A Jesuit Priest

I saw this bumper sticker the other day, it said, "We are not physical beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a physical experience." I have seen it before, but once again this struck a chord that rings true.

I had to find out where the quote came from so of course, I hit up Google and then Wiki! The quote is by a man named, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a French Jesuit priest, who lived from 1881 to 1955. He was trained both as a paleontologist and a philosopher. 

Wiki had quite a number of quotes by this man and I found another favorite among them, "The truth is, indeed, that love is the threshold of another universe. Beyond the vibrations with which we are familiar, the rainbow-like range of its colours is still in full growth. But, for all the fascination that the lower shades have for us, it is only towards the "ultra" that the creation of light advances. It is in these invisible and, we might almost say, immaterial zones that we can look for true initiation into unity. The depths we attribute to matter are no more than the reflection of the peaks of spirit."

Interesting! I look forward to learning more about this man's life and writings. Much of what he says reflects how I feel myself about this life and what our experiences mean. He also believed in evolution of a kind and I think I understand that. I also believe that we are constantly evolving and I feel that we have to evolve together. We need each other much more than we are aware. This is a hard statement to make because I am a loner. I keep a small group of "loved" ones around me, but I am also able to be content standing outside the main stream of life.

I love people, but I choose not to be in the "thick" of all the chaos. A psychologist stated to me that I "isolate" as if it is a bad thing. I don't find it to be bad. I am a thinker, I am constantly involved in my thoughts and observations. I am also an empath. I find it very hard to survive the barrage of thoughts and emotions that I receive from other people. I don't isolate because I don't like others, I isolate out of self-preservation. 

I feel the pain of others acutely and it becomes overwhelming. On the other hand, I also feel their joy, but I must take both in small doses. We are all connected, we are all a part of God and we will only evolve spiritually by realizing how much we need each other. I know this and I look forward to finding out what we can become together when we awaken to our true destiny.

Roses and a Recipe or Two!

Hi ya'll,

I hope everyone had a great weekend. It was beautiful here. We finally got some much needed rain. You know you haven't seen rain in a very long time when you wonder what the heck that noise is and then stand at the door to watch it come down! I could smell the dry being washed right out of the ground!

I woke up to a wonderful surprise on Sunday, it was actually cool. We opened the windows and that is a very rare thing for May in Florida. The sky was blue, blue, blue with an occasional puffy white cloud and a nice cool breeze that blew all day. I had to work outside there was no way I was staying in.

My mom bought me an early Mother's day present, a gorgeous rose bush with three shades of flowers-red, orange and yellow! I had to expand the small corner rose garden, got the grass all dug out and the border stones placed. I planted the rose bush, watered and fertilized it and can't wait to see the first blossom. It has one bud, it will be a surprise to see what color opens first.

I fertilized the Hydrangeas, Porter's weed and the Bleeding Heart, then pulled the few weeds that were peeking through the Asiatic jasmine ground cover. I also fertilized my Dad's Rose of Sharon plants that he started for me the year before he passed. This is their second year in the ground and they are doing well. I also have the red Rose of Sharon that he bought me the first year that we moved here. It isn't as hardy as its cousins, but I tend to baby them, they are all extra special to me now.

The knockout roses that he gave to me are doing well too. He gave those up when he found out he was sick and could no longer take care of them. They are beautiful next to the porch and the fragrance is wonderful. He enjoyed sitting on the porch and looking at them. I sure wish he was here now to see how they've grown.

The herb garden got attention too. I fertilized and aerated the soil and watered it. The raised boxes tend to dry out a little faster than the ground. I love my herb garden, fresh herbs taste so much better than dried. Last night, I cut some fresh sage for the mushrooms that accompanied the grilled steak we had for dinner. I am so lucky to have an amazing husband, but added to how amazing I already think he is, the man can grill! And I do mean, HE CAN GRILL! The steak was awesome again, thank you honey!

Here is the recipe for the mushrooms:

8 oz. Portabello mushrooms, wiped clean, trimmed and sliced
Half of a large sweet onion, I used Vidalia
Four slices of thick, smoked bacon, chopped.
1-2 T. Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
1 tsp. fresh Sage, sliced thin
1-2 T. butter (not margarine or any other imposter, just plain butter)

Heat a heavy skillet, add oil and sliced onion, cook over medium heat until onion begins to soften. Add chopped bacon and continue cooking until bacon is beginning to brown. Add mushrooms and cook until slightly wilted. Add butter and sage, continue cooking until mushrooms are done and fragrant. Enjoy!

I also made a salad with iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, julienne swiss cheese and ham, celery and green olives. The dressing I made for this is one of our favorites, here is the recipe:

2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. Oregano
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire

Whisk until combined, then whisk in 1/4 cup of EVOO, slowly to form an emulsion. Whisk in 1 Tbsp. white wine vinegar, 1 tsp. lime juice, salt and pepper to taste. Pour over salad, toss and add 1 Tbsp. grated Parmesan, toss again. Serves 2.

Quality Time, Tatting and More Food!

I had a nice day today, spent it with my mom learning how to tat. I bought a class through Craftsy. The teacher is awful! She came highly recommended, but so far I'm not impressed. Just as mom and I are feeling like we must be unteachable (is that a word? and yes it is, looked it up) I started searching the internet for a YouTube video or something and found one. Yeah! Learned how to do the darn stitch that we'd been struggling with all morning in less than five minutes. So, guess it isn't us after all.

Today, we finally learned the double stitch, watched a little more of the paid for class to learn how to make a ring and picot, feeling totally frustrated again, went to my new YouTube teacher and learned in under two minutes.

I'm going to give it a try again in a few days, but if it proceeds as today, I think I will send Craftsy an email and let them know that they need to hire a new teacher and suggest the one from YouTube and her film crew. Here's the link, if anyone is interested: http://www.tattedtreasures.com/tutorials/ This woman is awesome, very clear and concise!

After our tatting adventure, we made dinner together, cedar-planked grilled wild-caught salmon with Ancho chili rub, roasted fresh asparagus with garlic, and 1905 salad from the Columbia cookbook. It was very good. For dessert, we had a piece of yesterday's cherry almond pound cake! Yum.

Oh and if you don't know what the Columbia is, it is an awesome Spanish restaurant in St. Augustine and Ybor City.  Here is a link to their website, so you can check them out for yourself: http://www.columbiarestaurant.com/ . Just found out when I picked up the link, they also have restaurants in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. Worth a trip, if you are ever near one of these cities. I can recommend their 1905 salad, black beans and rice, pollo "Riojana", and the roast pork a la Cubana. Of course their flan for dessert is wonderful too.

Well, two days of food talk, time for some diet days and gentle exercises!

Until next time...

The Best Pound Cake Ever!

I thought today my DH needed something special and I was inspired by a recipe  for Cherry Almond Pound cake that I saw online the other day. His favorite cake is Whipping Cream Pound Cake. I've made all kinds of pound cake: buttermilk, chocolate, sour cream, cream cheese and they were good, but this pound cake is super special.

The recipe for Whipping Cream Pound Cake was given to me by Allen's (my DH) Aunt Vergie. She was the sweetest little lady South Carolina ever produced! She was a true Charlestonian, and spoke with a Geechee accent. She brought this cake to one of the many family reunions that we had the privilege of attending at Allen's grandfather's early 19th century home.

The day I met Aunt Vergie, she literally bounced into the room, all smiles and energy. One could never guess that she was a lady in her mid-seventies. Never a complaint, never a bad word for anyone, she was a character. Not to say that she didn't have a temper, you could see it popping, if someone pushed her buttons (there was some Irish in her ancestry).

She carried in this beautiful cake, smelling like it was just taken from the oven, beautiful brown crusty top that was split and begging to be pinched off. Later, when it was cut, it was tender and each bite literally melted in your mouth and left you wanting more.

To know how good this cake is, it beat out all the competitors at the William's reunion that year! You had to be there and see the wonderful items provided by these amazing southern cooks, but take my word for it, winning was a major accomplishment! I don't make it often, especially now that there are only two of us at home. We would waddle when we walk if I did!

This is a picture of today's cake. Using the recipe, I baked them, as you can see, in loaf pans instead of the traditional tube pan.  The one in front is plain Whipping Cream Pound Cake, the one in back is Cherry Almond Pound Cake, my version inspired by this website. I will let you know how it turned out when the cake is cool enough to cut!

Here is the recipe: Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Whipping Cream Pound Cake

1/2 cup Crisco

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, no substitutes-if you put margarine or some new-fangled butter wannabe in here don't blame me!

3 cups sugar

6 eggs

3 cups All-Purpose flour (I use King Arthur , it is bromide free and simply awesome flour)

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Cream shortening, softened butter, and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour and whipping cream alternately. (1 cup flour, beat, 1/2 cup cream, beat, 1 cup flour, beat, remaining cream beat, remaining flour, beat) Do not over beat, just until fluffy and everything is incorporated.

Pour batter into prepared tube pan or into two loaf pans. Bake at 325 degrees for about an hour and a half. Test with toothpick when top is golden, it should come out clean. Let sit for a bit then turn out onto cooling racks.

For the Cherry Almond variation: I added about 3/4 cup of dried cherries and a scant teaspoon of pure almond flavoring and folded it into half the batter before adding to the pan. If you want to make the whole recipe Cherry Almond flavor, just double that or to your taste.

I hope you enjoy this as much as we do!

Update: The Cherry Almond was a hit, Allen loved it. I like almond flavoring, so I thought it could have used just a little bit more, maybe even up to a teaspoon and a half for half the batter, but Allen liked it the way it was, so your choice depending on how much almond you like! The dried cherries were wonderful!

It's all about perception

It was a nice spring day today. Windy, a little cloudy, but nice. I went for a walk this morning, met my mom around the corner. She's an inspiration, 73, feeling like she is getting too stiff so out for a walk she goes. She's finally guilted me into it, but I think I better add some yoga to the routine. Feeling a little sore and stiff tonight. I've tried to work through the Fibro pain before without success, it only got worse, but have to try again.

If anyone has any ideas to help with Fibro pain, please let me know. I've tried so many alternative methods of dealing with this condition, but I'm open to more ideas and opinions! Doctors don't have the answer that's for sure. Rheumatologist put me on Cymbalta. It helped the depression, did not help the pain. It made me so dizzy that I finally ended up on the kitchen floor and couldn't stand up without holding on to something waiting for the room to stop spinning. Getting off of it was no picnic either.

So I'm back to Sam-E for depression, Baclofen for muscle spasms, and Tramadol for pain. I just added Melatonin to help me sleep at night. Mostly, I feel that I'm at the point of whatever. It hurts, deal with it and keep going. Sitting on my rear isn't an option and that hurts too. Sure, there are things I can't do, things that I still do and pay for with huge amounts of discomfort, but this is my life so I make the best of it and enjoy all the wonderful things that I have to enjoy.

I enjoy so many things, my children, my husband, my cats, my mom, just waking up in the morning and hearing the birds singing outside my window is wonderful. I thank God every day for all of the things I have to enjoy, beauty surrounds us every moment. There is a list of things I can no longer do, but instead of focusing on those things I try very hard to focus on what I can do.

I love this time of year and watching the different birds that are only here for a short time as they migrate through to places farther north. I actually saw a Baltimore Oriole the other day, first one ever, he was gorgeous, bright orange and black. The bluebirds are here, little tufted titmice, robins and so many others that I cannot name.

We planted tiny annuals last weekend under our Date palm and they are already starting to grow and put on buds. A neighbor shared some Canna bulbs with me and I planted those in the back yard near the porch windows. I can't wait to see what they look like and what color the blooms will be. The dogwood and azalea bush in the front yard are nearly finished blooming.

Life is beautiful and good when we look at it with the right perception!

I'm back

It's been just over a year since I last posted. A long, hard terrible year. My dad was diagnosed with lung cancer on his birthday, November 17, 2011. My dad passed away on January 17, 2013. I miss him. I know we all lose people in our lives, but it doesn't make it hurt any less when the hurt is yours to bear.

I'm thankful for the time we had, but I will always wish there could be more. It helps to be able to say goodbye to someone I guess, but it is terrible watching them suffer. My brother died unexpectedly many years ago and that was an awful shock. It took many years to come to terms with his loss. I'm older now, so I don't know if it is the knowing or my age that has made this loss different. I can't say easier, because it is by no means easy.

I watched a video the other day, an interview with a lovely lady. I have placed a link here if you'd care to watch it: Interview with Anita Moorjani .  What this lady experienced encompasses many beliefs that I hold regarding our lives after death. I have spent many hours studying trying to understand our purpose on this earth and what life is like after death. The death of my brother prompted this search.

I have always believed in God, believed in an existence beyond death, but when death hits so near to your heart and takes away the loved ones you hold dear, it can make you want a more definite answer than the ones given in church. At least that's what it did to me.

I've had many experiences in my life that others may not understand. On the day my father died, the preacher was there to be with my dad in his final moments and to comfort us also. I tried to discuss my life experiences with him when he sat down to talk to me on that awful day, but he seemed unable to comprehend my very real experiences because they didn't fit in with the words he was spouting that came from his religious teachings and dogma. He actually got up and walked away in the middle of our conversation.

This same man, although; devout in his beliefs about his God, preached at my father's funeral. He said that my dad was waiting for that glorious day when he would receive a new body. I was mortified and angered by this ignorant speech at such a devastating time. My father's remains were cremated ashes in a marble urn. I can in no way believe that my father's spirit is sitting in that urn or in some form of limbo waiting for a glorious day to receive a new body. That is a ludicrous belief.

When Jesus was dying on the cross, He told the other crucified man, a thief, that if he expressed repentance for being a thief that Jesus would prepare a place for him. He did not tell him that one day somewhere in time, this man would receive a new body. He told him that He was going then, at that moment, to prepare a place for him. Jesus knew that He would die on that cross before the thief would die. The cross was not usually the end in crucifixions. The survivor was taken down after much suffering and put to death by having both legs broken. The shock to the already weakened body is what caused death to crucifixion victims.

What I loved about the Anita Moorjani interview is the peace she received from her experience and of course she was completely healed. I have read other accounts of near-death experiences akin to the one in Ms. Moorjani's book, Dying To Be Me: My Journey from Cancer, to Near Death, to True Healing. The similarities in these accounts are remarkable and not determined or defined by one's religious beliefs. God didn't invent religion, man did. I think it might be time that we walked away from religion, ritual and dogma and started looking for the real evidence that surrounds us daily that shows us there is a God, a wonderful being of love and light and peace. This is my God. This God is who gets me through each and every day, each and every heartache and helps open my eyes to the beauty that is all around us.

Peace! It won't be a year before I write again. I've missed sharing with you!