To see the Law by Christ fulfill’d And hear his pard’ning voice; changes a slave into a child, and duty into choice. William Cowper (1731-1800)
The world is a window through which we espy heav’n. To look at the world and see only the world is like looking at a window instead of looking through the window to see what’s beyond it. Joe Rigney, The Things of Earth
I believe in God like I believe in the sun, not only because I see him, but because by him I see everything else. C.S. Lewis
Hold us in quiet through the age-long minutes while Thou art quiet and the wind is shrill. Can the boat sink while Thou, dear Lord, art in it? Can the heart faint that waiteth on Thy will? Hold us in quiet. Amy Carmichael
Seeing someone read a book you love is like hearing a book recommend a person instead of the other way around. Unknown
Deleting, defeating, depleting…thus it goes…in the morning.
Our hearts are often tugged out West, where most of our children and all of our grandchildren live. Every so often, we follow the tug of our hearts and point our car westward. We’ve been out there so often, I think our car knows the way, but we still keep hands firmly on the wheel. And by “we” I mean my husband, since I don’t do any of the driving. We are both happy with this arrangement, thank the Lord.
I had thought, as usual, to keep up with this blog. And also as usual, I did not. I don’t mind this tug-of-war between plans and reality. It’s become part of the syncopated rhythm of my life when we travel.
And now, just a small sampling of our time away. I might share more in future blog posts.
Hello, new granddaughter! It’s lovely to meet you!Baby mobile finished and given!Flat tire!Mr. CoolMiss SillyFunny Faces Part 1Funny Faces Part 2
At the end of three weeks, our car rolled back into our familiar driveway. As if to herald our arrival, a rainbow was in the sky and our crabapple tree held out arms full of pink blossoms.
There’s no place like home.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow
I’ll probably do what with this in the morning? (This is a test, to see if you remember)
‘Tis the season! The garden paintbox cracks open – Lovely tubes of reds and yellows, Watercolors splashed among leaves, Calling out a cheery hello to your neighbors “Hello! I’m just passing through! Happy to pose for photos!”
Don’t forget: Jesus is the reason for this season, too.
‘Tis also the season for deleting. Deleting happens.
A room without books is like a body without a soul. Cicero
Let be known that we have enough book-filled rooms to ensoul our whole house.
Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God‘s wise and fatherly disposal in every condition. Jeremiah Burroughs
And this side of heaven, reality will often feel like grief. Something is wrong. Deeply wrong. Reality itself is a puzzle with no solution in the box. The missing pieces to the puzzle aren’t here. …Artwork routinely comes out of the puzzle of grief, perhaps not great grief – like the loss of a loved one – but the normal every day, grief of finding yourself living in a world that you know in your bones has gone very, very wrong. S. D. Morgan
I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me. King David, Psalm 13:6
God is the source of all our blessings – He is the ocean of blessings. Creatures are but the hands which distribute his charity through a needy world. Samuel Davies
And now, for a random photo:
A yard in Minnesota without a snow shovel is like a rain without an umbrella (You may quote me on this)
A blog without an ending is deleted in the morning.
As I was sorting through our books a few weeks ago, I decided to sort through my cookbooks as well. In the process I came across an old cookbook called “Treasured Polish Recipes for Americans.“ It had been a Christmas gift to my mother-in-law from her sister in 1952. It’s probably been in our possession for a long time, but I’ve never looked at it. I picked it up and started to read the foreward: “This is no ordinary cookbook.“ What a great start!
It was published first in 1948 in Minnesota, right after World War II when there were many Polish families that had come to America. They did not want to lose their heritage, particularly as it relates to cooking. Let me just share with you a few random phrases from the introduction.“Baking in Poland, delicious in its results, was a test of endurance and muscle. Old recipes say ‘Beat butter or eggs and sugar for one hour and in one direction only.’” Yikes! My arm hurts just reading that sentence.
Here’s another one: “The generous use of butter in the recipes may startle you. You may ask, do they use so much butter in Poland? The answer is yes, and let us tell you why.” It turns out that in rural areas every household owned a cow and faithful cows give milk all year long. I have no objection to a lot of butter in recipes – sounds like a good plan to me.
“Warm hospitality is a characteristic of the nation. Stranger or friend is always welcome and never bid farewell without a serving of food – it little matters how modest – the little cottage shares what it has.”
Well, I just had to try a couple recipes after reading all of that. I started to read through the cookbook to see if there was anything that I, in my modern kitchen, with our modern grocery stores, could make. It was startling to run across a recipe for Cassubian headcheese that called for one pig head. And then jellied pigs feet, which of course calls for four pigs feet cut in halves. I had to move on to something a little more doable and after much perusing decided on making Bitki Wolowe w Smietanie (Beef Bitki in Cream) and Buraki (Beets).
The Beef Bitki recipe wasn’t as precise as I might have wanted, and I had to make a few judicious guesses and substitutions. The beets recipe was very straightforward. The author of the cookbook claims that Polish cuisine has hauntingly good flavors. I have to admit our beef and beets were very good, although I’m not sure what constitutes hauntingly good. It was a lovely excursion into Polish cooking. I’d make the beets again anytime – fabuloso!
Blessed be the Lord who daily loads us with benefits
AI dictation programs 😊
The coming of spring
Good food
Being inside on a very windy day
Good teaching and preaching (good food for the soul)
This post was not made with a pig’s head, though I can be pig-headed at times. Deleting in the morning!
It turns out that using the dictation feature on my keyboard, isn’t always as intuitive as you would think. Nevertheless, it seemed like a good option to spare my arm some typing. So here it goes!
I’ve got a few pieces of artwork that I finished last week before deciding to give my arm a break.
Shrews are kinda cute! My first drawing in the owl series that I hope to continue. 
This is the only way I can do humans – from behind and with no hands. Ha ha!
The same chick as I did previously, but this time on watercolor paper. 
Most of these, as usual, are copies of things I found on Pinterest, with the exception of the owl which I drew from a photo.
Is the owl a fowl? Certainly not! Perish the thought! Is the owl very nice? Certainly not! Just ask the mice! Has the owl gone crazy? Certainly not! Nor is he lazy. Does the owl bill and coo? Certainly not! What’s wrong with you? Will the owl teach and preach? Certainly not! Just hear him screech! Is the owl a night sleeper? Certainly not! He’s a night peeper!
About the owl I’ve told you a lot You now are an expert On what he is not.
It’s hard to put out content when I’m having trouble with my arm, so I’m going to post just a photo or two from the dead photo file each day for a bit. Let the photos tell you things while i rest my arm. Prayers appreciated!
Lynniebeemuseoday 