Quick post

I have a few things to share with you when I am feeling up to it. I have been sick for the better part of a week now (no sympathy needed, thanks). I just wanted to touch base with my readers to let you know that I am here and will make a proper post in a few days.

Lessons in Life

Life Lessons

Sometimes you have to make mistakes

That is the only way you can learn

Everyone makes mistakes during their life

Not everyone will learn from them.

Life lessons can be painful

They can also be welcoming

Life lessons can push you down

But you have to bring yourself back up.

Sometimes the mistakes you make

Are silly and so mundane

Other times those same mistakes

Can put you to your shame.

Life lessons can be burdensome

They can weigh heavy on your heart

Life lessons can push you down

And it seems there is no way up.

Sometimes you have to make mistakes

The biggest of them all

And hopefully you will learn to deal

With painful lessons in life.

25 April 2010

And now she’s 1!

Yup, my Sandy is 1 year old now. She has been a joy and sometimes a pain, but hey what cat isn’t? I adopted Sandy from a local vet last summer, about a month after the loss of our beloved Mrs. Beasley. I want to take a moment to share a slideshow of our first year together:

In stitchy news…

I have been sick all week. It started last Friday evening while eating Jordan Almonds. I managed to chip a tooth (#14 for those who know their teeth names!). On Monday, the 19th, I went to the dentist to see about getting it fixed. What I hoped would be just a filling turned into a crown replacement. I am wearing a temp right now and get the permanent crown on May 5th. Can’t wait!!! I am so afraid that the temp will fall off and that I will swallow it. Plus, it’s inconvenient when I eat as I have to chew on the “wrong side”. LOL ! Guess this means I am getting old.

Well, as the novocaine wore off, my throat became sore. I thought it was par for the course, but NOOOO! I have to go and get sick. So, I didn’t accomplish much on the stitchy front, and even less on my thesis. I did manage to get a few pages written this morning to make up for the bad week. What I did accomplish on the stitching is shown below:

 Progress photo on Comin' Home for the Holidays

 

Start on Ink Circles' Cirques des Carreaux

28ct Lakeside Linen Tarnished Silver

2x2 Carrie's Creations Epiphany

I have decided to stick with the Lakeside on Cirques. After cleaning out my stitching stash, well organizing it a bit more, and finishing a couple of pieces I am now able to better utilize my q-Snaps and the Lakeside stays more taut now. Woo Hoo!! Also, I am in love with Carrie's Creations Epiphany! The colors are just gorgeous (as you can see in the close-up). Now, can I get this done in time for Christmas this year?!?! We'll see! It's going to be framed for my mom to go on her "French" wall in the living room. For some reason, she is really into all-things French. I don't know if it is her dad's heritage seeping through or being around my best friend (who is from Nantes and should be back in the US soon).

And one month later…



Here are some pics of what my orange blossoms look like:

They are starting to form into little fruits! Maybe my dad will catch them early enough to try one and if they are good to eat, then we may have some fresh fruit in a few weeks/months, LOL! A friend of mine in PA already called “dibs” on some, so we’ll see.

HalloSAL Finished!

**update 4/18/10: I did receive word that Sandra finally received her package. Here is a snap of what was sent:

Well, I managed to finish the HalloSAL design. There are supposed to be eyes on the ghosts at the bottom, but I like them without. I did add a little bit of a border around the bottom as well. I got a little “trigger happy” and stitched one too many of the little grass areas at the bottom, so I extended them around. I like the way it turned out and the design was fun to stitch. I did learn a couple of new stitches along the way, but still haven’t overcome my fear of french knots! lol…Anyhoo, here are a couple of pictures of the final piece:

I am planning on framing it or creating a bell pull. I need to learn a different finishing technique, so the actual finish may not happen until later in the summer.

Now on to some PIFs and the 3 larger pieces I am working on (Christmas Design SAL Comin' Home for the Holidays, Butterflies and Shamrocks Wreath, and Ink Circles’ Cirques des Carreaux). 

Plus, I need to concentrate on finishing my Thesis over the next few weeks, so there may not be a lot of finishes until the Fall.
 
Until next time…

TUSAL Update and a Finish

Yup! It's that time again! TUSAL!!!

I finally got around to taking my update picture for this month. Here are a couple of pictures:

 
And as you may have guessed it, my finish is ANCHORS AWEIGH! First a little background on the song, which can also be found here:

 

History

Lieut. Charles A. Zimmermann, USN, a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, had been selected as the bandmaster of the Naval Academy Band in 1887 at the age of 26. His father, Charles Z. Zimmermann, had played in the band during the Civil War years. Early in his career, Lieut. Zimmermann started the practice of composing a march for each graduating class. By 1892, "Zimmy", as he was affectionately known by the midshipmen, became so popular that he was presented with a gold medal by that year's class. More gold medals followed as Zimmermann wrote a march for each succeeding class.
 
In 1906, Lieut. Zimmerman was approached by Midshipman First Class Alfred Hart Miles with a request for a new march. As a member of the Class of 1907, Miles and his classmates "were eager to have a piece of music that would be inspiring, one with a swing to it so it could be used as a football marching song, and one that would live forever."

Supposedly, with the two men seated at the Naval Academy Chapel organ, Zimmermann composed the tune and Miles set the title and wrote to two first stanzas in November 1906. This march was played by the band and sung by the brigade at the 1906 Army-Navy football game later that month, and for the first time in several seasons, Navy won. This march, Anchors Aweigh, was subsequently dedicated to the Academy Class of 1907 and adopted as the official song of the U.S. Navy. The concluding stanza was written by Midshipman Royal Lovell, Class of 1926.

 

Original Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Stand Navy down the field, sails set to the sky.
We'll never change our course, so Army you steer shy-y-y-y.
Roll up the score, Navy, Anchors Aweigh.
Sail Navy down the field and sink the Army, sink the Army Grey.  
[Verse 2]
Get underway, Navy, Decks cleared for the fray,
We'll hoist true Navy Blue So Army down your Grey-y-y-y.
Full speed ahead, Navy; Army heave to,
Furl Black and Grey and Gold and hoist the Navy, hoist the Navy Blue
[Verse 3]
Blue of the Seven Seas; Gold of God's great sun
Let these our colors be Till all of time be done-n-n-ne,
By Severn shore we learn Navy's stern call:
Faith, courage, service true With honor over, honor over all.

 

Revised Lyrics

by George D. Lottman
It is Verse 2 that is most widely sung.

[Verse 1]Stand, Navy, out to sea, Fight our battle cry;
We'll never change our course, So vicious foe steer shy-y-y-y.
Roll out the TNT, Anchors Aweigh. Sail on to victory
And sink their bones to Davy Jones, hooray!
[Verse 2]
Anchors Aweigh, my boys, Anchors Aweigh.
Farewell to college joys, we sail at break of day-ay-ay-ay.
Through our last night on shore, drink to the foam,
Until we meet once more. Here's wishing you a happy voyage home.
 
Now, the version we are most familiar with is the Revised version. And yes, it is still played and sung in the Navy. We had to know it in Boot Camp!
 
And without further ado...Anchors Aweigh:

As I stated in the last post, I decided to embellish it from some uniform pieces I had tucked away. On the top, above the word “Navy” are the awards I received while in service. The purple is the Good Conduct Award, which is awarded every four years (so long as one behaves themselves, or doesn’t get caught, LOL) and next to that is the National Defense Award, which was given at the end of Boot Camp due to the conflict/war situation in Iraq. Remember Operation Desert Storm??? Well, we still fell under that in 1992 for the purposes of this medal. All military personnel were awarded with it during this time period. Guess I lucked out, lol!
 
On the bottom is the insignia we had to wear on our garrison caps. I believe they are still worn. I have 2 left over, so I used one of them here. And to the bottom left are my rate/rank, initials and the years I was enlisted. You may be wondering why there is a “b” where the “h” should be? Well, I was married at the time and had to use my husband’s name. For purposes of military/VA documentation, I kept his name until last year. I finally changed it over to my maiden and legal name.
 
Well, that’s all for now!

Update: Anchors Aweigh

Well, I promised an update on Anchors Aweigh and here it is:


I haven’t gotten it finished just yet. I was dealing with such a headache earlier. I couldn’t even concentrate on my studies. Ouch! I called my mom (a nurse) and mentioned that I think I got too much fresh air and that’s why I have a headache, LOL! She disagreed, of course. hehehe... Anyway, as I have been stitching this piece, and especially the cap, I find myself feeling indifferent to the whole design. I guess starting out on a bad thread note doesn't help, but the cap is a bit off even by Candamar's palette. My brain started rolling around and I decided to try to come up with my own Navy sampler. I will incorporate some of my own experiences in the Navy to make it more personalized and the cap will be accurate! LOL!!! And, I also thought about the trinkets I have left over from my uniforms and plan to embellish this design a bit. Maybe that will sway me to liking it more! I do plan to frame it and add it to my "Love Me" wall; that is my Navy wall alongside the huge photo taken during Boot Camp, a couple of group photos taken at Service School, and my Honorable Discharge award and other awards I received while in service.


This is why I think my headache was caused by all of that fresh air:




My dad putting a chair together (look at that shiny head, LOL!):

One view:

Another view:

 

The Great Pumpkin Conspiracy found a new home and Sandy:

And my dad (far) and neighbor (near) enjoying my new patio furniture:

Yup! I broke down and bought this set at Wal-Mart yesterday afternoon. It’s from Mainstays and called “Sand Dunes”. It was $248 and well worth it! I have spent a few hours between yesterday and today enjoying the screen porch for the first time since moving here in 2006. It’s great to get away from my room and have another room to sit in for a spell. ;D


That's all for now!

Wesley Chapel Art Show

I want to share with you one of the artist’s I met at the Wesley Chapel (FL) Art Show over the weekend. His name is Rob Kaz and you can visit his website here. What drew me to him was a rather large painting of a frog. Now, the frog lover that I am, I had to step into his booth and browse through the prints he had for sale. I wound up purchasing two of them: “Nightlight” and “Hey You”. There was at least one other, but I painfully passed on it this time. Please take a moment to check out his website and Gallery to view his artwork and especially the pieces that drew me to his booth.

With that said, I wrote a children’s book several years back tentatively called “Froggy Frog meets Slimey Snail”. The only thing lacking are the illustrations; a good friend of mine offered to assist in the artwork. It is actually a book that could very well turn into a series and will most likely include educational packets geared toward the first and/or second grade. As a poet, I was wary about sharing this little story with anyone as I didn’t think it compared to my poetry. It was a former teacher’s assistant who suggested the educational packets/lesson plans and marketing toward a specific age group. Thank you to her for that insight! I have had nothing but good comments, but for now I will leave it a mystery as I don’t want my work taken from me.

Here is a short excerpt to whet your appetite:

“Froggy lived in a pond.

His favorite spot was on a lily pad.

From his lily pad, Froggy could see the whole world.”

Last year, during the April Poem a Day Challenge, I wrote a haiku about this character. I will repost it here:

Froggy Frog

Froggy Frog is here

Sitting on his lily pad;

Where is Slimey Snail?

April 21, 2009 ~ Haiku

Well, thanks for visiting me. I hope you enjoyed your stay!