On Trust

"Cling to God , and leave all the rest to Him:

He will not let you perish. Your soul is very dear to Him,

He wishes to save it."

~St. Margaret Mary

Blue, Under the Weather...

He came down with a fever yesterday, and we had a rough night last night.
Lots of cuddling today.

Children and Prayer

"There's nothing good the day can hold that cannot be prayer. Helping children to pray, not only with their lips and their hearts, but with their work and play and hurts and dreaming ~everything in their lives ~this is teaching them to "pray always."*

~Mary Reed Newland, in How to Raise Good Catholic Children

*1 Thess. 5:17

Monday Morning Muffins

It's Hot!

At this very moment it is 102 degrees Fahrenheit outside.

We just aren't used to this sort of thing up North...

Attaching the Beak.....

Caramel Cake

The Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel was on Saturday, so of course I had to make a caramel cake with caramel icing to celebrate the occasion!;) Mmmmm! I had the last sliver with my coffee this morning.....
Anyway, Joy of Cooking's recipe for caramel frosting is sooo good, I can't help but share it. ~If you love caramel, than you will love this!


Here it is:

In a saucepan, combine two cups of packed brown sugar and one cup of heavy cream (or you can substitute 1/2 cup of butter cut into small pieces and 1/2 cup of milk, if you do not have the heavy cream).
Cook and stir over medium high heat for about three minutes and the sugar is all dissolved. Then get out a candy thermometer and cook (without stirring!) until the thermometer registers around 238 degrees. Remove the pan from the heat, and float three tablespoons of unsalted butter on top of the hot mixture. Do not stir, but allow it to cool to about 110 degrees (this takes around 45 minutes). Then, transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl, add one teaspoon of vanilla and beat the icing with a mixer until it is cool, creamy, and the proper spreading consistency (~if it gets a bit too thick, you can thin it out with a little heavy cream or milk).
Use it immediately, or cover the surface with plastic wrap. It will keep for about a week this way at room temperature, or three weeks refrigerated. Enjoy!

Buttons

Miss Posy got her first taste of sewing today. I thought buttons would be a good place to start. There was a  sweet little owl in the box of embroidery projects that I had picked up at a rummage sale years ago...

She picked out two blue buttons for his eyes, and I was amazed at what a little pro she was at sewing them on. I think I will try teaching her french knots, and the back stitch to finish it off.
Just one little bit at a time.
She loves it.
Hmm............. now where on earth do you suppose she gets that? ;)

Two Conversations, in Pictures

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday's Sunset....

....from under an old apple tree.

Snapdragons

Jam and Jerome K. Jerome

 Strawberries were just ninety-nine cents a pound. So I bought twelve pounds on Saturday. And today I washed them and hulled them....

...and I systematically smashed them.

Then, as my jars had a bath in hot bubbling water, I placed the strawberries in a big pot on the other end of the stove. And one big batch at a time, I stirred them until they became a bubbling red mass of delicious jam.

Which I ladled into the hot jars, and then placed in the bubbling bath of water to "process" for ten minutes.

And now I have these beauties sitting on my counter.

Twenty half-pints, and five pints.

And all the while I was working I kept thinking of what Jerome K. Jerome had to say on the subject of work:

"It always does seem to me that I am doing more work than I should do. It is not that I object to work, mind you; I like work; it fascinates me, I can sit and look at it for hours."

I wonder what he'd think of of jam-making;)...... he seems to enjoy eating plenty of it in "Three Men in a Boat". It is my current read, and I am enjoying it immensely!

Mending the Rag~Rug...

If I remember correctly, I bought this rug for five dollars at a garage sale when I was about twelve. My mom kept it under the dog's food and water dish (with my permission;) for quite a few years after that, but after I was married she presented it to me........newly washed and mended. And it has spent seven years in front of our front door.......... and has been rewashed and mended many times.
No matter how badly it gets ripped up, I always manage to find a way to repair it....
......I just can't seem to let it go.......

A Girl and Her Broom

Between the two of them, they eradicated all the dirt from the entry way.
And they have been doing the same in my kitchen as well.......

Balloon Flowers

The Rainbow Fairies

Two little clouds, one summer's day,

Went flying through the sky;

They went so fast they bumped their heads,

And both began to cry.

Old Father Sun looked out and said:

'Oh, never mind, my dears,

I'll send my little fairy folk

To dry your falling tears.'

One fairy came in violet,

And one wore indigo;

In blue, green, yellow, orange, red,

They made a pretty row.

They wiped the cloud-tears all away,

And then from out the sky,

Upon a line the sunbeams made,

They hung their gowns to dry,

~Anonymous



After Silence...

......that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.

~Aldous Huxley

The Passing Storm

Happy Independence Day!

Little Feet

I love little feet......

Inverting the Fish Bowl

 I love to decorate with shells in the summertime, and was especially excited when my mom brought back a few star fish from a vacation the Carolinas. The question was how to display them where they could be easily viewed, and yet be safe from little hands and dust...... I thought of the glass dome things (can't remember their proper names) which I had seen a few years back in an issue of Country Living. If only I had a few of those! But then inspiration struck, and I remembered an old fish bowl that was doing nothing in particular except collecting dust on top of one of my cabinets. I got it down, dusted it off, inverted it carefully over an arrangement of shells, and Voila! I think it suits my purpose quite well!
But I couldn't stop there. I scrounged around among my other vases and found these smaller ones that you can see below:

And, as a finishing touch, I tucked some shells inside my grape vine wreath. 

The kids really like it, and as it has been up for about a month now without any breakage, I think I may safely call it a success!