Retreat and Sherlock

Hello my dears,

My Morning Glories are so late this year!  And the vines are so thick.   It will be spectacular WHEN it happens and IF it happens before the frost.  They will cover the fence with glory.  Fingers crossed.

Back from an eight day silent retreat at Creighton's Retreat Center in Griswold which fed my Catholic-Lutheran Heart immensely.  Cal and I had a lot to tell each other when I got back and we ran to Costco where I experienced, behold, a GREAT Mass (no pun intended) of Humanity and oh my goodness-  they were ALL talking!! It amazed me.  I guess I was still coming up to the surface of the water after my deep dive into silence. (except for the shrill whine of mosquitoes.)

My Cloister Walk

For the last eight days, I have been attending a Catholic mass. It was good to be back in my home church were I could partake of communion.  I couldn't help but compare the two...so alike and so different.  Fr. Paddy Gilger does a beautiful mass and I miss the quiet expectancy at the retreat center.  This morning was more joyous expectancy.  Both are wonderful.  I am lucky to be able to
have experienced both.




Creighton Retreat Chapel



 

Can't wait for new episodes of Sherlock on PBS.  My favorite show!  I read the book on retreat (when I needed to rest from all that silence) and was surprised that the rather autistic Holmes played by Benedict Cumberbatch  is not a far departure from the book!  Can't wait for more.

 

My 96 year old father is going on an Honor Flight to Washington DC next month.  Thrilled for him.

 

Wishing you all a bit of silence in your life,

Mary

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok.  Forget the sundial. That was last year.  On to the next subject.  Owls.

 This year we have a pair of neighborhood owls.  Great fun for all of us on Ashby Ave.  The wing span is startling as they fly from tree to tree on our street, often clutching their dinner in their claws.  And those round, all knowing faces staring at you from their perch...  Awesome.

After a grueling winter,  I have been making the rounds on Ashby welcoming the people coming out ftheir caves and greeting new neighbors.  That's what a long winter will do to you.... turn an introvert into an extrovert.

I shouldn't complain.  I took a early spring break to Savannah, Georgia, and soaked up a little sunshine with my sister-in-law.

We hosted Warm Shower bikers last week. Warm Showers is an organization that provides bikers with names of people who they can stay with while they are on bike trips.  We have only hosted twice and both times have been a delightful experience!  This couple had started from North Carolina and would be going to the west coast.  They brought back so many memories of our bike trip except they were carrying all their gear and more!  He was taking master level class as they traveled
and she had just been accepted into med school.  Amazing.  I was glad they were able to stay for a bit the next day and I drove them to their next stop.  No, that is not cheating.

Les Miserables is my bible right now.  Both the music and the story run through my head constantly.
It's such a rich story.  Cal is wishing I would find some other music to hum.

Happy Mother's Day.

Mary

One order for Tiny Castle Books sent to York, England

Playing with Time

As I was contemplating the tiny sunny back yard at Tiny Castle, I felt it was lacking something.

My herbs were growing nicely. The tomatoes and perennials were glorious as were the trees after all that rain.  The patio stones had been sealed.  I raided the garage and found the original doors to the house and they hung whimsically on the fence.  The vines were clinging and twining.  The grasses were plume-ing.  I saw all and it was good.

 

Then I remembered.  No castle garden was complete without a sundial. I could make a sundial out of stepping stones using the human body for the gnomon.  I saw it in a magazine.  It would be hidden in the grass and we could mow right over it.  A no hassle, low maintenance sundial!  It would be so simple....

But first I had to find exactly out how a sundial worked.  I found all sorts of designs and equations on the internet. My goodness!  Did it really have to be this complicated?  Surely, at one time every castle had one and they all weren't engineers.  I selected my design and printed out a protractor.

First you need to find True North.
And True North is different than magnetic north which I learned is moving around these days.  I don't know about you but I find that alarming!  Somehow I thought the North Pole was one of those things you could count on.

Using my ipad and NightSky app I found True North  in my backyard.  (I feel True North has developed much importance to me I feel it needs to be in capital letters)  So, at least in my backyard, I will never be lost.

I tested my location on sunny Sunday to see if it worked.  I seemed to be off a couple hours. Maybe this sundial idea was too hard for my brain.  I was starting to feel like I did in geometry class in high school;  that maybe I should  take a nap.  Cal came to the rescue and we figured out suntime and daylight saving time.  My True North was true and my sundial would work.

Now for construction.  I had made stepping stones before...kind of, sort of. Well, they cracked. Somewhat.  But I had a new and improved idea of using chicken wire as rebar and a Bakers Secret cake pan as a mold.

My first batch of mortar was too watery...so like little red riding hood it will probably take me some tries to get it right.  So far, I have the 12 and the 11 and in the ground and my sundial is telling perfect time for two hours every day.

I also noticed my clock falls into the shadow of the garage and trees by around 3:00 pm (suntime, 2:00 pm).  Funny, I never noticed that before...

Maybe I'll just have to make a 9am to 3 pm clock... that might be interesting...
and it might save a little time.

(to be continued)

Our Street at Christmas

Roses in November

I guess it's not all that unusual to see roses blooming in November.  Maybe it's the kelly green grass, and the my bachelor buttons blooming, and the few morning glories flowers hiding among their dead vines.  I don't know.  Maybe it was the drought.  Finally a little rain and cooler temperatures and it's spring all over again for the plants that struggled so hard to survive this summer.  Anyway, I love fall and getting the yard ready for winter sleep feels a bit strange when I am working around all this...blooming.  Maybe Iowa will become known for the state with two springs with a miserable summer in between.

I live on a street that loves to do up the holidays.  One neighbor said that we had 400 kids for Trick or Treat this year.  Rachel and the baby were here to see the parade of beggars. Soon it will parades of cars to see our houses light up with Christmas cheer.. All good fun. But it's been a busy October and I'm tired.  Maybe that's why I am not enjoying all this spring blooming. Hey! Late Bloomers.  It's time to slow down and savor the coming seasons of  gratitude and birth.  It's time for candle light and spice and listening to silence.  It's time to hibernate, folks!

Gratefully Yours

I am so grateful.

It's true.  The older you grow the more grateful you become.  I must be very old because I am very grateful!

My Tiny Castle Book shop continues to sell enough to keep me busy making miniature leather books. My job as a associate for special education keeps me in love with humanity in all its shapes and forms, and I have been forced to start writing again.  I am using my creativity in a zillion ways right now...sometimes I go to bed jittery with creativity...or is that coffee? :-)  I feel like I need to plan, design, create, paint, write, and love and I am learning to do it all at once.

The drought of this summer has brought us the gift of brilliant leaves.  Stunning leaves.  Take-your breath-away leaves.

Company's coming and that means Tiny Castle gets a good dusting. The guest room finally got some color on those cold white walls.  A rug on the floor and a down comforter on the bed.  It takes so long for us to get things done on the house, but it's so satisfying when it's done!

Did I tell you that I grew into a Grandma? 


We're always growing into something.

Gratefully Yours,
Mary

What a Difference A Year Can Make

I know, I know...it's been a while, but I have had a busy year adjusting to my new home and as most of you know, it takes a while. Tiny Castle is home. It feels good to be settled and on the second year in our house enjoying the improvements we made last year.

I am still determined to grow blue morning glories and have planted them in the ground this time instead of pots. Only a few look viable...but all you need is one! I can't wait for their blooms again. I am growing honeysuckle on the east side of my sun porch and put up window hayracks and planted them with who knows what. My garden is all one grand experiment that keeps me walking the yard each day to see who does what in the plant world.

I love my new job working as a special ed sub associate which means teacher's aide. And now I have the summer off to walk my yard. But like my yard, my summer is filling up too.

Our cat from the Animal Rescue league turned out to be a winner. His name is Sammy and he is huge orange cat with a great sense of humor. He adores us, especially Cal who has a lap big enought to support him. He's always interested in what we are doing and commenting on it.

The bikeride that started this blog is long over, but Cal and I are still enjoying that journey over and over again. It was life changing for both of us. Now we are following a young family on line who plan to spend a year on their bikes!

There's lot more going on (in fact, right now we are in the middle of a hail storm...Sammy is Concerned.) But I don't want to overwhelm you.

Love,

Mary