In Bloom

I took this picture of our catalpa tree this afternoon.

Sssssssssso.....

The boys caught two ring neck snakes today. According to tradition, we named them with names beginning with W. Winchester made good his escape, but we released this pretty little one (who was about 6 inches long.) These are the only type of snakes that I enjoy holding. They tend to like to wind gently around and through your fingers, and don't seem to mind being held, either.

Home Again, Home Again...

Well, I'm home, and I'm caught back up with laundry and email and snail mail and having my ankles attacked by my cat. (I am not yet caught up on weeding my garden, but on the other hand, will I ever be? Unlikely.) We had a good trip, despite road construction, and it was a wonderful priviledge to see two of my friends marry two very good men. Yes, it was a double. The sisters had two consecutive ceremonies. I was in the first, and watched the second. Both, though different, were a beautiful testament to the commitments that were made. I especially liked the use of Ruth's words, "thy people shall be my people", in both brides' vows.

I did not have the hiccups, neither did I drop my bouquet, even when picking up the hymn book and turning to the paperclipped page during the ceremony. I didn't cry during the ceremony, either, but I did tear up during one of the rehearsals. The bride and I have been friends for the last eight years, and very close for the last five, so this is quite a change.

For the first time ever, I sang "O Come, All Ye Faithful" during a wedding service. Also for the first time, there were hymn requests taken, and a blond joke from the father of the groom at the request of the bride. See, when the poor minister, doing his first double wedding in twenty some years, mislays the second set of vows you do what you can. My favorite part of the glitch was the bride and groom telling their engagement story. Neither one of them was fazed a bit by the delay, and they even enjoyed the unplanned aspects of their ceremony! The bridesmaids soldiered on through the suddenly longer ceremony in what seemed like 80 degree heat, although they ditched their shawls around the time the vows were discovered missing.

Anyway, it was a great wedding, we made it home safely, and it is good to be back.

This and That

Well, the dress is done except for needing hemmed. The sandwiches are made. The last load of laundry is in the dryer. My bags are in the Suburban. Now, the only question is...what have I forgotten to pack? Hmm.

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What makes a book a classic? Why are some old books classics and some not? Is it the merit of the story, the quality of the writing, the fame of the author? The reason I ask is that someone mentioned Wuthering Heights the other day, and I began to wonder why its considered a classic. Because when I read it several years ago, I recall that I didn't like the story at all and considered it depressing and boring in the extreme. I realize that my disliking it isn't a strong enough reason for it not to be a classic... but why are some books classics and how is that determined?

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I will be in a wedding next Saturday. I already had someone volunteer to pray specifically that I will not have hiccups during the ceremony (thank you!) but if y'all could pray generally for our safety while traveling cross country and also for a smooth event next Saturday I'd appreciate it.

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Since we'll be away from home for about a week, there is a good chance I'll be silent for that time.

What I'm Doing

On May 20th, 2006, one of my closest friends will get married. To my delight, she did me the honor of asking me to be a bridesmaid! Hopefully I won't cry or faint or have the hiccups during the ceremony. But before the ceremony I need to make the dress, and that is what I've been working on today.


I'm making an empire waisted, tea length dress with short, slightly puffed sleeves.
The picture above makes the fabric look bluer, the picture to the right makes it look more purpleish. It depends on the light. It is a lovely fabric, but rather unforgiving (seams you remove will show, and steam will ruin it!), so I was a bit nervous, but so far I haven't committed any unfixable mistakes. :-)

After the Rain

I took a Sunday morning walk and it seemed like all the world was in bloom.

The Button Box

What's On Your Desk Right Now?

Well, Mosey tagged me way back in February, and I really think it's time to reward her patience! Today was a good day to do it, too... I spilled a glass of water earlier, causing me to remove stacks of paper, books, etc, so the list is half as long as it would have been.

- computer monitor, keyboard, speaker
- box of pens/pencils/markers
- glass jar with paintbrushes and colored pencils
- a glass
- place mat made from birthday cards from my 12th birthday
-The Hound of Heaven and Other Poems, Francis Thompson
- small glass jar
- paperweight with dogwood blossom in it
- golf ball center
- computer CD's
- cell phone headset
- wine bottle with a plant growing in it
- scotch tape
- sea shell, bobby pin, thumbtack
- queen cage
- alarm clock
- 3" x 5" card box
- picture frame with ship stamp
- pink fabric rose
- and the envelope I'm writing this on the back of...

If you would like to do this, you may consider yourself tagged.

Blue Face Paint Remover

"The Celts were probably responsible for introducing soap to Britain, where it began to appear in the literature, under various spellings, around A.D. 1000."
- Soap: Making It, Enjoying It by Anne Bramson

Out the Window

I took this when we all went on a drive two days ago through the spring countryside. Pictures taken out the window are sometimes fine and sometimes blurry or taken when you're five seconds past what you wanted to take the picture of, but I was happy that this horse turned out pretty well.

Done is a Battle on the Dragon Black

Done is a battle on the dragon black,
Our campion Christ confoundit has his force;
The yettis of hell are broken with a crack,
The sign triumphal raisit is of the cross,
The devillis trymmillis with hiddous voce,
The saulis are borrowit and to the bliss can go,
Christ with his blood our ransonis dois indoce:
Surrexit Dominus de sepulchro.

The first of five (stanzas?) parts to a poem by William Dunbar (c. 1460-c.1530). It is a lot harder to read a poem like this, with so many unfamiliar words and spellings, but (I think) worth the effort.
Here are definitions given in the book (A Sacrifice of Praise: An Anthology of Christian Poetry in English from Caedmon to the Mid-Twentieth Century, edited by James H. Trott) for some unfamiliar words:
trymmillis- tremble
our ransonis- ransom
indoce- endorse
Surrexit Dominus de sepulchro- "The Lord has risen from the grave"

And the answer is...

Thanks for guessing, everyone. Yes, it is something to do with insects, Deborah Anne, and it is even a cage, but it isn't a spider cage!

The object pictured in the last post is a Queen Cage, and it is used when introducing a new queen into a hive of bees. It protects her and allows the hive to free her, while creating a delay so that they get used to her and accept her as their queen.

This particular queen cage (with two dead queen attendants inside) was a souvenier given to Eph1:6Beloved and me by the man who is selling us our bees. He gave it to us when we went to drop off our Kenya hives (mine built by my wonderful father, hers built by JFC). We will pick them up in a few weeks after the bees are all settled in and happy. While we were there, he invited us to visit his apiary, so we donned protective gear and went out with him. He showed us how he used his smoker (ours is pictured), and then after using it to calm the bees down, he showed us inside the hives.

After he opened up a hive, he showed us the queen, queen cells, drones, drone cells, worker cells, pollen, and capped honey. After he demonstrated how to take out frames, he had us reach in barehanded and pull out frames and hold them and look at them ourselves. The bees practically ignored us, buzzing back and forth and continuing their work on the frames. It was a very exciting and interesting experience, and I'm glad that we had the opportunity to interact with the bees with an experienced beekeeper on hand!