"Love God, serve God: everything is in that." -- St. Clare of Assisi

Welcome Advent!

The earth is snow-dusted, the sky is steel grey, and the altar is violet and lovely in it's penitence. I spent the first Sunday of Advent sweeping the dust of Thanksgiving festivities away and adjusting to daily life again. Our guests flew out in the morning and we missed their pleasent, easy company throughout the afternoon. But the joy of the new year crept in as we changed the sheets and altar-cloth to rich purple and shared a dinner of left-over champagne, curried turkey, and butternut-soup.

I am always surprised to discover how little we need to live grandly; and how much is provided by God through our good friends and neighbours. I have a box of lovely dishes and a treadle-sewing machine waiting back home - curtesy of my ciotka, who though I'd appreciated them. Our beeswax-Advent candles are a gift of a shop-owning friend who shared part of Thanksgiving dinner with us. The leftover champagne was brought and left by ojciec i matka who are generous practically to a fault. We are amazingly blessed.