Hello, friends! Hope you are having a good week. This has not been a busy week for me, but that being said you know I have been sleeping a lot during the day. I just can't stay awake during the day. Especially when I wake up around 2:30 a.m. each morning. (Sometimes 3:00 a.m. and one day as late as 4:00 a.m.) Monday was a windy day for us. I cleaned up my yard over and over. I finally gave up. Thank goodness we have a fence so things didn't end up in the neighbor's yard. But there were trash cans, lids, and garden furniture all over the place. Joe, Rick and I went to the nursing home Monday also. The residents there are so sweet and so appreciative of all that you do for them. Rick led the singing and read the scripture and Joe preached the message. It was on the Rich Young Ruler from Luke 18. Three men asked Joe for a Bible. He had one and will have to order the other two for them. Tuesday I got a new picture of Hadley. Can you believe she's 18 months old already? Her mom says she is the Cheetos monster. What do you think?
Yesterday I worked on the house. There's so much to do around here. I have no idea how it got so messy. Then in the evening we went to Bible Study. We finally got through 2 Samuel 18. It's been several weeks we've been trying to do this chapter. First Joe was sick. Then the streets were icy and we called it off. Then Joe was sick again. So now it's on to chapter 19 next week. Also yesterday I worked on the lessons for my Ladies Bible Study which is starting up for the 2019 season next week. That means the winter is almost over and spring is on the way. I always start the study around the beginning of Lent and end it at the beginning of Advent. I love teaching the study but it sure helps to have a break for several months. Today is going to be a busy day. We need to take the car to the garage early this morning. It has been recalled and we have to get the new part put on. Then I am taking Joe to get a haircut and we are going to go out for lunch. I still want to bake today too. Let's see what I can get done. And with that I have to get going, take my meds and get something to eat before I take off. Hope you all have a good day. Kathy
CALL THE MIDWIFE: A MEMOIR OF BIRTH, JOY, AND HARD TIMES by Jennifer Worth
I'm sure most of you are familiar with the PBS television show "Call the Midwife." But before it was a show, it was a book. A very good book. This is the first of a trilogy of books by Jennifer Worth describing her work as a district nurse and midwife in the East End of London during the 1950s. She wrote this book after retiring from a career as a musician which she began after she left nursing. It was originally published in July 2002. It was reissued in 2007 along with the other two volumes of this series and became a best seller. By the time of Jennifer Worth's death in June 2011 it had sold over a million copies. In 2012 the BBC made an adaptation of the books and this boosted their sales even further. The book is set in Poplar, a neighborhood in the East End of London, where Jenny Lee (Worth's maiden name) works as a nurse and midwife attached to an Anglican convent. The story is split between chapters describing birthing mothers and their sometimes traumatic experiences and more light-hearted incidents back at the convent. The names of the convent and of the characters are all pseudonyms except for Cynthia who remained her close friend for the rest of their lives. (Credit to Wikipedia for all this great information.) I bought this book for my Kindle at least 2 years ago. Maybe more. I loved the show and was always going to read it someday. Well, I read it. I read it in four days. I couldn't stop reading it. The stories are so close to the show. I am currently watching season one of the show on Netflix and at one point I was almost able to read along because the dialog was word for word what was said in the book. This was one of the best books I have ever had the delight to read. Why did it take me so long to read it? I am waiting until I get paid so I can purchase volumes 2 and 3. I highly recommend this book. But be aware that there are definitely parts that if you have a weak stomach for blood and medical procedures this is not the book for you.
Hello, friends! Happy Sunday. Today's opening hymn is one of my favorites: Praise Him, Praise Him, Jesus Our Blessed Redeemer! It's a happy piece and I can't help but smile as I sing it. It was written by one of my favorite hymnwriters -- Fanny Crosby. Let me tell you what I found out about her on hymnary.org. Frances Jane Crosby was born in Southeast, Putnam County, NY on March 24, 1820 to John and Mercy Crosby. She became blind at the age of six weeks from mistreatment of her eyes during an illness. When she was eight years old, she moved with her parents to Ridgefield, CT. When she was 15 years old, she entered the NY Institution for the Blind where she received a good education. She became a teacher there in 1847 and stayed until March 1, 1858. She taught English grammar, rhetoric and American history. This was a great period of development in her life. During vacations in 1852 and 1853 that she spend in North Reading, MA, she wrote the lyrics to many songs for Dr. George F. Root, the music teacher at the blind institution. The article goes on to list a great many songs including two cantatas that I have never heard of. It says that although the songs were popular, people did not know that she wrote them. Fanny Crosby met Presidents Van Buren and Tyler, Hon. Henry Clay, and other famous men from American history while she was a teacher at the blind institution. She was also the first woman to ever speak in front of the Senate in Washington, DC. She read a poem to them. In all Ms. Crosby wrote over 8,000 poems many of which have been set to music. Although she was famous for her poetry, it is for her hymns and Sunday School songs that she is remembered. She was married on March 5, 1858 to Alexander Van Alstyne who was also a teacher at the blind institution. She began to write Sunday School songs for William B. Bradbury in 1864. This became a way for her to support herself. She lived in New York City for most of her life and became employed by Bigelow and Main Company where she composed over 4,000 hymns. She had a knack of being able to compose at will without special inspiration and her most popular hymns seem to have been composed at the spur of the moment. She learned to play both the guitar and the piano at the institution and had a clear soprano voice. Ms. Crosby always claimed that if God had not allowed her to be blind, she would not have had the good education and opportunities which she had. Instead of seeing her blindness as an affliction, she viewed it as a great blessing. After finding so much information on Fanny Crosby, I could find so little on the composer of the tune, Chester G. Allen. He was born in Westford, NY on February 15, 1838 and died in Cooperstown, NY on October 18, 1878. He was a teacher and composer. He taught music in the Cleveland, OH public schools and was a long time editor of the New York Musical Gazette. He also edited and compiled collections of music for schools and churches containing many of his own compositions. And here is the hymn for you to hear. I hope it puts a smile on your face as it does mine.
