To Pray

O God who art from eternity unto eternity, and art not at one time in one place because all times and places are in Thee, I would now seek to understand my destiny as a child of Thine. Here I stand, weak and mortal, amid the immensities of nature.

But blessed be Thou, O Lord God, that Thou hast made me in Thine own likeness and hast breathed into me the breath of Thine own life. Within this poor body Thou hast set a spirit that is akin to Thine own Spirit. Within this corruptible Thou hast planted incorruption and within this mortal immortality.

So from this little room and this short hour I can lift up my mind beyond all time and space to Thee, the uncreated One, until the light of Thy countenance illumines all my life.

Let me keep in mind that my mortal body is but the servant of my immortal soul:
Let me keep in mind how uncertain is my hold upon my bodily life:
Let me remember that here I have no continuing city, but only a place of sojourn and a time of testing and of training:
Let me use this world as not abusing it:
Let me be in this world but not of it:
Let me be as having nothing yet possessing all things.
Let me understand the vanity of the temporal and the glory of the eternal:
Let my world be centered not in myself but in Thee:

Almighty God, who didst raise from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ and didst set Him at Thy right hand in glory everlasting, I thank Thee for this hope of immortality with which through many ages Thou hast cheered and enlightened the souls of Thy saints, and which Thou didst most surely seal through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

John Baillie A Diary of Private Prayer, morning prayer, day 15

Our lane~

These flowers grow along the fences on our lane~

~an interesting British myth~the flower below "Aconite" (thanks Mary!) is said to only grow in Roman blood~hmmmm~

Flitwick, Food, Friends and Fun

Our van knows the way to Flitwick, England now~

And as we always look forward to seeing our friends the Sewall's, we were doubly blessed tonight to see friends from Illinois, Patrick and Kristin Egan and their girls.

As we prepared to leave, I turned around and saw that several little long-eared travelers were coming with us, safely buckled next to Sarah~


When we arrived and got through the normal "screaming I am so excited stage" we settled in for a lovely afternoon of food and fun. Here are the kids lined up according to birthdays, from January to December~


Then on to the pizza party~


with 11 girls and 2 boys. George and Andrew held their own admirably well~


A group photo of us. Capturing Meredith (the youngest) was my highlight.

A Favorite~

Hot/Cold Tomato Soup with Basil

---

3 cloves garlic
1 1/2 c. fresh basil
2 tbsp. olive oil
4 lb. very ripe tomatoes or 2 lg. cans Progresso crushed tomatoes
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 onion, diced
2 tbsp. each chopped parsley and cilantro
2 c. chicken consomme
1 celery stem, diced
Salt and pepper to taste

Blend the garlic, basil and olive oil, setting aside a few sprigs of basil for garnish. Add to the tomatoes and simmer with the sugar, onion, celery, parsley and/or cilantro for about half an hour or until the tomatoes have been reduced to 3/4 of their original volume. Add consomme to taste. Adjust seasoning, adding salt and pepper if necessary and serve hot or cold, sprinkled with chopped basil, and, if hot, Parmesan cheese.


I have given this recipe out several times this week so I thought others might be interested in it too. This soup has become a real favorite of mine and Jim's, I often make it at the beginning of the week and we eat a mug of it with a sandwich for lunch. I use four cans of diced tomatoes (for the tomatoes) and put most of this through the blender (except the onions and celery.) I also forgo the oil and it still is excellent!

Day at the Museum

Andrew and I met our good friends at the Cambridge Zoology museum yesterday~

My 13-year old friend Libby taught me something new. See this Rhinoceros below? I didn't know that its horns were made out of hair! If you click on the picture you may notice that the horns look almost like wood, especially around their base. A more careful study show that indeed, it is coarse hair tightly packed together. The end of the "horn" is sharpened by the animal rubbing it against tree trunks. This is why a Rhinoceros can lose it's horn and grow another!

I was told I need to watch more 'Animal Planet.'


Andrew showing us what a Flamingo does with it's neck~see skeleton behind him~

A lovely whale skeleton outside, with more friend 'specimens.' (a.k.a. Libby, Michael and Rachel)


On the way home we had to snap a picture of this swan nesting in front of a row of punts along the Cam River. Soon we will see her cygnets!

Fitzbillies

There is a bakery I DROOL over every time I walk by it. Today, I popped in and took a few pictures to show you why~





Hungry?

Wheels

Certain modes of transportation here still catch my eye~

For instance, here's the vehicle of choice for our mailman~

The way many babies are wheeled through the Market~

A typical bus~even the non-sightseeing buses are often double-deckers, but with roofs~

As you might remember, we have a Toyota Previa, an 8 passenger minivan. I often get comments on how large our vehicle is here. And for good reason, the roads are significantly more narrow than American ones. It IS harder to drive a van here.

The "Smart Car" on the other hand seems to be the perfect British car. Awfully smart for small English streets, small English families, and a small number of small parking spots! But with four kids and their friends, not so smart for us.


And here's one of my favorite new finds. This German bike has no peddles. It teaches very small children balance, thus negating the need for training wheels. I see young children pushing themselves all through Cambridge (the market, parks, paths, etc.) when typically they might be in a stroller. I have also seen 3-year olds riding two-wheel bikes because of this! Amazing.

Here is Andrew modeling a friend's bike~