the valiant cherry tree

Our dear little cherry tree is blooming hard.

There's a dead branch which needs to be removed, but the rest of it is adapting as best it can to its injured state

and doing a darn good job of it.

It's like a fairy thing.

finished

The library throw is all done, except for an identifying patch of some kind we want to attach. It's really hard to get an accurate photo of it; it's brighter than this.

After looking at several types of borders I decided to make a scallop, and this pretty iris yarn - with sparkles! - was perfect.

rain

Rain on the green grass,
  and rain on the tree,

Rain on the house-top,
  but not on me.

from Mother Goose.

a buttonhole

I tried again with parchment paper underneath the fabric, but it still stuck in the machine, so today I made a buttonhole by hand. It wasn't so bad; the fuzzy fabric covers up my stitching, so I guess it's okay.

But this is why I wanted real buttonholes with these great buttons.  I only need to make two more, but not today.

hymn for Easter Week

Glory to God! The morn appointed breaks,

and earth awakes from all the woeful past;

For, with the morn, the Lord of life awakes,

and sin and death into the grave are cast.

Glory to God! The cross, with all its shame

now sheds its glory o'er a ransomed world;

For he who bore the burden of our blame,

with pierced hands the foe to hell has hurled.

Glory to God! Sing ransomed souls again,

and let your songs our glorious Victor laud,

who by his might has snapped the tyrant's chain,

and set us free to rise with him to God.

-   from Magnificat, April 2017

a new life for my old robe

I am very happy to say that my robe is almost completed - I need to hem the sleeves and I can wear it tonight.

The buttons - which I really love - aren't on because the fuzzy chenille was sticking in the sewing machine and messing up the buttonholes - I wasn't able to make them. I think I'll have to do them by hand, which I dread. I once tried sewing buttonholes by hand and they came out looking awful, but I don't know what else to do. (please don't suggest bound buttonholes!)

You can see the yellow has a wavy stripe while the original is kind of a narrow line, but it doesn't seem to matter - I think it looks fine. I am relieved.

Sweetie remembers

living outside.

But she really doesn't pine for the rough life, and she's adjusted to being a house cat when I never thought she could. She is content.

a peaceful Easter

My Easter was so quiet - my brother was sick, so no company and almost no cooking; I heated up the lamb chops I had cooked ahead the day before!

Dolly and I sat outside for an hour in the 85 degree afternoon with a wonderful breeze blowing.

Very peaceful. He's feeling better now.

The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

- from Psalm 33

.

wondrous

What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul!

What wondrous love is this, O my soul!

What wondrous love is this

That caused the Lord of bliss

To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,

To bear the dreadful curse for my soul!

When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down,

When I was sinking down, sinking down,

When I was sinking down

Beneath God’s righteous frown,

Christ laid aside His crown for my soul for my soul,

Christ laid aside His crown for my soul.

To God and to the Lamb I will sing, I will sing;

To God and to the Lamb I will sing; 

To God and to the Lamb, 

Who is the great I AM, 

While millions join the theme, I will sing, I will sing,

While millions join the theme, I will sing.

And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on;

And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on.

And when from death I’m free 

I’ll sing His love for me,

And through eternity I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on,

And through eternity I’ll sing on.

-  William Walker

who would have thought any more of His destiny?

See, my servant shall prosper, he shall be raised high and greatly exalted. Even as many were amazed at him - so marred was his look beyond human semblance and his appearance beyond that of the sons of man - so shall he startle many nations, because of him kings shall stand speechless; for those who have not been told shall see, those who have not heard shall ponder it.

Who would believe what we have heard? To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up like a sapling before him, like a shoot from the parched earth; there was in him no stately bearing to make us look at him, nor appearance that would attract us to him. He was spurned and avoided by people, a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity, one of those from whom people hide their faces, spurned, and we held him in no esteem.

Yet it was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that he endured, while we thought of him as stricken, as one smitten by God and afflicted. But he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins; upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we were healed. We had all gone astray like sheep, each following his own way; but the Lord laid upon him the guilt of us all.

Though he was harshly treated, he submitted and opened not his mouth; like a lamb led to the slaughter or a sheep before the shearers, he was silent and opened not his mouth. Oppressed and condemned, he was taken away, and who would have thought any more of his destiny? When he was cut off from the land of the living, and smitten for the sin of his people, a grave was assigned him among the wicked and a burial place with evildoers, though he had done no wrong nor spoken any falsehood. But the Lord was pleased to crush him in infirmity.

If he gives his life as an offering for sin, he shall see his descendants in a long life, and the will of the Lord shall be accomplished through him.

Because of his affliction he shall see the light in fullness of days; through his suffering, my servant shall justify many, and their guilt he shall bear. Therefore I will give him his portion among the great, and he shall divide the spoils with the mighty, because he surrendered himself to death and was counted among the wicked; and he shall take away the sins of many, and win pardon for their offenses. 

-  Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12

the Last Supper

'Twas on that dark and doleful night,

When pow'rs of earth and hell arose

Against the Son of God's delight

And friends betrayed him to his foes.

Before the mournful scene began,

He took the bread and blessed and broke;

What love through all his actions ran,

What wondrous words of love he spoke.

"This is my Body, giv'n for you,

Receive and eat the living Food."

Then took the cup and blessed the wine;

"'Tis the new cov'nant in my Blood."

"Do this", he cried, "till time shall end

In mem'ry of the Son of Man;

Meet at my table and record

The love and dying of your Lord."

Jesus, your feast we celebrate,

We show your death, we sing your name,

Till you return and we shall eat

The marriage supper of the Lamb.

- Magnificat, Holy Week 2017

(Jesus Washing Peter's Feet, by Ford Madox Brown)

"There is only one temptation. All particular temptations are expressions of this one original or 'primordial' temptation. This is the temptation to believe that the fulfillment of the desires of the human heart depends entirely on us. Dependence on another leaves us at the mercy of what we cannot control. Therefore, we are tempted to reject all forms of dependence. The most radical form of dependence is love. Therefore, the original temptation is to deny that our existence is a pure and perfect gift of an infinite Love that deserves to be loved in return. The fullest revelation that God is love is the Incarnation of Christ. Therefore, the primordial temptation is to reject the Incarnation and its consequences."

                                                     -  Lorenzo Albacete

probably Palestrina

They're hearing confessions three evenings this week and we were there last night. On my side we were lined up along the wall, and we kept hearing music - it was Renaissance music - faintly. We realized it came from the speaker nearby. What a brilliant idea! I said to the young man (teenage) in front of me, "nice music!" and he smiled and agreed. It provided the perfect background for Holy Week, and atmosphere for what we were doing there.

Miss Sweetikins had a birthday Sunday.She is twelve but no one could ever tell; she plays like a wild thing.  She and Dolly do not get along, and there's a lot I could say about that but I feel weary at the thought of it. Suffice it to say that Dolly is starting to be tired of staying in seclusion day after day and is coming forth way more than she has in ages.  Thank God!


from Magnificat:

"We have grown accustomed to making a clear distinction between Peter the rock and Peter the denier of Christ - the denier of Christ: that is Peter as he was before Easter; the rock: that is Peter as he was after Pentecost, the Peter of whom we have constructed a singularly idealistic image. But,  in reality, he was at both times both of these..."

                                                 -  Pope Benedict XVI

Like the rest of us.

that welcome yellow

The forsythia is starting. And the grass is brilliant green. And today it was 80!

the meek king cometh

Holy Week begins today - I always want matzoh.

Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion, shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem! See, your king shall come to you; a just savior is he, Meek, and riding on an ass, on a colt, the foal of an ass.

-   Zechariah 9:9

cut it in two

I'd bought a quilt from Garnet Hill to throw on the back of a couch. It was a great sale - a twin size, all cotton. Because of that, it was very heavy; I couldn't imagine ever using it on a bed. Cotton batting may be better environmentally, but it weighs so much. I also knew it wouldn't fit in the washer. A dilemma.

It suddenly came to me; cut the quilt in half! So I did that, and each piece is on the back of one of the couches (they are more like love-seats, really). I have to think about what I'll use to bind the raw edges, but for now they aren't visible and I have two washable pieces.  It's manageable!

history repeating itself

"The wicked said among themselves, thinking not aright:

  Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, reproaches us for transgressions of the law and charges us with violations of our training. He professes to have knowledge of God and styles himself a child of the Lord. To us he is the censure of our thoughts; merely to see him is a hardship for us. Because his life is not like that of others, and different are his ways. He judges us debased; he holds aloof from our paths as from things impure. He calls blest the destiny of the just and boasts that God is his Father."

                                                           -   Wisdom: 2:1a, 12-16


"That is the key to history...Some fatal flaw always brings the selfish and the cruel people to the top and it all slides back into misery and ruin."

                                                          -  C.S. Lewis