Monday Morning Meanderings

An abundant harvest from our little apple orchard!

What a lovely weekend! A birthday party to celebrate our granddaughter's ninth on Saturday and a big Sunday brunch after Mass with twelve of us around the table. I'm never happier than when I can make a big meal for loved ones. The table is the altar of the little domestic church. And then a visit from my sister who was passing through town. Weekends filled with family are the best!

Rain this morning -- the kind the Irish call a "soft rain," gentle, soaking in, erasing the brown with a green wash, a rest for the soul.


I've been harvesting our apple trees which are heavy this year with a bumper crop. Is it the bees? They were busy pollinating in the Spring and now we reap the reward: twenty jars of apple sauce in the freezer, apple pies and apple crisp and sauteed apples with pork. And that's only from one tree, an early variety. Ah...how do I love thee, beautiful apples? Let me count the ways! Check out my Gramma blog for two recipes for apple crisp. And if you're in the neighborhood, drop in at Camp Kreitzer for a sample.


The dinosaur we bought our grandson at a thrift store greeted me this morning when I came downstairs. He is banished from our grandson's house because his sister hates the noise he makes when he roars. I think he will become the "stalking dinosaur." I'll hide him in a different place whenever they come and invite little Max, who loves him dearly, to look for him. Perhaps that will make his loss easier. I told him the dog needs a companion and the dog is actually interested when the dinosaur is walking and roaring -- no wimp that dog!

Downloading photos from the camera brought back memories of a June hike near Gettysburg on the Hog Rock Trail. What a lovely walk in the woods it was. It started out drizzly but soon the sun came out to dapple the trail with light.

Makes me long for another walk in the woods, but today is not the day. Perhaps I'll put on some old clothes and my rubber shoes and pull weeds in the garden with raindrops falling on and around me. And while I do I can think of Baptism and God's generous outpouring of grace.

Thank you for this beautiful Monday morning, Lord. Help me to use this day well.