Book review: All is Grace by Brennan Manning

Book reviews

“All is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir” by Brennan Manning.

Brennan Manning is an honest author and a Christian, and I found his book “Ragamuffin Gospel” to be refreshing in insights about his own life and how Jesus loves us, just as we are. Manning’s “All is Grace” will likely be his final book, as his health is failing, and he does not flinch from revealing truth about his life, as he looks back to survey it.

Manning reaffirms that Jesus came for the bedraggled, beat up and burnt out, which is truly Good News, since we could all be better than we are. 
This book summarizes his life, which has been rich and full. Manning was a gifted priest and writer, fell in love with a woman and left his vocation as priest to marry her, and recounts his struggles as a recovering alcoholic. He formed a group of close friends to meet once a year, dubbed “The Notorious Sinners”. You can see his ability to laugh at himself here.
If you haven't read his "Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat Up and Burnt Out" I recommend you read that one too. Written 20 years ago it remains a best seller, and rightly so.
Thank you to the Amazon Vine program which provided this book for me to review.

In this, likely his final book, Manning reminds us that “Yes, Abba is very fond of you.”

Amaryllis, Time to Plant

Amaryllis / Ἀμαρυλλίς
Originally uploaded by pittigliani2005
I bought a nice fat Amaryllis bulb a week ago and planted it, for red and white color in my kitchen in December.
Now is the time to plant these beauties; just find a pot only a tiny bit bigger than the bulb. Ceramic is good because the pot weighs a bit so it will not topple over when the Amaryllis blooms.
I bought a Razzle Dazzle Amaryllis bulb, which will look much like the bloom in this photo.
Anyone else love Amaryllis?
Amaryllis come in a range of colors today, with even a lime green flower, and vibrant solid red, pure white, and salmon.
For photos my husband took of our crimson all red amaryllis, check my list of blog subjects on the right hand side of this blog and click on Amaryllis. 

Oyster feast on the wharf and Seals resting and swimming

This Sunday my husband had a brilliant idea. Let's go to the wharf and have an outdoor picnic there, with the main course being fresh oysters. So we brought water, soda and french bread with us and bought a dozen blue point oysters.
The wharf sells mostly fresh caught local fish but the Blue Point oysters were from the East Coast and were delicious. The last time I ate raw oysters was a couple years ago and now I remember how delish they are. Of course, not every one likes them, I know.

Beauty seen from Mount Tamalpais

My husband took this photo last weekend while half way up Mount Tamalpais, looking toward Bolinas.

Happy Birthday Winnie the Pooh

winnie the pooh & friends
Originally uploaded by weennee
Oops, I posted without a photo and three friends left comments, so I am posting again, with photo this time.
This gang is so cute, they deserve a photo, don't you think?
October 14 is Winnie the Pooh's birthday, with the book of that title published on that date in 1926.
Do you have a favorite Pooh character? I might choose Eeyore, he is so sad and woe be gone, and needs a friend.
Tigger is a cute fireball of energy.
I learned today that Winnie is based on a real Canadian black bear that lived in the London Zoo.
The author, A.A. Milne's son, Christopher Robin, loved to visit Winnie in the zoo and named his own teddy bear Winnie.
The black bear arrived in England in 1919 as the mascot of a brigade from Canada, which was sent to fight in World War I. When the brigade was sent to fight in France, the soldier who adopted Winnie loaned him to the zoo, where Winnie lived until his death in 1934. The solider bought the orphaned Winnie in Winnipeg, Canada, so he gained the name Winnie, as the brigade shipped out to England, and so the bear cub traveled across the sea.

Winnie the Pooh, Happy Birthday Today

October 14 is Winnie the Pooh's birthday, with the book of that title published on that date in 1926.
Do you have a favorite Pooh character? I might choose Eeyore, he is so sad and woe be gone, and needs a friend.
Tigger is a cute fireball of energy.
I learned today that Winnie is based on a real Canadian black bear that lived in the London Zoo.
The author, A.A. Milne's son, Christopher Robin, loved to visit Winnie in the zoo and named his own teddy bear Winnie.
The black bear arrived in Englandin 1919 as the mascot of a brigade from Canada, which was sent to fight in World War I. When the brigade was sent to fight in France, the soldier who adopted Winnie loaned him to the zoo, where Winnie lived until his death in 1934. The solider bought the orphaned Winnie in Winnipeg, Canada as the brigade shipped out to England, and so the bear cub traveled across the sea.

Beautiful Fall Leaves

"Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower."  Albert Camus

"Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree." Emily Bronte
Photos taken by my husband in Connecticut the fall of 2010.

I apologize but two of your sweet comments went astray when I tried to publish them here! A computer glitch of some sort.