Robin Hardy's Abbey Lands
The Stories of the Abbey of St. Benedict on the Sea
Random Mutterings
See previous posts on Archive I of Random Mutterings
Walk in the Woods
April 2, 2025: There's a wooded area near my apartment that I've been exploring. Here's a little of what I've found. Lots of trees, obviously—
This is a huge Texas oak, and here are the oak's emerging leaves and aments, which are the male flower parts of the tree; after they release the pollen, they fall to the ground.
Looking down, you see coralberry, a redbud seedling, and poison ivy.
Closer to the water, you'll see a lot of crayfish holes. It's possible to dig the crayfish out, but you have to know what you're doing, because they scoot down backwards with claws up.
I go out there often. There's just something about looking up to heaven through the treetops.
Fabric Friends
(and a free pattern!)
March 31, 2025: Here's the reality: hard as it is to believe, you may get tired of binge-reading my books. So I encourage you to take a break and make something fun. This first project is great for people who have kids or grandkids: a Pajama Eater!
I made this from Jodi Bonjour's adorable pattern.
See this and other projects at her site Sew Fearless.
Here are some other projects I really enjoyed:
This little Santa is from
This large Santa is from
This pond scene is also
from Patch Abilities.
Now I'm going to offer you a free frog pattern:
I love frogs. And I have grandchildren. So one day I decided to make them frogs. For some reason I kept the pattern, so I've added instructions and compiled it with photos in a PDF. Click the button below to download it.
All right, you can get back to reading now.
Early Misty Morning
March 29, 2025: When you see the description of early morning in one of the Abbey books, here's what I'm thinking of:
This was one of those days when I stepped out at sunrise to feed the chickens—the whole area was covered by this blanket of softness and quiet. Even though I'm no longer living in the country and feeding chickens, I still feel that early morning peace, and made it part of the Abbey Lands.
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Because so much happens in the stories, and Efran seems continually under attack, I wanted to counterbalance that with the assurance: "Those of steadfast mind You keep in peace, because they trust You."
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The point is: it's all worthwhile—moreso than we can ever know in this life.
Buddy/Bubba
March 27, 2025: Years ago, my daughter and her husband had a big, goofy mixed-breed dog named Buddy:
He was not very bright, and no fence on earth could contain him. But he was the sweetest, most loyal creature you could imagine.
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So when my Dallas detective Sammy Kidman found himself at a point in his life when he needed something that he couldn't put his finger on, he found this gangly beast stranded at a busy intersection. The name on his collar read, "Bucephalus." Sammy took him home, and Marni let him keep him. Sammy gave him the name "Bubba," and that turned into another story:
The Spirit of Westford
March 25, 2025: Recently, I had several conversations with an intelligent, interested reader who had finished all 36 of the Abbey books, but had a special interest in Westford Press. He asked why I had not published the Abbey stories under the Westford Press imprint.
The first reason, which was easy to explain, was that the Westford Press books are sold on Amazon, Audible, and Barnes & Noble, and I pay taxes on the income from those sales. Therefore, I didn’t want an auditor questioning why I was reporting no income from the Abbey books.
The second and more weighty reason was harder to articulate. I had crossed a bridge with the Abbey stories; Westford had become mostly unrelated history. I couldn’t explain it any better until I came across the following scene in Book 4 Lord Efran and Awfyn the Giant:
The next several days, being cold and rainy on the hilltop, meant that it was especially nasty in Westford, so travel was minimal and work on the wall briefly suspended. Minka, bringing Joshua into the bedroom to play with him, found Efran lying on the bed with one of the books of the Latter Annals open on his chest. Glancing at the books lined up on the shelves, Minka saw that it was the last book of the series, the ninth, that lay open but currently unread.
“You’re not reading,” she observed. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t like it,” he said.
“Why?” she asked, lifting Joshua to nuzzle him.
He watched her. “It’s... discouraging to read what once was, but is no more. During Ares’ and Henry’s time, Lystra was—secure and Westford was a powerhouse. Now, Lystra is no more; the palace of Westford is no more; the army is disbanded; the city itself is just a shadow of what it had been. The spirit is gone. The series has ended.”
“Oh, no, Efran!” she cried. “Here is the spirit of Westford.” She held up the baby. “It’s just moved south. During Ares’ time, all this land was nothing but meadows where the wolves lived. Now, everyone from Westford comes here! The new mill is here; the new businesses and trades are here. The best of the army has relocated here; the last Captain of the Red Regiment is now Lord of the Abbey Lands. The story hasn’t ended; new books are being written right now.”
There it is. Life goes on with new characters, new stories, in a new setting. The spirit is the same. (Below: Efran's favorite book of the series)
Parking Lot Art
March 23, 2025: While the local high school was closed for spring break, I walked their vast parking lot to look at the art the seniors created to mark their assigned space. Overall, I found them clever and even unique. There were so many good ones, I had to seriously cull them down, so what follows are only a few of the best.
A lot of the art shared this perspective, which I found refreshing among high-schoolers. The verse is Ps. 27:1.
Unique, pretty artwork. I'm assuming the snake is a good guy.
Because if you can see the art, the student's car isn't there yet.
Just a clever design, well executed.
Guys like to keep it simple; Cole is obviously bound for Univ. of Texas. Here's Phil. 4:6.
Flaming Elmo is a classic, of course.
This is a caricature of a favorite teacher.
Another late motif, but I like the colors and the design.
I don't know if this is sad as much as reflective. Is the sun sneering?
The simplicity is striking, and I approve of the editorial insertion "& love tacos." Mark 10:26-30
I identify with this. Simple and evocative.
Drew has aspirations, which is fine.
Stark and forceful.
SpongeBob is going to miss Coop.
This one may be my favorite. It's just cool.
Whoever did this is just a happy person.
I chose this because I love the wacky beaver, and also the name "Christian."
Only the Best
March 21, 2025: Here at the Palatial Xtreme Apartments Fully Equipped with Pool and Sauna* we admit entrance to only the upper crust. So when the driver of this 1952 Buick Riviera Roadmaster (potentially worth $100K) pulled into my parking space, I wondered if this could be an ex-boyfriend who just couldn't let go. So I took a quick photo. Unfortunately, before I could enter the license-plate number in my database of previous boyfriends or call security, he drove off again. So I guess we'll never know, unless he comes back.
*Not the official name.
Spring Has Sprung, Y'all
Updated March 19, 2025 with a movie—see below
I hope we don't have any more freezes, because buds ARE OUT.
Red-tip Photinia as far as the eye can see, practically.
Almost a week later, little white buds!
Rows of Bradford pear trees in bloom
Redbud tree on a hill
Budding leaves of an ash tree
And a little brook in the woods—
I love the spring.
Ocean Beach, CA
March 16, 2025: This is one of my all-time favorite pics: my grandson enjoying Ocean Beach, San Diego. I'd love so much to run in the wet sand with him, but I have to be content with the fact that the one who took this photo—my son—is already there for him. And that means more than anything I could do.
MORE Corgis Like the Water
March 14, 2025: So many of you have enjoyed "Corgis Like the Water" that I went pawing through my photos again. Sure enough, I found a few more pics of Frodo playing in the pool with his favorite victim—er, toy:
With Ginger looking on (not interested in getting wet, thanks) Frodo sees his quarry and shoves off!
Dang it, Frodo's object got away somehow! We can't have that.
I don't know that Frodo landed on the raft, but it's a convenient base for surveillance and hair checks.
Once again, the victim acknowledges that Frodo is Top Dog.
The Lasting Value of Disappointments
March 9, 2025: When you know the back story, this is so encouraging: "Nothing hath given my faith a harder back-set, till it crack again, than my closed mouth. But let me be miserable myself alone, God keep my dear brethren from it." (May 1, 1637)
What Samuel Rutherford cared about more than anything else was teaching and tending his little congregation at Anwoth. But in the political upheaval roiling Scotland, he was among the ministers deemed "unorthodox," so was exiled and imprisoned at Aberdeen, prohibited from preaching. All he could do was write and receive letters.
Besides the loneliness and deprivation, Rutherford was crushed by the disappointment of thinking that God allowed his banishment because Rutherford had proven unsatisfactory. His best efforts just weren't good enough. (What's certainly true is that he was contentious and stubborn at times.)
Today, 388 years later, we see what really happened: God valued Rutherford's efforts so much that He channeled them into a form that would reach far more people than he could in person. Like the Apostle Paul, God constrained Rutherford in temporary physical discomfort in order to give him what he wanted on a scale that he could not begin to imagine.
Don't let your faith crack under disappointments; let God finish what He's doing with you.
Frog Makeover
March 7, 2025: This poor wooden frog has been pulling duty on my patio in all weather for over 3 years now. So I decided to give him a makeover.
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I scrubbed him down, sanded him, and glued equalizers to his uneven feet. (The hooves are an interesting touch on a frog, no?)
Then I slathered on several coats of green acrylic paint. (The blue in the photo is just an effect of the spotlights.) I didn't attempt to preserve the white clouds or black dots.
I mixed in some other colors and added my own version of frog spots (that are purple).
Painted his eyes and applied 4 coats of water-resistant acrylic medium.
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And here he is back on duty, holding the bird bath on my patio. Good job, Frog!
A Little Bit of History
March 4, 2025: Years ago, I had the privilege of editing a WWII Marine veteran's book of photographs from his deployment to Nagasaki, Japan, after it had been hit by the second atomic bomb that the United States deployed in that war. David C. Milam's book is The Last Bomb: A Marine Remembers Nagasaki. Following are a few of his photos.
The Mitsubishi Plant
Milam's comments on the photo above: "These huge, steel-framed buildings housed the production of bearings, casting of engine parts, etc. The sheet metal that had covered the buildings had all been blown off. Pieces were found miles away throughout the countryside. Notice how the steel skeletons lean to the left, away from the center of the blast. The hillsides in the background were laid bare where the furnace-like wind was funneled up; on the opposite side of the mountains, most greenery was undisturbed. Two figures can be seen here: one near the center, and one to the right of center. I [Milam] often saw people at the sites praying, scavenging or just trying to locate where a particular building once stood. The twisted tubular frame in the right foreground was either a hand-drawn two-wheel cart or a rickshaw."
The Catholic Church of Layan
Milam says, "This church, also called the Church of the Immaculate Conception, was run by the Jesuit order. It had been the largest church in Japan, with over ten thousand parishioners."
Warning Handbill
Milam describes this as "a propaganda handbill that our government dropped by the thousands over Japan prior to the atomic bomb, urging the Japanese to surrender. Starting at one o'clock, the images portray Guadalcanal, Tarawa, etc., ending at 11 o'clock with Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The caption at the top says, 'Time is running out!'"
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His book contains many more photos and historical details.
Imperfect Foods
March 2, 2025: Time for our first ever commercial break! I've been using Imperfect Foods for over a year now, and am extremely pleased with the service. What they do is, deliver imperfect foods directly to your door. Here's how they describe their food:
"Cosmetic Imperfection: Items with cosmetic imperfections are deemed too unsightly for regular grocery stores. Small blemishes, scars, and wonky shapes can all make perfectly good food harder for producers to sell.
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"Contains leftover ends and pieces: Some of our items are made with a tasty mix of leftover odds and ends, like chocolate bars made with leftover chips and pretzels.
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"Made with Rescued Ingredients: Sometimes buyers will cancel an order at the last minute, leaving the producer stranded with ingredients. Our rescued items are a creative way to find a home for those ingredients and prevent food waste."​
Here's my most recent delivery—I got so excited I started pillaging the box before I thought to take a photo:
And here's everything just tossed onto the counter. Nothing damaged; everything fresh.
They go on to explain: "We work every day—at the farm, in the food supply chain, and in our homes—to do better and waste less food. Those collective efforts add up. When you shop with us, you're part of a community moving in the ripe direction, together."
"Suppliers: We partner with farmers and producers to save fruits and vegetables, surplus food, and more from being wasted in the fields and on the shelves. Read a few of their stories.
"Each year, $408 billion worth of food goes to waste in the U.S.—when much of that money could be going into farmers’ pockets."
"Customers: We empower individuals to take action in their kitchen by rescuing food that would otherwise end up in landfills, and practicing waste-saving tips and tricks that add up.
"Annually, 30 million tons of food go to waste in homes. But with every moment of meal planning and each scrap-tastic recipe, our customers are whittling that down."
"Community partners: We donate any products we don’t sell to 60+ incredible partners around the country working to fight hunger.
"So far, we’ve donated 15.1 million pounds of food to help people facing hunger."
If you're inclined, I encourage you to try them. (Note: they offer a curated package, but since I like to select my own groceries, I use the flex plan.)
Dog Run Dilemma
Feb. 28, 2025: Updated with new photos
What do you do with a dog run that your dogs won't run in?
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If you're me at that particular point in time, you turn it into a garden.
The first thing I had to do was kill the grass without using chemicals. So I somehow got hold of a bunch of old bedsheets that I pinned down. I was using the trash bins for compost.
I left the sheets down for my son-in-law to haul in truckloads of dirt on top of them. This was to be a major agricultural effort, y'all.
Here it's all ready to plant. I had big plans for these beds—you probably can't read the little labels for what would be growing there, but I had aspirations for daisies, Swiss chard, fennel, onions, leaf lettuce, chives, chamomile, strawberries, and, ah, blackberries.
Here's where Mother Nature swept in to take control. You see those sweet, innocent-looking sprouts there? Those are blackberry canes. And the battle for dominance began.
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Fast-forward to the next summer. . . .
Past the daylilies on the right and the smaller lilies on the left, all you can see down the rest of those rows are blackberry canes. Nothing else I planted could withstand them—they even spread past the fence on both sides. Since we had SO MANY blackberries, I started making blackberry wine.
The following year I planted sunflowers in the near end of the run. They turned out to be more than I could manage. But behind them you can see how big the blackberry canes grew that year, which meant more blackberry wine.
That's why you read in Book 34 Lord Efran's Thousand Royals: "Minka gestured to the long rows of blackberry canes. 'I thought it was too early for blackberries, but they’ve just burst out. There were so many last year, the kitchen made blackberry wine. It’s wonderful!'”
You could call it Chataine's Guardian 2.0