Doing a bit of "My Garden.."

Emma asked me to make a flower picture for a friend's wedding the other day. I haven't been doing much these days, frustrated with the fading of the greenery... ah well. I keep trying to think of ways to preserve them. Anyway, it was fun. I've a few ideas in the works for artsy things, including these... so we'll see what happens.

Tomatoes

Dip in boiling water until skin cracks. Dip in ice water. Slip from skins and fill jars to 1/4 inch from top. Add 1 tea. salt and 2 tea. lemon juice. Seal and process 60 min. 14 heavenly quarts so far ready for spaghetti, tortellini soup, vegetable beef stew and... oh my goodness!!

A few scribblings in church today...

As I listen in church I tend to doodle. I scribble down phrases and comments that catch my heart and mind as well, and doodle a bit in between. Helps me listen better somehow.
Today I wrote down 2 things said that I especially enjoyed.

One was a comment about President Monson...

"I don't like his style as much as President Hinckley," said one brother, "but I know he is every bit as much a prophet."
Exactly! I have felt that way as well, but never knew how to say it! It doesn't show a lack of respect or witness of his divine calling, but it does reveal a bit about my personality. President Monson is a bit more formal than President Hinckley was, and his humor, though clever just doesn't usually match mine. President Hinckley on the other hand spoke to my heart in so many ways. But as this brother said, I too have no doubt that President Monson is a prophet. I love him and will follow his counsel, knowing it comes from God.
Later in another meeting, I heard the comment - "Where is the gold we can save?" and a reference to the lovely poet Robert Frost...here it is...

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

Lovely! Nothing of this earth is truly lasting... especially not the gold that men would hold and save and hoard and even kill for.
What gold can we save?
REAL gold, that is the love we develop through service and sacrifice for family and friends and all we come to know here on earth, and the testimony we gain as we study and follow and strive to emulate our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Fifteen!

Lel dans la belle ville de Toulouse

(Translation - Lel in the beautiful city of Toulouse)
Heard from my Lel today! She even looks French somehow, doesn't she?! Here she is with her German friend Hannah, another aupair on holiday before heading home. She and Lel really hit it off, and now she is on her way home. It appears Lel will soon be changing families which is a good thing actually and moving to another home in Paris. More to come... until then, enjoy these photos.

Hanna's family with Leslie


These are of a lovely chapel in Toulouse.