Poetry Saturday, Falling Stars

How many stars have softly slipped
from Heaven's gentle knowing grasp
falling, landing, bodies tipped,
to slumber in the darkened grass?


(image courtesy of Sarah Summers Illustration)

How many stars have kissed the trees
with gold and diamond-spangled dust
as they tumbled through the leaves
in graceful arcs as all stars must?



I wonder when I wander there,
through timeless forests still and deep,
If I am walking unaware
upon the dreams of stars that sleep.
~Rachel Wallace-Oberle



Oh, I do love the thought of prancing upon dreaming slumbering stars . . . don't you? It is a sweet, sweet thought . . .

Specific prayers needed for Lura today. First that they will be able to keep infection away from her epidural. This is so important to her. It is the epidural that helps to keep the pain at bay, enough so that she can move about and keep her lungs working. Secondly that her body will be able to rid itself of the fluid that is still left in her lung and preventing her lung from inflating. Thirdly that her lung will re-inflate. I spoke to her yesterday and she does sound so much stronger and was able to laugh, but then I do believe that Lura would smile and laugh through anything. She is such a precious soul and does appreciate our prayers so very much. Do pop on over and give her some love. It truly blesses her days.

I was able to have my tooth fixed yesterday so that was an extra special blessing. I really was not looking foward to facing the whole weekend in pain, especially where it is Conference Weekend! I love listening to the talks from the leaders of our church and I wanted to be able to fully concentrate on them, not on my hurting mouth!

I also wanted to apologize to anyone who got some wonky e-mails from me yesterday. It seems someone had compromised my e-mail account and was using it to send out spam to everyone on my contact list. I was able to get it sorted and change my password via my server. Totally annoying that there are ruthless individuals out there that get a kick out of things like this. It was not a virus, just in case any of you are worried that it was. Just some idiot sending out spam. The only thing I can think that happened out of the ordinary was that I deleted some distasteful comments that some individual from India had left on my blog. I hate it when spammers do that, and so I have not changed it so that you need to put in a word verification to comment. I don't like doing that, but you have to do what you have to do and I am sorry for that. I always hate word verifications on blogs. I can't understand the letters on them half of the time!

A recipe today! A delicious potato and ham casserole that is rustic, hearty and comforting! We love this. Over here we can't get the cream of potato soup, so I just use cream of celery, or potato and leek is good too. Have a wonderful Saturday everyone!



*Scalloped Potatoes with Ham*
Serves 10
Printable Recipe

A deliciously comforting oven baked casserole that will have everyone coming back for seconds!

1 can of undiluted condensed cream of mushroom soup (10-3/4 ounces)
1 cup of milk
1 can of undiluted condensed cream of potato soup (10-3/4 ounces)
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup of butter, melted
1 clove of garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp of seasoned salt
8 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
3 cups of cubed cooked ham
1 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 180*C//350*F/ gas mark 5. Butter a large deep casserole dish well. Set aside.

Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl, mixing together well. Pour into the prepared casserole dish. Smooth out the top. Place iinto the preheated oven and bake for about an hour and a half. Cover for the first 45 minutes, then remove the cover and finish baking until the top is lightly browned and the potatoes are tender. Remove from the oven and allow to stand for 10 to 15 minutes before serving. We like to have a tasty salad on the side with this. Delicious!



Over in The English Kitchen this morning a delicious Tortilla Soup.