Summer's Here....

 

It sounds like Summer came to most of us pretty early this year. 

Last weekend was chilly, but we had a great weekend anyway. We hosted our third Marriage Enrichment Date Night! It was well attended and the people that came seemed to really enjoy themselves. I think that the team is really getting into their roles and we didn't have to have a bunch of meetings to get everything done. This is going to get easier and easier. 

Our Theme was "God's Dream for Your Marriage".

I made a gluten free/dairy free fruit tart because I knew that Rachel and Matt Watkins would be there and I wanted Rachel to have something for dessert. 

Laura says that Texas is baking and praying for rain. We are looking at a very warm weekend. The Preakness will be run tomorrow and the heat index will be around 105. Poor ponies! That's one to watch on TV for sure.

It's been really nice out the last few days. Cora and I have been out walking and yesterday we went up the Joe K loop with Lisa and Chipper. We saw (and smelled) lots of dead stuff. Either there was a fish kill event upstream or the Osprey are getting very clumsy. I always have Cora on a leash because I don't trust her to come back when I call, but Chipper was free to seek and find some lovely "cologne" to roll in. 

Lisa will be getting back to work soon and I will go up to the farm to walk ponies as much as I can this summer. 

Nina and Lilly are showing Ivy to some prospective buyers this afternoon. They are going to sell her and look for another horse. Ivy is a great mover and she jumps pretty well, so they should be able to sell her pretty quickly. 

I have been going through stuff and taking things to Goodwill this week. I don't know when, or even if we will move, that's up to the Holy Spirit, but I still want to lighten our load. We have piles of things that we are not going to need again. 

While I was digging through there I found quite a bit of yarn. I am now making shawls for the shawl ministry at St Patrick's and I hope to use a lot of it up. It's really neat. They bless them and give them to the sick or the elderly and while we are making them we pray for the person who will receive them. What a nice way to make this neat hobby mean something.

Another wonderful development is that St Patrick's is now going to be helping the Gabriel Network in it's work with moms in need. Not just gathering supplies, but really walking with them and providing care. Helping them learn about parenting and finding a job and setting up a home. Staying involved with them as they go through this difficult time, into becoming a family. I have wanted to do this work for so long, Now things are finally falling into place and it is going to happen. Our parish is full of great people who are always so happy to help. They are generous and loving. We are becoming a closer parish family all the time. Helping moms with their families is a natural step forward! 

Tim is off today, and I think that Brendan will be by later so I need to figure out what to do for dinner. Paul will be working at Ripkin. 

Sunday is the church picnic, and that will be fun! I am going to work on it with some of the ladies and I am looking forward to it. It's also the last weekend for the Professional Bull Riders world championship. So that's also something. 

 I need to take more pictures, that's for sure.

Spring Showers

 Well, yes, it has been rainy, but the showers that we are talking about are the ones that benefit moms and babies!

St Patrick's Respect Life was blessed to be able to host our annual baby shower once again!! It has been a couple of years since we were able to do this the way we love to!

We handed out baby bottles at the beginning of Lent for people to fill and bring back on Mother's Day. 

Then we set up tables and provided food and drinks for the people who attended the Sunday Masses. We asked people to bring diapers, wipes, clothes, supplies, and to donate if they wanted. We collected two car loads! Many bottles were handed in as well! It was so great! It is so good to know that moms who need things to care for their little ones will be able to get what we collected. 

It is such a blessing to see the outpouring of love in this one small thing each year. We are hoping that we will soon be able to do something more consistently, within the framework of the Gabriel Network. It would be so good to be able to involve our community in real, concrete service to moms and families in need. We are praying that this collaboration will happen soon! 

This Was Fantastic!

 The Kentucky Derby this year was just so cool!! Wow! 

This happened:

Rich Strike really was for those who had the nerve to bet on him. His odds were 80-1 and he was a last minute entry who came out of the back of the pack and lit it up! It was just so great!

Let's Just Calm Down

 Father Francis told us at Mass tonight that we are under advisement from the police in Havre de Grace, that there may be demonstrations and/or disturbances at Mass, due to the Supreme Court's likely decision to rule in favor of sending the question of abortion back to the states.

Speaking as a Maryland resident, I can't imagine how anyone who lives here can possibly be concerned about losing abortion access. Maryland is currently in the top five states with the most comprehensive abortion access. This is definitely not something that I am happy about, and we will work to defeat the Maryland abortion laws as long as we live here. 

I do find it surprising then, that people here in Havre de Grace, who really are very community minded and reasonable, would gather to demonstrate and protest here, when we have probably hosted them at events and where they know so many people. I guess there could be people that would come in from out of town, but I am hoping that cooler heads will prevail. 

Cora, Chipper, and a Miracle

 

Today turned out pretty nice after all! It got up to around 70 and the sun came out, and we really needed to get outside.

I was working on Respect Life planning this morning, and then I moved to scanning pictures for the family project. By this afternoon I was really ready for some fresh air, and then Lisa Tellup sent me a message and said that she was planning to take Chipper up to the dog park and did Cora and I want to join them? Yes please!

Chipper is just so cute! He reminds me so much of Maggie! It is so strange to see them playing together, but I do love it. It's a piece of our girl. They played a bit until he wore out and lay down in the shade. It was nice to talk to Lisa and just be outside! I also walked around near the dog park and took pictures of the bay from up there. So pretty!

Cora and I went down to get Lilly and take her to the barn, then we came home and I had a quick dinner and get ready to go down to the Church to listen to a presentation on the Shroud of Turin. The man that gave the talk is so knowledgeable! He has met all the scientists who have done the study and research on the burial cloth. It is truly amazing. 

What Happens in Tennessee....

 

What a great trip we had to visit Tennessee!

We drove down last Thursday and it was a beautiful day, and a very nice drive. It took about 11 hours all together, and it was nice because the time changes just before our destination, so we had an extra hour! Cora was the perfect little traveler as always.

When we got to Monterey, we pulled up to our "Little Cabin in the Woods" and we were just so charmed by our first impression! What a lovely little place. The couple who own it live on the property and they are so nice! We really enjoyed getting to know them. Ed, who built the cabin from a shed, is quite a craftsman. the whole place is a work of art. I wish that I had taken more pictures of all the little touches inside. He put so much into it!

On Thursday we went into Cookeville. We have been thinking that this may be a good place to relocate to, but we really wanted to explore it first. We were not disappointed! It is a great college town, with everything that we would want or need, and it is just minutes from the country. State parks and mountains all around. It is a very popular place so getting a home there could be a bit tricky. We want to be fairly close to the church, so that daily mass is possible, but we also want a couple of acres. I am sure that the Holy Spirit already knows where we are going to end up and if we just wait for His prompting we will find it. 

We hiked to Cummings Falls, which is only about 15 minutes from town. It was really beautiful, and the weather was gorgeous! 

On Friday we drove down along a river, and then into a more southern area. It was pretty in spots, but the towns are far apart and small. McMinville is a pretty big place, and only about an hour south of Nashville, but it was actually almost too big. 

We headed up to Nashville and found a place where we could eat outside with Cora, and then we found a great dog park where she could run around without her leash! She was really missing her big yard!

On Saturday we drove home. A bit of rain, but it was an easy drive. We were listening to a Jonathan Kellerman novel the whole way home! It was good to be back in our own house. We did love seeing Tennessee, and when we are ready, we are pretty sure of where we want to be!