Quote for today...

"Raining all night; sometimes soft, sometimes loud; like a choir's song"

- Anonymous

Follow me...

I was totally excited the other day, when I got on Blogger to find that I now have 4 followers! Last time I had checked, I only had one. Thanks, people!

Sharing my lunch with you...

Today, for a late lunch, I made myself a green smoothie and a cup of rosehip tea. I thought I would share them with fellow Bloggers as some friends have expressed curiosity in the green drinks I have started making.

For the green smoothie, my first ingredient was lettuce. Spinach will work just as well, and actually does not affect the taste at all in my opinion. But lettuce was all we had in the house today. I usually just put a cup or so of water in the blender first, so that it does not end up really chunky, but we had orange juice in the house so I used that instead. Water is just fine if you have that. The juice did add a very nice fruity flavor.

We are stocked up on frozen bananas and blueberries in our freezer, so those are what I usually use. I also found a couple frozen strawberries too, which I threw in. I found that they changed the color to a deep red, instead of a very muddy green. Also, one thing I have found with frozen bananas is that the flavor does deteriorate in the freezer over time. I think we have cycled through all our old ones now and I have been enjoying the taste of the fresh ones.

Next, I throw in a teaspoon of kelp powder, which is especially good for females who tend to need the iodine that most seaweeds contain. I get mine from a small health food store in Grand Ledge called Wild Oats. I got 0.46 lb and it was only $1.61, but it will last me quite a while. One teaspoon a day is fine. The powder has a strong seaweed smell, but you can’t taste it at all in the drink.

Then, I went outside to collect greens from the yard. Dandelion leaves are good for cleaning out your body. I picked 3-4 smallish ones to use. They do add a very distinct bitter flavor, so be sure to pick the smaller ones, and only use a few. Last Sunday, I tried making a green drink with dandelion as the main green, and it turned out so nasty, that I had to throw it all out. So do be careful how much you put in. The orange juice did blend really nice with the dandelion taste. If there is a chance that the leaves could have gotten sprayed with pesticide from neighboring fields or they grow close to the road, I wouldn’t use them.

Last, I picked a couple peppermint shoots that were coming up in the flower bed. Peppermint is overall good for just about anything!

I also got dried rosehips from Wild Oats on my trip there today. I have been struggling with a cold due to stress and lack of sleep from Seussical show week. Rose hips have a TON of Vitamin C in them. I found that they actually taste like dried tomatoes! The tea had a slight tomato soup flavor to it, but not nasty at all. I didn’t add honey, it didn’t really seem appropriate with the tomato. ;) Drank it all down, and so hopefully I will be feeling better soon!

Hope you enjoyed this descriptive narrative of my lunch!

Fall and Spring

by Ethelywn Wetherald


From the time the wind wakes
To the time of snowflakes,
That's the time the heart aches
Every cloudy day;
That's the time the heart takes
Thought of all its heart-breaks,
That's the time the heart makes
Life a cloudy way.

From the time the grass creeps
To the time the wind sleeps,
That's the time the heart leaps
To the golden ray;
That's the time the joy sweeps
Through the depths of heart-deeps
That's the time the heart keeps
Happy holiday.

The Human Touch

by Spencer Michael Free

’Tis the human touch
in this world that counts,
The touch of your hand and mine,
Which means far more
to the fainting heart
Than shelter and bread and wine.
For shelter is gone
when the night is o’er,
And bread lasts only a day.
But the touch of the hand
And the sound of the voice
Sing on in the soul always.

Resurrection Day

“And so they stood on the walls of the City of Gondor, and a great wind rose and blew, and their hair, raven and golden, streamed out mingling in the air. And the Shadow departed, and the Sun was unveiled, and light leaped forth; and the waters of Anduin shone like silver, and in all the Houses of the City men sang for the joy that welled up in their hearts from what source they could not tell.” Pg. 941 LotR

and -
“’Gandalf! I thought you were dead! But then I thought I was dead myself. Is everything sad going to come untrue? What’s happened to the world?’ ‘A great Shadow has departed,’ said Gandalf, and then he laughed, and the sound was like music, or like water in a parched land; and as he listened the thought came to Sam that he had not heard laughter, the pure sound of merriment, for days upon days without count. It fell upon his ears like the echo of all the joys he had ever known. But he himself burst into tears. Then, as a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring and the sun will shine out the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laughter welled up, and laughing he wprang from his bed. ‘How do I feel?’ he cried. ‘Well, I don’t know how to say it. I feel, I feel’ – he waved his arms in the air – ‘I feel like spring after winter, and sun on the leaves; and like trumpets and harps and all the songs I have ever heard!’ Pg 930 LotR

and -
“The days that followed were golden, and Spring and Summer joined and made revel together in the fields of Gondor. And tidings now came by swift riders from Cair Andros of all that was done, and the City made ready for the coming of the King.” Pg. 942 LotR


Compare to Matthew 28: 5-8
“And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.”

Day before Resurrection Day

“And so they stood so, their hands met and clasped, though they did not know it. And still they waited for they knew not what. Then presently it seemed to them that above the ridges of the distant mountains another vast mountain of darkness rose, towering up like a wave that should engulf the world, and about it lightnings flickered; and then a tremor ran through the earth, and they felt the walls of the City quiver. A sound like a sigh went up from all the lands about them; and their hearts beat suddenly again.” Pg 941 LotR

Good Friday

“Over the city of Gondor doubt and great dread had hung. Fair weather and clear sun had seemed but a mockery to men whose days held little hope, and who looked each morning for news of doom. Their lord was dead and burned, dead lay the King of Rohan in their citadel, and the new king that had come to them in the night was gone again to a war with powers too dark and terrible for any might or valour to conquer.” Pg. 937 LotR

“’Well, this is the end, Sam Gamgee,’ said a voice by his side……’For the Quest is achieved, and now all is over. I am glad you are here with me. Here at the end of all things, Sam.’” Pg. 926 LotR


Compare to Luke 23: 46-48
“And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, 'Certainly this was a righteous man.' And all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts, and returned.”

Palm Sunday

“Thus came Aragorn, son of Arathorn, Elessar, Isildur’s heir, out of the Paths of the Dead, borne upon a wind from the Sea to the kingdom of Gondor; and the mirth of the Rohirrim was a torrent of laughter and a flashing of swords, and the joy and wonder of the City was a music of trumpets and a ringing of bells…..But before all went Aragorn with the Flame of the West, Anduril like a new fire kindled, Narsil re-forged as deadly as of old, and upon his brow was the Star of Elendil.” Pg 829 LotR

Compare to Matthew 21: 8-11 -
“And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.”



“When he had looked on the faces of the sick and seen their hurts he sighed. ‘Here I must put forth all such power and skill as is given to me,’ he said." Pg 845 LotR

and -
“As he followed Gandalf and shut the door Pippin heard Ioreth exclaim; ‘King! Did you hear that? What did I say? The hands of a healer, I said.’ And soon the word had gone out from the House that the king was indeed come among them, and after war he brought healing; and the news ran through the City.” Pg 848 LotR

and -
“At the doors of the Houses many were already gathered to see Aragorn, and they followed after him; and when at last he had supped, men came and prayed that he would heal their kinsmen or their friends whose lives were in peril through hurt or wound, or who lay under the Black Shadow. And Aragorn arose and went out, and he sent for the sons of Elrond, and together they laboured far into the night. And word went through the City; ‘The King has come again indeed.” Pg. 852 LotR

Compare to Matthew 21:15 -
“And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.”

and Luke 7: 20-22-
“When the men were come unto him, they said, ‘John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?’ And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight. Then Jesus answering said unto them, ‘Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.’”