canon rebel revisited

We live in a culture where everything is demanding our attention and where restful attention to any one thing is counter-cultural and out of sync with most of our habits.   ~unknown

On my closet shelf rested my Canon EOS Rebel, and I was ready to pick it up for photos once again in place of my smartphone.

 This was last week.  Nothing like living in the past😊... but last week was full and last week was so lovely.

Two springs ago I was fortunate enough to be in Louisville when the local Iris Society was having an iris bulb sale. I was able to get some bulbs of this beauty.

Nigella damascena, or love-in-a-mist as I prefer to call it, is bursting forth everywhere throughout my gardening areas. I love the effect it creates, especially by the back step. This one is white, but I also have periwinkle blue.

On Friday of last week the Precepts study of Matthew was completed, thus the ladies came for lunch as is the habit we have established. Since eggs are in abundance right now I made two quiches and served this with a seven-layer salad alongside a cucumber/onion salad. Dessert  was baked bananas served warm over vanilla ice cream with a crisp butter cookie on the side. Here is the recipe. Truly, if you like bananas it is the most easy, yet elegant dessert, to serve at any time or season.

And this is this week, thus far...

Light purple irises at Good Drop Ridge...

Immediately after my walk last evening I came up the ridge and the sun was in the west shining though the delicate petals creating  magical shadows all their own.

And I also observed the sunlight scattering through the colored- glass of the hummingbird feeder.

The white peonies are just opening and the pink ones are on the verge.  If you grow peonies you have certainly seen ants crawling on the flowers. These flowers provide food for the ants and in turn the ants protect the blossoms from other insects that would feed on the flowers.

Myrtle whose green eyes I was trying so hard to capture, simultaneous brightness and warmth are the green eyes of a feline. She was afraid of the camera so I was unable to get a good photo.

Our garlic bed through the wire fence. Without fencing around our vegetable gardens we would be compromised terribly by the wildlife, and the chickens as I do let them out to free-range for several hours in the later part of the day. As it is some critter got into our potato bed and ate half the planted  potatoes...it was fenced, we suspect a raccoon as the culprit.

Hallelujah Christ Arose!

 I got up early, not quite light, and looked out my bedroom window to see if I could see the sunrise...not yet. But the memories of Sunrise Services of my childhood and even up until about twenty years reigned strong, though I am not inclined to want to go out that early in the morning "dressed and in my right mind" these days. Actually, I have not heard of a Sunrise Service in quite some time in my area. Filling a mug with hot coffee out to the front porch rocker I sat to pray and to meditate. Oh, and to sing too! "Up from the ground He arose"... I love these day that we celebrate our Savior's Resurrection.

After almost filling a pew at church with family and close friends, we came home to the tantalizing smell of Roasted Lamb wafting through the house. I am discovering the added joy of having older children to help with some of the food prep and table arrangements. There were "stations" of those providing charcuterie boards and salads...

And the crew outside that set up in tables under the oak trees.

I finally became smart and assigned a different colored egg for each grandchild. Each child then is told to only hunt for their own color-assigned eggs. That was my part, others hid the eggs and helped by running around with them all over the place...back, front and side yards until they found them, though I expect I will find a few lone plastic eggs in the week to come.

The food was kept inside on the dining room table to keep it free of fallen or flying things and such. Then there was the concern spoken regarding the oak pollen seeds falling into the drink glasses or ice. I hopefully assuage those fears with tea towels.

"But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead  shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwells in you."

Roman 8:11

The annual opening of the Resurrection eggs and marveling at the grandchildren telling the story. It blesses my heart to hear the truth retold over and over, from one generation to another.

sacred work, indeed

Holy Week. Even as I read the extra Scriptures and daily devotionals, and even as I meditate on this week and the historical and spiritual happenings that occurred  over 2,000 years ago... remembering the time my  Lord Christ Jesus went to the cross... I also continue on with the spring cleaning of my home that this time of year demands.  Deep cleaning the home and mindful of His redemptive work, a sinner saved by His grace. I worship and I discover immense sacredness in the spring cleaning. 

Since family and friends will gather here to celebrate this weekend, the screened porch needed to be cleaned. Look at the pollen! It coated everything with a thick layer. What a mess.

I removed the wicker furniture and hosed it all down. All this was done all by myself...solomente. I was very tired by the end of the day with all the furniture hauling and scrubbing and such.

The sitting/eating side of the porch was cleaned the next day. Of course, the pollen is still with us, but not to the point it has been thankfully .

I set up a little table..tea for two. Just because it invites.

noteworthy

noteworthy: worthy of or attracting attention especially because of some special excellence.

If this definition can be applied in regard to my own prosaically lived life then it is equally acknowledged that what I might consider noteworthy might seem rather dull to others. Nonetheless, there are many reasons for noting  distinct happenings and going-ons in one's life. Warning: What I might consider noteworthy might totally creep you out!😊

 Snakes, if you live in the south you learn to look out for them in the warm weather months, beginning around late March/ early April until right before the first frost. As I walk in warm weather my eyes are glancing all around and usually I am praying I will see any snakes if they are near enough to frighten or harm. We also have a couple of venomous snakes, mainly the Copperhead, which are also seen every summer. I have some answers to prayers on seeing these dangerous snakes.

 One evening right at dusk my husband and I were out walking the ridge, quick as lightening a Black Racer literally raced across our path coming from the field. It was fast and noteworthy as we saw the speed of it whipping less than three feet from us. It is much more common to see the slower slithering Black Rat snake, never missing a summer of having one of them in our yard or surrounding areas, but I had yet to see the  Black Racer until now.

And I must also say, we never, never go into the woods in the summer. One reason the ticks and chiggers, the other the snakes. We keep grass and fields mowed and also realize snakes help keep the rat and mouse population down. I must see some form of silver lining in such things.

the spirit of youth

"April has put a spirit of youth in everything.

                                                      ~William Shakespeare

 And with this "spirit of youth" birthing in my heart, my sixty plus bones longed to get outside to delve into the inviting soil as I planted lettuce, beet, pea, and bunching onion seeds as well as gathering the ordinary mop, vacuum, and old clean rags to begin the room by room spring cleaning inside.

But there is also the continual habit of observing, listening, smelling, and feeling the change of the season...new beginnings.

The celebration of His Resurrection is rousing in my heart too. The daily devotional readings, the vivid images imparted in my mind from the famous paintings of artists I've studied over the years, and the familiar hymns I find myself singing throughout the day.

And I've also completed a winter project, this pair of socks  began in 2019. But finally by sheer force of will I am happy to report they are finished! I did not appreciate knitting with the wool, though it is a lovely yarn with pleasing colors, nor did I like the *Signature needles that I used for knitting them. These two things evidently made it easy for me to slip them into a basket until I happened upon them this winter and realized I must, yes must, finish them. I am inserting a photo of the heel, each sock heel was knitted differently. I did the one on the left and maybe I was not wearing my reading glasses or I did not read the directions closely enough, whatever, by the time I got to the other sock I realized I was supposed to do the heel with ribbing. It is intended to be more "wear-worthy". Rather than redo the first one I decided no one will notice and I did actually want to knit the heel with the ribbing. That is my sock knitting mismatch tale. But they are finished and very comfortably wearable.

 One of the books I am currently reading along.

Embroidering is the current gentle art that is stirring my spirit. My sewing group met at my home Saturday before last and I was able to begin a new project from this book, my third creation.

I enjoyed listening to this podcast one evening as I was cleaning up the supper dishes. Hannah Anderson was the guest sharing one of her books, Turning of Days: Lessons from Nature, Season and Spirit. It is on my list of books to read.

How has the "spirit of youth" engaged you?