HAPPY THANKSGIVING

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to my American friends.
I hope that your bellies are filled and that you all have your stretchy pants on.

I had uploaded a very short song video of " Mary Did you Know", but it said that it wasn't available for some reason.

Hugs, Julia

IT TIME FOR ANOTHER BLOG BREAK, BUT I MAY CONTINUE FOR A LITTLE WHILE

 Time is flying fast and  I'm spending time on spirituality studying online from an approved Catholic site so I'm having less time on Blogger. Wow, I can't believe we are already almost halfway into November already. That's what happens when we are too much taken by the things of this world.

I am working on my Catholic faith spirituality instead and spending much less time Blogger. Life is good at home and I'm happy and it has remained this way since the burning of my New Age books episode. What a huge improvement in our relationship and also with father and son relationship.
I've been crocheting and I'm on baby blanket #5. I'm enjoying it so much, maybe, too much...

I have a small rug in mind that I want to do but haven't done anything about it yet and I'll tell you why. Just bear with me...

Way back, 19 years ago, I was going through the St Ignatius Spiritual Exercises and doing an hour of prayer, contemplation, meditation every day. Every two weeks, I wrote a review of what stood out for me in my daily journal, I glanced out the window of my bedroom on the second floor and saw a figure in the branches and leaves on a tree across the road, somewhat like we sometimes see figures in the clouds.

I'm visual and I have difficulty imagining with my mind but I can easily see faces everywhere there is a bit of pattern. It was Sept 22, 2000, so I'm sure there were still leaves on the trees across the road in front of our house. I looked up and saw the face of the crucified Jesus in the pattern of the branches and leaves with the blue sky in the background. It was very distinct and I was in awe of what I saw.

I can copy somewhat if I have a picture and so I quickly grabbed a small piece of paper on my little prayer table and sketched the picture as I saw it. I kept looking up and down until I was finished.  I was in such consolation that day. When I was finished, I looked up once more and it was gone. No amount of looking and searching could bring me back what I saw in the branches and leaves. I could not see it again...

I pasted the tiny sketch in my journal and after a while, I forgot all about it until this past summer when I went to look for it, I could not find the place where it was in the journals.  I searched for quite a while.
I went through all the 24 hardcover volumes of 192 pages each and could not find the page where I had attached the tiny 1 1/2 x 2 1/4 inch piece of paper drawing of Jesus' head.
Several days later, I went back and tried to find it again, with the same result.

By now, I was thinking I had only dreamt about it so I asked my husband if he remembered that I had sketched the face of the crucified Jesus or if I had perhaps just dreamt about it.  He said yes he remembered that I showed him the little sketch of Jesus' face crucified.

I figured, the evil one wouldn't let me find it so I prayed to St Anthony of Padua the Patron Saint of lost objects, and went to look for it again, lo and behold, in no time I found it in the 3rd volume, page 28. I hadn't noticed before that the head was not down and sideways like on the crucifix but tilted upward and Jesus seemed to be at peace. This got me to wonder why was it this way since it was the crucified Jesus. Why was He not like on the crucifix with his head tilted down?

THE BLUE INK IS THE ORIGINAL SKETCH AND THE PENCILED AREA ON TOP OF THE HEAD WAS ADDED SHORTLY AFTER.


Last week as I was praying the Rosary on my knees with my husband before bedtime, as we have been doing every night together since the burning of my New Age books episode, I was having difficulty staying focused. So I tried to imagine Michaelangelo's Pieta, where Mary is holding Jesus in her arms after He was taken down from the cross. I continued praying the Rosary.

When I got to the part of " Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of death, Amen".  I saw vividly in full color in my imagination, Mary, full size,  holding her bloody son Jesus.  Mary looked so sad, and Jesus had his head tilted back, her hands were covered with blood as were her clothes. I got totally overtaken with grief and such sadness and I started sobbing so hard that I couldn't even speak. My eyes got all puffy and red. After that, I was able to focus well on the words of the prayer,  but I was still sobbing. In my mind, I only saw her for a very brief moment but it was so powerful. It has only happened once and I know it was a grace that I received from Mary as she is full of grace, like the archangel Gabriel addressed her at the visitation, Hail Mary full of grace, blessed are you among all women... Our Heavenly Mother Mary is very alive and not dead, as one of my friends claims that she is dead.

Several weeks ago, I took a photo of my tiny sketch and put it on my computer screen and printed it on a full page.
I will eventually get it enlarged a bit more for my rug pattern. I have no idea how I will go about hooking it yet. Like I said, it will be an inspired rug.

I'm sure that some, although not all,  will shake their heads at my post like some did on my New Age post as religion and politic are tabooed subjects, but as I'm getting older, after all, I'll be turning 73 before the end of November, then so be it. I have thick skin and I won't take it personally, I promise... It's better to have faith than none at all... And I do respect other religions.

I'm not ashamed or afraid to profess my faith openly, with those who read my blog, with those who call me friend and with those who follow me on my blog.  After all, it's my choice even though, I still don't expect everyone to agree with me but I'm just being true to myself.

Jesus says, in Luke 9:26 Those who are ashamed of me and my words, of them the son of man, will be ashamed when he comes in his glory and of the holy angels. Those are Jesus' words and I believe in Him.

For those who read my whole post to the finish, and to those who left a comment, thank you. I respect your views but I may add my own comments for clarification if I feel it's needed.
Stay warm and safe.
Hugs, Julia

ON TO THE THIRD BABY BLANKET

Just a quick post this evening...
The big Maple tree in the front yard is bare already and we lost a lot of the beautiful foliage during the big rain and wind storm. We were lucky that the storm wasn't too bad here.
While the rain battered on the windows, I've made myself comfortable in my Lazy-Boy rocker recliner and crocheted away the hours. I'm on my third baby blanket.

There was a second funeral this week. A second cousin of my husband was killed in a lumber mill accident. He was pulled into a wood chipper. He was 50 years old and had a wife and a 12-year-old daughter. He lost his brother to cancer about 5 years ago. This poor family has had a lot of sadness to bear.

On a happier note, Michael's had a big sale on and had a 55% off on one item so I purchased a yarn winder because last evening one of the yarn I was working with got tangled when both ends came together somehow. I also was very lucky to find a skein of the same dye lot, light green yarn to finish my second baby blanket.

Here are the yarn winder and the ball of baby yarn I made with it.  The winder is clamped to the tabletop and I turn the crank to make a ball. It's a lot faster than doing it by hand.

Here is the third baby blanket. It's a shell pattern and very easy to do.  Obviously, this one will be for a baby girl. I'm enjoying working on this pattern and find it easier than the first pattern and will finish it before returning to the previous blanket.

I wish you all a great week and I hope that the sunshine finds you wherever you are.
Thanks for visiting my blog and please leave a comment.
Hugs, Julia

OCTOBER'S DELIGHTS

I can't believe how quickly October arrived and brought us some cooler weather and lots of colors...
The Autumn colors are in their full glory right now and we can hear the crunch of the fallen curly leaves underfoot.
The colors are breathtaking along the busy highway so I could not stop to take photos.

Instead, I took advantage of this beautiful young hard maple tree in front of my son's house by the riverbank.

This soft maple in our front yard is the first to lose its leaves in Autumn and the leaves all curl up unlike the leaves of the hard maple. They will be mulched with the lawnmower.

The first baby blanket has been finished and donated. The color came out better this time. It's not perfect but they were glad to have it.

I started another baby blanket in an aqua color and is a little larger with a new ergonomic crochet hook. It's so much easier on my hand.  I finally got the pattern right this time around. Practice makes almost perfect. I'll be running out of yarn to finish it and they were out of stock at Michael, so I'll have to wait till next Wednesday when the yarn comes in... I like working with this easy pattern.

On a cold damp day this week, I felt the need for a pan of raisin scones and it hit the spot. I had a big pot of soup but I didn't bother to take a picture of it... The scones were shared and didn't last long.

Here is an update on my homegrown ginger.  It's was neglected as a houseplant. I wanted to plant it outdoors in the garden but somehow never got around to do it. I'm pleased that it grew at all. The older piece I planted is still edible. It was very tall and the leaves tips were a bit dried up.

I've been weeding and gathering some pine needles for my blueberries but it's still too early to mulch them.  I don't want mice setting home in them and feed off my blueberry bushes in winter. Yesterday I disconnected all my garden hoses and put them away for next year. I'm tired and want to relax with my yarn and crochet hook.

I just got back from the funeral home for Brian, a farmer friend who passed away at age 65. It is very sad that he passed away so young.  The funeral is tomorrow. He was very active in the farming community and organization. He will be missed by all.

Take care, thanks for stopping by to read my blog and leaving a comment. I appreciate it very much.
Hugs, Julia

KEEPING MY FINGERS NIMBLE

Hi everybody. Blogging has been put on the back burner again and again during the summer... Nothing much interesting to report. Everyday life is repetitive and I'm more interested in the welfare of my soul than in reporting every little daily occurrence of what I've been up to.

I've been relearning how to hook after about a 40-year absence. I'm working on a baby blanket for a project our woman group is doing for the needy and I'm almost finished. I've made so many mistakes on the ends and it makes my pattern looks wonky. I finally got it figured out. It's not perfect but it will still keep a small baby warm. I hope my next one will be a little better. I love hooking this pattern.
The color is a soft yellow but despite all my efforts, it came out almost white in the photo even when I didn't use the flash.

I've put some preserve in freezer bags and bottles and the leaves are falling and it's getting colder. The broccoli plants are still producing and so are the kale and Brussel sprouts. There are still tomatoes and cucumbers left in the garden. September just zipped by and I barely had time to say hello and goodbye.

I've helped my son clean out his tall weeds and I'm starting to slow down in the outdoors department. It was a good summer and the garden did really well. There is still a bit of color left and my Grottendorst pink rose bush is still blooming like there's no tomorrow and all the annuals are still giving us their last show of color before the frost comes.

I've helped with the church supper and also cut pies all afternoon on Sunday again this fall... We served well over 400 people. I think somewhere around 431 if I heard right. This is not an official count.

The leaves on the tree in our front yard have begun to fall and the mums are in their glory.

Bada Bing and Bada Boom begonias are still blooming.

Phlox are showing what the have left to give for this year.

The little tiny plant my son Vaughan gave me to grow has grown a lot in the raised carrot bed.

The Charles Davis rose bushes are still giving a bit of beauty.

The potted marigolds on the stone steps are looking tired.

These are doing a little better.



Serendipity lobelias are still giving a good show between the stone steps.

The potted begonias also are getting tired

The hostas are saying we've seen better days but the marigolds are still as happy as could be.

Another serendipity lobelia that self sowed is doing really well in the bed.

Inpatients are still blooming well and I gathered some seeds for next year.

The Grootendorst rose bush is still blooming. They will bloom till the frost.

That's about it for this post. I hope that you are all doing well and are happy to welcome Autumn.
I have mixed feelings because I do not like the cold and snow but I'm happy to take a rest from gardening till Spring.

Thanks for visiting and please leave a comment.
Hugs, Julia

A PECK OF PICKLES

As summer is winding down, it's time to make pickles. We have an overabundance of cucumbers again this year and so I made some pickles. What else is new?

Last Friday evening I went to check to see how my little pickling cucumbers were doing. To my surprise, I picked about a gallon. I asked George, how his cucumbers were doing at the farm. He said he hadn't seen any yet. I went to check and I picked two full boxes and had to come home because I  didn't bring enough boxes. There were so much more left in his garden.
That night, I scrubbed all the cucumbers and got all my ingredients ready and started to work on pickles all day, from Saturday morning till I went to bed at midnight. The house smelled like pickles and me too. I showered, said my prayers and fell asleep and I didn't move all night. I was so tired. Surprisingly I was well-rested in the morning.

 On Monday, I tackled digging my Irises. I had to tackle a hornet nest inside a hollow brick before continuing. It was hot and the sweat was pouring off my brow into my eyeglasses. I had to tie a bandana on my forehead.

I had to remove some bricks and the hornets were really mad. I had put on a winter coat with a hood, leather gloves and was well protected. I even had my face covered in case one would try to get to sting me in the face.

The Irises have been planted and I have put some in pots but I didn't take a picture of that. I dug another patch but I still have a few more patches to did up. Now I have to tidy these Daylilies. I have all the dead stalks removed.

I've finally moved the rest of the pile of soil by the road and reseeded that patch of lawn and done some more weeding as the weeds are going to seeds already. I used a lot of that excess soil in my Irises bed. No Photos.

On Wednesday morning I got the shocking news that my uncle had passed away. When I contacted my sister to tell her, she gave me the news that my sister in law had just lost two of her sisters a few days apart. I hope that it for a while.

Please keep the people of Florida in your thoughts and prayers. I have friends who live in Florida and I'm am concerned about them. I hope that Dorian loses strength as it hit land. Also if you are so inclined, please pray for a 4-year-old little girl named Abbey who is to undergo a 12 to 20-hour operation for brain cancer. I can't imagine what the parents are going through right now.

Stay safe wherever you are.
Thanks for your comments and prayers..
Hugs, Julia

CONTINUATION OF PREVIOUS POST

Today is a rainy Sunday. We went out to our favorite family restaurant for breakfast and now I have free time to post.

The last of the visitors have left and are on their way back home. It was so nice seeing them again.
I have had some expected visitors and some unexpected visitors as well. All were welcome. We had a great time and the house came to life for over a week which was very nice. Now, all is quiet again.

Warning. This post is photo heavy. Here are some photos of our visitors.

My husband's nephew and his wife from Quebec. Missing is his brother from Montreal. He went out when the photo was taken.

My brother and his wife from another part of Quebec stopped in on their way up to our home town.  This photo is out of focus. That's little old me on the right.

My daughter Christine and the boys relaxing on the swing. They have grown so much

Of course, the kitty must be included in the photos.

The grandkids were feeding oatmeal to wild ducks. The ducks were pretty tame.
We went to the lake at my other daughter and son in law's cottage and had a relaxing day but I didn't take many photos. It was a cloudy day so we stayed mostly inside.  The next day we went out on the lake and I found out I was getting out of breath. I need to start walking again or go to the public indoor pool. Weeding is too stationary...

To keep the boys busy, I got them to pound nails in the deck boards. There was a frenzy of pounding.  They had a great time and felt good about fixing my old deck. One of the boys found out that the little hammer had a neat screwdriver in the hollow handle.

I read these books that some of my friends lent me. Vatican has 823 pages and Piercing The Darkness has 441. Vatican by Malachi Martin was very eye-opening. I enjoyed reading both.

I harvested over 20 pounds of beets and filled 2 large pots to make beet pickles.

I never froze beet greens before but thought I would give it a try this year.

In all I made 18 pints of beet pickles. I don't have a single beet left in my garden.

I made 7 + jars of Rhubarb Pineapple Strawberry jam. It uses strawberry Jell-o which doesn't have strawberry in it so I can eat it. The extra went in the fridge. I only use a tiny bit on my toasts so this will last me a long time except if George gets into it.

I harvested a whole bunch of Basil and made 7 containers of Pesto base with olive oil for the freezer. When I need pesto, I just thaw the base and add the other ingredients. So yummy... I still have a tons of basil in the garden.

I've been harvesting all my cabbages, broccoli and cauliflowers and froze some.  They all grew so large this year with all the rain we had. Also, I froze green and yellow beans.  My freezer is full and I cleaned out the garden where the veggies were harvested. I still have kale, broccoli and brussel sprouts left in that garden.

And now for those who love flowers, here is fragrant Debbie Oriental Lily. Oriental Lilies are more fragrant in the evening I find.

This one was just starting to bloom. It's called Muscadet Oriental Lily, also fragrant.

Just starting to bloom is fragrant Dizzy Oriental Lily.

This is fragrant Golden Stargazer

And not to be outdone is fragrant Pretty Woman Oriental Lilies.

This is Bombshell Hydrangea which is getting crowded by daylilies.

Here is the culprit Daylily called Decatur Cherry. They are so pretty. I think they are one of my favorites Daylilies

This is one of the Fire Light Hydrangea that the deers ate some of the buds. I'm glad that they didn't eat all the buds. It's starting to change color already and will turn to pomegranate-red in late summer. Please don't look at the weeds in my lawn. Bad Creeping Charlie has taken over.

I started the taller red Impatients from seeds and our friendly plant nurseryman gave me a whole tray of mixed shorter Impatients this spring.

This is an old Houldini Clematis that has been having difficulty because the trellis on which it was climbing was taken down to work on the chimney last Fall. Unfortunately, it started to grow with no support and is folded in two on itself. I hope it will do better next year. It's a very tall climber.

I love these happy Rudbeckia. They add a bit of sunshine in the garden.

My only Lavatera that survived from starting seeds indoors. Next year, I'll plant directly outdoors. They dislike being transplanted.

Thanks for staying to the end. I enjoy your comments.
Have a safe rest of summer everyone.
Hugs, Julia