May 1

A Perfect Spring Day

A little Madness in the Spring
is wholesome even for the King.
Emily Dickinson

Well, today was a day to celebrate glorious spring - kings and peasants alike! Splendidly sunny and warm it was!
This cheerful Leopard's Bane - Lion's Mane would be a cooler name for this bright clump of yellow flowers in its luxurious green foliage - brightens the drab wall behind it with its vibrant hues!

Bleeding Heart
I love watching this perennial develop as it grows quickly once the warm weather sets in producing those lovely arching branches of bleeding hearts. The first picture is of a grouping that just sprang up without any help from me...just happened to appear along the bleak wall last year and this spring has come up quite prolifically. the energy of a seed is amazing and fascinating to contemplate. Was it the wind...the rain...the robin that dropped the tiny seed on the receptive soil last year sometime? I don't know if this plant is a wild kind of Bleeding Heart. It could be the Fernleaf Bleeding Heart - but not sure.

Just after lunch Megan and I checked on the sunflower seeds which we'd planted on Wednesday. But I assured her they would need more than two days to begin sprouting! We'll keep looking.

Then to "put the icing on the cake" our friends, Lorna and Lyle, popped over for coffee in the afternoon! What a great way to begin the month of May!

Happy Birthday, Evelyn

Happy Birthday, Evelyn!
Ah yes, these birthdays have a way of piling up on us. How we used to look forward to our birthdays when we were kids. I first got to know Evelyn, or Evie as we always called her when we were kids, in Grade 1 back in our little Prairie home town in southern Manitoba. What fun and good times we had filling our days with simple pleasures. I always remember May 2 as being her birthday. What a blessing to still have friends from Grade 1 days...just as I remember February 27 as Deanna's birthday and November 14 as Gloria's special day. All of these girls are still special and dear to me, although we see each other seldom since now we live far apart. Thanks friends and today we salute you, Evelyn, on your birthday.

Rhubarb Custard Pie

Today we savoured the first of the tender rhubarb from our garden. I'm using this picture from last spring's crop. At that time I posted the picture but didn't include the recipe.

I've altered the original recipe from the MEI Cookbook to suit a gluten intolerant diet. Today I also included the whole eggs in the recipe and omitted the meringue just because I had a late start:

Rhubarb Custard Pie
2 eggs - beaten
2 tblsp milk (I used almond milk)
1 1/2 cups sugar - I could have used a wee bit less
3 heaping tsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3 cups rhubarb - cut in not too small chunks
1 tblsp melted butter

Stir and pour into an unbaked pie shell. Bake at 400o for 40-45 minutes.

Today I baked the filling in a round casserole without a crust - it was a most delicious custard dessert!

Correction on Book Review

Correction to my previous post:

http://www.musicmissionkiev.org/

This address gets to the home page of this mission. You can listen to and download music clips from their beautiful and professional recordings.

Book Review

This lovely hibiscus was one of only a few left on the grounds of the beautiful resort we stayed at a few weeks ago in Mazatlan. Since I like to start my blog with a picture, but want to write about a book I've just read which is impacting my thoughts, I chose the hibiscus unrelated to the story - and yet seemed right.

The Splendor of His Musicby Diane McMurrin (published in 1998 by Winepress Publishing) has captured my imagination and enthusiasm for several reasons. The author tells the story of her husband Roger and herself, both professional musicians, leaving secure positions in a prestigious church in Florida to begin a ministry to the Ukrainian people of Kiev in 1993. Diane shares beautifully through many heart-warming stories of God's providential leading and provision over and over again. Ultimately they devoted themselves completely, their time, talents, resources, heart and soul to the people of Kiev.

From a tiny beginning this dedicated couple worked passionately and over the years have established a remarkable ministry that encompasses the whole person - body, mind and soul. Their vehicle was music, and the gifted Ukrainians so hungry to be nourished with food for the whole person, grabbed the opportunity and the result is amazing.

"The purpose of Music Mission Kiev is to bring the sacred masterpieces of classical music to the country of Ukraine proclaiming the Gospel to and through Ukrainian musicians to the world--and ministering to the emerging Christian community in Ukraine through evangelism, discipleship, and humanitarian outreach to widows and orphans."

Many heart-warming stories are shared encompassing the vicissitudes of life. But the main thrust is always to bring hope to these beleagured people who were blinded by communism for so many years. I take my hat off to the McMurrins who have done so incredibly much to show so many a better way of life, all done with a spirit of humility and the love of Jesus.

Because my parents and their ancestors lived in Ukraine until 1923, because we love good choral music and learned to sing some of it and because we know who the Janzens are who are now heading up this ministry in Kiev on an interim basis, I was eager to read this book.

Check out their site and you can find how a professor at Trinity Western University, not far from where we live, and his family are now in Kiev spelling off the McMurrin's until the end of June. (Listen to the gorgeous music.)
http://www.musicmissionkiev.org/

Mt. Baker

Surprise! As I was at my kitchen sink one day last week I was shocked to see a "tree-faller" up on a neighbor's tree. This tree had been leaning and I secretly had been hoping they would see the need to take it down. Well it happened the other day. This fellow climbed up even further and before I could get the video set on my camera and out on the deck - gerplunk, the top was lopped off. Great as the more open vista is, my amazement and delight was even greater when I saw that this vista now includes part of my most favourite mountain of all, Mt. Baker from our back yard!

(What is the quote about a tree taking a lifetime to grow and only minutes to destroy?)

Bearing Gifts...

But from everlasting to everlasting
the LORD's love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness
with their children's children -

Our children's children blessed me over the past few days coming to visit bearing precious gifts. What love and trust is portrayed in those beautiful eyes as they reverently look up into my face while presenting their gifts - so very precious.*

The Easter bunny, with the help of two sweet little boys, came with this delightful planter.

This vibrant bouquet, which our oldest two grandchildren presented after school recently, cheered my heart and still blooms on.

A delicately embroidered linen handkerchief - Hecho in Mexico - was given to me so lovingly while spending time with the grandchildren there.
*My grandchildren in Mexico came to visit us in Mazatlan while on our two-week vacation there two weeks ago. We are blessed.