Mother's Desk:

Here's the promised picture. I asked my mom to sit there -- it's nice occasionally to have humans in one's photos, yes?
She's playing with Tasha. Tasha did not like standing on her hind legs, but she's adorable! She's a Corgi.

Tasha says this position is much better. My mother almost always has fresh flowers on her desk. She loves artwork painted by dear friends.

This is the very-alert bunny who welcomes you to my parents' home. He's out by the road, surrounded by daffodils. I think he looks noble.

And here's the wee maiden cursying to you by the driveway.

A neighbor builds these wonderful fences along the road. They always remind me of Civil War battlefields.

A better picture of Tasha. We're such pals :)  She and Lacey were good friends too -- since they were puppies. Now Lacey is gone, and I think, for Tasha (who is an elderly lady now), Sandy is just too young.

Love these flowers.  She told me their name, but I don't remember -- something that starts with an "h."

An up-close of her daffodils.

Not all the plants in my parents' yard fare so well.  Their trees, up atop the mountain, suffer grievously each winter with ice storms. All the tall trees look like this:

The daffodils are huge.

Thank You, Mr. Spurgeon

Here's a wonderful quote I read today from Charles Spurgeon, from his booklet, "The Prayer of Jabez":

"We know very little about Jabez, except that he was more honorable than his brothers, and that he was called Jabez because his mother bore him with sorrow. It will sometimes happen that where there is the most sorrow in the antecedents, there will be the most pleasure in the sequel. As the furious storm gives place to the clear sunshine, so the night of weeping precedes the morning of joy. Sorrow the harbinger; gladness the prince it ushers in. Cowper says: 'The path of sorrow, and that path alone, / Leads to the place where sorrow is unknown.'

"To a great extent we find that we must sow in tears before we can reap in joy. Many of our works for Christ have cost us tears. Difficulties and disappointments have wrung our soul with anguish. Yet those projects that have cost us more than ordinary sorrow, have often turned out to be the most honorable of our undertakings. You may expect a blessing in serving God if you are enabled to persevere under many discouragements."

What an encouragement! And Charles Spurgeon certainly knew what he was talking about; perhaps no pastor experienced more inner pain than he. That final sentence especially rings of God's truth. How many times in Scripture are we told that our sufferings for Christ's sake will be the means of our sanctification and blessing? And how often we doubt it!

From Wm. Butler Yeats

Just came across this humorous Irish quote on Facebook, and thought I would share, as my contribution to the St. Patrick's Day festivities:


"Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy."

Some of you will understand this; some won't.  My mother said I needed to share this with my brother, Max, who must have a strong streak of this Irish in him. I think it's a family trait.

A Mountain Visit, with French Silk Chocolate Pie

...always does a body good. Especially at my parents' house.
(Scroll down for the French Silk Chocolate Pie recipe! Although the mountain photos aren't bad either - haha!)

This was the view from my bedroom window this morning.
Just a few minutes before I took the photo, the indistinct mist in the foreground wasn't there, and the more-solid, white mist in the back was very distinct, like a pale lake.

My mother's daffodils are putting on quite a show this year.

Remember, I wrote about my mother's desk? Well, this isn't it. This is her other desk, for talking on the phone. But isn't it lovely, with the glass doors? A dear friend in Jackson, MS gave it to her.

When I was a girl, one of my favorite desserts was French Silk Chocolate Pie; my mother made it quite frequently. In fact, I think for a while in high school, she made it for me every Sunday! What decadence!
It's soooo good -- smooth (as silk), pure chocolate, and it seems to melt on the tongue. I hadn't eaten it for years, and she made it for Tuesday evening.

Here's the recipe:

French Silk Chocolate Pie:

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 squares (1 oz each) unsweetened chocolate (or, 6 Tbls cocoa plus 2 Tbls oil, mixed together)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 8-inch pastry shell

Cream softened butter, add sugar, beat with mixer until light and fluffy. Blend in chocolate and vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating three full minutes after each addition, on medium speed. Turn into pastry shell. Chill several hours. Garnish with whipped cream & chocolate curls, or toasted almonds.

(You may double the recipe, and use a 9-inch pastry shell, for a deep-dish pie, as in the photo.)

We clearly dispense with any garnishes, and prefer to take our chocolate straight.

You see this is an unbaked pie, so it doesn't have that brownie taste of most other chocolate pies.  It's smooth. But it does have eggs, so if you're nervous about uncooked eggs, avoid this recipe.  It's a sad loss for you, though!

Baby Joseph

I've been meaning to post these links to this news story -- a 13 month old baby boy from Canada, who was being denied a tracheotomy by the government medicine there, because they did not deem his "quality of life" good enough for this simple procedure. He has trouble breathing. Here are the links:

Mommy Life -- I first read about Joseph at this blog, and of this priest's desire to bring Joseph to the U.S. for medical treatment. Joseph's parents also want this.

Daily Mail -- At the last minute, just before the authorities were going to remove his breathing tube and support, Joseph was allowed to come to the U.S.

Fox News -- another article on his transfer to the U.S.

The group, Priests for Life, has been instrumental in moving Joseph. Their website states, ""The medical board overseeing his case is apparently convinced that giving proper care to 'Baby Joseph' is futile. They don’t mean that the medical care won’t help him. They mean his life in its current condition isn’t worth the trouble."

So sad. Isn't it horrible that medical care in a Western country could descend to this?


Catholic News - This is the latest I've read on the situation.

Also -- an interesting question:  Why is there no looting in Japan?

From My Couch to Your Couch

I often surprise my mom when she calls me on my cell phone. She grew up with only land-lines (of course) and she always envisions me, sitting at home, talking on the phone.

And then I tell her I'm actually walking through the mall, or in the grocery check-out, or at Bible study. My, how our communications have changed!

But what about blogging? What's your location of choice? We used to all sit at our desktop machines. Then came the laptops. Then came the smart-phones/Blackberries/i-phones.  I'm not even sure how those things work! But people are blogging and facebooking from EVERYWHERE.


But some serious bloggers still prefer a real spot in the home, and I think the more it's a business for you, the more appealing this is. Honestly, sometimes I have trouble keeping all my blogging paraphernalia organized, on the living room couch ....

So, if you're tire of using your kitchen table, or your kids' old school desk, or the kitchen counter, check out CSN, and look at what's new in computer desks for home.

I mean, if you were sitting here, would it even feel like work? Now that's a desk I could learn to love!

I think this would make a lovely addition to my home ...

Although I'm still not quite sure about these modern chairs:

I imagine the kids would like it, though.

And you know what?  My mother has her own desk. No computer, no laptop, no cell phone.  But she has a lovely, cluttered (sometimes) desk for writing her snail mail correspondence. It's a central place in her home, an important place in her life, a place to ponder, gaze out the window, keep track of many family treasures, and organize both her thoughts and her heart.

A desk in the home can be a wonderful thing.

"Life returns, begins again ..."

Our neighbors went away for the weekend, and we (as in, Adam) took care of their chickens. Our reward:  eggs! We collected 22 eggs on two mornings.  I think that's quite amazing!

The "ladies" (as we call them) slowed down to zero production for part of the winter, but with the warming days, they've started up again.  It's so pleasant to see spring, to see life return, to see nature do what she is supposed to do: produce life.  We should all be about celebrating life, whether it means protecting babies, protecting the elderly (who are still alive, by the way, even when they are aged and bed-ridden! I think sometimes our culture forgets this), or loving the wonderful production of this world around us.

Our Canadian plum tree is just about to burst into white blossoms, but right now, this is what they look like:

And the forsythia is still ablaze - what a yellow!

We sang a song in community chorus last semester with such beautiful lyrics. Here they are:

Frozen lakes, frozen streams, frozen sky- or so it seems. 

All the world, so cold and still, hides in slumber from the chill. 

But I, with hope, in quiet, wait and look upon midwinter's fate. 

Knowing, trusting, it will end. 

Life returns, begins again.

"Midwinter's Chill" by Greg Gilpin.

If you'd like to hear it, here it is:

I wish I could find a more professional recording, with less audience coughing- sorry!