Scripture is filled with images and stories of grapevines and vine tending. Yet few modern people have any idea of what that entails and the deep levels of symbolism that were intended in the Bible. Written by a vinedresser, theologian, psychologist, and nun, this illustrated text centers on a visual meditation combined with short reflections about the spiritual life, extending the spiritual metaphor of the vineyard, the vinedresser, and Jesus' teachings. The words are simple and few, the pictures clear and evocative, as much a part of the meditation as the text itself. In reading this book and understanding how the vines work and what the role of the vinedresser is, readers can explore more deeply what vine care means for their spiritual walk. The Vinedresser's Notebook can be used as 40-day devotional, in a group setting, or as an inspirational book.

Scripture is filled with images and stories of grapevines and vine tending. Yet few modern people have any idea of what that entails and the deep levels of symbolism that were intended in the Bible and comprehended by an agrarian people. Written by a vinedresser, theologian, psychologist, and nun, this illustrated gift book centers on a visual meditation combined with short reflections about the spiritual life, extending the spiritual metaphor of the vineyard, the vinedresser, and Jesus’ teachings. In some ways it is akin to the adult picture books in the vein of such classics as Hope for the Flowers. The words are simple and few, the pictures clear and evocative, as much a part of the meditation as the words. The Vinedresser's Notebook can be used as 40-day devotional, in a group setting, or as an inspirational book.

A Tramp's Notebook is a novel by Morley Roberts. Roberts was an English novelist and writer. Excerpt: "When I first went out to the Australian colonies in 1876 in the Hydrabad, a big sailing ship registered as belonging to Bombay, I had a very curious time of it, take it altogether. It was my first real experience of the outside world, and the hundred and two days the Hydrabad took from Liverpool to Melbourne made a very valuable piece of schooling for a greenhorn. I was a steerage passenger, and the steerage of a sailing vessel twenty-five years ago was something to see and smell. Perhaps it is no better now, but then it was certainly very bad. The food was poor, the quarters dirty, the accommodation far too limited to swing even the traditional cat in, and my companions were for the most part Irishmen of the lowest and poorest peasant class. In these days I was quite fresh from home and was rather particular in my tastes. Some of that has been knocked out of me since. A great deal of it was knocked out of me in that passage."

Reproduction of the original: Trees. A Woodland Notebook by Herbert Maxwell