This blog entry is dedicated to "la fille de la mer"...
SEA FEVER
I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sails shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.
I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the seagulls crying.
I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And a quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trip's over.
John Masefield
Thursday 12 July 2007
Wednesday 11 July 2007
Poem by F.R. Havergal
Please read on to the end... it is well worth it. Beautifully expressed, beautiful truths that are a solace to the heart and a balm to the spirit. Enjoy.
COMPENSATION
Oh, the compensating springs! Oh, the balance-wheels of life,
Hidden away in the workings under the seeming strife!
Slowing the fret and the friction, weighting the whirl and the force,
Evolving the truest power from each unconscious source.
How shall we gauge the whole, who can only guess a part?
How can we read the life, when we cannot spell the heart?
How shall we measure another, we who can never know
From the juttings above the surface the depth of the vein below?
Even our present way is known to ourselves alone,
Height and abyss and torrent, flower and thorn and stone;
But we gaze on another's path as a far-off mountain scene,
Scanning the outlined hills, but never the vales between.
How shall we judge their present, we who have never seen
That which is past for ever, and that which might have been?
Measuring by ourselves, unwise indeed are we,
Measuring what we know by what we can hardly see.
Ah! if we knew it all, we should surely understand
That the balance of sorrow and joy is held with an even hand;
That the scale of success or loss shall never overflow,
And that compensation is twined with the lot of high and low.
The easy path in the lowland hath little of grand or new,
But a toilsome ascent leads on to a wide and glorious view;
Peopled and warm is the valley, lonely and chill the height,
But the peak that is nearer the storm-cloud is nearer the stars of light.
Launch on the foaming stream that bears you along like a dart, –
There is danger of rapid and rock, there is tension of muscle and heart;
Glide on the easy current, monotonous, calm, and slow.
You are spared the quiver and strain in the safe and quiet flow.
Oh, the sweetness that dwells in a harp of many strings,
While each, all vocal with love, in tuneful harmony rings!
But oh, the wail and the discord, when one and another is rent,
Tensionless, broken, or lost, from the cherished instrument.
For rapture of love is linked with the pain or fear of loss,
And the hand that takes the crown must ache with many a cross;
Yet he who hath never a conflict hath never a victor's palm,
And only the toilers know the sweetness of rest and calm.
Only between the storms can the Alpine traveler know
Transcendent glory of clearness, marvels of gleam and glow;
Had he the brightness unbroken of cloudless summer days,
This had been dimmed by the dust and the veil of a brooding haze.
Who would dare the choice, neither or both to know,
The finest quiver of joy or the agony-thrill of woe?
Never the exquisite pain, then never the exquisite bliss,
For the heart that is dull to that can never be strung to this.
Great is the peril or toil if the glory or gain be great;
Never an earthly gift without responsible weight;
Never a treasure without-a following shade of care;
Never a power without the lurk of a subtle snare.
For the swift is not the safe, and the sweet is not the strong;
The smooth is not the short, and the keen is not the long;
The much is not the most, and the wide is not the deep;
And the flow is never a spring, when the ebb is only neap.
Then hush! oh, hush! for the Father knows what thou knowest not,
The need and the thorn and the shadow linked with the fairest lot;
Knows the wisest exemption from many an unseen snare,
Knows what will keep thee nearest, knows what thou could'st not bear.
Hush! oh, hush! for the Father portioneth as He will
To all his beloved children, and shall they not be still?
Is not his will the wisest, is not his choice the best?
And in perfect acquiescence is there not perfect rest?
Hush! oh, hush! for the Father, whose ways are true and just,
Knoweth and careth and loveth, and waits for thy perfect trust;
The cup he is slowly filling shall soon be full to the brim,
And infinite compensations forever be found in him.
Hush, oh, hush! for the Father hath fullness of joy in store,
Treasures of power and wisdom, and pleasures for ever more;
Blessing and honor and glory, endless, infinite bliss; –
Child of his love and his choice, oh, cant thou not wait for this?
Frances Ridley Havergal
COMPENSATION
Oh, the compensating springs! Oh, the balance-wheels of life,
Hidden away in the workings under the seeming strife!
Slowing the fret and the friction, weighting the whirl and the force,
Evolving the truest power from each unconscious source.
How shall we gauge the whole, who can only guess a part?
How can we read the life, when we cannot spell the heart?
How shall we measure another, we who can never know
From the juttings above the surface the depth of the vein below?
Even our present way is known to ourselves alone,
Height and abyss and torrent, flower and thorn and stone;
But we gaze on another's path as a far-off mountain scene,
Scanning the outlined hills, but never the vales between.
How shall we judge their present, we who have never seen
That which is past for ever, and that which might have been?
Measuring by ourselves, unwise indeed are we,
Measuring what we know by what we can hardly see.
Ah! if we knew it all, we should surely understand
That the balance of sorrow and joy is held with an even hand;
That the scale of success or loss shall never overflow,
And that compensation is twined with the lot of high and low.
The easy path in the lowland hath little of grand or new,
But a toilsome ascent leads on to a wide and glorious view;
Peopled and warm is the valley, lonely and chill the height,
But the peak that is nearer the storm-cloud is nearer the stars of light.
Launch on the foaming stream that bears you along like a dart, –
There is danger of rapid and rock, there is tension of muscle and heart;
Glide on the easy current, monotonous, calm, and slow.
You are spared the quiver and strain in the safe and quiet flow.
Oh, the sweetness that dwells in a harp of many strings,
While each, all vocal with love, in tuneful harmony rings!
But oh, the wail and the discord, when one and another is rent,
Tensionless, broken, or lost, from the cherished instrument.
For rapture of love is linked with the pain or fear of loss,
And the hand that takes the crown must ache with many a cross;
Yet he who hath never a conflict hath never a victor's palm,
And only the toilers know the sweetness of rest and calm.
Only between the storms can the Alpine traveler know
Transcendent glory of clearness, marvels of gleam and glow;
Had he the brightness unbroken of cloudless summer days,
This had been dimmed by the dust and the veil of a brooding haze.
Who would dare the choice, neither or both to know,
The finest quiver of joy or the agony-thrill of woe?
Never the exquisite pain, then never the exquisite bliss,
For the heart that is dull to that can never be strung to this.
Great is the peril or toil if the glory or gain be great;
Never an earthly gift without responsible weight;
Never a treasure without-a following shade of care;
Never a power without the lurk of a subtle snare.
For the swift is not the safe, and the sweet is not the strong;
The smooth is not the short, and the keen is not the long;
The much is not the most, and the wide is not the deep;
And the flow is never a spring, when the ebb is only neap.
Then hush! oh, hush! for the Father knows what thou knowest not,
The need and the thorn and the shadow linked with the fairest lot;
Knows the wisest exemption from many an unseen snare,
Knows what will keep thee nearest, knows what thou could'st not bear.
Hush! oh, hush! for the Father portioneth as He will
To all his beloved children, and shall they not be still?
Is not his will the wisest, is not his choice the best?
And in perfect acquiescence is there not perfect rest?
Hush! oh, hush! for the Father, whose ways are true and just,
Knoweth and careth and loveth, and waits for thy perfect trust;
The cup he is slowly filling shall soon be full to the brim,
And infinite compensations forever be found in him.
Hush, oh, hush! for the Father hath fullness of joy in store,
Treasures of power and wisdom, and pleasures for ever more;
Blessing and honor and glory, endless, infinite bliss; –
Child of his love and his choice, oh, cant thou not wait for this?
Frances Ridley Havergal
Tuesday 10 July 2007
Our little Babyroo
Doesn't she look peaceful?
"For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.
I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee." Psalm 139:13-18
NESTING INSTINCT
Today I've enjoyed experimenting with all the toolbars in the control panel... it's fun!!
Yesterday we went to IKEA and got some bits and bobs for the baby's room. We had a great time looking for a nice bedroom light, and we finally chose one that has the shape of the sun, sort of flat against the ceiling, and then we also got little tiny lamps in the shape of birds with a soft blue glow for night lights... beautiful!! We found some really cute framed pictures with teddy bears and the likes (from the artist Kokinos, the one from the book "Guess how much I love you, scrumptious!!). And then we stocked up on scented candles, some with clear coloured little glasses to place on the windowsill between the kitchen and living-room, and got a corner tall lamp with a soft cream shade to put beside the sofa... it looks sooo cozy!! And of course, some sorely-needed cushions for the afore-mentioned sofa. They are a warm burgundy and purple shade, matching our sofa corner walls perfectly.
And then guess what... we arrived home at around eleven pm, and instead of going to bed like sensible people after a long day's work, Dani washed the dishes while I arranged the new stuff around (well, he also did all the hard work of bringing up three stories all the things I've mentioned before, plus two cabinets for the kitchen and four sitting-room chairs), and then while I hung the washing he started assembling the first sitting-room chair (they came in boxes ready to put together). The first thing he did when he finished was guess what? Collapse on it with an enourmous contented sigh and sit there extolling on how comfortable it was!!
As it is, we finally got into bed past one o'clock... but I tell you, it was well worth it.
Today I've enjoyed experimenting with all the toolbars in the control panel... it's fun!!
Yesterday we went to IKEA and got some bits and bobs for the baby's room. We had a great time looking for a nice bedroom light, and we finally chose one that has the shape of the sun, sort of flat against the ceiling, and then we also got little tiny lamps in the shape of birds with a soft blue glow for night lights... beautiful!! We found some really cute framed pictures with teddy bears and the likes (from the artist Kokinos, the one from the book "Guess how much I love you, scrumptious!!). And then we stocked up on scented candles, some with clear coloured little glasses to place on the windowsill between the kitchen and living-room, and got a corner tall lamp with a soft cream shade to put beside the sofa... it looks sooo cozy!! And of course, some sorely-needed cushions for the afore-mentioned sofa. They are a warm burgundy and purple shade, matching our sofa corner walls perfectly.
And then guess what... we arrived home at around eleven pm, and instead of going to bed like sensible people after a long day's work, Dani washed the dishes while I arranged the new stuff around (well, he also did all the hard work of bringing up three stories all the things I've mentioned before, plus two cabinets for the kitchen and four sitting-room chairs), and then while I hung the washing he started assembling the first sitting-room chair (they came in boxes ready to put together). The first thing he did when he finished was guess what? Collapse on it with an enourmous contented sigh and sit there extolling on how comfortable it was!!
As it is, we finally got into bed past one o'clock... but I tell you, it was well worth it.
Monday 9 July 2007
Long time no see!! Hello everyone! Lsep, Gem of the Jampot, Andersvk, marcdaniel, Doulos, and whoever else might read this...
Here's a little update: I'm a seven month pregger, and right now my little buckaroo is giving me a hard time with her kicks and squirms... She thinks my liver is a punch-bag!! She's such a precious little thing already. We have great times playing kick-a-boo, and of course she likes to have her back rubbed by Mommy... she even humps it like a little kitten for more when I stop!! I never thought a belly could take on such weird shapes.
Dani painted her room a week ago, so now we're going to put a border on it, which will take a while, because we thought it was "autoadhesivo" and it turned out to be the kind you have to wet and then plaster on the wall, like wallpaper. :-( But it's a beautiful water-coloured, cuddly stuffed animals border, with teddy-bears, stuffed giraffes, rabbits, lions, elephants, kittens etc... as if they were all sitting on a shelf. They almost look like real stuffed animals!
Probably the next post will be when our little baby is five months old... so I hope you enjoyed this one! ;-)
Here's a little update: I'm a seven month pregger, and right now my little buckaroo is giving me a hard time with her kicks and squirms... She thinks my liver is a punch-bag!! She's such a precious little thing already. We have great times playing kick-a-boo, and of course she likes to have her back rubbed by Mommy... she even humps it like a little kitten for more when I stop!! I never thought a belly could take on such weird shapes.
Dani painted her room a week ago, so now we're going to put a border on it, which will take a while, because we thought it was "autoadhesivo" and it turned out to be the kind you have to wet and then plaster on the wall, like wallpaper. :-( But it's a beautiful water-coloured, cuddly stuffed animals border, with teddy-bears, stuffed giraffes, rabbits, lions, elephants, kittens etc... as if they were all sitting on a shelf. They almost look like real stuffed animals!
Probably the next post will be when our little baby is five months old... so I hope you enjoyed this one! ;-)
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