The Lent Lily

'Tis spring; come out to ramble

The hilly brakes around,

For under thorn and bramble

About the hollow ground

The primroses are found.

And there's the windflower chilly 

With all the winds at play,

And there's the Lenten lily

That has not long to stay

And dies on Easter day.

And since till girls go maying

You find the primrose still,

And find the windflower playing 

With every wind at will,

But not the daffodil,

Bring baskets now, and sally

Upon the spring's array,

And bear from hill and valley

The daffodil away

That dies on Easter day.     ~ A.E. Housman (1859-1936)

Spring Snow

Snow Dog Days

Darby and Chloe loved the snow that fell yesterday.  They romped, and rolled, and ran, and raced all morning long.  (Which made for loooong dog naps in the afternoon.)  You may notice that Ladybug is nowhere to be seen.  She is not for snow, thank you, and kept to her cozy bed.

                       Snow on the snuffle.
Katie throws snow in the air which Chloe and Darby try to catch.  Oh well!

Cooling off in the snow after hard play had warmed up the big girl.

Fun in Franklin Town

This has been a week for having fun!  Birthdays, garden days, barn days, school days, snow days; meeting friends, watching movies, drinking coffee, pubbing and festival-frolicking!

We received 5 inches of snow!  The first real snow around these parts in quite some time.  And just the week before, it was in the 70's and we spent the day outside working up flower and veggie beds.

Franklin celebrates St.Paddy's day with an Irish Feile - so, naturally we go to the pub - again, where there is good food, good drink, and friends to be met.  And we don't even have to go to Boston!

       Little Miss Bea joins the girls for lunch.

                        It's HIS birthday!  No, it's HIS birthday!!
                              Someone turned FORTY!!!!!

Spiritus Sanctus

"As the sun is full of light,the ocean full of water,

Heaven full of thy glory, so may my heart be full of Thee."

So read the opening words of Spiritus Sanctus in The Valley of Vision.  How beautiful they sound to the ear, but how deep a chord they ring in our hearts.  

Continuing in part, the prayers reads:

"Give me thyself without measure,

as an unimpaired fountain,

as inexhaustible riches.

I bewail my coldness, poverty, emptiness, imperfect vision, languid service, prayerless prayers, praiseless praises.

Suffer me not to grieve or resist thee.

Come as power, 

to expel every rebel lust, to reign supreme and keep me thine;

Come as teacher,

leading me into all truth, filling me with all understanding;

Come as love,

that I may adore the Father, and love him as my all;

Come as joy,

to dwell in me, move in me, animate me;

Come as light,

illluminating the Scripture, moulding me in its laws;

Come as sanctifier,

body, soul and spirit wholly thine;

Come as helper,

with strength to bless and keep, directing my every step;

Come as beautifier, 

bringing order out of confusion, loveliness out of chaos.

Magnify to me thy glory by being magnified in me,

and make me redolent of thy fragrance."

Sweetie, Smartee Boys

Nana got to spend a weekend recently with her Port Gibson family, and it was such fun.  There is nothing better than little boys' hugs and kisses, smiles and drools.  It was also fun getting to abandon the parent-role for the grandparent-role and give out candy with no guilt attached! Here Gilbert shows Nana his little roll of Smartees candy - the candy that his great-great grandmother, his great-grandmother, and now his grandmother love to give to their little ones.

Alas!  Patrick must content himself with chewing on the placemats until he is old enough for candy.

                                                  Hurry, Daddy!  Open the Smartees!

Candy?!  And I get a place mat???  Don't worry, Patrick, mashed bananas will soon be on your menu and they are sweet as candy, but not as sweet as you!

.

Ladybug and the Boys

Ladybug just loved Gilbert and Patrick, but that's no surprise.  Here she dashes in to sneak a kiss to Patrick.  Later on, Patrick and Ladybug show off their tricks by rolling over.  Good boy! Good dog!

Gilbert tells Ladybug that a cat lives next door, so she tries to spot it, but to no avail.