Best Memoir I've Read in a Long Time

Surprised by Oxford by Carolyn Weber.

This good natured and upbeat author’s memoir of an academic year spent studying at Oxford University in England is a high point of my reading this year.
As I read this outstanding memoir I also read a different memoir by a well known restaurant owner and chef, and found that I read the chef's tale of nasty vignettes quickly, longing to escape, and in contrast I carefully and happily read the spiritual memoir "Surprised by Oxford." The chef's tale was riveting and repugnant yet this other story, written by Carolyn Meyer, of her upward climb toward a joyful relationship with God and church members made my days brighter as I read it.

Wow! The author shares her unexpected journey toward becoming a Christian while what she was seeking at Oxford was a more comfortable year of academic learning. Weber meets many people, some of them Christians, who all play a part in her transformation. The most intriguing of these people she calls TDH in her memoir, which stands for Tall, Dark and Handsome.

Read this book to find out what the delightful “fish walk” in Oxford is.

Weber includes snippets of poetry and Scripture which I added to my list of favorite quotations.

One quote she includes here that is new to me that I love is by Father Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. “I pray, O master, that the flames of hell may not touch me or any of those whom I love. And even that they may never touch anyone. (And I know, my God, that you will forgive this bold prayer).”

Weber’s friend Rachel explained to her that she chose her home church because the gospel was taught with all due respect and it was apparent that the congregation was having fun. Those are two criteria I use myself.

Reading this memoir is like inhaling a fresh breeze; I inhaled it deeply and felt it is cleansing.
Thank you to Booksneeze for provide this book to review.

Sadie Mae travels the USA

Yes, Sadie Mae, the Traveling Friendship Bag, is traveling across the USA and having adventures galore. As you can see from the photo she is right purty.
Janelle at sweetbeecottage.blogspot.com is allowing me to use the photo she used on her blog, so you can see Sadie Mae.

While here in California with me, she went on a walk along the Pacific Ocean and saw waves crashing on shore, pelicans flying along the coast, sea otters floating on their backs in the kelp beds and a statue of a surfer that looks out toward Hawaii.
She has been in Florida, Michigan, Kansas, Nebraska, Tennessee, Ohio and California thus far, and has been sight seeing in more states than many people have, I am sure. I read on one blog that Sadie was dangerously close to an alligator!
The blog friend who started this Sadie Mae fun is Cindy at  rick-rackandgingham.blogspot.com

new review of Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts

Susanne Lakin posted this insightful review of my book on Amazon, and I want to share it with you here. Susanne writes Christian fairy tales / fantasy under the name C.S. Lakin.
Here is the review of "Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts" she wrote and published on Amazon today.

"This delightful, creative gift book is chock full of personal memories, thoughts about Christmas, recipes, anecdotes, traditions, and Scripture. Some of the simple stories and verses brought tears to my eyes and warmed my heart. I read this book in August--as far from the Christmas holiday as could be, yet I found it worked a wonderful magic in my heart, centering me in reminder that the spirit of Christ is something we need to consider and let live in us each day of the year.

This is a terrific book to give as a gift to just about anyone. The scrapbook theme and layout makes it perfect for picking up and reading just a few pages at a time. Every home should have a copy sitting out on their coffee table year-round!"

This and That at our house

Originally uploaded by lauren michell
This and That

Some odds and ends from what’s going on at my house.
I am writing a book full of mom tips – soon to be published, I hope. More later when I have the contract in my hot little hands.

The marauding squirrel has returned, sorry to report. He (she?) dug up a pepper plant from our garden and it looked pretty dead, but I replanted it and watered it. The squirrel again dug up the pepper plant and left it a foot away in the dirt. Tis truly dead this time.

I feel like a pioneer woman when I harvest potatoes from our garden. This final batch of Yellow Finn organic heirloom potatoes was grown in a five gallon pail, in the “pail method” which I describe in an earlier post. My husband grilled steak outside and I dug up some taters. These are good boiled or thick sliced and cooked in olive oil.

My hubby and I watched a movie “The Conspirator” and found it fascinating, as Mary Surratt is on trial in a military court for involvement in the assassination of President Lincoln. Will she hang? I won’t say here, but wow, her lawyer was a brave man to defend her.

Rain, God and People, a Poem

Rain drop
Originally uploaded by play4smee

Dear Friends Around the World, I have been thinking about Hurricane Irene and all the flooding going on now in areas including Vermont, and hoping all of you are well.
Here is a poem about the gentler side of rain that makes my soul sing; we gardeners know how precious rain is, in the right amounts and time, and I love the last stanza.
Terra 
I Saw God Wash the World

I saw God wash the world last night
With his sweet showers on high,
And then, when morning came, I saw
Him hang it up to dry.

He washed each tiny blade of grass
And every trembling tree;
He flung his showers against the hill,
And swept the billowing sea.

The white rose is a cleaner white,
The red rose is more red,
Since God washed every fragrant face
And put them all to bed.

There’s not a bird; there’s not a bee
That wings along the way
But is a cleaner bird and bee
Than it was yesterday.

I saw God wash the world last night,
Ah, would He had washed me
As clean of all my dust and dirt
As that old white birch tree.

By William L. Stidger

Ah, my second harvest of the potatoes produced by one small seed potato.

There are eleven little beauties here, from one seed potato that I planted in the ground. The seed potatoes I bought are Yellow Finn heirloom organic. The first meal I fixed with them I sliced them thickly, chopped one clove of garlic, and sauteed them in olive oil. Delicioso, I must say.
I still have the 3 plants to harvest that I planted in the five gallon pail.
Here is a nice quote:
For flowers that bloom about our feet;
For tender grass, so fresh, so sweet;
For song of bird, and hum of bee;
For all things fair we hear or see,
Father in heaven, we thank Thee!
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
I am so jazzed about growing potatoes that I will soon plant a fall crop, which we can do here in zone 8.

Vibrant Orange and Red Cannas

A neighbor offered my husband and I some cannas that he was digging up and dividing and we said yes please. This is the first time we have grown cannas, and it is their third year here at our house.

The only sunny spot we could find was along our alley, next to the neighbor's ice plant. The cannas he gave us have flowers on four foot spikes, with some plants' flowers brilliant orange and other's bright red. Cannas are not frost hardy but do fine in my zone 8 garden. If you live in zones 1 to 3 you need to lift and store the roots over winter. Cannas prefer moist soil but never waterlogged, and always well drained. They do well in a container and are to be enjoyed in the garden as they are not great cut flowers.

 These plants have a tropic flair to them, and a few months ago for variety I bought two Lucifer rhizomes with flowers that are red edged with yellow, so I look to see them bloom in future. Lucifer is a small canna that grows to 30 inches tall.  Most cannas, and all the rest of ours, grow 3 to 6 feet tall. Our cannas bloom all of June, July and August.