sweet breeze! thou only, if I guess aright, liftest the feathers of the robin's breast

 That was Coleridge. And oh, a day of cool air, breezing in my window, puffy clouds all over the sky! But I didn't move fast enough to record them before they drifted away. 

I heard some birds fussing in the distance. This always makes me feel bad; maybe there was a hawk around. Oh, for a world where there is none of that! Of course, the blue jays would have to find something else to occupy themselves. They are the ambulance-chasers of the bird world - well, everybody has their place. Poirot always was glad to talk to the busy-bodies of the neighborhood - they often proved helpful.

I grew nasturtium seeds, even though it's getting late. It's such a pretty plant.

I just heard a sound behind me, and there was Annie on my back window with a claw caught in the curtain. She was trying to get unhooked and couldn't, but did she say anything? How long would she have sat there, twisting slowly, slowly in the wind (so to speak)? Daisy is the same way. 

Strange. They do seem to understand the power of communication. Daisy often is telling us she wants food. Annie was really chatty the other day, telling me something. But they haven't made the connection entirely, I guess, especially when they could really use some help! Dolly would have called out, and she did, more than once. 

Well, September is at the door, and I'm looking over my fall clothes. This skirt needs reworking.

It's just not right. I cut off the waistband and picked out the zipper here. I'll sew up that seam where the zip was, turn over the top edge and make a casing for some lightweight elastic. Then I'll see how much I need to take it up - it's too long. 

I've been reading The Jungle Book - it's so charming! This is what the library copy looks like.

a lot of sparkle

I had just shut off the a/c, opened my side window, and was watching the pretty sparkle of the fireflies, when someone on the street behind us set off quite a colorful display of fireworks. So much for the quiet beauty of nature.

Daisy is in my back window, watching fireworks set off by another neighbor - it looks like a big sparkler, or something. Annie is on the hallway chair, which is brave for her; she isn't hiding. Our town event is scheduled for Tuesday, so this sort of nightly show may happen again. For the first time in days, I don't hear the mockingbird. Well, the creatures don't know what to make of the loud noises and I feel sorry for them. 

I don't know where I've been - mentally - for the past week. I always mean to post, but something gets in the way. I am making a linen top: sleeveless and simple, and I've been researching various ways of cutting bias strips. There are many, and it's interesting! I have to bind the neck and armholes and didn't want to use the packaged stuff. 

I've been experimenting with strawberry frozen yogurt, and frozen coconut milk pops, coffee-flavored. Something cold for the mouth must be kept on hand at all times in summer heat!

summer extremes

 It’s not quite seventy degrees today. And by that, what I really mean is, it’s thirty degrees cooler than it was yesterday. 

it was not this hot - the sun beats on it in the pm

I finished my firefly dress; I was going to wear it tomorrow to work - now I hesitate. Is seventy one degrees too cool for sleeveless? Probably, especially after such a cool, damp day.

it's a maxi

I had such a time getting the armhole binding to flatten out.

Wetting it, then pressing, over and over, to gently stretch the fabric. Patience and persistence were what I needed.

Last night's sunset -

I actually had to close my windows tonight - it's cool, and damp, which makes it feel colder.

Daisy in my window

spring pleasures

 My brother mowed the lawn yesterday.

I stepped outside in the morning to empty some trash, in time to hear a mockingbird giving his spring recital. I had seen him quietly in the hedge in earlier weeks, listening.

I set up the little greenhouse in the most perfect temperatures, and gentle breeze.

I am trying to get some seeds sprouting in little containers, and I was able to just sit outside and do some. 

I had a bedroom window open all night.

The cats have greatly enjoyed all of this. 

I made blueberry muffins.

"Humanity's task continues God's own creation, filling the realms that God established, extending and elaborating good order within the creation, and exercising beneficent rule over its creatures. Humankind both had to rule over and to share the creation with other creatures.

The original creation is good, yet much remains to be done. God creates, commissions, empowers, and equips humanity to complete what he has started; we are a means of his continued creation and providence."

                                                       -  Alastair Roberts, from Plough magazine, Spring 2025

we have today

 I slept with my window open last night. It didn't get below fifty, although the wind was forceful and there was rain. It actually got up to sixty two today, for a while. Now the wind is blowing like crazy again, and colder air is coming back - this is normal for March. But the warm spells are so enticing.

I finished my skirt the other day, and got the waistband just right, thankfully. I used elastic, since this fabric is a knit - a zipper wasn't necessary. I am not going to hem it. Knits don't fray, and I'd rather not add bulk to the bottom by turning it under - I don't think anybody is going to notice. So today I took the leftover and walked around the house with it to see if the colors would look nice anywhere. The spare bedroom has a small pillow which needs a cover, and the velvet was pretty with the bedspread, so I haphazardly made a zippered cover. 

That background color was advertised as brown, but it's dark red to me - at least, a reddish brown. But at least I found a use for some of the leftover. 

I noticed this on the back cover of Plough's winter issue:

"Someday, all of us will spend our lives in our own school, the world. And education - in the sense of learning to love, to grow, to change - can become not the woeful preparation for some job that makes us less than we could be but the very essence, the joyful whole of existence itself."

                                -   Marshall McLuhan

I never look on back covers. 

It's Lent again.

"Faith is a strange thing. In our little church one feels it strong and firm among the farm people and the retired people and the city week-enders who have been able to stagger out for service. To lose faith in the ultimate good in life is to lose life, I thought, as I came down the steep ancient steps of the little white building. The world news may be especially grim, disaster strikes in a home, any one of the ills flesh is heir to may strike us, and it becomes easy to give up. And yet the gathering together of people to pray and worship God, according to their choice of church, whatever it be, is a strong bulwark against defeat and despair.

The very act of saying, 'I believe,' is a renewal of faith. As for the world, it has been in a parlous state so long that there is no sense in worrying about the future. It is better, I think, to go on believing in goodness and beauty and truth and in God, no matter how we define these terms each of us for ourselves.

And better to live a day at a time. This is a hard task, often, for we tend to keep going or the past and trying to live it over again or looking ahead and uselessly trying to forecast tomorrow and next week and next year. But somebody has said all the time we really have is the NOW. We have today. 

Try to use this day well, that is about the sum of it."

                                                                 -  Gladys Taber

hello, March

This morning I thought March was coming in like a lamb, but there are twenty-four hours in a day, and by mid-afternoon the wind was roaring, the clouds rolled in and it's supposed to be twenty-nine degrees by nine o'clock. That's a lion. That is March in New England. I couldn't believe how mild it was earlier - sixty-two degrees - and the cats and I really enjoyed the open windows, but I wore boots to the supermarket, because snow was predicted for late afternoon. It didn't happen.

I was reading a substack post today, and the person quoted a paragraph from a Mary Oliver poem. One line caught my fancy:

"In March, the earth remembers its own name."

Yes, the earth around here is waking up. But not tomorrow; it's going to be in the twenties, and tonight my brother threw out some carrot chunks for the rabbits; they do come!

this squirrel stayed still here for so long, I wondered if he was all right

moving along

 

I'd forgotten about this Star of Bethlehem book; it tries to figure out what it was that shone so brightly to guide the three magi to Bethlehem. I had found it on the sale table at the library, and then it got buried under a stack at home. Of course. The author has all sorts of ideas about it. The green cover of the Niall Williams has called to me for years, every time I came across it at work, so I finally took it home. It's the second in his memoirs of life in Ireland after moving from New York. I remember that many years ago his first one was serialized in the newspaper, and was very popular. It's about time I picked it up, I guess.

Plodding along with my dress, I am now ready for the sleeves. Except, like the skirt, the pattern piece is nowhere to be found. But that's okay, because I'm not that keen on the sleeves, anyway. And then I got a catalog from Poetry, and there is this dress in corduroy that's just like the one I'm making, but with sleeves I like a whole lot better. I don't know how long that link will last, so maybe I can take a photo from my catalog another day. Anyway, I went through my patterns and found this blouse one from years ago. I never made it, but it's similar - if I can take out some of the volume it might do. 

It'll be a starting point.

I bundled up and ran outside before it got dark, longing for some fresh air. 

The grass is in its dried-up winter state. I just ran around and breathed the cold air for a bit.

This is what winter looks like where I live. Unless there's snow to make it all pretty. Although I was trying to see the beauty. 

The warped ramp to the shed. 

"A supremely powerful man and a keen politician, Herod usually acted quickly and decisively. Outlaws who threatened his borders on the Syrian frontier were put to death. So were rivals suspected of conspiracy. And, after siding with Antony, who lost to Caesar int he dominant Roman politics of the era, Herod courted Caesar's favor so astutely, his own crown in hand, that he became the Roman emperor's trusted governor and friend."

                                                 - The Star of Bethlehem, Jeanne K. Hanson

I'm curious to see what her conclusion will be.

feeding the birds

It's been very cold here, in the twenties for a few days. But after a warm breakfast I went out to see what's going on outside. I couldn't see too well, because for the past month I've been going around with one contact lens, but I just wanted some sunshine and briskness. 

I looked at the state of my garden beds. They seem well, and the overabundance of dried leaves has settled, and that's a relief.

Over in the corner near the new little cherry tree, some birds fluttered up when I drew near. I thought I saw some white stripes - was it a mockingbird? I suddenly remembered many years back in a cold, windy winter, when I made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a mockingbird living in the brush at the brook's edge. I'd throw it through the kitchen window, and he'd see me and come over. It's been so cold - I should go in and make a sandwich for the birds! I went back to the house. I made a nice sandwich, brought it out, broke it up and scattered it around.

I never saw anyone near there. Then it was time to go to the eye doctor. When I returned - (I can see, I can see!) - I thought I'd go over while I had my coat on. The pieces were gone! Hurrah!, said Fred, Scrooge's nephew. I agree with him. I'll have to keep it up. 

trouble and pain (but not really)

 The Thanksgiving dinner came out very well. We had leftovers once, and I had to put what remained into the freezer - we will appreciate it better after a bit of distance.

I'm taking a different approach to Christmas decorations this year, and I spent part of the day working on the living room. 

A red bow would be nicer, but this is good for now; I may change this picture anyway, but I love this one, with the warm colored flowers of late summer, something discovered at a rummage sale.

I want to start making cookies, but may have to do it piecemeal: mixing up dry ingredients ahead, mixing up the dough the day before, baking one or two batches at a time, etc.. Whatever will work. It seems I do lots of things like that. It's another way of going forward. 

I ran out at the blue hour, just to get some air. Very briefly.

Some leaves hanging on.  I keep forgetting the bulbs I just bought - will I be able to get them in before the ground freezes? It's in the twenties at night, and will only reach into the thirties much of this week! Why can't I remember these bulbs??

"On the first weekday of Advent, we are reminded that the full coming of the reign of God through Christ, for whom we long, will bring trouble and pain to all of us in whatever sinfulness we are engaged in, but only to cleanse us to dwell in justice and peace in his presence."

- Magnificat, December 2024

late November

 We had plenty of wind yesterday; today, most of the Japanese maple's leaves are down. I was wondering when that would happen.

A few hang on, trembling in the chilly breezes. While I took pictures, Leo came through - he's often coming through.

Something caught his eye.

Then, I guess I caught his eye.

progress, and forgetting

 I was waiting for the cold nights to kill off the rampant weeds in my garden; I thought they might be easier to pull up. But we are also having a long drought - every day brings a fire warning. So, nothing is easy to pull out of a hard ground. 

Still, I went out today in the beautiful breeze and was able to remove some of it, and I guess I've got all winter to get it out of there, even till March. We'll see how diligent I am. 

I was noticing how the Japanese maple hangs on to its leaves when almost all the other trees have shed theirs. Some of the leaves look dry and deeper-colored, others look garnet with the sun shining through them.

"It is very often painful when the lovely images in the mind will not compose themselves into even reasonable facsimiles, in words. It can be so painful that I long to throw the typewriter out of the window and scrub floors all day. With a floor, I feel, you can see progress, you get somewhere."

                                               -   Gladys Taber

Oh, I was going to wash the bathroom floor today - forgot! 

the case of the missing pattern piece, and other things

Not the temperature they predicted, but Monday was sixty-five:  mild, hardly breezy and wonderful for a day off. Now we have finally gotten into the forties for the daytime. Outside, everything is burnished. That's November.

I picked up a biography of Samuel Adams, cousin to our second president, John, and according to British officials of the time, "the most dangerous man in Massachusetts". Considered by Paul Revere, John Hancock and cousin John Adams as their "political father", and called "truly the Man of the Revolution" by Thomas Jefferson; it's a young adult book, but full of information and interestingly written. I really knew very little about him; now I know he failed at every job he undertook. He only seemed good at "talking and writing about the rights and liberties of the people". I love reading about this era.

I have returned to a dress I was planning to sew a year ago; I don't remember what happened. I had started on the bodice, and - ?  So, now I'm ready to attach the skirt part, but I soon realized I hadn't cut them out. Okay, there's plenty of fabric there, so I looked for the pattern piece. All the pieces were there, except for that one - it was nowhere! But, looking at the shapes from the layout examples, I am sure I can just make a guess. There are center seams front and back, so - four pieces, and they're a-line. I just have to figure out how big the tucks should be and how much fabric to allow for them.

My brother had a birthday. I gave him a book of the meditations of Marcus Aurelius. He is liking it, and surprised at how interesting the observations are. 

The Christmas cactus at work is setting buds.

Things are getting more intense in Tolkien's The Two Towers, with Gandalf and Pippin flying away on Shadowfax, his tail flicking in the moonlight. Then he leaped forward, spurning the earth, and was gone like the north wind from the mountains.

farewell, October

 What a warm day! Too warm, really, and I made soup because that's what I'd planned - could hardly eat it.

We had 154 kids come: lots of princesses, some inflatable costumes like chickens or dinosaurs (which made it difficult for them to maneuver, I could tell), some ghouls, a hot dog - with mustard, I'm happy to say and not ketchup. The second grim reaper asked me what his costume was.

me: The grim reaper!

GR: Correct!

me: Hey! Do I get a prize or something? (as he was walking off)

GR: Well, I'll see. Maybe I'll come back.

I certainly don't want that.

The first grim reaper had glitter. Less creepy. 

And that's the end of October. 

like the music of a trumpet

 What can be said about a day that's perfect? How can it be described? 

It's been warm and summery, but takes several hours to get up there and then goes down for the night, so not too warm for soup. The sky, so deep and blue. I washed two windows in the balmy warmth. Tonight it will be cool, but not cold. Yes, very perfect.

"The air is cool as an old coin teaspoon, and a faint tang of blue woodsmoke spices the wind. The color of the great sugar maples is so dazzling it seems I must have dreamed it. The maples give forth light, like closer suns. The oaks glow with a garnet fire, and all the thickets blaze with scarlets and pale gold and cinnamon. It is like the music of a trumpet."

                                              -  Gladys Taber

preparation

 October continues in all its beauty, with the past week's temps down into the fifties, which is lovely when it's sunny. But now we're moving into a few days up into the seventies. That will also be lovely, and I can hopefully get the bulk of the windows cleaned.

There was one day last week when I got the Wordle in two tries - when that happens, it's always pure luck.

I have to work tomorrow afternoon, so I prepared a casserole for Sunday dinner, since we had leftovers from Thursday, and I had the time. I peeled and cut up one of the butternut squash I grew - amazing how things grow from seed. The recipe appeared in a magazine we get at the supermarket, and this issue has several things I'd like to make. For this one, I had the squash, I had the kale, the onion, and the exact amount of cooked chicken from the whole one I roasted the other day, after making chicken and tortellini soup Thursday. 

I only had to buy the Swiss cheese. It sure looks good!

The supermarket had a special on packages of Larabars, but not every flavor. I only have liked the peanut butter ones: the plain, and the chocolate chip. But those weren't on sale, so I took a chance and got the Chocolate Raspberry Truffle. Oh, my. They will make an excellent afternoon pick-me-up. 

This morning before rising, I read the chapter on the council of Elrond, in Lord of the Rings. So much wisdom imparted to Frodo and his fellows as they prepare to bear the ring to Mordor:

The road must be trod, but it will be very hard. And neither strength nor wisdom will carry us far upon it. This quest may be attempted by the weak with as much hope as the strong. Yet such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere.

                                                               - The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien

just some Chat

It was really cool today; overcast all day, with a kind of damp feeling. The temps were in the sixties, so it's not cold, but I was chilly in the house. We haven't had a frost yet, and don't expect one till mid-October, but it feels different, and I'm getting out my more fall-ish clothes by little and little. I can't just get them all out if I don't feel like it's time yet. I have heard that Britain had a frost, and that surprises me, since they have a milder climate than we.

We heard the Great Horned Owl again last night. And then within the hour, I twice heard an animal - I don't know, screeching, screaming, or whatever it was, it didn't sound good. I don't know the sounds of our wild creatures in distress, so it could have been anyone. I don't like to think of it.

I read a little further in The Distant Mirror. It surprised me that there was a push to abolish the mendicant orders right after the Black Plague. My brother didn't find an answer in any of his books, so I appealed to chatgpt.com. This is what they said, and I'm pasting it from their website:

"In the mid-14th century, several factors contributed to a growing critique of mendicant orders, such as the Franciscans and Dominicans. Here are some key reasons:

1. Economic Strain: The mendicant orders relied on alms and donations, and as economic conditions worsened due to events like the Black Death, there was less money to go around. This made their support more contentious.

2. Corruption and Criticism: Some mendicants faced accusations of corruption and failing to live up to their vows of poverty. As their numbers grew, issues like the accumulation of wealth and property arose, leading to disillusionment among both the laity and within the Church.

3. Intellectual Rivalry: The rise of university-educated clergy led to a tension between mendicants and secular clergy. The former were often viewed as more radical or extreme in their interpretations of poverty and spirituality, causing friction with established church authorities.

4. Reform Movements: The 14th century saw various reform movements within the Church aimed at addressing perceived moral and spiritual decay. Some reformers saw mendicants as part of the problem rather than the solution.

5. Political Context: The political landscape of Europe was also shifting, and local governments began to exert more control over religious orders. This often meant limiting the power and influence of mendicants, who were sometimes seen as too independent.

These factors combined to create a climate where the mendicant orders faced increasing scrutiny and calls for reform or even abolition."

Well, it makes sense, especially number one and number five, I think.  The reason I even thought of ChatGPT, was because my brother had asked it a detailed question previously on the beliefs held by the early Church fathers, and it was surprisingly accurate and thorough. So, if you're stumped over anything, give it a try. 

Some leaves are starting to fall.

                                     

rosy evening clouds

last night - it didn't last long

 

summer approaches

 The birds are quieter, the fireflies are increasing and a mockingbird sang a brief concert on the power line. The air gets more humid, but nights are still pleasant; the rabbits are more used to our human noises - there was one out my window yesterday afternoon while my neighbor was mowing nearby! 

My little garden crops are getting bigger and there aren't any weeds due to the grass clippings all around.

My dress needs the side seams sewn and then it will look like something. I wake up with the sun in the mornings, but am too tired at the other end of the day.

I want to plan a menu for the longest day of the year, which is next week. It's supposed to be hot. I'll have to take that into consideration.

I suppose I could start the day with pancakes.
  

suddenly it's summer

 The scent of grass as its being mowed. The musical conversation of the catbirds. Going from flannel to muslin nightwear, overnight!

The lawn is a little squishy, but the sun came out and it's going to be full summer for a few days this week. I went out to the garden to spread some compost and grass clippings around but am still not sure if it's ready for plants. But I don't have plants anyhow - I set up the greenhouse nice and early, but never started any seeds in the house - the thought of Daisy getting hold of them made me hesitate and then I was paralyzed. Meanwhile, April winds knocked the greenhouse over twice - good thing it was empty at the time. And all the rain we've been having, and not being sure the raised bed was quite ready - well, looking back I'm actually glad I didn't start the seeds without being certain. I'll just have a late start.

Yesterday was Pentecost. "In our labor, rest most sweet; grateful coolness in the heat." And now the season of Easter is over.

summer for a day

 All of a sudden today, it was summer. When I stepped out this morning, I felt a balminess that surprised me. Annie wasn't much interested in her supper. I decided to wash a window.

she was there when I moved the bed back

The cherry in the front yard is a thing of glory, which is the only way to put it. Filled, absolutely filled with blossoms. I can't believe it, and I looked up what I said about it here last spring. It was struggling last year, but not now! 

I should not take photos at dusk - then I have to fiddle with them. It isn't purply, it's pink. Pink everywhere!

I don't know how to do it justice.

It was predicted to be in the seventies for the whole week, but you have to keep checking, because they change it. And so they did; it's going to be in the sixties - well, that's more normal. But now I feel warmed up. Things are different.