Will this Peacock fly?

I have been working on my Heron, a life size Heron who now resides in my dinning room along with a full size Christmas tree. I was juried into the Salmonchanted Harbor fund raiser for Art in the Schools a noble project indeed and my Bird is not the average heron he is to be Gig Harbor's
Peacock. My oh my does he sparkle and I wonder how he will fit into this up scale Art auction. I have enjoyed the process but I have spent so much time just looking at him, and pondering what to do next I think I must get away for a day to re-focus. We turn them in Thursday he will be ready, he is actually almost completed just some adjusting of feathers and doing his eyes; what I planned is not quite working so back to the drawing board. I have to laugh at myself I just do not know where these ideas come from, and if others will like him? that is the question. It seems like will someone like him enough to buy him. Everyone who has seen him just walks around him saying wow, wow; I'm not sure what that means, he is different to say the least. Well for now I am going to bed early, yes tonight it will be before mid night, tomorrow I will do the final touches and off he goes to wait for the big unveiling at Gig Harbors Civic Center all fifteen of the birds will be have their debut there. From there each one is assigned to a local business until the big Auction, mine will be at the Maritime Inn, so mark your calenders for September 18Th and come to the big fund raiser for Art in the schools and bring your wallets I think you will need them...............Jerry says he doesn't want me to buy him back, he just does not fit our decor two months in the dinning room was enough.

Taxes and Sugar Plums

I have been working on our taxes and, well what can I say, Oh I will be glad when I get this job finished why the delay? you say, well we will have to pay a goodly sum and I like to hold on to our money as long as I can. So tomorrow will be the day.
Why Taxes and sugar plums, our Granddaughter Hailey is staying the night, what a dear little soul she is, she is so willing to help and do what ever I am doing. Her bright eyes taking everything in and what a chit chatter she just talks away telling delightful stories of school and friends. I watched her with her doll and the gentle way she carried it and tucked it in to its bed, you could just see into her minds and know she was treating and caring for a real baby. She even talked softly to her baby as she gently patted its covering, it was such a gossamer moment for me. A pure moment of sugarplum delight.
Grandmothers are blessed to have their grand children around it is a shared blessing because both share a gift of love and understanding; parents sometimes are so busy they miss the special moments, those times when the child flops back on the sofa and tells a story using her arms and bouncing her head in exuberance shares the tale, the comfortable way they fling their bodies totally unaware of their sexuality and feeling safe in that innocence of being a child open to adventure and mystery. Her soul is free from the pain of this world, the cruelty and dangers she may have to face, the reality of growing up and having others hurt and betray you. She will lose that innocence in time and become an adult. She will carry her worries into the future. A future that no longer honors she inner desires to be a mother; that pure and innocent urge to love to be a mother will be tested and she may never get the chance. The young men in her future will not want to marry and carry the responsibility of raising a family. Family structure is breaking the honor of commitment. The dedication of raising children for the future is slipping away, family traditions are neglected, in many cases they are not even being taught in our modern Churches or schools, or in the homes of honorable men and women.
My heart grows heavy thinking about what is ahead for her, these few pure moments I savor will pass they will not be lost, my minds eye I will carry that memory and I will do my best to be there for her and help strengthen her for the future and I hope for more quiet times when we can just do what is natural for two women to share, to be female and share our walk; the old woman and the young walking together sharing their laughter, strengths,and wisdom and their mutual love of one another, that love will hold us together. We will guide each other for the day will come when she sits back watching me, as I talk to myself of memories of the past, she will be the strong and wise one for me I will take her arm for protection. That is why we have family for our walk changes and the time will come for all of us to lean on another younger than ourselves, someone to help us in our final walk.

Natures Easter Egg Hunt

Today I hung Easter eggs on my Christmas tree in the dinning room, yes it is still up I will turn on the lights for Easter and I have put prizes in each egg, the Grand children will get to pick one. One will get a twenty dollar bill the others less I think we will have rain. very cold rain so this will fill the gap if we can't have an outside hunt....anyway Jerry hung eggs on our apple tree and the wind and hale did a number on them, mother nature did her own egg hunt. the kids will be disappointed when they find eggs with nothing but a hole in it. I make Baby Back ribs and a large upside down pineapple cake and Jerry is doing a fruit salad, the rest of the meal will come with the kids.......We will all take hands and give thanks for another safe year and remember what Christ gave so freely to us. Hopefully we will have story time telling of Easters past I always like to do that it helps to connect use to our memories. Our young ones will learn the family history and we will all get a glimpse into each heart.
The dinning room will be a little cramped because not only do we have a full size Christmas tree I have the life size Heron standing in a resin pond, I am to decorate him to be auctioned off for Art in the Schools, it is a really big deal one of the Salmon that was made last year sold for $9000 hopefully some generous person will like mine and bid a goodly amount. There were 16 Artist chosen for this years auction and I was one of them, my buddy in crime Jody was also chosen so we are madly designing quilted Heron's, mine of course will be a Long tall Peacock with beads and sequins ,silk and glitz, Jody's will be a little more traditional. The auction is called Salmon Enchanted evening it is a grand affair and a big deal in our little city of Gig Harbor. They have made thousands in the past to support art in the local schools, the information should be on the web soon giving dates and a little artist recognition.
Well it is 12:30 and I said I would be in bed by 12:00 so off I go to dream of bunnies and eggs and how lucky I am to have such a great family to share Easter with. May you all have a lovely sunny Easter

Tears of Hate

Tears of Hate

Tears and fear run together
Head spins with so many whys
Why so much hate
Who taught the child
Now a man standing with smoking gun
So proud of what he had done
Now an animal on the run
Who paid the bail so he could kill
Tears for the families of the fallen
Weeping for loved ones left alone
Hot tears burn, as new fears fester
Hate feels so natural and right
My God says that is not the way
Love is the healer of broken hearts
Faith is the door to finding new hope
Through prayer I will find my hiding place
True prayer is a powerful weapon for peace,
Yet the pain is so fresh and the blood is not yet dry
Love and hate burns in my heart
Today prayer is not my weapon of choice.

I wrote that verse last fall when four honorable police were executed, my heart is troubled about the seemingly increase in violence towards our men and women in Blue. It is not just the criminals, it is in off handed remarks about getting a ticket or calling them pigs, attaching the cop who fires his gun. You hear it in the media, as they hint of wrong doing by the policeman during a shooting or riot. They are spit on, harassed verbally and physically. The young thugs taunted them to do something wrong. the gangs and thugs all know their hands are tied, the Men in Blue must hold the line. They are not super humans, they are just like us, to expect them to never show emotion is crule. Yes I know they do not have to do it, but who will have the courage ? Who can constantly be emotionless, who else could hold up under those circumstances? What they are required to put up with is inhuman, We treat then shabbily and expect them to run to our aid and protect us.
The sad thing is it is better for them to be killed in the line of duty than to be injured on the job. They suffer the insult of having problems with treatment, long term care and financial burdens and they are treated like second class citizens. There are support organizations set up to help them but we as citizens are not supporting them, and they can not do enough.
Search your heart and seek ways to help, encourage the injured, reach out to the widows and children of the fallen. Give then your respect and support, do it in what ever way you can no matter how small , a kind jesture, a smile, a wave make sure they know you appreciate them.
They are sons and daughters, fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, brothers and sisters they are part of a family, OUR FAMILY

Am I cured yet?

It is amazing I had a problem, and needed some reconstructive surgery, I want my money back I have been sick every since, bladder infections and anti-biotiics and now acute colitis caused by the cure OMG and I was looking forwards to the surgery in the brand new hospital.they just built it down the street. The hospital just celebrated its year anniversary and I have been there four times I need to quit this habit. I justs hope I recover from the cure. We will be flying home from Palm Deseert tomorrow morning,lets hope it is an unadventful flight....

Friends are lifes frosting

I gave a talk recently sharing my antique quilts and their stories to a local Guild, as I talked about a signature quilt I had, detailing how little I knew about the quilt and the many signatures that were on the quilt dated "1899 ladies Aid society bought by R T Fryer for his wife" that was all I knew. A friend was sitting in the back of the room she lit up with great smiles and she was surely hopping in her seat; after my talk she came to me and told how much she loved genealogy and could she please do some checking into this quilt, I have five different ones and she wanted to see what she could find out about the people who made the quilts. All I can say is yahoo she is a wonder. She took the first one and found out where it was made, the year, the families represented on the quilt and the local history of the town and counties around it. there were 273 signatures and many are all relatives of R. T. she took photos of each signature and the one X and started a six month journey into the past. She has finally finished R T's quilt it is all cataloged into a binder three inches thick. She is still working on the other four. The work she has done equals hundreds of hours of work and a passion for genealogy far more fierce than mine for quilts, the glowing smile on her face is so wonderful, you just feel good all over listening to her talk about what she has found and the excitement of the hunt. Friends are so special and when they share a common passion mountains can be moved. The quilt is old and tattered but now with the history that goes with it. A treasured piece of history that I will some day give to the towns Historical society and R T Fryer's family will remain an important piece of history. Thank you so much Sue you are a treasured friend.

Cruising the Ocean Blue

The vacation of a life time as we celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. When Jerry proposed I said no cruise for a honeymoon, this lady gets sea sick and I did not want to spend our honeymoon in the bathroom.....So twenty five years go happily by and a 14 day cruise to the Panama is planned. Jerry has always wanted to go and the Holland America line are really great, so I think it will work with the patch and first aid station right on the ship, you see I checked them out seven years before. We went on a short cruise down the Mexican Riviera and the first aid station did wonders for this sick puppy.
The trip was wonderful the first twelve days the last two were not so fun, we hit the California record storm s three of them and the ship did the rock and roll, slamming and banging for thirty six hours of hell, I was so sick I could not leave the room. It will be a long time before I consider going on cruise again.
Other than my sickness, what a lovely time we had snorkeling in Aruba, taking an eight passenger Tram over and through the rain forest at the top of the trees it was lovely. We also went on a road trip to Mayan ruins outside of Acapulco, however the drive thou the city was amazing, there were people, cars, trucks, buses , taxis, bikes, a mass of people everywhere bumper to bumper all merging and moving along in the most unbelievable congestion possible and yet it all seemed normal to the people everyone was on a mission and they just worked their way through the crowded streets it was amazing to watch. Now I know why so many are up here the crowded conditions are unbelievable.
We had five course meals every night with the most delightful people, I am going to miss those stimulating conversations with John and Betty from England and my cousin Gail and Fred we talked about everything, John was a retired Head Master and so very interested in America.
Now we are home and the house and cats faired well without us, however they both follow me around like sick puppies, walking on my desk and rubbing their wet noses on my cheek up and down my arm and just plain in my face, I hope this faze wears off soon....I did a bit of beading and played bingo, trivia and we eat the most wonderful food. I will be going on a diet once I settle in at home, clothes are a bit tight. The twenty seventh is the actual day of our wedding I am giving a lecture in the morning and we will go out to dinner, nothing fancy just plain ordinary food and a movie. We are so glad to be home.
Once we got home I received the sad news of a dear friends death, Maureen Sorenson was a dear lady and I will miss her sweet smile and soft laugh, she had a lot of hardship and pain in her life yet she was as sweet and dear as if she had been protected all her life, the pains of sadness never tainted her sweet spirit, I will miss her friendship. Family and friends are the sweetness of life what would we do if we never shared their love and lives, how lonely our lives would be. I know as the years go by there will be many more sad good beys, as loved ones fall. Loss is part of our experience how we deal with the pain is our own test of faith and we will all be tested before our lives end. I pray for many friends and the time to watch my family grow. Having a dear friend like Maureen enriched my life, losing her is a deep sadness but I will remember her smile and the friendship she gave me and I thank God she was my dear friend, even for a little while.