Praise

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul praise Him for He is my health and salvation!
All ye who hear, Now to His temple draw near;
Join me in glad adoration!

Joachim Neander 1650-1680

I love the old hymns! When I am up or when I am down, there is a hymn that my soul and spirit can sing. I am teaching them to my children since they are not singing these acclaimations of truthful doctrine in church as regularly as when I was a child. I have found songsandhymns.org to be helpful in providing the actual music to sing as well as information about the hymn and hymnwriter.

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Before I close off on this lovely Sunday afternoon, I must report a story that I am now hiding in my heart as one "for the books". When young, my first children would eat about anything and evidently I was too smug, too soon. Along comes Charlotte who is an extremely picky eater. She has humbled me on more than one occassion! Today it was about a green bean, and yes I did say green bean, as in single bean. She made all kinds of faces and refused to eat it because it had seeds. My 25 year old son was having Sunday dinner with us and he was the cheerleader in motivating her and getting her across the finish line......eating the green bean. Now with total succes under his belt he proceeds to tell his father and me what we must do to keep up this system he has devised for Charlotte's future gastronomic progress. Just you wait...........

Dog Trials

There is always something new to learn. Today it was Dog Agility Trials 101. When we raised sheep we owned a border collie. He cared for us dearly; he cared nothing for herding sheep. But we were interested enough to go on little excursions to see herding trials. It fascinated us. The dog trial we attended this afternoon, however, was unlike the herding trials in several ways.All the people handling their dogs were so friendly and helpful to share a wealth of information to a family who knows nothing about dog handling and trials.......(or I should say knew nothing).
Rose loved the elegance of the collies and implored me to hold the camera, strap around neck, to take this photograph. This dog is waiting for the sign from her handler to tell her to start the event. Since it was the middle of the afternoon, snacks were "woofed" down so as not to miss a single class.
The biggest treat by far were the Pembroke Corgis! The entire purpose of this adventure.

Another photo beseeching to be taken......she has a willing mom. I see a future for you Mr. Putter. And I will never say never.....but, I do not have plans to train a dog! Absolutely not, remember I am a cat person.

Vegetable Supper

We are still enjoying the summer's harvest. For the past two nights we have had dinners of vegetables only. No one complains. Sliced cucumbers are a favorite. Add a pinch of sugar, salt, pepper, and white wine vinegar. I could eat the entire bowl all by myself! But I will control myself and share.

My mouth waters when I think of tomato tart. Nothing fancy, but the burst of flavors created with just a few simple ingredients makes a savory supper indeed.

Tomato Tart

Prepare pastry dough. Roll to fit pan approximately 1/2 inch thick.

Brush lightly with olive oil

Slice tomatoes and place on dough. Any type of tomato will work, but I find romas or a smaller variety work best.

Drizzle olive oil and add chopped fresh basil.

Top with grated parmesan cheese.

Bake 375 degrees 25-30 minutes.

Sunrise to Sunset

Charlotte sleeps tight and I just love her morning hair! She greets me at my quiet place every morning with a warm hug and a sweet kiss.
Five years ago I owned a small hobby sheep farm. I raised Romney which I am still convinced are the most beautiful long wool sheep in the world. Before acquiring our little flock, we would make trips to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival the first weekend in May. Here we dreamed big and hard of owning sheep....one day. For three years I would look forward to adding the fanciful artwork on a mug from this potter, Marilu, to my collection. You know I put these mugs up when I moved here and I really do not know the motivation or reasoning for doing so. But they are out again and I use them every morning to hold my coffee. Like I have said on an earlier post, I am revisiting many aspects of my life right now....sheep mugs, yes. But for now I leave the wool boxed up in the attic.
Rose had a sleepover at her friend's house last night. They live 30 minutes away so I made a delightful road trip over to pick her up this evening. The setting sun was our scenery on the way home. Little towns with RR tracks and water towers are part of the charm of small town America.

"Tis a gift to be simple

Getting gifts from these simple things today:

Rising with the beginning of light.

Cold orange juice with seltzer water in stemmed goblet.

Walking with Mr. Putter, little corgi legs with long human legs, uphill and down.

Observing the pears weighing down the tree branches, thoughts of

pear preserves on hot biscuits made from scratch.

Sitting in newly painted cranberry rocker on the porch.

Penning a letter to a friend on plain white notebook paper.

Eating a vine-ripened tomato sandwich with mayonaise for lunch.


Inspecting farm-fresh brown eggs, all matchless in shape and color.

I am truly thankful.

some shine while others scratch

Errands to run this morning. Charlotte wore her smocked dress with the antique buttons I found in Grandma's button box, and on her feet she wore shiny silver shoes. Alan and Rose were appalled at such display of gaudiness. I just smiled.




They have already forgotten what it is like to be five.



This afternoon I made a quick stop to pick up a another prescription for Rose due to her development of another itchy rash (maybe medicine related?) When I need prescriptions I head to the Apothecary Shoppe. Unlike the chain pharmacies that are on every corner, this little shop, tucked amongst towering oak trees, is like stepping back in time. I like the word apothecary, it is so obliviously distinguished.

Sweetened Iced Tea at it's Best

"Ecstasy is a glass full of tea
and a piece of sugar in the mouth."
Alexander Puskin


Growing up we would only drink iced tea during the summer months. The iced tea would be served along with a gracefully long- handled iced tea spoon with which you would add sugar one teaspoonful at a time according to your taste. I never really appreciated iced tea because the sugar would all settle to the bottom of the glass and it was like having a piece of sugar in the mouth when you get to the bottom of the glass,but the trick was enduring the nonsugared portion of the tea you must imbibe before getting to that sweetness.



Then I moved to the state of my husband's birth, and these people are the connoisseur's of sweetened iced tea! Drinking tea all year round was the first shocker, but by far the most pleasant surprise was" sweetened iced tea", meaning tea that was sweetened while it was hot and poured over ice. Now the sweet level is a matter of taste and I find that most around here prefer it a little sweeter than I do, but nonetheless, tea is my beverage of choice and I will choose it over anything else anytime and anyplace. Yes, it is truly ecstasy.
Note: Be sure not to order sweetened iced tea in my home state because you will get a glass of unsweetened tea and a long-handled spoon served on the side....trust me I sometimes forget!

A Good and Easy Recipe for Sweetened Iced Tea(2 quarts)

Pour 6 cups boiling hot water over 8 individual or 5 family- sized tea bags.

Cover and steep 20-30 minutes.

Put 1 cup sugar in pitcher and pour hot tea directly over the sugar( more if your sweet tooth requires more).

Stir until all sugar is dissolved , then fill the remaining pitcher with cold water. (I have the water run over the used tea bags in order to use up every bit of the tea water....why waste it?).

Lemon and mint leaves are an added treat.

Nasturtiums

Nasturtiums,
a garden's gem. They heighten everything in my garden
and my salad.
Nasturtiums are truly one of my most favorite flowers to plant every spring. If flowers could display quality traits I believe nasturtiums would speak of meekness yet strength. Even the large round bumpy seeds give me pleasure as I can set them so perfectly in the prepared dirt. One does not have to wait long for the sprouting, the required patience only begins after the leaves are full. Then like magic there's the first flower and the stage is set for the parade of blooms throughout the hot days of summer. The colors seem a mystery as they coordinate such shades of bright orange, pale yellow and dazzling red. If you have never planted them, you should.

Knobby News

In an attempt to update our kitchen, my dear husband and I decided that new knobs on the cherry wood cabinets would most certainly give the desired affect. Replacing them was not as easy as it initially appeared though, but after about two weeks all 54 knobs were successfully replaced .....yes, count them, 54!

Dining with country style

Not wanting to miss an opportunitywe dined outside this summer evening. Charlotte "decorated" the table with coreopsis beside each plate. That's my girl! Fresh picked Silver Queen corn is dreamed of all winter. I mixed herbs of salad burnet, parsley and basil in with the butter.

The table's centerpiece of daisies, oregano blooms, coreopsis and sage were randomly placed in a mason jar. A bee later gathered nectar from the blooms while we watched nature in living color before our eyes.
All done.

From one glory to another

A better morning could not have been ordered. Last night's storm brought a respite in the heat wave so sitting outside while Rose had her riding lesson gave me time to sew on Charlotte's dress, one that I had smocked with blueberry floss. I hemmed and sewed on buttons

while sweet Charlotte sat beside me and counted. Usborne's 1001 Things To Spot books are wonderful to keep in the car because they may be pulled out anytime and anyplace to fill empty waiting moments. I must confess even my easily bored mind enjoys the activity these books extend.

A 22 year old American soldier's body was laid to rest today. He was killed on Sunday, July 13 while on active duty in Afghanistan. I provided food for the family and attended the funeral this afternoon. He was honored as any deserving hero should be honored by the country he so proudly served.