July 10: On the Fridge

The photos on our fridge, arranged by Elizabeth. Many "m-workers" represented here, plus close friends and tons o' family. The photos are posted just over our water/ice dispenser, so we can pray for Christian workers, friends, and family members while we fill our water glasses and bottles. :)

June 21: 19th Century Laptop

I pulled out my Bombay wooden lap desk (a.k.a. my 19th century laptop) this week to write a long letter to a dear friend--not an e-mail, not a Tweet, not a Facebook message, but a real, live, long, double-sided ink-on-paper missive. My hand ached by the end, but what joy to let ink flow in sheer friendship!!

May 30: Window Is Complete!

Keith takes a photo of the memorial window

The Memorial Window

Keith completed this window in honor of C., the daughter of dear friends. C. is at home with the Lord; the end of April marked the first anniversary of her journey. Even while she is "forever in our hearts, forever in His hands," she remains a sweet presence to all who know her.

May 28: Ladies' Tea

Marianne and Alice at Spring Tea

The ladies of Alpine Anglican Church of the Blessed Trinity kindly invited me to join them for their annual Spring Tea at Cobblestone Cottage in Alpine. My favourites: the apricot tea and the scones. A lovely time was had by all.

Day 28: The Mission Cemetery

This entrance leads to the oldest part of the Mission San Luis Rey Cemetery which nestles up to the eastern side of the church itself. Our dear friends, C and J, buried their daughter C here in the new section, so we now call The Mission San Luis Rey "C's Mission."

Vera's Visit

Vera came out from New York this weekend for a friend's wake and spent most of the day Monday with us in Pine Valley. I asked J to take a photo of the two of us, and mayhem ensued. Poor J had the worst time trying to get a decent picture with the two of us cracking up. This was the most "normal" of the photos ... we were laughing too hard in all of the other photos.

Aaah, college roommates are the BEST!

Day 79: Lake Murray Women's Retreat in Pine Valley

The theme for this year's retreat is "Tangled Thread to Tapestry." The exercise on Friday night involved our small group standing in a circle, facing in and shoulder to shoulder, then taking hands across from each other. Then we had to untangle ourselves and get back into a larger circle without letting go. It was pretty hilarious to watch (which I did as I couldn't participate physically). It took listening to one another, loosening grips without letting go, and a willingness to bend without breaking grips ... some very good lessons for the real "knots" in our lives as well.

Day 33: Planning My Week

Okay, so this is last week's spread in my beautiful Barnes and Noble Desk Diary, but I adore this planner, courtesy of Carol when Keith was completely our of work right after Christmas and I needed the 2009 version. Isn't she the sweetest? I love the literary quotes, the information on different writers, and all of the literary birthdays scattered throughout. And I love being able to write my schedule next to a specific time -- it really helps me to keep my days straight. This Desk Diary stays open on the left corner of my desk at all times, and I write in it only with my special fountain pen filled with sepia calligraphy ink.

Day 18: Eva's Wedding Cake

Our former neighbor, Eva, from San Diego is marrying Tommy, a wonderful man, in Jamaica next Saturday, so they held a reception for friends and family before they leave (just the two of them) on Wednesday. Eva and her family have now moved inland and have a really nice, roomy house. I think their wedding topper is quite hilarious -- and very Eva. ;)

And they definitely had fun feeding each other the cake... and cleaning up afterwards. Again, a very Eva situation -- who had icing in her eye by the time they finished smearing each other. ;)

Retreat: Friday

This weekend was my 14th retreat with the women of Lake Murray, a time I look forward to each year with much anticipation. This year was another wonderful time with some great memories:



In our dorm, I left Diana a path to the bathroom so she can locate it easily in the night; each heart is a handwritten note of encouragement that she'll get to the toilet without, um, incident.



The camp is gorgeous in the late afternoon sunlight.



My two friends from here in town, Teri and Sheri, enjoy our retreat as well -- Teri's first year with us, and Sheri's third year. They were part of our group this weekend, and I really enjoyed having them here.

It's such a great weekend ... the only downside is that time passes so quickly when we're all together at camp.

Sunday: Happy Birthday, Mr. William!

William, our illustrious Sunday School teacher, was feted with a round of "Happy Birthday" by the class. And our head elder gifted him with this oh-so-fashionable birthday headpiece which, I must admit, was a bit distracting as William taught us Matthew 26.

Friday: B and Fr. Acker

After the Friday Healing Service this morning, Father Acker presented B with a Jerusalem cross necklace in celebration of B's baptism. B really loves it, even if he has to look into the sun for this photo....

Fridge Photos

Each Epiphany as we store our Christmas things for another year, we take a last look through our Christmas cards, and we put new photos up on our fridge. Some are missionaries to pray for; others are friends we see seldom but hold close in our hearts. Some are family members, including my nephew Steven now in Iraq, and others are my closest friends from church and even from college and grad school days. Vera (godmother to all four kids) and her family are pictured in the lower right corner. These photos remind me of people we love and also remind me to pray for them regularly.

Twelfth Night

The Advent candles, which we enjoy fully-lit throughout Christmastide, are lit for the last time tonight, the Twelfth Night of Christmas.



At the Twelfth Night party at Victoria House, Father Acker, his wife Alice, and other Anglicans (the kids tossed theirs on first) toss greenery onto the fire (inside tonight because of the raging storm) to symbolize the light of Christ going out into the darkness of the world. We prayed the Evening Office of Prayer before the "bonfire" and enjoyed sherry and trifle -- oooh-so-British -- afterward. (Alice makes the BEST trifle -- I've been looking forward to it all winter.) A lovely way to ring out Christmastide and welcome the season of Epiphany!

Arts Council Meeting

With mimosas, of course! (and Denise, our director, in the background)

Our Creative Arts Council Board of Directors met today for over five-and-a-half hours to brainstorm ideas for the next calendar year. The mimosas were lovely, but we did get a bit silly. Actually, more than a little silly. The spinach quiche, lemon scones, and asian green salad helped quell the giggles, as did the chocolate truffles shared for dessert. We got a ton of work done, and I managed to type up four pages of official minutes afterward....

Logos Group Meeting

Our literary discussion group from Lake Murray met at Guy and Kitty's home for a lovely lunch and even lovelier discussion. (And if you knew how very delectable the lunch was, it's remarkable that the discussion could surpass it!) Cry, the Beloved Country is Guy's favorite novel so he led the discussion here, surrounded by Judy, Bill, and Kitty.



I had never seen Bill, our Sunday School teacher, on his bike before. He's one cool accountant and also enjoys Saturday Mass as well as teaching Sunday School at Lake Murray.

Lunch with Logos Group

Our Logos reading and discussion group met this afternoon after church to discuss Annie Dillard's profound and beautiful book, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. Kitty hosts our meetings with her generous hospitality, as always, and we enjoyed discussing this mystical and strange work of literature. Not everyone liked it (in fact, I think only Kitty and I did actually LIKE it), but the group did gain a real appreciation for the beauty of Dillard's writing and the reasoning behind her "pilgrimage." I'll write more about the book on my meditative blog in a day or two.



Kitty made us this gorgeous and scrumptious cheese and chicken strata for lunch. French bread layered with gruyere and other cheeses, stuffed with chicken ... so decadent and delicious....



Kitty had these beautiful red pears sitting on her coffee table this afternoon, and I loved their autumn colors and the way the light struck them in the beautiful antique bowl.

Wednesday: Park Day!

You would never know that the county is on fire from these photos taken at the park in our small town, to the east of the fires.



We met Sheri and her kids over at the park for lunch. They were also taking a break from homeschooling; we feel as though our kids are the only ones in the county "in school" during this horrendous week. Schools throughout the county have been canceled until Monday, from private preschools to the universities.



I feel almost guilty in enjoying the beautiful Indian Summer weather this week when there is death, fire, and destruction just thirty miles away in San Diego and while so many of my friends are evacuated, and some dear friends of the family lost their home to the fires. This tree in the park is showing its colors against a gorgeous blue sky, free from the smoke and ash that covers the rest of the county.

Tuesday: Dr. Adema Talks Art

Yes, this is an old photo that I published in May. Last night Dr. Adema spoke at our creative arts meeting, and I was sooooo enthralled about what he was saying about the relationship between wellness and art that I completely forgot to take photos!

More info on what he said is on my main blog -- he's such an amazing doctor! The entire audience was as spellbound as I.

Weekend: Wedding!

On Saturday, Micah and Brandie were married in a large wedding at Lake Murray (planned in only three months!) with the reception at a venue that had a dance floor (same place as Vera's reception, BTW). My little camera doesn't deal well with dim lighting, so please excuse the quality of the photos.



Remember the "Macarena"? People from our church sure did! (The groom's parents are right up front here in black -- William is my Sunday School teacher and Joan is the choir director/pianist -- next to Joan is Kim, my Bible study leader, in blue.) Even the pastor's daughters were out there macarena-ing! Later on I jumped in and danced the twist to "Love Shack" -- I'm still sore as heck but dancing is worth it!



Brandie and Micah take over the dance floor to a country-western song. (Definitely not my thing! In fact, my pastor remarked that if they played rap music all the time, I wouldn't need my cane anymore, just cuz I danced to Vanilla Ice ... imagine!)