Therefore Give Us Love

Scottish Episcopal Church, Lerwick, Scotland

Full Text

1 Gracious Spirit, Holy Ghost,
taught by you, we covet most,
of your gifts at Pentecost,
holy, heavenly love.

2 Faith that mountains could remove,
tongues of earth or heaven above,
knowledge, all things, empty prove
without heavenly love.

3 Though I as a martyr bleed,
give my goods the poor to feed,
all is vain, if love I need;
therefore give me love.

4 Love is kind, and suffers long,
love is meek, and thinks no wrong,
love than death itself more strong;
therefore give us love.

5 Prophecy will fade away,
melting in the light of day;
love will ever with us stay;
therefore give us love.

6 Faith and hope and love we see
joining hand in hand, agree;
but the greatest of the three,
and the best, is love.

Source: Church Hymnary (4th ed.) #627
Christopher Wordsworth, 1862

Last summer, when this hymn was sung by a small Christian congregation during a Sunday morning service, the sounds echoed in that ancient slate and rock chancel (photo above).  After the service, I photographed the words of this song by Christopher Wordsworth that he composed over 150 years ago, thinking I would track down the music later.  Not only the music, but also the words were found via our amazing internet technology.  A bit of the sound from this hymn, on mp3, can be heard here.  But it cannot compare with my remembered experience of singing it in unison with other believers, in that small cathedral.

Refrigerator Pickles and Last Year at this Time

Using Gumbo Lily's recipe for refrigerator pickles, this batch was made prior to driving up on the Mesa for fishing yesterday. The Left Handed Housewife told us that she had made a batch, and Gumbo Lily's picture looked so aesthetically appealing that a copy cat version had to be tried. Green beans, carrots, cucumbers, garlic, onions and red and green peppers were cut up are now ready for consumption since those 24 hours of pickling time have passed.

The fishing report for areas around Grand Junction, Colorado on July 15, 2014, courtesy of Sportsman's Warehouse:

We went to the Mesa Lakes area, about an hour away and 11,000 feet in elevation, where Gene and I caught six rainbow trout.  Fun was had, weather was perfect, the old green camp chair was comfortable, the aspen trees were in their full summer greens. And fish were jumpin'.  The two largest trout were grilled last night for dinner, and the remaining four will be used Monday in trout cakes.

Today's recipe agenda is calling me to make Ina Gardner's gazpacho.  You won't recall, but I do well remember posting this excursion into healthy eating here. Apparently, we were big into apricots three years ago as well, looking back at that post.

Mid July flowers growing, front and back of the house:

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(coreopsis)

Last year at this time of summer I was on one of the Shetland islands when the daylight lasted for about nineteen hours and the produce was at its height. What an experience!

Mary Janes for Baby, Shortbread

Knitting:

Annie at Knitsofacto, knitter extraordinaire, published a complimentary pattern for baby Mary Jane booties found here (not for sale).  They were so cute that it spurred me on to knit some.

Only one completed thus far.  Linking up with Small Things

and also linking with Tami at Works in Progress Wednesday.

Painting:

Almost finished with this for sale at the Palisade Art Lover's Show in April:

Oils, 11" x 14"

Cooking/Baking:

Here is an old favorite recipe from Natalie that I'll be making soon, adding culinary lavender for spring flavor:

Scottish Shortbread Cookies

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour, unsifted

3 Tbsp. cornstarch

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, cut in chunks

(lavender, chopped finely, about 2 Tbsp, optional)

With your hands, work mixture until it is very crumbly and no large particles remain,; then press mixture into a firm lump with your hands.  Place dough (it is crumbly) in an 8 or 9 inch layer cake pan with removable bottom and press out firmly, evenly.  Impress edge of the dough with the tines of a fork and prick surface evenly.  Bake at 325 degrees for about 40 minutes or until a pale golden brown.  Remove from oven and while warm, cut with a sharp knife into wedges and sprinkle with about 1 Tbsp. sugar.  Let cool, then remove pan rim and transfer cookies to a serving tray or airtight container.  Keep at room temperature as long as a week; freeze for longer storage.  Makes 8 to 12 cookies.

The picture above is of two ladies knitting at the Shetland Scalloway Museum.  I took it last summer while at the coffee shop museum.  They meet weekly and knit, chat and share SCOTCH SHORTBREAD (note the plastic container between them that holds their treats).  I just loved that they brought their own cookies to the museum while they worked and chatted with me. Their brogues were very thick, and I had to ask them to repeat their words several times.  And yes, they did give me permission to take their picture for blogging purposes. These two ladies were amazed that there picture appeared immediately on the iPad!  Neither had seen an iPad before.

Read this Month and maybe back into February:

Hidden, by Catherine McKenzie (excellent!)

Best Kept Secret, by Jeffrey Archer (The Clifton Chronicles) a keeper

The Way of Perfection by Saint Teresa of Avila (written in the 1500's, and I just could not understand most of what she had to say about Purgatory, but I was determined to read it for the Lenten Season.)  Read it only if you dare.

A Beautiful Blue Death by Charles Finch (loved this 2008 Agatha Award Nominee Book; Inspector Exeter of Scotland Yard at the turn of the century kept me interested; will be reading more by Charles Finch)

A Time to Kill (only 20% through this), by John Grisham.  Lots of courtroom drama

Sycamore Row by John Grisham (the husband said to read A Time To Kill if I liked this one, which I did)

What are you up to?