Tea

Two for tea

Song

I still think of my sister Nancy as the little redheaded girl darting about. My other sister Cindy wrote a song when she was 7 years old. It was called "Pilly, Pilly, Polly, Poo". It went like this: "Oh, Pilly Pilly Polly Poo Oh Pilly Pilly Polly Poo When the answer is spread I suppose I'll be dead Said Pilly Pilly Polly Poo Verse 2 When I'm in the grave
I'll be with Dave Verse 3 When I'm in heaven I'll be 97 " Did you pick up the Death theme? All this to a very jaunty and rousing tune,and we still sing it. A bit morbid for a 7 year old but Cindy was a deep thinker.

Valentines

Happy Valentines Day

Simple

The hammer may be a simple machine, but oh the havoc it can wreak! And thank you kind folks for requesting more of my magnum opus The Hammering Boy.

Chair

This is from a little book I made for my youngest son over 10 years ago. He was obsessed with hammers and carried one around wherever he went. In the story this boy hammers his whole house down but then he discovers he can also make things with a hammer and not just break things (a bit of moralising here). So he proceeds to build an entire city singlehandedly including apartment buildings, supermarkets and bridges. Well anyway he liked it and I told it over and over and over again. This is cut paper and felt tip pen which I put into Photoshop today to clean up. My very first TV show I ever remember seeing was Gerald McBoing-Boing.

Glamour

For dress-up glitter is an essential, also anything sequined, shiny or jewel encrusted. Fingernail and toenail polish,particularly if they are sparkly, loom large. The more frilly and girly-girl the better. And if you can get ahold of some makeup, apply heavily.

Cats

Cats, oh my, I'm ecstatic! Cats are so glamorous, so frou frou, so mysterioso! It's causing me to revert to my 60's self.

E is for Effort

Miss Egglestein gave Ermatrude an E for effort on her Time Machine/Marble Ramp for although the Time Machine sent one back in time by measurable nanoseconds the Marble Ramp itself was rather slow and clumsy and contained a fair number of glitches.

Exploring

Earnestine and Edgar expertly eluded entrapment as they extensively explored their exotic environment. Eventually their exploration evolved into an endless expedition.

My Dad

For Christmas my dad had a DVD made up of our family slides. Among them was this one. My dad was always good for these kinds of thriller joyrides. We were a family of 9 (7 kids) who moved almost every year. It was a bit Lord of the Flies-ish but we liked it that way.

Sea

Lenora was cast adrift in a sea of troubles until she espied a life preserver.

Flavor

Have a zesty, delectable and flavorful new year.

Holiday

Happy Holidays and Happy Holy Days! Love to all

Imagine

Imagination is such a funny thing. A storyteller can recreate a whole funtime fair simply through words spun around in the air. Hastily concocted in Publisher, just under the wire here.

Surprise

The lion eating straw like the ox, a surprising turn of events, no? Edward Hicks was from my town in PA. He did 66 Peaceable Kingdoms that are known. This is my interpretation of Isaiah 11- the cartoon version if you will, which I did in Microsoft Publisher. Peace.

Blue

Blue Christmas

Little

As insects go praying mantis' are on the large side and yet for such small creatures they have this humanoid aspect about them, they turn their heads and fix their gaze on you and grimace with their tiny mouths. Last week a praying mantis was inside my house casually walking down the wall. I was thrilled and thought at first maybe I should just leave it to roam about to randomly scavenge indoors. I wanted to show the mantis to my kids but considered it cruel to hold such a creature captive. My husband thought it wouldn't get enough to eat inside so I put the praying mantis outside on a bush. Later that week my son reported a squashed mantis in our driveway.

Without notice or discernable provocation
this free spirit is apt to plunge into free
flying interpretive dance mode- swooping,
soaring, leaping and gliding, and of course
whirling and twirling.

I've taken my cues here from my young
students who are much better artists than
me. Often they have fashioned mind boggling
extemporaneous songs and dances. I'm always
amazed at their wellsprings of creativity.

Strength

In this fast-paced modern world of ours maintaining a home
demands herculean strength. This particular set of parents
strives to be 'in the know' about all the latest teen trends.

I heard the following the following this week on some scratchy distant
barely audible radio signal which added to the mystique all the more:
"Blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
Whose heart is set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of
Baca, They make it a spring; The rain also covers it with pools.
They go from strength to strength."

Leaf Crunching

Every good gift and every perfect gift
is from above,and comes down from the
Father of lights