Sunday's Psalm--Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Blessed the poor in spirit; the kingdom of heaven is theirs!

 The LORD keeps faith forever,

secures justice for the oppressed,

gives food to the hungry.

The LORD sets captives free.

 Blessed the poor in spirit; the kingdom of heaven is theirs!

 

The LORD gives sight to the blind;

the LORD raises up those who were bowed down.

The LORD loves the just;

the LORD protects strangers.

Blessed the poor in spirit; the kingdom of heaven is theirs!

The fatherless and the widow the LORD sustains,

but the way of the wicked he thwarts.

The LORD shall reign forever;

your God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia.

Blessed the poor in spirit; the kingdom of heaven is theirs!

from Psalm 146, response from Matthew 5:3

Photos:

Grand Canyon; Glacier Lily; Bridalveil Falls at Yousemite

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A growing group of bloggers have also begun to post an illustrated psalm or verse each weekend. You can find the others linked at Athens Daily. Thank you, ρομπερτ, for providing support for this endeavor.

It is soooooooo COLD and gray right now....

I want to go back to the mountains.

SkyWatch

If it were a SkyWatch picture from today it would just look gray and COLD!

Working humor

Nothing much out of the ordinary about this shot that admittedly I snapped while following this work van from an electrical company in our area. Distracted driving? Well, I was already distracted.

 I tried to catch him at the next light, but had to settle for zooming this one in so you could see what it says on the back.

Funny signs are fair game for Odd Shots. Join us coming up each Monday starting February 7.

ABC Wednesday--B

 I guess I am establishing a pattern (no pun intended) of finding and posting a "sketch" of a quilt block for the letter of the week, and not getting the block made till the following week. Hopefully I will get caught up.

Today's sketches for the letter B:

Block

 Island

 Puzzle

The block was originally published in Quilter's Newsletter Magazine sometime in the 70s. Where Block Island might be, or what else it references, I do not know.

This one is a
Blazing
Star.

It is one of fourteen blocks known by that name. The naming of quilt blocks is influenced by time and region. A block know by one name in one state in the late 1880s, might be called something else in another area in the 1930s.

This version of the Blazing Star was published in 1966 by Dolores Hinson in Quilter's Manual in the 60s.

Last week I posted a sketch of Anna's Block which I decided could as easily be called Anna's Star. Here is my block. I thought it would be easy. It wasn't difficult, but it did take some concentration, as I sewed some parts together pretty strangely trying to find a shortcut way of assembly.

ABC Wednesday Round 8 is at home here. Thanks Denise and all who help her keep it going and all those who participate.

Odd Shots will return on February 7

This thirsty little nun on my desk marked the beginning of Odd Shots on Monday three years ago, and the announcement of its one year hiatus last February.


Here she is again to announce that Odd Shots on Monday will return the first Monday of February, its anniversary. So keep your camera handy and start keeping an eye out for those odd angles, unusual occurences, and things that are just plain strange to look at. Post them on Mondays and link to the Linky that I will set up here.


So, what constitutes an Odd Shot? I'll give you some samples from my two years of weekly odd postings.

An odd shot could be something very ordinary taken at an odd angle that makes it a really cool picture.

It could be an odd combination of things that make you laugh.

It could be an unusual occurrence or sight.

 It could be any photo that defies categories or themes for other memes.

There may be other definitions, so this rule is open ended.

Okay, now that we have an idea about what makes an Odd Shot, here are the rules. 

1. I will post my favorite odd shot for the week sometime in the late afternoon of Sunday each week--approximately 3 p.m. Pacific Time. I will include one of the Linky services, which I will close at 3 p.m. Pacific Time on Tuesday.

2. Post only one odd shot each week.  It must be from your collection of photos you have taken, and can be from your past files or something new. It can be edited by cropping or correcting the brightness, but no fancy stuff, please.

The purpose of the rule is to make the shot a truly ODD one. For some purposes a post with a string of photos to tell a story is what works best. (I've done those kinds of posts, we all have.) But an odd shot is not a photo essay or photo story. It is something visual that is out of the ordinary.

Bend the one shot rule if necessary to clarify the shot. Limit additonal pictures to one or two that explain the Odd Shot. Bend the rule, but don't shatter it with a string of unrelated shots. If you have a wonderful story with a series of illustrations, mention or link it in your Odd Shot post but post it separately.





3. Here is the old Odd Shots badge created by David McMahon. It is the most recognizable of the ones we used in the two years of Odd Shots. You can copy it if you click on it to go to the image page, and save it to your computer to use in your post, or just use the html link to the image here:


<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg59Ig8V1eqyIJKFz2LFPQz1kEJlQcLW8CQWfkP9lqbBnlDYPSChnPFBYbT201Y8iYuyr-mXBWCLTmMz56nh1OOmznV72QLac9NTp-oy8-ATFGeOmQEJAqdrUjonVNDQeMphQ7xbY6Gd8U/s1600-h/odd+shots2.JPG%22%3E%3Cimg alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5187302516590694418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg59Ig8V1eqyIJKFz2LFPQz1kEJlQcLW8CQWfkP9lqbBnlDYPSChnPFBYbT201Y8iYuyr-mXBWCLTmMz56nh1OOmznV72QLac9NTp-oy8-ATFGeOmQEJAqdrUjonVNDQeMphQ7xbY6Gd8U/s200/odd+shots2.JPG" style="cursor: hand; float: left; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px;" /></a>

So start scouring your files for Odd Shots. Get them ready for the grand reopening of Odd Shots on Monday--Monday February 7.

Rimrock Reflection

As I drove past Rimrock Lake this past week I could not help remembering that a few weeks ago the eastern portion of the lake near the dam was covered in ice seemingly thick enough that you might contemplate hiking out toward the center. Not so on Wednesday when the skim of ice that covered the lake looked thin and left openings for reflections of the foothills beyond.

Many faces has Rimrock Lake! Returning yesterday, there were only a few skims of ice remaining. I have also had the experience of hiking out onto the dry bed of the lake farther toward the western end. Rimrock Lake is an irrigation reservoir and can look quite empty of water in the fall in dry years when water for the crops in the Yakima Valley is scarce. On another occasion we passed and the lake was so still it was a perfect mirror.

James sponsors Weekend Reflectiosn at Newtown Daily Photo.

I have had nostalgic thoughts about Odd Shots Monday which has been on hiatus for about a year. An e-mail over the weekend inspires me to resume hosting the meme. Look through your files for your oddest photos and watch for an announcement of details sometime in the next week or two.

Sunday's Psalm--Third Sunday of Ordinary Time

 The Lord is my light and my salvation.

The LORD is my light and my salvation;

whom should I fear?

The LORD is my life’s refuge;

of whom should I be afraid?

The Lord is my light and my salvation.

One thing I ask of the LORD;

this I seek:

To dwell in the house of the LORD

all the days of my life,

That I may gaze on the loveliness of the LORD

and contemplate his temple.

The Lord is my light and my salvation.


I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD

in the land of the living.

Wait for the LORD with courage;

be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.



The Lord is my light and my salvation.

 
 
 
 
from Psalm 27
 
 
 
 
 
 
Photos:
Toppenish Wildlife Refuge
Lincoln Cathedral
fountain in Seattle

Driver's License Renewal

Hubby got his license renewed while I was gone this week.

The last time, they had him leave his glasses on but he could not smile for the picture. That is logical--if you ahve to produce your license for an officer who stops you, you will probably be wearing your glasses, but you are not likely to be smiling.

The new instructions are to smile, but take off your glasses.

I hope they go to smile with your glasses on by the time I have to do mine again.

ABC Wednesday starts round 8

And I'm almost a day late and a block short.

I'm going back to my quilting to do this round of ABCs, but I don't have the A blocks done so I am jsut posting the design. I will find and make at least one block for each letter. A will be ready later in the week.

This block is known as Annie's Choice. I think I could call it Annie's Star.

A friend suggested that Anvil is a good choice for A, so here is the Anvil--I can see it, can you?

More better stuff next week--and more better stuff through the links at ABC Wednesday.

Sunday's Psalm--Second Sunday of Ordinary Time

Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.

 I have waited, waited for the LORD,

and he stooped toward me and heard my cry.

And he put a new song into my mouth,

a hymn to our God.

Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.

Sacrifice or offering you wished not,

but ears open to obedience you gave me.

Holocausts or sin-offerings you sought not;

then said I, “Behold I come.”

Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.

“In the written scroll it is prescribed for me,



to do your will, O my God, is my delight,



and your law is within my heart!”

Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.

I announced your justice in the vast assembly;

I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know.

Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.

from Psalm 40

Stac Pollaidh, Scottish Highlands
"hmm, decision"--deer--West Side Road, Mt. Rainier
museum sign, Edinburgh
mural at an elementary school, Edinburgh

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Robert at Daily Athens is sponsoring a weekly psalm illustration challenge each Sunday. You might enjoy visiting him and seeing what others are doing to illustrate the psalms.

Snowshoe SkyWatch

January 2 at Mt. Rainier National Park--the Tatoosh Range in the distance.

SkyWatch is here.

This does not show Mt. Rainier. It was taken at Mt. Rainier National Park, but the peaks that you see are part of the Tatoosh Range south of Mt. Rainier. For some views of Mt. Rainier itself, look here, or here, or here.

working--glad it's them not me

 When we stopped in at the post office the other day, we encountered this sign. I don't know that I've ever seen on like it.

 And indeed! There they were, men above making roof repairs before our mail gets inundated.


Although we were able to pick up our mail from the post office box, for a few days service at the counter was closed and package pickup limited to an hour each day at the window. My hubby had to go to the next town to mail off a couple of small packages.



Better them up there than me!

ABC...Z the end of the round

I had to think through what I might use from our trip last summer to conclude with the theme I have used for nearly all of this round. We didn't visist any countries starting with Z such as Zimbabwe or Zaire or New Zealand. We weren't in Italy, so we didn't eat any zabaliogne or zitti. We didn't go on safari or visit a zoo, so we didn't see any zebras or zebus.

But there were some specific zones we visited.




For example, this Central Controlled Zone is around the Scottish Parliament Building. (I'm not sure what is controlled, maybe it is vehicle traffic. It's not girls in shorts.)








Near our hotel in the outskirts of London, the Pedestrian Zone may end, but it still stands. The Construction Zone in the area, however, ought to be ended by now.

I may pull out images from our UK trip for other blog entries in the future, but for this round, this is the zzzzzz, the end. So I will leave the ZZZZZZZs with my husband resting his eyes as we traveled through the Highlands back to Edinburgh after our week of hiking.

ABC Wednesday -- the end of Round Seven.

See you next week as we begin Round Eight.

Sunday's Psalm--Baptism of the Lord

The Lord will bless his people with peace.

Give to the LORD, you sons of God,

give to the LORD glory and praise,

Give to the LORD the glory due his name;

adore the LORD in holy attire.

The Lord will bless his people with peace.

The voice of the LORD is over the waters,

the LORD, over vast waters.

The voice of the LORD is mighty;

the voice of the LORD is majestic.

The Lord will bless his people with peace.

The God of glory thunders,

and in his temple all say, “Glory!”

The LORD is enthroned above the flood;

the LORD is enthroned as king forever.

The Lord will bless his people with peace.

~~~~~

from Psalm 29

peacock tail

geese on Columbia River

Goose Lake State Park, Oregon

Y is for...

Yeomen of the Queen's Bodyguard



Originated in 1485 to guard the new king Henry VII, the yeomen's duties have change in modern times. Still devoted to the monarch, these colorful gents act as guides to the Tower of London, regaling us with its fascinating history and entertaining along the way.


All are veterans of the military services, and experts on their subject matter.

For the history of the Yeoman Warders, Yeoman Archers--other versions of their title--visit their website.


The Tower of London



Reaching the letter Y means we will soon be leaving ABC Wednesday's Round 7. But don't worry, we'll be back for Round 8 immediately following.

Sunday's Psalm--Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord.

 

Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.




 


O God, with your judgment endow the king,

and with your justice, the king’s son;

He shall govern your people with justice

and your afflicted ones with judgment.






 Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.


Justice shall flower in his days,
and profound peace, till the moon be no more.
May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.











Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.

The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts;

the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute.
All kings shall pay him homage,
all nations shall serve him.

Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.

For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out,

and the afflicted when he has no one to help him.

He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor;

the lives of the poor he shall save.





Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.

from Psalm 72

Photos:

Parliament, London

Yosemite, California

Glacier Bay, Alaska

junco