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Source: (consider it) Thread: Fields of Gold
Miss_Molly

Toujours gai
Beloved
# 2339

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"I've never made promises lightly, and some there are I've broken.
But I swear to you in the days still left, we'll walk in fields of gold." (Sting)

I borrow these words to indicate to my dear shipmates that I want to be with them, laugh and cry with them in their joys and sorrows, tease them and be teased by them, challenge and be challenged by them, in all the time I have left.

So, with Motherboard's encouragement, I begin a new thread. It will be a sort of diary, a place to post my musings, and a place where I will try to answer any questions you may have about this time in my life.

Does anyone have any particular questions, or a desire to know about any particular area of my life at present?

God bless all my friends for their tenderness and prayers.

[ 11. May 2011, 16:10: Message edited by: Spike ]

--------------------
"I come from a state that raises corn, and cockleburrs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me"

Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver at a naval banquet in Philadelphia, 1899

Posts: 1242 | From: home | Registered: Feb 2002  |  IP: Logged
Timothy L
Shipmate
# 2170

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Molly--

I love you.

We all love you.

May the Risen Christ bring us all together on the Last Day.

--------------------
Timothy

Posts: 757 | From: Kalamazoo | Registered: Jan 2002  |  IP: Logged
multipara
Shipmate
# 2918

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No doubt about that.

In the meantime, what's a nice ECUSA girl from Missouri doing in Utah?

You may have missed some of the fast and furious postings on the LDS while you were off-line; I was alternately horrified and amused. But it did make me wonder more about you in that vast land (both area and population to a mere Antipodean); so, if you feel so inclined, a little about you.

(an endlessly curious)m.

Posts: 4985 | From: new south wales | Registered: Jun 2002  |  IP: Logged
welsh dragon

Shipmate
# 3249

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Dear Miss Molly,

I hope you are getting on well without your cats. I remember reading in the thread about your illness that you have a good view from your window. Can you get to see any birds or wildlife? i know you can feed the ducks and geese once you get into the park (if you have any bread). It's not the same as having pets around but I think it can help animal lovers to be able even to see birds or animals - and it's rather safer from an infection and potential-for-being tripped-up perspective if they're not in the house.

The other thing I wondered is, do you have anywhere outside where birdfood could be hung up that you could see? Just a thought

Love and God Bless

WD (Maria)

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Gill H

Shipmate
# 68

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My 'particular question' is - did you get the cross-stitch picture and brooch I sent to the hospital?

The picture was a small pansy (for thoughts, of course!) and the brooch had an 'M' on it. I have to admit that I'd made the brooch previously, but thought that the 'M' would suit you and lead to lots of 'but I thought your name was Linda' conversations!

Thanks for all you have done to pull the inhabitants of this mighty Ship together. I've seen her grow vastly in size over the last couple of years, and this has proved to me that the 'community' aspect hasn't been swamped by the weight of numbers.

--------------------
*sigh* We can’t all be Alan Cresswell.

- Lyda Rose

Posts: 9313 | From: London | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Pyx_e

Quixotic Tilter
# 57

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Molly , have you anything that you still pray to do or be?

P

( if you need help it may have to be a practical being or doing [Wink] )

--------------------
It is better to be Kind than right.

Posts: 9778 | From: The Dark Tower | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Chorister

Completely Frocked
# 473

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Miss Molly, you have a lovely soft American accent.
One thing I forgot to ask you on the 'phone (Exeter meet): did you ever decide on a strapline - we all tried to invent one for you. Given the pivotal role you play on the Ship these days, may I suggest: Ship's Anchor

--------------------
Retired, sitting back and watching others for a change.

Posts: 34626 | From: Cream Tealand | Registered: Jun 2001  |  IP: Logged
Miss_Molly

Toujours gai
Beloved
# 2339

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What interesting questions you pose, dear shipmates! Much more entertaining than the ones I have been answering lately....

Gill, I am disappointed to say your handiwork and brooch never came into my possession. Knowing you thought of me and intended them for me warms my heart as much as having them, however.

Welsh Dragon, I live on the third floor, with no window ledge so I cannot put out food for the birds. However, I sometimes am treated to the sight of them flying past.

I have had animal visitors, though, WD! When in the hospital, my friends brought the cat who is most attached to me, that dainty feline diva (she really does sing!), Mahalia. I should just point out that, technically, all cats belonged to the Hammargrens, but I loved them too, caring for them in their true owners' absence, helping with vet bills, etc. Mahalia apparently felt I was her person; she was much distressed when I disappeared. When she saw me in a hospital bed, with oxygen attached, in a place that smelled of disinfectant, she immediately knew this was the v-e-t-'s! She hid under the bed, in the motor housing, for the duration of the visit. Apparently, she ran away a couple of times, it is thought to look for me, so she was also brought to visit me in my new home. She inspected the whole place, rubbed her cheek on the jamb of my bedroom door, to mark her territory and lastly crawled under my duvet for a comforting nap surrounded by my aroma! Since she has seen me, she is calmer and happier, I am told.

St Sebastian was kind enough to bring his kitten, Rufus, to see me while I was in the motel. I was ill from the chemotherapy at the time, so this little furry charmer made a great difference in my mood. Thanks again, St Sebastian!

The lady across the hall owns a dachshund, named Duke. She came to see me last Thursday, Duke accompanying her. I must report that Duke was very interested in Freddy, but my fearless feline companion retained his sangfroid through two episodes of thorough olfactory investigation!

Pyx-e, do you remember the scene in Star Wars, in which Han Solo is piloting the Millenium Falcon through an asteroid belt to escape the minions of the Empire? Princess Leia asks him what he will do next; he replies, "I don't know sweetheart! I'm just making this up as I go along." I feel pretty much the same way, except I am trying to discover ways to do/be what God intends for me to do and be in the time I have left. I must admit, the desire to discover and the execution of, said design, is frequently feeble! Other than that, I had a vision many years ago that warned me I would die about now, so I really tried not to waste time or effort, but to do the best I could to live a meaningful life.

Chorister, I did apply for the title "toujours gai", but it has not been awarded yet. Those who were here when I came on board may remember this as part of my original signature, a quote from Don Marquis' immortal creation, the alleycat Mehitabel.

Multipara, I was born in Missouri and spent my childhood summers there, but I was raised just outside of Denver. Moreover, I was raised in a church that no longer exists--further information available on request---and converted to ECUSA 26 years ago, in my 26th year. Another long story, but a salient point is that I had read a novel as a girl which had an Episcopal priest as a character, and contained remarkable and elegant prayers, which seemed to me "meet, right and our bounden duty." I vowed someday I would belong to the church that had those prayers.

I went to college in Logan, at Utah State University, as a "university scholar". College would otherwise have been impossible for me. However, at the close of my first year, I was taking far too great an interest in the VietNam War, and almost no interest in scholarship, so that was the end of my academic career there. While there though, I met a man with whom I fell in love and remained in love for many years, although it was never possible for us to marry, as he is a homosexual. Nevertheless, when the position I had obtained with Union Pacific was abolished in Denver and I was told there "might be" work for me in Salt Lake City where he was living, I did not hesitate to pack my grip and move to be with him. I have been here ever since, almost 30 years, and we remain good friends, although he now lives in Texas.

Utah is an interesting place, indeed. St Sebastian brought me most of the Mormon thread. I was glad to see an LDS person posting. I hope Barmint is still reading the boards. I do not frequent the serious discussions (too much like work), so I do not know if he is still posting. I hope he is, though.

--------------------
"I come from a state that raises corn, and cockleburrs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me"

Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver at a naval banquet in Philadelphia, 1899

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Gill H

Shipmate
# 68

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I'll just have to start work on another little piccy for you - now where did all my cat patterns get to?

--------------------
*sigh* We can’t all be Alan Cresswell.

- Lyda Rose

Posts: 9313 | From: London | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Pyx_e

Quixotic Tilter
# 57

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Molly, God Bless for not being anywhere near having "if only.... " on your lips. Making it up as we go along is pretty cool also. Be assured of my prayers.

P

--------------------
It is better to be Kind than right.

Posts: 9778 | From: The Dark Tower | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
welsh dragon

Shipmate
# 3249

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Dear Miss Molly,

Thank you for your reply. It sounds as though you have a lot of animal friends still!

I wondered if you would be interested in having a bird window feeder that would attach straight onto the window, that way you wouldn't need a ledge. You probably do have a lot of birds going past if you are near a park. It might be that you would need some help setting it up, it might be that the birds would make a mess (and I guess we'd have to be sure they weren't too unhygienic even outside a window) and it might be that the idea doesn't appeal so I would like to check with you first, but I would be very happy to arrange for them to send you one, maybe a simple one like the cafe [Wink] or the banquet for example if you think you would like that.

I have limited experience of this sort of thing but I understand that having wrens and robins hopping through one's window boxes, for example, can help quite a lot with feline deprivation symptoms!

http://www.bestnest.com/bestnest/window_bird_feeders.asp

(I have no personal financial interest in the above company! it's just for illustration...does anyone have any experience on using this sort of thing or any better suggestions on what would be a good one to get if that's what Molly would like?)

By the way I really like Fields of Gold too. I first heard it on a compilation and was very struck by the words. It seemed so different in quality to the other songs. It's a very beautiful love song isn't it? And a lovely image of walking in golden ripe fields. I notice that your signature mentions raising corn in Missouri - do Fields of Gold make you think of images from your childhood? Can you tell us a bit more about why it's so special(I know you can't always explain these things, but I'm sure we'd love to know, in case you have already explained this at length some place else [Embarrassed] !)

love & best wishes

WD

Posts: 5352 | From: ebay | Registered: Aug 2002  |  IP: Logged
Miss_Molly

Toujours gai
Beloved
# 2339

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I enjoyed your responses so much, dear friends.

Welsh Dragon, it is lovely of you to think of a bird feeder, but I don't think it would be practical. Next door to me lives a cat, Kissy by name, who sits on the inside window ledge a great deal. I believe she would be too excited if many birds were to fly in to a bird feeder. Furthermore, and I hope you will not mind my being honest about this, but I fear I would find the necessary maintenance of the bird buffet "one more thing to worry about". I have very limited energy; I can make shift to do my housework and very basic cooking, but more is beyond me. Please know that contact with you all provides me with interest and pleasure more than whole flocks of birds.

In my mind's eye, I actually see wheat fields when I listen to Sting's song. It became meaningful to me when I was engaged. The engagement ended, but the sentiment of the quoted stanzas expressed my feelings for the ship.

We did indeed raise corn on my grandfather's farm in southeastern Missouri, also wonderful tomatoes, muskmelons, various kinds of tree fruit, and two kinds of grape vines. The farm had belonged to bootleggers during the 1930's and they had planted the apricot and other trees to provide them with the makings of brandies! Their efforts meant we made wonderful jams and jellies each year; we also had a large blackberry patch, with luscious fruit for pies and dumplings, as well as jam.

There was a raised pond as well, stocked with bass and rimmed with floribunda roses. We went fishing every year. The pond also provided the water for flushing the toilet, washing clothes and watering the lawn.

Thank you for making me think again of such a magical place.

--------------------
"I come from a state that raises corn, and cockleburrs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me"

Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver at a naval banquet in Philadelphia, 1899

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multipara
Shipmate
# 2918

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'Morning Miss Molly!

You are a great one for a cliffhanger....what was your childhood church which no longer exists? Did it disappear altogether or was it absorbed into another (as all Methodists, the more liberal Presbyterians and most of the Congregationalists were in Australia about 25 years ago-and now known as the Uniting Church in Australia).

Thank you for your communication and looking forward to more. Second question-how did you come to the ECUSA?

Your mention of the Vietnam war stirred up some memories for me (we are contemporaries); it reminded me in particular of the Berrigan brothers (for those of you who do not recall, they were RC priests who were very involved in the anti-war movement in the USA in the late 60's-early 70's.) Do any of you 45 plus-ers remember? They were extraordinary days.

cheers,

m

Posts: 4985 | From: new south wales | Registered: Jun 2002  |  IP: Logged
Erin
Meaner than Godzilla
# 2

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quote:
Chorister, I did apply for the title "toujours gai"...
Apologies for the inefficiency... let me know if I got the proper punctuation/capitalization/etc.

--------------------
Commandment number one: shut the hell up.

Posts: 17140 | From: 330 miles north of paradise | Registered: Mar 2001  |  IP: Logged
Timothy L
Shipmate
# 2170

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wotthehell Erin, better than no sig.

--------------------
Timothy

Posts: 757 | From: Kalamazoo | Registered: Jan 2002  |  IP: Logged
Miss_Molly

Toujours gai
Beloved
# 2339

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Mme Erin, thank you so much for your assistance! The strap line is perfect as it stands. You were NOT inefficient, just very busy I am sure.

Multipara, I was "born in the covenant", that is born into the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This church was split irreparably by conflict between those who believed women should be ordained and communion should be open to all Christians, and those who did not.

The first group are now known as the Community of Christ. They have as a principal objective the promotion of peace in the world. Their headquarters is in Independence, Missouri. Incidentally, my sister is a pastor in this faith group, and her husband is a sort of archdeacon for a six state area in the Northeast.

The second group is actually many groups. The last time I counted, there were thirteen of varying sizes. Two of the better known ones are the Restoration Branches I mentioned, and the Church of the Lamb of God. These continue to adhere to what they term "restoration distinctives", for example, that the Book of Mormon is scripture, not an historical document as the Community of Christ says, and that the world was left in error after the apostasy of the church, walking in darkness with occasional nightlights in the form of people like Luther, until the church was restored in 1830, by revelations and heavenly ordination of Joseph
Smith, Jr. and his friend, Oliver Cowdery. These churches are in no way connected to the Latter Day Saint Church, headquartered in Salt Lake City.

Incidentally, my father is an elder in the Restoration Branches movement. This has occasionally made for tense moments in our family life. I think, on the Last Day, he plans to have both my sister and me declared insane and so not responsible for our religious errors!

As I mentioned, I read a novel containing some prayers. I knew no Episcopalians and had no way to further investigate. However, when I slipped the leash and arrived at college, a dorm mate asked if I would like to go to church with her. She was planning to attend St John's Episcopal Church. Delightedly, I went to church with her, and fell more and more in love with ECUSAn polity and practice.

There was one more hurdle, however. During Lent, St John's held services on Sundays and Wednesdays. St Jerome's, the local Roman Catholic church, celebrated the Eucharist every day. Besides this, I was coming from a church which was very much "the one true church". I was drawn to another "one true church". Finally, the man I loved was a Roman Catholic. So, I was conditionally baptized into that family of faith in July of 1970. Incidentally, at that time, the rite included exorcism. My friend has since remarked he doubts the ceremony was completely efficacious.

By temperament, I was not suited to that church, however. I spent a few years drifting. Then one day, after a particularly worrying session with my counsellor, discussing what further measures we might try to get me past some pretty crippling problems, I passed St Mark's Cathedral. I noticed a service board promising a Eucharist in an hour or so. I felt impelled to attend, then immediately said to myself, "no the roof will fall in!" Very clearly then, I had the thought, "if you don't go, you are resisting Grace".

I duly appeared at the Eucharist. The sermon topic was spiritual healing! I observed where the celebrant went after the service and there lay in wait until he emerged. The rest, as they say, is history....

PS Multipara, cliffhangers are time-honored plot devices, designed to ensure a continuing audience. [Wink]

--------------------
"I come from a state that raises corn, and cockleburrs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me"

Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver at a naval banquet in Philadelphia, 1899

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welsh dragon

Shipmate
# 3249

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Dear Miss Molly,

I do understand about the bird table being impractical. I did wonder actually how you are managing for shopping and so on – can you get stores to deliver? Are you using the internet to order? I guess you are likely to be much better geared up for all that in the states than in the UK.

But I thought your childhood memories sounded idyllic [Angel] . Though it can be hard work on a farm – did they have animals as well as arable– it’s often all hands on deck isn’t it? My mum was brought up on a farm and used to dispatch me back home to the grandparents for the holidays –tho not to the farm– for the fresh country air. It brings you so close to that part of your roots, getting to know both the grandparents and the place that (possibly homesick) parent came from.

Fascinated to hear about your religious backgound. I’ve never met (or corresponded) with anyone who’s been exorcised before (or who I less imagine needed it [Smile] ). And I am intrigued about the next instalment….

Love and God Bless WD

Posts: 5352 | From: ebay | Registered: Aug 2002  |  IP: Logged
Miss_Molly

Toujours gai
Beloved
# 2339

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Thank you Welsh Dragon, for your continuing concern. I have a nurse friend who has appointed herself to private duty with me. She calls every day to see what I need and brings it to me, whether groceries, household supplies or personal items! So I have plenty of healthy, tasty things to eat, and even some tasty but unhealthy things ;-) Also, Saint Sebastian, when not accusing me of ingesting felines, has been known to bring me milkshakes and hamburgers. Last week, he brought me what is known locally as a Crown burger: it is a quarter pound of hamburger, dressing, onion, lettuce, and cheese topped with a big helping of pastrami!

My grandparents farm was a weekend proposition until they retired. They lived in a small, shabby apartment in a not-too-good area of Saint Louis for many years while making payments on the farm. They would go down on weekends to work on their huge garden. In the summer my grandmother would stay on the farm during canning season, with my grandfather coming down on weekends. We mostly visited during canning season, so I was there as unskilled labor and an enthusiastic taster of all the bounty.

My grandfather had grown up on a ranch outside of San Antonio, Texas, and retained a longing for country life. He succeeded in paying off the farm and retiring to it, but was not able to enjoy it long, as he developed health problems. He and my grandmother moved to Georgia, to be near my uncle. The farm was sold to provide for their continuing needs. We all grieved when it was sold, but memories cannot be sold. We remember our times there, and talk about the countryside, the neighbors, and our happy days four miles from the Mississippi River (you could hear boat horns), and ninety miles south of Saint Louis.

Today I went to the doctor, expecting to start my third round of chemotherapy. However, my red blood cells, which had been making a slow but steady climb out of the basement, had lost a little ground, my immune system also showed signs of some weakening, and I had lost another five pounds in the last three weeks. Another worry is occasional blood in my urine. So Dr Reilly ordered an injection of epoetin alpha for me, and postponed the chemotherapy. This drug stimulates red blood cell production. He also ordered urinalysis to see if I have a urinary tract infection, or if, as is possible, I now have cancer in my kidneys. I should know tomorrow what the results of the urine test are. I will be seeing the doctor again next Wednesday, having my blood drawn to see where I stand at that point and receiving another injection of epoetin alpha.

The good news is that the doctor revealed to me today, in the course of discussion of my wishes concerning end-of-life treatment, that "based on how you were in the hospital, I did not expect you to live so long." My tumors are stable; they have not grown since three weeks ago. I remarked to him that I am very strong physically; eventually the cancer will kill me, but it will be a fight because the rest of me is so strong. He said "you have a strong body and a strong will."

There has been considerable research done in the past few years on the health value of friendship. The research has shown that strong social ties enable people to resist life-threatening illnesses, reduces stress in life, and even causes people to have fewer colds. A couple of studies have shown that having no friends can be more dangerous than smoking. One researcher has been quoted as saying, "one of the worst things you can do to someone is to isolate him."

The way you have all rallied around me, supporting me by email, cards, gifts, phone calls, chats on messenger and in the cafe is like being held in loving arms. I am grateful and I know part of the reason I am still alive is because of your love.

--------------------
"I come from a state that raises corn, and cockleburrs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me"

Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver at a naval banquet in Philadelphia, 1899

Posts: 1242 | From: home | Registered: Feb 2002  |  IP: Logged
Miss_Molly

Toujours gai
Beloved
# 2339

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I just want to mention that Saint Sebastian also is my chauffeur to the doctor, which is most generous of him since he has to make up the time lost at work.

--------------------
"I come from a state that raises corn, and cockleburrs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me"

Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver at a naval banquet in Philadelphia, 1899

Posts: 1242 | From: home | Registered: Feb 2002  |  IP: Logged
Clíona
Shipmate
# 2035

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Dear Miss Molly,
Your description of your grandparents' farm sounds really idyllic. It reminds me very much of lots of lovely children's stories I loved to read...or still do read [Big Grin] It also reminded me a bit of a book I read recently, by an author you recommended. I was desperately looking for a book to bring on holidays with me and hadn't found one by the time I got to the airport, and lo and behold, there was "Lake Wobegon 1956." I thoroughly enjoyed it, despite all the baseball.

So, is there any place you would like to visit in the world that you haven't been to?

--------------------
Starting (yet) again...

Posts: 1262 | From: Back in Dublin | Registered: Dec 2001  |  IP: Logged
dolphy

Lady of Perpetual Responsiblity
# 862

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Dear Molly,

All your talk of food has made me quite hungry! - I adore pastrami on rye, as does my Dad.
It is good to 'hear' you being so strong and positive - you are a true inspiration!
I thought I'd let you know that my tomatoes are ripening very fast now - I ate one this morning and thought of you [Wink] .

Take care sweet Molly - I await the next installment! xxx

--------------------
Looking forward to my rock moving closer again.

Posts: 15134 | From: my camper van | Registered: Jul 2001  |  IP: Logged
daisymay

St Elmo's Fire
# 1480

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quote:
Originally posted by Miss_Molly:
In the summer my grandmother would stay on the farm during canning season, with my grandfather coming down on weekends. We mostly visited during canning season, so I was there as unskilled labor and an enthusiastic taster of all the bounty.

Miss Molly,
Are you talking about "home canning?" I have heard of folks doing this and always wondered how they got the cans sealed. I've worked in a cannery (I come from a fertile strath in Scotland), mainly with peas, raspberries and strawberries, and managed the huge clincher and sealer machinery, but there's no way that sort of stuff could be domesticated.

So how did you do it?

And yes, I also enjoyed the sweet taste of the produce till I got fed up of it!
[Wink]

--------------------
London
Flickr fotos

Posts: 11224 | From: London - originally Dundee, Blairgowrie etc... | Registered: Oct 2001  |  IP: Logged
Miss_Molly

Toujours gai
Beloved
# 2339

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Hello again, dear shipmates!

Cliona, mo stor geal, I would have liked to see Westminster Abbey, with all the tombs of famous people, and all the historical associations. I would also have liked to see Paris, its old churches and Pere La Chaise cemetery. I confess all my life I have been a graveyard fan, forcing my family to take sidetrips so I could check out the tombstones. When my brother went to Argentina on business, he found time to visit a very famous cemetery in Buenos Aires and take pictures. He knew no other souvenir would please me so well. I imagine the people who asked him why he was doing this and were told "it is for my sister", must have chalked it up to the well-known eccentricities of los Americanos.

I hasten to make it known my predilection for the cities of silence is not due to any ghoulishness. I am interested in cemeteries from a historical and philosophical point of view, as mute testimonies to disease, famine, accidents, war, changing notions of what constitutes one's family, changing levels of mobility, and ethnic majorities in an area altering through time, and as witnesses to the truth that "as I am now, so you shall be. Prepare to die and follow me."

DaisyMay, I suppose what we call canning in rural America, you would call bottling. We sterilized glass jars, poured the fruit, vegetables, or even meat into them, put on lids with rubber gaskets?, secured with screw-on rings, and placed the jars in a pressure cooker. When the jars had been pressurized enough, the lids were on tight, and the food would last for as much as a year. To this day, my sister, who lives on a farm in Maine, "cans" chicken, vegetables, and fruit each summer. Of course, she also has a large freezer full of beef and pork they have raised, as well as berries and other foodstuffs, but she finds the bottled items easy and convenient, when, as often happens, she has unexpected company.

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"I come from a state that raises corn, and cockleburrs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me"

Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver at a naval banquet in Philadelphia, 1899

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multipara
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# 2918

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Hello again, Miss Molly and thank you for explaining your childhood church. For this congenital RC, it is always fascinating to hear about and then reflect on the spiritual journey of someone else. The rite of exorcism....I recall being mildly put out when my eldest was baptised in 1977 and the devil wasn't driven out!

There are still lots of enthusiastic bottlers of fruit in Oz; even in the city. My mother-in-law is a dab hand at same. The agricultural shows (especially the Sydney Royal Easter Show, which is the grand-daddy of all of them) always have amazing displays of bottled fruit and veg, often multiple fruits in a jar very artistically arranged-the competition for Best Bottle is fierce!

I am hoping for good news on the pathology front , that your blood count is back up and that you can go ahead with your next cycle of chemo as planned. I hope it has not made you feel too sick, so far.

Still thinking back to the 70's and the anti-war movement; what was happening in Utah in those days?

What was your favourite music at that time?

Waiting for the next instalment,

m

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Ham'n'Eggs

Ship's Pig
# 629

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Dearest Miss Molly,

What did you study at college, and did you subsequently lose interest in it?

How broad is your taste in reading? Your grasp of general knowledge seems quite formidable - to what sources do you attribute your informal education?

What single piece of advice would you give to someone starting out on their adult life?

And where did your penchant for whalebone arise?

Your friend,

H&E

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"...the heresies that men do leave / Are hated most of those they did deceive" - Will S


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Equinas
Shipmate
# 2907

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Dear Miss Molly,

This thread is wonderful, so glad you're doing it. Glad, too, to know there's another graveyard fan, makes me feel a bit less eccentric! I like them for many of the same reasons, but mostly a sense of history and wondering about their lives, especially seeing multiple graves of infants and young children in a family plot and acknowleging their long ago grief. Like in battlefields and places of great loss, time seems blurred and we're connected to those moments and lives, almost as though the place itself holds the memories. Rather fey for a hard-headed Calvinist, eh?

But back to the thread. Reading your history, thoughts, daily life, seems to be like watching a photo develop, the details continuing to clarify a remarkable image. Thank you.

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Linda

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sophs

Sardonic Angel
# 2296

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Molly it is a wonderful thread!
LOVE hugs and prayers
sophs:) [Sunny]

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daisymay

St Elmo's Fire
# 1480

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Posted 20. September 2002 01:39                       
Miss Molly said,
"DaisyMay, I suppose what we call canning in rural America, you would call bottling. We sterilized glass jars, poured the fruit, vegetables, or even meat into them, put on lids with rubber gaskets?, secured with screw-on rings, and placed the jars in a pressure cooker. When the jars had been pressurized enough, the lids were on tight, and the food would last for as much as a year."

Well now, Miss Molly,
We used to do the same. Large glass jars, full of beetroot, rhubarb, plums, raspberries. But we put them in the centre of the oven for a long while. Then they had to have an extra turn of the lid to ensure the seal. Never meat, though. The fruit was delicious, not over sweet, still a tongue-stimulating tartness.

Are they called Kilner Jars or something similar?

I now have to revise all my fantasies of Americans with their little home canneries! I've puzzled for years over that. Thanks for enlightening me. [Sunny]

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London
Flickr fotos

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Moo

Ship's tough old bird
# 107

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quote:
DaisyMay, I suppose what we call canning in rural America, you would call bottling. We sterilized glass jars, poured the fruit, vegetables, or even meat into them, put on lids with rubber gaskets?, secured with screw-on rings, and placed the jars in a pressure cooker. When the jars had been pressurized enough, the lids were on tight, and the food would last for as much as a year.
I used to can fruits and tomatoes in a boiling-water bath. You put the hot fruit into a hot jar(I used my dishwasher to heat the jars), put the lid on the jar, and process it in a pot full of boiling water. The water has to cover the jars by at least two inches. This processing drives all the air out of the jar. When you take the jar out of the boiling water, a vacuum is formed as it cools, and the lid seals itself with a clicking noise.

I used to make homemade applesauce. I went to a nearby apple orchard and picked up drops. The best applesauce is made with three kinds of apples. One day I went and picked up three half-bushels of drops. The next day I made and canned 46 pints of applesauce. It was very good. I wish I had some now.

Moo

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Kerygmania host
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See you later, alligator.

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welsh dragon

Shipmate
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Dear Miss Molly,

I think we will have to compile a Miss Molly cookbook, or at least a guide to canning fruit in your honour!

I am so glad that you have been confounding the doctors and hope and pray that the new tests will come back in the way you and the medics would most like them [Smile] .

I had this image - in the bath - a very good place for visualizing images - of all the messages from the Ship of Fools bobbing up and down outside your window waving at you in as much of a friendly shipmatelike [Yipee] sort of way as is possible in mid air. The chorister looked very sedate [Angel] and the pyx_e [Big Grin] took to the air like a natural but the dragon [Help] hit its head against the window pane, singed the frame and alarmed the cat in the window next door before sinking to the ground in an ungainly sort of way. (The dragon apologises for any distress its images might have caused). And waits with bated breath - which may be a relief to next door's cat [Wink] - for the next instalment and some answers to all these intriguing questions. Especially about what happened next in your cliffhanger of a spiritual journey... and the books that you most love...

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Ye Olde Motherboarde
Ship's Mother and Singing Quilter
# 54

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All this talk about canning is getting me hungry. I haven't done much canning lately, but I do dehydrate apples, which get eaten as soon as I do it and Virginia apples are just THE BEST!

Motherboard

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In Memory of Miss Molly, TimC, Gambit, KenWritez, koheleth, Leetle Masha, JLG, Genevieve, Erin, RuthW2, deuce2, Sidi and TonyCoxon, unbeliever, Morlader, Ken :tear: 20 years but who’s counting?..................

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Nicolemr
Shipmate
# 28

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i've helped my aunt do canning sometimes. not as often as i'd like. miss molly, did you ever make watermelon pickles? my aunt makes the greatest watermelon pickles. but she hasn't in years.

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On pilgrimage in the endless realms of Cyberia, currently traveling by ship. Now with live journal!

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Miss_Molly

Toujours gai
Beloved
# 2339

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An amazing thing happened! Gill H's longlost brooch and pansy picture, both in beautiful counted cross-stitch have arrived. Thank you so much Gill.

Perhaps they went to Papua New Guinea first as well. Christine from Canberra's nice card did. And the Irish Music Mail must have stopped for a seisiun in several places enroute. Your tape of Granuaile is finally here, Cliona. Thanks so much, my dear shipmates. I really am the most spoiled woman alive.

Multipara, I liked Bob Dylan's album which included "Lay, Lady, Lay". I could not buy albums myself at the time, so I don't know the album name. I also liked the song "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" by Simon and Garfunkel. And I learned a song that I later found out was one of Peter, Paul and Mary's, called "You'll Know Me By No Other Name."

Utah is a conservative state, and was even more so in 1970, the year I decided the Cambodian Incursion was wicked. The students who were protesting the war in Logan (one of the most conservative towns in Utah---sort of the buckle on the Book of Mormon belt) met on the Quad, a grassy square in the middle of campus. There they pitched a tent, sang songs, argued with passers-by, and in my case brought a rosary to pray against the war. Trucks of gawkers would drive around and around the square, taunting us, and on one memorable nocturnal occasion, throwing a "cherry bomb" at us. I missed all the excitement as I was availing myself of the facilities of Old Main, the administration building, which was kindly left open for those of us to shy to find bushes! No one was hurt; and after a final parade down Main Street, the protest was at an end.

Ham 'n' Eggs, I studied several subjects as an undergraduate. My parents wanted me to be a librarian, as this would be a good occupation for a plain and bookish girl. (Indeed, my mother, who realized she had raised an old maid, remarked to me that I must have a college degree. "If you were going to get married it would be different...")

I chose to study elementary education, as I am a teachery sort of person, though not at my best with children. When I lost my scholarship, I went to work for the phone company and later for the Union Pacific Railroad.

While working at the Railroad (all the live-long day!), I underwent academic probation at another institute of higher learning, known as Metropolitan State College. This school was located in various shabby buildings all over downtown Denver, and not the most salubrious part. Indeed, I took an evening class, and while waiting for the bus home, had ample opportunities to study the local practitioners of the sporting life! At this college, since I already had a job which paid well, I studied history.

When I moved to Utah to work, I went about 6 years without cracking a book. Eventually I was lured back to school as an undergraduate in family and consumer studies. This was with a view to an eventual master's degree in social work, as my therapist had told me I would make a "crackerjack" social worker! I really don't remember at this remove in time why I didn't go through with it. I think it may have had to do with having a job which paid better than I could expect to earn as a social worker.

I also studied Latin (an accelerated course concentrating on the Aeneid) and Modern Israeli Hebrew. I was accounted the best student Latinist and was offered a departmental scholarship in Hebrew. (This is long ago, when I had a brain; I have forgotten absolutely everything now.) I turned down the scholarship on the grounds I could well afford to pay for my coursework. Scheduling problems and departmental politics caused me to leave this course of study.

Patience, however! I did finally finish something. When the Union Pacific Railroad decided to abolish my job once again, I had been on board long enough to be a protected employee. This meant they had to find me a job, though not necessarily one I would like, or in Utah. The alternative was for them to "buy my seniority". In exchange for giving up all future claims, I would receive a lump sum equivalent to approximately a year's salary.

I took the money and went to nursing school. In 1987 I was a licensed practical nurse, and in 1988 a registered nurse. I have never regretted this decision. It turned out to be the place that called for my love and my utmost effort. It was also the place where my natural bossy bootness was an advantage! :-) Oddly enough, I never was one of the little girls that bandage their dollies, and never was a candy striper (junior volunteer in a hospital). When I left the railroad, I needed something that was worthwhile, that was a secure occupation, and that I could finance with my limited resources. Nursing turned out to meet all the criteria, so a nurse I became. Again I am glad I did.

In answer to your next question, dear porcine shipmate, I suppose I have always read widely. I especially enjoy history and "popular" science that deals with people, not atoms or machines. When I went into the hospital I was reading a book concerning the 1918 flu epidemic. It was not written as a science journal article, but was written accurately and non-sensationally.

As a child, I remember choosing two books from the school library: Elizabeth Enters, concerning the childhood of HM your Queen, and Follow the Reindeer, an account of life among the nomadic peoples of the far north of Sweden, Norway and Finland. I avoid giving them a name, as I don't remember at this moment what their preferred appellation is, but I believe what the book called them is considered an insult. These books were the first in the two broad streams of my interest: history and how ordinary people live and die.

Advice to a young person? Remember you must die. Also, chagrin lasts the rest of your life.

The whalebone is just a feature of my screen persona. I have never worn anything personally confining since my days at the phone company when female employees had to wear girdles! Incidentally, our nether regions were not the only controlled thing about us. Operators were only allowed to respond to the public in a few memorized phrases, no individuality allowed, and no latitude for improvisation in an uncommon situation. I have worn trousers and lace-up shoes ever since, and spoken my mind all too often as well.

The last question I remember came from Chorister, I think. No, we did not make watermelon pickles, although I have heard they are very tasty. We made dill pickles and bread and butter pickles, which are a milder variety, on the sweet side.

Thank you dear shipmates, for this invitation to think about my life. So many memories come back. Please know, though, that you are making wonderful memories for me now.

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"I come from a state that raises corn, and cockleburrs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me"

Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver at a naval banquet in Philadelphia, 1899

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Miss_Molly

Toujours gai
Beloved
# 2339

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I am sorry, Daisy May and Welsh Dragon! I rambled on and lost the thread of your comments. Daisy May, the jars were called Mason jars here. Welsh Dragon, if your post will come to my door, I will let it in! I don't want such a dear creature hurt. Indeed, all of you--just press my code on the security panel, and I will let you in.

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"I come from a state that raises corn, and cockleburrs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me"

Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver at a naval banquet in Philadelphia, 1899

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multipara
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# 2918

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Miss Molly, your employer made all you ladies wear girdles!!!????? There weren't girdle spot checks, were there?

Gorblimey.....

Thank you for that, you anticipated my next question which was how you got into nursing. What has been your specialty in that field ?

(still ungirdled, though probably should be)m

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quod scripsi, scripsi

Posts: 4985 | From: new south wales | Registered: Jun 2002  |  IP: Logged
Miss_Molly

Toujours gai
Beloved
# 2339

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Dear mother of several children, they did not need to conduct underpinnings spot checks. These were the days before aerobics, stairsteppers, and weight training for women. In walking away from any supervisor, an operator showed whether she was following the rules or not!

The first three years of my career, I was a nurse on a medicine floor. This was an excellent training ground, in terms of seeing a wide range of conditions, learning to manage one's time, and coming to terms with bodily decline and eventual death. We cared for patients with GI bleeds, liver failure, congestive heart failure, lung cancer, pneumonia, severe asthma, blood clots, stroke, HIV, etc. Our patients were weak and most required total care. Quite often, we would see a patient on several admissions, each time edging closer to eventual death.

I next became a nurse on a surgical floor dedicated to orthopedic, gastrointestinal, and non-cancerous gynecological patients. We cared for patients after all manner of joint replacement and back surgeries, ileoanal pull-throughs for the relief of colitis, and hysterectomies and bladder suspension. This was at the University of Utah's Medical Center, a regional referral center and trauma center recognized for the excellence of its orhopedic care. I worked there for 10 years, until I needed to give my own left knee a rest.

I next worked as a night supervisor at St Joseph's Villa, a nursing home. This institution is sponsored by the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, based in Texas. Several Sisters are assigned to the Villa, providing spiritual care and a very special, caring atmosphere.

My last few months as a nurse were spent working for a staffing agency. I was intending to move to Colorado to look after my parents, and wanted the additional money and freedom to "pick up and go". I was chiefly assigned to fill in for a night nurse on the rehabilitation unit at University Hospital. Naturally, this was a very comfortable posting, and the unit was glad to have a nurse who could "hit the ground running".

I am glad to report that it turns out I do indeed have a urinary tract infection, not cancer in my kidneys, as was possible. I probably picked up the infection when I had a catheter placed in the hospital, and was too generally miserable to notice it until it got a deep hold. I am on an antibiotic now, and the symptoms are diminishing.

A curious feature is, while I thought the blood in my urine was another feature of my cancer, I didn't really feel (or allow myself to feel may be more accurate), the malaise and discomfort. Once I knew it was an infection, all of a sudden I was miserable! I am gradually feeling better, though, with four more days of nitrofurantoin to go.

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"I come from a state that raises corn, and cockleburrs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me"

Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver at a naval banquet in Philadelphia, 1899

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welsh dragon

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# 3249

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Dear Miss Molly,

It's very good news that the explanation for your symptoms is the less serious one, though I am so sorry that you've been feeling poorly with it and hope that the antibiotics will continue to do their good job at making you feel better [Smile] .

I have been confusing myself a little musically and theologically. I'm very fond of Wesleyan hymns (it was nice hymns but shame about the preacher's church politics today [Devil] !) but also like choral music (am hoping to go listen to some with Rowan later in the week as she is in Oxford [Happy] ). I wondered what sort of hymns / music / masses / chants you most like and is it a mixture having had an interesting spiritual journey.

Oh and it is so nice to hear your voice in print again now that the server's back up [Yipee] !

love and God Bless

WD

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Lady A

Narnian Lady
# 3126

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Dear Miss Molly,
How wonderful to see you online! I'm excited to get to talk with you and be touched by you. A nurse, wow. I've heard the hardest patients are nurses! My best friend is a maternity nurse, and my daughter is an EMT at the Elmendorf Air Force Base Hospital in Anchorage Alaska. I feel so safe when I get to be around her! I too love cemetaries and a standard joke around our house is that no vacation is complete without going to one! When my father died my mother had their tombstone engraved of a pair of characters that he created, Mudd, an enchanted unicorn that fell from the rainbow one day and as it faded, he couldn't get back on. He fell into the garden of Violett, and she is taking care of him until the rainbow reappears. The sketch shows Mudd and Violett (really an AKA for my Mom and Dad) hand in hand along the beach (they used to live just a block and a half from the beach in Monterey, CA.). They together made an incredible legacy. Mom wrote the story, Dad did the pictures. Every Christmas card had Mudd and Violett in a new setting with a poem or story for the year (about 16 years worth). My daughter got a special picture every year for her birthday. Mudd and Violett celebrated all the great moments of her life, and when my Dad died, my Mom completed the collection with a picture of him drawing.
I hope that you have had a legacy to belong to, and it's never too late to start one. Remembering the legacy that you've been a part of too, is worth recording and passing on. I've loved hearing about your many lives (I don't think that you've had nine yet though!) is wonderful. Did you spend summers with grandparents? I did too. Mine were in Lakeview, Oregon and yes, I helped can, but mostly I loved being out in the mountains, on a horse that my grandfather had for me to ride when I was with them. I would hike up on the hill behind their house and there was this cliff like promontory that my grandmother always told us not to sit on, but we did anyways! We would throw off pieces of shale and name them with all our unhappy thoughts and watch them sail away and burst on the pile below! It was great therapy! I hope to hear from you, and hear more about you. Take care, Lady A

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Rowen
Shipmate
# 1194

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internet cafe, oxford...
Oh my dear- how lovely to talk on the phone to you last week, and I look forward to doing it again when I arrive on your continent next month... you are in my prayers, and need to know that I keep lighting candles for you in exquisite cathedrals....
shalom

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"May I live this day… compassionate of heart" (John O’Donoghue)...

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Miss_Molly

Toujours gai
Beloved
# 2339

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Good morning to all my UK friends, warm thoughts to my sleeping friends in various parts of Canada and the United States, and pompom cheerleading to the Australians who are in the midst of another day Down Under.

Welsh Dragon, I love the novels of Elizabeth Goudge, particularly The Dean's Watch, the White Witch and Green Dolphin Street. Her unassuming characters living lives of quiet faith, and her joy in the beauty of the created world have always refreshed me.

A more recent book that has given me great pleasure is Little Saint. This book, which was its author's only book before dying, concerns St Foy of Conques. It is an affectionate look at the remarkable characters living in this little town, a retelling of legends concerning the saint, and a revealing of the author's encounter with holy mystery.

I love Barbara Pym and Angela Thirkell for barbed humor, and sly observation of England between the wars.

I always count on Terry Pratchett for an enjoyable if dizzying escape from Utah. I am a distance learner at Unseen University!

I commend to you Kristin Lavransdatter, a novel by Sigrid Undset. It is in three volumes and traces the life of a medieval Norwegian woman. Unlike so many "historical novels", the character's thoughts, ambitions and feelings are in accord with her era. The novel is meticulously accurate in terms of the features of daily life as well.

These qualities are shared by Patrick O'Brian's enthralling Aubrey/Maturin series, concerning the loves, adventures, and maturing in joy and sorrow of two friends: a Royal Navy frigate captain and his ship's surgeon, who also is an intelligence agent. The pair live during the Napoleonic Wars.
O'Brian relies heavily on actual naval accounts of the time in framing his tales, which are engrossing and exciting. Setting sail on the Surprise or any other of Jack Aubrey's commands is a sure way to escape life's doldrums!

As far as music goes, I am an Episcopalian but I am afraid my vocal chords are Baptist/Disciples of Christ. In trouble or in joy, I turn to the old warhorses of religious music, singing songs about "When we all get to heaven", "A Volunteer for Jesus", "The Uncloudy Day", "The Old Account was settled", "To Canaan's Land I'm on my way", "When I wake up to sleep no more", and how "I love to tell the story"!

There are hymns in my own church's hymnal I quite like though, special favorites being "Come Away to the Skies" and "Come thou Fount of every blessing", which we obtained from the Southern Harmony. In the old hymnal were songs I was sorry to see deleted from the more modern offering. "The Son of God rides forth to war", sung to the tune of "The Minstrel Boy", and the medieval hymn beginning "Brief life is here our portion. Brief sorrow, shortlived care! The life that has no ending, the tearless life is there. Oh, happy retribution: brief toil, eternal rest. For mortals and for sinners, a mansion with the blest.", inspired me before I was diagnosed with my disease, and continue in my mind.

Lady A, your father and mother were very special indeed. Thank you so much for sharing their story with us. I am really looking forward to meeting Mudd and Violet!

The annual cards with story or poem enclosed remind me of my own mother's efforts towards Christmastime during my nephew and niece's childhoods. She invented a leprechaun named Clancey, who was one of Santa's helpers. He would write the children and send them small presents. Mother took care to disguise her handwriting and arrange for the letters and presents to be delivered in secret, not via the mail. Rob and Jennie still remember Clancey from their lofty adult ages of 25 and 22 respectively.

Incidentally, I just received a lovely photo frame from their mother, my sister-in-law. It is one of those that holds a number of pictures. She went through her albums and copied pictures of me holding them as babies and small children, proudly standing beside them when a bit older, and basking in their good looks when grown!

I rejoice to say that I was raised with a legacy. The chief features of it were faith, music, and story-telling.

We were brought up by parents who prayed and taught us to pray, who valued the Bible, took us to church, by word and example showed they believed God was present in our lives, and that all our actions were to be measured against His standards. They believed His guidance was available in daily life, and encouraged us to seek it. Each of my parents has received this guidance, sometimes in very direct ways.

I never remember our house without music. My father, when younger, could play many instruments by ear. He was especially a guitarist, but was also a good fiddler. His grandfather, who lived long enough for me to know, had been a champion fiddler in his day. We sang Depression-era country songs, old hymns, and one song I have never heard anywhere else, concerning the marital and parental adventures of a barefoot boy with boots on! We sang at home, while travelling, and when visiting relatives. On the farm, we all looked forward to the cooling of the evening. We would sit on the front porch and sing for hours. My father's half-sister, who married my mother's father and raised my mother, had an especially sweet voice.

I was raised among great story-tellers as well. The chief interest and avocation of all my relatives was talking. The thing they loved best was turning the daily round into a chapter of the saga we were all living. They also loved a pungent turn of phrase, a memorable proverb, or a story with a sharp point. My father's father was the author of some specially memorable ones. A favorite was "A wise man don't need advice and a fool won't take it."

And now that I have shown I was really "vaccinated with a phonograph needle", I will sign off! My best love to you all.

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"I come from a state that raises corn, and cockleburrs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me"

Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver at a naval banquet in Philadelphia, 1899

Posts: 1242 | From: home | Registered: Feb 2002  |  IP: Logged
welsh dragon

Shipmate
# 3249

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Dear Miss Molly,

Thank you for the last instalment which was so finely evocative of the atmosphere of your childhood. I think it is such a wonderful thing to have had love and security as a child, it is like a great invisible bank of faith in life to have with you always.

I'm sure lots of us will be thinking of you and praying with/for you I'm sure, as the days roll by before your next hospital appointment and set of blood tests/possible chemotherapy. And I do hope that you are feeling better after that last infection.

It was fascinating to see your list of favourite books. Terry Pratchett I have read I think in entirety (and I'm not ashamed of it [Smile] ) but many of the others I haven't come across - it's always very exciting to have ideas for new books to read - the Undset sounds particularly interesting. And also I would very much like to hear some of the hymns you've mentioned that haven't been central to the particular traditions I've been exposed to - I am going to have to find out more about the Southern Harmony I see...

Also, I'd love to ask you a little bit more about your family - I think from what you've said I make out that you must have at least one brother and one sister - do you have any more? And were you the baby of the family? Or did you take care of the others? I can imagine you taking a turn at putting the "daily round" into a story chapter [Wink] ...

love [Heart] and God Bless

WD

Posts: 5352 | From: ebay | Registered: Aug 2002  |  IP: Logged
Lady A

Narnian Lady
# 3126

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Ah, yes, I can hear the storyteller in your posts! I do hope that someone is copying this all down to keep for you and yours. What an enriching way to grow. Are you keeping these for your family to read? I know that if I were your family, I would be so honored by your memories. Did you ever play an instrument? or just sing along? Did you ever sing as a nurse quietly to your patients as they sleep? How did your faith impact your work life? I pray for you.
Posts: 2545 | From: The Lion's Mane, Narnia | Registered: Aug 2002  |  IP: Logged
multipara
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# 2918

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Hello Miss Molly,

Just to let you know I am following the thread, with interest and affection.

You and your cliffhangers....

cheers,

m

--------------------
quod scripsi, scripsi

Posts: 4985 | From: new south wales | Registered: Jun 2002  |  IP: Logged
Ye Olde Motherboarde
Ship's Mother and Singing Quilter
# 54

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Molly,

All I can ask is, when do you get all this time to read? [Eek!] I seem to never have the time! [Frown]

Did you get my message last night?

[Sunny] Mother

--------------------
In Memory of Miss Molly, TimC, Gambit, KenWritez, koheleth, Leetle Masha, JLG, Genevieve, Erin, RuthW2, deuce2, Sidi and TonyCoxon, unbeliever, Morlader, Ken :tear: 20 years but who’s counting?..................

Posts: 4292 | From: Looking for more trouble to get into | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Miss_Molly

Toujours gai
Beloved
# 2339

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Welsh Dragon, you are a clever reader. I do indeed have one brother and one sister. I am oldest. My brother, a petroleum engineer, married to the estimable Sue Ann, and father of the recently married electrical engineer Rob and the brilliant young artist Jennie, just turned 50 this summer. My sister, of ministerial, farming and Civil Air Patrol talents, married to Arthur Emerson and stepmother of two grown sons, one an executive for Mercedes Benz and one a tech support angel for a computer outfit, will be 46 this December. She was born on the first and I on the last day of December, an early 6th birthday for me.

We have had our share of squabbles, even serious ones down the years. My sister and I had actually been having a cool period in our relationship, due to vastly differing temperaments, and an episode in my life which hurt her and my parents and which I was not able to explain, when I was diagnosed with my ailment. We never stopped loving each other; we just did not seem to be able to connect warmly.
On hearing of my trouble, she immediately made plans to come and help me. Her husband, who needs her on the farm, said he would manage without her---she must go to me. Her two sons pledged support in money (the older son) and in taking her place in caring for the animals (the younger son). While here, she aided me in all my travails with officialdom. She even entertained the hope that she might be able to save my life by giving me a lung, altough she is severely asthmatic and certainly needs both of hers!

My brother, being an engineer, is more careful in his actions, but his support is there for me, too. A man of science, he is finding it especially hard to envision me dying of an entity to which they can put no certain name. It is a cancer, and it will certainly kill me, but it cannot be identified as any known kind. He wishes it was a known quantity so that perhaps there might be really effective treatment. My sister-in-law sent me a wonderful present yesterday: banana nut bread and a photo frame with pictures of my niece and nephew as babies, children, and young adults. Their proud aunt holds them, then stands by them. The tiny baby that was Rob now towers over her, but retains the quality of sweetness that so enchanted her when he was small. The little niece with the bright smile blossoms into beautiful, confident womanhood, still with the same smile.

Lady A, I did play an instrument, the Appalachian dulcimer. My instrument was the first my cousin Michael Shedd ever made, dedicated to the memory of our common great-grandfather, Lendle Orr Cook, the champion fiddler, and was given to me. I am sad to report I have not played in maybe ten years. I am going to try to regrow my callouses and "fire 'er up" again. It is a she, and her name is Sally Ann, after a favorite jolly tune of mine. "Did you ever see a muskrat, Sally Ann? Dragging her fat tail through the sand? Haste to the wedding, Sal, Sal! Haste to the wedding, Sally Ann!"

Yes, I did sometimes sing to my patients, particularly as a student nurse caring for infants. I was a dab hand (tongue?) at singing babies to sleep. I did once sing for a woman who was being nourished exclusively through her veins, using a verse of "the Waxie's Dargle", the one that says, "when food is scarce and you see the hearse, you'll know you've died of hunger!" She laughed. I also sang to lull an agitated patient, with whom I was on "one to one" duty to prevent further attempts at suicide.

My faith definitely affected my work. I had my days when I was cranky of course, and my days when I didn't feel much like being a nurse, and I confess days when I was not looking for any extra work, but in my heart, I knew it was my calling. I was there to be God's eyes, hands, brain, heart,and voice in a given situation. I was his gift to my patients, if I was willing to be given, and they were his gifts to me. The rewards were far beyond anything I deserved. I remember an old lady, in one of her few lucid moments, saying to me, "I'm not afraid when you're here." I remember an old man kissing my hand, and another man, after a long night of careful monitoring for his new kidney's function, pulling my head down to him to kiss my face.

I used to pray for my patients, the doctors and my colleagues. These were quick mental prayers. It startled me when my "private nurse" revealed to me that when she told a prisoner who was often in our care that I was dying. he remarked, "She's the one who prays all the time, isn't she?"

Mother, I plead guilty! There are many things I should have done, but I read instead. Besides, I had the good fortune to have a job for eight or nine years where I could read all night long, provided I listened to the buzzer for incoming calls. Among other things, I read the Book of Mormon at that time. I had always been afraid to read it. I knew I could not belong to a church that held it as scripture, because those churches' liturgies no longer fed me. What would happen though if the Book were true? Where would I go? I read and even used a study guide, and at the end, came to the conclusion that the Book of Mormon was not the word of God, except the part which appears to me to be lifted bodily from Isaiah. I respect other people's conclusions on the matter, I hasten to say, because "other people" includes my own dear father.

Tomorrow (or later today, depending on your location), St Sebastian takes me for blood work, an injection of epoetin alpha, and a chat with Dr Reilly, who I would like you all to know has the complexion of a young girl, despite being in his late sixties. I am feeling better in terms of the infection, and hope my blood is rebounding, too. Further developments on this channel....

--------------------
"I come from a state that raises corn, and cockleburrs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me"

Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver at a naval banquet in Philadelphia, 1899

Posts: 1242 | From: home | Registered: Feb 2002  |  IP: Logged
Clíona
Shipmate
# 2035

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Dear Molly,

Thankyou for sharing your life with us in this way. I think I should stop reading this at lunchtime, because you move me so much through your lyricism and with the wonderful history you're sharing. But, then, I'm glad I do read it at lunchtime, because you bring me back down to Earth and remind me to keep God's will in mind at all times. And that usually gets me through the afternoon.

I'm glad you got 'Granuaile' finally. I hope you enjoy it.

Love,
Cliona

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Starting (yet) again...

Posts: 1262 | From: Back in Dublin | Registered: Dec 2001  |  IP: Logged
Moth

Shipmate
# 2589

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Molly, I also love the works of Elizabeth Goudge. My love of them started in childhood with 'The Little white Horse', which my mother read to me when I was very young.

I think my favourite is 'The Dean's Watch', although I love all of them. I have thought for a while that you remind me very much of Miss Montague in 'The Dean's Watch'. She is useful and beloved although she does not know it, or need to know it. I think you are very like that yourself, Molly.

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"There are governments that burn books, and then there are those that sell the libraries and shut the universities to anyone who can't pay for a key." Laurie Penny.

Posts: 3446 | From: England | Registered: Apr 2002  |  IP: Logged
Beethoven

Ship's deaf genius
# 114

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Dearest Molly,

What a way you have with words! I'm hooked on your thread - compulsive reading every lunchtime. [Big Grin]

I really will try and put pen to paper and send a letter to you soon, honest... But in the meantime, keep it coming - it's fascinating to learn more about you!

God bless you always, Molly.

Beets

--------------------
Who wants to be a rock anyway?

toujours gai!

Posts: 1309 | From: Here (and occasionally there) | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
sophs

Sardonic Angel
# 2296

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molly your thread is really interesting and it's very cool to hear more about you and your life
love and prayers
sophs

Posts: 5407 | From: searching saharas of sorrow | Registered: Feb 2002  |  IP: Logged
Margaret

Shipmate
# 283

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Miss Molly, you studied modern Hebrew!!! (Sorry I've taken so long to notice that, I haven't been able to spend much time on a computer for the past few days.) Well, me too, though in my case informally with an Israeli friend, and I've forgotten all mine too - but I've got exactly the right card to send you. I bought it in Israel a few years ago and wondered why I did, but now I see it was meant for you, so I'll put it in the post.

Your Hebrew was obviously a whole lot better than mine!

Love, Margaret

Posts: 2456 | From: West Midlands UK | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged



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