Aye Mateys! 'tis been to long since ye wench here has posted words to de blog!

Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Errr...me loves this day wit all of me 'eart! There is much fun to be had when ye walk 'round talkin' like ye bloddy pirate all day! And, aye been waitin' to post ye pirate pics on Flickr for a whole year!

Me knows this wench, Francie who says life is more fun in costume! Aye...me thinks I'm agreed!

So next year, me will dress in me pirate garb for a selfie portrait for all me mates to see!

Til then, smooth sailing mateys! Errrr....

Dost Thou Love Life?

"Then do not squander time; for that's the stuff life is made of."


A quote by Benjamin Franklin, although I personally always remembered it from the opening scene of one of my all-time favorite movies, Gone With the Wind.

As we reach the mid-point of this year, I wonder where has the time gone?

If I didn't love life then I think time would move slowly, it would painfully tick away at the innermost sanity of my mind.

But, I DO love life and therefore, it moves so fast that I can't keep ahold of it for even one minute. I have so many things to learn, goals to accomplish (writing more often in my blog comes to mind), places to see, images yet to be captured with my camera that there is no way I will ever be able to complete it all before my clock ticks its final second.

I guess that means I'm having a blast because after all "Time flies when your having fun!".

The Joy of Photography

My friend Lita posted this picture of me from an outing we had to Loxahatchee. I was laying flat on my stomach trying to get a picture of a Blue Dasher dragonfly. I love this shot she captured because it really shows how much joy I truly get from photography. I love nature, wildlife, art and being creative. Photography lets me combine all of those into one wonderfully satisfying hobby. Photography has also led me to meet wonderful people, like Lita, who have the same passion for nature and photography. It's much more enjoyable when you find someone to share it with and I can hardly wait until our next adventure together. Maybe next time I'll catch Lita in a funny position photographing an insect of some sort! :)

The Fuzzy Hat

The last painting I completed was this past fall. It was a portrait of my 15yr old niece, Danielle wearing a fuzzy hat. It was a reminder of our vacation we took together in 2006. During our road trip from Florida to Kansas, we stayed in Memphis. We spent a day on Beale Street and stopped at the famous drugstore Schwabs where we had a hilarious time trying on different hats. For some reason, the fuzzy hat kind of represented her fun personality and it ended up being my favorite.

I was just messing around in the scetchbook last summer and while zoning out to the telly, I sketched a portrait of her in that fuzzy hat. It was the first time I had actually sketched someone I knew.

She was not having a good year this past year, so I decided to paint her portrait in oil using this sketch as my basis. Now, I have never, ever painted a person. I stick to still lifes, landscapes, wildlife and abstracts.

It was pretty daunting. And the problem is that I am a perfectionist with non-professional skill. That combo is not good if you have a limited amount of time to get something finished. I worked on it and worked on it right up until just a couple of weeks before Christmas. I finally just had to walk away from it and say it was the best I could do.

When I presented it to her while we were both home for Christmas, she seemed to really love it. That made me realize that I had done what I wanted to do and that was to make her feel special and loved...because she is.

It may not have been the best, but it was made by me, for her and with a lot of love. And that counts for something. But, I definately won't be doing another portrait anytime soon!

How Long a Lifetime?

As my 25th class reunion approaches, I was shocked to hear the news today that another classmate has passed away. That makes three classmates, all women, who have died in the past year at the young age of 42. One died of breast cancer, another in a car wreck and the most recent one died from complications due to pneumonia. All three were mothers. One was my brother-in-law's sister, an aunt to my young nieces and nephews.

It reminds me that a "Lifetime" isn't the same for everyone. Someone may have a lifetime of 90 years whereas another person may only get to enjoy their lifetime for 15 years. The truth is we really don't know how long our own lifetime is and that fact makes it very important that we live each day as if it were our last because it just may well be.

We need to remember to show love and kindness and to choose our words carefully...to make all we do count for something. We should never wait to wear that special pair of shoes or take that long-needed vacation. We shouldn't wait for a holiday or birthday to tell someone what they mean to us. We should not hold onto our grudges and guilt or withhold love and forgiveness. And we should never push aside our dreams of a lifetime...because we don't know just how long that lifetime will actually turn out to be.

I want my mommy!

Is it ridiculous to want your mommy when your 43 years old?I'm battling some tough cold/cough and it makes me wish my mom were here. When your an adult you have to take care of yourself and I don't think I'm very good at doing that when I'm sick.

If my mom were here she would make me hot tea and crackers with butter that I could push through the little cracker holes in order to amuse myself by. Instead, I'm eating cold pizza and drinking a diet Dr. Pepper. And I'm not amused at all.

If my mom were here she would have me resting comfortably with a soft blanket and she would rub my back until I fell asleep. Instead, I'm sitting at the computer, complaining in my blog and getting a backache in the process.

If my mom were here, she would bring me my grandma's famous Navy Bean soup for dinner and we would watch some grand English comedy.

Instead, I'll probably eat a can of Campell's Soup to Go and watch Reality TV all night.

And to think I couldn't wait to become an adult!

The Maple Leaf Rag

It's been a while since I have had a chance to even sit down and breathe, let alone write in my blog. Now that I have re-caught that dreaded cold I have no choice but to slow down.

So, I stopped and I sat at my piano today and played a quick "Memories". For some reason, it's one of the only songs I remember from all the ones I learned as a child.

I can still play a boogie or two but not much is in the old memory vault after that.

One of the activities on my list of "things to do in this life" is to learn the Maple Leaf Rag by Scott Joplin. It has always been my favorite ragtime ditty, ever since first hearing it played on the old piano player at The Long Branch Saloon in my home town of Dodge City. I still have the sheet music after all these years but never got around to learning it.

I can't play by ear, never have, never will. I have to read the music and therein lies the difficult part. How much about reading the music have I retained? I may have to actually hire a piano teacher again! My piano teacher was a "little people" with red hair and tons of freckles. I was always amazed that she could play the piano with those tiny, stubby little fingers of hers. I don't remember her name anymore, but I do remember she was nice to me and when your a little kid, that counts for something!!

My nephew Seth will be here to visit me in June and he loves to play the piano so maybe he will be the motivation I need to finally learn my favorite piano song.

How to Sight Read Music - wikiHow