January Poetry

The Lord is my shepherd 

The Lord is my shepherd; 

I shall not want. 

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:

 he leadeth me beside the still waters. 

He restoreth my soul: 

he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 

I will fear no evil: 

for thou art with me; 

thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: 

thou anointest my head with oil; 

my cup runneth over. 

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: 

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. 

The King James Bible, 1611 

Psalm 23

Goals for Next Week

Sunday: JMM's birthday at House of Pies with DD & DSIL

Monday: Call to make an appointment for interior house painting estimate  

Tuesday: Walmart-sheets and pillows

Wednesday: Cut out new quilt

Thursday: Start piecing new quilt

Friday: Birding trip to either Galveston or Rockport



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Insects from the Lower Rio Grande Valley

January Around OakMeadows

Around OakMeadows

Winter has finally arrived here on the Texas Gulf Coast. Lows about 35-40 and highs around 55. The lovely thing is that we have had sunshine and low humidity.  Just near perfect! 

I had my follow-up visit with the surgeon and all is well. My hernia was repaired using a laparoscopic robot. It took me about two weeks to fully recuperate. I'm glad to have it over. 

We went to see The Big Short and it was excellent. I was worried that JMM and TSMR wouldn't find it as interesting as I would but they really enjoyed it too.  It is about how the Wall Street bankers nearly brought down the economy which led to the financial meltdown in 2008. 

I finished two really good books last week. Wildwood: A Journey through Trees by Roger Deakins. The best parts were his travels through Australia and then through Kyrgyzstan.  The second book was Nagasaki: Life after Nuclear War which followed the lives of 5 men and women who survived the atomic bomb in Nagasaki. It was horrible/fascinating/interesting. 

We are overrun by goldfinches these days.  There are about 50 in the ravenous flock that keeps me busy filling feeders.  We also have a pair of noisy bluejays who seem to think that all the peanuts are theirs.  Cardinals and sparrows. We still have one hummingbird who is evidently going to stay here for the winter.  We still have some salvia and a bottlebrush bush blooming in a protected southern corner and of course I keep the feeder filled for him. 

I am trying my best to get the binding on the baby quilt because I have the fabric and pattern all ready for the next quilt.  I won't let myself touch the next quilt until this one is finished.  

Well, that's about all the news from OakMeadows where the cats sleep on their own electric blanket and the people do too. 

January Cooking -- Pan Roasted Chicken with Mushrooms, Onions, and Rosemary

Pan Roasted Chicken with Mushrooms, Onions, and Rosemary

Ingredients:
8-10 chicken thighs with bone in, skinless
salt/pepper to season chicken
2 tsp. olive oil (more or less, depending on your pan)
1 red onion, cut into sliver
8-12 oz. sliced mushrooms
1 tsp. dried rosemary, ground in a mortar and pestle or 10 fresh rosemary springs

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Trim chicken thighs very well, removing as much of the fat as you can, including the pocket of hidden fat on the back side of each thigh.  Season thighs well on both sides with salt and pepper. 

Heat large frying pan, add a little olive oil, and brown chicken very well on both sides. Don't rush this step, about 10 minutes.

Remove chicken from frying pan and place in glass casserole dish. Pour out most of the fat from the pan if it seems like a lot, then put onions in and saute 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and saute about 5 minutes more. Mix in ground or fresh rosemary.

Put partly-cooked mushrooms and onions over chicken pieces. Roast 35-45 minutes, until chicken and veggies are done and your house is smelling delightfully of rosemary. Serve hot, with any juice from the dish spooned over the chicken.

January Meditation

Persons appear to us according to the light we throw upon them from our own minds.

Laura Ingalls Wilder

January Poetry

The Peace of Wild Things 

When despair for the world grows in me 

and I wake in the night at the least sound 

in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be, 

I go and lie down 

where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, 

and the great heron feeds.

 I come into the peace of wild things 

who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. 

I come into the presence of still water. 

And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light.

 For a time I rest in the grace of the world, 

and am free. 

Wendell Berry, 1968