Friday, February 29, 2008

An Extra Day to the Year



Have to post on this extra day of 2008.
Did you know that ladies can ask men
to marry them in Feb. in a leap year?
Really! Dates back to St. Patrick.

I started a wonderful new book that
I had seen this summer in a book store.
A dear friend's letter arrived this week
commending this book.
I bought it yesterday: The Art of the Commonplace
by Wendell Berry. I had tears this afternoon
as the quiet in my house came about me
and I was on his land in Kentucky:

"My language increased and strengthened
and sent my mind in to a place like a live
root system.....I saw my body and my daily
motions as brief coherences and
articulations of the energy of the place,
which would fall back into it like
the leaves in autumn."

"Perhaps it is to prepare to hear someday
the music of the spheres that I am
always training my ears to the music
of the streams. There is indeed a music
in the streams, but it is not for the hurried.
It has to be loitered by and imagined. "

I was changed by his worldview,
his mind that changed because of the place.
Kentucky for him. The beauty. He knows
what we've lost.

"The ear must imagine an impossible
patience in order to grasp even the
unimaginableness of such music."

http://eighthdaybooks.com/ccp51/media/images/product_category/artcommonplace.jpg

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Bearing Fruit


Ezra, the Scribe





Ezra,descendant of Aaron, was a scribe skilled in
the law of Moses. (Ezra 7: 6) He was a teacher
of God's law, composed legal documents, took
dictation. He went up to Jerusalem " for Ezra had
set his heart to study the Law of the Lord and
to do it and to teach his statues and rules in Israel."
(vs. 10) Then in Nehemiah, chap 8 at the Water Gate
( Jerusalem)
( vs. 2) Ezra brought the Law of Moses and reads it.

Nehemiah.13 : 3 "As soon as the people of heard the law..."

The commentary ( The Reformation Study Bible) to
the above verse says:
Though Ezra was not on the scene, his labor is still
bearing fruit. His job was successfully completed
when the people themselves were reading from the
Law and understanding it on their own.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Valentine's Tea last week



Last Monday a dear friend of mine
gave a Valentine's tea for 6 girls!
They had quiche , scones, jello, celery
with peanut butter, heart cookies ,
pink m&m's, lots of tea and delicious
oranges! Then they made boxes. Tiny
ones out of greeting cards. So much
fun! My daughter is the tallest and just
got glasses! Then she took them off for
the tea. Thank you "Miss D." for all you
did to make them feel loved and special
for Valentine's Day!







Friday, February 22, 2008

Persuasion Letter

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That letter in the book was spoken
in the film. The great line is here :
"You pierce my soul."

Capt. Wentworth to Anne :

"I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such
means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half
agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious
feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart
even more your own, than when you almost broke it eight years
and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman,
that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you.
Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but
never inconstant. You alone have brought me to Bath. For you
alone I think and plan. -- Have you not seen this? Can you fail
to have understood my wishes? -- I had not waited even these
ten days, could I have read your feelings, as I think you must
have penetrated mine. I can hardly write. I am every instant
hearing something which overpowers me. You sink your voice,
but I can distinguish the tones of that voice, when they would
be lost on others. -- Too good, too excellent creature! You do us
justice indeed. You do believe that there is true attachment and
constancy among men. Believe it to be most fervent, most undeviating in

F. W.

I must go, uncertain of my fate; but I shall return hither,
or follow your party, as soon as possible. A word, a look will
be enough to decide whether
I enter your father's house this
evening, or never."

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Those Tags


Will post some Valentine's Tea Party
photos soon, when we get them off the
camera and onto this computer! A dear
friend gave a tea which included an
invitation to Emma to invite two friends.
AND another friend who did the same thing.
They all dressed up and had lunch on
a beautifully set table . After eating ,they
made tiny boxes from old greeting cards.
The ones on the table held M&M's.
So we came home to hunt for old
greeting cards which I do have! Always
think I can do something with them .
Well prepared! Emma has made them
all week.


Today I tore apart a soft ,wine wool
jacket from Goodwill, gotten on my wool
hunt during the tea. It is the color of a
deep French Merlot and the sheep must
have been so , so soft. You want to sleep
on this wool. Only two large buttons
on this gorgeous jacket.
They went into my button jar with all the
buttons from the other
jackets and skirts for this hooked rug.
The TAG said MADE in MOLDOVA. Now
only if you know someone who has been there
would you know where this country is. AND
I do. Mission trip last summer.
This may help:

Location of Moldova
Location of Moldova (orange)

General map of Moldova

I'm saving the tags for her!


Sunday, February 17, 2008

People Need the Lord



Back from a free Steve Green concert
at a beautiful large church here in the
city. I've heard him several times at the
same church in the past 10 years. One
time he was with Michael Card. I always
remember Steve's voice. It fills a sanctuary
like an orchestra does. You step into heaven
when he pours out his praises unto the Lord.
I sat in front of him in a Sunday School class
at Christ Community Church in Franklin, Tenn.
(George Grant's class) So gracious, so real .
I'm strengthened to live more victoriously
tomorrow and the next from his praises.
You can comment on his blog if you go to his site.
I love this ~
he calls it his journal! His wonderful song:


People need the Lord, people need
the Lord.
At the end of broken dreams, He's
the open door.
People need the Lord, people need
the Lord.
When will we realize, people need
the Lord?


Friday, February 15, 2008

A Word about Praising


From Reflections on the Psalms
by Lewis ( mentioned in a recent
Tim Keller sermon from Redeemer
of NYC....his new book is out!)
chapter called A Word About Praising:

"It is along these lines that I find it
easiest to understand the Christian
doctrine that "Heaven" is a state in which
angels now, and men hereafter, are
permanently employed in praising God.
This does not mean , as it can so dismally
suggest, that it is like 'being in church'.
For our 'services' both in their conduct and in
our power to participate , are merely attempts
at worship....We are not riders but pupils in
the riding school ..
To see what the doctrine really means , we
must suppose ourselves to be in perfect love
with God ~~ drunk with , drowned in,
dissolved by, that delight which ,
far from remaining pent up within ourselves
as incommunicable,hence
hardly tolerable, bliss, flows out from us
incessantly again in effortless and perfect
expression....

The Scotch catechism says that man's chief
end is 'to glorify God and enjoy Him forever"
But shall we then know that these things
are the same. Fully to enjoy is to glorify.
In commanding us to glorify Him ,
God is inviting us to enjoy Him.

Meanwhile of course we are merely, as Donne says,
tuning our instruments."


Liverpool Museum:

'Angel Playing a Flageolet'

Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898)

'Angel Playing with a Flageolet', Edward Burne-Jones
Zoom into the detail of this painting


Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Different Elevation



Open-Air Painter, Carl Larsson, 1886
Carl Larsson
Swedish, 1853-1919
Open-Air Painter, 1886

We have rain. Lots of it tonight.
Evan called from the mountains.
They have snow, but he wasn't sure
if it would stick. Great for his snow-
boarding this weekend. Fake snow
works though , here in the South.
It warms my heart to hear him
say he's reading a BOOK. He was in
a solarium on campus. Trees, sky
and light and snow! Without
a literature class, college students
don't read books. My oldest in
Graduate School is given extra credit
in a Marketing class JUST to read a book.
Any book! That professor knows.
Making readers and thinkers
was one of our hopes in homeschooling.
Evan did say about his history class:
"Why do they always want to look back
at history from a modern perspective?!!
That's crazy!" Can't fool him!


Got three great books for all under $1.o0
total at the library tonight:
Gilead, Complete Poems and Plays of TS Elliot,
and The Hawk That Dare Not Hunt By Day
( about Tyndale's smuggling Bibles in 16th
century England and Europe). Gilead was
a dime ~~ can't beat that . It's on the list
for our Book Club.





Monday, February 11, 2008

Being Human


The house got painted with
a few minor changes. It looks
fresh.

The rug making got started!
My coop kids loved it and got
further than we had hoped.
They are hooking. Mine still
sits undone ~~ it will this
week. I have a day off on
Thursday!

Valentine's are being made.

The title comes from my mind.
I had sent a student some infor-
mation on her old email, so went
into the Address Book and saw
so many names. People I don't know!
"Being Human" means I should know
them to have them in my address book.
It's the title of a really good book too.
Being Human by Ranald Macaulay
and Jerram Barrs. I saw the two of
them , two Brits, walking very fast,
long-time friends , at the 50th
Anniversary L'Abri Conference. I've heard
them both several times. It's now back
in print! YEAH!

From the back cover:

Who is right about what it means to be human?

The Greeks envisioned an ideal humanity. Their ethereal sculptures depict a transcendent, spiritual model. But today many scientists view human beings as mere machines. And some believe we will be able to make machines with human-like intelligence in the near future.

The biblical view of humanity is different from both of these. For the writers of Scripture, to be human is to be in the image of God.

Being Human The Nature of Spiritual Experience Jerram Barrs Ranald MacCaulay



Thursday, February 7, 2008

Those Valentines


Have been thinking upon
Valentine's for a few weeks,
but haven't sat down to make
them. I've already gotten 2 in
the mail. Such lovely friends!
What a lost art. But before that
I'm starting my rug!

Not my rug but I like this!

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Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Pegging Out


From The School at Thrush Green
by Miss Read:

"Miss Agnes Watson and Miss Fogerty
agreed that the weekly wash would benefit
from a spell in the fresh air, and Agnes was
busy pegging out petticoats , night-gowns,
and other garments, when she was hailed
by a well-known voice on the other side
of the hedge. It was her old friend Isobel,
who lived next door."

When Agnes had heard that her old college
friend of many years was going to be her
neighbor, her joy was unbounded."

....( to the end of that hedge visit..)

"And I must finish my pegging out,"
agreed Agnes , and the two women parted
company.

What a warming thing friendship was,
thought Agnes, fastening two pairs of
respectable knickers to the line.
Even such a brief glimpse of dear Isobel
enlivened the day."

I love that last paragraph.
Warming friendship to enliven
the day!

Pegging. Pegs are clothespins .
New British word to my vocabulary!


Thrush Green is an imaginary place.
It is in the sleepy village of Lulling in
Cotswold. That is not imaginary.
A sort of Mitford.

Cotswolds
The village of Bibury features Cotswold stone cottages








Monday, February 4, 2008

Giving Someone Something They Want


Another book story is brewing.
Saturday, a friend in Tenn. called
me out of the blue and in the
midst of catching up , she told me
the title of a good girl book.
Journey for a Princess by Margaret
Leighton. She was going to order a "not
so good copy" because you know out
of print books can be costly. SO after
dinner, I got online to search. I found a
reasonably priced one and ordered it.
Later I thought to myself,
"What if this was HER book?"
I emailed her to ask her . It wasn't from
the particular bookstore, she emailed back.
I just had a person's name , not a bookstore
from the online used books site.
WELL, tonight they emailed confirmation of
posting and there it was: THE name of the
bookstore. I had also seen one on another
site which was double the $$,
but still way under the 50.00 starting
point of most of the copies. She had even called
the bookstore and they were so sorry it had
been sold 4 hours earlier. She
said " Oh , that's a friend. She's going to read
it and send it to me!"

SO I called her tonight to say how
good God is. I now have two of this book
coming! One is for her ( now a gift from me)
and one for me. Now I will see which copy is
better and of course, good friends give
the better to the other!



The story is about King Alfred's daughter.
The first King of England's princess!


Another book story. There are others.


Journey for a Princess (Junior Literary Guild Selection)

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Cutting up jackets


How good of the Lord to have
a label in the first wool jacket
that I'm cutting apart . The label
says:

BLOCK ISLAND PETITES

Those two words bring a sense
of wonder, nourishment and
tranquility to my soul. Memories
of family vacations where time stood
still. Just go there and it will happen to
you!

I need to save it to sew on the back of
this hooked rug!


Block Island, Rhode Island

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Friday, February 1, 2008

Finishing The Odyssey



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"When young Dawn with her red-rose fingers
shone once more...."
hit my eyes . Then she came again, many
times with these words, over and over again.
Another day comes and " Dawn rose
on her golden throne." All throughout
Homer's Odyssey, he writes a new day this
way.

I don't think I will look at DAWN again
without thinking
of the beauty of Homer's personification.
Nathaniel Hawthorne does that in his
House of Seven Gables as the house itself
becomes personified.