Our backyard is now like an aviary thanks to Frank's expertise at hanging up and filling bird feeders.
As you can see, we have all sorts of birds and they seem to get along together fairly well. There is a whole flock of dove that visit us daily,
and we have now had a wonderful addition to our flock, the red winged blackbird. They are truly beautiful and there are several that frequent our feeders daily.
Papa even hung a finch feeder and the most beautiful little golden finch comes there several times a day to eat his fill of birdseed.
We also have the unwanted squirrels that love to get on the feeders and eat more than their fair share of the seed ... especially the bits of corn that are there.This is a great past time and our kitchen is condusive to watching all the birds and squirrels since we have all the large windows across the back of the house.
I have finished my study of Islam and I must say that it was very interesting and also very disconcerting. Until we had this study at the book club at church I knew nothing about this religion. I now may know more than I bargained for, but it was a fascinating study.
With the holidays behind us, we are now studying another book by Anne Rice entitled "Christ the Lord, The Road to Cana".
I don't think that I have mentioned that when we were in Israel on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with Bishop Kelshaw several years ago, Frank and I renewed our wedding vows in a church in Cana. It was a very special time in our lives and one we'll always remember. Being able to follow in the footsteps of Christ is something that is indescribable and I'm so glad that we did this. Our lives changed drastically as we could see pages out of Holy Scripture unfold before our very eyes. What a blessing!
We have also been attending a lot of parties lately. Our friends, the Minshew's, had a wonderful party to introduce their daughter's fiancee.
The photo above is of them when we were all in Santa Fe together last year. Their daughter is beautiful and will make a lovely bride. Frank was very impressed with her "intended" as he is also an Aggie. He's a handsome young man and we wish them both well when they begin their lives together in the spring.
We also went to a dinner party at our friend Carol's house.
The "gang" was there and after a delicious meal, we played a table top game that was a lot of fun. It's always nice to be surrounded by good friends, good fellowship and good food. Three of my favorite things in life.
The next day we went to an Open House that our Bishop and his wife, Donna, gave .
We have been friends with the Ikers for many years. In fact, we met Bishop Iker and his wife, Donna, about 18 years ago when he was the Rector of a parish in Sarasota, FL and we were traveling with Bishop Michael Marshall as Ministry Consultants for the Anglican Institute which was then based in St. Louis. He was just a baby back then and such a personable young priest.
We had no idea at the time that we would be blessed one day to have him as the Bishop of our Diocese!
We received a New Year's card from my friend, Young Woo, who is also an artist as well as an architect. He always does a painting of one of his grandsons on his card. This year it's Galen who has just turned 14.
Young and I met when we were both on a trip to Egypt and Italy to study photography with Lisl Dennis. That's been nearly 25 years ago now and he, Frank and I keep in close touch. He now has a home in Santa Fe (as well as Beverly Hills and London), so we see him every summer. He's an excellent artist and also a very good "retired" architect. He's in the process of building a home for his son as we speak. Here is a rendering of it.
Last Sunday on the Feast of the Baptism of Christ, we had two very special baptisms at our parish. Two of our young priests have new babies and they were each baptised by their fathers on this special day. Here is Father Matkin with his new daughter, Madeline,
and below are the two young families with the newest members of God's family at St. Alban's.
It was a glorious time as baptism's are so special. Each one of us as members of the Parish renew our baptismal vows when we welcome a new member to the fold. Melisa, Father Matkin's wife, made Maddy's Christening dress. She looked like a little doll and the blanket that she is lying on is just like the one that I knitted for Franklin for his Christening 45 years ago. I still have it and each of my grandsons and my granddaughter had it wrapped around them when they went to the church to be baptised. It has become another one of those Salazar traditions. I also have the dress that our eldest son, Jim, was Christened in, and all of the children and grandchildren that followed wore it at their baptism's as well.
We will be leaving for California soon and I'm really excited about this. We will start out in Newport Beach where we will stay in a condo for a few days.
One of the these reasons I'm excited is that we will be seeing old friends that we haven't seen for a long time while we're there. One of our friends lives in Upton, CA, and we hope to be having either lunch or dinner with him and his wife one day while we're there and then we're going to see a long time friend and classmate of mine that we haven't seen in over 20 years. It will truly be a reunion and I'll send a full report when we return.
From there we will be going to LA and will visit with our friends, the Lassleys.
If you remember, we met them when we went to China a year and a half ago and then we all cruised together in Scandinavia. We're really looking forward to our visit.
I have finally been painting again and here is my latest piece. It's a surprise for someone special ... (more details later)
Guess I'd better go and start breakfast for my honey. He has a meeting at the Diocese this morning so I want him to have a hot meal before he leaves. Have a great week.
XOXO, Pcasso
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