How was your weekend? Ours was a perfect flyover fall weekend–gorgeous blue sky weather with temperatures in the 60s. It doesn’t get much better than that.
We did all the things–1st grade soccer on Saturday… the boy(s) are getting better!
…and church on Sunday. We had a good guest preacher and an excellent adult ed class. Lots of good hymns.
I made Episcopal Presbyterian soufflé with all the trimmings for after church and it was very good if I don’t say so myself. The twins discovered that they really like garlic cheese breadsticks from Trader Joes. We sat outside and enjoyed the beautiful day and the twins covered the driveway in chalk drawings. Super fun fall frolics.
Later that afternoon, after everyone had gone home, our electricity went out so the OM and I entertained ourselves by driving through Lone Elk Park where we saw some buffs.
Daughter #1 also sent me this from Instagram…
This is perfect because it is my contention that Westies are the Mini Cooper of dogs, bringing joy to everyone who sees them.
And here’s a bear story for the week. Pretty gruesome. Lesson learned: don’t go into the woods armed only with bear spray. Bring a battle-ax.
It is good to give thanks to the Lord, And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, And Your faithfulness every night, On an instrument of ten strings, On the lute, And on the harp, With harmonious sound. For You, Lord, have made me glad through Your work; I will triumph in the works of Your hands.
How was your weekend? Mine was summer-y hot, but full of outdoor fun. We stayed cool in the shade watching the little bud run up and down the field in another victory for his first grade team. (Sorry, U. City.)
And Lottie lost a tooth!
After the game we celebrated Mr. Smith’s 1st birthday back at his house…
Lottie made him a birthday card–doesn’t this look just like Mr. Smith?
Mr. Smith got a lot of exercise playing catch in the back yard. Earlier in the day he and daughter #1 had walked up the street to see the U. City Homecoming parade. Field hockey girls never change.
On Sunday we heard a good sermon from a guest preacher. The church was full so the singing was especially robust. I cried as usual. Afterwards the boy and the twins came over for bagels. We sat outside and enjoyed the cooler temperature. Lottie and the bud ran around and quarreled and got very dirty playing on the driveway–good times.
Meanwhile Katie is ready for October with her new festive attire from her aunt Lauren:
I watched some of the Ryder Cup and one really good movie. Cinema Paradiso (1988) is one of my all-time favorite Italian movies (top five) and a favorite movie, period. (Just don’t watch the director’s cut.)
I always cry during the last 15 minutes–what movie lover doesn’t?
Speaking of movies, Charlton Heston is the star of the month on TCM, so be sure to check out the schedule on Wednesday nights!
And here’s Willie Nelson’s new bluegrass version of A Good Hearted Woman:
How was your weekend? Mine was a quiet one. Daughter #1 was in Maryland visiting daughter #2. I picked her up at the airport on Saturday and we were both relieved that her flight back was uneventful and unaffected by the hurricane back east.
I watched a little SEC football–Alabama vs Ole Miss–so I would have a better grip on Matt Mitchell’s weekly SEC recap. He is so mean to Mizzou, but I love him anyway.
Can’t wait to see what he has to say this week!
We saw the boy and the twins at church and enjoyed an interesting adult ed class on AI (let us not forget that God is sovereign) as well as a good sermon by the seminary student who is our Youth Minister. It actually contained a little brimstone. I do like some brimstone in a sermon.
We went to the wee laddie’s soccer game later in the afternoon. His other grandparents were there, visiting from Florida–so he had quite the cheering section.
He is slowly but surely getting the idea of the game…
His team is still undefeated thanks to two players who look and play like fourth graders. God bless America.
The Greentree Festival was this weekend in our hometown, so, of course, we went to the parade. Per usual, there were bagpipers, army trucks, the KHS band, Shriners, floats, old cars, and more:
The twins had a great time–they couldn’t believe people were throwing candy at them…
…and Mr. Smith had fun being out and about too!
After church on Sunday we went to watch the wee bud’s soccer game. We have now officially entered the grandparents going to their grandchildrens’ sporting events phase of our lives–I am not complaining.
It was a beautiful day to sit outside and we had a lot fun. Once when the ball went out of bounds right in front of us, Lottie picked it up and threw it back in and all the boys yelled, “Lottieeeee, what are you doing?” It was pretty funny. She just laughed and gave them a fiddle-de-dee look.
The boy’s team won the game and they are 2 and 0 now. They have a couple of boys who can actually dribble and they score all the goals. The rest run up and down the field and try not to fall down.
So it’s Monday again and September is half over. May the God of every grace be with you today.
Today is daughter #1’s birthday. She was born during a humdinger of a thunderstorm and a low pressure system that caused the water of every pregnant woman in St. Louis County to break. Seriously, they were lined up in the hallway at St. Luke’s. She was two weeks early, but that wasn’t a big deal since back then Moms stayed at the hospital for a week anyway–at least Dr. Gulick’s patients did. I was never in the hallway either and I had a private room, so no complaints from this peanut gallery.
This year we celebrated her birthday on Sunday in our usual style…
…with tacos and Tippin’s pie.
Because daughter #1, the OM and I went to our favorite winery on Saturday to celebrate her birthday and listen to the musical stylings of Bryan Toben…
…we missed the wee laddie’s first soccer game (there are 9 more), but the boy, who is also one of the coaches, took lots of good pictures.
I looked for, but could not find, any pictures of the boy at the same age playing soccer–but he looked just like this.
Sunrise, sunset.
In other news, the twins started Sunday School with the big kids (1st grade!) so we are all going to Sunday School at 10:00 am before the 11:00 am service. This is quite a departure from the way we were used to doing it in the Episcopal Church where Sunday School was just a short business during the sermon and communion. Besides all the kids’ classes, there are six adult classes to choose from–the boy and I attended the class on “Modern Ethical Topics”. I was impressed.
So onward and upward. This will be a busy week. May the God of love and peace be with you.
How was your weekend? Mine was pretty quiet. I caught up with reading and watched several good movies. And today is a bonus day–huzzah!
On Friday afternoon daughter #1 and I went to our favorite local restaurant/bar (one we had helped keep open during COVID) for a happy hour bottle of wine. We had not been there in at least six weeks, but our two favorite waiters came up to greet us with a cheery hello as we entered. They pointed us to our favorite window seats and then came over to explain that the menu had changed and the Rosé we always ordered was no longer on the new list. We asked which they recommended and they said the French, so we ordered it. When the wine arrived they asked if we wanted the hummus and we said, of course.
In this day and age it really is nice to be known and recognized and welcomed somewhere. The only other place this happens is in church!
It was good to be back in church after August, which had been rather hit or miss (mostly miss) because of travel and illness. We sang a rousing selection of the good old Anglican hymns and the more folksy American ones. I love them both.
Beneath the cross of Jesus I fain would take my stand, the shadow of a mighty Rock within a weary land; a home within the wilderness, a rest upon the way, from the burning of the noontide heat and the burden of the day.
(Elizabeth C. Clepbane, 1890)
The wee twins and the boy, along with daughter #1 and Mr. Smith, came over for a barbecue on Sunday night. (Daughter #3 was sick at home.) We had not seen the twins in several weeks–it is a busy time of year! We heard all about firstgrade and all the things.
In other news, baby Ida got a tooth!
And Mr. Smith got a haircut!
If you have the day off from work, enjoy it! Rejoice, rejoice, we have no choice.
*RIP Jimmy Buffet. We ate cheeseburgers (a little short of paradise) in your honor on Saturday night!
We are really in the dog days of summer now, but on Friday it was still nice enough to sit outside and enjoy a glass of wine. Mr. Smith sat like a good dog with us and was not too distracted by the flora and fauna. As little Katie would say, “Mr. Smith is growin’ up!”
Earlier on Friday I met the boy down at the Link Auction Galleries and he picked up a glass-front bookcase for me and a large oriental rug for daughter #1 before rushing off to open his store. He came back on Sunday afternoon and moved the bookcase inside from the garage and the rug over to her house.
What would I do without him and his truck?
I watched Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 (2023) on my friend’s very large television and I enjoyed it, although it was much too long–2 hours and 30 minutes! It could easily have been edited to an hour and a half, but today’s moviemakers are so self-indulgent, they have no idea how to edit a movie.
It was very good to be back at church after missing for two weeks when I was out of town and then sick. We even sang my new favorite hymn:
Come, ye weary, heavy laden, lost and ruined by the fall; if you tarry till you’re better, you will never come at all.
And is this baby too cute or what?
Life is full of blessings. Be sure to count yours every day!
How was your weekend? Hope you managed to keep cool. We had more storms and this time the electricity at our house went out for an hour and a half! I was just packing a bag to go to daughter #1’s house, when it came back on. Such drama–these days we are lost without our precious electricity.
Poor daughter #2 and famille had their air conditioning go out on Saturday and had to wait all day to get it fixed. I am sympathetic, but back in my day, we didn’t have central air conditioning at all and we had to wait all summer for relief. We are very spoiled now, that’s for sure. We would go to the movies to sit for a few hours in the AC. Grocery shopping was also a diversion!
Anyway, c’est la vie. Saturday morning I went to a flower arranging workshop at church led by the floral director at Schnucks Markets. I learned a lot!
I like the fact that the flowers at our church are always done by volunteers. There is no “the flowers are given (i.e. paid for) to the glory of God and in thanksgiving for/in memory of by so-and-so” announcement in the bulletin. It is just an anonymous gift. But we in the flower guild do our best (for the glory of God) and every week the arrangements are very different.
After church on Sunday there was a reception for a lady who is retiring after working there for 24 years–one of those unsung women who make everything run smoothly in the office and, if they are lucky, are appreciated for being “hard-working” and “organized”. Lois was also lauded for her sincere faith. Well, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” (Colossians 3:23).
I watched a really good movie–Intruder in the Dust (1949) based on William Faulkner’s novel, which is basically a mystery story set in the deep South. It is the story of Lucas Beauchamp, an independent, land-owning black man, who is unjustly accused of the murder of a white man, Vinson Gowrie. Through the help of two teenage boys, the town lawyer and an elderly white lady, who figure out who the real murderer is, he is able to prove his innocence.
I had not seen this movie in many years. It held up. Shot entirely on location in Oxford, Mississippi, it has an air of authenticity that the backlot never would have achieved. The actors are all solid. The screenplay by Ben Maddow sticks to Faulkner’s book. The Director Clarence Brown, who grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee and apparently knew something about the South, was not even nominated for an Oscar for this movie, but he won the British Academy Film Award for it. (Brown holds the record for the most Academy Award for direction nominations–6–without a win.)
Not surprisingly, the film failed at the box office, not even earning back its negative costs according to studio records. There is, after all, no romance in this movie; there are no pretty girls. There is no real action to speak of–only the threat of action (a lynching). There are tense moments, to be sure, for our heroes as they ride around at night and dig up a dead body and, when they get the sheriff on board with their plan, dig the body up again. But American audiences were not interested.
It is said, however, that William Faulkner himself was pleased with the film and Ralph Ellison wrote that of the whole cycle of race-based movies released in 1949, Intruder in the Dust was “the only film that could be shown in Harlem without arousing unintended laughter, for it is the only one of the four in which Negroes can make complete identification with their screen image.”
Check it out. It’s worth a viewing. Then read the book!
“Some things you must always be unable to bear. Some things you must never stop refusing to bear. Injustice and outrage and dishonor and shame. No matter how young you are or how old you have got. Not for kudos and not for cash: your picture in the paper nor money in the bank either. Just refuse to bear them.”
I thought we were going to have a quiet weekend because the boy and his family were in Kansas City, but we had visitors Sunday night–my brother and his son, who passed through our flyover town on their way to Arizona where Foster is moving. Lots of excitement as you can imagine. Cousins…
…and oldsters…
Further excitement when our resident OT professor from Covenant Seminary gave the sermon on Sunday–all about the Assyrians coming down like a wolf on the fold, i.e. 2 Kings 19:35-37. My DP would have really enjoyed it. We sang “It Is Well With My Soul” and I missed the twins, because they would have loved the fact that they know it and would have sung with gusto.
And back in Maryland daughter #2 beat the heat with her little ones.
(And the OM enjoyed lots of quality time with Mr. Smith.)
How was your weekend? I redeemed a gift card from Mother’s Day and had an hour-long spa pedicure, which had me walking on air for quite some time. Wow.
We had a guest preacher in church and he preached on Daniel 6–the lion’s den! I love Daniel so I was pleased. We need reminders of heroes like Daniel to keep us on track. We also had interesting musical accompaniment to all our hymns–a harmonica. Not the usual for A Mighty Fortress is Our God, but not bad. The OM and I stayed for a luncheon with our “fold” after the service. They acknowledged his birthday (today) but refrained from singing Happy Birthday.
We celebrated the OM’s birthday later on Sunday when everyone came over for a barbecue and party. (Even Mr. Smith)
Good times…and presents!
We watched McClintock! (1963), one of my favorite movies extolling the Patriarchy. It is loosely based on The Taming of the Shrew. (And Maureen O’Hara is one helluva shrew.) It has a smart script which moves along at a brisk clip. I enjoyed it thoroughly. It has nothing good to say about bureaucrats, the government or college boys, but is very sympathetic to Native Americans and free enterprise.
Anyway, when you have had enough of our modern day BS, I recommend a good dose of John Wayne at his most John Wayne-ish. “I know, I know. I’m gonna use good judgement. I haven’t lost my temper in forty years, but pilgrim you caused a lot of trouble this morning might have got somebody killed. Somebody oughta belt you in the mouth but I won’t, I wont…the hell I won’t.“
In other news baby Ida got her first taste of solid food…
It was a big hit.
And ol’ Ricky Skaggs is nominated for several Dove Awards this year, including this song which is a favorite of mine…
…as well as this banger version of Go Tell It on the Mountain with Crowder (for a little Christmas in July):
dual personalities 