> Yesterday, we joined the masses at the World’s Biggest Oyster Roast on 350-year-old Boone Hall Plantation near Charleston. The oysters were steamed then passes out in 5 lb buckets to over 13,000 people. At three persons per bucket and 25 oysters per bucket, that averages 8 oysters per person bringing the total to 108,000…
I’m standing in the sand between Charleston Harbor and miles of yellow grass growing in shallow water that sparkles in the afternoon sun. The sea is calm at its edge, but 50 yards out between my island and the peninsula, it fights, swirls and sputters dangerously. Nearby stands a long dead forest, sun-bleached and half-buried…
>On my drive to Folly Beach, I passed a dock covered in pelicans! I have never seen so many pelicans at once before. I realized I forgot my camera cord that connects to my computer, so I cannot upload pictures yet. PinterestFacebookTwitterEmail
>I woke Tues morning with no inclination that I would wake the next morning halfway through a road trip to Charleston, South Carolina. Only two mornings previous, I woke in a small Indiana town: Thurs/Fri- 13 hrs from NYC to IN + Sun- 13 hrs IN to NYC + Tues/Wed- 12 hrs NYC to SC=…
Hours from now, the now unadulterated slope will look dimpled and drudged. People like to feel fresh snow crunch beneath their boots. So old footprints are treated like landmines to avoid. I take one long savoring stare until I sense someone behind me. I want to be first. Quick, I beat him. Crunch crunch. In some places the snow is deeper than my boots…
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>Either this robe is warmer than I thought it was or my interest in watching snow trumps my cold sensors. I am sitting in our front porch chair with two of my favorite things: my journal and coffee. Watching through the densely falling clumps is like watching a movie through a fuzzy television screen. Dozens…
REPOSTED 2016: Funny little story on how we found out our vows had been pinned thousands of times on Pinterest: When we moved from Maine to New Jersey, a new friend visiting our home pointed to them, “Oh, where did you buy these?” “I made them,” I answered. Her, “No you didn’t. I’ve seen them….
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My identity should be in Christ and not in myself and definitely not in what I do. Well that is an incredible relief actually. I dont have to strive for that myself. And if I do choose to put that burden on myself anyway, then I am not showing Christ to those around me the…
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“I was born with an enormous need for an affection and a terrible need to give.” -Audrey Hepburn “I don’t need a bedroom to prove my womanliness. I can convey just as much appeal fully clothed, picking apples off a tree or standing in the rain.” -Audrey If I were a person that photographers wanted…
>“…We are doing good- drenched in Christmas spirit. Yes, we still LOVE our church oh my oh my we love it so much. These people are so genuinely loving and giving and Christ-seeking. God is good. I have been reading up on social justice lately- As in I’m reading like 4 books at once: “Everyday…
>Gallup polls revealed that 65% of Americans would like to see major corporations having less influence and only 18% of Americans have confidence in big business. I agree with the majority here- I do not trust many big corporations, which are too often driven by money-hunger, but I like them better than big government. I…
>my fortune cookie says, “Happiness is not the absence of conflict, but the ability to cope with it.” I like what Greg Matte said better, “Joy is not the absence of crisis, but the presence of Christ.” PinterestFacebookTwitterEmail
>It is officially winter now, but here is a journal entry from the once lost but now found fall journal. November 19:I like rakes less than leaf littered lawns. Right now, my back yard is smothered in orange and the historic village in yellow. I often stare from the store porch and smile.I like sunny…
I prayed that God would help me better understand the characters of both Him and of those He created. And this week, I came across four different sources that taught me separately about a this common theme. I’ll just type my thoughts here though they don’t culminate to some fantastic conclusion now. 1) We were…
>Back when Chris went to sea (thank the Lord that is over), I would get excited about his homecoming when my milk’s expiration date was after his return date. Now, the expiration date on my milk reads Dec. 02, so I am getting excited about Christmas! On that note, may I say that I am…
>I don’t know if I have ever been quite so aware of time as I was yesterday, when we were leaving Boston. On 93 South, we came to the intersection: S to Providence, RI or N to Portsmouth, NH. A year ago, we would have turned N and it would not have occurred to me…
>Thursday: Bell ringing at New York Stock Exchange. We met Navajo Wind Talkers and I got to walk around the floor while Chris joined the men on the bell platform. Later, we marched in the Veterans Day Parade down 5th Avenue. I was asked thrice if I was a reporter while I took notes in…
English Breakfast Tea in hand, I walk from the parlor of our 1890s house staff building, where my sewing colleagues sing English folk ballads in harmony, to the landing, where The Duke of Kent’s Waltz (1830) streams from the blacksmith’s office, then duck under a clothesline web on my way to the sewing room from…
Our history buff and battle reenacting friends, Annie and Jay took us to the Monmouth Battlefield in New Jersey where Washington and Howe clashed and stalemated in June 1778. “This hill is perfect for sledding,” Jay told us at the top of the highest, steepest one from which you could see every other. Long shadows…
I accidentally found a lakeside hiking trail when I got lost on my way home from our friend’s apt, where Chris and I crashed after attending a military event aboard the Intrepid in Manhattan. (hence the dress shoes… and the pajamas). Despite the weird looks some joggers gave me, I really enjoyed my hike! I…
>Wouldn’t it be terrible to work at a landfill? It is so much better to just pretend they’re not there. . . . please sense my sarcasm. We need to live in a way that takes care of the earth. (I live on Staten Island- (New York City’s garbage dump until 1997. The landfill here…
>I made apple pie by myself for the first time last week. I have made two since and they are dang ugly but boy do they taste good. 🙂 I have also spiced cider and toasted pumpkin seeds. Pumpkin bread cupcakes tomorrow! PinterestFacebookTwitterEmail
Blacksmithing, tinsmithing, carpentry, basket making, rope making, weaving, quilting, butter churning, cider pressing, bread baking in a historic brick oven, apple butter making, stewing (beef, veg, pumpkin), Indian weaponry making, dulcimer playing, hay jumping, historic game playing, historic building touring… On week days I give tours the farm to elementary field trippers. The kids pick pumpkins,…
We drove to Western New Jersey where the October hills are covered with a patchwork quilt of heathered red, orange, yellow, and green fabrics. We wound down country roads between meadows and forests past goat farms and cider mills then stopped at an orchard to pick apples. After that, we hiked to a waterfall in…
>A devotional that my dad wrote was published in The Upper Room devotional book this week. 🙂 Here is the link: http://www.upperroom.org/devotional/default.asp?month=10&day=12&year=2010 PinterestFacebookTwitterEmail
>http://www.amazon.com/Everyday-Justice-Global-Impact-Choices/dp/0830836284/ Many in my church are reading this book. I ordered it yesterday. In the meantime am looking through these websites. I do not want to be one of those Americans who unknowingly oppresses people elsewhere with my purchasing decisions. So I am trying to inform myself of “what not to buy” as well as…
>The opening page of the book I am reading reads, “In loving memory of my mother whose strength always amazed me.” When I read that dedication, I wrote a prayer, “Lord, make me that kind of a woman. Show me how. Make your strength my strength and keep me thankful, prayerful, and humble. Amen.” I…