Saturday, May 31, 2008

Quotidian Grace Tagged Me!

Toby Brown at Classical Presbyterian created a Start of Summer meme and tagged Quotidian Grace who tagged me. Looks like fun, so here goes:


1.) What first tells you that Summer is here?
Increased heat, humidity and the smell of sun screen.

2.) Name your five of your favorite distinctively Summer habits or customs.
***eating snow cones
***grilling
***enjoying the children being out of school
***working in the yard pruning, weeding and planting
***wearing linen clothes and sandals


3.) What is your favorite smell of Summer?
Blooming magnolias and gardenias, warm salt air, grilling


4.) What is your favorite taste of Summer?
Homemade cooked custard fresh peach ice cream, good red yard tomatoes


5.) Favorite Summer memory?
As a child, going to swimming lessons in cold water, eating ice cream cones.
As an adult, going camping with friends, going to summer camp as a counselor.
As a parent, vacations and sitting outside on the back porch, under the ceiling fans with Mr. C.

6.) Extreme heat or extreme cold? Which would you choose and why?
Please! I want better choices than these!
My favorite weather is cool mornings with warm mid-days then cool again at night.
Like at Montreat in the N.C. mountains in summertime.


7.) What books do you plan to read for the season?

Greg Illes newest book
The next Alexander McCall Smith No.1 Ladies Detective Agency book in that series.
His next Isabelle Dalohousy book and if he has another new 44 Scotland Street book, I want to read that.
Jesus for President
Finish the "working" stack of books next to my bed.

8.) How does the Summer affect your faith? Is it a hindrance or an ally?
Hurricane season is emotional for me. I'm just now seeing things look better after Katrina, almost three years ago. We've got folks in FEMA trailers still, business are struggling to get going again and our landscape is so very different. In the past, I got through hurricane season with Oreos and Cheetos. Now, I know what horror storms bring. I'll be leaning on God again this year for strength and hope.

Thanks, QG!


If anyone else wants to play, tag yourself.

Love,
St. Casserole

Friday, May 30, 2008

RevGalBlogPals Friday Five Garage Sales!

1) Are you a garage saler? Yes! I've been to three garage sales this morning. Friday sales are new to my area. If I miss a Friday sale which is advertised for Friday and Saturday, I don't go on Saturday. Good stuff is gone by the next day. I've been a garage sale-er since high school. Before that, I dug through trash when neighbors moved. My mother did not approve of this.



2) If so, are you an immediate buyer or a risk taker who comes back later when prices are lower? If the price is good, I jump immediately. If the price is high, I look more closely at the item before jumping. I found the antique oriental wool rug in my living room by jumping immediately. All I could see was the corner of the rug but I thought, "Hey! I can have car mats made out of the oriental if the rug has a damaged area!" Fortunately, the rug was perfect and perfectly worn the way one wants an antique rug to appear. I return to garage sales only if I think I may have missed something wonderful earlier. 3) Seriously, if you're not a garage saler, you are probably not going to want to play this one.(That wasn't really #3.) Why wouldn't someone want to find lovely sterling silver pieces, antiques and etc. for 'bout nothing? Who?3)




This is the real #3: What's the best treasure you've found at a yard or garage sale?
Aforementioned rug, sterling flatware and holloware, 14 kt. gold bangle bracelet, brass chandelier for our dining room, Walter Anderson prints and Shearwater pottery, Coach purses, Cole Haan new shoes in boxes, furniture and art prints. Really. Along with McCarty Mississippi pottery and tons of sterling jewelry.



4)If you've done one yourself, at church or at home, was it worth the effort? Never worth the effort. I give my stuff away to the Rescue Mission, Animal shelter or Goodwill.


5) Can you bring yourself to haggle? Oh, yes! If done politely, with a way for the seller to refuse, haggling is no problem. What is difficult is the people who think their junk is gold and look at you like you are stupid to ask for a more reasonable price. Most of their sale goes to the garbage or rescue mission thrift store after they give up trying to sell at high prices.
BONUS: For the true aficionado: Please discuss the impact of Ebay, Craig's List, Freecycle, etc... on the church or home yard/garage sale. eBay gives people the idea that their stuff is very very valuable when it may not be. Not everyone wants your unopened Barbie from Walmart bought after Christmas two years ago. A collectible is only that when people actually buy it. Otherwise, a fair price for a garage sale is 80-90% of retail if you've used the item or 75% if the item is in new pristine condition. We don't have freecycle here, but I'd love to take a load of junk to a freecycle event. Craigslist is just catching on here. So far, the stuff is like used plastic hospital urninals which have no value no matter where you try to sell them.


St. Casserole, really committed to finding treasures

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Terse Week 6


We don't know what we say, even if the words are our words from our mouths.


Today:


After describing a great change in my congregation as "like a miracle", my listener said, "I told your church to do that. It was my idea". Right.

Listened to a colleague describe in lenghty detail the break-down of a friendship, all the while telling me he didn't care or feel anything about it.


I know how to be clear as mud, too.

Terse, only a bit,



St. Casserole

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Terse Week 5


preaching slump? forgotten how to paint a picture with words?
listen to Alexander McCall Smith's The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency on audio books.
Smith helps you see, taste, feel and smell Botswana.
good stuff.

St.Casserole

Terse Week 4


Off Topic: Just wondering. Are these shoes on Dooce "preaching shoes"? If not, why not? I'm asking about patent leather black heels, worn under appropriate vestments.
(Picture taken by Maggie of MightyGirl at a conference in Vancouver)

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Terse Week 3


This week is weird.
Feels like Monday. It's Tuesday.
Much to do. Hope to be able and gracious.
Prayers for you.

St. C.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Terse Week 2


Shelter from the Storms
Hugo. Coon Lake. Iowa.
Hail. Tornados. Misery.

Life,too.
A.,M.,J.,S.

for wars to cease,

St.Casserole

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Terse Week 1


Sunday worship in pew not pulpit.

Blessings to preachers everywhere.

St.C.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Announcing.... Terse Week


Friends, I'm a bit off my feed with blogging. I suppose you know this as I didn't blog during the Fest of Homies or much before.

Therefore, I hereby announce Terse Week here at the blog.

Terse-neatly or effectively concise; brief and pithy, as language.


Festival of Homies...great...rich for my spirit...companionable...Minneapolis beautiful.

St. C

Friday, May 16, 2008


Lovely evening here. The heavy wind and rain stopped to give us a clear cool night. I wish you could hear the frogs singing outside. Textbooks may say they are singing love songs to girly frogs but I think they are singing praises to their Maker.


Estate sales tomorrow morning. Trinity Sunday coming up followed by a church picnic.



Happy here,


St. Casserole

Tuesday, May 13, 2008


Yesterday was so beautiful I spent the day running out into the yard grabbing weeds into bags. I was in heaven. Bug-free, cool weather with low humidity in May?

PEOPLE! MAY HERE IN THE DEEP SOUTH IS LIKE LATE AUGUST IN THE SOUTH SOUTH.

Today my right arm and shoulder, yea unto my entire right side is sore.

I needeth to learn to weedeth with both arms.


Just happy to be here,

St.Casserole

Monday, May 12, 2008

Former President Jimmy Carter and Mrs. Carter are down here to build houses for Habitat for Humanity. The plan is to build new homes, re-hab homes and prepare pre-fab parts for building later. Volunteers converged from everywhere to work.

The Rev. Mr. Bird Dog is leading devotions for the group.


Thanks, President and Mrs. Carter, for helping us.


St. Casserole

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Around the House News


*Verbena, the toad, lives in the verbena pot in the courtyard.I changed Verbena's genus to "toad" after I took a good look at her beauty.


*Mr. Adventure, aka Fish, escaped last night.He remained outside until I got up at 2 a.m. to bewail his loss.He sauntered into the house happy and tired.


*The black flat seeds I picked up from the ground near the door of the C. of P. (Jesus Meets Hogwarts) are growing.Suspiciously like wisteria,I'm sure these seeds are an uncommon variety.



*Sister the Dog needs a Spa Day.She has "flavor" according to the cats.



*Hibiscus,Passion Vine,Verbena,Begonia,Petunias and others are growing and lovely in the Courtyard. I'm looking for more plants at the garden shop.


Contentedly,

St. Casserole

Monday, May 05, 2008

Parenting

LD's cell phone disappeared last week in the hands of a teacher. LD knows she isn't to use her phone at high school but did, and well, she's been without a phone for days.

She borrowed my phone and I noticed a text message from a Tennessee area code.

"Who is she texting in Tennessee?", I asked Mr. C.

"I don't know but I got one of his text messages on my phone, too."

"What did he say?"

"The text was 'I am falling for you in a big way.'"

"No kidding???"

"I thought about texting back 'Don't text me again, you a***hole."


We parents are entertained easily.


St. Casserole

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Great day! Mr. C. and I drove LD to new student orientation at Art School!She's going to fly the nest for her junior and senior years to study theater.We are proud of her but sad to have her leave home early.

The school is beautiful with a combination of old college buildings restored in pleasing ways along with a new towering building of modern architecture. Wish my college had dorm rooms as large and gorgeous as these.Wish I'd had the opportunity to study art in such a place!

She's delighted.We are happy in a proud parent manner with dashes of bittersweet regret that she'll be away her final two years of high school.

Her drama teacher here told her that everyone is accepted to the school.Why he said this,I don't know. Truth is, less than half of those who apply are accepted.

Proud parent here.

Ready to preach the Acts and John passages this morning.

St. Casserole

Thursday, May 01, 2008