morning prayer

Rise, O glorious orb of day,

Draw the curtains from the sky;

Let your light in glad array,

All creation beautify;

Bid the fears of darkness born,

Melt before the light of morn.

Light transcendent! fill the skies,

Glorious Orb of heav'nly light!

Take the darkness from our eyes,

Fill our souls with visions bright.

Jesus, Light of lights, appear,

Rise upon our souls with cheer.

From your throne of splendor bright,

Shed your glory far abroad,

Let the wanderers in their plight

See the path that leads to God,

And upon their pathway shine,

Heav'nly Orb of light divine.

There no sun illumes the day,

Where the wanderers find their rest;

Moon nor stars their light display

In the kingdom of the blest;

For the Christ himself is Sun,

And the day is never done.

- from Magnificat, February 2017

like June

Spring has gone away, and it's winter again now. But not before we had two more days of warmer, and yes - even balmy! - weather.

I had to work Friday, and patrons were coming in and saying it was over seventy outside, but we enjoyed it, too. We opened the front door and some windows and let the breezes blow in.

Yesterday was the same, though it wasn't supposed to be so warm. It was wonderful, and the sound of the blackbirds squeaking and creaking (what they sound like to me) was almost enough to fool me into believing spring had come. This doesn't happen too often. I'm grateful. Today it was thirty degrees cooler.

spring, inside and out

They did say it would be in the sixties today, but it wasn't just a lovely, warm day - it was truly spring-like. I sat outside and kitted for a while, without a sweater. It was a bit cool, but really nothing. And the concrete step was warm to sit on!

I had a temptation to prune the roses or some such thing, but it's too early for that here. Very unFebruary-ish.

And inside my paperwhites are growing.

a pretty patch

I like my flannel nightgowns, and I got a funny tear on one of them. In front of the underarm, near the seams. A funny place, and the rest of it in good condition.

First I cut a piece of cotton and pinned it below the tear, intending to reinforce the whole thing and do some sashiko type stitching all around it. It was awkward trying to finagle it - I wasn't able to get the torn edges to meet back together again, but I stitched the piece with white thread all the way around the tear, and then did some reinforcing stitches in light pink, in three rows. I didn't think to take a picture, but here's the back:

You can see some of the stitches here.

When I finished the hand stitching, I still had the patch fabric showing through in the center - not that I minded that, but it was a thin piece of stuff, and I didn't think it would hold up to wear. I decided I had to make a patch to go on top.

I found some white sheeting and cut a larger triangle than the area I was patching, then pressed each of the sides under. I basted it on and then chose burgundy thread and a scallop machine stitch.

I'm all for making patches look obvious!  Here you can see just where it is on the nightgown -

So it ended up covering my hand stitches, but it's a learning process. I think I needed both a bottom and a top patch to keep the whole area strong, so all's well that ends well. I hope it holds up.

fresh air and a fresh understanding

I actually had windows open today - and it's still fifty, even now! We'll be able to enjoy this warm-up for a few days.

Yesterday I read this:

"Jesus invites us this morning to deny ourselves - to realize that we do not know who we really are".
(emphasis mine)  It really struck me; this will be good to remember during Lent, which begins in a week and a half. Very good to remember - the purpose of Lent.

coming along

I'm definitely the tortoise rather than the hare with most projects

not to mention that I do have other things to do at the library other than crocheting all day. But it is coming along. And it looks nicer than this picture.

Henry's very little adventure

If it were any other cat, you would be right in wondering why I would post this at all. But Henry isn't one hundred percent cat, and so when he scrambled up onto the back of a chair, it was sort of a big deal.

I'd been shopping and left a few bags on the chair, where he sometimes likes to nap. I was so surprised when he was suddenly up so high - Henry, who doesn't like being up high.

He realized he had a good view out the front door.

But as he began to wonder what ever had possessed him, I cleared off the chair, and he came down. And that was that.

like this

It began to snow yesterday while we were at Mass and continued all day, like this -

and we were nice and cozy inside, like this -

Valentine scone

Friends had given us a Cinnamon Quickbread mix for Christmas, with a cute baking pan attached. I was surprised to find a list of ingredients which didn't sound bad at all, so today I made it. The recipe called for milk, but I used sour cream because I had it, and added an extra pinch of baking soda. The little pan wasn't usable because that gluey stuff which attached it to the box would not come off, but we have an old heart-shaped pan and it was the same size. The batter ended up very thick and so I tossed a few chocolate chips on top, and knew they wouldn't sink to the bottom.

It came out like a big scone. Very yummy. And that was the Last of the Christmas Goodies.

gobs of it

There was a robin in the front tree two days ago. One always thinks of spring when they show up, but it's only early February, and the Audubon Society says there are some who stay up here all winter. But we will still always think of spring when we see a robin.

Yesterday it was sixty degrees while I was in the library. Not when I went to work, or when I left, but in between.  Or that's what they all told me.

TODAY

At three o'clock, and seventeen inches. (Is this the kind of winter you dream of, Lynda?)  ;-)  It's about nineteen by now, and drifting.  Actually, this kind of weather is far more likely here than 60 degrees in February. It's just that it's been quite a mild winter until now. 

a close-up for you

But I think that's it for the mildness. There was actually thunder and lightning with this storm.

paperwhites in white paper

I haven't have much success with bulbs indoors before, but I'm trying again.

These are in an unattractive gray container, so I stuck it in the first paper bag my hand found. And I just remembered they're paperwhites. Ha!

Sweetie relaxing

blue winter

(I like the blue cast)