Seven Things I've Never Told You

Queen Mimi of Bloggingham has bestowed an Sweet Blog Award upon yours truly. Well actually she said some really nice things about me on her ever entertaining and amazing blog and then passed along a hand me down from One Gal Musings.

Now there are duties to fulfill in order to claim this bounty.  I am required to tell you seven things about myself that I've never told you before ... excuse me while I rummage in undisclosed information closet.  It's getting awfully skimpy in there.

Then I am to recommend others who have properly earned this lovely award.  So here goes.

1.  My Guardian Angel had to work overtime the night I swam nude in the pacific, got caught in a rip tide and ended up a mile down the beach from where I went in.  Not only that, but I did it at sundown when certain large fish are known to be looking for take out.  Teach me to go drinking with the girls.

2.  I once had one of the above for a pet and still really like California King Snakes.  Had to donate Squiggly to the school Science Dept when one of my many moves took place.  He was a great lap warmer and I missed him for quite awhile.

3.  Mimi told a story about somewhat unsuccessfully driving a tractor.  At the age of 12, I started driving a truck on an uncle's ranch.  Because of being a year ahead in school and California laws at the time, I was able to get a driver's license at 15.   So off road for 55 years and on road for 52.  One of my fantasies is still to have a Mary Movie Star thirties era roadster convertible.

4.  I hate liver.  I cannot even be in the same location where it is cooking.

5.  In high school I was cast as Amanda in Glass Menagerie.  Jonquils are my birth flower, but ever since doing Amanda's speech about the jonquils, they are my favorite flower.  "That was the spring I had the craze for jonquils. Jonquils became an absolute obsession. Mother said, 'Honey, there's no more room for jonquils.' And still I kept on bringing in more jonquils. Whenever, wherever I saw them, I'd say, "Stop ! Stop! I see jonquils!"

6.  This is Caesar.  He lives on my wall.  He has lived on my wall for 27 years.  I like him.

7.   The above are two cups from a collection currently of about 50 cups from 50 different cities.  Each one may be a tourist thing but they can't be one of those I Heart tacky cups.  Only rule is it must be from a city where I or one of the children have been.


Now for the other sweet blogs.  First let me echo Mimi with, "ALL BLOGGERS I READ who are not mentioned below:  You are every one amazing and I refuse to leave folks out." If any of you want a Sweet Blog award, feel free to grab it and have fun.

1. This Eclectic Life Shelly Tucker is a story teller of wonderful tales and a lady with a huge heart dedicated to bringing joy to children through Share A Square.

2. Fairweather Lewis - Fair may not do this because her blog is filled with wonderful ghost stories, mystery, and history but even if she doesn't, you should visit a truly sweet blog for a truly great read.

3. Watergate Summer - Alie writes about everything under the sun and then some. Every day is something different.

4./5. Now I've got a problem because Mimi nominated my two favorite bloggers in addition to herself. Trav's Thoughts and Are We There Yet. So Trav and Linda get a double dose of sweetness.

6. Border Explorer - Billie Greenwood writes an amazing blog about important issues. Whether you agree or not, she will always leave you thinking.

7. A Piece of My Mind - Julia writes books, poetry, and wonderful exposes on music of all kinds, her family ... If it is about life, Julia writes. Please go watch her do it.

Globe Trotting

It's been a while since I've done an "Only The Good" post for Shelly over at This Eclectic Life.  One of the things about being retired that hasn't been "good" is having less money to share with those who are in need.  One of my greatest pleasures has always been travel and going to or reading about other places and people.  In order to achieve two goals, I've made it a point to look for charities around the world where there is a great deal of bang for the buck.  Below are several that I have found where the amounts you give can be small but the totals really add up to make the best use of the funds as close to those in need as possible.

If you do nothing else, read about each one and keep them in mind when your circumstances might make it possible to get involved later.

Use Solar, Save Lives - provides solar lamps for villages in Kenya so that there is light once the sun goes down.

Charity Water - a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. 100% of public donations directly fund water projects.

Kiva - Micro Loans around the world to provide careers for those in poverty circumstances

Give A Goat - Gifts of livestock to provide food and income.

Shelter Box -  Provides housing and equipment in areas of crisis such as Haiti, China, and Sumatra earthquakes.

Andre Sobel River of Life Foundation - Help for families dealing with the crisis of a child's illness

Great Ghosts !!!

My buddy Shelly Tucker of This Eclectic Life is holding a contest to give away five of her ghost story CDs.

Now you should be reading Shelly regularly anyway, but just in case you are among the uninitiated, she tells the best stories ever on her blog. Why? Because that is what she does even away from her blog: Spinning yarns while spinning yarns for the delight of children of all ages.

Now hop on over using the link above and get your entry in for some good spookieness of the season.

Once More With Feeling

Shelly Tucker over at This Eclectic Life is at it again. This time it is a project to bring smiles, wonderful things, and gentle good wishes to all the children of Camp Sanguinity next summer.

You can read all about your mission by going to her site, but basically she is sending us all on a scavenger hunt to fill medicine bags with three treasures, but they need to be the treasures that would be of interest to a child and ones that preferably come with a story ... Shelly is a story teller after all.

Now this lady doesn't think small except in size. She needs 140 medicine bags each containing three good luck charms, and she wants stories ... 560 notes and stories. Fortunately for those of us with a few limits on our horizons, we only have to come up with a bag or a charm and send them to her. She and her cohorts will do what needs to be done to find the smile on a child's face. Next summer you will be able to go back to her site to see the pictures of those smiles and know you helped.

While scrounging remember the gifts in the box of the littlest angel:

There was a butterfly with golden wings, captured one bright summer day on the high hills above Jerusalem, and a sky-blue egg from a bird's nest in the olive tree that stood to shade his mother's kitchen door. Yes, and two white stones, found on a muddy river bank, where he and his friends had played like small brown beavers, and, at the bottom of the box, a limp, tooth-marked leather strap, once worn as a collar by his mongrel dog, who had died as he had lived, in absolute love and infinite devotion.

Happy Hunting

Arte y Pico

This lovely statute is called the "Arte y Pico" award which was created to be given to bloggers who inspire others with their creative energy and talents no matter whether it be in the form of writing, artwork, design, interesting material, or contributions to the blogger community. When a blogger receives this award it is considered a "special honor" and, once presented to you, it is to be passed on to at least 5 other bloggers who meet the criteria. You will need to either speak Spanish or use Babelfish to translate the Arte y Pico page, but it is worth the effort.

This lovely lady was presented to me by Linda at Are We There Yet who writes one of the most entertaining and eclectic blogs in the sphere. Whether she is discoursing on family, friends, work, or just items of passing interest, you will always find her good company. So pour your morning coffee or your after work glass of wine and visit her often.

Linda was kind enough to say that my posts are well thought out and enlightening. She writes them from a historic standpoint and passes along little known and interesting facts about our world that will either make you sit up and say, "hey, I never knew that!" or "ah-ha, so that's where that comes from!" (She sent the award before I compared gas prices and great paintings.)

Linda got her award from Mo of It's A Blog Eat Blog World and she passed it along to Travis of Trav's Thoughts, both of whom are on my daily rounds and highly recommended. Now for my five:

Claire of A Little Piece of Me writes one of the most whimsical and entertaining blogs on the planet. Whether it is the naughty shenanigans of Willie, beautiful pictures of her hiking trips, thoughtful questions to do with her classes in counseling, or interactions with her family, you will always find something to make you smile, make you think, or just make you sigh at the beauty of it all.

Vanilla Birdie of Tick Tock Goes The Clock doesn't blog as often as her many fans would like, but when she does we all are just stunned. This lovely young woman has a life and a future. She is a student living in New York with a commentary on her surroundings, her family, life in general and the music, books, and art that she loves. The grace and beauty of her writing gives you hope for the future.

Shelly of This Eclectic Life. This Texas wildflower always has something entertaining up her sleeve. Stop by for a good old fashioned welcome Y'All, a fun contest, a charity to notice, or just a laugh out loud story. Shelly is as warm as Texas sunshine and a heart that would give the size of her state a good competition.

My favorite professor at eProf2. You know that favorite teacher you will never forget? They were the one who laid out a path for you to consider, an idea to investigate, a piece of information that led you to a bit of wisdom, or just told you something you never knew before. Well, that person has a blog. You can almost see him smile as that something you really need to hear is there on your computer screen. Enjoy the visit and come away just a little more thoughtful.

Mary of Work of the Poet and Answers To The Questions is my favorite quirky place to visit. You simply don't know what you will find. It could be a book review, a link to somewhere truly different on the web, or a chance to vote on a really bad piece of art. Then there are the photographs, everything from a Ferris wheel to a flower. Mary scoops up awards with both arms and they deservedly just keep coming. Please pay her a visit.

I may come back to this award simply because there are so many great places and writers to visit, but the wonderful ones above will keep you busy for awhile.

Camp Sanguinity Update

Jessica The Rock Chick has joined forces with Shelly Tucker in the Camp Sanguinity project by organizing an on line raffle. Every donation puts you in the drawing for a great IPod Shuffle. All you have to do is:

1. Donate by paypal or check (Tucker’s Camp Sanguinity Fund 2008, P.O. Box 2241, Denton, TX 76202, or click on the link below to get to This Eclectic Life to donate through PayPal or the link to Jessica the Rock Chick at the top of this page who has a PayPal button on her blog post, too.

2. Write a post linking to Jessica's post (and you could mention Shelly Tucker's post about it, too, so people know why they are donating!), and make a comment on Jessica’s post, so she knows you are there



Shelly Tucker over at This Eclectic Life has started a fund to send every child to Camp Sanguinity this summer for free. It costs about $150.00 per child and we are trying to raise $21,000 by June at $10.00 per person.

So get into the game by visiting Jessica and Shelly. It's simple and a great thing to do for a child.

HEADS UP!

If you are not aware of the wonderful work being done by Shelly of This Eclectic Life for Share A Square, today's post is important because in addition to sick children, it now opens the project up to wounded soldiers.

If you crochet or know someone who does, this simple act can bring comfort and joy to those in hospitals across the country and spreading world wide.

This is one of those simple acts of kindness that can mean so much to the recipient and I hope you will participate.