The Countdown is ON!


                                         ...days until school is out!!!

The Countdown is ON!

                                                 ...days until school is out!!!

The Garden of Eden

Dear Gentle Readers:

We have been enjoying our new outdoor living space.  Teddy finished the brick paver patio (ca. 260 sq. ft.); we purchased a table and chair set (see photo); and have planted a veggie garden and planted various containers throughout the area.  A Garden Bench, built by hubby for my last birthday, now has a trellis surrounding it with the thought of training wisteria to climb it.  It's simply lovely.  It reminds me of a modern day Garden of Eden. Does that make me Eve? Watch out for The Serpent!  Don't eat The Forbidden Fruit!

The Martha Stewart five-piece patio set from Home Depot

Last Friday, taking a personal day of leave, we spent the entire day outside, glorying in the beauty of the day: in the plants now growing in our veggie garden; in the multi-colored plants hanging in the trees; the herb garden; the new patio furniture, on which we have enjoyed many delicious meals; the area for the grill and smoker; the nine rose bushes that make up the Rose Garden; the Wedding Garden, now filled with Celosia (see photo below) for the spring season.

"Celosia is a small genus of edible and ornamental plants in the amaranth family, Amaranthaceae. The generic name is derived from the Greek word κηλος (kelos), meaning "burned," and refers to the flame-like flower heads. Species are commonly known as woolflowers, or, if the flower heads are crested by fasciation, cockscombs." ~ Wikipedia

Now you know!  My Celosia are of various colors: pink, orange, red, and yellow, but I seriously doubt we will be eating any of them.  They do, however, make a spectacular showing in the 14-foot circular Wedding Garden.  Pictures sure to come!

As we were planning our new outdoor living area, we thought we'd place the dining set on the New Patio and leave the chaise lounge chairs on the Old Patio.  (I've gotta come up with better names that this!)  Several weeks ago, after the patio table/chairs were delivered, I came home and found the furniture fully assembled and sitting on the OP.  (How about that? OP for Old Patio and NP for New Patio.  It'll have to do for now.) The table was set with two placemats, two linen napkins, and rosebud in a small vase (from my Rose Garden). It looked charming and ready for us to enjoy a meal, which was exactly what we did that evening. My husband, Teddy, is quite the cook and quite the romantic, or had you noticed?!? 

We've left the dining set on the OP and have put the two chaise lounge chairs with their side table and firepit on the NP. On a recent trip to Garden Ridge, we bought two additional side chairs and a side table, complementing the original furnishings.  Also purchased were two small pillows to enhance the beauty and comfort of the two side charis.  All of the items look and work well on the larger NP. 

I should, I know, take pictures.  Now, where's my camera?

Obsolete

Bustles...model T cars...manual typewriters...electric typewriters...any kind of typewriter...the list could go on and on.

What do these things have in common? They are all obsolete. According to the American Heritage Dictionary (the online one, not the obsolete print version), the definition of obsolete is

1) no longer in use: an obsolete word.
2) outmoded in design, style, or construction: an obsolete locomotive.

Wikipedia says obsolete means "a service or practice (a person?) that is no longer wanted even though it (she?) may still be in good working order.

Today I am feeling obsolete. Why, you might well ask? I just came from our weekly all-school Chapel. It's Spiritual Impact Week, and it's been a great experience for me, and I hope that's true for the students, too. I've enjoyed the small groups with students and the Prayer Walk yesterday, but today's worship left me feeling... obsolete.

Worship here at my school consists of "praise" songs, most of which I do not know. That's because I attend a church service that utilizes the hymn book (perhaps obsolete, too?) with the music notated (definitely obsolete in praise worship) and the lyrics printed. That's also how I grew up: singing from the hymnal.

I'm not here, per se, to discuss the pros and cons of praise music, just to say that because I do not know or enjoy this type of music, I often feel obsolete. I also feel excluded from worship. This genre of music does nothing to help me feel closer or connected to God. Frankly, I dislike having my senses assaulted while worshipping by the banging of drums and the twanging of guitars. To say that I've seldom heard praise music done well is not an exaggeration; however, ANY kind of music not done well is distracting to me, especially in worship. (Guess you now know I how I feel about praise music, eh?)

Sometimes I am concerned that one day I will not be able to find a church that could be described as "traditional"; that is, one that observes the liturgical year, uses the liturgy, and the hymn books that are in the pews. I enjoy those older hymns, and it saddens me to think that many of our youth will never know the joys of the "Old Rugged Cross", or "How Great Thou Art" (unless it's that jazzed up version, which I do not like, and that has been crammed into a triple meter!). And what about "Holy, Holy, Holy" ? Gotta be one of my all-time favorites: "God in three persons, blessed Trinity." Note with me, please, the sheer poetry in "The Church's One Foundation":

"Yet she (the church) on earth hath union
With God the Three in One,
And mystic sweet communion
With those whose rest is won..."

Eat your heart out, Mr. Shakespeare!

But it saddens me even more to think that I might not be able to sing those hymns of faith in a church building because they (the hymns) are becoming obsolete. Sure, I can sing them myself, but there is something about the body of Christ singing together. Charles & John Wesley knew, didn't they? A good description of what constitutes quality congregational singing can be found in the forward to the United Methodist Hymnal. Dear Wesley brothers, I fear you, too, are obsolete.

In an episode of "The Twilight Zone" entitled "The Obsolete Man", a librarian (convincingly portrayed by Burgess Meredith) is found to be obsolete due to the fact that books are banned in that society and literacy is considered obsolete. His punishment? Death. Now this is a little scary, too, because not only am I a musician, but also a librarian. In an plot twist enviable of O'Henry, the ending deliciously satisfies those of us who also might be considered obsolete.

Etiquette...literature...literacy...writing...music...note-reading...hymn books...books themselves (alas! the Kindle!)...Obsolete? If so, then I, too, have become obsolete.

Found a Peanut, Found a Peanut

The Peanut I found is a two-year old, fawn and white colored female Chihuahua. If all goes well, she will soon become Domino's little sister. We have been talking about adding another member to our family, and feel that this may be a good opportunity to get another little Chihuahua.

We also thought that getting a female might be a better idea than acquiring another male. Perhaps Domino will more easily accept a female and would feel less territorial. On the other hand, he may have her for a snack one day! On the other hand...now wait. I only have two hands!

Who knows how he will react? We do know he "does not play well with others", but living with and assimilating another animal into The Pack might work. We don't want to stress Domino, but we are eager to give another Chihuahua a good home. And Domino sure has it good in our home!

We really won't be able to do anything toward receiving Peanut into our home because of our Spring Break plans. But as soon as we get home, we will look into The Peanut Matter.

The Mustard Seed

Yesterday afternoon after work, Teddy and I sat on our "old" patio enjoying the warm sunshine on the first day of March. Suddenly I said, "Let's play in the dirt!" So we got out our herb seeds and those little plantable cardboard "cups" and planted our berbs: dill, cilantro, oregano, lavender, and sage along with some cherry tomatoes that are best started in those little containers (I am learning a lot on the Garden Trail!).

Wow. Have you ever planted herbs?!? The seeds are tiny...smaller than mice droppings (how I know THAT is for another post) and you only need about 5 seeds per little pot. (No, we're not growing "a little pot"! Heh, heh...but I digress...) As we planted, we talked about the tiny seeds, and Teddy reminded me of the scripture concerning the mustard seed (Matthew 17:20) where Jesus said:

"If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, 'Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.'"

Seeing how tiny the seeds were and thinking about my faith (or lack of it?) was pretty humbling.

As we planted, all I could think about was how blessed we are...how grateful I am...and wondering what will come up in those 26 little pots!

The Firepit

Hubby and I are transforming our rather blah backyard into a peaceful and beautiful oasis from the world. Our efforts include planting a spring veggie garden (cherry tomatoes, peas, green beans, scallions, winter squash, and zucchini); an herb garden (basil, lavender, chamomile, oregano, cilantro, and a few more that I can't remember); and eventually we'll plant lots of flowers for color. We already have five metal windchimes, and recently added a large wooden one.

Other plans include a brick patio, dining furniture for four, and a firepit. While we've yet to buy the furniture, we did buy a firepit on Sunday evening from Home Depot. And since we bought it in-store, there is no online picture of it, but I've selected a close facsimile for your viewing. It's square like this one, with a grille top, and has gray/dark orange tilework around the perimeter. The tile color is similar to the brick color we've chosen for the patio. Ours also has a handle on top (be careful! it gets hot when there's fire in the pit!)

Yesterday was, to understate the matter, a challenging one in Library Land, and all I could think about was getting home and out for some PT with a margarita or fine glass of wine (or even NOT SO FINE) with my boys and enjoying the flames of the firepit.

Hubby called at lunch and I told him about my morning. I said, "All I want to do is sit by my firepit and drink when I get home." And being the Best Husband in the World, he had the firepit assembled with a log in place and ready to light!

After a delicious dinner, which he also cooked for us, we sat in companionable silence on the patio and watched the flames dance in the darkening light.
It was really beautiful. Too few people can enjoy solitude or the companionable silence with a loved one. But we consider it a joy to be able to do so, not feeling the need to fill the air with noise and chatter, but rather savoring the moments of peace and quiet while just being...together...