Quick Takes, The Last Day of July

It's Friday already! Can you believe it? Time for some Quick Takes; here are a few things spilling over from my little corner of the world.

For a whole world more Quick Takes, run over to Jennifer's place at Conversion Diary.

1. I'm having a problem being news-addicted for some reason right now and I'm not sure exactly why. I usually avoid the news, depending on Dan to fill me in on anything that's really important, and only get hooked when there's some big event like elections or hurricanes (same difference any more). Generally speaking, the news depresses me. Pop culture depresses me. I'm happier watching documentaries and old movies, if anything on tv. But, lately, I find myself tuning in to news two or three times a day. What's with that? Morbid curiosity -- rubbernecking, maybe? Watching a train wreck about to happen?

Regardless, the midafternoon Fox news has a particular draw... Anybody else out there think Shepherd Smith is cute?

2. It's harvest time out here on the high prairies.

And it's been a good year -- except for the unusual amount of rain that has made it hard for the harvesters to get all the wheat cut. But, as agricultural bystanders, we've been enjoying the general satisfaction of seeing this year's highly productive wheat fields follow through in the natural progression of the seasons -- first there were the acres and acres of spring-green baby wheat (looked like well-manicured lawns) which slowly turned golden as the summer heated up, then the harvesters came to town these last couple of weeks, and one by one, the fields have been mowed into rows and rows of neatly combed stubble. And as the wheat has disappeared from the fields, it's appeared right here in our own back yard almost, filling up the grain towers to overflowing, and piling up in mountains of yellow grain, less than a quarter mile from our house. Look at all that. Isn't it amazing? Bit by bit it disappears, and is loaded onto trains where it's exported to mills all over the world. Colorado winter wheat is used for yeast breads and hard rolls since it is high in protein and strong in gluten. I wonder if the bread in our internet friends' sandwiches (throughout the world!) is made from some of the wheat we see stored just beyond our fences. What a neat thought!

3.

Plastic dinosaurs.

Not hip or eco friendly.

So worth the two bucks.

Check in on Laura for more Bad Haikus!

4. It's cicada season again. We're just starting to hear that late summer background noise, and that, together with the frog and cricket noises are making our normally crackly dry July sound like the bayou. Complete with skeeters. Everything we do outside is punctuated with slaps. Hoe a tomato; slap a mosquito. Pick a zucchini; slap a mosquito. Swing on the hammock; slap a mosquito -- swing, slap; swing, slap, swing, slap; swing.

It's been so humid, I just don't comb my bangs anymore. Curly-headed friends, you know what I mean when I say: dandilion-gone-to-seed-hair, right? And my house smells funny. Strangely musty, just short of mildewy. It takes forever for clothes to dry, and my bread is going green really quickly.

I guess this summer has been a good lesson for us to know how spoiled we really are here in Colorado. Not that I'm complaining. I haven't had to water the garden but once or twice this whole summer. I guess there's good and bad in everything.

5. I love this Friday feature over at Crazy Working Mom . One thing we don't lack for out here on the prairies is skyscapes. Here are a couple from my files -- the first one taken a couple weeks ago, the second one taken last fall.

Fluffy, happy summer clouds over the back ten.

Peaceful sunset behind the pines out in the Lost Forest.

(About five miles to the south of us, out in the middle of the prairie, there is a meandering wood of evergreens, I guess three to five miles wide, that wanders from the edge of Denver way out into the middle of nowhere. I don't even know where it finally ends. It goes by several names, but I like the Lost Forest best. It's a beautiful, unexpected piece of heaven, and a pretty place to go for a quick drive on a Sunday afternoon.)

6. Our Renaissance Women. This bevy of beautiful girls compete against the boys in all sports, play a wicked hand of poker (Michelle taught them the game this morning), and sing like angels.

L-R:

Emily, Maria, and Amanda (our friends visiting from Minnesota) singing the Ave Maria with Michelle in the Davis family "recording studio." We don't have a big screen tv or a wii or even a trampoline, but we have an empty grain bin with great acoustics to sing in...

7. Anybody out there want zucchini?

I'll ship it to you.

Our Lord in Real Life

We usually visualize Jesus' dramatic events, and it's right that we do. It's vital to meditate on the key moments of our Faith. Picturing Our Lord at the Crucifixion, for instance, reminds us of how great His love is for us; He could not have sacrificed more for our salvation. And the sublime picture of all time is His resurrection, proof of His divinity, proof of our Faith. Then you have the Sermon on the Mount, the Last Supper, and the scenes of the many miracles recorded in the Bible, like the curing of the lepers, the the multiplying of the loaves and fishes, etc. These are scenes we easily call to mind. Scenes of eternal importance. Serious scenes.

But, there are many hidden moments in Our Lord's life that surrounded those dramatic events -- little, ordinary life moments -- that were also a part of Who Christ was/is. I like to think about those scenes, too. I love to think of Jesus laughing and smiling. There's something so comforting in the thought of Jesus having a good time at the Wedding at Cana or sitting around the campfire with His disciples or playing with children or joking around with teen-agers. Doesn't it just make you happy to think about scenes like that?

Some time ago, I ran across these beautiful sketches by artist, Jean Keaton. I think they're a beautiful depiction of scenes that must-have-been.

Please visit Jean Keaton's website and consider purchasing her beautiful prints! The prolific circulation of these sketches on the internet has been a blessing to many, and has gratified this lovely Christian artist, but, needless to say, it's also put a dent in her sales. She has a new line of prints featuring Our Lord with soldiers , a lovely one of the Blessed Mother with Infant Jesus that is also touching, and many others.

Out of these, I like the first picture, Jesus with the women; it makes me think of Martha and Mary (especially as yesterday was the feast of St. Martha, a saint with whom I can identify!). And I love all the pictures with the children, but especially the one where Jesus is holding the baby up over his head and the one where He's tickling the toddlers. Oh, and that last one, too, where He's kissing the infant's head. I just love them all! Wouldn't any of these be a wonderful baby shower gift? Or just a gift to myself...

Because I need all the stress-relief I can get. And, like my friend, Marcy, posted this morning -- joyful prayer and meditation does wonders for the blood pressure!

Ah, Love...

I miss my dear hubby, who texted me from the bottom of the mountain at Boys' Camp this morning to tell me he missed me. ==sigh== And my future daughter-in-law, Nicole, misses my son, Paul, who is also at Boys' Camp this week. She texted me to tell me so. We're all just thinkin' about love... Except Paul, maybe... (Just kidding, kids!) We'll give Paul the benefit of the doubt and assume he's just not been in the situation where he could go down to the bottom of the mountain to be in range to text Nicole.

Gosh, but there are a lot of strange sounds at night when your husband's not in the house with you, aren't there? First, a big thunderstorm kept me up until after midnight, then, around 1 a.m. I kept hearing strange noises -- small stealthy noises... I couldn't figure out what it was. All the doors were locked and nothing seemed amiss. Even the dogs were all asleep. And, I finally did fall asleep, too, in the wee hours. Then I woke up this morning and found out the culprit. A little frog had found its way into my bedroom! Silly little thing. He's out in the garden now. (Imagine him thinking he'd find flies or mosquitoes in our house...)

What would Reagan say about Obama's Health Care Plan?

Bittersweet to hear his voice, isn't it? And sad to know that his warning does, indeed, seem to be going unheeded...

Ya Do or Ya Don't

This list was spurred by a conversation about PT Cruisers -- you know those cars? I think they are totally retro cool, but about half my kids think they're dumb looking. Seems they're one of those things: either you like 'em or you don't.

We compiled a list of some more.

1. black licorice

2. sushi

3. game shows

4. polka music

5. the new vw bugs

6. roller coasters

7. math

8. fishing

9. oysters

10. hot sauce

11. horror movies

12. musicals

13. Will Ferrell

14. stick shifts

15. Barry Manilow

16. slapstick

17. Dumb and Dumber

18. diagramming sentences

19. African Savanna Documentaries

20. memes

* For the record, I: 1. don't, 2. do, 3. don't, 4. don't, 5. don't, 6. do, 7. don't, 8. don't, 9. do, 10. don't, 11. don't, 12. do, 13. don't, 14. don't, 15. don't, 16. do, 17. don't, 18. do, 19. don't, 20. do

How about you?

Simple Woman Monday, July 27th

What I've been thinking... There's nothing like a hot day to make you appreciate a cool one; nothing like a lazy week (or two) to make you appreciate a busy one; nothing like being sick to make you appreciate being well.


I am reading... nothing right now, but beginning to think ahead to school time and thinking I'd better hurry up and take stock of my books and supplies.


What I'm wearing... a long, three-tiered skirt with several small pastel prints in the panels, a light purple tee, sandals.

What's new... I can make my rounds around the house, picking up toys, trash and debris, then wipe the counters down and change over a load of laundry -- without panting, breaking out in a cold sweat and having to sit down. Woohoo! Thank God for the little things in life!


From the garden... St. Fiacre's Cucumbers are bearing like crazy and St. Thomas' tomatoes are starting to take off. Needless to say, St. Zita's zucchini are still the leaders in the produce race, but St. Philomena's pumpkins are holding their own and Father Pro's salsa garden is threatening to pull ahead of everybody any time now.


I'm thankful for... all the kids' easy recoveries and nobody else coming down with swine flu (so far, so good, anyway), for being well, myself, and getting my strength back -- and especially for all those who have made these things possible -- our friends who have prayed for us, and the priests in Omaha who had us in their prayers during their meetings last week.


We're creating... a new pond and waterfall. It's the boys' big project of the summer. They'll only have a couple of weeks to finish it before they go back to school, though, and I'm so hoping they can do it. I'd really love to be able to put some aspen trees around it and plant some grass early this fall and have it looking nice in the back yard before Paul's October wedding.


A few plans for the rest of the week... The girls and I are planning to spend today and Tuesday deep cleaning the house. Then we have company Wednesday through Saturday. Two sweet girlfriends, teens from Minnesota, will be staying with us -- and I'm not sure yet what we'll do to entertain them, especially since I don't have a car big enough to take us all anywhere. (Dan and the boys have the minivan in the mountains this week.) I expect we'll do some baking and play some board games and walk down to our town library. And there's bound to be a tea party at some point. We're still working on our plans, though.


One of my favorite things... Knowing that our four oldest boys and Dan are spending the week in the most wonderful macho-bonding, soul-stirring, sacrament-filled environment imaginable. So good for them, body and soul! The Knights of the Altar Boys' Camp has been a life changing event for every one of our young men at different points in their teen age lives. It does my heart good that they all want so much to be there every year.

Here are some pictures thought I'm sharing...

Some of the things the kids have found digging the new pond in our backyard (except that horn that the dogs dragged in from out on the prairie somewhere.)

*The Simple Woman Daybooks entries are on hiatus for the summer, but you can still visit Peggy and see what she's up to.

A few of my favorite things...

This cute little nose...

This perfect eyebrow...

These freckles...

This dimpled cheek...

This dimpled chin...

These lashes...

And lots more -- To be continued when I can get ahold of a few more of my favorite people and irritate them with my camera...

Do you know who these are, top to bottom? (I know you do, Nina...)

On the Feast of St. Anne

This is a sketch by Leonardo daVinci, thought to have been a study of St. Anne.

Prayer to St. Anne

(To Obtain a Special Favor)

Glorious St. Anne, filled with compassion for those who invoke you and with love for those who suffer, heavily laden with the weight of my troubles, I cast myself at your feet and humbly beg of you to take the present affair which I recommend to you under your special protection.
Vouchsafe to recommend it to your daughter, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and lay it before the throne of Jesus, so that He may bring it to a happy issue.
Cease not to intercede for me until my request is granted.

(Here ask for favor you wish to obtain.)

Above all, obtain for me the grace of one day beholding my God face to face, and with You and Mary and all the saints, praising and blessing Him through all eternity. Amen.

Good St. Anne, mother of her who is our life, our sweetness and our hope, pray to her for us and obtain our request.

(Three times).

Our Anna on her nameday.

Not a whole lot planned here this year for the feast of our dear St. Anne. Dan and the big boys are on their way to Boys' Camp, so it's just the little boys, all the girls, and me this week. We were a little busy with all the preparations for the coming week to make many plans for the day, I'm afraid. I stayed home from Mass with the last of the "possibly infectious" kids this morning -- and we made scones for breakfast. We decorated our dining room table with a little St. Anne shrine and picked flowers to adorn it. Anna has red and green ribbons in her hair to comemorate her patronal feast. And we colored some Coloring Pages, compliments of wonderful Charlotte! Other than that, it's roast beef in the crockpot and corn on the cob for dinner, with ice cream for dessert. And we'll remember all the Anne's who are special in our life when we greet St. Anne in our evening prayers tonight.

Many blessings, all you Annes,and Anns, Annas, and Hannas out there!
And our gratitude, dear St. Anne, for many favors obtained throughout the years!

Upon Recovering From Swine Flu...

I've said it before:

Only good thing about pigs

Is in the freezer.

Go see Laura for more Bad Haiku Friday!

*Blame the little girls (dainty little things that they are) for the barfing pig pic up there, btw. They twisted my arm; I was gonna post this cute little guy on the left here...

Proppin myself up here for a minute...

To let you know where I've been. In short, I've been sick-a-bed. Four of the eleven of us have been sick, but, lucky me, I got it the worst. I've been basically flat on my back for a week -- and I never get sick. I really don't. I always figured it was an "out" I got because someone had to take care of all the other sickies. Not this time, though. Every morning I got up and showered and tried to make it be a normal day; I thought I could will myself to be well. I even posted through the week last week, rotten as I felt. But, by nine or ten o'clock most days, I was uselessly sick. So, when I was not better by Friday, Dan called and made me a Doc appointment for monday. And Monday I found out why I've felt so terrible.

We seem to have picked up a case of swine flu (h1n1). I haven't got a clue where we got it. It's not like we get out that much. I mean except for boys' camps and girls' camps and Church activities, and none of those have occured within the incubation time for infection -- and we haven't heard of anyone else being sick. Not like it matters, really, but one wonders where we got it...

Anyway, now we're waiting to see who comes up with it next... Maybe nobody will. I sure hope not. Boys' Camp is next week. Of the four who are going, Dominic's had a case and is over it, and Dan, Jon and Kevin all think they've already had a very light case -- and I hope they're right. But, if they haven't had it by Sunday, Jon and Kevin will likely be outside the incubation zone, since they've been in Nebraska all week. I don't know if I can tell the boys not to go to camp because they might possibly have a chance of carrying it with them. Especially if they're all feeling fine and dandy. And since we don't know where we got it, and it may be carried up there anyway. Would you send your kids? I think they might have to have a papal bull to keep them home, but I'm feeling a little guilty and worried about it. What do you think?

Anyway... I'll try to come in later on and navigate around. But, I'm tired, so I can't promise much blooging. The doc said don't expect days to recover; expect weeks. Goody. She doesn't know the incentive of a laundry room full of really smelly, dirty clothes. And the motivation of children running around out in the mosquito convention in our back yard without bug spray. And the necessity of groceries taken down to the cellar storage room, and left in bags all over the floor. And the need of a garden in need of real tending. And the frustration of a mommy ready to get things back in order...

I'll be back to check in when I can, friends. Stay well, everyone!

The Sky on Friday

Here are a few sky shots we've taken over the last couple weeks. We've had more than average summer precipitation for Eastern Colorado this year, and so more than average rainbows and really cool thunderheads. Our big western sky is a canvas for clouds.

More amazing sky photos over at Crazy Working Mom today!

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Pray for us!

Novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel

O Most beautiful flower of Mount Carmel, fruitful vine, splendor of Heaven, Blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in this my necessity.

O Star of the Sea, help me and show me herein You are my Mother.

O Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and Earth, I humbly beseech You from the bottom of my heart to succor me in this necessity.

There are none that can withstand Your power.

O show me herein You are my Mother.

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee.

O show me herein You are my Mother.

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee.

O show me herein You are my Mother.

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee.

Sweet Mother, I place this cause in Your hands.

Sweet Mother, I place this cause in Your hands.

Sweet Mother, I place this cause in Your hands

Information on the Brown Scapular can be found here.

The Story of St. Simon Stock can be found here.

Aussie Annie has a wonderful post today on the Feast.

and Catholic Cuisine is always the "go to" blog for feastday cooking!

H/T: The beautiful image is from Holy Cards For Your Inspiration

Bug

We were up all night with William. He's the newest victim of the bug that's going around here. Theresa had it first and it lasted two days: severe headache, low grade temp, and vomiting. Then I had it yesterday, though it started creeping up on me Tuesday. Bodyaches, temp, headache and no vomiting, because I willed not to. Now poor little William has it. There are few things more pitiful than a three-year old with a stomach bug. And few things worse to have to clean up after. On top of William's troubles, though, I got up this morning and our little dog, Brigid, had thrown up on the floor. I guess she must have caught the bug, too. Good grief! I don't have the energy to deal with it, I gotta tell ya. And there's still the question looming over us: Who's next?

Strange to have a bug in the summer. I don't remember the last time this happened. Is anyone else suffering this, too?