djd's blog

Little bike blue

You’ve rusted your horn

Oaks stand by as you

Rest in the field, shorn.

 

 

This was approximately a ten minute expedition by the time I turned around and came back after the scene caught my eye, and walked across the field to place my bike.  A bit more if you count the time my husband spent pumping up the tires.  You don’t have to go very far to find beauty, to see examples of synergy between our Creator and us.  You don’t need a bicycle (or a tractor) to work on the field within.

 

“I do not raise anyone forcibly. My Arm waits at the end of man's arm; he grasps It if he wants to.  If My Hand and his hand together hold the hoe, man is a thousand years old, and can still bite.”

The Revelation of Arès XXX/6-7

For more entries on the theme of Ten Minutes, go to Picture Perfect.

The most precious thing we have is our soul.  We are not born with it; it is something we create by the way we are, the way we live—doing and being good.  There are truths on the universal level that are beyond the grasp of our finite minds so God uses parables and images.  To illustrate the soul, He gives the example of a well-constructed boat with a strong sail.  He refers to the soul as being our true body and the means of close contact, communication, with Him.  (See “The Revelation of Arès” chapters 4, 17, 18,…)  May we be a multitude that joins the heavenly fleet suggested by this photo taken at Arès.

 

For more entries on the theme of “precious”, go to Picture Perfect.

 

Yesterday while I was working on the bedroom walls I had the radio on, listening to France Music.  A man was talking about playing in a string quartet.  He said more important than playing your part well (image of a show-off virtuoso) is to play so as to make the other person’s part coherent.  This struck a chord with me.  Were we to apply this in all relationships, it could be instrumental in creating harmony in the world.  It is a question of setting ego aside and encouraging each one to do his/her best.

 

The image I wanted, but I believe it is copyrighted and so here is a link:

http://www.bdcentral.com/Gaston/Gaffophone.gif

 

This potato was harvested from our garden yesterday.  I show it here with a French one euro coin and an American quarter to help evaluate the size.  Last year our potatoes got the blight and we harvested almost nothing.  That patch was quite weedy so this spring my husband went over it well with the rototiller--three times.  We were not expecting any sprouts from last year, but some did come up and that is where this lovely specimen was produced.  The potatoes we planted this year have also gotten the blight in spite of treating with a copper solution called bouilli bordelaise but they were further along than last year's so I think we will be able to  harvest some for this winter.

This spring at a plant exchange a lady gave me some branchy type things with cabbage leaves.  She said just stick these in the ground and then you'll have perpetual cabbages, just break off the side shoots and eat them.  They are called chou Daubenton.  Chou means cabbage, but I don't know why the name Daubenton.

I stuck them in and they took and now they have grown so I was wondering should I cut the growing tip or wait until the side shoots get bigger and just eat them.  I did some googling and found a very nice forum that is mainly for tomatoes, but they branch out into other things also.  I was advised to cut them so that they will be compact and not break this winter.








So tonight was the great adventure on our plates.  People compare them to asparagus or broccoli.  A nearby farmer's wife said she considers them to be for the rabbits.  So I really didn't know what to expect. 







I decided to steam them and serve with vinaigrette.  I didn't know how far to go in preparing them.  Should I pare the stems like I do broccoli?  Will the leaves be tough?



Here they are, ready to be cooked.  I took off some of the leaves and gave them to the chickens.  I steamed them for about 10 minutes, then let cool a bit.  They were very good, very much like broccoli and yes, I should have peeled the stems, but the leaves were delicious.

Brassica oleracea, var. ramosa

I need to stop smiling when I’m outside—the wrinkles are staying white and showing up more on my tan face.

I only noticed this when I pushed my cheek out with my tongue.  Tongue in cheek ?

Or else smile all the time so no one notices ?

Often when I am in the bathroom, I see a strange woman.  My husband says this never happens to him.

We had a half zucchini for lunch.

Each?

No, between us.

It's the "gardener stepped away a few days" diet. 

I will be away for about a week. Here is where I'll be:

http://freesoulblog.net/pblshr/pgs/puse.htm#Susfb

This is my entry about it in 2006:

http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-EuUj92o1caIrYJG6AWg-?cq=1&p=304

and also:

http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-EuUj92o1caIrYJG6AWg-?cq=1&p=291

This is what I did today--a painting en plein air, with limited time.  It is a contest but I just paint for fun and learning.  I had a problem with the masking I used for the gate so as to be able to freely paint behind it.  First it blobbed out of the bottle all over the paper, that I got cleaned up as soon as it dried, but when I was ready to uncover the gate and paint the blue, the masking wouldn't come off.  Oh, well, that is not the major fault of this painting.  I need to somehow do more contrast, more darks.

I spy with my little eye several things we had for dinner that start with "P"--poulet (chicken), patates (pommes de terre, potatoes) and pie.  Not shown, not beginning with "P" are carrots (in the Pan nevertheless) and salad.  Bon appétit!




For more entries on this theme; go to Picture Perfect.

The berries are ripe for the picking .  We want to be sure they are picked by us, so my husband puts netting like Fort Knox.

















These are black currants, called cassis in French.  They have properties that are beneficial for circulation and eyesight.

This intersection of several roads represents freedom to choose.  I used the camera function that permits assembling several snaps so as to have a wide view because we have a lot of possibilities.  (I cropped out the garbage bins.)

We may find ourselves at crossroads many times, not only for the main directions in our life, but each morning, even several times during the day, whenever we decide which direction we will take in handling a situation.  With freedom there is also responsibility.  If we exercise it with loving compassion, we have a better chance of going in the right direction.

I am seeking freedom from prejudice, fear, argumentativeness, desire for revenge, unnecessary habits.

If you click on my tag word freedom, you will find a series of entries on the subject, particularly an exhibit I did recently with several other people.

For more entries on this theme go to: Picture Perfect

glitter-graphics.com

Saw this on Riete's site - a fun quiz and different from the normal quizzes!

- Post 3 things you've done in your lifetime that you don't think anybody on your friends list has done.
- See if anybody else responds with "I've done that."
- Have your friends cut & paste this onto their page to see what unique things they've done in their life.

I will try to give a physical, a mental, and a spiritual one.

My three things are:

1. I cleaned my house today.  OK, maybe you cleaned your house, but you didn't clean my house!  If you think that is splitting hairs, then here is a bonus.  Whenever I get hungry for bagels, I make some, because you can't buy them here.
2. I graduated from a liberal arts college in the USA with a Bachelor of Arts in Modern Languages and then did a year's graduate work in France in International Business.
3. I have read (and read regularly) The Revelation of Arès and accept it as a divine revelation.  I will soon be going to Arès to pray in the chapel where God spoke.  Going there does not make me a better person, but it is because I wish to change for the better that I go there.  It gives a spiritual energy,- pep, vim and vigor- for a difficult job -- becoming good.
   

Visions of cinnamon crullers, saffron wreath bread -- we twist things to give them a pleasing form.  We may twist them for practicality -- putting one's hair up in a twist to get it out of the way. Fine, weak elements may be twisted together and form something strong such as in rope-making.  Sometimes twisted is out of a desirable shape such as a nail hit the wrong way.  I hope my thinking will not become twisted.  Here is part of a curtain I made by twisting and knotting cotton cord normally used by masons to get things straight.  The leaf is one I picked up in the fall; it has retained some of its lovely red colour.  On the leaf is a feather which brings to mind a phrase by Hildegard von Bingen: my voice, a feather on the breath of God.




I cropped the original photo.

For more entries on this theme, go to Picture Perfect.

I got a (nother) new pair of gardening gloves.  They always wear out in the same places.  One fun thing about living in Europe is that all the labels, tags, etc.  are written in several languages.  One could learn another language just by reading packages.  I found out that I am doing "piccolo giardinaggio".  Inside the tag it said if I use them for anything else, the risks are not covered.  Under Instructions for care, I was delighted to read "no care necessary".  So now I am wondering, what if inadvertently, I slip into heavy gardening?  And would that be called "tuba giardinaggio"?

Clicking on the image will bring up a larger one where you can read the tag. 

Whew !  I was getting worried.  One of my first ideas for the theme “industry” was bees.  I’ve been trying since Wednesday evening to get a photo.  There were plenty of bumblebees but no honeybees in spite of plentiful flowers such as lavender and clover.  Then tonight I finally “got” one seen here on a perennial geranium.  As you may well know, there are problems with the bees in many parts of the world.  When talking about this with some friends not long ago, the idea of being obliged to do the pollinating ourselves was evoked and I jokingly said that would solve the problem of unemployment.  This week in Newsweek, I read that they are doing just that in China.

 

The bee is mentioned by God in The Revelation of Arès.  It is one of the (many) things the Creator has placed on earth for us to enjoy, working in synergy, but not to abuse.  What is it with us that we take our divine gifts and turn them into their opposites, using speech to lie instead of for truth, confusing love with sex instead of being compassionate with all beings, judging others and thus denying their liberty, demanding conformity instead of encouraging creativity, …

 

“ Along My Paths toward My Heights bees work hard for all men.

Why senselessly manufacture honey and wax in workshops ?

At their foot My Almond trees spread their fruit; the partridge does not require payment for its meat, neither does the goat for its milk.

I make oil gush for (making) fire, I spread the earth 's surface with lead and copper for all men in return for efforts to collect and dress them.

Do I not give the tile from clay in return for efforts to bake it ? »

The Revelation of Arès 28/26

For more entires on this theme, go to Picture Perfect.

Even just this much looks better to me.  You may remember my Picture Perfect entry for the theme "unfinished".  This room is on its way to being more finished.





















In the garden I have planted approximately one hundred leeks I bought at the market.  I never ate a leek before I came to France.  They are very nice for soups, quiche, steamed served cool with vinaigrette, ...














It occurred to me that if one says "I'm bored", it may be a euphemism for "I'm lazy".

Extravagance of colour, extravagance of life, reproducing, giving (have you ever broken open the seed capsule of a poppy and seen the innumerable fine seeds?)  Nature can show us the nature of the Creator.  We can go in the direction of being a little more extravagant with love and generosity.

"The ape--with its two hands it eats.

Man has a hand which eats and a hand which gives.

Both My Hands give."

The Revelation of Arès XXVIII/18

For more entries on this theme, go to:  Picture Perfect