joy that never ends

O Spirit of the living Lord,

You blow across the waiting world:

You cleanse and heal earth's wounded face

With balm poured from the cross of grace.

O Spirit, from Christ's heart thrust through,

You wash parched earth with welcome dew;

You wake to life the buried seed,

You give new bread: the starved you feed.

O Spirit, burning in us still:

You melt the frozen, warm the chill;

You cool us in the day's long heat;

You send, at nightfall, rest most sweet.

O threefold God, this festive day

Send forth your Spirit as we pray.

Before you the redeemed world bends:

You are the joy that never ends.

( Pentecost, by Istvan Dorffmaister)

"peaceful resting places"

"[When] the spirit from on high is poured out on us. Then will the desert become an orchard and the orchard regarded as a forest. Right will dwell in the desert and justice abide in the orchard. Justice will bring about peace; right will produce calm and security.

 My people will live in peaceful country, in secure dwellings and peaceful resting places."

                                                     -  Isaiah 32: 15-18   (reading from the vigil of Pentecost)

cherry blossom retrospective

The blooms on our lovely tree are almost gone by, but I took many photos with different cameras and using different effects -

So, one more time

pretty floral shelf paper

Now that I've put away the Cuddle Duds and tights, there's breathing room in my drawers again.  I'm determined to empty each one, give it a wipe and freshly arrange.

Well, hello shelf paper -  I'd forgot you were in there!

still life with carnation in warm light

afternoon view

the best kind of friend to have

My friend Viola called me after Mass last Sunday - had I left my prayer book at church? Well, yes - I guess I had! How she figured out it was mine, I can't guess.

She brought it right over.

photo by Viola

goldfinch at the feeder

clean window, crisp curtains

And this is for Val, whose birthday was today, and who seems to find hearts wherever she goes -

too many radishes

for two people.

But I seem to forget that every now and then.

Sunday praises

Ye watchers and ye holy ones,

Bright seraphs, cherubim and thrones,

Raise the glad strain, Alleluia!

Cry out, dominions, princedoms, powers,

Virtues, archangels, angels' choirs:

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

O higher than the cherubim,

More glorious than the seraphim,

Lead their praises, Alleluia!

Thou bearer of th'eternal Word,

Most gracious, magnify the Lord..

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Respond, ye souls in endless rest,

Ye patriarchs and prophets blest,

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Ye holy twelve, ye martyrs strong,

All saints triumphant, raise the song.

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

O friends, in gladness let us sing,

Supernal anthems echoing,

Alleluia! Alleluia!

To God the Father, God the Son,

And God the Spirit, Three in One..

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

because rough winds may shake the darling buds of May

and "spring's" lease hath all too short a date, you can expect pictures of this tree often until it's "fair sometime declines".


These were taken today in the last golden moments of afternoon

and you have this person to thank, who said to me yesterday, Why aren't you out here all the time with your camera?

Yes, you were right.

and thankful for Shakespeare's eighteenth sonnet

what I came home to

I don't know how I'm going to resist putting up pictures of this tree every day it's blooming!  Yes, I guess this is an ad for an ornamental cherry: beautiful shape, grows pretty fast, lovely smooth bark, breathtaking blossoms every spring.

warm evenings

One of the great pleasures of  life - being able to go outdoors after dark with wet hair.

embroidered cottage with hollyhocks

prince of the wildflowers

(Prince being the cat-next-door)

Henry takes a drink

Here we have Henry taking a drink of water.

 He dips in a paw

then licks.

Apparently some cats do this if they don't feel confident about where the water level is.

Silly, but it reminds me of the story of Gideon! 

"The Lord said to Gideon: They that shall lap the water with their tongues, as dogs are wont to lap, thou shalt set apart by themselves; but they that shall drink bowing down their knees, shall be on the other side. And the number of them that had lapped water, casting it with the hand to their mouth, was three hundred men. And all the rest of the multitude had drunk kneeling. And the Lord said to Gideon: By the three hundred men, that lapped water, I will save you, and deliver Midian into thy hand..."

                                    Judges 7: 5-7

sewing two by twos

For a patchwork quilt, twos together, three inch squares and a whole lot of 'em.

choosing the law of happiness

"He [God] has fashioned a law for us that will train us for eternal happiness. It is the law of love. Our life's work is to hear and choose this law of happiness over the law of sin and death. Thus do we take part in the work of Easter."

                                        - Magnificat,  April, 2013

Dolly at ten

Dolly turned ten years old today!  She started off her day by having breakfast in bed, then a nap.

Before lunch a little digestive, then napping in various places throughout the day.

Tonight, one more look out the window

and a little jazz before bed.

enjoying Nostalgia by Charles McPherson

afternoon in the city

Caravaggio came to town

at the museum in the city - but we couldn't take pictures.

a section where we could

Look at those wild colors (not Caravaggio's work)

Then a free jazz concert at the library up the street

where we strolled along a bit of parqueted sidewalk.

something cute from the thrift store

A new mug

which is getting along very well with the blue glasses.

sewing corner in the sun

with the sum of all our years

God of myst'ry, God of mercy,

God of glory, hid in light:

Let your face shine on your people

Where we dwell in dark of night.

Part the clouds that keep us from you,

Rend the heavens and come down,

Show your love at work among us,

Let us sing your great renown.

God of daylight and of darkness,

God of heaven, God of earth:

You are Lord of all our living,

Yours our tears and yours our mirth.

Hold us in the hands that made us,

Cradle all our hopes and fears,

Let us praise and give you glory

With the sum of all our years.

- Magnificat,  April 2013

return of the daffodils

In the little bed beside the front steps were weeds and things I just couldn't get rid of. So in the fall I did what I'd read about so many times - covered the plot with watered-down layers of newspaper and some black plastic, with rocks to hold it all down.  I knew it would kill my daffodils, but I couldn't see any other way; I would just have to plant more.

Well, last week I noticed the edge of the papers were up - the side which was toward the sun. 

Those daffodils weren't so easily done away with, bless their sunny little hearts. 

Everything else seems to be gone. How convenient.

a good substitution

Back when Hurricane Sandy was threatening, I stocked up on a few useful things, and one of them was a carton of oat milk. Well, I just thought it might come in handy if somebody was desperate. But we didn't need it, and I've been wondering ever since what to do with it.

Yesterday I pulled out my muffin recipes, determined to try them all and weed out the losers.  But at the supermarket I forgot the milk. 

Today I made cranberry-orange muffins with the oat milk, and you would never know! I don't remember the price of it, but there are several recipes out there for making your own, and I'm thinking it may be worth it.

the maple trees are ready

"entrust the rest to the Lord"

"There are times when the burden of need and our own limitations might tempt us to become discouraged. But precisely then we are helped by the knowledge that, in the end, we are only instruments in the Lord's hands; and this knowledge frees us from the presumption of thinking that we alone are personally responsible for building a better world. In all humility we will do what we can, and in all humility we will entrust the rest to the Lord. It is God who governs the world, not we. We offer him our service only to the extent that we can, and for as long as he grants us the strength. To do all we can with the strength we have, however, is the task which keeps the good servant of Jesus Christ always at work: 'The love of Christ urges us on'."  (2 Cor 5:14)

                                                  -   Benedict XVI

new chair pads

Ah, finally - how dilapidated the old ones were. I've done two so far, each a little different. And with more ideas on how to improve the next one.  

the first of many

A day warm enough for sandals -

sun through blue glass