Recent Game Cam action

I swear they look more like cheap plastic toys than real animals, but they dig enough foxholes for a whole regiment of green army men.

Masked bandit who looks like she's been on a diet. (I dreamed I was about this thin last night, but when I woke up it wasn't true.) We had a lot more raccoons when we lived in the suburbs than we do here out in the country.

Looks like frost on the grass, doesn't it? But this is Alabama, not Minnesota. The camera hasn't moved, but the previous photo was before all the recent rain, and this one was just a few days ago. What a difference in the grass!

Why are you so skinny? You've eaten all but two of our chickens!
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Wayne has been showing some recent pics from his Cuddeback too. He's got a different version than we do.
I'm not sure what type Linda has, but there's been a lot of action at her house!
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I forgot to post a link to the Friday Ark on Friday. So go visit now if you haven't already.

Mesclun Coming Up

The 'Paris Market Mix' mesclun from Renee's Garden is coming up. This mixture contains arugula, red lettuce, escarole, chervil, and endive.

Last year, I grew the same variety of mesclun, but I never fertilized, which means I never got a harvest. This year, though, things will be different!

Music of Silence

I've begun a new book called Music of Silence, A Sacred Journey Through the Hours of the Day. A little from the back cover says: "a noted Benedictine monk shows how to incorporate the sacred meaning of monastic life into our everyday lives. He demonstrates how to "be here now" by following the natural rhythms of the hours of the day.
This is from the chapter Vigils, the night watch. He's talking about affluence and how it always demands more. "The word affluence suggests that whatever flows in never comes out. Our affluent society stays affluent by making the containers bigger when they are just about to overflow, like a fountain with its lovely veils of water spilling over. The economics of affluence demand that things that were special for us last year must now be taken for granted; gratefulness is taken away from us. But if we make the vessel smaller and smaller by reducing our needs, then the overflowing comes sooner and with it the joy of gratefulness.
The less you have, the more you appreciate what you've got. With the extraneous stripped away, you begin to realize how you are being graced by life's gifts. This is at least one sense in which the poor are blessed. When your needs are limited, your vessel is easily filled, and you can delight in the overflow.
Monks experience the overflow sooner; poor people experience it sooner than wealthy ones, because the vessel is smaller. With monks, who by custom have few and simple possessions, it is artificially made smaller, and so the joy of overflowing comes sooner. If you normally have just soup for your meal, and all of a sudden you get a second course of potatoes, that feels like a wonderful gift, a blessing, and you are thrilled."
After my last bout of decluttering, I begin to see how true this is. I still spend way too much time going through papers, magazines, etc. I don't want to be a chronic paper shuffler. I want to be able to turn more outward and help the less fortunate, the young mothers, my grandchildren, and anyone else that needs me. And so the decluttering continues... will there ever be a time when I'm not a slave to paperwork? I hope and pray so.

Holiday Reading

Becca and Bella had a post recently about D.E. Stevenson's book Miss Buncle's Book.  I had read that book many years ago while reading most of Stevenson's books.  
I like to find an author I really like then read everything they've written.  In her case, that's about 40-50 books!  I haven't read them all but a lot.  
So after reading the post referred to above, I went to my fiction collection to see if I could find Miss Buncle's Book.  Unfortunately, I didn't find it.  I do own several of Mrs. Stevenson's books; just not that one.  I called our local library to see if they were open today, and they were.  
So Darcie and I took off to the library and spend a happy forty-five minutes cruising the stacks.  I found Miss Buncle plus the stack in the photo.  I shouldn't have gotten more.  I have so many stacks already at home.  But there's just something that I can't resist about checking out books.  Call it an addiction.  It's better than drinking or smoking!
Another good book I just finished is Stealing Athena by Karen Essex.  It's about the lives of two women; one living in ancient Greece while the Parthenon is being built and the other living during the late 1700's when her husband, Lord Elgin from Scotland, removed many Greek statues from Athens and shipped them to England.  
These are called The Elgin Marbles and are on display at the British Museum in London.  I saw them while there a few years ago but didn't realize what I was seeing.  There are so many similar objects on display.  After an hour or so, they all start running together in your mind and your eyes cross.  Next time I'm in London, I'll make a point to view them.  Greece has just built a museum in Athens to house them.  I guess they plan on winning the battle over who gets them.  So I'd better hurry before they're shipping back to Greece!  I think that's where they belong though.
The other book about Lady Elgin is one I've had in my stacks for a few months.  I plan on reading it next while the other one is still fresh in my mind.  She was quite a character!
I went to the Elgin Cathedral ruins in Scotland.  I was probably very close to Lord Elgin's ancestral home.  If only I had known then....Oh well, I'll just have to go back!
I just love historical fiction.  I've learned so much history that way.  And it's so much more interesting than reading history books.  The research that authors put into their books is just amazing.  I wouldn't have the patience!  So I'll let them do all the work and I'll enjoy the fruits of their labors by reading the books.

The Blizzard of

We have had a pretty mild December until this week. A couple times I have been out riding my road bike on the Council Bluffs trails. Looks like i should have ridden a little more to make my goal of 1000 miles (17 miles short).

The hybrid was in the shop to get a spoke replaced. Looks like it was damaged when hauling home from Albuquerque in May (had not ridden this bike since). Needed to get the bike ready for the next trip to Albuquerque.

Tuesday, I took the hardtail to the bike shop and got tires and pedals exchanged - now running studded tires and flat pedals. And just in time. We got about 6" of show (with ice under) Wednesday evening.

Missed a doctor appointment yesterday (did not feel comfortable with venturing out in the snow, cold, and wind). Stayed inside for the day except for a walk out to the mail box and take a couple photos.

Did not stay out very long. While it was in the 20s, the winds were 25-40mph and the drifting snow. Made it pretty chilly and not fun. Winds died off last night. Was able to get out and head out to Panera Bread for coffee and bagel this morning.

Word is that the Council Bluffs trails have been plowed (before than our county roads!) Don't see much melting for the next week or so. Looks like maybe the studded tires will get use yet this year.

Fall Semester Begins

This is Gabriel, our adopted college student. He's a music performance major at our local university; lucky for us. He serenades us with Chopin, Rachmaninoff, etc. when he comes over. We usually have him over to eat Sunday dinner with us after church.
Our church has this program where college students who want to be adopted while they're in school in our town and going to our church sign up. They're then placed within our church families.
We've had some not so good ones in the past, but we scored big with Gabriel. He's only a sophomore, so we'll have him around for a few more years.
I gave him the score from the movie Pride and Prejudice for Christmas last year. It's the most beautiful music I've ever heard. Within a few weeks he had it all worked up and was playing it for us. There are definite perks to this adoption thing. Now if he'll only do the dishes!

3200 ISO Photograph

Here's a photo I took of Darcie and Prince with the super high speed film.  I handtinted her ribbon and cheek pink and the cat's eyes green.  It's really grainy.  I love it!  I have it on my wall in an 11x14.  Click on the photo to see it enlarged.  I can't wait until I get the other roll back.