rabbits all told - had made their way up the length of the beech hanger and reached the warren. They fed among the dew and the long shadows, with twilight already fallen in the fields below. Then they crowded down into the Honeycomb to hear Hazel and Bigwig tell the story of their adventures to those who had waited so eagerly and so long to hear it."

- Watership Down

a little hitchhiker

 We got in the car this morning, heading down the road to go to Mass, and a little sparrow landed on the outside of the passenger side, where the window comes out. I rolled it up so he couldn't come in - he stayed there while we went down the street. We pulled into a gas station and my brother got out, went round to my side, and the bird was still there. I was just going to say he'd need to take the little one off the car, when he flew into some bushes. He was young and perhaps didn't know what was going on. 

Reading Watership Down makes me think (even more than usual!) about how our lives impact the natural world around us, since so much of how we live has little to do with nature. 

"Love the animals. God has given them the rudiments of thought and joy untroubled.
Don't trouble it, don't harass them, don't deprive them of their happiness,
don't work against God's intent."

- The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky*

*Can you believe this quote from The Brothers was the epigraph to chapter 22 in Watership Down? A connection between two books, both of which I am currently reading. 

cat talk

 I've been wondering at what level cats can communicate information to one another. 

After Benny was coming around for a few weeks, Leon started to show up. I would put out a bowl of food for Benny, Leon would come up the steps, Benny would continue eating while Leon might attempt to nose in on a bite here and there, Benny would just keep eating, and then Leon would give up the attempts. Benny would not hiss or swat, there was no annoyance or aggravation between them. They are used to each other. But I dud once see Benny stop eating and go nose to nose with Leon. It seemed there was some exchange there, something imparted. They know each other well. Leon backed off. Now we just give them both food.

They both seem very mild-mannered, very gentle. My brother picked up Benny today, after he had reached up, seeming to want it. Meanwhile, I was visiting with Leon on the back step while pulling  little things from his long fur; I heard him purring. 

to the kingdom

 May God the Father bless us,
May God the Son heal us,
May the Holy Spirit enlighten us
and give us eyes to see with,
ears to hear with,
and hands to do the work of God with,
feet to walk with,
and a mouth to preach the word of salvation with,
and the angel of peace to watch over us
and lead us at last,
by our Lord's gift, to the kingdom. Amen.

-  A Dominican Blessing,  from Magnificat, August 2026

plodding through another heatwave

 "Martha and I might have settled over a book, or taken up our embroidery, or written letters ourselves to a numerous correspondence - but an unaccustomed restlessness had me in its grip."

                                           -  from Jane and the Ghosts of Netley, by Stephanie Barron

The air is hot; this morning early my brother went out. He never complains about the heat, but he said it was awful out. He went to the supermarket and when he came out, "my glasses fogged up." That was worth complaining about! 

I'm getting through the Brothers Karamazov and am also reading Watership Down - two rather rough stories - and was craving something less heavy, a story that draws you in. I like to reread old favorites, so I picked up one of the Jane Austen mysteries. To the hum of the air conditioners, and in between homework chores, I picked it up at every opportunity.

I'm ready to hem my burgundy dress. These sleeveless dresses are so cool, so welcome this summer! I'm not good at taking selfies and it's hard to photograph a whole length of dress. But last summer I bought fabric for three dresses on the Hancocks of Paducah website, buying only sale fabric. One of them is too short and I just got some eyelet for a ruffle to lengthen it. I wear the others regularly. So this year I bought three more and I'm on the third. But I love the batik version so much that I bought two more fabrics - these will be in heavy rotation, but it's satisfying to know that I paid between fifteen and twenty one dollars for each, since I bought only sale fabric. 

The tomatoes are turning red, and the beans are starting to flow in. I've got basil drying - I like it better than fresh, usually. I still have some basil leaves in the freezer, but I reach for the dried herb more often.

We've been feeding some neighborhood cats. They're not strays, but they come around and up to the door, so we give them food. This one is Benny. 

Note the tongue sticking out. I think he's cute. Then there's Leon, who has been coming through here for years, and now is finally comfortable with us. He has a certain look about him. I couldn't put my finger on it, but my brother said he looks mournful.

Leon of the Mournful Aspect

It's that longish, Norwegian Forest cat kind of face, and the way he has his head lowered but the eyes look up at you. 

*If you should feel curious about reading this, don't! It would be best to begin at the beginning with this series. You will thank me later.

fasting and mercy

 "Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. So if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ear to others, you open God's ear to yourself."*

                                       -    St. Peter Chrysologus

*but don't be fasting on Sunday.  :)

in quiet

 "..I also know even better now that it's always amidst the siege that God's kindness arrives. We live in a world at war and will until the kingdom comes and the story of the cosmos begins again. Our pursuit of quiet will always be attended by our anguish, our wrestling, our loss. Quiet does not remove those things from us; it offers the space in which we may give voice to them so that they do not destroy us, so that the alternate voice of God's kindness may turn the besieged cities of our lives into 'rock of refuge' David found in his own wild distress... In quiet, we learn to watch and wait for God's help as it sets up camp in the very heart of our darkness."

                                              -  Sarah Clarkson,  Reclaiming Quiet

work in progress

 Here's a project I began a few years ago, but when something has a place in this house, it can easily be forgotten. But then I remembered it, and would like to finish it.

I'm just "quilting" these two fabrics together by hand, with different flosses as my whim dictates. Half is done, and I'm going the other way. 

peace, not from the world

 "Our peace doesn't come from the world, from exterior circumstances... It is the fruit of prayer...The only time we have good discernment is when we are at peace. When we're preoccupied by worry, disturbed by events in our lives, our emotions can get the best of us and we don't have an objective grasp on reality - we are tempted to see everything in black and white and question everything in our life.

When a problem has robbed us of our peace, the most important thing is not to resolve the problem in the hope of regaining our peace, but to regain a minimum of peacefulness, and then to see what we can do to face the problem. We will avoid making irrational choices for all the wrong reasons. How do we get back this minimum level of peace? Essentially through prayer, listening to the Word, and believing that God will never abandon us."

                                             -  Father Jacques Philippe, from Magnificat, July 2026

fresh air and sunshine

 We've had such beautiful weather this week - so welcome, after the Previous Awful. And the nights are in the fifties lately! Very unusual for July. In this morning's prayers: from Psalm 65 - "the hills are girded with joy". I underlined it. This sort of poetic description just takes you away, doesn't it?

I'm reading The Brothers Karamazov - wish me luck. I expect it'll take me at least a month.

I sat on the front step this evening before sunset and saw two young rabbits frolicking across the street. After a while, they ran back across the road to our back area, I think. But then I noticed two more still across the street, so life continues. 

I bought a dress - new - and it came with a scent that I didn't want. It smelled like a fake fragrance you get from some detergents - not appealing. Why? A new dress! Anyway, I knew what to do. I hung it on the clothesline. This was last Saturday. Then we had heavy rain on and off. I left it out. A new dress. It wasn't on sale, by the way, but what are you going to do? I had washed it, but it has only happened once that a smell came out in the wash - not usually. Anyway, I was determined to give the fresh air a chance. 

soaking wet in the rain

I turned it over every day - I was concerned about fading, but the coloring has a faded effect anyway, so I hoped it wouldn't be anything obviously awful. On Thursday I sniffed it, and - it was ninety nine percent gone, and that was good enough for me. 

I wanted to share this, because I have washed stinky items over and over, I have soaked them with vinegar and water, with baking soda and water - these things don't work. Only the air, and the breeze. Maybe the sun? I don't know that. I once bought a used handbag on Etsy which smelled of fragrance and I couldn't wash the lining of a leather bag so I hung it out in desperation. For a month! It took a month of hanging it out every non-rainy day, and I didn't give up. That's when I learned this method. So I wore the dress to work and a friend came in, admiring the print and fabric, and it turned out she is also familiar with this method. So, if you have bought clothing or a blanket or other linens that smells and you're afraid you're going to have to get rid of it - DON'T. Try this! 

In late spring, somebody left two daisy plants at the library's plant swap table, and I took them. Now there are more daisies at our house than before. 

But the daisies outside are predictable in their behavior. Of course I had to re-wash this pot. 

toward the fullness of life

 "O God, in your love, you have sown the Good News of the Gospel in the wilderness of the world and brought it to flower and fruit through the death and Resurrection of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Grant us the wisdom to recognize your love at work in hiddenness, the faith to trust in your love at work in weakness, the hope to live by your love at work in darkness, that all the world may grow to the fullness of life you offer in the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen"

"In its boughs nested all the birds of the air, 

under its branches all beasts of the field gave birth,

 in its shade dwelt numerous peoples of every race."

- Ezechiel 31:6

but the mockingbird sings through it all

 It was ninety-eight degrees on Tuesday; yesterday was supposed to be slightly cooler, with possible storms in the evening. I went to work and noticed it was looking like something was brewing outside - it was yellowish out there, but the weather report said nothing. It was the patrons who told me it was from the Canadian fires. I tell you, it was so bad, my eyes were stinging all day and everything outside looked unnatural, like another planet. 

Today, I woke up with a headache that nothing would touch. I went out briefly in the morning and it got a little worse. It only started to improve when I put on the a/c. There was still haze today and will be tomorrow, but at least it doesn't look weird. It's been a strange summer, with high heat and this.... 

But I think I'm caught up on my sleep! - I took about four naps, and did only the minimum of housework. 

I wonder how the creatures felt - do their eyes burn? But I will say this - in the height of summer, on the hottest days of July, you can't step outside without hearing a mockingbird singing somewhere, nearby or in the distance, but if you know their sound, you will hear them. 

willingness to be this new thing

 I've been reading an article in Plough, an interview with Ken Burns, the filmmaker and historian. 

"This word 'liberty' had an incredible effect. Why would anybody want to give up the benefits of being a subject of the British constitutional monarchy? Most of everyone's wealth, education, prosperity, and literacy came from that colonial relationship. Why would you give up those benefits for freedom and democracy, ideas never tried before in human history? At the heart of the American experiment is possibility. At the heart is risk. At the heart of it is this willingness to be this new thing, a citizen.

It's not hard to be a subject. You're under authoritarian rule and you just put up with stuff. But to be a citizen is to assume responsibility, to assume the pursuit of happiness, which the Founders understood not as the acquisition of things, but the pursuit of lifelong learning. Lifelong learning made you more virtuous, and the more virtuous you were, the more possibility that you could begin to bear the responsibility of citizenship and to be able, if not to answer, then to ask more authentically those essential questions: Who am I? Where did I come from? What is my purpose? Where am I going?

I am interested in these gigantic conflicts like the Revolution that produce something as spectacularly interesting as this idea that people, for the first time in human history, could govern themselves. It wasn't just the aristocracy that pushed this forward, but ordinary people who debated over the ratification of the Constitution and the subsequent Bill of Rights. It is one of the most active moments in the history of humanity of people coming together in a civic way to create something. But did they agree? No, not at all.

In the compromises of the Constitution, there was the perpetuation of slavery, even though it had just been proclaimed eleven years earlier that 'all men are created equal'. And yet saying these things began to open the door to permit even the people who knew it wasn't about them to see path forward. Women, Native peoples, free and enslaved black people, and the poor understood that this was the opening salvo in battles that they could fight to make the words truer and less hypocritical. So, for me, in American history, the best sometimes comes out of the worst and sometimes the worst comes out of the best."

                                                     -  Ken Burns

I didn't mean to quote so much of it. But it's a week since the 250th July 4th, and it seems weird that it's not more of a big deal; I really appreciate his vision of this country.

the best box in the world

 She fits in it perfectly.

She hides underneath it, so no one can see her!

except her little face

She chews on the edges, bangs it around, runs into it, pushes it and makes a lot of noise. (especially at bedtime) 

This box is perfect, and she loves it so much.

the course of human events

 The pie came out well, I decorated the table with lots of red, white and blue, I made strawberry coconut milk ice cream and we stayed in with the air conditioning. Of course! One has to make the most of things. I wore my latest dress creation - the coolest thing I own.

I was hoping I'd hear some bells ringing if I stuck my head out, but I suppose city dwellers would be more likely - nobody near me was ringing any bells. I would have rung some, if we had any. I even had the idea to dig around for some little Christmas bell decorations, but I stored my ornaments differently this year and have no idea where they are! I would have rung anything if I could have just found it! 

We were talking a bit about the founders: what made them persist, what gave them their momentum to  shake off the British and start their own government. It's easy to give up, especially when the average person complains in the pub, but that's about all. I did read a book about Samuel Adams where the author gave him credit for never letting go of the idea to throw off British rule; he was constantly talking about it, planting the idea in people's minds. I need to find more books about that. 

And after a week of extreme heat, it was barely seventy today, and raining. Cold air was actually blowing in! I'm happy for the creatures - I couldn't tell if anybody was drinking from the little trays I set out with water. The rabbit above was out in the rain for a while today, and didn't mind the wet at all. Maybe the leaves he ate were jucier.

pie validation

 I was busily peeling and cutting apples when I noticed that a couple of them had a Liberty Bell-shaped sticker.

That's it! It's in the oven.

getting ready

 The heat's intense and the air conditioner is humming, which makes me feel in another world. I'm sure the cats also feel that way, very different from the winters, when we're also shut in, but without the humming.

 There is a birdbath on one side of the house, near a tree. Last night I found a couple of tins and filled them with water for the outside neighbors, with a rock in one of them, for the other side of the property - the brook is dry. 

I intend to bake an apple pie, so I should get going. The phrase, "As American as apple pie" came to me, so I thought it a good idea when I was planning the menu for tomorrow, but with so much electricity being used in southern New England, to use the oven at a high temperature for almost an hour seems silly. 

I'm going to do it, anyway.

Christ is alive

 Christ is alive! No longer bound
To distant years in Palestine,
But saving, healing, here and now,
And touching every place and time.

In every insult, rift and war,
Where color, scorn or wealth divide,
Christ suffers still, yet loves the more,
And lives, where even hope has died.

Loving Father, we praise you with all our heart, for you have rescued us.
 Preserve us, protect us.  Change our mourning into dancing.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

-  from Magnificat, June 2026

things that sparkle

 Less than an hour before dark, and I see the sun gilding the trees in the back yard. After an overcast and rain on-and-off day. Tomorrow will be nice - the air feels drier already!

The fireflies are out!

Something dawned on me just lately: when it gets humid I can hardly function, and have to almost force myself to do things. Today, I wanted to clean the tiled walls in the bathroom, which needed more than wiping off the dust. I quickly did it almost right after I got up, before it got warm, before it reached that tipping point. Why does it take us so long to figure these things out? 

"The life of a Christian is a prayer. We are like diamonds, shining in many different ways. Each facet has been polished by God. Our very being renders glory to him. The simple fact that we are baptized in the death and resurrection of Christ is enough to make us a prayer. Sweeping, washing, cleaning, serving our families in small ways - all this is prayer."

                                                                    -   Catherine de Hueck Doherty

I like my quiet times in the morning, with my prayer book, my Bible, my rosary and the birdsong. But I don't want to be so rigid that I can't see a better way in different seasons. 

"Studying is a prayer, if this is what we are supposed to be doing. Being sick is a prayer; being healthy is a prayer. I can't imagine any aspect of a Christian life that is not a facet of this sparkling diamond...."

Fathers' Day

 "As he bumped the car up the drive he deplored with sudden impatience the inescapable and impossible demands that his children make upon a man. It would have been more comfortable to have remained a bachelor and wallowed along in the agreeable state of self-deception that had been his before marriage. Fatherhood revealed one's inadequacies in an appalling manner..."

                                          -  The Heart of the Family, Elizabeth Goudge

patience: a matter of faith

 "Patience...is really a matter of faith in the providence of God. If we can accept in our heart that this unpleasant moment is a vehicle of God's concern, then we will be less angry and depressed and more able to avoid inner rebellion. Instead of blaming those around us for negative experiences, we need to develop a robust faith in providence, alive to the action of God in our daily life. If we are blind to this action, we will reject the value of our concrete circumstances. Instead of growing through difficulties, we will want to run away. The perception that God is in this situation and we are called to find him here and now is a very great gift of grace.

This trust in providence has another advantage: it enables us to seize every opportunity. It is something energizing. If we believe God is acting in our lives, we will be more inclined to take testing times seriously....The key to patience is faith."

                                                   -  Sister Mary David Totah, O.S.B.  From Magnificat, June 2926

good ideas

I sat at my sewing table a few minutes ago and there before me was a beautiful sunset, all pink and gold. I have no idea how to photograph such a thing; I've tried. All I could do was watch. These sort of moments are like being in an Elizabeth Goudge story. 

I wore my daffodil dress yesterday in the heat. Since I like this simple style so much, I decided that maybe I should focus on making several, and perfecting the fit as I go. So I had ordered three lengths of quilting cottons on sale. This was the first. Quilting fabric isn't created equal - the daffodil one was classic, with that body that's good in an a-line dress. After I was finished with it, I realized that I didn't like the shoulders, so I took a tuck on either side to bring in the edge.

It did the trick. I have narrow shoulders, but sometimes I like the slightly oversized look at the top. Not this time, but the tucks made it better. The second fabric is a black and dark blue batik. Batik fabric tends to be thinner, and I wasn't sure it was suited for the same silhouette, so I angled the pattern pieces out, to make it more a-line, and fuller, and I also brought in the center of the bodice a half inch, so I wouldn't have to make any tucks, if you get what I mean; just a different way of bringing the shoulders in toward the center. I think this was a good idea; I've put it on and it's looking promising. So tonight I was sewing some binding around the neckline when the sunset appeared out my window. The third fabric is a burgundy red. I washed it today, and it still feels silky - I'm not sure I want to make it in this same a-line shape. I have to think. But with present temps in the seventies, I won't be needing these that soon.

After five or so days in the nineties, with increasing humidity, the seventies are so welcome! Of course, we'll have humid days, but for today, the winds are strong, the sun was warm, and tonight it's going to be fifty two. Let the cool air blow - we have quilts. Speaking of warming things, lately when I make a cup of tea, I don't finish it, so today I used a smaller cup and finished the whole thing. 

Not as small as a china teacup, but smaller than an average mug. Like Goldilocks.

I washed another window today; I can see that I need to give up the notion of spring or fall cleaning, and just do it as I can. But anyway, I found out that a small paintbrush is good for getting into the window tracks - and it is! What an idea! 

I'm thrilled.

too humid

trying to find coolness in the grass

 "Nature is no mere gathering of atoms but rather the outward form of God's imagination."

                                                           -  Sarah Clarkson, Reclaiming Quiet

We are hoping for a break in the humidity - they're talking of thunderstorms.

the ease of eternity

 "What grieves us most, O Lord, is playing without joy your beautiful music, you who move us from day to day. We grieve at being always at the practice phase and our efforts are labored and lacking in grace. We grieve that people see us as heavily burdened, serious and clumsy. We grieve at being unable to display in our corner of the world, in the midst of our toil and our fatigue, the ease of eternity."

                                                             -  Madeleine Delbrel

leisurely things

 "It was because Damerosehay did not change that in this chaotic, tumbling, terrifying world it was a place of such comfort."

                                                      -  from Elizabeth Goudge's The Herb of Grace (1948)

Last week I'd felt the urge to re-read The Bird in the Tree, and now I'm reading this one, the second in the set of three. When I came upon the above sentence, I realized that is why I read certain novels again and again. It's non-fiction that I tend to pick up "new". It seems to me that if a book speaks strongly or deeply to you, there is a reason for it, and it's up to you to pursue that. Get out of it everything you are supposed to, although that makes it sound so much like use, when it's really like a drinking more and more deeply of something nourishing. Hopefully, anyway.

The liturgical year turns and today we are in the feast of Corpus Christi. Our church sits right at a busy intersection, and when it's not raining we go outside after mass and process around the property, stopping at four altars set up along the way. Often it's hot out, and I find it hard to stand in the bright sun but today we are having a really strong wind (which is delightful, I think!) and partly cloudy conditions which kept things comfortable. But as for proper June temperatures - we just don't have them. It should be in the seventies, and it's not, nor is it going to be, according to the forecasts. But I realize I'm often complaining about the weather over here. (sorry)

I made a simple dinner of chicken thighs, marinated in plenty of lemon juice, olive oil, smoked paptrika, garlic, salt and pepper, and baked at a high temp till done. Which took longer than the recipe said, but I don't like slimy chicken. But it was easy, after not falling asleep until two, and getting home from church much later than usual. 

After seeing the rabbits often, lately I don't see them at all and I wonder if they've had babies. But there was one in my garden the other day, in one of the beds I'm not using at the moment, eating some weedy stuff. The garden is anything but neat, but if the creatures like it, perhaps it's not a weed

after coming out of the garden

"But Sally did not want to be set free for anything, for it was living itself that she enjoyed. She liked lighting a real fire of logs and fir-cones and toasting bread on an old-fashioned toaster. And she liked the lovely curve of an old staircase and the fun of running up and down it. ... It's my stupid brain, she said to herself. I like the leisurely things, and taking my time about them."

birdsong and sunshine

 "It was the glorified beauty of the familiar and habitable earth that she saw now, the trees and flowers and creatures that made up the sweetness of it, but soon she would see more. She would see the spirits of those she loved going about the purposes of God bathed in the light of His perpetual compassion...

one world inter-penetrates another; we live in them both, but... the language of the lesser is the language of dreams and birdsong, sunshine and the kindliness of man"

                                             -   Elizabeth Goudge, The Bird in the Tree

feast of the Holy Trinity

 Spirit of the Father and the Son,
ripen your fruits in our hearts:

Grant us patience and gentleness,
charity, joy, and peace.

- from Magnificat, May 2026

Well, last week was finally Pentecost, the end of the Easter season, and today is Trinity Sunday. It's very springlike, and pleasant out. Yesterday it was fifty five, wet, gusty and cold! Well, we'll be in June tomorrow, and done with that sort of thing, hopefully.

We had a nice Memorial Day and before that, a visit with an elderly aunt, my mother's remaining sister. She is ninety four, and doing as well as she can - still at home!

I finished the daffodil dress, except for the hem. I really like those sleeveless, a-line shifts for hot summer days at home, so I plan to make a couple more. I put the green blouse project aside when the heat rose - couldn't stand the thought of it. 

A beautiful Tasha Tudor book was dropped off at the library, in perfect condition; I took it home to read. 

Filled with quotes, poems, prose and everything romantic, I wouldn't put it in the children's section, even though it looks like all her wonderfully charming picture books for children - no, this one would go over the heads of the little ones. Apparently, if you have a toothache, you should kiss a donkey.

That was from Germany. But you're out of luck if you don't know anyone with a donkey, aren't you?

"In the Middle Ages they kissed the newborn baby three times 
in the name of the Holy Trinity."

-  Tasha Tudor

peace

 "What is the peace of the world? Perhaps we would call it security or safety; the sense that physical walls and human strength, burgeoning bank accounts and spending capacity, or healthy bodies and modern medicine make us powerful enough to enact and ensure peace for ourselves. When those things fail, when we ourselves crumble in illness or crisis, when a pandemic unravels society, the peace of the world is no longer something we may acquire because it was always something to be bought. And sooner or later, we will all find ourselves impoverished by suffering.

The peace given by Jesus is entirely a gift."

 

                                                                          -   Sarah Clarkson,  Reclaiming Quiet 

 

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you.

-  Jesus  

thinking cool

My brother just brought up the smaller air conditioner for the spare room. We used to bring it up in time for July 4th, but it's been 90 for two days, and will be up near a hundred for the next two - I'm living on ice tea. Meanwhile, parts of Wyoming are having twenty inches of snow.

daffodils all over

I cut out some quilting cotton for another sleeveless dress - of course, the heat wave will be gone by the time I complete it, but while this weather lasts, I can't think of anything but sleeveless. Meanwhile, because it's not August, the nights are cooler, at least. And the window fans come to the rescue.

I don't put them in "properly." I just stick the fan on the sill in front of the screen; it pulls the cooler air in just fine without all the fuss and fitting. 

waiting for the Holy Spirit

 May the Lord send forth the Spirit
and renew the face of the earth!
Amen.

Ascension Day

I dreamed about Dolly last night. She was outside, exploring; she was well! She was Dolly.

It was so good to see her. Make of that what you will.

We went to mass this morning - it is the Ascension of Jesus. forty days after Easter. I thought I'd make a nice dinner. I baked a small cake, coffee flavor with walnuts, no frosting. I then made a crustless quiche, with mushrooms and spinach - a little cheese. A romaine salad with blood oranges and a bit of yellow bell pepper, oil and vinegar dressing, and some chicken tenders marinated in a yogurt lemon herb mixture and baked.

In the afternoon, I sliced up the cake, which would have looked better cut up, and decided to have a piece. It was made with dates, and a little brown sugar. Well, it was so sweet - frankly, I couldn't stand it. I threw out the rest. I felt bad there was no dessert, not that my brother would notice, or mind. 

Meanwhile, I was catching up on some of Huw Richards' videos. He is focusing lately on perennial vegetables and he mentioned rhubarb; I have thought of rhubarb before, and would like to grow it, so I wrote it down. 

I no sooner wrote the word when my phone rang. It was a neighbor, Sally. I just baked a strawberry rhubarb pie, and wonder if you'd like some. Ah, ah!! I told her the story of my dessert disappointment, AND that I'd just written the word "rhubarb". Of all things! She brought it over and said she had put in less than half of the sugar in the recipe - it was just right. Thank you, dear Sally! 

Loving Father,

because of the Ascension of your Son
our human nature is now at home with you in heaven.
May this truth be our lasting encouragement and hope.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Ascension, by Rembrandt