Usagi, Japanese rabbits...

Isn't their simplicity of form striking?

I've been compiling a list of the things I'll need to set up house, and my current preoccupation is dishware. Thus I'm taking stock so that I know exactly what I need when I browse the thrift store shelves.

glasses: 12

tumblers: 4

teacups with saucers: 5

teacups sans saucers: 3

saucers/dessert plates: millions

canisters: 5 big + 12 little

platters: 1

salad plates: 11

bowls: 15

little bowls: 10

mixing bowls: 2

pitchers: 2

The dotted hexagonal plates are representative of the simple everyday pattern I'm collecting, a satisfying fusion of the simple, the farm-y, and the modern. I've picked up eight salad plates and five saucers in this pattern thus far and hope to find dinner plates eventually. Besides these, however, I'll continue to hunt out serving pieces such as casserole dishes, more platters (really trying to find a tiered ceramic piece!), and large mixing bowls. But things are looking pretty good so far.

Word File

Nugatory: inconsequential, worthless, ineffectual.

example: It's never wise to force carrots and beans upon your child, she insisted, for why risk an evening-long stare down for such a nugatory nutritional gain?

I hope this becomes a reality soon! One of my biggest laments about this area is our paucity of bike lanes (we have one lane, but as it is flanked on one side by a ditch-framed two-lane busy road with a drawbridge and on the other by a busy commercial area with no lanes, it's useless; thankfully, Virginians are allowed to ride on sidewalks) so being able to make your own is an intriguing idea.

Epicene: displaying both feminine and masculine characteristics; unsuitably feminine.

example: Yes, there's a reason we call him Princess Reg, for our epicene canine simply adores ribbon and furbelow, and whenever we walk by his crate we often spy pretty polyester tendrils trailing out his bedecked door.

Galvanic: producing an effect like that of electricity

example: It was hell in the later weeks as spirit-numbing weariness set in and men, who once commanded troops and fleets, now inwardly crumpled behind withered stares; more than once I saw a comrade fall and even their galvanic vituperations would fail to rouse him.

Every so often my family bakes and decorates gingerbread houses at Christmastime. Actually, the last time we undertook such a project was over five years ago when we constructed a gingerbread nativity complete with manger, animals, and the holy family. If I remember correctly, the Baby Jesus even had royal-icing swaddling clothes. My memory is sketchy, however, because I didn't get to see the creche for long as Mr. Reg ate the entire scene the very night we made it. We woke up to nothing but one half-gnawed wall and a very sick dog.

But we got back on that gingerbread horse this year in order to create a gingerbread village, composed of four houses and a church. It's always interesting to see how each person can use the same ingredients to create such different looks--Kathryn made a homey log-cabin with red garland and jolly-rancher stained glass; Kristen snipped fruit leather into shingles and pasted a big M above her door; Mom used snow-encrusted haybales as her roof and set a sparkly window on the front; Dad outfitted his house with tile floor and actually inset a windowpane pretzel into the side of his house; I constructed a church with thatched roof, sheep, and pews. And Reggie? I'd like to think he's developed the self control to resist such a temptation, but just in case, we guarded him carefully each night. The village lasted into the New Year.

new fiction from the library:

• A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. le Guin
• Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis
• Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

it seems I am developing an affinity for fantasy or even--science fiction. Loving realistic literature, especially the hard concrete reality of Southern fiction, I've stayed away from the overly imaginary but I'm eager to give it a try now.

what I'm reading...

from Northanger Abbey

"'And what are you reading, Miss---?' 'Oh! it is only a novel!' replies the young lady; while she lays down her book with affected indifference, or momentary shame. 'It is only Cecilia, or Camille, or Belinda'; or, in short, only some work in which the greatest powers of the mind are displayed, in which the most thorough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties, the liveliest effusions of wit and humour, are conveyed to the world in the best chosen language" (ch. 5).

Jane Austen is wonderfully cheeky in this novel.

Defenestration: the act of throwing something or someone out the window.

example: The scrambled GPS once again commanded the driver to turn right where only left turns existed and her huffy "Recalculating" so nearly precipitated her defenestration that I felt compelled to intervene and shut her off.

This is my Reggie.

(collage courtesy of Miss Kath)

My mental life has gotten hectic with these grad school applications, so posting to this blog has taken a backseat. But here are a few posts to watch for, nonetheless:

1. more on Mr. Reg's bedside manner (he got his new bed at Christmas)
2. the Moore family's gingerbread village
   
3. workout reviews. Exercising has become one of my priorities as it's a tangible activity with tangible results--much needed as I deal with the nebulous school and job apps.
4. what I'm reading posts--just recently finished Jim and Sybil Stockdale's In Love and War and have gleaned some humorous passages from Austen's Northanger Abbey I need to share
5. wwoof posts--onto Hazel's Cottage at last!

Well, back now from the holiday hiatus--and I hope your holidays were restful and meaningful. This year will bring some big changes, certainly.

I was reading 1 Samuel this morning and came across an amazing passage in chapter 30, occurring just after David and his men were sent away from the Philistine army because they were Hebrews, despite having served without fault the whole preceding year. They must have returned to their allotted land with heavy spirits, only to find this:

When David and his men came to Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. 4 So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. 5 David's two wives had been captured—Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 6 David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters.

Not only had David been dismissed from his post, his family and those of his men taken captive, and his town destroyed, but also his own men had turned against him. All he had was taken from him.

But David found strength in the LORD his God.

Amazing?