« November 2006 | December 2006 | January 2007 »
New
|
|
Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Visit participants. |
|
As you can see, Banjo had a very merry Christmas! He spent the day happily chewing on his new rawhide bone while lying on his new fluffy bed. Banjo was a good boy this year! And that is a very good thing if you consider that it was his very first year. He will be celebrating his first birthday on January 5th.
Glory to God
And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
" Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"
Luke 2:1-14
Winter Wonderland
|
|
|
Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Visit participants. |
|
Comfort Paintings
You know how some people talk of "comfort food"? My personal favorite comfort food would have to be a grilled cheese sandwich with a bowl of tomato soup. It reminds me of when I was little. Especially of one winter afternoon when I was four years old and my mother made a fine lunch of it after a snowstorm. My sister and I sat in the warm kitchen at a small table by the window looking out at the brightness of it all.
I think about some paintings in that way. There are some paintings that are quite comforting to me. There is a certain something about these paintings that lifts my spirits. It usually has something to do with the quality of light in a painting or some other intangible element that attracts me to the painting. So, for this week, I give you thirteen comfort paintings.
1. Tade de verano en la playa by Peder Severin Kroyer
2. Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose by John Singer Sargent
3. Under the Horse Chestnut Tree by Mary Cassatt
4. Afternoon Fun by Edward Henry Potthast
5. Mountainous Landscape Behind Saint-Paul Hospital by Vincent Van Gogh
6. Winter by Maxfield Parrish
7. Chagrin d'Enfant by Emile Friant
8. Twilight by Maxfield Parrish
9. White Birches in the Snow by Maxfield Parrish
10. At the Beach by Edward Henry Potthast
11. Baby Reaching for an Apple by Mary Cassatt
12. Tarde de verano en Skagen, 1892 by Peder Severin Kroyer
13. Tarde de verano en Skagen, 1899 by Peder Severin Kroyer
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
Christmas Ornamental
Annoying
|
|
|
Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Visit participants. |
|
I had a hard time finding something annoying for the photo theme this week. I finally found something that has been annoying me for quite a while. This dress. It is the first thing I have ever sewn and, early in July, I had it all finished except for the hemming. I started it and got this far in just a week thanks to the cheerful encouragement of my sister who was visiting at the time. Once she left, though, I never touched it again. I find this very annoying. I have enough material to make four more dresses. I just find it very upsetting that I got this far with a dress and I not only never finished it, but I would feel intimidated at the idea of trying to sew another one after all this time has passed. I really, really want to sew my own dresses. Anyone want to suggest how to make a nice even hem?
Isn't the material pretty?
Wuv. Twuu Wuv...
Red
|
|
|
Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Visit participants. |
|
"I belt the morn with ribboned mist;
With baldricked blue I gird the noon,
And dusk with purple, crimson-kissed,
White-buckled with the hunter's-moon.
"These follow me," the Season says:
"Mine is the frost-pale hand that packs
Their scrips, and speeds them on their ways,
With gypsy gold that weighs their backs."
II
A daybreak horn the Autumn blows,
As with a sun-tanned hand he parts
Wet boughs whereon the berry glows;
And at his feet the red fox starts.
The leafy leash that holds his hounds
Is loosed; and all the noonday hush
Is startled; and the hillside sounds
Behind the fox's bounding brush.
When red dusk makes the western sky
A fire-lit window through the firs,
He stoops to see the red fox die
Among the chestnut's broken burrs.
Then fanfaree and fanfaree,
His bugle sounds; the world below
Grows hushed to hear; and two or three
Soft stars dream through the afterglow.
~ from Under Arcturus by Madison Cawein
My Christmas List
1. 8 large white bath towels
2. 8 white hand towels
3. 8 white washcloths
4. 4 white king-sized pillow cases
5. 1 warm throw blanket (to replace the "binky" Banjo stole from me)
6. 1 case of Dr. Pepper Berries & Cream soda
7. 1 large box of Dots (Hey! Nobody told me they came in wild berry flavor!)
8. 2 rolls of Necco Wafers (You can take a tour of how these candies are made here.)
9. a good book on learning to crochet (so I can learn how to make my own headcoverings)
10. some thin crochet hooks
11. dark blue, chocolate brown, and black baby-weight yarn
12. quiet time with my husband and girls
13. 1 (at least) good nap
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
Morning
...weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
~ from Psalm 30:5
Even So
I have been pretty sad this week. My mother is in the end stages of an Alzheimer's-like disease. When I was growing up, my mother had seizures that couldn't be diagnosed as having been caused by anything that her doctors could find. About ten years ago, it became obvious to me that something else was going on with my mother. Two years later, she was diagnosed as having Alzheimer's. She was eventually tested and found to be lacking the gene that is normally found in Alzheimer's patients. None of this really matters to me anymore. I am just telling you so you will know.
I have grown up with a mother who has never really been well. Physically, her body was typically quite healthy, but something has never been quite right with her brain. Knowing exactly why doesn't seem so very important. When I speak of my mother's illness now, I just say that she has Alzheimer's because it is easier. Nobody asks for the particulars and nobody would be able to tell the difference anyway.
My father takes care of my mother at home. In August, he suffered a heart attack and had to have emergency, quadruple bypass surgery. My father actually drove himself to the doctor's office that afternoon and was rushed by ambulance to the hospital. By the time my sister was notified and got to my parents' house, my mother had fallen out of bed and was on the floor of their bedroom. She had been there for quite a while.
I went to stay with my father after he was allowed to go home from the hospital. My sister was taking care of my mother at her own home since she lived in town. I had planned on staying with my father for a few weeks hoping to help him get well. In the middle of my first week there, I called my husband on his cell phone since I couldn't reach him at home and it was late in the evening. He was with our daughter in the emergency room. Eight hours away from me. As it turned out, Lily had to have an emergency appendectomy. I thank God that my husband is such a wonderful and capable father and that he has such a good relationship with our girls. I can't imagine how I would have been able to bear to be so far away from my child during such a major event in her life if he hadn't been with her the entire time. She had to stay in the hospital for a couple of days and my husband stayed on a cot near her bed the entire time. As soon as she was safely in the care of some of our good friends, he came to get me. He was exhausted. I was torn between wanting to care for my family in two different places at once. I ended up only staying with my father for a week. My mother came home a few days before I left. My father would not hear of her going into a nursing home.
As it turns out, my mother can't even stay in a nursing home because she doesn't have a "medically treatable" condition. So my mother is at home right now. She will not eat. She cannot see or walk or speak. She just screams all the time. My father, feeling defeated and exhausted, finally tried to get my mother into a nursing home, but they only let her stay for a few weeks before they sent her home.
I am tired. I told someone recently that "it is well with my soul". And it is. It is well with my soul. This is just such tiresome business. This living.
Queen of Tarts
Blogger Friend School - Cookie Exchange Most people LOVE cookies and the holidays are just a perfect time of year to share our family favorite cookie recipes.The assignment this week is to post your recipe and any family history behind the recipe.
If you have time to take pictures, please share a visual :)
Better yet, make it a homeschool project, put on your aprons, and have a baking day. Language Arts can be reading the recipe and spelling the name of the cookie....Math can be measuring the ingredients and guessing how many cookies your recipe will "actually"...Science can be experimenting with different food colors, Art can be decorating the cookies, and History can be sharing with your children about your time growing up and baking cookies.
Our favorite part of baking day is Snack Time!...BUT don't forget to toss in a good Home Economics lesson and teach proper kitchen clean up. Have fun!
I suppose that some people would not consider this a "cookie" in the classic sense; but my mother made tarts every year for Christmas along with every other type of cookie you could imagine. These were always my favorites and, I might add, are only made the better by a pot of hot tea.
You will need to try and find some tart tins, if you don't already have a supply of them. True tart tins are exceptionally difficult to find in the United States. They are not mini-muffin tins. They are very shallow compared to a mini-muffin tin. Here is a picture of what a modern-day tart tin looks like:
The tart tins that I have seem to be a bit more shallow than this one appears, but they were handed down from my grandmother to my mother and then to me. Williams-Sonoma used to have nice tart tins, but I don't think they carry them any more. One could ask, though. Otherwise, I'm afraid you'll have to order them from England.
COCONUT JAM TARTS
(Makes about 40 tarts)
Pastry
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup shortening (Crisco)
1/3 cup milk
Coconut
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup coconut
Line tart tin with pastry. Put about 1/2 teaspoon of raspberry jam in each. Top with about 1 teaspoon of coconut mixture. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
Lightbulb
|
|
|
Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Visit participants. |
|
