Imagine Yourself...

"Imagine yourself as a living house...

God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what he's doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you know that these jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and doesn't seem to make any sense. What on earth is he up to? 


The explanation is that he is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards... 


You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage; but he is building a palace. 


He intends to come and live in it himself."

- C.S Lewis

A Sketch from My Desk

"A little daydream...

Is born at night...

A haunting shadow...

And fury's flight...

A listless landscape...

And a harvest moon...

Lights up the thoughts...

Of the Dragon's gloom."

This picture isn't complete, but I am at a loss of what it yet lacks. 

Please give me your thoughts on this sketch.

And the poem was made up on the spot. 

See now, I do have a writer's corner inside me. ;)

Pear Preserves

One of the yummiest, most delectable, astonishingly good things my mother makes is pear preserves. I get so excited whenever she brings home a big 20 lb. box of pears, because I know exactly what will happen when they are ripe....

First she layers pear slices in a bowl with cinnamon and sugar, and maybe pectin, but don't quote me on that. 

   

Then she lets them sit overnight...

  

Next day they are simmered for hours on the stove. When I come home from work the whole house (including the basement and garage, and the front porch, and maybe even the whole yard) smells like pears and cinnamon. 

Then with Bryan and Emma's assistance she ladles the pears into sterile jars, pops a lid on, and leaves it turned upside-down for a few hours. I got antsy and started making scones. 

Last of all she flips the jars up and we wait for each one to make this delightful little "ping" sound, and then.....

  

We eat it!