The Next Food Network Star

Last night was really disturbing on the Next Food Network Star. One of the contestants, Jag, was revealed to have lied about his culinary background and his military service. He was one of the final 2 contestants and I think he probably would have won. He'd been given a chance to correct the misstatements and did not do so. Then he was confronted by the show and he resigned. I hope it was a forced resignation. It's not that his military record has anything to do with his cooking ability, it has to do with integrity and trust.

This has been one of my favorite shows to watch in the past. This season it has been really lackluster, bordering on boring. The challenge ideas have been interesting, but none of the contestants seem to have any natural leadership ability or strong enough personalities to keep you interested in their show. I think Alton Brown had in right a couple of weeks ago when he suggested sending them all home!

To me, the contestants who were in one to one choice situtations with Jag over who was being eliminated really got the worst of this whole deal. Had Jag not been such slime and continued under false pretenses, one of the others may have had an opportunity to really rise to the occasion and shine. I hope The Food Network does something nice for these double losers. I wish when Jag's lies had come to light, TFN would have restarted the whole comptetition.

I'm a huge TFN fan. It's appointment tv for my household. In the summer doledrums of reruns, we watch our favorites over again and give the boring shows a second chance to grab us. Unfortunately, there are a couple of really boring hosts... I hope the new season brings the sparkle back to TFN and that Alton Brown shaves.


PS... Alton Brown is my favorite host, but the boy really needs to buy a new motorcycle or something for his midlife crisis and get over the beard thing.

Class Photo & Graduations

Here's the class photo of the fledgling Barn Swallows. This is the last shot I got of them all together, on Saturday morning. By Saturday night, one of them had taken off to explore the world. In typical teen age fashion, he or she didn't even leave a note! We'd been gone for the afternoon, so we didn't see the take off, but we were glad to not have found a bunch of feathers in the grass.

Today, there's been some wing flexing activity in the nest. I think the next two that will be taking off next have been hopping from the main nest to the little secondary nest and flapping their wings a lot today. It's like they just discoverd them They raise them up above their shoulders and flap wildly for 20 seconds and then turn around to see if their sibilings noticed before settling into a new spot in the nest.

One little guy tried climbing from nest to nest by scaling the wall inbetween, eventually he tried his wings. I was so excited to get this shot of a Barn Swallow's first flight!

A Week of Swallows

We humans are always saying how we're amazed at how quickly our children grow. I wonder what we would say if we were birds. I read that the parent Barn Swallows fly up to 600 miles daily to feed the babies. They only eat insects, so that's alot of meal prep! Probably explains why we've been able to sit in the twilight and not be bothered by mosquitos. The two parents continue to be constantly in attendance, at night one sleeps in the nest with the kids and the other sleeps in the secondary nest. That's the second bedroom just visible at the right edge of the photo. The parents haven't been too disturbed by us, when they swoop in and we've just gone out, they complain a little bit, do a couple fly by's and then come feed the kids anyway. Now, they do not like flash photography! That tends to tick them off a bit, but duty calls and they keep bringing home the bacon.

What they do mind is a stray cat. One unfortunate cat tried strolling through the patio the other night and suddenly a full squadron of swallows appeared and chased that cat to the far edge of the yard! I swear my indoor cats were laughing themselves silly while they watched that little adventure. We call our sliding glass door Cat TV, and they've been glued to it all week.

Anyway, here's how they've changed in just 7 days from the first photo I posted. They still look rather prehistoric here, don't they? These were taken on 07/07/07, just 2 days after the above photo.

In just 2 more days, they were looking a lot like Albert Einstein....
The smoky looking halo in the photo is actually a wild bunch of feather fuzz making its first appearance. This is one of the bigger babies. There seems to be a span of about 3 days from what we can tell from the first 3 appearing, to finally seeing all 5 of the little guys. Don says they remind him of muppets! They've spent alot of time hanging their heads over the edge of the nest, extending their necks while opening and shutting their beaks. It's been really hot this last week, maybe that's a cooling activity. The photo to the right was was taken 07/09/07.

Two days later and what a major difference! I expect to see them start to move out of the nest in the next day or 2. Already the larger ones are trying to balance on the edge. Oh, here's something I'll bet you didn't know about nest housekeeping! Even as teeny 4 day old birds they knew to hang their butts over the edge of the nest to ummmmmm, relieve themselves. No potty training appeared neccessary. Clean up on aisle 3! Photo taken 07/12/07. I hope I'm home to see the fledgling flight attempts.

Barn Swallows

A family of Barn Swallows are making their home on the roof of our patio. We've named the mamma and pappa Chatty and Cathy. The seem to have tried out our location for several nights before starting to build their nest. Cathy would roost on the end of an exposed screw and Chatty would harrass her for hours before settling down to roost close by. This went on for more than a week. It was like they were arguing over site selection. Soon they started to build a nest. It went together quickly out of mud, sticks and grass. Oddly enough, a second shallower nest was built several inches away, like adding an "in law" room to your home. It seems like Dad gets to sleep in the second nest.

Just this week, on July 2, some tiny little beaks poked their way above the edge of the nest. They were literally all translucent beak and neck, just popping out when Mom or Dad swooped in with a meal. Today, 3 days later, they are starting to make tiny little noises and have developed some dark gray down. And we discovered tonight, there are 5 babies!

Random Stuff About Me

So, I was tagged... here it is....
RANDOM FACTS ABOUT ME ...
1)Name one person who made you smile today? Don
2)What were you doing at 8:00 this morning? Tuning in to Pandora radio before I started my work projects for the day
3)What were you doing 30 minutes ago? Cleaning up the dinner dishes
4)What is something that happened to you in 1998? I inherited some money unexpectedly
5)What is the last thing you said aloud? Luna! to a cat about to tip over my glass of water
6)How many different things have you drank today? Tea,Vitamin Water, Water, 1 Soda, Coffee
7)What color is your hair brush? Black. But my favorite comb is hot pink!
8)What was the last thing you bought? Cat litter
9)What was the last gift you received? A very cool CD of new Michael McDonald 10)What color is your front door? White.
11)Where do you keep cell phone? In my bag. Terrible at remembering to charge it up.
12)What was the weather like today? Overcast and humid
13)What is the best ice cream flavor? Black Raspberry Chocolate Chunk
14)What are you excited about?
15)Do you talk a lot? No
16)Name a weird food you like?
17)Cold or hot? Cold mostly.
18)What's your favorite thing to do?
19)Do you want to cut your hair? Always, but I rarely have any idea how I want it.
20: Are you over the age of 25? HA! I mean... yes!
21)Are you ticklish? yes
22)Are you typically a jealous person? I don't think it's jealousy, but I am very competitive.
23)Name a friend whose name starts with the letter "L" : Lynn
24)Name a friend whose name starts with the letter "A": Allison
25)Do you chew on your straws? Never
26)Do you have curly hair? Straight as a stick.
27)What is the next concert you're going to? Some fledgling country star that's palying the county fair... I promised my mother I'd take her. I don't care for country music.
28)Who is the crappiest person in your life? We won't go there. I'm trying to not see it that way.
29)What is your favorite color? Turquoise
30)What is something you say a lot?
31)What's your room like? My home office/craft room..too small, needs more shelves
32)What was the last movie you saw? Pirates of the Carribbean.. Edge of the World
33)Do you have work tomorrow? At my paid job, no. At a bunch of other stuff, yes.
34)What's your dream job? Something that overpays me for being creative and lets me keep my own schedule.
35)When was the last time you said "I love you"? An hour ago
36)What should you be doing right now? Exactly what I am doing right now.
37)Do you have a nickname? Not really. My daily use name is a nickname, of my given name, but not something like Cutie Pie
38)Are you a heavy sleeper? Yes
39)When is the last time you did the dishes, honestly? this morning
40)What are your pet peeves? People who let their dogs out to roam the neighborhood letting them poop everywhere. People who don't scoop the poop. Drivers talking on cellphones, People who don't close cabinet doors. When I misjudge the distance something is and drop it....sign of time to get new contacts. People who speak very loudly in communal areas, like the next cubicle over or on their cell phone.People who take young children out to restaurants without having given them a snack first!

Don't Let the Music Die

Do you listen to Internet Radio...like Pandora or any of the independent music stations around the net? There is a bill in front of the Senate that could end it all and it's coming up for a vote in the next few days. If you care about this issues, as I do, let your politicos know how you feel.

This is especailly important for those of us in rural areas or with musical tastes that go beyond Top 40.

Weekly Tarot 06/22/07-06/29/07- The Hanged Man

The Hanged Man, Universal Waite

What's your first reaction to this card? Does it seem a little weird that the guy is clearly trussed up but totally unconcerned? In fact, in this rendition, he actually looks almost meditative to me and he certianly is not at all upset. Or maybe he's been trying to get untied and we catch him here in a moment of catching his breath before he tries once again to wriggle free. What do you think?

Hanged Man always reminds me of the grand illusionsists, starting with Harry Houdini, getting themselves out of the straight jacket. It seems impossibe to us, but they always manage to do it. How? Maybe it's by looking at a situtaion with a different point of view. Maybe it's by calmly evaluating the situtation before taking action. Maybe they see the impossible as merely a challenge to our preconveived notions of what is and isn't do-able.

I've also heard of this card compared to images of Jesus on the cross. Now, that's a little far fetched for my understanding, but if it floats your boat, go for it. I can almost see the connections between willing sacrifice, especially that of one person sacrificing for the greater good, but that's not my real understanding of this card.

Some keywords for this card are contemplation, perspective, patience, resourcefullness, surrender, letting go, trust, giving up, overcome.

When I draw Hanged Man for a weekly overview, I see it as a time to look for a new perspective on something in your life. It's a Major Arcana card, so it is of importance and deserves thoughtful consideration. What's going on in your life that isn't working quite the way you hoped it would? That's the place to become the Hanged Man and look for a different solution. Maybe you'd benefit from physically changing yourself in response to the issue. How? It can be a simple as just taking the discussion to a coffee shop instead of your kitchen table. It could be an impromptu trip to a new destination... anything that gives you some new input. Maybe it's just a random word said by a chat room pal... be aware and you'll understand the Hanged Man's powerful impact.

Quilting Memories

The town I live in, Beatrice, Nebraska is celebrating it's 150th year as a town this entire year. This past weekend, I went with my mother to a quilt display that spanned the entire 150 years. There was one quilt from each decade. Most of them seem to have come from one family, lucky them, to have that heritage. It was a sweet, unpretentious display... no glass cases, no one demanding that you not breath on the quilts. There was a small, very small sign, asking that you not touch the quilts, easily overlooked. In a larger city, I have a feeling there would have been a white gloved museum archivist, actively guarding the past. I have to admit, I touched.

I'm a texture person, couldn't help myself. There was a crazy quilt from the Civil War era that captured my heart. Slivers of fine velvets, satins mixed in with common cottons told the story, but it was the elegant, flowing embroidery that really spoke to me. It was almost as though the quilt maker was saying, "they can take my stuff, but they can't take my soul." I think most people had dramatic life changes during that time period, no matter what side they championed. Goods were scarce, families separated, nothing was stable. But the quiltmaker perservered. Her finery may have been reduced to rags, but she could turn them into something beautiful to serve another purpose. The stitching was as fine as any lady of leisure could have done, although I suspect there was not alot of leisure time for ladies of that era.

So, I wonder, did she do those feathery stitches while wondering what became of a lover or son? Did she loose herself in stitching as she mused about her life back east, before the chaos? What memories did the velvet hold for her?

As I turn to my crochet work to ease the stress in my daily life, I connect with the unknown quiltmaker, and I understand.

7 Of Wands Voyager Tarot

7 of Wands

The images of this card, from the Voyager Tarot is filled with warriors, masks and lights. This is a troublesome card for many people, it causes us to have to look our inner selves right in the eye and not blink. When we draw the 7 of Wands, it's time to stop kidding ourselves and get real. You'll know in your inner heart of hearts, what is it that you're avoiding or masking simply because it is easier to do so than to actually face the truth.

Your inner turmoil for this cycle may be related to something small, but it's far more likely that the turmoil goes right to the core of who you are. It's woven in the fabric of your self image, whether you realize it on a conscious level or not. If you work with the 7 of Wands this week with meditation, freestyle writing or visioning , you'll find yourself on the path to great growth.

Sometimes growth of our souls happens slowly, but it does happen when we allow the light to shine through the dark. Often, what we see in the light is not what we expected or wanted to see, but it is truth nonetheless. Be brave and allow yourself to look inward this week. To allow the clarity and warmth of the light into our lives is the first step to finding home.

Cow Chip Bingo

Life in rural America has it's joys, stresses and oddities. It's the oddities that are on my mind this morning. Festival season in Nebraska appears to start the first weekend in June. We had our choice of a nationally sponsored bbq cook off, a Rail & Trail themed event celebrating the area's railroad and pioneering history, a German festival and a tribute festival to a small town's founder. The weather was wonderful, breezy, dry and sunny. How to choose? Easy....how can you not choose the one that highlights cow chip bingo! I ....... you not. You fill in the blank.


Picture this; a large field with about 5 cows milling around, doing their cow thing. Silly humans actually spend money to buy a numbered flag. The flag is assigned a position on the bingo board and is placed in a corresponding position in the field. And then you wait. What are you waiting for? Well, the big plop of course! Really. And when it finally happens, the flag nearest the plop is the winner of a prize. How long you wait is of course totally up to the cows, who are known to be exceptionally contrary on occasion and the event can run as long as an hour. Chicken .... Bingo has been known to take up to 2 hours! In this case, it was a quick game with winners declared in under 10 minutes.


Now, I've been to a lot of festivals in my former life as a craft show vendor. I've been to CottonPickin' Days, Muleskinner Day's, Peanut Festivals,Peach Festivals,Old Mill Days, you name it, I've probably been to something like it. I thought I'd seen just about every kind of event a committee of well meaning yet deranged minds could dream up. Now, I think I really have. I wonder what's on deck for next weekend?

And Yet Another Address

Once again, I've tied on my flying shoes and taken a leap of faith step with my life. It was a giant step, all the way from Texas to Nebraska. Now, that doesn't really look like much on a map, but trust me, it is a huge leap!

For the last year, I've been struggling with an all too common situation for people my age; long distance aging parents who need someone nearby to help them out. I didn't want to be the one to pack up my life and go. Especially since the destination was a very rural location in Nebraska, where there are miles and miles of corn and snow... most of all snow.

Mentally I played out many scenarios. I tried to discuss alternative plans with my siblings. Nothing was jelling and it was becoming increasingly clear that going was the only choice. Even my dreams were clearly telling me the right thing to do. So, with the full understanding and participation of my husband, we decided that we would go to Nebraska. He's remarkable. This makes 9 major moves in our 33 years. We'll talk about moving at a later date.

And here we are....we traded one small town in Texas for an even smaller town in Nebraska. We've traded a 3 bedroom house for a 2 bedroom apartment. We've traded working from home in our jammies to driving 80 miles a day to jobs...each. We've traded our predictible, self centered lives for the challenges of the unknown. And it feels right.

In the Moment

I've been making an effort to really keep myself focused on living in the moment for the last couple of months. I am overall an optimistic soul but for the last several months I've found myself worrying alot and having some real issues with anxiety. I know better than to allow my mind to spin these huge worry webs. I am no novice to the ideas becomming so popular with the Secret. I know where I have my focus, I have my result. I teach these metaphysical life laws and I help other people create their best possible life. So why am I so wrapped up in these sticky worry theads?

Becasue I am an ordinary soul living a human life with lots of challenges. Just like everyone else. Knowing the universal laws and principles is one thing; living them daily is quite another. The most difficult aspect of having some awareness of the magnificence that is possible, to me, is staying focused on the awareness. It's my biggest challenge to truly let go and allow the bounty to flow over and through me. It remains that way even though I have first hand experience and KNOW that the laws work. I forget. I lose focus. I'm human.

So, I am making a concentrated effort to live in the moment. Just for today, as I teach my students. To be aware of how the the worn keys on my keyboard feel smooth and cool on my finger tips. To be aware that I am sitting slouched over and my back will protest in a moment. To be aware that I hear the wind blowing outside and that in this moment of writing, I am completely at ease with myself and my place in the world. Oops.. a distracting thought just popped in...my mind is in hyperanxiety mode right now, dams being built against its currents... I can let it go. Noticed and released. Back to the moment. I'll let you know how the rest of the day goes.

Sinful Peanut Brittle

Everyone once in a long,long while, my husband gets an enormous case of candy cravings and I head to the kitchen. I love making candy, but with only the two of us to eat it, candymaking usually waits for the holidays. Or when the Great Norwegian Gimme Candy Monster appears. Peanut brittle has been the focus of this fall's appearance and I've got it down to a no brainer recipe at last.

I even thought I had a million dollar idea when I decided to add cinnamon and cayenne into the syrup. Until the very next week on Good Eats, Alton Brown did exactly the same thing and now every Food Network host has also used the same combination in some way. I guess it was a cosmically brilliant idea floating around and we all grabbed it at once. Make it. This is totally addictive stuff. Join the rest of us addicts who will put ourselves at risk of losing fillings before we'll stop eating this sinfully sweet and spicy peanut brittle.

Ps...if you cook it right, I doubt you'd loose a filling. It's hard and has a great snappy crack to it!


Sinful Peanut Brittle

3 Cups Sugar
1 1/2 Cups Water
1 1/2 Cups Light Karo Syrup
3 Cups Raw Peanuts
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
2 Teaspoons Butter

Put the sugar, water and Karo syrup into a deep 2 quart pan. Stir to mix, then stop stirring. Bring to a boil and allow to boil until the hot syrup reaches 300 degrees F, or a hard crack stage. Carefully remove the thermometer and add salt, cinnamon, cayenne pepper and peanuts. Stir to mix. The temperature will immediately drop. Continue cooking until it again reaches 300 degrees. Remove from heat. Carefully stir in the butter until it is completely melted. Next stir in the baking soda and blend well.

Immediately pour onto 2 buttered cookie sheets and allow to cool. When completely cooled, smack the cookie sheet on the counter to break into serving size pieces.

TIPS FOR SUCCESS!
1. When you pour out the hot candy, it will immediately set up. If you like thin peanut brittle, give yourself some working time to spread it out by keeping your cookie sheets in a 200 degree oven while the syrup boils. Remove just before you need them and apply butter or spray with cooking spray. Warm cookie sheets will let you spread the mixture out as thin as you like.

2. If you like things on the spicy side, adjust the cinnamon and cayenne carefully. I am a medium bite person. I use a rounded teaspoon of cinnamon and a level one of cayenne. Keep in mind that you have to complete a batch before you actually know what it tastes like, no taste testing of the hot syrup!

3. Be sure to let the syrup really cook to 300 degrees.Cooking to 305 degrees is ok too. I know every website and most cookbooks tell you that you can recook candy that is just too soft, but don't believe them. How I know? Well, lets just say that it took a trip to see Super Son-In-Law and his trusty Dremel tool to have the rock hard burnt sugar wire brushed off of my favorite pan. My favorite pan that is no longer in the candymaking arsenal.

Spirit Photo

Here's something eerie in honor of Halloween. This is an aura photo that was taken in Atlanta, GA on 02/14/97. I have circled an area in the left of the photo that has something unusual in it. It's harder to see on the screen than in person, but maybe you'll see it. Just over his shoulder is what appears to be some very long fingers reaching through the aura cloud.

My husband and I were at a shop when this was taken. We entered a darkened closet with a solid back wall. Once I saw the photo, I examined the room immediately. There were no openings in the wall at all, no one could have gotten behind us and reached into the photo. We were alone in the very small space, and we are large people; no one could have slid in behind us inside the booth without us knowing.

I have always had a comfortable belief in the spirit world this photo did not alarm me at all, but I wonder who was trying to reach out. I have always wondered if it may be the spirit of my husband's mother, who passed when he was a young boy...that's the romantic in me on Valentine's Day.

I'd like to know if you see anything in the photo and what your feelings may be.


Halloween, Spirit Photo, Aura

Good Bye Summer

The heat wave in Texas has broken or is at the very least, taking its misery further south. Over the weekend it was 106 and by Monday, it only reached 90. If you don't live in such a place, this may not seem like that big a thing to you, but let me assure you there is a huge difference in those 16 degrees. Like being able to wear one bra all day instead of changing your sweat drenched underclothing three times before dinner. Like being able to totally dry off after your shower and getting dressed before you're all sweaty again. Like contemplating cooking an oven meal instead of another microwaved delight. Like being able to work at your keyboard all day without having to stop and dry off the keys. And this is all living and working in an air conditioned house and rarely venturing outside. Best of all, it means that night time temps will actually start to go below 80 again and we can open the house to the night breeze.

For four whole days in a row, I have not been glistening without the aid of bodyglow gels. My hair has not been a hank of lifeless fiber plastered to my neck. I have been able to get out of a chair without leaving a moist back imprint. I have only used two washcloths a day instead of 6 and there are actually a few clothes to wash this week. When it's so very hot, there's usually not a lot of laundry other than undies and washcloths to do.

We may not be done with the heat for the year. This has been a rough summer. My area usually has about 18 days of 100 plus days. This year, we are at 45 and in all likelihood there will be a few more. I know there are places where it's hotter, my sister lives in one of them. By the grace of all that's good, I never will. This cool week is just what I needed to step back from the brink of heat induced start raving madness. I can feel the heat induced sluggishness leaving my brain and body, inspiring me to do something creative today for first time in many months.

So I am happy on my day off today. I had my breakfast outside at the picnic table...only 85 at 10 this morning! I read my mail. I played with the cat. I heard the summer noises of buzzing coming from the morning glories, several different bird calls,a woodpecker at work, grasshoppers in the grass and the melodies of my favorite chimes. Say good bye summer.

Absolute Write Blog Chain 4

This post is a link within a truly interesting writing exercise called the Absolute Write Blogging Chain. You'll never know where the next link may take you.

When this chain first started, the topics were focused on making the world a better place. I was pretty far down the list, so I had a few days to ruminate on this idea. Then I took a couple of days away from my computer to deal with real life and now it's my turn. The topic has totally changed and I'm staring another true confessional moment in the face.

Atomic Bear, the writer link ahead of me in the chain, has been evaluating his stuff. Stuff? Yeah, all the flotsam and jetsam that we all seem to leave in our wake. Frequent moving is one good way to keep it at a minimum. Well, if you move yourself that is. Nothing like the prospect of lugging all that stuff to make you reconsider its worth.

I have an excuse for all my stuff. It's an inherited genetic defect from my mother's family and I just can't help it. I have managed to keep my stuff more contained than she ever has, but the trait is still there. The house I grew up in had lots in common with a corn maze. My stuff fills bookshelves to overflowing and plastic tubs but there are still wide open spaces, just not too many of them. My stuff has value. I'm sure yours does too.

Last year, my craft room had to become a working office in a very short period of time. My craft interests had changed so I decided to try and sell some of my stuff on eBay. I knew I had lots of rubber stamps and assorted craft items and I really wasn't into stamping anymore so I started there. My estimate at the beginning of the craft room project was that I had about 500 stamps. So I started counting and bagging lots. eBay was very,very good to me over the course of the last year. Of course, it didn't hurt that the stamp count went closer to 2000...yeah, you read that right. A year later, I am almost done selling my stamping supplies. I'm about ready to move into the polyclay and beads.

Now, I am contemplating moving again within a year, so it's time to really reevaluate the stuff. I've already taken boxes and boxes of books to the used bookstore. I've used my local FreeCycle connections to move along some really good stuff. My non-genetically afflicted daughter comes over once in a while to assess my stuff levels and assures me that there is still more stuff that can be parted with. I dunno... maybe I need a recovery group.

Maybe I really am helping to make the world a better place by providing a home for so much stuff. It would be heartbreaking to have to pass some of this stuff on the street each day. Homeless stuff tugs at my heartstrings. Do your part; adopt some stuff today.

The next stop on your journey is Everything Indian, a very cool blog you shouldn't miss.

Want to read more? Here's the entire list of blogs in this round. Enjoy.

Peregrinas
Pass the Torch
The Road Less Travelled
Fireflies in the Cloud
Even in a Little Thing
The Secret Government Eggo Project
Curiouser and Curiouser
At Home, Writing
Mad Scientist Matt's Lair
I, Misanthrope - The Dairy of a Dyslexic Writer
Beyond the Great Chimney Production Log
Flying Shoes
Everything Indian
The Hal Spacejock Series
Organized Chaos
Of Chapters and Reels
Just a Small town girl
Midnight Muse
Kappa no He

awchain

Saying Goodbye To George

Yesterday was very sad day at my house. It was time to help our boy George go home. If you're not a cat lover you probably won't understand the anguish and pain that accompanies that decision or the huge hole it leaves in your heart.

George was in our lives for 13 years. He adopted my husband and refused to be left behind after several attempts. The day he joined out household, we already had 2 cats and I didn't really think we needed a third, but the tiny black furball with the big purr was too irresistible to turn away. He learned how to ride on my husband's shoulder for fun. My daughter and husband taught him how to patiently wait by your side when you were eating a yummy snack and then gently paw at your hand when you were almost finished. He had a natural talent for turning somersaults. Not just the normal cat behavior of tucking their heads down and flopping on their sides. True somersaults, head down and tail over in a tight ball. As he grew, it was harder for him but he never quit doing them.

This past spring, George developed IBS and started losing weight rapidly. We tried courses of pretensions and antibiotics, he'd seem to be a little better and then relapse. Eventually he was down from his normal weight of 11 pounds to about 5. Nothing was helping and it was time for us to help him.

To the end, George was his inquisitive,trusting self. Purring contentedly, alert and loving. There were lots of tears on which George's soul could float peacefully home.

What's the Soundtrack of Your Soul?

There's been an emptiness and a yearning that I haven't quite been able to identify. For me, this is unusual because I spend a fair amount of time listening with inward ears. At last, it came to me. It's been too quiet in my soul lately.

Music is one of the top five things that I need to survive beyond the physical basics. No, I'm not a musician in the traditional sense. Can't play anything but the cd player. But music is a living thing that stays in my head, vibrates within my cells and keeps me in touch with me. It keeps me from being swallowed into the black hole of depression. It fuels my muse and excites the dormant idea factory. Music has soothed my young lover's aching heart, shown me the light in darkness, expressed political opinion, issued invitations, inspired visions, guided me through mysterious times and mended the unmendable. Some people keep their memories alive with photos, mine are completely indexed by the music I heard.

The main soundtrack of my soul is Crosby,Still, Nash and Young in all their various blendings. My first feelings of my identity, love and independence were underscored by 1970's Deja Vu and their first album, 1969's Crosby Stills Nash. I couldn't even begin to count the hours and events that are tied into these two.

CSNY are touring again this year and reporters say they have defined the soul of a generation and changed the culture. Music has power. It worries me to think of this and then think of the violent and demeaning music so popular today and what will become of the souls who have that as a soundtrack. Teach your children well.

Last night we watched a DVD of a new Neil Young concert, Prairie Wind. He's introspective about his life, like all the rest of us aging hippies. He's passionate, nostalgic, angry and still writing fine tunes.

We'll talk more about music in upcoming days. It's time to find my headphones.


csny, crsoby,stills,nash, neil young

Weekly Tarot - 08/05 - 08/11 6 of Cups

Six of Cups
Universal Waite

You may be on the verge of starting a period of serious work or starting back to school, but this week, it's time to relax and enjoy the simpler pleasures of life. You know the old saying, take time to smell the roses? That's the perfect summary of this week's card. The sixes in the tarot represent completion of a smaller cycle and you've earned the rest. This would be a great week to sneak in a couple of vacation days...days that you don't spend running adult errands!

Indulge in some of your childhood pleasures; go on a picnic, splash in the pool, take the kids to an amusement park or a cool dark movie theater for an afternoon matinee. Revist your fondest memories by organizing your photos in a scrapbook, journal about some of your favorite memories of games and friends from a 10 year old's point of view.

There's always going to be more work to do. You can count on that. What you can't count on is always having enough moments to savor the sweetness of life. Don't let it pass you by.



tarot

Weekly Tarot 07/30 to 08/04 - The Fool

The Fool
Universal Waite Tarot

The Fool is the first card of the Major Arcana. It's a significant card whenever it appears, as a sure sign that you are about to embark into unknown territories. The Major Arcana is about the powerful and universal themes that run through our lives. The Fool is the beginning of a new cycle.

The Fool stand on the edge of the precipice, apparently totally unaware and unconcerned that his very next step may send him plunging over the edge. His little faithful dog at his side, the Fool seems oblivious to the danger. But is it really danger that awaits the Fool?

Certainly the outcome is unknown at this snapshot moment. All of the options are still open. Take a step and fall. Glance down and carefully plant your foot in a safe place. Turn around. Stop, play with your dog and contemplate the choices. Or keep your focus on whatever you are watching above your head, and take that next step in trust. What are you focusing on anyway? The choice is yours. The one thing that is certain is that nothing is certain in this moment.

Keep your wits about you this week, aware that something new is absolutely presenting itself. It could be something as simple as a new job that you have been waiting to hear about or it could be as complex as a new dimension being added to a relationship you thought was pretty stable and predictable. Allow yourself to lighten up and playfully roll with the tide, stay open to what may happen. It won't last long.


tarot

Summer Fun at Scrap Artist

Well this weekend marks the first anniversary of the ScrapArtist web site. The creative team came up with some really fun challenges and games all bases on a pool party theme. It's apparently a huge hit, because they are experiencing all sorts of server issues.

They have my sympathies. In a former life I worked for a national retailer and we launched a new site design on Thanksgiving weekend. It was so hugely successful that no one had any time with their familes, we were all crazy trying to keep the site up and running! So, hang in there Scrap Artist gals, you've got a loyal and enormous following.

One of the challenges is called Belly Flop...remember this is a pool party... and the idea is to take a less than wonderful photo and make a fun scrapbook page with it anyway. My layout is here. It's intentionally rather child like, no shadows on the layers, etc and yeah, I know the photo is out of focus..that's what makes it a Belly Flop! I just love this photo, focus or not.


Another event in the pool party weekend is the After Splash BBQ. This one is for creating cool recipe cards to eventually go into a group collection. Mine is easy and too good for words.

So since I can't get them uploaded at ScrapArtist right now, I decided to share them here. Enjoy!

Lemon Honey Barley Water

First, the confession.... I am addicted to Alton Brown's Good Eats on Food TV. There is something about the food/science combo and his quirky personality that keeps me coming back. The goofy visual aids are usually worth the price of admission,too!

Anyway, yesterday the show was on Barley. I've always liked barley and it's truthfully my favorite thing in a big pot of vegetable beef soup. I've never done anything else with it though. Now, Alton advocates buying an expensive German mill to get the barley ground down and that's a little over the top for me. If you've been reading along,you know I'd be buying a new camera if that kind of money flew in my window! So I did some reading today on barley. I am completely amazed at how beneficial this little bitty grain is!

It's loaded with protein,fiber and niacin, seems to be good for all sorts of digestive issues, kidney cleansing, reducing cholesterol, prevents gall stones, helps heart health for menopausal women and diabetics better than oats! Who knew! I also read that drinking barley water can help stimulate the body to burn fat faster and prevent wrinkles.

This recipe for Barley Water is based on the one given by Alton Brown on Good Eats. Doing a search on barley water will show you lots of variations, which I have adapted here. It's suggested that you drink 1 - 2 cups daily to receive health benefits. I'm going to give it a try. Let me know if you do too and lets compare notes.

2 quarts water
1 cup hulled barley
2 lemons
1/4 cup honey
1 cinnamon stick
Several slices of fresh ginger

Place the water and barley into a medium saucepan; cover, set over high heat and bring to a boil. Once the barley comes to a boil, decrease the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. While the liquid is cooking, peel the lemons, being careful not to cut into the white pith. Juice the lemons and place the juice along with the peel into a 3-quart pitcher and set aside. Add the cinnamon stick and ginger slices.

After 30 minutes, strain the barley water through a fine mesh strainer into the pitcher. Discard the barley. Add the honey and stir to combine. Refrigerate until chilled. Will keep up to 5 days.

UPDATE
I made this brew with a few changes, no ginger or cinnamon sticks around so I tossed in whole cloves. It's very good. I think I'll make mine just a little less sweet next time and add more spices, maybe some cardamom. It reminds me of cold chai.

And I didn't toss the barley. I mixed the partially cooked and drained barley with a little butter and about a cup of chicken broth. Then I added some italian seasoning and simmed another 20 min until the broth was absorbed. I tossed in some grated parmesan cheese and we had it as a side dish with grilled turkey. Pretty good! Considering the health benefits, I think I'll try to get more barley recipes in our meals.

barley water,natural health,menopause,diet aid,Alton Brown,food tv

Ice Cream Heaven

Right now it's 96 F in my kitchen. The AC is on and the landlord says its working perfectly. Right. Even my cats have taken to sleeping in the sink to try and cool off. I think I'll make them some ice cream. Vanilla is their favorite. I have a Doniver ice cream maker that's been chilling in the freezer, waiting for the mercury to peak. I think it's time.

If you like a little creativity with your ice cream, just before you pack it away to harden, swirl in some all fruit preserves or some chocolate chips, cracked toffee or go nuts and add a teaspoon of instant espresso powder.

Try this and see if it doesn't rock your world.

3 cups half-and-half
1 cup heavy cream
9 large egg yolks
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Place the half-and-half and the heavy cream into a medium saucepan, over medium heat. Bring the mixture just to a simmer, stirring occasionally, and remove from the heat.

In a medium mixing bowl whisk the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Gradually add the sugar and whisk to combine. Temper the cream mixture into the eggs and sugar by gradually adding small amounts, until about a third of the cream mixture has been added. Pour in the remainder and return the entire mixture to the saucepan and place over low heat. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon and reaches 170 to 175 degrees F.

Pour the mixture into a container and allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Stir in the vanilla extract. Place the mixture into the refrigerator and once it is cool enough not to form condensation on the lid, cover and store for 4 to 8 hours or until the temperature reaches 40 degrees F or below.

Pour into an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's directions. This should take approximately 25 to 35 minutes. Serve as is for soft serve or freeze for another 3 to 4 hours to allow the ice cream to harden.

ice cream , food

Weekly Tarot 07/22-07-28 Ace of Wands

The Ace Of Wands
Sharman Casselli Deck

Been feeling a little uninspired lately? Good news! That funk is lifting and you'll be inundated with new ideas or a new outlook on an existing situtation. They've been incubating deep within you and are ready now to launch. This could take the form of a new business venture, a new creative project or something in the spiritual realm. If you're presented with an opportunity that interests you but seems a little out of your comfort zone, go for it! You'll be surprised at what you learn about yourself.

It's important that you pay attention to your intuition, learning to hear your spirit will help you to maintain your passion for your life. When you lose touch with your inner spirit, you lose focus, ambition and fire which leaves you feeling stuck, bored and frustrated with your job, your relationship and you life. Once you learn to listen, you'll be able to know when to take that leap of faith and when to let it pass.


tarot

Sticky Buns for Breakfast

My family members know that I am an excellent baker with one huge exception. I can sometimes get the bread machine to cooperate, but usually, if something calls for yeast, you'd be better of buying it at Wal-Mart. Really. This recipe is the one exception. I have made hundreds of batches of these sticky buns. In the early 1980's, I had a toddler at home and supplemented our family income with these gooey treats. I woke up thinking about them this morning and finally found my recipe! Guess what I'm having for breakfast tomorrow!

Diamond Walnut Sticky Buns

1 pkg active dry yeast
2 tablespoons warm water
1/4 cup boiling hot milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons shortening
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
2 cups sifted all-purpose flout
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Sprinkle yeast over warm water, let stand 5 min to soften. Meanwhile, stir hot milk, 1/4 cup sugar , shortening and salt together. When lukewarm, add egg, 1 1/2 cups flour, lemon peel, ginger and yeast. Beat on a mixer at medium speed 2 minutes. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup flour to make moderately soft dough. Knead a few seconds to smooth out and round up dough. Cover and let rise in warm place until doubled,1 to 1-1/2 hours. Prepare Walnut Pan coat.

When dough has risen, turn out onto floured board, roll out to an 8 x 12 inch rectangle. Spread with butter, sprinkle with 1/2 cup walnuts and the remaining 1/4 cup sugar mixed with cinnamon. Roll tightly, starting from long side of dough. Cut in 1 inch slices. Arrange cut side down in prepared pan, placing 3 rolls in center, 9 around edges. Let rise until doubled, approx 40-50 min. Bake at 375 F about 25 min until browned and baked through. Loosen edges. Invert over plate. Let pan rest on rolls 1 min so syrup drains. Serve warm. Makes 12 rolls.

Walnut Pan Coat
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoon dark corn syrup
1 tablespoon water

Melt butter in a small saucepan. Add brown sugar, syrup and water. Stir over moderate heat until mixture reaches simmering and sugar dissolves. Turn into a 9 inch layer cake pan. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup large walnut pieces.

This recipe was published in 1980 in women's magazines as a Diamond Walnut advertisement.

baking,food,recipe,cinnamon roll

AW BLog Chain 3 - Confessions of a Geek Girl

This post is another link in the Absolute Write Blogger Chain,round 3. Here's the entry before mine, if you'd like to catch up.

Today we seem to be talking about our geeky-ness. At one time, I was a totally spoiled geek girl and if something was new, cool or beta, I had it. My husband was more than happy to indulge me as it was a real toss up as to who was the bigger geek. I always got the new shiny toy and he took the hand me downs. Being a geek early adopter has its drawbacks; new toys are always expensive and sometimes the initial offering of software isn't as awesome as rev 2 or 3. Another drawback is that once you buy something, it is impossible to, gasp, throw it out so you will end up with boxes and boxes of cables, cards and god knows what. I am also of an artistic mind and my biggest indulgences were graphics programs, scanners and cameras.

Case in point, digital cameras were new and incredibly sexy in 1997. My first camera shot an unbelievable 1 megapixel and was*only* $800. It was an Olympus and I was thrilled. It was silver, cool and pretty heavy. I took pictures of everything and thought I had bought my last camera. Ok, so the printed picture wasn't much, but we could see them on the computer and that was good. Before too long, it started seeming like an antiquated dinosaur as newer models came out that were smaller, lighter and has more features. Time to go shopping.

Camera 2, was a Sony Mavica. Ok, so I didn't get the light small version of my dreams, but it had FLOPPIES! I know, you're shaking your head on that one, but at the time it seemed like the perfect answer to taking lots and lots of pictures. Memory sticks were very new and very,very expensive. Floppies were cheap and no one knew that they have a nasty habit of self destructing in such a short time. Besides, we had a 4x CD burner and I could burn my pictures off on a CD. The theory worked well, we took it on a month long vacation, took thousands of pictures that archived nicely. At 2 megapixels it took a much better picture, had a great zoom,printed pictures were nice and now I was really convinved I'd bought my last camera.

Except, about 2 months after we bought the Mavica, the first 3 megapixel cameras were on the scene. They were beautiful, small, sleek and had totally jaw dropping features and quality for...get this... under $200. I shoved thoughts of the temptresses to the back of the closet and resisted for a full 3 years. One day, it became too much for me. I'd lost my job, I had a little severence cash and a new Cybershot Sony soothed my wounded pride.

My days of spoiled geek girl seem to be temporarily on hold. The job loss thing has really gotten in the way of being an early adopter. Like a smoker going cold turkey, I've stopped watching TechTV, going straight for the CompUSA ad in the Sunday paper and never, ever open the Dell mailers that they keep sending me. Lovely shrinkwrapped boxes of upgraded Photoshop call to me from time to time and I still lust after the newest goodies, escpecially a Canon Rebel XT, but hey, I really can do everything I want with the camera I have. Can't I?


If you're enjoying the randomness of this AW Blog Chain, keep reading...and comment, please. We all love an audience. Next up is Southern Expressions.

AW Blog Chain Round 3

Forbidden Snowflake

Fireflies in the Cloud
Mad Scientist Matt's Lair

Youth - Our Greatest Natural Resource

The Road Less Traveled

Jennifer Sando

Peregrinas

Flying Shoes

Southern Expressions

Kappa no He

Tiffany's Smorgasbord

Even in a Little Thing

Liv's Life

Everything Indian

awchain

Altered Playing Card for Arthur

Here it is a week later and I still have Sir Arthur on my mind with those fairies! This card was done in response to an altered playing card challange at Scrap Artist. My original idea was to recreate an "Authors" game card, like the card game I played so often as a child, but I couldn't find a good image to use. So I went with a regular playing card and tinkered with the fairies again.

His book about the Cottingley Fairies is entitled The Coming of Fairies and is readable online if you're looking for some summer amusement.

Witch of Pungo Exonerated

Grace Sherwood, The Witch Of Pungo

I read about the Witch of Pungo for the first time when I was in the 5th grade. Eventually, my life took me to Virginia Beach, where I lived not far from the area known as Pungo. When I became a HypnoBirthing practitioner, something in my brain ressurected her story for me as a midwife/healer who faced the witch hunt mentality and lost.

Grace is in the news again; this week she was officially exonerated by the state of Virginia and a statute will be commerate her memory. 300 years to get the record straight.

The Witchcraft case of Grace Sherwood is one of the best known in Virginia. She was accused of bewitching a neighbor's crop in 1698. Allegations grew over time until the Princess Anne County Government and her accusers decided she would be tested by ducking, since water was considered pure and would not permit a witch to sink into its depths.

Sherwood's accusers on July 10th, 1706, at ten of the clock, tied her thumbs to big toes, cross-bound, and dropped her into the Western Branch of the Lynnhaven River near what is now known as Witchduck Point. Sherwood floated, a sign of guilt. She was imprisoned, but was eventually released.

Sherwood lived the rest of her life quietly and died in 1740. Was she really a witch or was Grace a woman before her time? She was a healer, a midwife and a friend to the children and animals. On the 300th Anniversary of her conviction, Grace Sherwood's name will finally be cleared and her statue will be unveiled.

On July 10, 2006, Grace Sherwood, Virginia's only convicted witch, will be exonerated by the Vestry of Old Donation Church on the original site of the Second Princess Anne Courthouse, where her trial took place in 1706. The Vestry of the Lynnhaven Parish, present day Old Donation Church, condemned her so many years ago, and will now reverse their three centuries old decision and clear her name.

Thanks to Carol's House for the drawing.

witch of pungo, witch

Arthur Conan Doyle & Fairies

This is a picture of the infamous Cottingley Fairies, supposedly the first actualy photographic evidence of fairies. In 1920, Arthur Conan Doyle received word of these photographs and became convinced that they were genuine. Even after they were exposed as a delightful fraud by two creative teenagers, he continued to believe in their authenticity. Gotta wonder how any thinking person could have been taken in by this, but thousands were. It was an enormous hot topic in it's day. Today, the media frenzy would probably have been comprable to anything involving Paris Hilton.

Arthur Conan Doyle became a dedicated Spiritualist in 1916 and remained so until his death in 1930. He was an enthusiastic researcher and wrote 13 books on Spiritualism related material in the last years of his life. At one point, he began publishing his own works under the Psychic Press publishing house name. His beliefs could not be shaken and he was going to be published one way or the other! Of course, it didn't hurt that he was the world's most successful author at the time and had time, money and celebrity on his side. He approached Spiritualism as an investigator, working endlessly to advance the cause. In his first book on Spiritualism, he says

I seemed suddenly to see that this subject with which I had so long dallied was not merely a study of a force outside the rules of science, but that it really was a tremendous, a breaking down of the walls between the two worlds, a direct undeniable message from beyond, a call of hope and guidance to the human race...

Doyle has contributed enormous amounts of literature to the Spiritualism religion. I'm fortunate enough to own a first edition set of his 2 volume History of Spiritualism. His writing, although a little antiquated by today's standards, is still interesting and compelling. If you're interested in checking this out for yourself, it has been put online at the Spiritwritings.com site. His abiding belief in the fairies aside, Doyle gives us a great deal to think about.

He was frequently challenged by famous psychic investigators and debunkers, Harry Houdini and Harry Price, but he never gave up on some of his convictions, especially regarding spirit photography. I have lots more to say on the spirit photography topic and other physical manifestations, but that's for another day. Today, July 7, 2006 is the 76th anniversery of Arthur Conan Doyle's death, and I'll show a little respect. Everyone gets to have an eccentric side as far as I'm concerned.


Spiritualism,Arthur Conan Doyle,Paranormal

Calling All Angels

Calling all angels
Calling all angels
Walk me through this one
Don't leave me alone

Calling all angels
Calling all angels
We're tryin', we're hopin'
But we're not sure how this goes.

I heard this long first on Six Feet Under last year. It's stayed in my head and today refuses to not be heard. As the song was sung by the characters on Six Feet Under it was poingnant and raw. This version is absolutely smooth as silk and no less powerful.

Whoever you are, reading this blog today, maybe you need to hear this song too. It's comforting and uplifting and truly beautiful. The artist, Jane Siberry, has made it available as a free download from her store. Go listen.


Calling all angels, six feet under, Jane Siberry

Inside the room of your soul

I saw this fun thing on another blog somewhere, I don't know what the heck the photo is all about, but it's a fun blogthing anyway. Eerily, relatively true!

What Your Soul Really Looks Like

You are a wanderer. You constantly long for a new adventure, challenge, or eve a completely different life. You are a grounded person, but you also leave room for imagination and dreams. You feet may be on the ground, but you're head is in the clouds. You believe that people see you for how you are, not how you look. But deep down, you know that's not exactly true. Your near future is all about change, but in very small steps. The end of the journey looks far, but it's much closer than you realize. For you, love is all about caring and comfort. You couldn't fall in love with someone you didn't trust.

Inside the Room of Your Soul

Weekly Tarot - 06/24 - 06/30 - King of Cups

King of Cups
Sharman- Casselli Tarot

This weeks influencing card is the King of Cups. This King represents an opportunity to successfully take a risk on something that resonates emotionally or spiritually within you. He represents an awareness of an wise advisor who will serve as your guide if only you ask. He won't volunteer, but he is always there, waiting to be asked.

This King could be a person in your life whom you trust for advice. He's experienced in the world and is your rock. Always showing you the way by example, not lecture, in quiet assuredness. He may be an older male figure, a spiritual leader or an educator. He is deeply concerned with humanity and feels all the sorrows as well as the joys, but he keeps his distance and that allows him to make wiser judgments. He's a romantic, restless, an idealist and often, a dreamer visionary.

Within yourself you also have this king as an inner advisor, waiting patiently for you to call on him. He watches and waits, often giving you a small hint of his presence in unexpected insights or inspirations. Remember one of those genius thoughts you had and then let slip away? Try remembering next time and let this wise King begin to speak. Your inner self has connetions to all the wisdom of the universe and wants nothing more than to help you be enormously successful in your spiritual and emotional lives.

Give yourself permission this week to spend a few moments quietly allowing that wisdom to come to your consciousness. Consult with a trusted ally on the questions in your life. Look to your dreams to give you ideas about how to solve a dilemma or enhance an already positive situtiation. This King can guide or teach you by example, not words, how to become more compassionate, patient, and calm to fully commit emotionally to your goals or ideals. It's time to move forward with something you have been mulling over for a long time. No dream ever became reality without mature commitment and passion, all gifts this King brings.

Tarot

Names

This post is a part of the Absolute Write Blog Chain, Round 2. I am following Peregrinas, which is always an interesting read. In fact, all the blogs in the chain are . I hope you'll spend a lazy afternoon wandering through the chain.

Anyway, from the blog ahead of me I was intrigued with the idea of names. Probably because I have an unusual given name, Wendelynn. Until the past years of the Internet explosion, I had never come across another Wendelynn. Even in the early days of the Net, I was pretty alone. Today if you Google the name, you get 618 entries, many of them are me but there are really lots of Wendelynn's in the universe.

My version of Wendelynn came about because I am a first child and my father is Wendell. The story goes that there was a weather girl that one of my parents especially enjoyed on TV and her name was Lynn. So I am named for an unknown TV weather broadcaster in Lincoln,NE and my dad. That's a funny combination. Oh, by the way, it's pronounced Wen-Duh- Lynn, not Wendy- Lynn and no one in my family ever called me by it. My dad was always called Wendy and I became Wendy Jo, finally an acknowledgement of my mother's contribution to my full name!

One day I came across this great numerology site with thousands of names in their database, but no Wendelynn. I sent them an email and they calculated my name. The opening sentence of the report on my full given name was "This is a name that should never be given to anyone?"

I usually go by Wendy, always feeling that Wendelynn was too intimidating. Just this last year or so, as I turned 50, have I become comfortable with it as a name. Wendy is an interesting one too, most people thinking that J.M.Barrie made it up for Peter Pan. Not so, says another Wendy.

You'd think that having grown up with an unusual name would have led me to naming my own child something unremarkable like Ann, Jane or Cathy. Unfortunately, the unusual name thing must have a magnetic pull on me. My first choice for my daughter's name was Cyan, after the color. My husband lived in fear that I actually was going to insist on that! We actually named our daughter Kira, after an unforgettable heroine in Ayn Rand's We The Living.

She has carried on the naming quirk too, having named one of her furry catkids, Turtle!

How do you feel about your name? Does it suit your personality? Have you ever seriously wanted a different name but still use your given name? Do you know how your own name was chosen?

Next up in the chain is Madderblue. Enjoy!


awchain

Scrapping The Past

I've been working on a themed digital
scrapbook project at the Digital Scrapbook Place. It's a multiweek project utilizing primarily one set of design kits to create an album. The colors are soft pinks and greens, they just screamed wedding to me!

This is my grandparents wedding picture. Their names are Clara Tollman and Archie Anderson, Married in 1932.

I tinted the photo to blend with the overall scheme and recolored a couple of other elements for the look I wanted. Full credits are on the gallery page at DSP if you see something you just have to have for yourself!

The wedding photo is the second page in the series for me, but when I assemble the album it will probably end up to be page 3 or 4.

Here's a page that will come after the wedding one. This is a picture of Clara & Archie's first daughter, my mother at age 2, I think! This one has the state of Nebraska incorporated and the little pearl indicates where they were living in 1936. I wish the focus was closer to her face, but I'm guessing it was a very basic camera and people always stand too far away when they take pictures, even today.

I'm enjoying the challenge of using the same elements repeatedly to create something new each week. If I can find a wedding photo of my mom & dad, I'll do a page for them in this series. My own wedding anniversary is this week, I think I'll do a page for myself too.

Scrapbook

Tag, You're It -AW Blog Chain

So, I've been reading all the blogs in the chain this week, wondering what on earth the topic was going to be like when it got around to me, the last player. My task is to relate this rambling to the previous post by Chaos and also the the very first post by Towerkel. All the prior writers had done a really good job, but I was sweating it a little with the 2 posts in play. At last, I got the Tag, you're it notice.

I should have this much luck in all the other areas in my life! Yippee!! I'm doing the Snoopy happy dance about this combination. You see, I have the soul of a gypsy and there is not much I love more than taking road trips. Get in the car and just go.

Chaos tells us about trips with her father and seeing her first oil rig in Oklahoma. I've been through lots of flat, brown places too with lovely, but deceiving names like the Painted Desert. After a while you'll stop at anything, even a huge meteor crator in the middle of nowhere, just to see something that's not flat. It was still rocks and brown, but it wasn't flat! We found the crater almost by accident as we were leaving Winslow, AZ, which had been the focus of that day's mileage. How could a die hard Eagles fan be in AZ not go to Winslow? By the way, do not blink or you will totally miss it. The rest of that trip for another day.

So how does the oil rig get into this story? Well, I saw my first oil rigs in Oklahoma, just like Chaos. It was on a trip which originated in Odell, NE and ended up in Mineral Wells, TX. There is a whole bunch of nothing between the two places, but you will see some oil rigs as you pass through OK. Everytime I see a tall one, I can't help but think of the Beverly Hillbillies. I am a child of the 60's, after all. They should remind me of my grandfather, whose life was dramatically changed after an oil rig accident in the 1920's or even of the ultimate Texas oil movie, Giant. But Hillbillies it is.

I have a new association with oil rigs now. Since I have lived in TX, they aren't so unusual. I was unaware of the distincitve noise that can be associated with them until one night on my first cemetery after dark ghost hunt. No one told me there was an oil rig pumper jack near by and the noise, coming out of the total darkness, really freaked me out!

I'll bet you're wondering how this is going to end up back at Towerkels blog entry, about Dunkin Donuts and MA? I'm getting there. It really is a small world, and this blog project is so much like a PBS show of the past, Connections.

Here goes.... I was in the noisy haunted cemetery with Blue Texas, who is a AW writer and my daughter. She led me to AW where I have joined the blog chain. The blog chain started with a post about Dunkin Donuts being everywhere, which they are in New England but not in Texas, and about drivers in MA. I grew up in southern CT, lived in NH and commuted to Lowell MA for a number of years. I can testify first hand that MA drivers are the absolute worst in the US. And that Dunkin Donuts will beat Krispy Kreme every time, especially when you get a DD cup of coffee, which by the way, in MA will be with cream unless you specify otherwise. And to get right to the point, cause you've all been bored long enough now, yesterday I was working on my digital scrapbook project, and came across some photos of The Kid sitting in front of the famous seafarers statue in Glouseter... you guessed it, MA.

And that is how this blog entry completes the circle.

awchain

AW Blog Chain

At the Absolute Write forum, we're having a bit of summer fun with a blogging circle. It's the internet version of the telephone game, where one person writes a post, the next one incorporates one element of that blog post into their own, and it continues on.

I'm the last on this round, so not only do I include something from the previous blog, I have to bring it on home by touching on something in the very first blog. That should be interesting!

Here's the players in round 1. Pay a visit and leave a comment. It's a great way to while away the afternoon...day....week.

Towerkel
TemlynWriting
Blue Texas
Forbidden Snowflake
Sury
XThe NavigatorX
Peggy
MadScientistMatt
Jen.nifer
KellyC
Quidscribis
chaostitan
Wendelynn

awchain

Envelope Art

At Scrap Artist last week, the altered art challenge was envelopes. How could I resist? I am a long time altered artist, long before the art form had that name, I was doing it as Mail Art and before that as a kid, I was just totally incapable of mailing a naked envelope.

I did three envelopes and keep having ideas for more, but I'll move to the next challenge along with the group. This week it's tags. I've never done a tag, so we'll see what happens. The Imagination envelope is called DaVinci Meets Einstein, as the quote is Albert's and there is a definite DaVinci inspiration going on here.

The envelope to the above is called Mystery Mail. I've wanted to do something arty with a Ouija board for a while, and this is what came out. I think my favorite part is the letters floating in the background and the first line of the address...Whispers in your heart...makes me feel like there are spirit whisperings that maybe I'll hear one day.

The theme was envelopes and I did an ATC on the theme too. These are all real Civil War images that I "borrowed" from Civil War antiquities sites. Ever since I first heard it on Ken Burn's Civil War for PBS, I carry the Sullivan Ballou letter in my heart and it keeps popping into my art, as it did here, inspiring this piece. Not an altered envelope, but envelopes just the same.

It's been a pretty stressful week for me, lots of difficult family things happening that are out of my control at this point. I'm going to have to deal with the issues soon and it's not going to be easy. I read a book once about Vincent Van Gogh by Irving Wallace. One of the themes, heck maybe it was even spelled out in the book!, is remembered by me as " out of pain, beauty". I always find when something is very difficult in my life, my creative side explodes! I guess that's happening this week too.

Want to see more of my art?


ATC, Scrapping, Altered Art, Digital Art

Weekly Tarot 06/10 - 06/16 : Ten of Wands

Ten of Wands
Hanson Roberts Tarot

Been a rough couple of weeks hasn't it? Feeling like you've been carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders and it's getting heavier all the time? That's the feeling of the Ten of Wands. Too much to do, too many decisions to make, too many things on your "To Do" list and you are the lynch pin holding everything together.

Whoa.... sweetie, you'd better lay down some of those wands and take a step back. See that fairy tale castle in the distance, you are never going to reach it if you continute to let yourself be the only one shouldering the load. Yes, you do have to keep going, and yes, everything is important, but you have to remember to take care of yourself as well as taking care of everyone and everything else.

Have you ever wondered why flight attendants say that if you are travelling with a small child, put the oxygen mask on yourself first and then tend to the child? It's the same thing this card is telling you..... you can't perform at your best for anyone else unless you are at 100%. So whether it's making sure you can breathe so you can help the child or making sure you stay strong and healthy so you can take care of all the other things clamoring for your attention, this card it telling you to evaluate your priorities!

Not staying sane about what you can or can't do, how much of the burden you can reasonably carry alone will lead you to overeating, depression, substance abuse, anxiety and all sorts of other stress realted issues. So, take some time this week just for you. Decide where you really need to put your focus and ask for help to manage the rest. Go watch a movie!

tarot

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