March 2004 Archives

Bad news about Terri. Please see Father Johansen's for the ugly details: another legal setback, poor care (now she's got a bedsore, which really makes me see red), the whiff of corruption and cronyism....

Then there's that other wacky thing with the "puncture wounds." What's up with that? It could be something as simple as someone drawing a blood sample on the wrong patient and leaving the room a mess. At least Governor Bush wants to know what's up with that too.

Mark Windsor is wondering if the new IG for Florida's Agencey for Health Care Administration is aware of the level of care presented to Terri Schiavo. (You know, if she were a dog PETA would be chaining themselves to the doors.)

Mark also suggests finding someone to run against Judge Greer this November. How about one of our own Floridian St Bloggers?

St Michael the Archangel, protect Terri Schiavo!

Gross, huh? but I have spent the day daydreaming about chowing down on a nice hunk of liver with onions. Pregnancy is weirdness.

As a child I used to relish liver. I was also extremely anemic, so my father used to chop it up and put it in the gravy. I can eat that again.

I look ridiculous. I am like 9 weeks today and can only fit in maternity clothes-which would make me like 5 month looking by the normal standards. I read it is due to poor stomach muscles. Grrr.

A close friend of my Guardian Angel sent me a container of Blessed Salt in the mail to help with some home stuff. My first question was "OK, now what do I do with it?" to which she replied "There is some info on Domestic-Church." I found this interesting tidbit which I thought I would share.

Blessed Salt

by Maria Hernandez, used with permission.

This information is taken from a pamphlet written by Father Hampsch. You can obtain the entire pamphlet, tapes, and books by contacting his ministry at Claretian Tape Ministry, P.O. Box 19100, Los Angeles, CA 90019

Blessed salt is an instrument of grace to preserve one from the corruption of evil occurring as sin, sickness, demonic influence, etc.

As in the case of all sacramentals, its power comes not from the sign itself, but by means of the Church's official (liturgical, not private) prayer of blessing -- a power the Church derives from Christ Himself. (see Matt. 16:19 and 18:18).

As the Vatican II document on the Liturgy states, both Sacraments and sacramentals sanctify us, not of themselves, but by power flowing from the redemptive act of Jesus, elicited by the Church's intercession to be directed through those external signs and elements. Hence sacramentals like blessed salt, holy water, medals, etc., are not to be used superstitiously as having self-contained power, but as 'focus points' funneling one's faith toward Jesus, just as a flag is used as a focus point of patriotism, or as handkerchiefs were used to focus faith for healing and deliverance (Acts 19:12).

Thus, used non-superstitiously, modest amounts of blessed salt may be sprinkled in one's bedroom, or across thresholds to prevent burglary, in cars for safety, etc. A few grains of blessed salt in drinking water or used in cooking or as food seasoning often bring astonishing spiritual and physical benefits. As with the use of Sacraments, much depends on the faith and devotion of the person using salt or any sacramental. This faith must be Jesus-centered, as was the faith of the blind man in John 9; he had faith in Jesus, not in the mud and spittle used by Jesus to heal him.

Blessed salt is not a new sacramental, but the Holy Spirit seems to be leading many to a new interest in its remarkable power as an instrument of grace and healing. Any amount of salt may be presented to a priest for his blessing using the following official prayer from the Roman Ritual:

"Almighty God, we ask you to bless this salt, as once you blessed the salt scattered over the water by the prophet Elisha. Wherever this salt (and water) is sprinkled, drive away the power of evil, and protect us always by the presence of your Holy Spirit. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen"

If you are interested in getting blessed salt, print this information out and present the blessing prayer to your parish priest. Ask him to bless the salt for you using the official prayer from the Roman Ritual printed above.

If it's not possible for you to get your priest to do this, you can write me for a 'starter supply' of blessed salt. Please send a stamped self addressed envelope to: M. Hernandez, 15581 W. 141 St, Olathe, KS 66062. Mention that you'd like the blessed salt. I don't include any information about its use, as it's all printed here, so print this information out for yourself if you want the blessed salt.

I can personally attest to the power of this sacramental to keep away evil. When we first moved to this house, a very evil family lived next door. The man and woman were not married, he was a drug dealer, she was ...I don't know what. Their teenaged boys were almost worse, loud, destructive and violent. We had rocks and bricks thrown against our house, the children's bikes were stolen, their basketball net was broken and our lawn was regularily littered with broken bottles. We considered moving to get our children away from this family and the danger they presented. A family friend presented us with a large container of blessed salt, and (feeling very conspicuous) I sprinkled it around the perimeter of our yard.

Within a week, there was a For Sale sign. Next door.

I hope my husband does not notice if the red clam sauce tonight is a bit salty. Just kidding...sort of.
PS The friend of my G.A also sent me some bad a%$ white chocolate peppermint fudge that she made with her own two hands, that I am not sharing. It is one of the few foods that do not make me gag.

...in other words, that stupid email. I finally wrote and sent it this morning. I will be dreading checking my email for the rest of the day.

I wonder sometimes if I have an unrealistic expectation of friendship. When I was in college I thought that I would stay in close touch with many of my friends there. In a matter of months I found out that wasn't going to be the case -- that for whatever reason, most of the people I thought were my good friends were not going to be making the effort to maintain our friendship by keeping in touch, whether by letters or phone calls (this was before email was common -- you may commence the dinosaur sound effects.) Was it because they didn't know how to keep a friendship going? Was it because they knew how, but just didn't feel like keeing it going with me? Either way, the net result is the same -- no more friendship.

Now this I did not know! A couple of years ago, the Diocese of Richmond began the cause of Frank Parater, a seminarian from the Diocese who died in Rome at the North American College at the age of 23.

George Weigel's column on the Servant of God Frank Parater.

Rosey Posey is 11 today! Where did all the time go? I remember when she was born like it was yesterday.

Later today I have to compose an email that will require all kinds of things I don't do well, skills like tact and delicacy and gentleness and interpersonal sensitivity and telling-the-truth-in-love -- you know, all that E.Q. stuff.

Consuming Our Children

Thanks to Alicia for this link.

From the Terri's Fight mailing list:

Terri's Story on FOX News Tonight

If you are able to tune in, Bobby Schindler, brother to Terri Schiavo, will appear on FOX News Live Weekend Edition tonight at 6.00pm ET. Mr. Schindler will be discussing new developments in Terri's case as well as ongoing court actions. He will be joined by a spokesperson who will speak to some of the major controversies in Terri's court case.

Please accept my apologies for the late notice. This has only been confirmed as of this morning.

We will attempt to post a transcript as soon as possible to www.terrisfight.org.

You can find your local FOX affiliate on http://tv.yahoo.com.

Gavin Menzies, the author of the book is a retired British submarine captain who believes the Chinese reached and even colonized America around 1421 before Columbus did. He reaches this conclusion due to evidence such as many pre-Columbian maps he found which chart places like the Caribbean, North and South America, Antarctica, Greenland and Australia. his story is that the Ming Dynasty Emperor, Zhu Di set a huge armada, approx. 800 ships, out around the world to explore and chart. The problem is Mr. Menzies has no academic evidence to support this because supposedly while the fleet was out, the Emperor died, and the people were annoyed because the Emperor did things like wiped out whole forests of teak in Vietnam, and let certain areas go hungry in order to build this fleet. As a result the next Emperor wiped out all records of this expedition and instead of looking to explore the Chinese became xenophobic.
While Mr. Menzies has little in the way of academic evidence. He has a great deal in the way of physical evidence. Wrecked Chinese junks (ships) have been found that carbon date to this time period in many places including Australia, Sacramento the East Coast. Evidence of small Chinese villages in places like Rhode Island. Many Mezo-American, South and North American Indians speak dialects very similar to Chinese, and in many cases can understand Chinese. Their is DNA evidence to show that many of these people have Chinese DNA from the time period. Much of the art that is practiced such as lacquering, which is long. drawn out multi-step process was found to be practiced in only China and in South and Central America. Much of the plant life, such as coconuts, mangoes, bananas, sweet potatoes are not native to the New World, but to Asia.

My Thoughts
First of all the idea that the Chinese reached the Caribbean or North America is not great shock or surprise. Those of us of Caribbean descent know Asian culture has an extremely strong influence in this area of the world, granted it may be more recent than 1421, it is not like any big surprise or big deal. It more or less makes sense. The problem is Mr. Menzies is a one note Charlie, and more than his point that the Chinese were ever there, he wants to make a point that they were there before Columbus and that changes history around. But the fact is, we know the Vikings reached New Founland before Columbus, and maybe even St. Brendan before them. There were Taino (Arawacks) Indians, Caribe Indians and even evidence of Portuguese settlements in Ponce, Puerto Rico before Columbus, so people were there prior to Columbus. What is special about Columbus is it was because of his journey that we are all here today, that I the way it went. History is not changed.
I think in Mr. Menzies mission to discredit Columbus he spends too much focusing on this 1421 mission and the the places Columbus went. There is tons of compelling physical evidence that people such as the Incas (for example) are Chinese immigrants of a sort. This to me personally is fascinating and I personally would find it interesting to see this elaborated on much more.
He also spends way too much time talking about how barbaric the Christian cultures/Europeans are and how enlightened, civilized and educated the Chinese were, and hence the mezo-American Indians. Give me a break. as you know I tire of this type of racism. There are few perfect cultures because there are no perfect people. Granted the Chinese had beautiful art, were technologically advanced, but they certainly had their streak of barbarism. Before the Ming Dynasty China was ruled by the Mongols. The Chinese reclaimed China and for punishment, made eunuchs out of every Mongol male child. He speaks about how enlightened (unhindered) the Chinese were sexually because the ships were populated with Concubines educated in sex. These poor women were slaves. Good grief. Do we need to get into the sophistication of the Indians in Mexico? Yes, they built great structures, made porcelain plates as thin as egg shells, and they also offered human sacrifices. Of course I am not arguing the europeans were perfect, they didn't believe in bathing for crying out loud, but you are going on a wild goose chase looking for the perfect culture, many have there good and there bad, some worse or better than others. America, my home which I love with all our luxuries does not hold the record for being civilized with capital punishment, abortion, racism and let's nt forget this country was built on chattel slavery. But it is my home and the best I got. But I digress. I have to admit, when Columbus first came into the Caribbean, one of the first islands he went to was an island he named Guadeloupe (the significance to this was totally lost on Mr. Menzies which also makes me doubt bits and pieces of his other research) and it was populated by cannibals. I do not think it gets much grosser that that.
He just missed some obvious points as well. there is evidence of a Chinese colony in the Boston area, and he the author said he questioned modern Bostonians for Chinese like traits such as Mongolian blue spots. Mongolian blue spots are a pigment trait, not necessarily an Asian trait. My brothers had them as babies and when my parents asked if it was a genetic marker of their Chinese blood (my great grandfather was from China), the doctor said more likely from the southern Italian blood. the other things is Mr. Menzies mentions a great deal about many Indian groups speaking "Chinese". Chinese is actually 6 distinct languages, some of which are dissimilar (my cousins used to say that knowing Mandarin gave you more fore-knowledge of knowing Cantonese for example), so it is hard to see what he is talking about when he refers to dialects having many cognates to "Chinese", so again, I wish I had a just a little bit more to go one to believe him besides just his word.
All in all I think the book is a fascinating read and I think he really is on to something, but his theory has holes and I think think because his motive is simply anti Christianity. If his motive was simply knowledge for knowledge's sake with more of an open mind, I bet he would uncover a great deal more fascinating info.

I found the source of the ghost: a Little Golden Book in which the Sesame Street characters put on a play about feelings. To demonstrate "scared", Telly Monster cowers under the bed while other Muppets wear costumes showing scary things like tigers and thunderstorms. Ernie is wearing a ghost costume (the bedsheet with cut out eyes) but his face is covered, so I could see why Hambet didn't realize it was Ernie.

So we had a little chat about how they're just putting on a play, that it was Ernie in the costume and that Telly was just pretending to be frightened, and we have had two nights free of ghosts and monsters.

I am just kicking myself because I know I have to be attentive to what Hambet is seeing, I know little kids don't see things the same way we do, and I still missed this. Oh well, it's not the end of the world, and Hambet doesn't seem to be scarred for life. I have shelved a lot of our potentially scarier home media (most purchased for me before Hambet was born; I love animated movies) and I'll be looking for gentler stories for evenings when we want to cuddle up and see a video together. (I'm thinking Veggies and Winnie-the-Pooh; more suggestions welcome....)

It is interesting that we've been reading this book for months and this only came up now. A friend of mine observed that stories that don't bother her three-year-old son will really affect her five-year-old son, and she thinks it's because her older boy just understands more. And I think the same is true for Hambet. Just in the last three months he's been doing so much more imaginative and pretend play, and it would stand to reason that if he's making up his own stories, he's also taking in more and understanding more of the stories he reads.

Bob, of the Republic of Virtue, is finally attempting to read that book:

...until I actually read this trash for myself none of my criticisms will hold any water with the kids. Amazing how they will believe the undocumented, utterly baseless slop that Dan Brown puts out in blatant defiance of the historical record, but when I'm citing the likes of Sandra Meisel and asserting completely undisputed facts, I'm the one who has to meet the burden of proof.

One of the reasons I would personally not mind taking a shot at Dan Brown in a dunk tank is that for some reason his fictional albino assassin monk has become a character in my husband's strange inner world: "Hi, hubby, how was your day?" "Not too bad. Saw Silas on the Metro, he says hi. He also says you should make me steak for dinner every night, and lobster on Friday." "Silas told me to buy these books or else." "I met so-and-so for lunch, and Silas showed up too."

I'm not sure what it says about me that I'm married to a man whose imaginary friend is a menacing albino assassin monk.

The Curt Jester has the details.

...to Mark at Vociferous Yawpings.

I think we could use a happier word than "blogiversary." I nominate Father Johansen to coin one, since he did so well with "blug."

We don't play rough here. We don't like profanity, blasphemy, flaming, personal attacks on anyone, or general incivility. We may edit or delete offending comments -- or ban offending commenters -- at our discretion.

[C]ivility is considered a higher good than First Amendment rights here. Incivility will be uncivilly suppressed. -- Church of the Masses comment policy.

WASHINGTON — The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday approved a bill that would make it a separate federal crime to kill or injure a fetus during an attack on a pregnant woman. Democrats on the panel called the legislation a thinly veiled attempt to erode abortion rights.

Oh for crying out loud, why do they whine so much? Even the ones who "chose" to have a child, would they not feel heartbroken if they lost a child in such a heinous manner?

But Democrats and abortion rights groups said the real motive was to establish "fetal personhood" (search) by giving separate federal protection to a fertilized egg, embryo or fetus. "This is part of a larger cultural war that is going on," said Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, top Democrat on the committee.

Am I the only one who thinks they sound silly? They have their "rights", abortion is legal, but they will not stop until we lose every sense of humanity we still may have surrounding the unborn.

Today is also Hambet's third birthday in the Church: the anniversary of his baptism.

Eric Johnson of Catholic Light has the picture I wanted, but couldn't find.

Karen Marie chose a very different picture for her Annunciation post at the Anchor Hold. Usually I don't care for that style of art, but this one really stopped me in my tracks -- I was literally staring at it, for a long, long time.

Destruction of the One Ring Day, at least on the Shire Calendar, which of course is a system of reckoning we heartily endorse.

Enbrethiliel has the details. This time-zone thing is cool.

This time they showed up at around 1:40 AM, when the parents were too groggy to implement any of the stretegies that sounded so effective in the wakeful daytime.

I think I'll continue with ratcheting the media wayyyyyyyyyyyyy back, and try increasing the cuddle and story time during the day.

V. Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariae;
R. Et concepit de Spiritu Sancto.
Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.

V. Ecce ancilla Domini.
R. Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum.
Ave Maria, gratia plena,.......

V. Et Verbum caro factum est.
R. Et habitavit in nobis.
Ave Maria, gratia plena,.......

V. Ora pro nobis, sancta Dei Genetrix.
R. Ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi.

Oremus:
Gratiam tuam, quaesumus, Domine, mentibus nostris infunde; ut qui, Angelo nuntiante, Christi Filii tui incarnationem cognovimus, per passionem eius et crucem, ad resurrectionis gloriam perducamur. Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum.
R. Amen.

OMG!!!!!!!!! I'm ROTFLOL!!

I was originally going to title this post, "All Dressed Up and No Place to Go." When we had our first snap of warm weather a few weeks ago, I ran right out and made three raised beds (I'd made the fourth last fall.) I filled them with some soil and compost and... now I have to wait.

We were enjoying weather in the fifties and even in the low sixtes, but it's gotten much colder again, especially at night. My sources tell me that it's not too early to start planting things like peas and lettuce -- "plant as soon as the soil can be worked" -- but I'm still nervous about doing too much planting. I am terrified that I jumped the gun on the rhubarb -- I found some on March 12 and planted it that very afternoon, just in time for the cold weather to come back. I am anxious for the survival of these roots. When I planted them, they had a few little stems coming, maybe an eighth of an inch thick; the weak little leaves withered but the stems themselves seem to be hanging in there. I mulched them with leaves for the coldest nights; I just checked them and all of them still have good turgor in those little stems -- and one of them has a few leaves getting ready to come out. The rhubarb plant from last year is doing great and has plenty of fat stalks with big green leaves coming up.

I have also planted peas and mesclun but I haven't seen any germination. The garlic I planted last fall is doing fine, and I picked up some more from the garden center for a spring planting.

I am delighted with the success of the seeds I started inside under a grow-light. Almost all my eggplants have germinated, and some are starting to get their first true leaves. The parsley and geraniums are coming up too. I tried starting lettuce and broccoli indoors and I'm not sure how good an idea that was; they are leggy, and flopping all over the place. This week I must start the tomatoes and basil.

The flower bulbs are coming up now too -- not quite as precisely choreographed as I had hoped, but then I do have spring fever. The crocuses are all up, untouched by deer or squirrel, and the first daffodils have bloomed. The outdoor hyacinths, in white and deep blue, are coming too -- the first buds are starting to open.

In the next few days I want to check the schedule and start hardening off some lettuce seedlings to transplant outside and start doing some direct sowing: lettuce, mesclun, corn salad, parsnips, and carrots. I'd like to find some little gadget to help me plant the carrots and lettuce -- the seeds are so darn tiny!

This is a picture of my vegetable garden. Yes, I know the bed frames aren't quite level, and if I could go back in time I go to last spring and say, "Don't waste your time double digging! Make raised beds, and space them at least 24 inches apart! Don't bother with the brick paths, they are a pain to level and you'll have drainage problems!"

The back bed by the fence is the rhubarb bed, and if you look closely at the corner you might see the rhubarb from last year coming up. The green stems in the front fence-side bed are garlic. The pink strings are marking off one-foot squares to help with plant spacing. That bed will be the future home of the parsnips and carrots, I think. The back left bed is where I planted the peas and will be the home of summer lettuce, and the front left bed -- the sunniest -- will be for spring lettuce and then for tomatoes, eggplant, and garlic. But I keep changing my mind about where I want to put the tomatoes.

Last night my husband and I were slipping off into dreamland when we heard a weird noise. I looked at my husband with that "did you hear that?" look. He'd heard it too, and was sitting up in bed. We listened intently for a moment, and the noise came again. It was kind of a shuffling noise, with a piteous little cry that was starting off soft but was getting louder and louder. And it was coming from Hambet's bed. My dh got up and asked him what was wrong; Hambet tearfully informed us, "There's a ghost under my bed!"

Well, we had the little chat about no-such-thing-as-ghosts; Hambet drifted off to sleep during the chat and was slid, unprotesting, back into his own bed later in the evening. Hambet has told us about monsters before -- in a general way -- but this is the first time we've had any news of ghosts and any supernatural problems at bedtime. So I'll be paying extra attention to where he might be getting this from.

I hope we can get this ghost out of the house soon; I am not interested in getting into chasing ghosts, monsters, and assorted paranormal brethren every night. Maybe I can just squish it like a bug, since it must be very tiny to be able to fit under a junior bed.

Tastemakers To the Masses:
Martha May Be Our Era's William Morris (WaPo; registration)

Yahoo! News - Report Says Medicare to Go Broke by 2019

You are the Mexican Cross: This ceramic cross is
hand crafted and painted in Mexico. Its bright
colors make it appropriate for the kitchen or a
child's bedroom, reminding us of the joy of the
resurrection.


What Kind of Cross are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

"Baroque Art emerged in Europe around 1600 as an reaction against the intricate and formulaic Mannerist style which dominated the Late Renaissance." (artcyclopedia.com.) Baroque Art is fairly realistic but is often willing to smudge the realism in favor of theatricality and the emotional pull that is its trademark. You're most likely a creative, talented emotional person who likes attention. Although it could all just be a show. Famous Baroquers (there are lots): Rembrandt, Rubens, Caravaggio, and You.

which art movement are you?
this quiz was made by Caitlin

I was hoping for Pre-Raphaelite but I am too scrupulous to throw the answers. Thanks to those crazy Summas for this link.

Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted's on the "I'm Catholic, but...." crowd:

“ I am a Catholic politician but I don’t let my Catholicism impact on how I vote or what legislation I promote;” but Jesus says (Mt 7:26-27), “Everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”

“ I am a Catholic physician but I don’t let my faith mold my decisions regarding abortion, contraception, or other medical practices;” but Jesus says Mt 5:37), “Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one.”

“ I am a Catholic talk show host but I don’t let the Church inhibit my right to say whatever I want on the air;” but in the Letter of James, God says (2:17) “Faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

“ I am a Catholic priest but I don’t let Magisterial teaching keep me from dissenting from moral or doctrinal points nor let it limit my own ‘pastoral solutions’;” but at ordination each priest professes a solemn oath, “I believe everything contained in God’s Word, written or handed down in tradition and proposed by the Church… I also firmly accept and hold each and every thing that is proposed by the Church definitively regarding teaching on faith and morals.”

Lent is the time to kick the “Catholic but...” out of our own daily lives. It is the time to expunge rationalization from our minds and to root out compromise from our hearts. Lent is the time to say a determined “No” to the temptation to water down our faith for personal gain. It is the time to say a much larger “Yes” to Jesus and His Gospel of Life. Lent is the time for Totus Tuus, the time to renew our commitment to love God with all our mind and heart and strength.....

Thanks to Not-a-Liturgist at Liturgiam Authenticam for this link.

I have the can't remember where I read that blues.

A while ago I came across a passage in a book of spiritual reading, a warning that anyone who was going to make a serious attempt to grow in the Christian life was going to start running into... opposition, perhaps from annoyed friends or even family members complaining about one's becoming "too religious," but perhaps other obstacles too.

I thought I came across this in An Introduction to the Devout Life, by dear St Francis de Sales, but when I pulled out the book today I couldn't find it.

Can anyone help me out? Thanks in advance.

This is another good reason to keep a commonplace book!

Magister Mundi sum!
"I am the Master of the Universe!"
You are full of yourself, but you're so cool you
probably deserve to be. Rock on.


Which Weird Latin Phrase Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Actually I should probably be a Magistra. Thanks to Magister Mundi Mark for this quiz.

VATICAN CITY (via Yahoo.com) - Pope John Paul II said Saturday the removal of feeding tubes from people in vegetative states was immoral, and that no judgment on their quality of life could justify such "euthanasia by omission."

John Paul made the comments to participants of a Vatican conference on the ethical dilemmas of dealing with incapacitated patients, entering into a debate that has sparked court battles in the United States and elsewhere.

The pope said even the medical terminology used to describe people in so-called "persistent vegetative states" was degrading to them. He said no matter how sick a person was, "he is and will always be a man, never becoming a 'vegetable' or 'animal.'"

In a vegetative state, patients are awake but not aware of themselves or their environment. The condition is different from a coma, in which the patient is neither awake nor aware. Both, however, are states in which the patient is devoid of consciousness.

If the vegetative state continues for a month, the patient is said to be in a persistent vegetative state; after a year without improvement, the patient is said to be in a permanent vegetative state.

Providing food and water to such patients should be considered natural, ordinary and proportional care — not artificial medical intervention, the pope told members of the conference, which was organized by the World Federation of Catholic Medical Associations and the Pontifical Academy for Life, a Vatican advisory body.

"As such, it is morally obligatory," to continue such care, he said.

Since no one knows when a patient in a vegetative state might awaken, "the evaluation of the probability, founded on scarce hope of recovery after the vegetative state has lasted for more than a year, cannot ethically justify the abandonment or the interruption of minimal care for the patient, including food and water," he said.

Similarly, he said that someone else's evaluation of the patient's quality of life in such a state couldn't justify letting them die of hunger or thirst.

"If this is knowingly and deliberately carried out, this would result in a true euthanasia by omission," he said.

John Paul has consistently voiced opposition to euthanasia, which the Vatican defines as "an action or omission that by its nature and intention" causes death to end pain. It says euthanasia always is a violation of God's law.

The issue over removing feeding tubes has prompted several court cases and legislation in the United States, Australia and elsewhere.

In a highly publicized case in Tampa, Fla., the husband of a severely brain-damaged woman, Terri Schiavo, has battled her parents for years to have his wife's feeding tube removed so she can die. He says she wouldn't have wanted to be kept alive with it.

The issue has involved the state legislature as well as the governor, who was given the authority to have the feeding tube reinserted after the woman's husband had it removed.

In his comments, John Paul said families of such ill people needed more emotional and economic support, so that they can better care for their loved ones. In addition, he said, society should commit more money to find cures for them.

I'll post to the link when I find it. Thanks to Mark for this story.

Yes, postpartem I want to be a superskinny superhottie. Yes, this is something I am slightly insecure and 'noid about. I think everyone was one totally shallow reason in their arsenal about why, if they were not Catholic and didn't have a clue, they would use artificial means to space babies. Mine is that everytime I get down to a shape I like, I get pregnant again. And it is getting harder and harder to return back. I remember leaving the hospital in my old jeans with my first two. Now, groan. With Gorbulas I was in baggy stuff for what seemed forever. My midwife said to give the belly 9 weeks to go down. Yuck, 9 weeks of walking around looking pregnant? I think I was going back to normal clothes by week 3 or 4 because I know I let myself leave the house around then and fit into normal clothes. I also joined Weight Watchers four weeks postpartem. I was so determined.

Not that I mind looking pregnant when I am pregnant. As a matter of fact it is one of the times I feel lovliest. Quite frankly it is really neat to be able to walk around with a bulging belly and feel absolutely perfect. But you cannot totally blame me for being so shallow. You can blame me some, but I'm and odd person, I am a perfectionist in many areas, my favourite show is Spongebob, I teach the kids how to do the hustle for a homeschooling class and quiz them on KC and the Sunshine bad-I guess maybe I am not reasonably well-adjusted.

See, but part of it you can't totally blame me for my shallowidity. Go shopping ladies, go ahead. Walk into an Old Navy. Why are all the jeans cut just under that postpartem belly? Yes, of course I wear a longer shirt over it-yikes I don't want nobody looking at my stretch marks-but the cuts are just perfect for taking that little pocket of belly and making it stick out under your clothes. Um, ick. Hey, I'm starting to have a revelation! I think that these styles were not intended for the average woman who has had a baby! They are intended to attract someone of the opposite sex. Usually, attracting someone of the opposite sex results in a postpartem belly. Then your clothing becomes almost asexual. These days though I cannot complain like I did ten years ago when I had Rosey Posey.That all nursing and maternity clothes are totally unattractive, they have gotten much better. But what I cannot fathom is why many clothes geared towards women of childbearing age very often try to lean towards "sexy" except at the times in your life when "hello", it is obvious you had sex. And no, I am not looking to be a sexy Mama, just an average looking young adult Mama.

Now here is part two why you cannot blame me. Madonna. Sarah Jessica Parker. Now we have celebrities having babies, which is probably who I have to thank that maternity clothes are not limited to shapless dresses with Peter Pan collars. But now we are more unforgiving to women who do not bounce right back. I have seen it. I have been to baby showers of my cousin's daughter and heard family gossip about how heavy my cousin looks at 6 weeks postpartem. Now here we are what is supposed to be a joyful family event, but you have to train to keep gossip of loved ones away. Good grief. Aha, see another reason you cannot blame me for being so incredibly shallow: crazy family who had maybe one kid and watches way too much TV and has very unrealistic expectations of what a real postpartem woman looks like. It's not like the average person is having 4+ kids anymore and my mother and I concur that it's that third or fourth kid that really devastates your body.

I had a small stint when Fastolph was a baby that I was heavier than I should be-a size 10. My grandmother would call me up to say "Oh Pansy, I am making a novena for you so you lose all that weight. I am so worried about you because you are starting to look matronly and you are too young to look matronly." When I sent her a copy of this picture from Posco's First Holy Communion all she said was "You gained weight again? You look so heavy there." Hmmm. "nice picture", "good job on the suit", "Posco looks cute" would have sufficed.

Why are we so unforgiving to women who chose motherhood? I mean in a real world, you would think the slightly more curvaceous figure would be an added sign of femininity, not ugliness. Why has androgyny become more of a symbol of sexuality? I don't know, I am confused now. Everytime I think about the hypocracies of modern society, my head hurts and I need to eat something.

Father Johansen gave us an amazing blug, describing us as "two reasonably-well-adjusted Catholic women who take their faith seriously."

That compliment's going to have us on Cloud Nine for weeks. Thanks so much, Father.

...When Mary answers the angel, she answers God. She knows that the angel appears as God's messenger and that and that when she delivers her Yes to him, she is in fact giving it to God. Her seeing and hearing the angel at all already depends on an obedient subordination of her senses to the supernatural life, the life of God's grace. She has senses like every person, but she does not use them as other people do, to adorn herself, to win something for herself and make it her own. Instead of closing off her senses for hrself, she opens them up for God; she uses them only to serve a better comprehension of the divine will, to its greater honor and glorification. She surrenders to God the purpose and and end of every act of her senses. so her senses are an open space in which her in which God can manifest himself at any time; they are ready for the angel. She regards her senses as a mere loan from the Father, so that, in what her senses perceive, she always recognises at once the gift of the Father. She sees and hears the angel, but in such a way that at the same time she knows that what enables her to see and receive something which God has placed in her, something which therefore allows her to see God himself in the angel. And just as she knows that in the angel she receives God, so also does she understand that the angel accepts what he recieves from her only in order to carry it to God...

You are Walt Whitman! Champion of the
Transcendentalist American Ideal, Walt Whitman
is one of the first poets to use the "free
verse" form in America. He has been
imitated, but will never be duplicated, just
like you! Except for by everyone else who gets
Walt Whitman ;)


Which famous poet are you? (pictures and many outcomes)
brought to you by Quizilla

I took Jeff's advice and gave Sauce Reader a try. I am delighted! It is easy to use, and even has an auto-detect, so that when I go to a blog that has a feed, all I have to do is click the button and the feed will be added to my list. And it really does read both RSS and Atom feeds well. It has an integrated IE browser window, so you can see the beauty of your favorite blogs.

Okay, all you Blogger users. Do your pal Peony and your other readers a favor, and activate your Atom syndication. Jeff has full instructions here. He also has instructions on how to post it on your site as a link.

Forget about your BlogMatrix RSS feeds -- they never worked reliably, and Karen Marie says they've "died."

Michelle's Famous Poet Quiz result was Walt Whitman, so I'd like to offer this especially for her:

When Lilacs Last in the Door-yard Bloom’d

No big plans for festivities here. I detest do not care for corned beef and cabbage, but if I can find some good lamb I will make lamb stew for supper. I did lay out the shamrock tie for my husband, but I haven't been back upstairs yet to see if he actually put it on.

Now, if I could just find an appropriate tie for St Joseph's day, we would be all set.

It seems to me that much of our apologetics stays in our heads and never percolates down to the heart where it can foster true and lasting love. The only true defense against such idiocy is Jesus Himself. If we truly love Him, then nothing said against Him can convince us of anything other than the truth. The purpose of apologetics is to convince, but after conviction, something must help the truth bloom into love.

You are Homer!

An epic poet circa 800 B.C., Homer is the expression of the ancient Greek ideal. His characters embark upon long and wordy quests and engage in battles of heroic length. Monsters are slain and cities are razed. Fun and glory all around!


Which famous poet are you? (pictures and many outcomes)
brought to you by Quizilla

Thanks to quiz-mistress Michelle for this one.

K-Lo reviews Spin Sisters: How the Women of the Media Sell Unhappiness - and Liberalism - to the Women of America

Vociferous Yawpings has moved to the Fine Domain!

Another blog I plan to watch: Granola Conservatism. With a name like that, how could I not?

I wish I could cut off my nose to cease smelling things. Poor people around me. I went crazy on Thursday cleaning everything because I smell rotten cabbage. I threw out all the green leafy veggies in my pantry/root cellar, including cabbage, which were not rotten just in case. Then I called the propane people to come and see if there was a leak, there was none. But I smell propane. I smell it when ever I turn on the light or the oven. No one else smells it, but I do. Why can't I smell pleasant things?

I am also oh so tired. I would not be complaining so much if I could just go to bed-forever. But I have responsibilities and stuff.

My midwife told she wants me to drink 3-4 quarts of water a day, plus several cups of mothering tea (red raspberry leaf, red clover, oatstraw, nettles, alfalfa), eat small meals every 2.5-3 hours that contain a protein and fruit or vegetable, take naps and walk 1 mile 4x's a week. My midwife takes very good care of me, and I do not take her advice with a grain of salt. But I am failing miserably. I don't wanna drink that much water or eat that many veggies. They all make me ill. I am doing the best I can though.

In the meantime I ran the idea by Hubby that tonight is Free Kid's night at Ponderosa, (after I find the nerve and energy to cook, whatever I make totally grosses me out) and he reminded me we are in for 7-15 inches starting at 11 (about ten minutes).

Now that I got that griping off my chest, I am not unhappy, but quite happy about the new Mossling. I just have never figured out a way to deal with "morning" sickness practically, and it gets harder with each child, because I have more responsibilities. I wish I could even remember what it was like when I was pregnant with Rosey Posey and at this stage. Come to think of it, I do actually. I was 20 and I was too young and stupid to ever appreciate what a "nap" was. I used to go out to Reggae clubs in the Village on weekends, work and go to school during the day. If I was hungry at 10 o'clock at night, I would go to Denny's. That girl was such a different person. She had a lot more energy and terrible eating habits.

The Passion of the Christ -- Three Reviews and a Letter by Orson Scott Card

EXCELLENT article by Orson Scott Card. I've only read a couple of his Alvin Maker books (should pick up on that sometime.) Thanks to Steven and the Summas for this link.

Times Against Humanity has moved to a new home and has a great new look.

The New Gasparian has also moved -- to the Fine Domain! -- and also has a great new look.

Steven Riddle's little boy Samuel has been fighting a tummy bug all week, and was sick enough to require IV rehydration yesterday. Poor guy! (Poor mommy and daddy!) Please pray for his quick recovery.

MADRID, Spain — More than 170 were killed and 600 wounded Thursday after powerful explosions rocked three Madrid train stations just three days before Spain's general elections.

No word yet at Sanctificarnos from Jesus -- I hope he's okay.

Right now the attack is being blamed on Basqe separatists, but Al Quaida involvement has not been ruled out.

We need more saints who did things like drive backhoes and use tools and work in zoos and fire off cannons.

Peony, on a more "mature" level, I see the same problem with my husband. There are no men in the Churches. There are like none in the Novus Ordo Churches in Albany except odd, pasty androgenous men, and in the TLM, many are weird. There are some guys, very few in our age group, but no way in proportion to the amount of women.

Many of the teenage boys at Church are attracted to my husband because I think he looks like a regular guy you would see anywhere. It tells me this is a ministry we could use.

I think if my husband had some more Catholic companions that were just regular guys, that would encourage him in his faith.

My husband called by mother-ilaw to tell her we are expecting, and she yelled at him "One of you two needs to get fixed!" and hung up on him.
Update:My father told us yesterday he is "absolutely thrilled!"

We need more saints who did things like drive backhoes and use tools and work in zoos and fire off cannons. It's always good to have saints, but saints from these occupations would really help me. Hambet is completely uninterested in the sappy preschool religous books that show children frolicking around a meadow having picnics. He likes dinosaurs, hand tools, construction equipment, trains, boats. He wants pictures with action. I would like to bring exclusively religious books to keep him occupied at Mass, but the book that really keeps his attention -- for 20 minutes at a shot! -- is a Richard Scarry book, What do People Do All Day, which has lots of cool diagrams showing how paper is made and how roads get laid and how firefighters fight fires. If I could just find a book that somehow combined heavy machinery with sacred topics, we would be in business.

Hambet does like this book of lift-the-flap Bible stories. The first picture shows the Garden of Eden, with details illustrating the days of creation. One of the flaps shows an erupting volcano. Hambet loves the erupting volcano, and we usually end up discussing that volcano for quite a while when we read this book. Noah's Ark is cool, too, and he's starting to like pictures of the Parting of the Red Sea, and the men who cut the hole in the roof (with a saw!) to bring their friend to Jesus. The men who built their houses on the sand and on the rock are good, too, because there's building involved. I think St Peter might also become a favorite, because he has a boat.

I tried mentioning to Hambet that God made volcanoes, and that piqued his interest, especially when I told him that God made dinosaurs too. He took his stuffed T.Rex and started enumerating all the parts God had made: "God made Rex, and teef, and feet, and claws, and dinosaur's eyes, and his tail...."

Later we were driving in the evening and the sun was setting. Hambet commented that the sun was going to bed ("in his very own bed") so I tried it again: "God made the sun." Hambet seemed interested again, and immediately asked, "Did God make cement mixers?"

I told him that God made Hambet. He seemed doubtful. God's making Mommy didn't seem to impress him either. But when I let him in on the fact that God made Daddy -- now that was something.

In Stephen King novels, people get weird, prickly, unsettling feelings when they walk past the old house (hospital, church, pet cemetery, 7-11, whatever) on the corner in the little town in Maine. For weeks I've had this weird nagging feeling every time I passed the dry cleaner's. To my knowledge, it wasn't haunted or anything, so I couldn't think of why it was bothering me so -- until last night, when I was hanging up clothes. I came to the spot where my husband's suit hangs and... no suit. Suddenly I remembered that I had dropped it off at the dry cleaners -- and I couldn't remember when I'd done it. It wasn't this month... did I do it in February? What about in January? I got a sinking feeling as I mentally started to count days. How long does this dry cleaner let you leave your things there before they start calling up the Goodwill (or firing up their eBay account?)

Of course this inspiration came to me after the shop had closed, so I got to spend all night trying to stop myself from staring at the ceiling and fretting about the suit and how I was going to explain this to my husband. When St Peter exhorted us to "cast our cares upon the Lord" I don't know if he had dry cleaning in mind, but I was doing my best to follow his advice.

Morning came (with a shower of snow) and Hambet and I hurried over to the cleaners. The lady nodded -- oh, yes, yes, they have the suit. The clothes swayed as track started to whir. Yes, they keep things for 90 days. Yes, they would have called me before they got rid of it.

She plucked the suit off the track and hung it on the pole. Today is March 10. The date on the tag -- December 11. Approximately 89 days.

As Robert says, mad props to my Guardian Angel.

Sorry for the slow blogging. I have been focusing pretty much on getting the garden going and keeping the household going (like KTC, and probably many other housewives, I have to mind my Internet use.) So I have to watch my surfing, which means less commenting and linking. I also have just been in the doldrums about writing. If the Lord desires me to continue blogging, He'll tell me what to blog about.

See, I miss a day at Theosis and GoodForm and Summa Minutae, and look what happens -- I miss this gem. Thanks, TSO, for catching it for me:

Not long before his death, Pope Pius XI granted an indulgence to those married couples of the Westminster diocese who daily kissed the wedding ring of their spouses and repeated the following prayer: 'Grant, Lord, to us, that loving You, may love each other and live according to Your holy laws.' In 1960 Pope John XXIII renewed the same indulgence for all the married. --Rev. Lawrence Lovasik, [The Hidden Power of] Kindness

This is the umpteenth time in the last six weeks that I've come across a reference to that book. I own a copy, but I haven't read it yet. Perhaps it's time to remedy that.

I cease to understand how can someone think of something this dumb and think it is a good idea, but that there are other morons who agree.

Is the Clifford movie playing in your area? I thought it was coming out on February 20, but I haven't seen any ads for it around here, and I haven't been able to find it using those Web showtime finders.

I was thinking Hambet might enjoy it, but it doesn't seem to be playing around here. Maybe that's not such a bad thing; I found a couple of reviews and they weren't very complimentary.

HMS Blog addresses families' unhappy reactions to a new addition to a large-ish family.

I would like to kick off this coversation with a reminder that Gaudium et Spes #50 that tells us that parents have the obligation--in the sight of God--to prayerfully decide what is God's plan for the size of their family. While parents are obliged to take into account the interests of the Church, the other children in the family, and other factors, no one else may interfere in that decision. And no one can ordain themselves to do what the Church herself does not ordain herself to do, specifically, to tell parents when and when not to have another child. We rejoice in every life given to us, and we pray that each of us would be open to God's unique plan for our lives. Period.

My brother who read my blog weighs in that what I need is a more creative way to tell people-like they do on TV.

The only problem is that you didn't tell people in a creative way. They didn't have blogs on "Full House." When Rebecca was pregnant, she told Jesse in a game of Pictionary. So, when you play Pictionary like every family does on Friday nights, you need to tell everyone that you're doing a movie title, and when Jesse guesses, he's gonna say "cheese half-ink a baby." The whole audience will laugh, especially when he shows up to the hospital dressed as Fred Flintstone and needs his apendix removed. Or if you have a bigoted father-in-law named Archie, he could show up to the hospital in black face, but I don't think too many people would appreciate that. Or if your name is Elyse Keaton, you could be stuck in a television station during a snow storm while your husband, Steven, is stuck with the plumber.
Anyways, the moral of the story is that if you want a laugh track, Josh needs to change his name to Jesse Katsopolous, or better yet, Uncle Jesse. I guess you can forget the other stuff, because it obviously isn't as important as the Friday-night games of Pictionary that Michelle loves so much.
This and the episodes of "Family Matters" where Steve Urkel turns into his cool alter-ego, "Stefan," just prove my point that sitcoms teach us a lot about the real world. I'm starting to forget what I was talking about originally, so I'll stop.
Just forget Oreos and eat "Cool J" cookies. ;-)

(actually it was yesterday) Welcome to the big 2!

It has actually been something of a trial trying to figure out when to use "scene" instead of "seen" or "hear" instead of "here". I really thought I was losing my mind. Many people in real life will totally think I have. The Upstate NY Moss's are expecting a new Mossling I am thinking in November sometime.

I haven't told anyone in real life. I am afraid to tell my family, (although one of my brothers might pass by the blog) because I am afraid of the comments. Actually my immediate family will be OK, but the extended family-it will be worse than telling them someone died. I was thinking of simply not telling. My grandmother is literally going to say "oh no, you can't afford this,"

I also have had mixed feelings about the whole thing. I do not feel I like I ever really got into the swing of things after having Gorbulas. My house is never as clean as I like, I am tired, I have been nursing for like five years straight and thought by this summer I would be able to wear a normal one piece dress. I was secretly hoping Gorbulas was my last toddler. No parenting book has given me greater depth into understanding these odd little people who always spill things and make lots of noise, but melt your heart with their mispronunciations and giggles. But God has a sense of humour and come 21 months time, there will be another toddler around.

The flip side there is nothing quite as spiritual as carrying a little baby around inside of you. I do not know if men can relate to this at all, but this one of the most special times in a woman's life. I have been wracking my brain for the past couple of days as to why being pregnant seems to have such a specialness all it's own different from any other stage of motherhood. I cannot come up with many answers except it is the shortest and most fleeting. I have to think on this a little more. This actually the first time I have even admitted this because it seems people pay more attention to the expecting part of parenting than they do children (after you get past the fact that it should have been a perfectly planned situation).

In the meantime, I have little blogging time. I am making pierogies to put in the freezer. As "morning" sickness seems to deepen a bit each day, I want to stock the freezer up with meals that take no effort to cook. We usually end up eating frozen food or out too often at this stage because I cannot stand the site or smell of food, and am so exhausted by the end of the day. I hate doing that because of the expense and lack of good nutritious food for the family. So I am trying to prepare as many healthy meals in advance, maybe an extra meal each day.

and we just got three inches dumped on us. The kids looked out the window and said "This stinks!"

I am jealous Peony! It is hard to think raised beds when the grass dissapeared yet again.

Last week I was working like a busy beaver on the raised beds -- dragging the boards home, painting them with linseed oil, flipping them, painting the other side, and finally painting them green. Over the weekend my husband helped me assemble them, and yesterday I wedged them into their spots. Now I'll just need to fill them and I'll be ready to roll.

I planted some lettuce (mesclun) in my existing bed but I'll wait till

The weather was a tease all last week: warm, but intermittently rainy, so I never knew how much time I had to prep the boards. Sunday was perfect -- sunny, mild -- so we had a good time working in the yard.

All of us, that is, except for Hambet. Poor kid, all his efforts at yardwork were thwarted by his unfeeling parents. Don't pour all the grass seed out at once! No digging holes in the lawn! No rocks in the garden! No waving rakes in the air! Bricks are not for throwing!

Finally we gave him the hose, and that put a smile back on his face (and the cold, cold water dripping down Daddy's back.) Note to self, Hambet needs boots ASAP.

Maybe next year he'll be able to follow directions well enough to have his own little planter to tend.

Revolution of Love has moved to stblogs.org!

The Tower has set up shop too.

Moloch has a blog and extensive links to his friends. Why not go say hi, and help PP remember who's boss -- help Moloch show up on their referral stats!

A State Trooper just left here. Why? Because my four year old, Fastolph was angry at his brother for "ignoring" him and called 911 on him. I made Fastolph come outside and explain why he called 911 and the Police Officer told him "you can only call the police if there is a real emergency there, Buddy."

I think everyone must have that one child, while incredibly cute and charming at times, brings new definition to the term "Handful".

OK, everything I type turns to mush lately. It's like I never took an English or spelling class. I cannot wait until the kids are grown and I have no more munchkins in my bed so I can resume life as a fully functional adult. Anyway, this is why I have been blogging less and less because I have been writing even more like a neanderthal than usual. Please bear with me.

I did it again. I made this recipe of Aloo Gobi last night and added too much hot pepper. I made it with rice and roti, and it smelled so good. I was very excited anticipating our modest feast. We all sat down and took a bite. I literally "mmmm"ed out loud and the rest of my family said "wow, that's spicy," Oh well, I have the leftovers for myself for lunch. Maybe I have no nerve endings in my tongue.

Spring fever has hit here. We are seeing patches of grass here and there, more and more each day. I am having a hard time keeping the kids concentrated on their studies. I am happy, yet come spring there is much work to be done. The barns are a mess.

I am also very sad at the anti-Catholicism that is rearing its ugly head surrounding Mel's movie. I think I have had it with Hollywood If you take the subject matter of The Passion out, the cinematogrophy and the direction in the movie are excellent, and they cannot give him credit for that. I am disgusted everytime I open a newspaper. This is why I stopped getting newspapers.

It's commonly called "envy", but what I have in mind is benign, it's not true envy. It's that feeling you get when someone you know has achieved something you'd really, really like for yourself, or has gotten to do something you'd really, really like to do yourself. It's only like envy in that it desires the good that another enjoys; unlike envy, though, it still rejoices that at least the other person gets to enjoy that good.

Well, whatever this emotion is, Apologia groupies -- and Friends of Fructus Ventris -- are experiencing it this morning.

I think I'm going to be scarce again this week -- we're supposed to have weather in the fifties, sixties, and even into the seventies! So I will be working on getting my garden ready.

Last year I was dig, dig, digging away and all for nothing -- the rain carried away soil, soil amendments, and seeds alike. This year I'm doing what I should have done last year: making raised beds.

I just got back from the Big Orange Store with 12 4-foot boards, screws, angle brackets, and a clamp. The plan is to coat the lumber with boiled linseed oil, assemble them into boxes, maybe add a bit of paint to address my husband's aesthetic concerns, line them with plastic, and them fill 'em up with soil enriched with peat moss and compost.

In our area (zone 6B- 7) I can start some planting some things as early as March 15, so I want to get a place ready for those early plantings: peas, garlic, rhubarb, and some early lettuce.

My attempts to force hyacinths and tulips this winter failed utterly -- next winter I'll just buy them at the store -- but I do see little bulbs peeking up already, including the ones in my bulb planters. I also see new growth in all of the lamb's ears (including the ones I thought were done for.) Looks like the sage and rosemary made it, too. And this morning, I went out to the the rhubarb bed to peek under the leaf mulch. There it was -- the first little green leaves, all curled up like a baby's fist, on tiny little red stalks.

This week I'm also going to be starting some seeds. I'm going to try eggplant again ("Rosa Bianca" and those white eggplants) and lettuce, along with tomatoes and marigolds. I want to plan out my flower bed and see what else I want to grow.

Last fall I mentioned trying some rooting hormone. I took cuttings of rosemary and basil. The basil didn't make it, but the rosemary did great -- every cutting "took." It's continued to thrive indoors through the winter. It's been so gratifying to be able to just walk over to the windows and snip off a few leaves for cooking. I used to kill every houseplant in my custody, so just having the things survive has been a thrill.