OK, so what's with the cello??

My profile picture with the cello is now six months old.  Since I started lessons in December, I've graduated to my own cello and bow from the rental shown in the photo and have just had my first "recital".  It was pretty raw, but in spite of the missed notes, poor tonality, squeaks and stiff movements, I got through it without forgetting the music (isn't "not forgetting" the really important achievement for folks my age??)!  I'm posting the video with a mix of giggles, embarrassment and horror, with the hope that I'll be a little bit better the next time around!

Bl. Mary Helen MacKillop

Another woman of courage, substance and spirit who had to endure excommunication from the Roman Catholic church for "insubordination".  She has my gratitude and admiration.

For Mary MacKillop God's will was her guiding principle.."To me the Will of God is a dear book which I am never tired of reading, which has always some new charm for me...I cannot tell you what a beautiful thing the Will of God seems to me."   When overcome by sadness she clung to the Will of God as her only support:"  [I] was so weary of the struggle, and felt so utterly alone, could not pray or say my ordinary Rosaries, only offered my weary heart's trials to my God.."    excerpt from the prayers for Tuesday of Week IV in the People's Companion to the Breviary.

We love you, Lou and Bill

Michael and I have both lost our Dads to this world, but Lou (Michael's dad) and Bill (Peg's dad) are in securely placed in our hearts.

Thank you, Rick Bayless and Sandra!

Rick's cookbook "Mexican Every Day" magically opened to p. 107 when I reached for it today for dinner inspiration.  His "Grilled Chicken Salad with Rustic Guacamole, Romaine and Queso Anejo" had to be our fare for the evening - what a success!  

Thank you, Sandra Gnat, for the gift of this cook book to Michael for his birthday!  We'll be going back to it again and again!

Summer Fun with Eva and Mimi

We're giving Blaire and James a couple of days to pack the van for their trip to Michigan, so Eva and Mimi are spending some time with us - Michael and I are definitely have the most fun!

Fun in the New Pool ! from Peg Baker on Vimeo.

Just us girls having dinner at Wegman's

I had dinner with a friend and former co-worker tonight.  We hadn't seen each other in a couple of years and, as opportunity would  have it, we connected a couple of days ago and planned this dinner at the seafood bar at Wegmans.  How delightful!  It was as if we still shared an office at our old company, picking up the conversations we ended when our paths diverged.

One of our favorite topics (both of us being cradle Catholics) is women and the Church which brought to mind a favorite author and scholar Karen Armstrong.

In this interview with her by Bill Moyers last year, Ms. Armstrong tells Bill about her new project Charter for Compassion.  Watching it reminds me of why I admire her so much.

Margaret Anna Cusack, Mother Francis Clare

Give women their rights, then, for these rights are justice - justice to men as well as women, for the interests of men and women cannot be separated (Women's Work).  Today, The Peoples Companion to the Breviary honors Margaret Anna Cusack, Mother Francis Clare.  A woman for our times, Margaret Anna (born in Dublin around 1830) "dedicated herself to writing, especially on behalf of the liberation of women and children who were victims of oppression in the Church and Society".  


"In 1884 Margaret Anna founded the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace. Seeking funds to support her sisters' work with women and children, in 1885 she set off for America. Soon after arriving, she established a home for migrant women who, upon arrival in New York, often found themselves to be homeless and jobless.

The success of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace spread. By 1890 the Sisters were being asked to go West to serve the needs of frontier settlements springing up in the Pacific Northwest. It was in August of this year that Sisters set off from Jersey City, New Jersey on what was to be the beginning of PeaceHealth, and the continuation of the vision of Margaret Anna Cusack.

Memorial Day in our Little Town

There was the annual Block Party on Wolfe Street on Saturday with great friends, food and fun; then, a relaxing Sunday.  I had client work to do on Monday, but the evening brought a lovely outdoor concert to make an appropriate end to a great weekend.

Memorial Day Concert 2010 from Peg Baker on Vimeo.