Oh, Guardian, how your bloggers astound us with their brilliance!

What could possibly be the point of writing 500- or 1000- words to denounce John Wilmot, the 2nd Earl of Rochester's life and poetry as juvenile and banalHow insightful! Thanks for sharing ( Read more... )

My dogs just realized that there are birds massing at the bird feeders on the back porch. The feeders and the birds have been there for more than a week. The dogs have been in and out the back door dozens of times while birds have been present and have been completely oblivious. At this moment, I have two spaniels peering out the glass of the back ( Read more... )

"I count myself one of the number of those who write as they learn and learn as they write." ~Augustine, Letters cxliii.2 as cited by John Calvin in a letter to readers of his Institutes of Christian Religion (1559).

Ugh. I've been up since 5:00; I've put in an hour at the gym (okay, that included the shower); I've had breakfast and am working on my second cup of coffee; and, still, my eyes are drooping closed and all I want is to climb back in bed. And I may do! By golly, if you can't take a nap on New Years Eve day, when can you? (Of course, it's not yet 9: ( Read more... )

You know how you receive gifts sometimes and don't use them for years, though you may move them about with you from house to house and each time wonder why you bother ( Read more... )

I had a bunch of stuff in the fridge, freezer and pantry that needed to be used up, so I made a wickedly good beef stew yesterday. I'm trying it out now and yum! It is the perfect thing for a day when the temperature is dipping below 40F and the heavens are chucking down rain.

Beef Stew1 yellow onion, diced ( Read more... )

I'm baking a turkey breast "tenderloin," which is turkey breast cut in the shape of a tenderloin (long and narrow, sort of tubular). Anyway, I salted, peppered, sprinkled with Penzy's Galena Street chicken rub and drizzled honey over it. Am now baking for 20 minutes at 400F, and now, at the fourteen minute mark, it's beginning to smell very, very ( Read more... )

Last week I was home in Texas for a long weekend. This was the view of our back porch on Tuesday afternoon. (Note the pup snoozling in the sunshine between the slats of the fencing!)


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A wise woman once said:

All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well. (Julian of Norwich)

I love reading Samuel Pepys's diary because the man is so often thoroughly blinkered in his view of himself. Consider, for instance, the following passage from "yesterday's" entry:Lay very long in bed discoursing with Mr. Hill of most things of a man's life, and how little merit do prevail in the world, but only favour; and that, for myself, chance ( Read more... )