THE REAL MEMORIAL DAY ~ REMEMBER

This is the weekend that maybe America will pause and remember her war dead. The brave soldiers that fell on the battlefield, that went down with their ship or their airplane.  Not all of America's battles have been 'declared wars'. That does NOT make their death any less significant. They died for their country. Period.

In Flanders Fields


The original inspiration for veterans to sell paper poppies for Memorial Day came from the famous poem below, which was written by John McCrae in 1915:

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead.

Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.

In 1922 the Veterans of Foreign Wars became the first veterans' organization to sell poppies nationally for Memorial Day. Two years later their "Buddy" poppy program began selling artificial poppies made by disabled veterans.

My Uncle Jack was 18, laying in a bunk on the US New Orleans anchored in Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, 1941. He told me he was reading the Sunday funny papers when the bombs started falling. He lost a lot of his friends that day but he survived.  He went on to retire 30 years later from the Navy.

My Father was in the 483 rd Army Airforce in WW2. He trained on the 'Memphis Belle' after she returned to the states from England. His crew was sent to Italy.  He was crew chief on a B-17 called 'The Big Ass Bird'. After WW2 his crew stayed in touch and we received Christmas cards up until the day the last one of them died.  My father died in 2000 and I received cards from his Co Pilot Don Bentzen up until last year.  That is how close these men were.  My father told me he felt like these men were his brothers even 50 years after the war.  They had reunions in the 70's, 80's and 90's until there were non left. They ALWAYS remembered the ones that didn't come home. They talked about them with quiet voices and also remembered happier times, too. BUT THEY ALWAYS REMEMBERED.

May God grant peace to their families. May we NEVER forget the sacrifices they and their families made for our way of life.
Mary

LIFE'S LITTLE LESSONS AND OTHER DISASTERS

This has been a crazy week, well, actually 2 weeks.  There have been high points and low points.  I finally finished Barbara's t-shirt quilt.  Without any more disasters. I mean it was getting to be one of those 'what's going to happen next' weeks !! And trust me saying something like that is tempting fate.  In fact you rarely EVER hear me say that, because it has been my experience that when you say 'what's going to happen next' you find out in a hurry. 

Disaster number 1 ~
 While I was working on the quilt, I burned my fingers on my quilting hand.  Such a dumb move.  Cooking spaghetti, I broke it in half (Hubby does NOT like long strings of spaghetti) and some of it broke some 1 inch or less pieces that fell on the ceramic stove top (for those of you in Rio Linda as Rush Limbaugh would say, is a stove top of glass?? with no regular eyes, just heating elements under the glass).  It makes a great work area because it is flat and easy to clean. Which is probably how I got in trouble, because without thinking (something my Hubby says I do TOO OFTEN these days) I brushed the pieces away from the heat area with my finger tips. WRONG MOVE !!!! Didn't burn them bad, immediately plunged them into ice water (since I no longer have an Aloe Vera plant) ( must get a new one). They were tender for a couple of days and didn't even blister up either.

Disaster number 2 ~
I ran out of dishwasher soap tablets and figured I could use regular liquid dish soap. Before you fall in the floor laughing, I only put a TEASPOON of soap in the container. Ajax lemon scented.  It is absolutely amazing how much suds a teaspoon of Ajax can make. Hubby said it reminded him of the old 'I LOVE LUCY' show where the washing machine overflowed with suds. I am sorry guys I didn't take pics.  It didn't overflow (thank you Lord !!) because I heard the muffled swish of the dishwasher and opened the door.  Suds were 6 -8 inches deep and I started bailing with a butter dish, and bailing and bailing. I finally figured out where the draining started right before the rinse cycle and repeated that  6-7 times until I got it all drained out while splashing COLD water to wash away the suds. All this time I had the oven going with Hubby's pumpkin pie cooking and it must have been 85-90 degrees in the kitchen.  A real nightmare in the daytime. Hubby came to the kitchen door to find out what all the swearing was about and beat a hasty retreat for cover.  Moral to that story is DO NOT USE REGULAR LIQUID DISH SOAP IN THE DISHWASHER. ( and it didn't even get the dishes clean on top of that)!!!

This next week has to be better.   I will keep you posted. 
Here is another freebie pic. As far a I know it is in the public domain since it was painted over a hundred years ago.  I think it is pretty. I really like Edmund Blair Leighton. If he were alive today he would be painting covers for romance novels. When I look at his work, they start my mind creating a story around the pictures, even if I don't know who the subject was.  He loved medieval and Regency subjects.  And I love his work.

Anyway, here it is. Enjoy it and maybe make something pretty with it.
God bless all of you.
Mary

QUILTING FEVER ~ BLOGGERS' QUILT FESTIVAL ~ SPRING 2011

OK, I am joining the BLOGGERS' QUILT FESTIVAL .  http://amyscreativeside.com/2011/05/13/bloggers-quilt-festival-spring-2011/ 
There are ove 500 beautiful quilts at the above link.
 Here is my entry ~ Barbara's Choir T-Shirt quilt.
 I finished it 4:30PM this afternoon. Needless to say my fingers are tired and sore.  Barbara is a really nice, patient (considering she has to wait a lot on me) lady that found me several months ago at a little shop down the road from where I live.  Barbara had a stack of t-shirts from family reunions that she wanted made into a quilt.  That one finished, she brought me another stack of shirts from music competitions during her son's school years.  This quilt is going to her son's choir teacher as a gift.  It will probably be hung as a wall hanging or go over the back of a sofa.  These quilts are the only t-shirt quilts I have ever made.  They were challenging to put it mildly.  I included a picture of Barbara with her last quilt. 

Thanks to Barbara for the challenge of making the quilts. Here is a pic of the family reunion quilt.

Thank you for taking the time to stop and look. God Bless you all. 
Mary

REBECCA'S GIVEAWAY AND FREEBIE PRETTY POST CARD

Rebecca over at "A Gathering Place" is having a give away tomorrow ~5/15.  I slipped up on this one.  I didn't find it until last nite and was too tired to do any posting.  So here we go.  Rebecca has some of the prettiest Cottage Chic beauties have ever seen.  She is an inspiration to anyone who loves to create beautiful cottage chic items.  Above all though, she is a beautiful Christian 'lady'.  Her blog is an inspiration to find comfort in.  So before this day is over, hurry on over to Rebecca's "A Gathering Place", check out her giveaway !!  It ends tonite Sun nite 5/15 at 11pm central time. 

I am not certain I loaded the button correctly, so, I am giving you a link too.
http://rebecca-gatheryeroses.blogspot.com/2011/05/romantic-cotage-sachet-giveaway-just.html
Just to be sure you can hop right on over to her site. 

Here is something new I am going to start doing ~ giving away a freebie vintage picture today.  I have collected ever so many. 
You may use it how ever you like.  As far as I know, it is in the public domaine.

It is called "The Windmiller's Guest" by Edmund Blair Leighton.  I love historical romances and I think a really good book could be written around this picture. Have any of you ever been inside one of these windmill's before.  I got to tour one in Michigan many years ago. They are so beautiful and romantic to me. Especially when set in a field of tulips.  I have always wanted to tour Holland too!! 
So much for today! Don't forget Rebecca's giveaway. Have fun with this picture. 
God Blessings on you and your families.
Mary

MAY DAYS

I can not believe it is a whole WEEK into May now.  Mother's day has come and the next holiday is Memorial day.  (For me atleast!!).  I don't handle Mother's day very well any more.  My mother died in April of 2005.  For the 5 years previous to her death (and 5 years after my father's death in 2000) I worked for Walmart.  A blessing (it was close to home) and a disaster (frankly I can't stand walmart any more and I rarely shop there ~ only as a last resort). WalMart believes that they are more important than family members, or any one else or anyTHING else.  When Sam Walton was alive they CLOSED for holidays.  Now they are open 24/7/364 days a year.  Christmas day is the only day they are closed !!! (Even NASCAR doesn't race on Mother's Day!!) And frankly I believe that WalMart will in the next 5 years or so be open on Christmas Day.  I was the phone operator at our store.  Worked days 7-4.  According to the WM handbook an employee was supposed to get atleast 1 Sunday a month off.  That's a joke.  Unless you were one of the privileged few that kissed enough ass to have EVERY Sunday off, you ended up working every Sunday.  The first year I worked there I worked every holiday and every Sunday.  Needless to say I am not accomplished at kissing ass (must be the red hair and temper!!) I ended up working every Mother's Day but 1 the last 5 years Mother was alive.  I found out I had to take a vacation day and apply for it months ahead to get that day off.  Don't get me wrong I did not mind working my fair share of holidays.  When I worked at the hospital, I worked every Christmas ( I felt it was only right since I didn't have any children to play Santa to.) I didn't mind rotating the holidays the rest of the time.  But working EVERY holiday just really pissed me off.  I guess it is the guilt of working the last Mother's days my mother was alive and her sitting at home alone while I worked that really puts me in a somber mood on Mother's Day.  I think if I had it do over again, I would have walked out of that job long before I did.  WalMart really does NOT care at all about their employees.  Frankly I think they believe in slave labor (must be why they love China and other similar countries so well and use them to produce their merchandise).  The only reason I go to a walmart any more is because I can not get the merchandise I want or need ANYWHERE else.  period. My motto is "ANYWHERE but there". 
 I hope that all of you that still have your mothers (or the person that acted as your mother) went to see them today if at all possible.  At least call them.  Talk to them.  One day the only way you will get to talk to them is to meet them in heaven. 
Mary

WEDDING BELLS

Now all of you know what I was doing at 4:20 AM  Friday morning.  Just like a couple of billion of my closest friends we were all watching every moment of the Royal Wedding.  It really did have all the elements of a fairy tale wedding.  The prince,  the beautiful maiden (a commoner), the delightful attendants, all the parents and grandparents looking on, a beautiful church rich in antique heritage,  herald trumpets, the clergy in robes that rivaled the wedding party.  Everything you could ask for in a fairytale.  I wish this couple a long life, happiness to balance the heartaches of life, children (atleast the 'heir and a spare'), and a love that will sustain their marriage.  I think William read some of the books about his parents' marriage.  He took his time and tried to make sure (from all appearances) that he had the right partner for his life. I think Kate tried to do the same.  I know some folks have been very critical of them dating and breaking up and living together for periods.  William has seen the very worst of what destruction and heartache a bad marriage can bring, not only with his parents but his uncles and other realitives. I think from some interviews I have read of him, that he had rather not marry at all than to go thru what his mother went thru.  In my oppinion Charles should have never married Diana.  That marriage never had a chance because of him, period.  But that is another rant for another day.  I hope this couple  will change the fortunes of royality and prove that fairytales can have a happy ending.  God Save the Queen!

THERE BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD GO I

Once more I spent the day watching weather radar and checking ABC3340's weather blog. Then I would switch to the NWS National Mosaic to see how much was still to come from the far reaches of Mississippi that shares ALL their bad weather with their good neighbors is Alabama.  The radar yesterday reminded me of someone standing on the Mississippi river and throwing a hand full of pingpong balls across the state at us.  That is what supercell storms look like on radar.  And they just kept on coming.  I got up at 5:30AM Wed. morning and heated left over coffee in the microwave (yes I do like it that way and it also means I have coffee to drink while I am making a fresh pot). Besides waste not, want not.  About that time the tornado sirens went off outside.  I zipped over to my computer and turned it on to see the radar.  I can read a weather radar as well as the weathermen can and I know exactly where I am on the map.  I started buttoning down the house, closing windows and waking up my hubby so he would be awake incase we were blown away.  I unplug important electrical stuff (computers, tv's, SEWING MACHINES, etc) when the lighting comes.  I have seen (my brother's house) what a lightening strike can do to electronic stuff.  The only thing I don''t unplug is refridgerators and stoves and washing machines.  The radar looked like a squall line of storms and about 10 min later the power went off.  I was able to shut down my computer first though.  The storm lasted about 30 min and I read a book.  The power was off for about and hour and a half.  Then I started watching every 30 min to see how the radar looked the rest of the day.  I was watching the internet (I don't have TV any more, too expensive for the trash on it).  There was some damage from trees etc.  I was also watching when the tornado hit Tuscaloosa. Saw that monster live destoying everything in its path. 

 If you would like to see the videos of the storms yesterday go to http://www.abc3340.com/ and clik on home or weather they have about 20 of the storms themselves and the destruction.  The one thing those pics prove YOU ARE NOT SAFE ANYWHERE.  It destroyed stores, homes, court houses, hospitals, roads, EVERYTHING in its path.  Today 24 hours later they are still finding bodies, and injured, and have not even been able to search everywhere even with National Guard help.  We were lucky.  The supercells, 2 of them, one went just north of my home by a couple of miles and one stayed in the air as it went over the top us. Literally over the top.  Even the national weather service station at the airport 4 miles from my house abandoned their station to seek saftey.  Just the grace of God that that storm stayed in the air.  I was, for the first time in a long time, terrified in a storm.  Today around my home the air is clean, the birds are singing and all seems right in our world,  but not all that far from me people are worn out, hurting, trying to find their loved ones, to pick up the pieces of their homes and their lives.  They look in the pics to be shell shocked like casualities  of a war battle, and the pain won't end in a day or two or even months. They have no homes, no belongings left, just nothing but splinters and tattered dreams.  May God have mercy on their souls, and comfort them.  Please say a prayer for all of the people touched by those storms yesterday, not just the ones in Alabama.  Folks as far away as Michigan were hit by tornados yesterday.  They all hurt, physically and mentally.   

This is just a sample of the damage.  (Not near me, Thank you Lord.)  This was in Birmingham or Tuscaloosa, I am not sure which.  Wednesday April 27, 2011.  A day we will add to the other horrible weather days we remember the rest of our lives.

Be safe, all of you.   Mary