Pondered In My Heart

Petitions of St. Augustine

O LORD Jesus, let me know myself, let me know Thee,
And desire nothing else but Thee.
Let me hate myself and love Thee,
And do all things for the sake of Thee.
Let me humble myself, and exalt Thee,
And think of nothing else but Thee.
Let me die to myself, and live in Thee,
And accept whatever happens as coming from Thee.
Let me forsake myself and walk after Thee,
And ever desire to follow Thee.
Let me flee from myself, and turn to Thee,
That so I may deserve to be defended by Thee.
Let me fear for myself, let me fear Thee,
And be amongst those who are chosen by Thee.
Let me distrust myself, and trust in Thee,
And will to obey for the love of Thee.
Let me cleave to nothing but only to Thee,
And be poor for the sake of Thee.
Look upon me, that I may love Thee.
Call me, that I may see Thee
And for ever possess Thee. Amen.

"You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you."

Saturday Shots

Just some shots of things that made me smile today -

like lots of girls all dressed in blue, even the dollies.

Some girls sat singing together,

and some blues sat all by themselves.

Peaches, plums, pluots, and nectarines all in a pretty vintage punch bowl.

 

Fresh French bread and cherry jam.

 

This giant bee just hanging out (quite literally) on a hosta bud,

 

unlike this non-stop hummer moth going for quite a nose dive.

 

 Speaking of nose dives, here we have the new game of foyer pong. Jonathan found a package of ping pong balls and two paddles at the thrift shop this morning. I pointed out that we do not have a ping pong table, but that little detail did not deter him. We need ping pong balls, Mom, we don't have any!

 

Yes, of course. We need ping pong balls.

Here we have Kateri playing mommy and feeding Eliza while reciting Shakespeare.

 

And here we have Lydia demonstrating what the two of us spent way too much time doing today. The objects of our observations will have to wait for their own post another day.

 

Hope your Saturday was full of happy sights that made you smile too!

Small Success - August 20

"It's important for moms to recognize that all the small successes in our days can add up to one big triumph."

 

1. I can't believe I am actually admitting this to the blogosphere, but it's true: As of yesterday I have finished ordering all of the school books and supplies for the new school year (at least I think I have). We don't start until Jonathan's college classes and it is September, so I have plenty of time, right?

 

2. I have found ahem decluttered my desk. I also completely cleaned out and organized all of the cupboards above and around my desk where I keep all of my beading supplies and paperwork. I didn't label anything but my dear husband still oohed and aaahed appropriately.

 

3. I found this neat picture frame today at the thrift store. I brought it home and cleaned it and found six pictures containing seven children and I put them right into the frame. Then I stood the frame up on the piano. All in the same day that I purchased the frame. :-)

 

 

For my next trick I hope to catch up on email (oy) but in the meantime, it's kind of like what she (the Queen Bean) said.

Stop by Faith and Family to check out all the other Small Successes and Terrific Triumphs! Go, Moms, go!

Requiem Aeternam

Just a little reminder to please keep the Barretts in your prayers today especially as they bury their beloved son, and pray for all of their local family and friends attending the funeral as well. Their community has come together in such a loving and supportive way to sustain them through these difficult days, but the final closure of a funeral can be the hardest. So many young people are mourning the loss of a friend as well, many of them facing the death of a child for the first time. Most of you have already read Mary Ellen's beautiful and gracious words and know of her compassion even in this time of excruciating pain. Please let's keep them lifted up and bathed in prayer throughout this day, and as they begin to live the rest of their earthly lives without their dear boy.

Also, don't miss this beautiful story of the bishop at his wake, and information about where to send donations is here. (How can you not love supporting a group called the 'Friar Suppliers'?) You can also read some of Mary Ellen's previous writings about Ryan here and here.

from the Collect of Mass on the Day of Burial:

O God, whose property is ever to have mercy and to spare, we humbly entreat Thee on behalf of the soul of Thy servant Ryan, whom Thou hast bidden this day to pass out of this world: that Thou wouldst not deliver him into the hands of the enemy nor forget him for ever, but command him to be taken up by the holy Angels, and to be borne to our home in paradise, that as he had put his faith and hope in Thee he may not undergo the pains of hell but may possess everlasting joys. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost God, world without end. Amen.

from the Epistle:

Brethern: We will not have you ignorant concerning them that are asleep, that you be not sorrowful, even as others who have no hope; for as we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them who have slept through Jesus, will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you in the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them who have slept. For the Lord Himself shall come down from heaven, with commandment, and with the voice of an Archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead who are in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, shall be taken up together with them in the clouds to meet Christ, into the air, and so shall we be always with the Lord. Wherefore comfort ye one another with these words.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord; and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.

Tears

Please continue to pray for Mary Ellen and her whole family as they mourn the loss of their beloved son Ryan. It was with devastating shock and sadness that I read the news of his passing. I have been praying all day for Mary Ellen and Dave and the children as they undertake this most heavy burden of sorrow and grief, the pain that every parent hopes and prays to be spared in this life. I daresay losing a special needs child gives the grief an even greater, more poignant sting if that is possible, because the natural desire to love and protect our children is magnified with the child who needs us more, who is understood only by us. I've had the pleasure and privilege of meeting Mary Ellen and hearing her speak of her unique parenting journey with her special son. Oh, how she loved her dear, sweet boy, always striving to understand him and meet his needs and devoted to helping him make his way in this confusing world. She embraced her special mothering with such fervor and devotion. My heart just breaks for her aching, aching heart. I pray Our Dear Blessed Mother, who knows this pain and sorrow so well, wraps Mary Ellen and her family in her loving arms and comforts them in the folds of her mantle. We do not know why they have been chosen for this particular heavy cross, but we do know God provides the grace to abide in His will. Mother Mary keep them close and hold them tight as they endure this most exquisite grief. May they know peace in the midst of this deep, deep loss.

Urgent Prayer Request!

Please pray for Mary Ellen's Barrett's autistic son Ryan who left on a father /son campout on Thurs. morning and as of Thursday evening at 5:00 PM he has been missing.

I expect any new updates will be posted on Mary Ellen's blog.

Spectacular Sunflowers

Sunflowers are one of our favorite flowers, and we have lots of them blooming this year. They are one of those flowers that just seem to cheer you up with their bright yellow color and, well, sunny disposition and looks. It's fun to watch them unfold, as the pucker faced sour pusses

 

 slowly, teasingly, almost reluctantly reveal their beauty.

They look coy as they play a shy game of peek-a-boo

and then suddenly they are all bold, brazen beauty, shining forth in all their golden glory.

We have some impressive giants this year:

I called this one the sunflower fountain:

The birds are loving them right now. Every time I go outside there are numerous goldfinches in the sunflowers and I love watching them eat,

 

especially their up-side-down tricks.

The bees and butterflies love them too, such as this one:

I have a long row of giant sunflowers along my back deck, and a lineup of the shorter, branching sorayas along a flower bed in the back yard, and some scattered surprises that have popped up here and there on their own. It's so neat and tidy how they all face east. Sunflowers are heliotropic, turning their heads to follow the sun, until the blooms open and then they stay facing east to get the most sun.

 

 I recently had the pleasure of meeting Jennifer at the FCL conference, and I was delighted to read her garden post featuring sunflowers. She wrote about the patterns of the spirals and how Fibonacci numbers are present in the seed patterns. I'd been taking pictures of the spirals, so I was greatly intrigued by this mathematical information. Apparently the seeds are arranged in spiral patterns as that is the most efficient way of filling the circular space of the flower head. The seeds are placed at precise angles, with spirals going both clockwise and counter clockwise. The number of spirals is always two consecutive numbers in the Fibonacci sequence. There are typically 34 spirals in one direction and 55 going the opposite way. A very large sunflower may have 89 and 144 spirals respectively ( I think my big ones do, but it was hard to count them from the picture taken so far away). The spirals are easiest to see and count when the flower is just opening, or after all the florets have fallen off and just the seeds remain.

I was totally intrigued by all of this information, especially after recently hearing Macbeth's talk on using nature to study math. The wonderful mathematical intricacies of order shown in God's design of these sunflowers fascinated me, and I wanted to count the spirals. It took me a little while to figure it out, and I wanted to draw the spirals to help me count and see the two directions. My dear husband who is a mathematics loving scientist, came along and set about to do it proper. Michael took one of my photographs and very precisely drew in the spirals so they can easily be seen and counted. Here is the original picture:

 

Here you can see the 34 counterclockwise spirals in blue:

 

Here you can see the 55 clockwise spirals in purple:

 

Here are both together, so you can see the intersecting patterns:

 

He also put the pictures into a handy pdf so you can see them in higher resolution or print them out for your students: Download Sunflower More information can be found in the Wiki article Jenn linked to, and there is also more info here: Flower Patterns and Fibonacci Numbers. Thanks so much, Jenn! And thank you Dr. K!

There's more than flowers in my beds.

If you bend down and take a peek you'll see...

The pig sty, home of Nickel, Mr. Pig Boar, and little Penny the piglet -

 

The former home of the polar bears -

 

until they moved into their new cave (much more sturdy) -

The penguin pool for keeping cool -

 

 The Shady Leaf Stables -

 

A nest for the birdies -

 

The bears set out on their 'barque', punting madly up the river -

 

A fine hut (notice the front porch) for Isaac, Buttercup, Fleecy and Bobette the dear little deer -

 

And wouldn't you like to come in for a spot of tea and carrot cake in Brunette and Moonwood's fine burrow?

23 Years Ago Today

This handsome boy

 

and this curly haired girl

made their vows and started off on their course

 

of life together as husband and wife. In good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, till death do us part. I still can't type that without getting teary eyed. And he still makes my heart go pitter patter when he comes into the room. They say you shouldn't marry the person you think you can live with, but the person you can't live without. I'm so thankful He's allowed us to live this earthly life here together - growing a family, growing older, growing in love. Here's to us, and many more years together.

A Peek at the Beds in Peak

The flowers are just gorgeous right now.

These are from my new bed we put in this year. My dear husband is so kind to indulge my never-ending desire for more flowers, even though it means a lot of hard work for him. Last year we put in that huge bed, and I do enjoy the lovely view of the flowers from inside the house as I planned. This year we decided to put in a bed along the driveway to add color and interest to that side of our house. Because of the way our lot is situated, this is the side of the house you see as you come down the road, not the front of the house. I love seeing this beautiful sight as I drive down the road and pull into the driveway:

I also like to look down on the bed from our bedroom window up above - a very cheery sight in the morning. Here's the bed from the other direction - Michael calls that the 'fire end' with all of the bright red salvia and flaming orange marigolds topped off with just a bit of white alyssum to cool it off:  

I enjoy growing all of my flowers from seed, and watching them grow from little seedlings in my kitchen to this.

 

Wave petunias and scarlet zinnias

 

Salvia, zinnias, coreopsis, black eyed Susans, lobelia (my favorite blue in the world), sunflowers

 

This little bed is along the back of the yard, a little pop of color in between the vegetable garden and the raspberry beds. I had to buy some annuals for this bed as many of my seedlings were killed by a late frost. The open yard must have been cooler than other areas - I'll have to remember that next year.

However I was thankful the soraya sunflowers survived - I love the combination of the bright orange petals with chocolaty brown centers.

What's blooming in your neck of the woods?