This Day...

This day be with me, Lord, when I go forth,
Be nearer to me than I am able to ask.
In merriment, in converse, or in task,
Walking the street, listening to men of worth,
Or greeting such as only talk and bask,
Be thy thought still my waiting soul around,
And if he come, I shall be watching found.

March 6th, Diary of an Old Soul, by George MacDonald

Crocheting Again

             

These little blue critters are a fun change to make after dozens of mittens. My friends and relatives keep having new little ones who will soon be ready to hang onto a whale tail or play ball with its soft, round body.

As I crochet I remember Lou, who was famous not only for the Loupads I wrote about in a previous post (here) but also made hundreds of little stuffed animals as gifts for children overseas. The eyes on my whales are just two sets out of dozens I got from Lou's stash after she died. She is still inspiring us!

Meanwhile, Elsa is cutting out Luopad pieces.

The Princess and Curdie

     

A spring project is complete: another audiobook is recorded, edited and published! Once again, Elsa was proof-listener and helped me clean up the final product.

If you are not familiar with MacDonald's books for children (which grow ever more meaningful to adults), this book is a sequel to The Princess and the Goblin. You can read an excerpt from that book in a previous post: A Roundabout Way

Another post tells more about George MacDonald.

To listen to the free LibriVox audiobook: click here
To hear a short sample: click here

Birthday Roses

Trim My Sails

Some more sailing thoughts...
from George MacDonald's Diary of an Old Soul:

Doubt swells and surges, with swelling doubt behind!

My soul in storm is but a tattered sail,

Streaming its ribbons on the torrent gale;

In calm, 'tis but a limp and flapping thing:

Oh, swell it with thy breath; make it a wing,

To sweep through thee the ocean, with thee the wind

Nor rest until in thee its haven it shall find.

'Tis--shall thy will be done for me--or mine,

And I be made a thing not after thine--

My own, and dear in paltriest details?

Shall I be born of God, or of mere man?

Be made like Christ, or on some other plan?

I let all run--set thou and trim my sails;

Home then my course, let blow whatever gales.

- entries from January 12th and February 21st

Sailing Again!

Five or more years after our sailboats were crushed by a collapsed barn roof, Dad brought home a new sailboat - a bright yellow tri-hull with three sails.

So far we have tried it out once, and we look forward to more sailing this summer.

What a joy to be on "our" old lake again - the lake where my paternal grandparents had a cabin for about 50 years; where I learned to swim and dive, to paddle a canoe and kayak, to row, and to sail.

This series of sailboat is new enough that we have the one-thousand-two-hundred-and-fourth Weta. They are designed in New Zealand and made in Indonesia, so our boat has already sailed across oceans, albeit in a container.

After a few years of research, Dad decided on this boat since it can be set up and launched by one person. But so far, we were glad to do much of the work as a team.

I am reminded of a poem my grandparents had hanging in their house:

One ship sails East,

And another West,

By the self-same winds that blow,

'Tis the set of the sails

And not the gales,

That tells the way we go.

Like the winds of the sea

Are the waves of time,

As we journey along through life,

'Tis the set of the soul,

That determines the goal,

And not the calm or the strife. 

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Nothing Else Will Do

My Lord, I find that nothing else will do,
But follow where thou goest, sit at thy feet,
And where I have thee not, still run to meet.
Roses are scentless, hopeless are the morns,
Rest is but weakness, laughter crackling thorns,
If thou, the Truth, do not make them the true:
Thou are my life, O Christ, and nothing else will do.

George MacDonald, Diary of an Old Soul, February 4.

Flowers at my cousin's wedding

Wedding Flowers

Our house smelled like a florist's shop for several days as we received, unpacked, and stored hundreds of flowers in a cool room until Mom and my aunts and friends helped assemble all the bouquets for the wedding of a dear cousin.

Another Birthday

One Saturday morning I woke to realize it was my birthday again. Usually, my spring birthday means cool temperatures with lilacs or lily-of-the-valley perfuming the air, but this one reached over 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Thankfully the morning was still mild for breakfast on the deck with Elsa.

She had set out special dishes for me, so I ate my smoothie and drank jasmine tea in style. Also at my place was a bowl with special notes from my family, including a couple of "adopted" sisters across the country. They had been scheming early and sending surprises in care of Elsa!

Along with some rest, the morning was filled with birthday food prep. I frosted the tiny cake I'd made a few days earlier to my diet specs. 

Mom frosted the cake she made for herself and Dad while Elsa processed some of the few ingredients she can currently handle. After spreading them in a pan to cool, she had "bars" that reminded her of chocolate and caramel.

      

              

Early afternoon we loaded the van with a picnic supper and drove off for a little change in routine.

First stop: the greenhouses to see Maren and Jason a bit even though they were coming to celebrate with us on Sunday. We also had a few more plants to buy.

Next stop: a nearby state park we hadn't visited for years. In fact, it was only beginning to be developed the time or two we had seen it before. Now it is a popular family destination with several small lakes, hiking and biking trails.

Amazingly, the water was already warm enough for swimming, or in our case, wading.

     

Hundreds of sleek minnows visited the towering curiosities that disturbed their sandy lake-bed. Elsa's toes were apparently tastier than mine. 

 Dragonflies were a nice replacement for our usual mosquitoes. And they were almost as numerous - taking breaks to park in rows on dead twigs just overhead.

A picnic supper, windy candles and deliciously melty ice-cream were followed by more wading and watching the evening glow spread over the lake with knitting in hand.

It was so special to be surrounded by new sights and scents. Elsa and I said "It smells like a state park!" A familiar sweet pungence from our years of tent-camping around the state and country.

  

The next day we rested (Elsa and I attending church from the couch) and later celebrated again with M&J.

Birthdays often make me think of this conversation in C.S. Lewis' Prince Caspian:

"Welcome, Child," he said.

"Aslan," said Lucy, "you're bigger."

"That is because you are older, little one," he answered.

"Not because you are?"

"I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger."

Greenhouse Days

Dad and Mom began helping Maren and Jason at the greenhouses back in March as they were bringing home thousands of tiny, tender plants that needed potting and tending. It wasn't until mid-May that Elsa and I drove the hour from home to visit.

It was the day before Mother's Day and not only was the parking lot full, but cars were lining both sides of the county road as well! Elsa and I jumped right in helping at the checkout where a line of customers were patiently waiting with their loaded carts. This is what we've been waiting for all these years - to actually be able to be some help!

While Jason watered and watered thirsty plants, Mom and Dad and another friend walked miles re-stocking the sales greenhouse from the other three (answering customer questions along the way), and Elsa sorted and boxed people's purchases so Maren or her mother and father-in-law could write up sales slips. They then handed some of those to me to do the math. Multiply, sub-total, apply coupons, add tax, make change, repeat! I am thankful for calculators! Whenever we caught up with the line, I had fun condensing the outdoor plants and removing many empty trays.

The guys taking a rare break

When things slowed down at the end of the day, we did our own shopping and had a quick Mother's Day celebration. Maren wouldn't be able to join us on Sunday. They would need all the rest they could get before another busy week. And I'd be back the next Saturday afternoon to help a little more.