Mostly From The Archives

The pews in our church, like those in many churches, have racks on the back of the pew in front. These are used to hold hymnals and other materials used in the worship service.  Each of our pew racks contains a Bible (RSV), a hymnal, and a Book of Common Prayer.

The rack for the pew in which I normally sit contains a Book of Common Prayer that often had been used by one of my dear friends, C.J., now deceased.  This particular prayer book has many 'sticky arrows' that C.J. used to mark the most often used services and prayers.  Although they are easily removed, leaving no residue, we have chosen to leave them there; they are so "C.J."-ish.

Using this prayer book always makes me think of her and, consequently, of a story she told me, which I recounted here in my early blogging days.  Since today has been a rather 'fractious' day,  I'm going to rerun that story.  If you've already read it, move on, and thank you for visiting; if not, I hope you enjoy it --  here.  The photo below will give you a clue as to what the story is about.

Bourbon Whiskey Bottle from Gettysburg - Wikipedia

Tomorrow is also a day.

Happiness Is...

Images copyright Stampin' Up!
card created by Pat -Arkansas

I'm happy tonight because:

(1) The Diocesan Convention in Little Rock is over. Our church was in charge of 'hospitality', meaning coffee, tea, fruit, veggies, cookies and snacks of all sorts.  We didn't have to provide the noon meal; it was a catered box lunch.  I served behind the scenes washing dishes for over five hours. Let me hasten to say that I actually like to wash dishes. The convention had 300 attendees, and I washed about 1,200 glass coffee cups, and sink after sink full of water glasses, silverware, serving utensils, serving trays, bowls, etc. 

(2) Stamp Camp has come and gone.  My stamping partner got the show underway since I was still at the convention, but I arrived in time to do a bit of visiting with the attendees and to help take it down and pack it up.

(3) Gardening Daughter's husband called right after noon and invited me to have supper with the family since he knew I was working at the convention and Stamp Camp most of the day and probably wouldn't feel like preparing a meal. I gratefully accepted. Good supper!

(4) Gardening Daughter rubbed my feet before I came home.

(5) I have already set all my clocks ahead for Daylight Saving Time (which I abhor!) and have set my alarm clock for a reasonable hour.  

Tomorrow is also a day.

Quiet Day

Today was spent quietly. I assisted with two Ash Wednesday services at my church, one at noon, the other at 6:30.  Before, and in between services, I worked on cutting paper and assembling card parts for the Stamp Camp that's coming up on Saturday.

I had the pleasure of my granddaughter Sweetie's company for a couple of hours in mid-afternoon while her mother was on an errand.  Sweetie was a bit under the weather, "I have allergies, or something, Grandma," and was mostly quiet. We watched a bit of the older Disney movie The Lion King, but it didn't hold her interest (she's probably seen it a dozen or more times) so we moved on to other things.

While working in my craft room, which has windows from which I can see into the back yard, I thought I spied a new visitor to my bird feeder. It was colored exactly like a male Northern Cardinal, but I couldn't see a crest on its head. I watched it for some minutes -- rounded-top head, no crest. I came to the computer to see if I could find any reference to such a thing. No.  When I went back to the windows, I saw it again at one of the feeders. It grabbed a seed and flew into a nearby bush and POP!  Up went the crest!  I didn't know that Cardinals could relax their crest feathers that way.

That's about it. I lead such an exciting life!

Tomorrow is also a day.

Kolorful Koi

It has been a gray day.  Not exactly cold -- but not warm either -- and very gray.  Low-lying clouds brought in by the advancing cold front (or perhaps from the advancing warm front coming up from the Gulf of Mexico) hung in the air, depositing a fine mist upon everything.  Not enough to work the windshield wipers, but enough to be noticed, and felt upon the skin.

I worked this morning in the church office, as I do on every Monday (except when I declare myself a holiday.)  I finished and mailed the year-end required reports to the state withheld tax division and to the Internal Revenue Service, calculated and prepared the January payroll checks, and remitted the withheld federal taxes to the appropriate governmental agency.  It's all done online now, which in someways makes it easier, and in other ways more difficult.  I've worked with payroll, and relevant taxes, for over 40 years, but it takes this old dog a bit longer to learn new tricks.  I frequently have to refer to the several pages of paperwork received from the IRS last fall to be sure I'm doing it properly.

After leaving the church, I made a quick run by Gardening Daughter's home. She, hubby and the youngest child are in Texas visiting their son, who is stationed (oh, so sad...not!) at the Coast Guard Station on South Padre Island, leaving the care of the home in the hands of their daughters, aged 23 and 17.  Older daughter has a job nearby and the 17 yr old is a junior in high school.  Grandma, that would be me, makes  two or three runs to the house during the hours they are both away to allow the dogs (Buddy and Snuggles) to roam the large fenced yard for ten or fifteen minutes.  I don't mind this small duty at all.  I'm just delighted that last year, after seven years of living in the house, they finally fenced the yard. I used to have to walk the dogs on leashes to let them do their business.  That's OK in warm, dry weather, not so thrilling when it's cold and damp.

When I got home, I felt the need for a bit of color. First, I made a flowery greeting card for a far away friend who needs a special hug.  We stampers like to say that "A handmade card is a hug with a fold in the middle."   I got the card in the mail and, still seeking some color, I started looking  through some of my old computer files containing photos I took a couple of years ago. Lots and lots of flowers, but they were not what I wanted.  Then I came across the one above.  It was just what I was looking for.  And, this one:

 

These photos were taken at a local garden nursery which I visited in the company of Gardening Daughter and my then 4 yr old granddaughter. I was captivated by the nursery's beautiful Koi pond, and took several photographs of it that afternoon.  I learned from reading the Wikipedia article (the link provided above) that Koi are among the longest-living vertebrates on Earth, some surviving for over 200 years!

I feel quite uplifted by these splashes of color!

More, later. Tomorrow is also a day.

Kairos Card Count, So Far

Friend "B" has used her time as a volunteer in the church office to put Kairos cards and envelopes together. As of this morning, there are 1,031 cards! Yay!

There will be some more to add to that group before the card-making is done. We may have to rent a U-Haul to get them all there! (just kidding, but they will fill a large box.)

Our minister is delighted with the results of our card-making efforts, and the ladies of the church who assisted feel the effort was well worth-while.

More, later.

Stuff and Junk

"Stuff and Junk" meaning that I have nothing of importance to say, but am posting anyway, just so my faithful readers (bless you) will know that I'm still alive.

I've been absent from the blogs for over a week now, neither posting nor commenting very much, although I have sneaked a quick look at a few of my favorite blogs from time to time.

It's year-end wrap up and new year start up at the church where I volunteer as treasurer, and I'm much involved in both, with a few more days to go before I can draw even a shallow sigh of relief.

Although I'm scheduled to "man" the office only from 9 to noon, I had a full 9 to 5 job today with no lunch break (I did raid the church kitchen and found some cheese and crackers, and made a pot of coffee; I'm in no danger of starvation) since I sloughed off last week and didn't go in on the MLK holiday. (One advantage to being the Monday office volunteer is that most US holidays are scheduled on Monday.)

The anticipated icy precipitation started about fifteen minutes before I left the church office. I had to take some mail to the post office located about 4 miles from the church, and by the time I arrived there my car was covered with a light coating of ice. I haven't taken time to check the weather forecast to see if much accumulation is anticipated, but will do so shortly. There's nothing at all I can do about freezing rain (nor any other sort of weather), but it focuses my worrying.

I would very much like to have some sort of wood-burning device in my home in case the electricity goes out, which it is wont to do when we have ice storms. I have a gas furnace, but the ignition and fan that distributes the heat is electricity-driven, so that's that. My gas stove oven won't work, either, if there's no electricity. For all my gas appliances, I might just as well live in an all-electric home when the power is out.

It's at times like these that a tropical island looks really good!

I'm Still Here

A sincere thank you to friends who have been missing me here in Blogland. You are appreciated.

Well, so much for my resolve to post every day. Real life has reared its head, again, putting the best-laid blogging plans of this mouse on hold.

To answer the most important questions first: Snuggles received her first heart worm treatment, a painful shot, yesterday. She made it through that OK, but will be administered oral medication this afternoon which could be fatal. So.... we still don't know if she's going to make it. I've asked my daughter to keep me posted (so I can keep you posted) on her progress, or lack thereof. I'm a praying person, and Snuggles is in my prayers. I got really attached to her during the few days she was in my care.

It's been a busy and sad week. I learned early Monday morning that my friend C.J., the wonderful woman who told me the story I titled "Booze in the Window," (Post 13, May 4, 2008) died in her sleep on Sunday night. All of us who knew her are in shock. C.J. was only 59 years old. She had some health problems, but nothing that anyone thought was life-threatening. Monday, Tuesday and part of today have been filled with activities surrounding C.J.'s funeral, which was at 10 this morning.

That's it. That's what I've been doing instead of posting. I've had about all this sort of stuff I can stand. I hope everyone I know and love stays healthy.

More, later.

Happy Halloween! - Post 98

Decor from the church Hallowe'en Party

I spent the early part of this evening assisting with Trunk of Treats, held in our church parking lot. It was cool, but not cold, which sure helped these old bones. We had a great deal more candy than we had children to give it to, though. During the course of the two hours we were "in business" we probably had 60 visitors. The youngest was a babe in arms; the oldest (I know 'cause I asked him how old he was) was 33. He said he was getting candy for his 5 year old nephew who was sick and couldn't go Trick or Treating. If so, great; if not... we had plenty and anyone who wanted to come by for some candy was welcome!

The more affluent neighborhood about 3/4 of a mile from us must have had hundreds of children on the streets; we laugh about them being "bussed in," but they do seem to come from all over town. This was just our second year to do this in the church parking lot; perhaps the word will get around and we'll have more kids next year.

We got rained out shortly after 7 p.m., so we closed our trunks and came home.

The undistributed candy will go next week to our local Fishnet Ministries, where they will use it to fill Christmas stockings.

Photo Hunt 123 - Colorful - Post 57

Colorful Stained Glass

This is my first Photo Hunt post. I've been enjoying this weekly meme for some time, and decided to play along. This stained glass window is one of eight in the nave of my church. The designs in the windows represent the Sacramental Rites of our denomination. This one represents the Sacramental Rite of Ordination.

Edited 8/18/08 - I'm crazy as a betsy-bug! I counted the windows in the nave this morning, and there are only six (6). There are seven Sacramental Rites in our denomination; Baptism, Holy Eucharist, Confirmation, Ordination, Marriage, Reconciliation of a Penitent, and Unction. Five of these are represented singularly in separate windows. The sixth and seventh, Reconciliation of a Penitent and Unction, are combined in the sixth window. One of these days, I'll post photos of the other ones.

Photo Hunt is brought to you by tnchick. If you'd like to play, too, give her site a visit.