Busy Week Ahead

Good Morning! The fog is beginning to burn off and the sun is streaming behind the trees in the lower pasture. It's beautiful but I have to be vigilant about branches falling off and leaves wilting. I believe the leaves make a form of prussic acid which can kill livestock. The trees are allowed to live because of the shade they provide as well as the back scratching material -smile-.
Let me apologize...for some reason my posts were underlined, very annoying, but I couldn't figure out what I did to cause this. Now, some sentences aren't underlined but there's is No Way I'm going to re-do this post. I know this is annoying to you; it's annoying to me but I can live with it. When you finish reading this entry, you'll understand why. Simply too much to do in the daylight I've got today; so what's new, eh? -smile-

If you know why my post was underlined and, more importantly, how to prevent it next time, please don't keep it a secret! Tell all, tell all...
See these little fawn triplets alongside the road? This worries me; where is their mother? I dare not consider...

As we passed, they bounded into the underbrush but I caught a glimpse of this little one as s/he left the side of the road. I always make a lot of noise to, hopefully, frighten them away from the road. People think of me as a crazy woman...honking the horn, yelling, waving stuff out the window...but if it helps these little ones grow to adulthood, it's well worth being thought of as crazy.

It's a busy week at Thistle Cove Farm. I'm in the studio this week, getting ready to demonstrate the fiber and textile arts at The Highlands Festival in Abingdon. Thursday will be a Very Long Day and, for the first time in a long time, I'll have to pack a lunch and water as I'll be glued to my spinning chair all day. I'm not a fan of festival food as it doesn't like me much either. I'll take my spinning wheel, rag rug loom, roving to spin and roving to sell, some fleeces and yarn. Hopefully, my small antique fan will keep the faith and work all day long. My pioneer dress gets a bit warm so a fan will be helpful.

So, does this picture look better with, or without, Sadie Lady? Not bad either way, eh? -smile-This morning Sadie Lady sat as I wandered around the studio, taking photos. She's looking at kittens and cat, wondering if she dare, DARE, chase them? NO, Sadie Lady, the answer is NO! At four months old, her body is beginning to look like a dog but her mind is still Pure Puppy!

****************** Miss Emma says, "Why should a DOG get attention? I wanted to add my own special touch so I walked across the keyboard and put in stars..." Thank you, Miss Emma. Now the blog looks SO much better!

I've joined our local YMCA, newly opened, and am taking Zumba and yoga classes. Sometimes, I take water aerobics but enjoy Zumba and yoga a tad better. I don't enjoy the Zumba music though, it's a bit vulgar for my tastes but then, I don't listen to pop music. I prefer Celtic, jazz, blues if I'm going to listen to secular music and this pop music is, in a word, Awful. No wonder people's minds are full of nonsense. Oh, the music is great for jumping around and getting the heart rate going but it does make me blush! Some of it, I'm ot even sure what they mean and I'm not sure I want to know. I do know my blood pressure was 118/80 when I got home yesterday; that was after two hours of exercise. I find when I stretch before and after exercising and then when I get up in the morning my body responds in a positive fashion. I feel much better, my posture is much better and my attitude is better. Generally, I have a good attitude anyway and those increased endorphens just add to the joy.

Now, as I'm typing this, Miss Emma is draped across my shoulders, supported also by the back of the sofa and she's playing in my hair. She and the other kittens received their vaccinations on Friday and not a moment too soon! Miss Emma has a cold and is on meds; she seems to be a bit better ...at least if her antics this morning are any indication. I just wish her nasty little cough would heal.

Are you among those who are C. S. Lewis fans? Are you also aware he was a member of the Inklings? There were a small group of thinkers and writers who, IMO, re-defined Christian writing. Dorothy Sayers and J.R.R. Tolkien were both members although I've read Sayers was an unofficial member due to her gender, and it's due to a challenge from Tolkien that Lewis wrote the Chronicles of Narnia. Tolkien's most famous books is the Lord of the Rings series and my favorite of Sayers are the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries. Hugh Laurie, the actor who plays Dr. House, is the actor who played Lord Peter Wimsey whom I enjoyed far more than the House character.

By the way, Voyage of the Dawn Trader is in production. I love the Narnia books and movies and think the Potter series pales in comparison. Oh, don't get me wrong...Potter is good but Narnia is GREAT! Potter engages the eyes and Narnia engages the mind but then, I've always been a person for whom the mind being engaged was far superior to the eyes being engaged. Isn't imagination a wonderful thing? When children, or adults, don't have an active positive imagination, they just aren't living full lives, don't you think? A person with an active imagination is never bored because the pictures and story are being played out in the mind. If you disagree on the Narnia Potter discussion, that's okay too and I'd like to hear why you prefer Potter to Narnia. -smile-

As to Dorothy L. Sayers...she's an interesting person. She, as Lewis and Tolkien, was associated with Oxford and advocated a classical education, as do I even though my "classical education" was on the waning moon. She wrote a compelling argument for same entitled The Lost Tools of Learning. She also wrote a definitive translation of Dante's Divine Comedy. In this, her last work, she looks deeply at The Seven Deadly Sins and the medieval concept of those sins.

All this, the above post, is because of Sunday's Sabbath Keeping quotes of C. S. Lewis. Every so often, I re-read Lewis and others of his time and enjoy them all over again. Just like the Bible...King James Version, ta very much!...there's always something new to fix upon, to ponder and reflect upon. Dave has begun downloading some of my favorite authors onto my MP3 player so I now have audio books no matter where I go...studio, automobile, home...it doesn't matter where because I have headphones or speakers that will play the MP3. So much FUN to listen to authors who amuse me, entertain me, make me think and, hopefully, make me a better writer. There's a certain turn of phrase that's sorely lacking in today's writings. A lot of books today are so vulgar...there's that word again...tawdry, unimaginative, boring, even. I find myself returning, again and again, to the familiar, the safe, the cozy that still manage to stretch me in various ways.

What about you; what books do you enjoy listening to or reading?

The studio in the morning light with Sam intently studying the cat and kittens. "No, Sam", do Not Even Think of chasing them!

The west side of the studio with bird feeders and flowers in window box.

I think my little bird door knocker is so sweet and it looks like the Christmas cactus is getting ready to bloom!St. Francis watches over the flowers and has either water or bird seed in his container. I love the sweet look on his face. Do you remember the movie Brother Sun, Sister Moon. I loved that movie, wish I could find it for $5 at Wal-Mart -smile- and think it was one of Director Franco Zeffirelli's best, certainly one of my favorites. I'm sure if I saw it today, it might not be as great as my memory says but I'm sure I'd still like it.

The Chinese symbol for harmony with the pencil cactus hanging beside.I enjoy picking wild flowers and then putting them into this old blue enamel coffee pot. The lid long gone, the pot is still wonderful as a flower container and looks so nice sitting upon the little green table. That little table used to be white but white was too brash and stood out when I wanted it to blend. Uh Oh. Christian lesson there, I'd wager to say!

The studio is getting some serious time this week as well as for the remainder of the month. I've several quilts to finish, some textile post cards to make and scarves/shawls to sew. I enjoy finding beautiful material and making shawls/scarves. A couple of spinning wheels are out there so I can always take a whirl when my fingers are weary of sewing on my antique sewing machines. When I'm caught up, I'll take you into the studio for a visit and will also post my bread recipes.

Banana walnut bread is in the oven, coffee and tea pots are full and hot, dogs asleep at my feet, Miss Emma in a sunbeam...Ahhhh...this is the Moment!

Blessings ~ a good read ~ a good listen ~ great authors ~ ability to download ~ exercise ~ good health ~ festivals ~ banana walnut bread ~ puppies, kittens, dogs and cats ~ always thankful to God for giving me little ways to keep me humble! ~ YOU~