Noisy neighbor

This visitor to the hummer feeder sings loudly when he's here. I love the orioles.

May in New York - Bloggers

Bumperstickers

(embiggenable)

Friday cat blogging

Lady eats in her own private dining room - once Tim has abandoned it.

Meanwhile LittleOne watches while Tommie and Tim eat.

Friday shuffle

1. Who Knows Where the Time Goes? - Judy Collins
2. A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square - Stanley Cowell
3. Jessie's Girl - Rick Springfield
4. Autumn Leaves - Roger Williams
5. Eve of Destruction - Barry McGuire
6. He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother - The Hollies
7. Cloud Nine - Temptations
8. PDQ Bach: The Sanka Cantata
9. California Girls - Beach Boys
10. Schubert: Mass in G, Credo - Shaw/Atlanta

Pay it Forward Day

is today. Do something for someone else...

Prayers, please - updated

Please keep Eileen (Eak) in your prayers today. She will undergo surgery to remove her thyroid and the cancer around it sometime after noon EDT. The major concern is whether the cancer has spread. Her support team is in place, thank Godde.

Hi, everyone,

Eileen asked me to update you on her surgery today. At 2 o'clock this afternoon, her surgeon reported that the surgery "went perfectly." The full pathology report will be available on Thursday, but his report today was very positive.

Eileen will spend the night in the hospital, and is expected to be discharged tomorrow morning. She plans to lay low for a few days, and will be in touch when she's feeling a little more like herself.

So, according to all reports, all is well. Thank you for thinking about her and praying for her ... it worked.

15,000 views

Many thanks to the person who became the 15,000 visitor to this blog! Nice to know you used Firefox on an Intel Mac!

More Friday cat blogging

Yes, Tim is a fat cat.

This is Lady, the swimming cat.

Dudie enjoys watching.

Friday cat blogging

This just in but, sorry, no new photos. The new cat whom I've named Lady - the bottom one here - swims. The neighbors saw her jump into the lake and swim to some unknown target. Later she sat on the picnic table next door where she seems to live and licked herself dry. She is a feisty, noisy, demanding female wary but unafraid of the rest of the clan. We're all wondering where she came from as she seems to be well fed and healthy and used to people.

Once again the ABC talks about TEC

If ABC Rowan Williams thinks he is seeing clearly the future of the Anglican Communion, he may need new glasses.

I find it symbolic that the "Anglicans" in the Southern Hemisphere plus schismatics from the North are meeting between Easter and Pentecost. That way they minimize the possibility of the as-yet-not-present Holy Spirit influencing their opinions.

Lots of interesting comments on various blogs and Facebook have provided insight on the attempts to "wrest control" of the Anglican Communion from the heretics in the US and Canada. -They worship the institution rather than God. -He supports the quantity of Christians to the quality of Christians. -The bishops believe they should be the final word and have no need for input from the laity. -They want a magisterium without Rome.

The ELCA Lutherans and TEC Episcopalians have decided that Godde loves all Godde's creation and we should not stand in the way of anyone's call to ministry because of sexual preference. The possibility of merging is probably a pipe dream since most Lutherans seem to believe Anglicans have no theology at all. Nevertheless why can't we form a worldwide communion of Christians who may differ in theology but recognize each other as intelligent, sincere followers of Jesus? Porvoo? The concept that our Godde is a loving god who includes rather than one that excludes on manmade prejudice is probably foreign and needed in much of the world.

Spotted on a bumper in Juneau, AK

HT to Andrew Sullivan

Friday cat blogging

And finally, Tommie. He has some sort of critters that are causing bare spots. I managed to get some stuff on him tonight to try to get rid of them. So now you've seen all my cat clan. There are other critters who eat here but the crows won't let me take photos and the others are night people.

Friday shuffle

1. Game of Love - Wayne Fontana & Mindbenders
2. It's a Happening Thing - Peanut Butter Conspiracy
3. Mr. Tambourine Man - Byrds
4. You Baby- Turtles
5. Elgar: O Wild West Wind! - Finzi Singers
6. Softly as a Morning Sunrise - Emily Remler
7. White Rabbit - Jefferson Airplane
8. Lousiana - Jan Garber
9. You Tried to Ruin My Name - Wilma Lee Cooper
10. I Got You Babe - Sonny & Cher

I'm surprised so little classical music came up this time and equally surprised to find YouTube videos for Emily Remler and Jan Garber. There are lots of Wilma Lee Cooper but none of that song.

Spring 2010

The neighbor's yard is covered with tiny blue flowers.

Meanwhile the first violets of 2010 appeared in the driveway.

But the oak tree is still reluctant to give up last year's leaves.

Photos are embigginable.

Friday cat blogging on Thursday

Friday cat blogging on Wednesday

Friday cat blogging on Tuesday

The collapsing white male power structure

The Anglican Communion is splintering - if voluntary association can yield splinters - thanks to white males who believe they and only they have all right knowledge about Godde and the Bible. Yes, I know the Africans are not white but they are financed by wealthy American white males.

The Roman Catholic Church is headed by white males who seem convinced of their infallibility and determined to convince their flock that they had nothing to do with the men who abused others despite damning evidence to the contrary.

The majority of the people saying untrue and nasty things about the Obama administration and refusing to do anything for their constituents seem to be white males who once upon a time held power and will do and say anything to regain it. Even the teabaggers, bless their naive, uneducated souls, seem to be populated by older white males.

White males are losing the control they once had of the US and Europe and many Christian denominations. Their desperate attempts to maintain control are destroying the US, the Roman Catholic Church and other organizations once their exclusive playgrounds.

How can we encourage them to grow, convince them they are still important to society, let them know they are loved while tempering their testosterone driven fear/mistrust/hatred of women, LGBTs, non-whites?

Friday cat blogging on Saturday

Friday shuffle

1. How Great Thou Art - Susan Boyle
2. Elgar: Oh Happy Eyes - Finzi Singers
3. Clarke: Trumpet Voluntary
4. Mozart: Ave Verum Corpus - Westminster Choir
5. Sooner or Later - Grass Roots
6. The Way We Get By - Spoon
7. I'll Be There - Jackson 5
8. Blowin' In The Wind - Peter, Paul & Mary
9. New Faces in the Field - IIIrd Time Out
10. Lamb and Lion - Christine Lavin

Party planning

On Sunday, 9 May 2010 at 4pm at All Saint's Church in Princeton, NJ, friends of Lois Laverty will honor the occasion of her 80th birthday. Lois was responsible for my attending Westminster Choir College. I plan to attend the concert.

While I'm in New Jersey, blogger friends and others are planning a gathering in New York City. More information is available on Facebook and here.

Always ready... breaking...

He has now announced...
HT to Susan Russell

World's cutest grandnephew and grandniece plus

Friday cat blogging

This is the new cat. She looks almost exactly like LittleOne. Her face isn't quite as fine and her tail isn't quite as long or as pointed. She was impatiently demanding to be fed this morning.

Friday shuffle

1. Satie: Gymnopédies, 3. Lent Et Grave - Riri Shimada
2. Schubert: Mass in Eb, Sanctus - Shaw/Atlanta
3. Love Shine Down - Dusty Springfield
4. Two Lovers - Mary Wells
5. Theme from "A Summer Place" - Percy Faith
6. Love Will Keep Us Together - Captain & Tennille
7. Born to be Wild - Steppenwolf
8. Mendelssohn: Italian Symphony, Saltarello: Presto - Scholz/London Symphony
9. The Wild West Is Where I Want to Be - Tom Lehrer
10. Dream Lover - Bobby Darin

Neighborhood sights

It is always good to see colts foot in the spring.

A new photo of Christ Church.

And a fairly common local sight. The young dutchman was parked here for quite awhile and was smoking a cigarette. There were some women down by the lake. No idea if they were connected. There were two other buggies elsewhere in our end of the park.

Vote!

Voting is open for the best peep creation in the Washington Post's annual contest. Please go here to view the entries. Then click on Peeple's Choice and vote for Easter at the National Peep-Thedral. It is #16.

Walk Naked in America Day

Email received this morning:

WALK NAKED IN AMERICA DAY
As you may already know, it is a sin for a Muslim male to see any woman other than his wife naked and if he does, he must commit suicide. So next Saturday at 1 PM, all American women are asked to walk out of their house completely naked to help weed out any neighborhood terrorists. Circling your block for one hour is recommended for this anti-terrorist effort. All patriotic men are to position themselves in lawn chairs in front of their houses to demonstrate their support for the women and to prove that they are not Muslim terrorist sympathizers. Since Islam also does not approve of alcohol, a cold 6-pack at your side is further proof of your patriotism. The American government appreciates your efforts to root out terrorists and applauds your participation in this anti-terrorist activity. God bless America!

If I did that, my innocent neighbors would die laughing.

Sunday afternoon

And Bach's Saint Matthew Passion on TV. What better could one ask for on a Sunday afternoon?

Palm Sunday preparations

For most of the US, Palm Sunday 2010 services are now concluded. So much organizing to do! Altar Guild, ushers, choirs, clergy, congregations all have special duties. If you are feeling put upon by all the fussing, take a look at what Padre Mickey and Mona do in preparation for Palm Sunday.

First he and men of the parish go palm hunting - here.

Then the parish gets together to prepare the palms - here.

Eventually he will publish photos of the service here.

If the Altar Guild makes a peep about all the work next year remind them about what it takes to do Palm Sunday in Panama.

Sign on Hartstown bar

Friday cat blogging on Sunday

The head of the household kept a wary eye on the lobsters who had supper there Saturday night.

Creative protest

Earth Hour

Earth Hour has come for people who have already seen the sun set today. I plan to turn off everything for an hour at 8:30 pm. IF I remember.

Father Christian Troll has an interesting aspect here.

Update: I remembered

Friday shuffle

1. Up on Cripple Creek - The Band
2. 26 Miles - The Four Preps
3. The Way We Get By - Spoon
4. Cry - Johnnie Ray
5. Oj Mischpoche - Jowel Klezmorim
6. Manz: God of Grace - Roger Nyquist
7. Till You Love Me - Reba McEntire
8. Heart of Glass - Blondie
9. Fissinger: Lux Aeterna - Cathedral Choral Society
10. Verdi: Quattro Pezzi Sacri: Ave Maria - Westminster Choir

Who needs big government?

HT to Dan Sloan and Jan Nunley on Facebook

Teabaggers Untie

HT to Grandmère Mimi.

The oldest crocus

When I bought my house, there was a, well, shack next door which I eventually bought and demolished. The people who owned it had planted various flowers here and there but most were destroyed when the place was torn down. Several croci remained and bloomed faithfully every spring. When the barn was built and the yard bulldozed, I assumed the old bulbs were gone. After all they had been around for more than 40 years. Last spring I was very happy when the two purple flowers appeared. Meanwhile I had the area scraped for large rocks and debris last fall and assumed that would do the bulbs in. Obviously it didn't and I'm very happy! The other one is 10 feet or so from this. I have planted snow croci but never the large ones so I have reason to believe that these are offspring of the original ones if not that old themselves. They are not the sort that birds and animals propagate.

The poinsettias are late

This is not the old huge 40+ year old poinsettia but it is in the same pot. It is one given to Mom and brought home after her death. It has always been straggly probably because it was behind the big one for a couple of years. I need to give it some attention. The old plant hasn't put out any red bracts this year so far.

Yes!