tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80022579548165765162024-03-05T03:58:00.907-05:00JerseyLil's 2 Cents<big>~</big> Reflections, humor, photographs, art, recipes, dog tidbits, and memories...my two cents on the expressions of life.<big>~</big> JerseyLilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18381518701383106141noreply@blogger.comBlogger71125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8002257954816576516.post-84106787278493180912016-03-17T18:38:00.000-04:002019-04-06T00:29:33.304-04:00Irish Quotes and Creamy Fudge: Feed Your Irish Spirit<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">What better time for witty Irish quotes and creamy
fudge than on St. Patrick’s Day. In honor of my part-Irish roots (one-quarter
Irish on my dad’s side through my great-grandmother, Bridget Mannix, from County Cork or Limerick), I’ve collected some
of my favorite Irish quotes, along with a recipe for dark chocolate Irish
cream fudge (yum!). In true Irish tradition may the celebrating continue throughout the
month of March! </span><span style="color: #0c343d;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: #fefdfa; color: #0c343d; font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><b>Witty Irish Quotes</b></span></h3>
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<ul>
<li><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16.8pt;">Never iron a four-leaf clover, you may be pressing your luck.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16.8pt;">Time is a great storyteller.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16.8pt;">A friend's eye is a good mirror.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16.8pt;">Don't give cherries to pigs or advice to fools.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16.8pt;">Put silk on a goat and it's still a goat.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16.8pt;">A loud voice can make even the truth sound foolish.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16.8pt;">A watched kettle never boils.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16.8pt;">Never ask a fox to watch the hens.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16.8pt;">Patience cures many an old complaint.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16.8pt;">Never speak to the feet while the head is alive.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16.8pt;">The older the fiddle, the sweeter the tune.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16.8pt;">Trouble hates nothing as much as a smile.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16.8pt;">An old broom knows the dirty corners best.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16.8pt;">One eye in the corner is sharper than two about the house.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16.8pt;">Be kind to those you meet as you rise, you may pass them again
as you fall.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16.8pt;">As you slide down the banister of life, may the splinters never
point in the wrong way.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16.8pt;">May you live to be a hundred years, with one extra year to
repent.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #274e13; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16.8pt;">May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow, and may
trouble avoid you wherever you go.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #274e13; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16.8pt;">May the sun shine bright on your windowpane, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #274e13; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16.8pt;">and may a rainbow be certain to follow each rain.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #274e13; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16.8pt;">May your pockets be heavy, your heart be light, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #274e13; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16.8pt;">and may good luck pursue you morning and night.</span></li>
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<b style="color: #0c343d; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; line-height: normal;">Dark Chocolate Irish Cream Fudge</b></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Dark Chocolate Fudge made with Baileys® Irish Cream
liqueur. Easy and delicious.<br />(For a non-alcoholic version, replace the cream liqueur
with 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract.)</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinx-cWH0MFyWCLlHhPA6EixJdpSjiPbEfKv7qehngHE7IW5nKh_ZoYhc0-0CwANBW2_reZ53G1FMZBiwltnl6a0ke1M2F1fI4JOLAUN0knBQkmjdO7Rni4tHDDGFN8VR-jbyaWyjWIWs9S/s1600/Bailey+Fudge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinx-cWH0MFyWCLlHhPA6EixJdpSjiPbEfKv7qehngHE7IW5nKh_ZoYhc0-0CwANBW2_reZ53G1FMZBiwltnl6a0ke1M2F1fI4JOLAUN0knBQkmjdO7Rni4tHDDGFN8VR-jbyaWyjWIWs9S/s320/Bailey+Fudge.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">4 cups dark chocolate chips</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Pinch of sea salt</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Optional: 1/2 cup walnuts or pecans</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">1/3 cup Baileys Irish Cream*</span></span><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><br />*</span></span><span lang="EN" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #274e13; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Baileys Irish Cream<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>is an Irish whiskey and cream-based
liqueur that comes in flavors such as Carmel Crème, Coffee and Mint, so you can
create delicious fudge in different flavors.</span></li>
</ul>
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<b style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Directions:</span></b><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Line a baking pan with foil, extending foil over the edges of the pan.
(8-or 9-inch pan works well)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Put chocolate chips, salt and sweetened condensed milk in a heavy saucepan
and cook over low heat until the chocolate chips are completely melted.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Remove from heat. Stir in Baileys and nuts, if adding nuts.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Spread evenly into the foil-lined pan.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Chill in the fridge for 2 hours or until firm. Cut into squares. Makes
about 2 pounds of fudge.</span></span></li>
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<b style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16.8pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Microwave Method:</span></b><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Put chocolate chips, salt and sweetened condensed milk into a quart
glass bowl or measuring cup.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Microwave on High for 3 minutes or until chocolate chips are melted,
stirring after 1 <span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">½</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span>minutes.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Remove from the microwave and stir in the remaining ingredients. Proceed
as above.</span></span></li>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16.8pt;">Enjoy!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 16.8pt;">Happy St. Patrick's Day! </span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">©JerseyLil’s 2 Cents. All rights reserved.</div>JerseyLilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18381518701383106141noreply@blogger.com36tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8002257954816576516.post-66063861100596504302015-12-24T18:37:00.000-05:002015-12-24T18:37:27.955-05:00Season’s Greetings! <div class="MsoNoSpacing">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Wishing
all my blog friends a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Bright New Year!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">For
this holiday season, I’d like to share a special Christmas memories post I originally wrote
in 2012 and updated in 2013. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Although
I haven’t blogged much this past year (due to circumstances), I will be blogging more in the coming year. I want to sincerely thank everyone who stops by my
blog; I truly appreciate all the likes and comments over the years. All the
best to everyone, always!</span></div>
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<a href="http://jerseylils2cents.blogspot.com/2013/12/christmas-memories-musical-nativity.html" style="color: #7d0007; font-stretch: normal; text-decoration: none;">Christmas Memories: the Musical Nativity</a></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;"><b>Remembering my Mom at Christmas</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763; font-size: xx-small;"><b>(updated from a previous post)</b></span></span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">There's a musical nativity figurine I take out every December since 2002. It's a pretty ceramic piece that plays </span><b><i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #073763; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Away in a Manger</span></i></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> and has beautifully painted figures of the Holy Family in the classic scene: Mary kneeling, hands folded in prayer, gazing adoringly at the Baby Jesus in the manger with Joseph standing watch over them, a staff in one hand and a lantern in the other. The bottom of this figurine has the date, December 2001, and my mother's name, Carmela. And that's the important part.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">This particular figurine was not my first choice when I shopped for a musical nativity for my mother that Christmas. I had glanced at it quickly in the store then passed it by, moving on to other stores. My mom loved nativity scenes and musical boxes, and I was looking for one that revolved while playing a tune (this one is stationary), and one that was larger (this one is a bit over 6 inches tall), so my mother could more clearly see the details given her failing eyesight. After shopping for hours and not finding what I wanted, I went back to the first store and chose this one because it was pretty and colorful, and it played one of my mother's favorite Christmas tunes, </span></span><b><i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #073763; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Away in a Manger</span></i></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">. I wasn't totally satisfied with it...the melody sounded rather tinny and the music didn't play very long before needing rewinding...but with time running short, I bought it with the idea that it was fine for now and I'd get her a better one the next Christmas.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Although I was raised Catholic with eight years of parochial school (three different grammar schools due to my family moving and my eighth-grade year at a Catholic orphanage due to Mom's illness), I am not particularly religious (although I consider myself to be spiritual), and a nativity was not a gift that initially came to mind for me. I had already purchased several Christmas gifts for my mother that year and thought I was done shopping. On Christmas Eve, however, I felt drawn to finding a musical nativity for her. Perhaps I was inspired by hearing Christmas music</span><b><i><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></i></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">played in the stores while shopping, and remembering how my mother loved nativity scenes and music. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Before wrapping the gift, I wrote the date and my mother's name on the bottom with a magic marker because she was staying in a nursing home. When I arrived to visit, she looked at me with the faraway blank stare that had become her daily expression. She said my name, as she always did, and nothing more. Sometimes you could not engage her at all, as if she just wasn't there. When I handed her the gifts, she reacted slightly, just giving a little head nod in acknowledgement. But when she saw the nativity, she smiled! For her to really smile at something was a big deal; she did not smile often anymore.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9UVgppyKuRDZdrA-BRNRZEQS8lfVmJyyHCd5X1iiQnLQpb01AoMYyjqOtTpJh5c8SynJkxw3WcPwZyFzXo8QvhlPwSgWpCAZOMHUbHQM1ugGjnnhFJNATx0phfWeYFaprkFcoT0KIe-68/s1600/Mom_gifts_PiCM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #7d181e; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9UVgppyKuRDZdrA-BRNRZEQS8lfVmJyyHCd5X1iiQnLQpb01AoMYyjqOtTpJh5c8SynJkxw3WcPwZyFzXo8QvhlPwSgWpCAZOMHUbHQM1ugGjnnhFJNATx0phfWeYFaprkFcoT0KIe-68/s320/Mom_gifts_PiCM.jpg" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-radius: 5px; border: 1px solid rgb(106, 20, 25); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 20px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="227" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mom opening gifts</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">With her failing eyesight, I wasn't even sure the figurine was big enough for her to see the wonderful detail in the figures. But no matter, she seemed to see it well enough to smile right away when it was unwrapped, and an even bigger smile that lit up her face when she heard,<i> </i></span></span><b><i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #073763; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Away in a Manger</span></i></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">My mother loved music; she loved to sing. In her younger days before the illness that left her body alone but took her mind...and oh, did it take her mind to places where a dark unreality could turn a warm summer day into a harsh winter night...she sang whenever she could. When my siblings and I were children, my mother sang along to the radio every day. She had a lovely singing voice. Then gradually, the illness took my mother's body, as well as her mind.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Away in a manger, No crib for his bed,</span></i></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><b><i><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The little Lord Jesus, Lay down his sweet head."</span></i></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Mom lay down her head for her eternal rest just a few months later. I didn't know it at the time but December 2001 would be my mother's last Christmas. Much sooner then I was expecting. Was it a Christmas miracle that she smiled for me that day? Certainly, a Christmas miracle is anything you want it to be. And so it is for me. Every Christmas since then, when I play the musical nativity, I smile and think of my mother on that Christmas Day. The music I once thought sounded rather tinny, doesn't sound tinny anymore. Now it just sounds like a wonderful Christmas memory.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><br /></span><br /><span style="line-height: 18.4px;"><i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Text and photos ©2015 JerseyLil’s 2 Cents</span></i></span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">©JerseyLil’s 2 Cents. All rights reserved.</div>JerseyLilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18381518701383106141noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8002257954816576516.post-88207555611005932712015-03-25T17:48:00.000-04:002015-03-26T10:56:50.596-04:00Irish Soda Bread and Mischief Fairies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHx9G4hyphenhyphenxA7CUpfEx3gHKIBQYcKb5ehrwGDWMOp0e9jozCkmzedwKfp8ys8WuRfyKWLpmAn3CPo-iitQ1XmUDBlUVMUnC0myF9yGGXBlqnMzReQy1phq5sinN8FkTdiuBnwLE8AsXoqFTV/s1600/Irish+Soda+Bread_2015_C2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHx9G4hyphenhyphenxA7CUpfEx3gHKIBQYcKb5ehrwGDWMOp0e9jozCkmzedwKfp8ys8WuRfyKWLpmAn3CPo-iitQ1XmUDBlUVMUnC0myF9yGGXBlqnMzReQy1phq5sinN8FkTdiuBnwLE8AsXoqFTV/s1600/Irish+Soda+Bread_2015_C2.jpg" height="492" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Bet
you thought Irish Soda Bread was just good food. It’s delicious but did you
know that the “x” at the top of the bread can also ward off pesky mischief
fairies? Legend has it that putting the “x” on top before baking “lets the
mischief fairies out” so they won’t jinx your bread; that “x” brings good luck. The original reason was most likely that it helped the bread expand while baking and made it easier to slice the hard crust into four quarters
after baking, but scaring away
“mischief fairies” and ensuring good luck is certainly an added benefit! Something to think about while you’re enjoying a
slice with butter or jam.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">To celebrate my part-Irish heritage this month, I made Irish soda bread and came upon the fascinating tidbit about mischief fairies while researching a little history to go with my recipe. Here
are a few more crumbs of trivia:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Traditional Irish soda bread was baked in kitchens in cast iron pots called "bastibles" over open hearths rather than ovens. Offering freshly baked bread to your guests was considered a sign of respect. The Irish like to serve it with "lashings of butter." (now I know why I love butter so much, it's the Irish in me!)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The original recipe called for sour milk (the acid in sour milk mixed with baking soda would cause the bread to rise without yeast). Buttermilk has replaced sour milk in modern recipes.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Although versions of soda breads can be found in many cultures (it did not originate in Ireland), it became popular in Ireland during the potato famine of the 1800s because it could be easily made with few ingredients and was filling. Today, soda bread is often most associated with Ireland.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Another legend has it that Irish farmers' wives would wrap loaves of soda bread sometimes filled with fruit and/or whiskey and take them to those working in the fields, along with sweetened tea (or methinks something a tad bit stronger than just tea!).</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">One day I may explore why "mischief fairies" are bothering bread (hungry? bored?) but for now, here's a simple recipe I used when I made Irish soda bread. And don't forget the "x" on top or "mischief fairies" may visit!</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiezpCn7AC8fo9p6zPvr4S2jm9dkBoW3vLsv_cGH1nrn6uOWEe0oBlDX956hq6odKbhZuzbRRjfGgM3LJwuiXbyhor9CmSOIMoxe_hns7bwRITkLU5g63e56TpM9L7R5qea0e9pBTmqG3G1/s1600/Fairy_Rings_and_Toadstools_Richard+Doyle+1875.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiezpCn7AC8fo9p6zPvr4S2jm9dkBoW3vLsv_cGH1nrn6uOWEe0oBlDX956hq6odKbhZuzbRRjfGgM3LJwuiXbyhor9CmSOIMoxe_hns7bwRITkLU5g63e56TpM9L7R5qea0e9pBTmqG3G1/s1600/Fairy_Rings_and_Toadstools_Richard+Doyle+1875.jpg" height="441" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>Fairy Rings and
Toadstools,</i> Richard Doyle 1875 </span>(image in public domain from wikiart)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6666660308838px; line-height: 16.8666667938232px;">After all that dancing those hungry fairies may be looking for your soda bread!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 16.8pt;"><b>Irish Soda Bread</b></span></h2>
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<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16.8pt;">Easy to make, no yeast. This
is the traditional recipe using just four ingredients.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Ingredients:<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4 cups flour (any all-purpose
flour or gluten-free alternative)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 teaspoon baking soda</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 teaspoon sea salt</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 ½ cups buttermilk (suggest 1% buttermilk for lighter
texture since it’s a dense bread)</span></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Directions:<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
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<ol>
<li><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease baking sheet or line with parchment paper.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a large bowl, combine flour, salt and baking soda.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Slowly stir in the buttermilk, mixing until dough is firm
enough to be gathered into a ball (dough will be a little sticky). If dough
crumbles, add up to ½ cup more of the buttermilk, one tablespoon at a time,
until dough holds together. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Place dough on a lightly-floured board. Dust hands with a
little flour and lightly knead to shape into a somewhat round but flattened loaf
(similar to the shape in my photo of the baked bread). Don’t overprocess, just
shape, a light touch works best. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Transfer loaf to the baking sheet. Using a small,
sharp knife, make a deep X in the top of the dough (about ½ inch deep). If
desired, brush top of loaf with melted butter or margarine.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bake at 425 degrees for about 35 to 45 minutes, or until
top of loaf is a golden brown. (I found that 40 minutes worked well for
me, but ovens vary so you’ll know when it’s done by the golden brown color.)</span></span></li>
</ol>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You’ll have a loaf that is crusty on the outside, and
soft and chewy on the inside. A dense, rustic bread, perfect as a companion to
stews or with jam or honey spread on it. Soda bread is best eaten in two days. Day-old slices can be warmed for a few seconds in the microwave.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB19sh_loPYNG6yddeZhEAfhJ_GcUF5VwsVLD1hfHk_mM5huce3SpfQA7ZUidynkRUtBE1WzMTCjptpSgOcwqiTa_OhBOzeI5ChUl-3smqqAa1nCANr6N0z6GHMIZTHDGl93xQ0y54i_ti/s1600/Irish+Soda+Bread_sliced-C2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB19sh_loPYNG6yddeZhEAfhJ_GcUF5VwsVLD1hfHk_mM5huce3SpfQA7ZUidynkRUtBE1WzMTCjptpSgOcwqiTa_OhBOzeI5ChUl-3smqqAa1nCANr6N0z6GHMIZTHDGl93xQ0y54i_ti/s1600/Irish+Soda+Bread_sliced-C2.jpg" height="488" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Variations:</span></h3>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">For a slightly sweet flavor, add a cup of raisins to the dough. This non-traditional version is called "Spotted Dog."</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Make biscuits by breaking off equal portions of the dough and placing in a muffin tin (don't fill to the top, leave room to rise). Toss some raisins in the dough and you have "Spotted Pups."</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Enjoy, and if any mischief fairies should stop by, just offer them some freshly baked bread and they'll be happy! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">©JerseyLils2Cents
2015</span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">©JerseyLil’s 2 Cents. All rights reserved.</div>JerseyLilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18381518701383106141noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8002257954816576516.post-82455637414474167772015-01-28T17:42:00.000-05:002015-01-28T18:26:19.012-05:00New Year and a Short Story Contest<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT6Lu6qv4-FBukz574IKX8ISOjmzj29OEp3ehwlgGJ6aqdQukUgw62QpJ8HFOWQyy9j5ZkzaQN5EfY01_yp9RLp34XTI1SP3EMDssrJwsqLL0air4Zwrg623CLoQtRAp5I8HZn6xjwVzOs/s1600/SnoopyWriting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT6Lu6qv4-FBukz574IKX8ISOjmzj29OEp3ehwlgGJ6aqdQukUgw62QpJ8HFOWQyy9j5ZkzaQN5EfY01_yp9RLp34XTI1SP3EMDssrJwsqLL0air4Zwrg623CLoQtRAp5I8HZn6xjwVzOs/s1600/SnoopyWriting.jpg" height="315" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The start of
a new year always feels hopeful. It’s the beginning of a new cycle and a good
time to look forward and set new goals. One of my goals for 2015 is to be more actively involved
with my writing and complete other planned creative projects. With that in mind, I was
delighted when one of my blog friends posted about a short story contest. I’ve
been writing to some extent since childhood but it’s been many years, well, more
like a couple decades, since I’ve actually written a short story. I’m excited
about the challenge of writing a story for the contest and this is exactly the
prompting I need to start seriously writing again. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The contest
is for fiction short story writing, any genre, and writers from all over the world
can participate. There is no reading fee. The prize is $100 and publication in
the Southern Pacific Review. Deadline is March 30, 2015. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">If you're interested in submitting a short fiction story, you can find information and a link at Julia Hone's post on her blog, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://juliahoneswritinglife.blogspot.com/2015/01/this-month-poem-and-free-short-story.html">My Writing Life</a>. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Julia is an exceptional writer and the poetry editor of the Southern Pacific Review.<br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://southernpacificreview.com/2011/11/13/south-american-short-story-writing-contest/">Southern Pacific Review Short Story Contest</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Good luck to those entering the contest!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I’d like to
close this post with a special video for the new year:<i> The Mountain </i>by TSO
Photography, filmed over seven days from a mountain in Spain. The time-lapse
images are stunning and it’s accompanied by beautiful music. Makes you pause
and appreciate the planet we live on. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i>The
Mountain</i> by TSO Photography, Music by </span><span class="watch-title"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Ludovico Einaudi “Nuvole Biache”</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span class="watch-title"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">©2015 JerseyLils2Cents </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">©JerseyLil’s 2 Cents. All rights reserved.</div>JerseyLilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18381518701383106141noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8002257954816576516.post-15766225764872159662014-12-25T02:10:00.000-05:002014-12-26T02:48:57.580-05:00Tidings of Good Cheer and Spiked Eggnog<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEZF8XD4HlmgmL4GRRMIctLcUYD8hyU_4gjRMgCX7thcL0V3L6UM7wDrwuD9PXH3LyfzvGjBkuFCse2RbggHJvJA1PJd6uM1ESNsp5qXhwNxd-wRsm875ZICJKEaBTOkvcGmpn6_Aarsg5/s1600/Eggnog2_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEZF8XD4HlmgmL4GRRMIctLcUYD8hyU_4gjRMgCX7thcL0V3L6UM7wDrwuD9PXH3LyfzvGjBkuFCse2RbggHJvJA1PJd6uM1ESNsp5qXhwNxd-wRsm875ZICJKEaBTOkvcGmpn6_Aarsg5/s1600/Eggnog2_C.jpg" height="371" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Bah, Humbug! As enjoyable as the December holidays can be, it can also be a stressful and sometimes lonely time of year. To help ease the "bah, humbugs!" I'm bringing tidings of good cheer for the holiday season...for Christmas, Chanukah, and let us not forget Festivus!</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">So take a break and </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">have a relaxing mug </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">of holiday eggnog topped with nutmeg </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">and spiked if you like with a bit (or more depending on the day) of rum or brandy. </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">S</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">it down in a cozy chair by the fir</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">eplace ...or just close your eyes and pretend you're by a warm fireplace with the glowing embers dancing as the logs burn. Just enjoy the moment. Now don't you feel better already? </span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">~~~~~~~</span></b><i><o:p></o:p></i></span><b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">~~~~~~~</span></b></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;">Christmas Cheer</b></div>
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Something traditional and perfect for sitting by the fireplace (or your pretend fireplace...works either way!).</div>
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<i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;">Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childhood days...and transport the traveler back to his own fireside and quiet home!</i></div>
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~Charles
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i><b>Christmas Bells </b></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i>I heard the bells on Christmas Day</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i>Their old, familiar carols play,</i></span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">And wild and sweet</i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The words repeat</i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Of peace on earth, good-will to men.</i><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDTHlCTY72bXNy4vH-yzXwbqMHCycce7unZiuG8DZpyhujsAD2qNqNIdfMFowznhIaCIJHklTRfwuQ69BaX-5a_aIEBeDvgk3FZ3EKOiHhoTQBTpdcDvZGR5yjR3R1scFobUmwgxbpeRan/s1600/Snowball-funny.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDTHlCTY72bXNy4vH-yzXwbqMHCycce7unZiuG8DZpyhujsAD2qNqNIdfMFowznhIaCIJHklTRfwuQ69BaX-5a_aIEBeDvgk3FZ3EKOiHhoTQBTpdcDvZGR5yjR3R1scFobUmwgxbpeRan/s1600/Snowball-funny.jpg" height="241" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">from <i>Snowball </i>by Shel Silverstein</span></td></tr>
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The Grumpy Old Punks make a Christmas song! </div>
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Posted with thanks to Linda of <a href="http://elleroywashere.com/">Elleroy Was Here</a> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I'll close the Christmas part of my post with a poem in memory of my sweet pups, Roscoe and Coco, both gone now (Roscoe March 2013, and Coco April 2014) but never forgotten. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;"><i>Tonight's my first night
as a watchdog, </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;"><i>And here it is Christmas Eve. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;"><i>The children are sleeping all cozy upstairs, </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;"><i>While I'm guardin' the stockin's and tree. </i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;">What's that now---footsteps on the rooftop?</span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;">Could it be a cat or a mouse?</span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;">Who's this down the chimney?</span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;">A thief with a beard---</span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;">And a big sack for robbin' the house? </span></span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;">I'm barkin', I'm growlin', I'm bitin' his butt.</span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;">He howls and jumps back in his sleigh.</span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;">I scare his strange horses, they leap in the air.</span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;">I've frightened the whole bunch away. </span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;"><br /></span></span></i>
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;">Now the house is all peaceful and quiet again.</span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;">The stockin's are safe as can be.</span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;">Won't the kiddies be glad when they wake up tomorrow</span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;">And see how I've guarded the tree.</span></span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;">~ Shel Silverstein</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Roscoe</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrh96u4sYaY8ojk3mqFigEJ2Mbs_KKtTO0kx-xl1ISwVOB_1PTBGhK-ie_nmC_A6YSWHFPJVgQgwcf9ExWKldMJcHR4AMoosmV1WQzs-hIQeaOQ_-YFYdND-TQFi_oCS_yfa5eifaZ-ncx/s1600/Christmas_Coco_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrh96u4sYaY8ojk3mqFigEJ2Mbs_KKtTO0kx-xl1ISwVOB_1PTBGhK-ie_nmC_A6YSWHFPJVgQgwcf9ExWKldMJcHR4AMoosmV1WQzs-hIQeaOQ_-YFYdND-TQFi_oCS_yfa5eifaZ-ncx/s1600/Christmas_Coco_C.jpg" height="256" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Coco</span></td></tr>
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<span class="bqquotelink"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Miss
my pups, they really loved getting treats in their Christmas stockings! </span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">~~~~~~~</span></b><i><o:p></o:p></i></span><b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">~~~~~~~</span></b></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;">Chanukah...the Festival of Lights</b></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i>Eight days the light continued on its own: A miracle,
they say, but not more so than ordinary lives of flesh and bone, consuming
wicks burned ashen long ago.</i> ~<span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; padding: 0in;">Nicholas
Gordon</span><strong><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">A Chanukah classic!</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">~~~~~~~</span></b><i><o:p></o:p></i></span><b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">~~~~~~~</span></b></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;">Festivus</b></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 15pt;">Festivus began as a holiday parody introduced on a December 1997 episode of the TV sitcom, <i>Seinfield</i>, and quickly became a holiday classic with the
slogan: <i>A Festivus for the rest of us!</i></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 15pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 15pt;">Festivus features an unadorned aluminum Festivus pole, the "Airing of Grievances," a holiday dinner, "Feats of Strength," and a Festivus miracle.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Festivus explained</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 15pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzF7ruTiIYd6he04cpgvVXhmjGmFbmvJqjtR_16aRyAqNHJIWScjIisEL2ZefoDlNwMq6R3BlwLqmGzhCemyQDKwJuh36-HfQ-ZaimfMrzHwLc05rMwKp60yELfX4JkF5fckRoD58gU3od/s1600/Festivus+no+stress.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 15pt; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzF7ruTiIYd6he04cpgvVXhmjGmFbmvJqjtR_16aRyAqNHJIWScjIisEL2ZefoDlNwMq6R3BlwLqmGzhCemyQDKwJuh36-HfQ-ZaimfMrzHwLc05rMwKp60yELfX4JkF5fckRoD58gU3od/s1600/Festivus+no+stress.jpg" height="253" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="bqquotelink"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><b>Wishing
you a Happy and Peaceful Holiday Season and New Year!</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 15pt;">©2014
JerseyLils2Cents</span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">©JerseyLil’s 2 Cents. All rights reserved.</div>JerseyLilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18381518701383106141noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8002257954816576516.post-20914515642734085892014-12-19T17:15:00.000-05:002014-12-19T17:15:03.902-05:00Snapshots Around My Yard…Birds, Squirrels, and Deer<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRFnxvQuIQEusd4b0PLt3Tc8dwSsn4vlF12LqCzhwCI_K4Tu251FAQKVhjnkTCCMSXkS_wwP0flSPbpr67faapDSZ6owjVqOn93wjDwqzY0l-ZiCbAEbeERe84rnLO4x9DJtTxv-YHf7Gl/s1600/Female+Cardinal_Fall_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRFnxvQuIQEusd4b0PLt3Tc8dwSsn4vlF12LqCzhwCI_K4Tu251FAQKVhjnkTCCMSXkS_wwP0flSPbpr67faapDSZ6owjVqOn93wjDwqzY0l-ZiCbAEbeERe84rnLO4x9DJtTxv-YHf7Gl/s1600/Female+Cardinal_Fall_C.jpg" height="400" width="365" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Female Cardinal</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Before the season of winter fully sets in, there is an abundance
of activity around my yard w</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">ith the melodies of songbirds, those staying all winter and
those just stopping by to vocalize a tune before flying off to warmer climes; the ever-social crows and starlings calling to each other;
a hawk perched in the bare branches of an oak tree; and gray squirrels busy scurrying about frantically gathering and
hiding nuts.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">This year there was an
added treat of spotting a young buck white-tail deer just casually strolling
through my suburban neighborhood. Deer will occasionally come into the neighborhood
(and sometimes into my yard), there is a wooded park nearby, but often it’s at
dawn or dusk and they very quickly move on. To see one just slowing walking
around, not running, just taking his time as if he’s out for an afternoon
stroll is not that common. This young deer paused in my neighbor’s yard
across the way and stood still long enough for me to quickly grab my camera and take some snapshots before he left…just as if he were posing for the
camera!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">~ </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sharing some snapshots from around my yard </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">~</span></div>
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<b style="color: #660000; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 27.6000022888184px;">Birds</b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx_visQu4yEMsIAMDmVwV_JRV_FixoHgiEfqIu59Hb13LMxeke9wA3uTmrkPCAsC_fQGnhvN2C2S6EWMTakGYv_gFyZiV_NkmbVYVN_4zOwJQ2GsYIOF_KLkUN-UcWlW_VXW0K6ARmfJPC/s1600/Robin_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx_visQu4yEMsIAMDmVwV_JRV_FixoHgiEfqIu59Hb13LMxeke9wA3uTmrkPCAsC_fQGnhvN2C2S6EWMTakGYv_gFyZiV_NkmbVYVN_4zOwJQ2GsYIOF_KLkUN-UcWlW_VXW0K6ARmfJPC/s1600/Robin_C.jpg" height="536" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Robin </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUKXcXcyxWY__NmSWK41ayuohYjFP2g1BTj7nO-xW0sAvWUej_BgK40l5tcBeVzogGVHrDJlJ-ev_6IZzCJiB0GJ8ocndsq5SFsiaaIcZW3DxDIl9yTy6QxTs2OZKMUTE4UMnBMhE54or8/s1600/Mourning+Dove_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUKXcXcyxWY__NmSWK41ayuohYjFP2g1BTj7nO-xW0sAvWUej_BgK40l5tcBeVzogGVHrDJlJ-ev_6IZzCJiB0GJ8ocndsq5SFsiaaIcZW3DxDIl9yTy6QxTs2OZKMUTE4UMnBMhE54or8/s1600/Mourning+Dove_C.jpg" height="640" width="584" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mourning Dove</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLHlThFGORxWaPc5I-LEy4tuCmGXJ0BlofhuT7JcxI-GLP1BcvxrnWvV0STihYKNokIi5wEe_vq1kCy3xz2XMBWG6-gxf2TMUcGWZxh9gK22px_pwoQ_uF5a8UaNz_5LxfTZ7mZGz2hh2X/s1600/Catbirds+in+conversationC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLHlThFGORxWaPc5I-LEy4tuCmGXJ0BlofhuT7JcxI-GLP1BcvxrnWvV0STihYKNokIi5wEe_vq1kCy3xz2XMBWG6-gxf2TMUcGWZxh9gK22px_pwoQ_uF5a8UaNz_5LxfTZ7mZGz2hh2X/s1600/Catbirds+in+conversationC.jpg" height="401" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Catbirds in conversation</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE9M3BMVSrbg_rBJ1aWm24ANgcPWqFfl0I9AhkG6YNr6VGCSfRhMgcAGUZ8mUM_c-nBT4Efc-higywz8AihmiBPcV1cfvfEVIbpiFPpK3JBWzgGEj7v-omyn6HQzUO0m8h7ET1LpKnYATi/s1600/Bird+in+Maple_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE9M3BMVSrbg_rBJ1aWm24ANgcPWqFfl0I9AhkG6YNr6VGCSfRhMgcAGUZ8mUM_c-nBT4Efc-higywz8AihmiBPcV1cfvfEVIbpiFPpK3JBWzgGEj7v-omyn6HQzUO0m8h7ET1LpKnYATi/s1600/Bird+in+Maple_C.jpg" height="496" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Blackbird in the autumn leaves</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5F4D0IYYlXA3EDH-OC_z98_ynmbVWlhVCb6Q2_zSeEO9dzSNRbo8ZdCzI-ULdAH45ACIM-m2MGhFiQbl_j8N4c9Y4JIGsWubI23BSc5y9ZF-fFM8tMKdQeoQDu99GoL_j4eP1bRDcn4XX/s1600/Starlings+High+Wire+Act_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5F4D0IYYlXA3EDH-OC_z98_ynmbVWlhVCb6Q2_zSeEO9dzSNRbo8ZdCzI-ULdAH45ACIM-m2MGhFiQbl_j8N4c9Y4JIGsWubI23BSc5y9ZF-fFM8tMKdQeoQDu99GoL_j4eP1bRDcn4XX/s1600/Starlings+High+Wire+Act_C.jpg" height="361" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Starlings...high wire act</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQeyUis9D5A0C2X8ZPrnn9s3GihzQr5t4avG6j6J0I5c7Pmyg4IPgc4wqXIH2IjunEMwPdqIOfVfgNu1pBxREui7j6Wfuc-K753HLU4dHUtE1YUP3k1WdqDKSMDt0ce_n2qDtrd3_fEvGN/s1600/Crow+and+foil_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQeyUis9D5A0C2X8ZPrnn9s3GihzQr5t4avG6j6J0I5c7Pmyg4IPgc4wqXIH2IjunEMwPdqIOfVfgNu1pBxREui7j6Wfuc-K753HLU4dHUtE1YUP3k1WdqDKSMDt0ce_n2qDtrd3_fEvGN/s1600/Crow+and+foil_C.jpg" height="536" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Crow proudly announcing the piece of foil she found</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfEpkcYpVQgUPFm-PE098QGSJSiEzJGIkQxKqibshgQAANNlHvTSyJl6rgzKG7SuFsSe-OoayLbWAJWpqsi6cX-OhMefNuFpdTgzbw4Pnz3lE3IChFXFBOHkkU8vNP3fYBQq-tjMHFV2US/s1600/Coopers+Hawk_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfEpkcYpVQgUPFm-PE098QGSJSiEzJGIkQxKqibshgQAANNlHvTSyJl6rgzKG7SuFsSe-OoayLbWAJWpqsi6cX-OhMefNuFpdTgzbw4Pnz3lE3IChFXFBOHkkU8vNP3fYBQq-tjMHFV2US/s1600/Coopers+Hawk_C.jpg" height="536" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Cooper's hawk with his back to the camera<br />(there was a light snowfall that day)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><b style="color: #660000; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 115%;">Gray Squirrels</b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Running along the fence by the autumn leaves</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Munching on a nut</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Squirrel scurrying up the tree</span></td></tr>
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<b style="color: #660000; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 27.6000022888184px;">Deer</b></div>
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Young buck white-tail deer strolling through my neighborhood</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMFFzs2ih7fBopuKs3PdNBrXeMdYEsACoMxTC0QJe9h1xIVEnhAwr4cRX6Ers-GWIzDPZBBCRDRTyzoeEixIQUxqrporeY1CtCKH0BJPi8uVExu60zWl2oRCXW44oO3pESRsnXqC9QYbQZ/s1600/Young+buck+white-tail+deer_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMFFzs2ih7fBopuKs3PdNBrXeMdYEsACoMxTC0QJe9h1xIVEnhAwr4cRX6Ers-GWIzDPZBBCRDRTyzoeEixIQUxqrporeY1CtCKH0BJPi8uVExu60zWl2oRCXW44oO3pESRsnXqC9QYbQZ/s1600/Young+buck+white-tail+deer_C.jpg" height="496" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkdJqPN5PhgZ8VvWCQrv3fG4ifGUHv0n8em4fHF1hnE0-w9q0qR1ZtXEDmPlzWCPO6GkEaDRET7HzyQDRUsjDW6L4fxl9zQo3U_gRdX2Z18xoQoxSij4x_1NGc21t4Q4JENaFTY8aR4RFj/s1600/Young+buck2_crop_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkdJqPN5PhgZ8VvWCQrv3fG4ifGUHv0n8em4fHF1hnE0-w9q0qR1ZtXEDmPlzWCPO6GkEaDRET7HzyQDRUsjDW6L4fxl9zQo3U_gRdX2Z18xoQoxSij4x_1NGc21t4Q4JENaFTY8aR4RFj/s1600/Young+buck2_crop_C.jpg" height="428" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16.3636360168457px; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">Hope you enjoyed the snapshots! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">©2014 JerseyLils2Cents (all text and photos) </span></span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">©JerseyLil’s 2 Cents. All rights reserved.</div>JerseyLilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18381518701383106141noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8002257954816576516.post-11201630021076804592014-11-27T03:17:00.001-05:002014-11-27T03:21:15.505-05:00Happy Thanksgiving<h2 style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Wishing all my blog friends a Happy Thanksgiving!</b></span><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></h3>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>And to those friends not in the States, wishing you a Happy Day! </b></span></h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi601PpVBpL-sucUg0iq2u6VDkiFEVh-efuddGemtPMiWNoKX7JiDGW0agcyLMInX5EycxbWwRuUarZ79NovCyXg-NJ2U7YhTODjc4DFs_f4UTsTV72_saWUCz9XcNv9Hf5B4lg2sfs8KrT/s1600/Thanksgiving-MLB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi601PpVBpL-sucUg0iq2u6VDkiFEVh-efuddGemtPMiWNoKX7JiDGW0agcyLMInX5EycxbWwRuUarZ79NovCyXg-NJ2U7YhTODjc4DFs_f4UTsTV72_saWUCz9XcNv9Hf5B4lg2sfs8KrT/s1600/Thanksgiving-MLB.jpg" height="400" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">©JerseyLil’s 2 Cents. All rights reserved.</div>JerseyLilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18381518701383106141noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8002257954816576516.post-9973418698192962992014-10-31T14:43:00.000-04:002014-11-01T02:19:40.712-04:00Happy Halloween Once More<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Reposting a short Halloween blog piece written a couple
years go. Watch out for ghosts and goblins, ‘tis All Hallows’ Eve, the witching
night. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><i><span style="color: #660000;"><b>Double, double, toil and trouble;</b></span></i></span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #660000;"><b>Fire burn and cauldron bubble…</b></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>By the pricking of my thumbs,</b></i></span></div>
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<i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Something wicked this way comes.</b></i></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">~William Shakespeare, </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Macbeth</i></div>
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<i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #660000;"><b>My candle was nearly burnt out when, by the glimmer of
the half-extinguished light,</b></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #660000;"><b>I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open. </b></span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">~Mary Shelley, </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Frankenstein</i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b><span style="color: #660000;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Happy Halloween! </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://jerseylils2cents.blogspot.com/2012/10/happy-halloween.html" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">http://jerseylils2cents.blogspot.com/2012/10/happy-halloween.html</a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM7hrDjqiA3Nt9qjP7Mwa2kE3uA3tn1Pcz5nkF_RRB7LMqVPdUz3E6IBbzjhlMwrVmFNW4-p2XaqluGVpAJR3W4sTJNciseqpWVwGxuODT1sEyVvfVo5p21ph6Ht_XJ0CCoBUE0zE222zZ/s1600/Van+Gogh+Head+of+a+Skeleton+1886.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM7hrDjqiA3Nt9qjP7Mwa2kE3uA3tn1Pcz5nkF_RRB7LMqVPdUz3E6IBbzjhlMwrVmFNW4-p2XaqluGVpAJR3W4sTJNciseqpWVwGxuODT1sEyVvfVo5p21ph6Ht_XJ0CCoBUE0zE222zZ/s1600/Van+Gogh+Head+of+a+Skeleton+1886.jpg" height="400" width="301" /></a></td></tr>
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<b><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 115%;">"</span></b><b><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Head of
a Skeleton with a Burning Cigarette" by Vincent Van Gogh, 1886<br />
Don't take this guy to a barbeque</span></b><b><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 115%;">!</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">©2012-2014 jerseylils2cents</span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">©JerseyLil’s 2 Cents. All rights reserved.</div>JerseyLilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18381518701383106141noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8002257954816576516.post-86333477793733689312014-06-06T17:51:00.000-04:002014-06-06T17:51:19.775-04:00Beautiful Music <div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">Reposting a piece
originally written in April 2012. Since I was just a novice blogger then many
of those currently reading my blog probably have not seen it before…here's the link:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://jerseylils2cents.blogspot.com/2012/04/beautiful-music-here.html" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Beautiful Music Here</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Hope you enjoy it!</span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">©JerseyLil’s 2 Cents. All rights reserved.</div>JerseyLilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18381518701383106141noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8002257954816576516.post-70944610317505025502014-03-24T20:09:00.000-04:002014-03-26T14:35:06.299-04:00Irish Guinness Stew and Irish Soda Bread<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">True to the
very cold and snowy winter we have been having this year, it snowed on the St.
Patrick’s Day holiday, which is only a few days before the official start of
spring. That storm brought eight inches of snow, on top of the snow we already had. It was an excellent
day for Irish comfort food to celebrate my part-Irish heritage! </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: x-large;">Irish Guinness Stew (Irish
Coddle)</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Irish
Coddle (sometimes called Dublin Coddle) is traditional Irish comfort food. The name “coddle” derives from the slow
simmering or “coddling” of the stew. This is a stove-top recipe using a Dutch
oven. (For a vegetarian alternative, just leave out the meat, still tasty.)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br /></span>
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<h3>
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Ingredients:</b></h3>
</div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I lb. of sausage
(Irish bangers<b>*</b> are traditional and what I used, but any sausage will do, just don't use small links) </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">4 to 6 slices of thick, dry rubbed bacon, fat trimmed </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">1 bottle Guinness dark stout </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">1 large yellow onion, cut in half and thinly sliced into rounds</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">2 large carrots, cut into large rounds </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">6 medium potatoes, cut into large chucks (I used Yukon Gold potatoes for the
lower starch content) Note: No need to peel onions, especially if using Yukon
Gold, unless peeling is preferred</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">4 cloves garlic, cut into large chucks</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">1 or 2 bay leaves</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Handful of fresh parsley, minced (or 1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">1 teaspoon thyme</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">4 cups low fat chicken broth<br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #FEFDFA; line-height: 16.8pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>*I</b>rish bangers are a particular type of pork sausage. (In Ireland
and England, sausages are called bangers.) To make my recipe authentic, I
wanted to use Irish bangers and found them at my local Whole Foods Market (they
make their own organic sausages). If there’s no Whole Foods Market nearby, a
butcher shop might have them. If not, any sausage would do (just don’t use
small links). Per an excellent question from my friend, Mimi, I called Whole
Foods and asked about the seasonings for Irish bangers: Sea salt, black, red
and white pepper, coriander, ginger, mace, nutmeg, parsley, canola oil, bread
crumbs and wheat flour.<br /><br /></span></div>
</span></li>
</ul>
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<h3>
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></b></h3>
<h3>
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Directions:</b></h3>
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<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Sauté </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">bacon in large skillet over high heat for a
few minutes to brown and lightly crisp. Remove and drain on paper towels.
Repeat with the sausages. Cut bacon and sausages into large, bite-size pieces.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Sauté onions and garlic in skillet over medium heat until just softened and </span>lightly browned.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Place the cut-up bacon and sausages at the bottom of a large
Dutch oven or stew pot. Add the s</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">autéd onions and garlic. A</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">dd the cut-up potatoes and carrots.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Stir in the broth and Guinness stout.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Toss in parsley, bay leaves and thyme. Salt and pepper to
taste (note: I find that if the bacon is salty, no added salt is needed).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Cover and simmer for
one hour or until all ingredients are blended together and thoroughly cooked,
stirring occasionally.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Serve the stew with
traditional Irish Soda Bread (see recipe below), or any hearty bread.</span></li>
</ol>
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<h2>
<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: x-large;">Irish Soda Bread</span></span></b></h2>
<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></b>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">My first time
making Irish Soda Bread and I was pleased with the way it came out. It’s really
easy to make, no yeast. Besides serving it with the stew for dinner, I find
it’s also great with jam and coffee or tea in the morning. </span><br />
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<br />
<h3>
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Ingredients:</b></h3>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">4 cups flour
(I used whole wheat flour but you can use all-purpose flour)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">1 teaspoon baking soda</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">1 teaspoon sea salt</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">1 ½ cups buttermilk</span></li>
</ul>
<h3>
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></b></h3>
<h3>
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Directions:</b></h3>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Preheat oven
to 425 degrees. Brush a baking sheet with melted butter or margarine (or use a
cooking spray).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In a large bowl, combine flour, salt and baking soda.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Slowly stir in the buttermilk, mixing until the dough is firm enough to be
gathered into a ball. If dough crumbles, add up to ½ cup more of the
buttermilk, one tablespoon at a time, until dough holds together. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Place dough on a lightly-floured board and shape into a somewhat flattened
round loaf. (Don’t overprocess, just shape, a light touch works best.)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Transfer loaf to the baking sheet. Using a small, sharp knife, make a deep X in
the top of the dough (about ½ inch deep).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Bake at 425 degrees for about 45 minutes, or until top of loaf is a golden
brown. </span></li>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">You’ll have a loaf that is crusty on the outside, and soft and chewy on the
inside. A dense, rustic bread, perfect as a companion to the
Irish stew.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Enjoy!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Spring is officially here and we’ve had a few nice days recently with mild
temperatures. However, there are weather reports of yet
another snowstorm due this week. Hopefully, just a minor storm that won't leave much snow. Winter just refuses to exit
quietly this year. Looks like time to make another batch of Irish Stew! </span><br />
<br /></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">©2014 JerseyLil’s2Cents all text and
photos</span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">©JerseyLil’s 2 Cents. All rights reserved.</div>JerseyLilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18381518701383106141noreply@blogger.com38tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8002257954816576516.post-21618928273105957452014-03-13T16:38:00.000-04:002014-03-16T16:35:35.483-04:00Finding Beauty in the Beast of Winter<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Oh, what a bone-chilling
winter it has been! I won’t sugar-coat it, it has been miserable. This has been
the winter of never-ending snow, ice, freezing rain, sleet, and more snow here in the Northeast U.S., as well as parts of the South, the Midwest, and reaching into Canada. In fact, due to a weather condition called a polar vortex, many places around the globe have seen severe weather. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The frigid cold around here has set records. Many mornings, I've awakened to temperatures in the single digits; the other morning, the thermometer read a mere 8 degrees. It was warmer in Alaska that day! Some people like the cold, some people like snow, and I respect that. But for me, winter is definitely not my
favorite season. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Still, despite the drabness and chill of it all, there is an
assured beauty to winter, a serenity in the silence of new fallen snow. So</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> to cheer things up while waiting for spring, I'm sharing photos taken around my home this winter, followed by winter art that I hope you'll enjoy. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #660000;"><i>I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so
gently?<br />And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt;<br />and
perhaps it says "Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again."</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #660000;"> </span>~Lewis
Carroll<br /><i>Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass </i></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>The birds of winter around my home </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfaQUZ-MD6CRe2NZtAxa0KNT4Z8Mk8ibV2GkIqGktz4XWNJtoaJ_k7weQ41z-WWjNYNd4HrA_DZXzTe6wA1le6yCmIAnL3RYPjl0Qv02x2pWilcycvVnuBAxeaAVWTNVnPfBnrIKqvD3Bz/s1600/Blue-gray+Gnatcatcher_Corners.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfaQUZ-MD6CRe2NZtAxa0KNT4Z8Mk8ibV2GkIqGktz4XWNJtoaJ_k7weQ41z-WWjNYNd4HrA_DZXzTe6wA1le6yCmIAnL3RYPjl0Qv02x2pWilcycvVnuBAxeaAVWTNVnPfBnrIKqvD3Bz/s1600/Blue-gray+Gnatcatcher_Corners.jpg" height="433" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Blue-gray
gnatcatcher </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii6wZcF1z-qgJo2Td9xbHSNBy_QrIOvQaCuZKRomW9nXiC1BWCQQQbepA2zEYcQ-hIJ9EyE8m29DpvutJLI3IJ5YV0pmW4FYrRIdYMX-dJBi7yp7Y7NoTt12KeMBArvY6Z5RNqyNxhp6Oy/s1600/Robin+in+the+Snow_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii6wZcF1z-qgJo2Td9xbHSNBy_QrIOvQaCuZKRomW9nXiC1BWCQQQbepA2zEYcQ-hIJ9EyE8m29DpvutJLI3IJ5YV0pmW4FYrRIdYMX-dJBi7yp7Y7NoTt12KeMBArvY6Z5RNqyNxhp6Oy/s1600/Robin+in+the+Snow_C.jpg" height="537" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Robin
in the snow (we see robins here all year-round)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.399999618530273px;"><span style="color: #073763;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></b></div>
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<i style="color: #660000; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The Cardinal stood out like a picture fair,</i><br />
<i style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">As snowflakes struck its body there.</span></i><br />
<i style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Upon a branch of the winter tree,</span></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #660000;">Nestled among the needles proud and free.</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">~Joseph T.
Renaldi</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">In my area, cardinals are only seen in the winter months. </span></span></div>
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</span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLHsP-61AV_aL9c8-8p_uti6cZHEPKsW06lRm0ZytmGuGJg-A5AK8IJ6yVeH2leAxGQyW5jy1YJmNp5dtIPiCR44pcZp02KaCycUmgwh9g29aG9fWtboWZIzrH4r7VTFsngQ0dHn5NWc5B/s1600/Snow+Cardinal_2_PC.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLHsP-61AV_aL9c8-8p_uti6cZHEPKsW06lRm0ZytmGuGJg-A5AK8IJ6yVeH2leAxGQyW5jy1YJmNp5dtIPiCR44pcZp02KaCycUmgwh9g29aG9fWtboWZIzrH4r7VTFsngQ0dHn5NWc5B/s1600/Snow+Cardinal_2_PC.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Cardinal sitting pretty on a snowy morning</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; text-align: center;"><br /></span>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.399999618530273px;"><span style="color: #073763;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.399999618530273px;"><span style="color: #073763;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #660000;">The way a
crow<br />
Shook down on me<br />
The dust of snow<br />
From a hemlock tree<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #660000;">Has given my heart<br />
A change of mood<br />
And saved some part<br />
Of a day I had rued.</span></i><br />
~ Robert Frost<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoDWP2gRGlYW-oQpLy59PalHn3Bf67CVo6dCWQ1tIl1CAM1Fr1BbXO20PzW7Rt_L2-r1yhTnVnMm23wglSr1pb3OI0qMt_ik6k-BE8igrHJaCPmDcrszF0_ylNXa4Wz3rx6rHRVOO8MZCa/s1600/Crow_closeup1_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoDWP2gRGlYW-oQpLy59PalHn3Bf67CVo6dCWQ1tIl1CAM1Fr1BbXO20PzW7Rt_L2-r1yhTnVnMm23wglSr1pb3OI0qMt_ik6k-BE8igrHJaCPmDcrszF0_ylNXa4Wz3rx6rHRVOO8MZCa/s1600/Crow_closeup1_C.jpg" height="627" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Crow (taken with a long lens)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.399999618530273px;"><span style="color: #073763;"></span></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.399999618530273px;"><span style="color: #073763;"></span></b></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5dVvwMdLvf5hL-i24tNkctDFOYOgqGO2RjLEGVhkYii5zrnaaAAvVueuGNhaox0WycOLmEwpbBFO9IJjqRoSZgs-ebO3DsvxhnvSmU6XoXYfIb_VmytMQNXhPCQN48Bgmd3OhnNjXhdS3/s1600/Crows+Snowy+Roof_Corners.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5dVvwMdLvf5hL-i24tNkctDFOYOgqGO2RjLEGVhkYii5zrnaaAAvVueuGNhaox0WycOLmEwpbBFO9IJjqRoSZgs-ebO3DsvxhnvSmU6XoXYfIb_VmytMQNXhPCQN48Bgmd3OhnNjXhdS3/s1600/Crows+Snowy+Roof_Corners.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14.399999618530273px; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Crows on a snowy roof</span></span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Coco loves the snow!</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFuvJiB7k-GW7Mgz1wopLEYiaXQOA4Ns5qMylQ1YWnENxWGeek_a0cdWYYlBgfYix7TWXcEBk7UrS3n5g-HI6mU3EpZE0xPtuPkevs4Q5HmTMrA9RLDyNvs8Zewgp7r22b9B3NT_J3V5aQ/s1600/Coco+SnowDog_Corners.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFuvJiB7k-GW7Mgz1wopLEYiaXQOA4Ns5qMylQ1YWnENxWGeek_a0cdWYYlBgfYix7TWXcEBk7UrS3n5g-HI6mU3EpZE0xPtuPkevs4Q5HmTMrA9RLDyNvs8Zewgp7r22b9B3NT_J3V5aQ/s1600/Coco+SnowDog_Corners.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRYMEsPnwrBfcihu1pVG2A_Wj41Du0q93exIM64Xr7AgS9Z_pxJwv11UIfBsV8REwsNZC4Us_ax1ATQzuwHk3ERDgndtIDR79rUnc3dNj_IqOjT_Et7-uRgCuDIlFeAYMKQKNqhKT4QS-z/s1600/Coco+relaxing+in+snow_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRYMEsPnwrBfcihu1pVG2A_Wj41Du0q93exIM64Xr7AgS9Z_pxJwv11UIfBsV8REwsNZC4Us_ax1ATQzuwHk3ERDgndtIDR79rUnc3dNj_IqOjT_Et7-uRgCuDIlFeAYMKQKNqhKT4QS-z/s1600/Coco+relaxing+in+snow_C.jpg" height="384" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;"><br /></span></b>
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winter Art</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Looking at winter through the eyes of an artist, you can see the majesty and beauty in the season. (I enjoy looking at the season much better than I enjoy being in it!)</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin9aTg2-YHTT55TFS9gAmIVYwtlVu_DEr2bIuTp5rEBSy77FcW7c4W0oIysfi_kTIA24g3ZA5WVff_jU9bBYVcf32Thlow8UcrvC79Ori4i58U2QT0OUxqI5EKzB2fqJ2tLJKjYeYrN2CT/s1600/VanGogh_Landscape+with+Snow+Feb1888.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin9aTg2-YHTT55TFS9gAmIVYwtlVu_DEr2bIuTp5rEBSy77FcW7c4W0oIysfi_kTIA24g3ZA5WVff_jU9bBYVcf32Thlow8UcrvC79Ori4i58U2QT0OUxqI5EKzB2fqJ2tLJKjYeYrN2CT/s1600/VanGogh_Landscape+with+Snow+Feb1888.jpg" height="520" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Snowy Landscape at Arles</i> ~Vincent Van Gogh</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA-o-RieFP7acbteo1PmLVFWIY3gWvR3xp_1ssJIcur8lbcrm3bzmey2OhrRijHJQS7QmsI_CL601faSZNqJyGgJhRDFd878z8BCmNZb1n7aRkntcxkGOnlbHmxg1C0S2nFHsAB-TrOR26/s1600/Monet_train-in-the-snow-at-argenteuil-1875.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA-o-RieFP7acbteo1PmLVFWIY3gWvR3xp_1ssJIcur8lbcrm3bzmey2OhrRijHJQS7QmsI_CL601faSZNqJyGgJhRDFd878z8BCmNZb1n7aRkntcxkGOnlbHmxg1C0S2nFHsAB-TrOR26/s1600/Monet_train-in-the-snow-at-argenteuil-1875.jpg" height="465" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Train in the Snow at Argenteuil</i></span></b><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i> </i>~Claude Monet</span></b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzG72UjZA2jILWCJJAOqd0K2rkuD_Hmygnkr7kvtS3kWY4q9xq41i-DoDOsp-jIRI1gAB6wKmK9BEfuvn2JpzQnWGSLw39sGQh-DJX2NfnEivTz3W_jkPg5kBx-2NBG5nHz-Aa7Lrdmne6/s1600/Joseph+Farquharson_Beneath+the+snow....jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzG72UjZA2jILWCJJAOqd0K2rkuD_Hmygnkr7kvtS3kWY4q9xq41i-DoDOsp-jIRI1gAB6wKmK9BEfuvn2JpzQnWGSLw39sGQh-DJX2NfnEivTz3W_jkPg5kBx-2NBG5nHz-Aa7Lrdmne6/s1600/Joseph+Farquharson_Beneath+the+snow....jpg" height="456" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><i>Beneath the Snow
Encumbered Branches, Scotland </i>~</span><span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%;">Joseph Farquharson</span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhFnmZJ_qFUhyphenhyphenFaKVVp43DGOwznW0LbGs2nTjeIc6M1kGCKTXo-tQq2XjxQMfi0N_y8klmE7Z8BVEwsyo-B7Q5mTuWtyN7OCLYBGIwlV3UaHszp67RH8rULQkaLB1Kp3j7SvNySFKxQ6M1/s1600/Hans_Gude+Winter+Afternon1847.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhFnmZJ_qFUhyphenhyphenFaKVVp43DGOwznW0LbGs2nTjeIc6M1kGCKTXo-tQq2XjxQMfi0N_y8klmE7Z8BVEwsyo-B7Q5mTuWtyN7OCLYBGIwlV3UaHszp67RH8rULQkaLB1Kp3j7SvNySFKxQ6M1/s1600/Hans_Gude+Winter+Afternon1847.jpg" height="459" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Winter
Afternoon, Norway</i> ~Hans Gude </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></b>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrs4XJ3V-DG21qsViAOJMgfY0YPr0xHmbNMgYvYFvDsLWH8Z2npHS900MsgSv2TnjQ1dNcHqFqxzBrceqcphR5MF9N-ToErRUL13MO0Mb9uD5qUBjEBAUePQlETttcDTK7XJBzBs4jHtoz/s1600/Whitehall+England+in+Winter+Paul+Maze1920+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrs4XJ3V-DG21qsViAOJMgfY0YPr0xHmbNMgYvYFvDsLWH8Z2npHS900MsgSv2TnjQ1dNcHqFqxzBrceqcphR5MF9N-ToErRUL13MO0Mb9uD5qUBjEBAUePQlETttcDTK7XJBzBs4jHtoz/s1600/Whitehall+England+in+Winter+Paul+Maze1920+.jpg" height="529" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Whitehall
England in Winter</i> ~Paul Maze</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></strong></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSEZaYu8sqgoTVu7QXVQMigKz4arrYjT456NGKhocGVWmf_d7G142FbHcSgHJ7KmQC8bQhyphenhyphenRVO9LXCCc4M4Qpj-oY0vqUiNSPa90ZZF3LaTJ-e9v2pGsieNf5hGycU83Sagr84aDm4cP47/s1600/Winslow+Homer_Winter_Coast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSEZaYu8sqgoTVu7QXVQMigKz4arrYjT456NGKhocGVWmf_d7G142FbHcSgHJ7KmQC8bQhyphenhyphenRVO9LXCCc4M4Qpj-oY0vqUiNSPa90ZZF3LaTJ-e9v2pGsieNf5hGycU83Sagr84aDm4cP47/s1600/Winslow+Homer_Winter_Coast.jpg" height="640" width="555" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Winter Coast, Prout’s Neck, Maine </i>~Winslow Homer</span></span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></b>
<b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbSAdmN4X_WSlksXaj53A5ENrs7dJujui6u96FOad16f-hhcf5aH5I3GOmCLtADKkBQBjADExV5MQKKzsl2o27GhBxb9N2aBTzOZshC5NOKt43D_kQPxLRW4xPFib0B0tIdmIJ2luIt-zC/s1600/Snowy+Monday,+Lilla+Cabot+Perry+1926.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbSAdmN4X_WSlksXaj53A5ENrs7dJujui6u96FOad16f-hhcf5aH5I3GOmCLtADKkBQBjADExV5MQKKzsl2o27GhBxb9N2aBTzOZshC5NOKt43D_kQPxLRW4xPFib0B0tIdmIJ2luIt-zC/s1600/Snowy+Monday,+Lilla+Cabot+Perry+1926.jpg" height="544" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<b><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Snowy Monday in New Hampshire</i> ~Lilla Cabot Perry</span></span></b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGMlotptrBPP3I1WmmWtwWzMvCz08BDgBM0rSYpRMuNOVXkJ6NiXD5d5M0tknx-Lu47KFxd9A2EoCL6L2wOZ7DKxbQ4JPcmGv4ZOagx1ggV36RO0IrNPT04x4pzTPQr66SqjLMQF-WSaiS/s1600/Agnes_Tait,_Skating_in_Central_Park,_1934,jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGMlotptrBPP3I1WmmWtwWzMvCz08BDgBM0rSYpRMuNOVXkJ6NiXD5d5M0tknx-Lu47KFxd9A2EoCL6L2wOZ7DKxbQ4JPcmGv4ZOagx1ggV36RO0IrNPT04x4pzTPQr66SqjLMQF-WSaiS/s1600/Agnes_Tait,_Skating_in_Central_Park,_1934,jpg.jpg" height="449" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<span class="ircsu"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Skating in Central Park (New York 1934) </i>~Agnes
Tait</span></b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Spring
briefly visited the other day and brought lovely weather with temperatures in the
50s. Everyone smiled at Spring and then Winter got jealous, roaring back with gusts
of freezing cold winds and dropping temperatures. As I’m typing this, it’s 19
degrees outside! There are local weather reports of a possible late March
snowstorm next week. Winter is not leaving quietly this year! But Winter’s days
are numbered. I saw a lone daffodil bravely poking her head out from a small patch
of snow, a welcome sight. Spring is just around the corner!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">©2014 JerseyLil’s2Cents all text and photos<br />
Paintings in public domain (from WikiPaintings, WikiMedia Commons and Google images) </span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">©JerseyLil’s 2 Cents. All rights reserved.</div>JerseyLilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18381518701383106141noreply@blogger.com45tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8002257954816576516.post-53213443322847778882014-02-12T14:46:00.001-05:002014-03-13T16:12:56.989-04:00Groundhog Daze <div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5HefE5fzqfM0ZEeUjtbSV6joATVj_O1bTqZg-_UEBshA-7OOxeTYbTR_MHEEtNETgsd3cZDnbcrPznrvS75LqM2Dg0T4SIGvxT4kI0E0W9DP9HRy1IG_UTfB-odnxk0tA85E3GkAvpBU1/s1600/Groundhog+Song2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5HefE5fzqfM0ZEeUjtbSV6joATVj_O1bTqZg-_UEBshA-7OOxeTYbTR_MHEEtNETgsd3cZDnbcrPznrvS75LqM2Dg0T4SIGvxT4kI0E0W9DP9HRy1IG_UTfB-odnxk0tA85E3GkAvpBU1/s1600/Groundhog+Song2.jpg" height="400" width="280" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another Groundhog Day has come
and gone, the annual tradition celebrated every February by abruptly waking a burrowing
rodent from his winter slumber at sunrise to become a meteorologist for a day. According
to folklore, if the groundhog sees his shadow, expect six more weeks of winter.
If he doesn’t see his shadow, there will an early spring. (For me, spring is
never too early!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the most famous furry February
forecasters making these predictions every year is <i>Punxsutawney Phil</i>, residing in the rural countryside of
Gobbler’s Knob in <span lang="EN">Punxsutawney</span>, Pennsylvania. Groundhog Phil is a celebrity
in the Northeast U.S., and gained worldwide attention after he made numerous
appearances in the 1993 film comedy, “Groundhog Day.” (Note: Prior to the
movie, Gobbler’s Knob had crowds of about 2,000 on Groundhog Day. Since the movie, crowds there
have topped as high as 30,000 for the celebration.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyaQnkGcPwGHhGYzoIZs31YCPXQVn41jh9bxI7LAC-LIclgef-ZKNI3psha4KmLpjxbQGg2wGovk9Nyiu2XCnZzrqDlfFL1TtN2AMvXWcJL_x9QYW69ojG4Z0t1GizWxXTS9hs-fRLzMYI/s1600/Groundhog+GobblersKnob_WikimediaCommons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyaQnkGcPwGHhGYzoIZs31YCPXQVn41jh9bxI7LAC-LIclgef-ZKNI3psha4KmLpjxbQGg2wGovk9Nyiu2XCnZzrqDlfFL1TtN2AMvXWcJL_x9QYW69ojG4Z0t1GizWxXTS9hs-fRLzMYI/s1600/Groundhog+GobblersKnob_WikimediaCommons.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gobblers_Knob_-_Punxsutawney,_Pennsylvania_(7086949891).jpg#filelinks">Gobblers Knob - Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania</a></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Phil appeared repeatedly and handsomely in that
movie, thus attracting a following of admirers, because the movie is about one
day, Groundhog Day, repeating over and over in a time loop until Bill Murray, a
dispirited rather grumpy TV weatherman covering the annual Groundhog Day event
in </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Punxsutawney, reexamines his
life, makes needed personality adjustments, and finally gets the lovely
producer, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Andie MacDowell, to fall in love with
him. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Here’s a funny trailer from
the movie:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/tSVeDx9fk60?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Fun movie, one of my favorites, but back
to present day Groundhog Phil… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Crowds
gathered at dawn on Gobbler’s Knob in </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Punxsutawney</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">on the frosty cold morning of February 2, bundled
up in warm coats, scarves and hats, cameras in gloved hands, anxiously awaiting
the forecast. As the sun began rising over the wooded hillside, Phil slowly emerged
from his tree stump burrow, looking sleepy but regal, rubbed his eyes, sat up
and gave what everyone swears was a wave to the delighted crowd. Phil then
paused and looked around, contemplating the importance of the moment as the
crowd leaned forward, and the proclamation was made for February 2014: Six more
weeks of winter!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRuxJwo4q-_OzamyWMopCFoMgbvQW_u9aHyMKYchpdehnfwuWsB9NzM5AONj24yFGJ9ESHQZxK3ijZfY17eSKOc_HBO4XKw5d56NQw-pgakhyaobc508EiaiyYYaYn_1F0Oe9-BPHuSYiD/s1600/GroundhogPhil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRuxJwo4q-_OzamyWMopCFoMgbvQW_u9aHyMKYchpdehnfwuWsB9NzM5AONj24yFGJ9ESHQZxK3ijZfY17eSKOc_HBO4XKw5d56NQw-pgakhyaobc508EiaiyYYaYn_1F0Oe9-BPHuSYiD/s1600/GroundhogPhil.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Phil says, "I can only please half of the people half of the time!"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">S</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">now
lovers cheered; spring lovers jeered! My two-cents to Phil: I am not pleased (although
I understand the big furball is only doing his job). This winter has already
been the worst we have seen in many years in these parts with heavy snow, ice
storms and freezing temperatures (and I don’t like to be that cold!). OK, I
know there are some snow lovers out there but for many of us spring cannot come
soon enough.<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="color: #003366; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">"Well,
it's Groundhog Day... again!"</span></strong><b><span style="color: #003366; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />
<strong>"There is no way
this winter is ever going to end, as long as this groundhog keeps seeing his
shadow. I don't see any other way out. He's got to be stopped!"</strong></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">~</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Bill Murray,</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Groundhog Day</span></i></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Punxsutawney</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Phil, <i>Weather Prophet Extraordinary</i> according to the </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">has been
in the “early Spring or forget about it, six more weeks of winter!” forecasting
business since 1887...that’s right, 1887...well over a century of emerging from
his cozy burrow every February 2 to let us know which way the season will go.
He’s quite senior for a groundhog, ancient in fact. The Punxsutawney Groundhog
website insists there has only been one Phil throughout all those years. Apparently
Phil’s lifespan, much longer than any groundhog in history, has been magically
extended by sipping a secret recipe Groundhog Punch called the “elixir of life” served up by the </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Punxsutawney</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> Groundhog Club at their annual summer picnic. Secret recipe groundhog punch...hmmm…</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Rumors are circulating that Phil
may have lost his edge, gotten a bit too comfy. Since becoming a celebrity, the
venerable groundhog forecaster has been spending his time in a cozy, heated
simulated tree trunk (no burrow in the ground for him), warm and snug, munching
on veggie chips and sipping perhaps a wee bit too much of that groundhog punch.
After all, his record has been spotty in recent years, having made accurate
predictions only 39% of the time. Last winter, Phil predicted an early spring and what happened? We had cold days and snow right through to the end of March. Slipping
there, Phil! Looks like groundhog daze to me!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">As I am writing this post, my area is expecting yet another major snow storm this winter, a big Nor'easter in fact, so Phil's forecast just may be on target this time. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Spring will
still come again...one day! </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Until then, pass the hot chocolate please.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">©2014 JerseyLil’s 2 Cents</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Photos (except for the hot chocolate photo) from Wikimedia Commons and Google images. Video from YouTube.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">©JerseyLil’s 2 Cents. All rights reserved.</div>JerseyLilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18381518701383106141noreply@blogger.com42tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8002257954816576516.post-65255341309667386682013-12-24T16:39:00.000-05:002013-12-28T14:47:13.826-05:00Christmas Memories: the Musical Nativity<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;"><b>Remembering my Mom at Christmas</b></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763; font-size: x-small;"><b>(updated from a previous post)</b></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKHPOeDuawgvKi07-AXlsMeAh41TO7Xt3Xqts6lN_fMV0p19rLQoL4VYPP7qjLl4OKDbfjebv2jbLK-YjoeNGARe9fHF5vwh8-mb48wq8UbZdEygCmv9_pAYU-KerjkMfPhvSO3dlvkes8/s1600/Nativity_blog+post.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKHPOeDuawgvKi07-AXlsMeAh41TO7Xt3Xqts6lN_fMV0p19rLQoL4VYPP7qjLl4OKDbfjebv2jbLK-YjoeNGARe9fHF5vwh8-mb48wq8UbZdEygCmv9_pAYU-KerjkMfPhvSO3dlvkes8/s400/Nativity_blog+post.jpg" width="302" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">There's
a musical nativity figurine I take out every December since 2002. It's a pretty
ceramic piece that plays </span><b><i><span style="background: #FEFDFA; color: #073763; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Away in a Manger</span></i></b><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> and has beautifully
painted figures of the Holy Family in the classic scene: Mary kneeling, hands
folded in prayer, gazing adoringly at the Baby Jesus in the manger with Joseph
standing watch over them, a staff in one hand and a lantern in the other. The bottom
of this figurine has the date, December 2001, and my mother's name, Carmela.
And that's the important part.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
<br />
<span style="background: #FEFDFA;">This particular figurine was not my first
choice when I shopped for a musical nativity for my mother that Christmas. I
had glanced at it quickly in the store then passed it by, moving on to other
stores. My mom loved nativity scenes and musical boxes, and I was looking for
one that revolved while playing a tune (this one is stationary), and one that
was larger (this one is a bit over 6 inches tall), so my mother could more
clearly see the details given her failing eyesight. After shopping for hours
and not finding what I wanted, I went back to the first store and chose this one because it was pretty and colorful, and it
played one of my mother's favorite Christmas tunes, </span></span><b><i><span style="background: #FEFDFA; color: #073763; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Away in a Manger</span></i></b><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">. I wasn't totally satisfied
with it...the melody sounded rather tinny and the music didn't play very long
before needing rewinding...but with time running short, I bought it with the idea that it was fine for now and I'd get her a
better one the next Christmas.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Although I was raised Catholic with eight years of parochial school (three different grammar schools due to my family moving and my eighth-grade year at a Catholic orphanage due to Mom's illness), I am not particularly religious (although I consider myself to be spiritual), and a nativity was not a gift that initially came to mind for me. I had already purchased several Christmas gifts for my mother that year and thought I was done shopping. On Christmas Eve, however, I felt drawn to finding a musical nativity for her. Perhaps I was inspired by hearing Christmas music</span><b><i><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #073763; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></i></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">played in the stores while shopping, and remembering how my mother loved nativity scenes and music. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
<br />
<span style="background: #FEFDFA;">Before wrapping the gift, I wrote the date and
my mother's name on the bottom with a magic marker because she was staying in a
nursing home. When I arrived to visit, she looked at me with the faraway blank
stare that had become her daily expression. She said my name, as she always
did, and nothing more. Sometimes you could not engage her at all, as if she
just wasn't there. When I handed her the gifts, she reacted slightly, just giving a little head nod in acknowledgement. But when she saw the nativity, she smiled! For her to really smile at something was a big deal; she did not smile often anymore.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9UVgppyKuRDZdrA-BRNRZEQS8lfVmJyyHCd5X1iiQnLQpb01AoMYyjqOtTpJh5c8SynJkxw3WcPwZyFzXo8QvhlPwSgWpCAZOMHUbHQM1ugGjnnhFJNATx0phfWeYFaprkFcoT0KIe-68/s1600/Mom_gifts_PiCM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9UVgppyKuRDZdrA-BRNRZEQS8lfVmJyyHCd5X1iiQnLQpb01AoMYyjqOtTpJh5c8SynJkxw3WcPwZyFzXo8QvhlPwSgWpCAZOMHUbHQM1ugGjnnhFJNATx0phfWeYFaprkFcoT0KIe-68/s320/Mom_gifts_PiCM.jpg" width="227" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mom opening gifts</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background: #FEFDFA;">With her failing eyesight, I wasn't even sure
the figurine was big enough for her to see the wonderful detail in the figures.
But no matter, she seemed to see it well enough to smile right away when it was
unwrapped, and an even bigger smile that lit up her face when she heard,<i> </i></span></span><b><i><span style="background: #FEFDFA; color: #073763; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Away in a Manger</span></i></b><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">My mother loved music; she loved
to sing. In her younger days before the illness that left her body alone but
took her mind...and oh, did it take her mind to places where a dark unreality
could turn a warm summer day into a harsh winter night...she sang whenever she
could. When my siblings and I were children, my mother sang along to the radio
every day. She had a lovely singing voice. Then gradually, the illness took my mother's body, as well as her mind.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background: #FEFDFA; line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"Away in a manger, No crib for his bed,</span></i></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span><b><i><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The little Lord Jesus,
Lay down his sweet head."</span></i></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Mom
lay down her head for her eternal rest just a few months later. I didn't know
it at the time but December 2001 would be my mother's last Christmas. Much
sooner then I was expecting. Was it a Christmas miracle that she smiled for me
that day? Certainly, a Christmas miracle is anything you want it to be. And so
it is for me. Every Christmas since then, when I play the musical nativity, I
smile and think of my mother on that Christmas Day. The music I once thought
sounded rather tinny, doesn't sound tinny anymore. Now it just sounds like a
wonderful memory.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><i><span style="background-color: #fefdfa;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Text and photos ©2013 JerseyLil’s 2 Cents.</span></span></i></span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">©JerseyLil’s 2 Cents. All rights reserved.</div>JerseyLilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18381518701383106141noreply@blogger.com36tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8002257954816576516.post-6882256329577577692013-11-15T17:56:00.000-05:002013-11-18T14:55:23.594-05:00Smile Break!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Laughter and music can brighten a day!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It has been
a while since I last posted, too much work and too little time for the things I love, like blogging. But I am
clearing the cobwebs from my desk (yes, literally I have cobwebs, I’ve been
sitting at this desk that long!) and taking a break to share some humor and music. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I know I could sure use a
laugh…and I’m betting everyone can...so let's start with some funnies. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">______________________________________________________________</span></div>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;">These dog funnies were sent to me by my good friend, Lesley! </span></h3>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just too cute! </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">A rockin' bluesy ballad, an upbeat jazz piano solo, and a stirring classical composition. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Take a little time for yourself and listen…sit back with a cup of coffee or tea, glass of red wine or beverage of your choice…close your eyes and let the soulful music take you away.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Rockin' bluesy ballad:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.craveonline.com/music/articles/598707-listen-glen-hansard-eddie-vedder-break-hearts-on-springsteens-drive-all-night">"Drive All Night" Glen Hansard & Eddie Vedder</a> </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Click on the ink above and scroll down in the article for a new song, an awesome cover of Bruce
Springsteen’s “Drive All Night,” by Irish musician Glen Hansard with Eddie
Vedder (Pearl Jam), and Jake Clemons on sax (nephew of the late, great Clarence
Clemons of the E Street Band). Being born and raised in New Jersey and a
staunch fan of Bruce Springsteen, any cover of his songs has to be top-rate
awesome for me to even consider it, and this one is! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><span style="color: #073763;">"</span><span style="color: #0c343d;">I'd
drive all night again just to buy you some shoes and taste your tender charm,</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i> And I just wanna sleep tonight again in
your arms…”</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Ah, memories...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> A stirring piano solo from jazz pianist, Chilly Gonzales, "White Keys."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Classical composer Claude Debussy's "Reverie," a beautiful piano composition.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Humor, a gateway to the heart;
music, a gateway to the soul. Enjoy!</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Text©2013 JerseyLils2Cents.
Images and music shared from the web and social media.</span><br />
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</span><div class="blogger-post-footer">©JerseyLil’s 2 Cents. All rights reserved.</div>JerseyLilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18381518701383106141noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8002257954816576516.post-85634599837024504362013-08-29T17:20:00.000-04:002013-08-31T13:12:23.729-04:00Summer in the Garden<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It has been quite a busy summer. Although I’d love to say I've been spending my time
vacationing on a warm sunny beach, cool drink in hand, listening to the melodic
sounds of ocean waves and gathering seashells for my
collection…ah, only in my daydreams! What I have actually been doing this summer is sitting at my computer
working on editorial projects. With so much time spent working, there's been little time left for anything else (and I've missed blogging!). However, one thing I'm glad I did before the summer work rush began was plant a garden in the spring so I could reap the rewards from the earth now. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><b>Harvesting the garden...grown organically, fresh and healthy</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I planted four varieties of tomatoes this year...Early Girl, Bonnie Original, and Roma (Italian plum) tomatoes in the garden, plus sweet cherry tomatoes in a planter on the patio. Three varieties of peppers planted in the garden...sweet banana, hot banana, and New Mexico Big Jim (chili) peppers. I especially like sweet banana peppers and it's not a variety found very often in stores or farmer's markets in my area, so I always plant them in my garden. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Tomatoes and peppers ripening in the sun with sweet basil and marigolds</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The near continuous rain we had early in the season stunted the growth of the Early Girl tomatoes, so only got a few from that plant. However, the other tomato and pepper plants thrived after all the early rain and we had an abundant crop.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Cherry tomatoes and herbs on the patio</b></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Besides planting in the garden, I have a few plants in clay pots on the patio, i</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">ncluding cherry tomatoes and several herbs in a strawberry jar, along with flowers and more herbs in various planters. The cherry tomatoes grew especially well this year, the first year I had such a good crop from the patio tomatoes. </span><br />
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I<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">n addition to tomatoes and peppers, I have a perennial herb garden that comes back every year with tarragon, sage, rosemary, oregano, chives, English thyme, lemon thyme, peppermint, and lemon balm. I love watching the perennials return every spring. Other herbs such as sweet basil and parsley are annuals, so I plant them anew each year.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>A few of the herbs in the perennial garden...chives, sage, tarrgon, mint</b></span></td></tr>
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<i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt; text-align: center;">When I go into the garden with a spade and
dig a bed, I feel such an exhilaration and health that I discover I have
been defrauding myself all this time in letting others do for me what I should
have done with my own hands. </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-align: center;">~</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-align: center;">Ralph Waldo Emerson</span></blockquote>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Busy </span>bee pollinating the oregano</b></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1OCg9B0xnafoSZjB6OuIQfpAX-3w0-Fjdhn8P1GUiQi195fB-b5Ds27WhA9kj9xc4KQoKjyEW_ScZyLYHX4o6e9_xNPTDcb0EPnesIFCLHAdU3AdFSdE5uluB0JhIkIQ4V0n4ROTXX_4V/s1600/Early+Planting_C2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1OCg9B0xnafoSZjB6OuIQfpAX-3w0-Fjdhn8P1GUiQi195fB-b5Ds27WhA9kj9xc4KQoKjyEW_ScZyLYHX4o6e9_xNPTDcb0EPnesIFCLHAdU3AdFSdE5uluB0JhIkIQ4V0n4ROTXX_4V/s320/Early+Planting_C2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Sweet basil and marigolds planted near tomatoes</b> </span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">All my
gardening is organic. I plant sweet basil and garlic with the tomatoes and
peppers, enclosed by a border of marigolds. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Coffee grounds
are especially beneficial for tomatoes, because the acid and nitrogen help the
plants to grow while keeping away snails, slugs, and ants. When I surround the
tomato plants with coffee grounds, the tomatoes are redder and juicier. Coffee grounds are beneficial for pepper plants as well (and roses).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">No system is foolproof in the
natural world, but companion gardening and a border of marigolds works very well to keep out hookworms and other
insects, and many small critters. The raccoons and groundhogs, however, have no
respect for organic gardening, but the scent of our dog roaming around the
garden plus some strategically placed mounds of dog hair, helps to keep them
away, or at least make them wary of approaching the garden. They don’t mess
with the peppers but the tomatoes are more vulnerable to being snatched by
hungry critters. I like to grab the low-lying fruit as soon as it starts to
change color and finish the ripening inside because adventurous squirrels will
run into the garden, take a quick bite and scurry off! Squirrels are ever the
opportunists! </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIVsu3CCPoBrdN7PEqkH327q3N-a57gn9o6D0cTMOvINcGFANfZULW4H8x7q4ArPvIgpv1gQ9-Z0gE6Sl2iv7FxJeOdYPvDNY4g5ln1gxaPm2RMo3K_3qvos5iqQiF5suy4-GO63SCZwsC/s1600/Coco_waiting_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIVsu3CCPoBrdN7PEqkH327q3N-a57gn9o6D0cTMOvINcGFANfZULW4H8x7q4ArPvIgpv1gQ9-Z0gE6Sl2iv7FxJeOdYPvDNY4g5ln1gxaPm2RMo3K_3qvos5iqQiF5suy4-GO63SCZwsC/s640/Coco_waiting_C.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Coco keeping an eye out for the squirrels!</span></b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Gardening can be
incredibly relaxing. There certainly is some work involved with preparing the
soil, weeding, mulching, etc., but I find that feeling the earth in my hands
when I plant, tending to the plants as they grow, and watching the industrious
honey bees pollinating the blossoms to be a wonderful stress reliever. To
observe a garden as it grows is to observe the natural balance and harmony of
nature. Plus, you get a tasty crop of veggies and the reward of knowing they
grew from the seedlings you planted. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQM0sDiFoQpJEpKH72zBFoxsSruuTr075CDsURWzuQLkXGFLcgt8-zTQ5J0Msa5ClUnkQsPULITJj6GgWi59AVilNVglWY59I6EQT5gp8ekIfitVWYOuOyC6vwF_9YCmXgx83psNdwBNYT/s1600/Garden+Tomatoes_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQM0sDiFoQpJEpKH72zBFoxsSruuTr075CDsURWzuQLkXGFLcgt8-zTQ5J0Msa5ClUnkQsPULITJj6GgWi59AVilNVglWY59I6EQT5gp8ekIfitVWYOuOyC6vwF_9YCmXgx83psNdwBNYT/s400/Garden+Tomatoes_C.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: small;"><b>Bonnie Original, Roma, and Cherry Tomatoes</b></span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH3skA7lP8ye_gXuEkyKlOje6CJDOl7g9SqT53kATodnORhb49u5LOM-ot2N7U1uih0T9vAkl9qfU1yEi4IPCG_MCE4s1ukQpvxSqnYvkfD9-QDkQWMTvltVycP0zqigGM3S3uOkYNzguu/s1600/Garden+Peppers_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH3skA7lP8ye_gXuEkyKlOje6CJDOl7g9SqT53kATodnORhb49u5LOM-ot2N7U1uih0T9vAkl9qfU1yEi4IPCG_MCE4s1ukQpvxSqnYvkfD9-QDkQWMTvltVycP0zqigGM3S3uOkYNzguu/s400/Garden+Peppers_C.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: small;">Sweet and Hot Banana Peppers, and New Mexico Big Jim (chili) Peppers </span></b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">After
harvesting the tomatoes and peppers, I made a summer pasta dish I’d like to
share.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br /></span>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Summer Garden Pasta</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje5lx63RRDmpK956ALg_m7jdQDS3OTqDVpRmYhvUFZ2W5Ibnibh2lzHwBo7Nq9PEgTuoLzdA6nXbALW8gH5JK4FBm-_Bb1GgMWahulvzhAR-66uN1V0OZwFClhYWE46ABXznby2L8HzfxP/s1600/Garden+Veggie+Pasta_C.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje5lx63RRDmpK956ALg_m7jdQDS3OTqDVpRmYhvUFZ2W5Ibnibh2lzHwBo7Nq9PEgTuoLzdA6nXbALW8gH5JK4FBm-_Bb1GgMWahulvzhAR-66uN1V0OZwFClhYWE46ABXznby2L8HzfxP/s640/Garden+Veggie+Pasta_C.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">For this recipe I used my garden Roma tomatoes because they work so well in pasta recipes, but any firm tomato will do. I added the garden peppers. Other fresh summer veggies, such as zucchini or yellow squash (think I'll plant squash next year!) are excellent in a summer pasta dish too. Fresh herbs and garlic enhance the flavors.</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #274e13;">Tip on using Fresh Basil in Recipes</span> </b>(sharing a tip I learned from cooking shows): Chiffonade the basil, set aside, and stir into the pasta dish at the very end right before serving. This keeps the fresh basil from getting soggy and it's actually more flavorful that way. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;"><b>Summer Garden Pasta Recipe</b></span></span></span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Lightly sauté
the chopped veggies, garlic (large chunks), a shallot or small onion, and fresh
herbs in olive oil. The herbs I used for this dish were lemon thyme, parsley, and oregano, adding in fresh basil at the end. Salt and pepper to taste (I find
that when I add lots of fresh garlic, I barely need any salt, much healthier).</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Very juicy
tomatoes and veggies will naturally add water to the pan, and often that’s all
you need to make a nice little sauce with the veggies to serve over pasta.
Sometimes I add a little fresh squeezed lemon and white wine to the pan while cooking. If desired, rather
than white wine, you can add a small amount of clear vegetable or chicken broth
(just enough to make a little sauce).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Stir all
ingredients and simmer until hot (but not boiling). Serve over cooked pasta of choice. I
used whole wheat shells. For added flavor and texture, sprinkle crumbled feta
cheese over the dish when serving (really tasty!). </span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Made a summer salad
to serve with the pasta using the tomatoes, peppers, and sweet basil leaves </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">from the garden, along with cucumber slices
and mixed salad greens.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHQIlnM6OAoDhF5_9XfI4S43Z8k6EJZNhKEdgs-im62BzN73Z98jGbEKeO_fNWfO4Q0-FdvTa5M1rVtjkKQsSCkqY1-0ddXJ3__9Y-ObSCZ4fltxOGg17nD8f7LJAglXhi21hk8TPm4Szu/s1600/Garden+Salad_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHQIlnM6OAoDhF5_9XfI4S43Z8k6EJZNhKEdgs-im62BzN73Z98jGbEKeO_fNWfO4Q0-FdvTa5M1rVtjkKQsSCkqY1-0ddXJ3__9Y-ObSCZ4fltxOGg17nD8f7LJAglXhi21hk8TPm4Szu/s400/Garden+Salad_C.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><b>Enjoy your summer (or whatever season wherever you are)! </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><b><br /></b></span>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">©2013
JerseyLils2Cents, all text and photos.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">©JerseyLil’s 2 Cents. All rights reserved.</div>JerseyLilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18381518701383106141noreply@blogger.com41tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8002257954816576516.post-53612691917504191012013-07-03T17:36:00.000-04:002013-07-03T17:36:42.849-04:00Fireworks, Ice Cream, and Chocolate Time!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLFSr4o-cCsLgGm7Qu48aFFuARVOP98_mqNRPXQGmyYCDxJRUxn-Ssr4mre22EYzqD5-pc0fLkBTvBwwA77vJFqbr4AJ6RoQ2fTxPN4NG6rOyOGWZsfnMJwNzjCUCfRnhoIlGPDRd4mTnh/s1140/Fireworks_DC_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLFSr4o-cCsLgGm7Qu48aFFuARVOP98_mqNRPXQGmyYCDxJRUxn-Ssr4mre22EYzqD5-pc0fLkBTvBwwA77vJFqbr4AJ6RoQ2fTxPN4NG6rOyOGWZsfnMJwNzjCUCfRnhoIlGPDRd4mTnh/s640/Fireworks_DC_C.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>July 4th Fireworks, photo taken in Washington, D.C.</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><i><span style="background: white; color: #0c343d; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br /></span></i></b>
<b><i><span style="background: white; color: #0c343d; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Where liberty dwells, there is my country.</span></i></b><span style="background: white; color: #0c343d; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span><span style="background: white; color: #0c343d; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">~ </span><b><span style="background: white; color: #0c343d; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Benjamin Franklin</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b><span style="background: white; color: #0c343d; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br /></span></b>
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<span style="background: white; color: #0c343d; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">~~~~~~~</span><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #0c343d; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;">~~~~~~~</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #0c343d; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><b>Happy
Independence Day, Fourth of July, America!</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">And to my friends around the
globe outside the U.S., Happy Day to you and you are welcome to celebrate with
us!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #660000;">For the Independence Day holiday, I am posting my Red, White, Blue and Chocolate Ice Cream
Sundae. All the patriotic colors in delicious splendor! Blueberries,
strawberries, and vanilla ice cream drizzled with dark chocolate. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-size: large;">Red, White, Blue and
Chocolate Ice Cream Sundae</span></span></b></h3>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #660000;">Directions:</span></span></b><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Chill dessert
dishes in the fridge. Rinse whole fresh blueberries. Rinse and slice fresh
strawberries (lengthwise). Suggest sprinkling a little sugar (or sugar
substitute) over the sliced strawberries, just enough to make them glisten and
remove some of the tartness.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Place a nice
big scoop of vanilla ice cream in the bottom of the chilled dish. Add a layer
of sliced strawberries and drizzle with chocolate sauce (I like the dark
chocolate sauce). Then another big scoop of vanilla ice cream, a layer of
blueberries, and drizzle with chocolate sauce. Top with whipped cream, a drizzle of chocolate sauce, and garnish with a whole strawberry. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Delicious ice
cream sundae for the 4</span><sup style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> of July with all the patriotic red, white and blue colors, fresh fruit in season, and of course, chocolate! This is my own
creation; it’s very simple and makes a nice presentation for a summer holiday
table.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Enjoy!</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxw1x6GVmYb6pcJfalwE68qAJY9g5qpNTUrcerw-2MNaFXTbIxp79NI3oT6bAARIxH16K4gNbxISLjZn0JTGNsrSlZvCixxJN4TDkQhwtzmgjZoE_GetRnS_lQ6Iud03n8sGidbhpfBT_s/s1148/Fireworks+Wash+Monument_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="417" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxw1x6GVmYb6pcJfalwE68qAJY9g5qpNTUrcerw-2MNaFXTbIxp79NI3oT6bAARIxH16K4gNbxISLjZn0JTGNsrSlZvCixxJN4TDkQhwtzmgjZoE_GetRnS_lQ6Iud03n8sGidbhpfBT_s/s640/Fireworks+Wash+Monument_C.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>July 4th Fireworks by Washington Monument<br />Photo taken in Washington, D.C.</b><br /></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; line-height: 16.5pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #fefdfa; line-height: 16.5pt;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">©JerseyLil’s 2 Cents, all text and photos.</span></span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">©JerseyLil’s 2 Cents. All rights reserved.</div>JerseyLilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18381518701383106141noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8002257954816576516.post-76762934308224762622013-06-16T21:17:00.000-04:002013-06-16T21:20:29.046-04:00Radio Flyer Wagon: Father's Day Memories<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thirty-three years ago, my father, George, passed away on a cold day in March and will always be missed. On this Father’s Day, I’d like to share some memories.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Turning back
the dog-eared pages in the book of one's life that hold cherished memories of times gone by, I am a
young girl laughing with my sisters as Dad pulls us in our Red Radio Flyer
Wagon. What fun, well, fun for us anyway. I don’t imagine it was a light load
pulling four young daughters in that wagon but Dad never complained; he always
smiled for us. As he pulled us along, we chatted to each other
excitedly the way young children do, jumping up and down in giddy delight
whenever the wheels hit a bumpty bump on the sidewalk, and enjoying the warmth
of the sun on our faces. We were off to the neighborhood general store for
crayons and coloring books.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Coloring was my favorite pastime next to reading;
my sisters loved to color too. Brightly-colored waxed crayons worn down to the
stub would be in need of urgent replacement, something Dad always understood.
The store was a just few blocks away but why walk when you can ride in fine style in
the chariot of wagons. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLlr8h1UujffqxKpBCGuDO3Htzrekigc34jCmeNuDW1m6qHYBpWTkePd5Ko6ngTwbm05_vBHhZYnyYCwM0pp9AjPSF-AH079avASnK7HDMTqpWscjYtm6DaWDfbautuKkc9H9ynsYOBvLs/s1600/Red+Wagon+Vintage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLlr8h1UujffqxKpBCGuDO3Htzrekigc34jCmeNuDW1m6qHYBpWTkePd5Ko6ngTwbm05_vBHhZYnyYCwM0pp9AjPSF-AH079avASnK7HDMTqpWscjYtm6DaWDfbautuKkc9H9ynsYOBvLs/s400/Red+Wagon+Vintage.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Red Radio Flyer Wagon similar to the one we had. </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We were very
close in age, my mother had four daughters in five years, and we’d later have
two younger brothers. Four girls, close in age and close to each other, which
made the parting when we were later separated at the orphanage and then into
different foster homes after my mother was hospitalized all that much harder to
bear. But that would be a few years away and I cannot pause at that place in my
mind too long lest I get entangled in the cobwebs of fractured dreams, so I go
back to the ride in the Radio Flyer Wagon.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Being the
oldest, I’d hold my youngest sister, Theresa, just a toddler, on my lap. My
second sister, Mary, would be giggling as my third sister, Rose, made funny
faces; Rose liked to be the clown. When I grew too old for the wagon, I’d walk
beside my father while my younger siblings rode. Walking beside him felt very
grown up. Those fun jaunts in the Red Radio Flyer Wagon were a heavenly respite
from the trauma of life at home with an unbalanced, mentally ill mother. I
think my father knew it; I believe that’s why he took us on those excursions to
the general store for coloring books and crayons, where the kindly store owner
gave each of us a lollipop from the glass Mason jar behind the counter. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQdhmBsxQ8i9N7WsJCB68dsqBmIbFnreS0wV-7yeXCPM1t6TjffwUmgZNOj_04PkMgY6iRAocRa-hU6qDx0yWhv0_8GBosjHKoAcbf3B85T-a1-rAbu31ne3LSd0ON-z2mrpCHB16ReDzq/s1600/with+my+sisters_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQdhmBsxQ8i9N7WsJCB68dsqBmIbFnreS0wV-7yeXCPM1t6TjffwUmgZNOj_04PkMgY6iRAocRa-hU6qDx0yWhv0_8GBosjHKoAcbf3B85T-a1-rAbu31ne3LSd0ON-z2mrpCHB16ReDzq/s400/with+my+sisters_C.jpg" width="342" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With my sisters in New Brunswick, New Jersey.<br />(L to R: Mary, Madilyn, Theresa, Rose)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The days of red wagon rides were over when my family moved from the
housing project in New Brunswick to a home in Bridgewater. That house was near
a highway in a rural area, no sidewalks, no neighborhood general store nearby. One
brother was a baby when we moved and my youngest brother would be born after we
moved there. Regrettably, my younger brothers never had the chance to
experience those rides to the general store in the Radio Flyer Wagon. I
feel fortunate to have that memory of the wagon rides with Dad and my sisters.</span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I savor all my memories of my father. Those memories are beloved treasures
wrapped in crayon-colored ribbons of sun-drenched yellow-orange, warm Indian
red, and midnight blue. For everything that transpired in our fractured family
life, when I remember coloring books, crayons, and the red wagon, I smile and
remember my Dad.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimJioLLOzPJGZCNWPWiI8LpHC9_APAzCSeMNgOVuc01clB3mIKnOUfi11ePZCr2r7xMvraOsavg86VhWdZP7mHRWekrE7lWXehNr8MZYSbVw-e2VeZIZb-1T_-XqF32Ii5VU84rStjhImE/s1600/Dad+in+front+of+car_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimJioLLOzPJGZCNWPWiI8LpHC9_APAzCSeMNgOVuc01clB3mIKnOUfi11ePZCr2r7xMvraOsavg86VhWdZP7mHRWekrE7lWXehNr8MZYSbVw-e2VeZIZb-1T_-XqF32Ii5VU84rStjhImE/s400/Dad+in+front+of+car_C.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Dad when he was young (by car, hat in hand) with his
parents and sister.<br />(Providence, Rhode Island)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My father was born in Providence, Rhode Island, back when
Model-T cars shared the streets with horses and everybody knew their neighbor.
His father, James, owned a butcher shop and his ancestors had traveled from
England to America in Colonial times, settling in Massachusetts and Rhode
Island. On my father’s side, we are distantly related to Sarah Peabody Hawthorne
who married the author Nathaniel Hawthorne (“House of the Seven Gables,” “The
Scarlet Letter,” among other works) through my great grandmother, Ann Eliza
Peabody (who married John Henry Leonard). Dad’s mother, Madeline, was the
daughter of Irish and Portuguese immigrants. Sadly, my siblings and I never met
our paternal grandparents. Both died within three month of each other, long
before we were born. Dad spoke lovingly of his parents and was proud of
his roots.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There were lively stories of his youth spent playing baseball in the
streets with his friends and going down to the Providence River with buckets to
clam-dig with his older brother, Bill. He’d save the money he made from a paper
route to attend Saturday afternoon picture shows. Dad could recall when silent
films became talkies and was a fan of Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin. His
family home in Providence was across the street from where the songwriter and entertainer, George M. Cohan (“Yankee Doodle Dandy” and “Give My
Regards to Broadway”), once lived.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv3gkxuf2GzOzzOCfMikfis8nWfiIrBrIfyK0t0wo0IJYDGaYDE_mQau3U7mRuDmBfvuexZl7a7wLpfwvvECaCu83a10SpKm9ZnCn2Ixm3f8QQmz24G7n8F0O7Tj-gW-Q59t7Jjo5TdTtz/s1600/mom_dad__B-W_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv3gkxuf2GzOzzOCfMikfis8nWfiIrBrIfyK0t0wo0IJYDGaYDE_mQau3U7mRuDmBfvuexZl7a7wLpfwvvECaCu83a10SpKm9ZnCn2Ixm3f8QQmz24G7n8F0O7Tj-gW-Q59t7Jjo5TdTtz/s400/mom_dad__B-W_C.jpg" width="275" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mom and Dad before I was a twinkle in their eyes.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">My father, George, was thirteen years older than my mother, Carmela,
so my parents came from two different generations. They met when he was
stationed in New Jersey during World War II and married right after the war. However,
it would be another five years before my mother had children. My father was 44
when I was born and I’m the oldest of six.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fefdfa;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He had no idea about my mother's
bipolar illness (her family was not about to tell him and they were in denial
themselves, as it turns out); he had no idea of what was later to come. As I wrote in my Mother's Day post, I never knew my Mom in the way one would normally know a mother because I never knew my mother when she was not mentally ill. But I did get to know my Dad as a loving father, and the time spent with him in those early years was a bright spot in an otherwise difficult childhood.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fefdfa;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Three years after giving
birth to my youngest brother, my mother was hospitalized for a nervous
breakdown. It was summer so we were home from school, six of us between the
ages of 12 and 3. My father needed help caring for the children at home while
he was at work. He begged my mother’s family to help but they refused. In their
Old World Italian views, my mother’s mental illness was an “evil-eye curse” and
they disavowed themselves of her and her children. Next, he appealed to the
parish priest, requesting that Catholic Charities send a woman to help out
during the day while he was working. Instead of sending someone from Catholic
Charities to help, the priest called in social services. That’s how my siblings and I
ended up at St. Michael’s Orphanage, taken there by social workers while my
father was still at work.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fefdfa;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">A few years ago, after connecting with others from
the orphanage, I discovered that Catholic Charities had an arrangement with
parishes in the diocese back then to send children whenever possible to the orphanage (a diocese could profit handsomely from donations for orphans.) Of course, that was never disclosed to my father
and he trusted the priest. Once in the hands of social services and made wards
of the state, some of us were eventually sent to different foster homes. Our
family life was fractured, never to be whole again. The series of events broke
my father's heart.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The rest of that story is for another day.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBxFDcdXO09tXaEL84bAo_gq7ZNKF5vXEz3XP0CR8_LR4ScsnaPA3Y0utgH2CGC1hQ8RVnNYBMI25cmgDomi39oBl92eI0_S1nIEMHwi844WD9VrsoaMMShX1Kii_leCb7-ug3LLPeNk5T/s1600/withDad_C2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBxFDcdXO09tXaEL84bAo_gq7ZNKF5vXEz3XP0CR8_LR4ScsnaPA3Y0utgH2CGC1hQ8RVnNYBMI25cmgDomi39oBl92eI0_S1nIEMHwi844WD9VrsoaMMShX1Kii_leCb7-ug3LLPeNk5T/s320/withDad_C2.jpg" width="297" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">With my Dad when I was just a wee one! (New
Brunswick, New Jersey)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On this
Father’s Day, I can smile as I remember my Dad and those rides with my sisters in the Red Radio Flyer Wagon.
Dad often liked to hum tunes as he pulled us along, especially Irish lullabies
his mother sang to him when he was a child.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To my Dad, Happy Father’s Day! P</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">laying
an Irish lullaby and thinking fondly of you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">©2013
JerseyLils2Cents. </span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">©JerseyLil’s 2 Cents. All rights reserved.</div>JerseyLilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18381518701383106141noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8002257954816576516.post-78668954639962736702013-05-10T17:27:00.000-04:002013-05-10T17:27:34.228-04:00Carmela, a Mother’s Day Remembrance<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM1vZtBFN1MqhcrIQKq4jvOmE8dyFtEzneDP316-IUlbAlR6qWUgtdPUfLfjfhh5sXwoZyzw5LmtKCIFFJH5o4o5-WiDnumeBJH-BQXBj1DklI9D5YyUqTqeycdI9ravjcIWxFSm0HtOSp/s1600/Mom_Carmela.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM1vZtBFN1MqhcrIQKq4jvOmE8dyFtEzneDP316-IUlbAlR6qWUgtdPUfLfjfhh5sXwoZyzw5LmtKCIFFJH5o4o5-WiDnumeBJH-BQXBj1DklI9D5YyUqTqeycdI9ravjcIWxFSm0HtOSp/s320/Mom_Carmela.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Her name was
Carmela, a lyrical name meaning “garden or orchard.” Carmela with one “l” she’d
always say. My mother really disliked having her name misspelled.
Understandable, especially considering that her vibrancy as an individual was
so often dismissed throughout her life, because when you suffer from mental
illness, that one fact is often the primary thing, sometimes the only thing,
people remember about you. And she was so much more than the madness inside her
mind that she could not escape.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">My mother was
also called Millie, a nickname given to her by her Sicilian mother. Born in
Brooklyn, New York, she was in the middle mix of ten children and a
first-generation Italian American. Her parents, Nicholas and Rosa, had immigrated
to America from Palermo, Sicily. When she was a young girl, her parents moved from New
York to New Jersey where her father opened a barber shop.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Memories of
my mother, Carmela, are like opaque washes of indigo on an unfinished canvas. That’s
because I never knew my mother in the way one would normally know a mother. I
never knew my mother when she wasn’t mentally ill. Since I am the first-born of
six children, none of Carmela’s children really knew her as a mother in the
loving way one ought to know a mother. I also cannot sugarcoat the
fact that her mental illness made huge chunks of our childhood nearly
unbearable. My mother had visions of angels and demons, and at any moment she
could go into a fit of uncontrolled rage trying to knock the demons out of us. Because of her illness, my siblings and I spent
time in an orphanage (which was no better) and foster care. But I don’t want to
dwell on that, except to say what happened in my childhood made me a stronger
individual and more compassionate toward others, having been exposed to
children from varying cultures and difficult circumstances at an early age. No
matter how hard it rains, the sun will shine again.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOGlnZhV4_TYnd-cNcUCzqSiyUqZ5rjpLHNHLs1TeNSK502gUEZ0l4bwl51ytNpp17ZU3zdknjxtibk8De7kEJPGcpvSDBj71pXEDugxvdHvXU-1RiUuK_hVCa5xpGb13MPyj6pGRTMJdC/s1600/mom_Crop_purseC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOGlnZhV4_TYnd-cNcUCzqSiyUqZ5rjpLHNHLs1TeNSK502gUEZ0l4bwl51ytNpp17ZU3zdknjxtibk8De7kEJPGcpvSDBj71pXEDugxvdHvXU-1RiUuK_hVCa5xpGb13MPyj6pGRTMJdC/s640/mom_Crop_purseC.jpg" width="212" /></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">On this
Mother’s Day, I’d like to focus on who Carmela was beyond the darkness of severe
bipolar disorder. Although my mother had limited education (her Old World
Italian parents did not believe in education for their daughters, only
marriage), she had much talent. She was a budding writer, and after she died, I
found part of a short story she had written when she was young. She read the
dictionary to improve her vocabulary and enjoyed learning new words. Mom liked
reciting quotes, especially the Abe Lincoln quote: “</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">You
can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time,
but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” I believe she felt that quote was applicable to her own life.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Carmela had a beautiful soprano singing voice.
During World War II, before she married, she sang at local USO shows entertaining
troops from the nearby Army base. Her jet black hair was styled in pretty waves;
she sometimes wore a flower in her hair. When we were children, she sang along
to the radio all the time. That is one of my best memories of my mother, when
she was singing. At those moments, she seemed unencumbered and she sang with passion.
Her favorite musical artists were The McGuire Sisters, Tony Bennett, and Frank
Sinatra. Sinatra’s version of “My Way” was her favorite song.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I am not in the medical profession, but I
believe that music therapy could have been a more effective treatment for her
illness than all the electro-shock therapies (now referred to as
electro-convulsive therapy), so heavily advocated by her doctors and which produced
no beneficial results, not once. In fact, those therapies caused her to forget
entire parts of her children’s childhood, the end result being that when her
children were taken away, my mother cut-out pictures of children from magazines
and framed them as if they were her own, as if creating a new family.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At a birthday party for Mom with my brother, George, and sister, Rose.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Toward the end of her life, my mother, Carmela, became nearly comatose after so many years of failed ECT therapies and medications. She was locked in her own world with images no one could envision and she barely smiled anymore. Yet, she was once a vibrant woman with the potential to be so much more than the darkness that stole her mind.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In my dreams
since her death, Mom is young, happy, without any signs of mental illness; I am
a young girl again playing with my siblings, and Mom is smiling and playing
with us, something she never did. Yes, I am seeing her in my dreams the way I
would have liked to have seen her in life. I am seeing the mother I never had. That
is the magic of dreams; they are an alternate reality of hope. Hope and dreams
are survival skills. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Carmela passed
away in 2002 and was buried alongside my dear father, who had preceded her in
death by twenty-two years, 1980. Mom loved the colors rose and pink, so we chose
a rose-tinted marble headstone for my parents’ grave and had their wedding
photo permanently encased in an oval on the stone. She would have liked that.
At the bottom of the stone I had inscribed the quote: “Hope sees what is not,
but yet will be.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">It is my hope
that Carmela’s spirit, my mother’s spirit, free from the physical constraints
of madness, can now embrace a life full of joy in whatever way that life
continues. I know she will be singing…singing with passion.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Happy Mother’s Day,
Mom. Playing Sinatra for you...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">©2013
JerseyLils2Cents, all text and photos.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">©JerseyLil’s 2 Cents. All rights reserved.</div>JerseyLilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18381518701383106141noreply@blogger.com44tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8002257954816576516.post-49869234978780575242013-05-01T17:08:00.000-04:002013-05-01T17:20:23.647-04:00Images of Spring<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5GAxgdF8EVJrK_uKNaJWQ8lYbQs0TuVvBXHOh5p76ng-7BOtC9e-enDePgoeTauGOPRO6RvbriHlhichx_VcyT5bdqs5ozaCY_iBPtPPHuDRM8iwyLkXrOZjidnCrwA2rLLERA9iQZ5oW/s1600/Butterfly+by+hanging+plant_C+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5GAxgdF8EVJrK_uKNaJWQ8lYbQs0TuVvBXHOh5p76ng-7BOtC9e-enDePgoeTauGOPRO6RvbriHlhichx_VcyT5bdqs5ozaCY_iBPtPPHuDRM8iwyLkXrOZjidnCrwA2rLLERA9iQZ5oW/s320/Butterfly+by+hanging+plant_C+.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Monarch butterfly visiting my hanging verbena.</span></td></tr>
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It's Spring, my favorite season, a time of renewal when the earth awakens from its winter slumber and is reborn with new energy. In the eternal life cycles of Mother Earth, spring is the dawn, the new day on the horizon, a time of fresh beginnings. For those of us living in climates with changing seasons, in spring we turn off the furnace, open doors and windows wide to let in the invigorating fresh air not yet heavy with the oppressive heat of summer, and become immersed in the sensory delights of the season.<br />
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #660000;">The season of spring is awakened in my yard.</span></span></h3>
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Hearing the distinctive "kee-aah" call of the Red-shouldered Hawk when I opened my patio door, I grabbed my camera and caught a shot of the hawk in the budding trees. Their breeding season is April to July, so I am betting this beautiful hawk is out and about looking for a mate...and a lunch date!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Red-shouldered Hawk (as seen from my patio).</span></td></tr>
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Sitting outside sipping my morning coffee, I watched a colorful robin having fun in the birdbath.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeU_dsl9kw9XDU3h1WppGuozU6r4OLDdKTKzCZU6_HIolxVPZzS6EOcoG2M_0K77Uj68y0Vd9YFRqRr7JH3pgOKRfhUSMKUvpo70epl6yb8VgoV9T4OhvSahFRR7p5tGyLxLTH9xQrBtc1/s1600/Robin+in+Birdbath_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeU_dsl9kw9XDU3h1WppGuozU6r4OLDdKTKzCZU6_HIolxVPZzS6EOcoG2M_0K77Uj68y0Vd9YFRqRr7JH3pgOKRfhUSMKUvpo70epl6yb8VgoV9T4OhvSahFRR7p5tGyLxLTH9xQrBtc1/s400/Robin+in+Birdbath_C.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Robin thoroughly enjoying the birdbath!</span></td></tr>
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Handsome rabbit looking around my back yard (and not yet seen by my dogs lol!).<br />
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Two rabbits in my front yard. Well, we all know what can happen here...bunny love in the air! Soon they will be mating like....<br />
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Grey squirrel munching on berries from the cedar tree (photo taken from my window).</div>
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Praying mantis, beneficial insect for the garden and quite cool looking, too. This one was found on the screen door to my patio.<br />
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Charlotte skillfully catches dinner in her web (Orb Weaver Spider near my garden shed).<br />
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Monarch butterfly whispers to the yellow marigolds. Monarchs are such beautiful butterflies and I'm always delighted to spot them in my yard.<br />
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Orange marigolds greet the sun (there's a busy bee in the center pollinating the flowers).<br />
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Rows of geraniums and more marigolds waiting to be planted in my garden.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO_xzBUpshTWGQiBI94u5U7DIKXTdkAA7Z2nRBsrK4Tbu3MsaHipU1ozOoAQmJ-iNIxxHk3NSoi_JoUNUjAcoOw5wpVhqXACMw9I5N5ZHC8MhFrBF463PZn4uP7t21BtrES64E7JySCTno/s1600/Geraniums_Marigolds_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO_xzBUpshTWGQiBI94u5U7DIKXTdkAA7Z2nRBsrK4Tbu3MsaHipU1ozOoAQmJ-iNIxxHk3NSoi_JoUNUjAcoOw5wpVhqXACMw9I5N5ZHC8MhFrBF463PZn4uP7t21BtrES64E7JySCTno/s400/Geraniums_Marigolds_C.jpg" width="292" /></a></div>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #660000;">And the fragrant signs of spring in the air.</span></span></h3>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-FhCFXkkH3CIXqfORBIOJOGPlGaYhKSSKWGfB6Fg75hwenAWmDRTrbBjLha0-FMiYtwAIHMra5aMX6Ojy1c5XlXn8XITuv2W9s0BUyf1iKP-B5fBQqU9pCeSDFgq-dPXZ1LU3qCoVrz7q/s1600/Lilacs_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-FhCFXkkH3CIXqfORBIOJOGPlGaYhKSSKWGfB6Fg75hwenAWmDRTrbBjLha0-FMiYtwAIHMra5aMX6Ojy1c5XlXn8XITuv2W9s0BUyf1iKP-B5fBQqU9pCeSDFgq-dPXZ1LU3qCoVrz7q/s400/Lilacs_C.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Lilac
blossoms<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9rI6uL33wX8cqSuxU5Nc24m9tTbNnQX4X2ZwNB81XHjiImL9q4Z6ShU3Lu0HrbHci2jccwYoHW_nRCEBYNuK8HCVV8f7yM9aQqjfrO3zzAFpsIZyZP-9rHSPTW_qkpqOh3BqNYbq6Z0wo/s1600/Cherry+Blossoms_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9rI6uL33wX8cqSuxU5Nc24m9tTbNnQX4X2ZwNB81XHjiImL9q4Z6ShU3Lu0HrbHci2jccwYoHW_nRCEBYNuK8HCVV8f7yM9aQqjfrO3zzAFpsIZyZP-9rHSPTW_qkpqOh3BqNYbq6Z0wo/s400/Cherry+Blossoms_C.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Cherry
blossoms<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="usercontent"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><i><span style="color: #660000;">The
spring came suddenly, bursting upon the world as a child bursts into a room,
with a laugh and a shout and hands full of flowers</span></i><span style="color: #660000;">.</span> ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
Enjoy the season!<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">©2013 JerseyLil’s2Cents, all text and photos.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">©JerseyLil’s 2 Cents. All rights reserved.</div>JerseyLilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18381518701383106141noreply@blogger.com39tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8002257954816576516.post-38878989409385972472013-04-19T17:49:00.000-04:002013-04-22T13:58:16.003-04:00Award Season...Sunny and Awesome<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdfzW8OcnCgsmkjwmauhzIp3nGkGK06yv56Wa4GrtPpFNkkosGSfYAl7dD7KIFxGn3zkV3M_Azwa8sSbvPZ78JWRTf7kpRB14uy2d968NQx16yfmaZ-vXexJ17BIE4hB0Cnm8v0nEs30zJ/s1600/Sunshine+Award_2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdfzW8OcnCgsmkjwmauhzIp3nGkGK06yv56Wa4GrtPpFNkkosGSfYAl7dD7KIFxGn3zkV3M_Azwa8sSbvPZ78JWRTf7kpRB14uy2d968NQx16yfmaZ-vXexJ17BIE4hB0Cnm8v0nEs30zJ/s1600/Sunshine+Award_2013.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><b>G</b></i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i><b>ood day, Sunshine! </b></i>The Beatles
tune by that name came to mind when I received a message that my blog had
been nominated for a <b>Sunshine Award</b>. I was honored to receive this sunny surprise from my blog friend, Ian Cochrane. Thank you, Ian! An Australian
writer, photographer and traveler, Ian blogs about the people he's met and the
places he's seen in Australia and around the world. He is a talented storyteller with a keen eye for architecture and a style reminiscent of the writer, Ernest Hemingway.<b> </b></span><a href="http://iancochrane.com.au/writer/" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><b>Ian Cochrane: Writer</b></a><br />
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This was followed shortly by three more award nominations. Two
from my blog friend, Donna, the <b>Epically Awesome Award</b> and <b>Liebster Award</b>, and an
<b>Epically Awesome Award</b> from my blog friend, Jon. Thank you, Donna and Jon, I am
truly honored!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Jon's blog is called </span><a href="http://jonwhiting55.blogspot.com/" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><b>Speaking My Mind</b></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> and he does
so unabashedly with frankness and humor. He encourages people to speak their
minds as well, even if you don't agree. A lively exchange of ideas. Jon roots
for the underdog and that is a plus in my book! He's an avid fisherman, outdoor
enthusiast, excellent photographer, writer, and family man.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Donna (aka CrazyMama and
MisAnthropy) of</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><b><a href="http://keepinyouout.blogspot.com/" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Can't Keep It In No More</a><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">is funny, irreverent and
uncompromising. A single mom raising 7 children, she blogs about teens,
sex, celebrity rehab, whatever is on her mind, and she
twitters with God. No sugar-coating here, she keeps it real. Donna has been one
of my biggest supporters since I began blogging and had just a handful of
followers, and I appreciate that so much. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><b>Then More Awards:</b> As I was wrapping up this post, I received a <b>Liebster Award</b> from Patricia at <a href="http://patinspire.org/"><b>Patinspire</b></a>. Patricia is a full-time cardiac nurse, mother, and an inspirational and motivational writer. Thank you, Patricia!<br /><br />And a <b>Wonderful Team Member Readership Award </b>from Melanie of <a href="http://themotherofnine9.wordpress.com/"><b>Mother of Nine</b></a>. Melanie raised nine children on a hobby farm in Canada. A humorous and joyful writer. Thank you, Melanie! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /><span style="line-height: 115%;">The Sunshine and Epically Awesome Awards have similar rules and I will post about those first, followed by the other awards. Yes, I am doing </span></span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">all</i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> this in one blog post. And yes, this will be a long post! So grab a cup of
coffee or tea, or a glass of wine (red is my choice!), or whatever is your pleasure,
sit back and enjoy the read. Hopefully, your eyes won't glaze over before you
are done. :) Thank you in advance for reading,</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">~~~~~~~~~~~</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">~~~~~~~~~~~</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Part 1: Sunshine Award and Epically Awesome Award</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The Sunshine and Epically Awesome Awards are given as recognition to inspiring bloggers by other bloggers. The Sunshine Award asks for seven facts about yourself, and the Epically Awesome Award asks for 10 facts. Don't
worry, I am not posting 17 facts here lol! I will post 10 random facts, followed by the rules and awards.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWSiBIXLr9yfqecXyzE2_L3qzW05xKEf0PydtrIxvXI_Ug9O_1HJ-14-C0llYOBjrmkHA3bPXX_VivtnbPPp7QoFmUTtqfhlBW2YVxIupkWPvWGJfuqUYmRVS0e9x0Cud8WNnl2YJJOWbC/s1600/Jamul+CA_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWSiBIXLr9yfqecXyzE2_L3qzW05xKEf0PydtrIxvXI_Ug9O_1HJ-14-C0llYOBjrmkHA3bPXX_VivtnbPPp7QoFmUTtqfhlBW2YVxIupkWPvWGJfuqUYmRVS0e9x0Cud8WNnl2YJJOWbC/s400/Jamul+CA_C.jpg" width="276" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: small;">On the movie set in Jamul, California, years ago.<br />(I made this outfit myself and I rarely sew!<br />Still have it.) </span> </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">1. Years ago, while
living in the San Diego area, I had a bit part in a low-budget movie directed
by a novice filmmaker. I moved away before
finding out if the movie was ever produced. The script was about an aboriginal
tribe having an unexpected encounter with space travelers from another planet.
Had lots of fun doing it, whether or not it ever went anywhere.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
2. Born and raised in New Jersey, I moved across country by myself to
California when I was 27. I've lived in Southern California (San Diego area), Northern California (San Francisco),
Washington, D.C., and Maryland.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
3. I was named after both of my grandmothers: Madilyn (spelled Madeline), and
Rose (Rosa). I never knew my grandma Madeline, my father's mother, because she
died before I was born, and I hardly knew my grandma, Rosa, my mother's mother,
due to family circumstances. Growing up, I appreciated having a first
name that no one else had in my class.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
4. I attended the first co-ed residential state college in New Jersey,
Livingston College, part of Rutgers University. (Prior to establishing
Livingston as a co-ed campus, the State
University of New Jersey was Rutgers, all male, and Douglass
College, all female.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
5. Just the way I thought of the Beatles tune as soon as I read the message
about the Sunshine Award, reading certain words will often prompt a tune in my
head. I love all kinds of music: rock, jazz, blues, folk, classical, zydeco, country
crossover, world music, alternative music, on and on. Don’t play an instrument, and
whether I can actually carry a tune is debatable, but I love to sing anyway!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizQ5zDXZY71z9E2KPdyVTRGayM29c-bM2etxuO7_iI-P-ljw-CpyYJ3jNGo64Rn0pwmZDu-guf9tlOZU6j0i5MO7B1TjmOpVAsOP2GiCbAM5OdxSQINXSA5XbNIpeDYZLw-zkeK7py-4Ov/s1600/Bee+and+Sweet+Basil_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizQ5zDXZY71z9E2KPdyVTRGayM29c-bM2etxuO7_iI-P-ljw-CpyYJ3jNGo64Rn0pwmZDu-guf9tlOZU6j0i5MO7B1TjmOpVAsOP2GiCbAM5OdxSQINXSA5XbNIpeDYZLw-zkeK7py-4Ov/s320/Bee+and+Sweet+Basil_C.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: small;">Honey bee pollinating sweet basil in my garden.</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">6. When I was a child, I
was fascinated with insects and nature. I'd capture various bugs in jars and
look them up in the encyclopedia before releasing them. I saved unusual rocks.
I followed bees and butterflies around the yard watching them and drawing
pictures. Now I just follow them around with my camera.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">7. My favorite
pastimes are writing, reading, blogging, photography, walking my dogs,
gardening, hiking, listening to music, traveling, going to art, history, and
science museums. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
8. I like dark chocolate and red wine. Dislike peanut butter (especially with chocolate). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
9. Although I love the mountains and deserts (especially when cactus and
wildflowers are in bloom), my ideal place to live would be near an ocean, where
I could smell the salt water and feel the ocean breeze. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim6R0npTzXL8zWf6SFYHUNQcb-Bffixh9aoQWFTPNz5D_aTGkYzAJER6RJn0K8xgaHnYwlMMq3bB3u_FvpJ3lNDD2PhObO2WVovXX2gAFqTIVcyb5h07MD5WUPKaxn26qhDsDFLvam-4wN/s1600/Leonard+Ironworks+Sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim6R0npTzXL8zWf6SFYHUNQcb-Bffixh9aoQWFTPNz5D_aTGkYzAJER6RJn0K8xgaHnYwlMMq3bB3u_FvpJ3lNDD2PhObO2WVovXX2gAFqTIVcyb5h07MD5WUPKaxn26qhDsDFLvam-4wN/s320/Leonard+Ironworks+Sign.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Plaque at Iron Works
site in Massachusetts</span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">10. My roots (on my father's side) trace back to 1652 in
America. I am a direct descendant of James Leonard, who came to the
Plymouth Colony from England near Wales to begin the first successful Iron Works Foundry. Descendants of
James Leonard settled in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">(Discovered this cool info a few years ago when, through genealogy
research, I connected with a previously unknown cousin who published a Leonard family history.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Awards and Rules:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I am awarding both the Sunshine Award and Epically Awesome Award together as a
combined “two-awards-in-one award.” To my Nominees: I put both awards together in a new Awards Collage I made, so you can just copy/paste this one double award image, if you choose to post it. By combining both awards,
I am perhaps messing with the awards fabric of the blogosphere. That I have
done this will come as no surprise to Sr. Mary Margaret from parochial school
who’d often tell me, “Young lady, if you do not follow the rules, you
will create chaos.” Well, rules messed with, chaos created,
and may I toast a glass of wine to you, Sr. Mary Margaret! </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRmj4JbI4SIeFpRFCjxLNSggCRJ7bS87dRIGTFkfqQCUCG-XU_ZmL6GGEbll6R5lxubylEWiufKkXXZU6hZicJ8YoaVklwbapsSJhdMmE5l0hlmlaa3kg2aojL-a9rSx_K06EnyirI0273/s1600/AwardsCollage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRmj4JbI4SIeFpRFCjxLNSggCRJ7bS87dRIGTFkfqQCUCG-XU_ZmL6GGEbll6R5lxubylEWiufKkXXZU6hZicJ8YoaVklwbapsSJhdMmE5l0hlmlaa3kg2aojL-a9rSx_K06EnyirI0273/s320/AwardsCollage.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><b>Honorable Mention</b> to five outstanding blogs previously nominated. All Awesome and Inspiring!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><b><a href="http://www.annieboreson.com/">Annie Off Leash</a></b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Annie is an exceptional writer
with a humorous, heartfelt and delightfully irreverent perspective on life.</span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://mydailyaphorism.blogspot.com/">Aphorism of the Day</a></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Reflections on all aspects of
life written in a delightfully poetic and whimsical style.</span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.channelinghippocrates.com/">Channeling Hippocrates</a></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Musings on life, love, womanhood, and medicine from a very creative artist, doctor, wife, and mother. Kris is a
fabulous writer with an engaging style.</span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://dalecooper57.wordpress.com/">Diary of an Internet Nobody</a></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">:<span class="apple-converted-space"> A</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> self-described aging hippy from Devon, England, Dale's blog is a wonderfully eclectic mix of humor, general musings, and photography.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://ropcorn.com/">My Life in Sweden</a></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Alexandra blogs about her life in
Sweden, the food, the traditions, and her beautiful dog named Lisen.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">~~~~~~~~~~~</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">~~~~~~~~~~~</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">My 10 <b>Award Nominees for the Sunshine and Epically Awesome Awards.</b>..in alphabetical order. An eclectic and inspiring mix of blogs: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">(I hope you'll stop by and visit these excellent blogs. More nominees in the Liebster Award.)</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://keepinyouout.blogspot.com/">Can’t Keep It In No More</a></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Donna (aka CrazyMama and
MisAnthropy) is funny, irreverent, uncompromising, and real. A single mom
raising 7 children, she writes about teens, sex, celebrity rehab, whatever is
on her mind, and she twitters with God. Thank you for the award, Donna!</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://michellesatkins.blogspot.com/">Fear No More...A Day in the Life</a></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">A journalist and
freelance writer, Michelle blogs with openness and honesty about the personal
challenges she has faced in life, and her experiences as a woman, mother and
triathlete.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://humanwithoutgod.blogspot.com/">Human Without God</a></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">A true individualist and free
thinker, Yun Yi writes about life with thoughtfulness and refreshing candor.
There are also short aphorisms and book reviews.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://gabrieldilaurentis.com/">Inspired by Gabriel</a>:</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Gabriel’s blog of his life
journey is thoughtful and reflective with discussions on seeking out the
positive when faced with hard times in life. There’s also an interesting music
section I like.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://lifecycles-by-neil-killion.blogspot.com/">Life Cycles: The Truth and The Evidence</a></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Neil, an Australian
writer, former management consultant and psychologist, has written a
fascinating, well-researched book (winner of 2 Finalist USA Book News Awards)
on how everyone’s life is influenced by rhythmic 12-year cycles. His blog
examines the lives of well-known individuals, past and present, showing how Life Cycles applies. Anyone can apply this theory to their lives. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://modmombeyondindiedom.blogspot.com/">Mod Mom Beyond IndieDom</a></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>A mom and former Indie musician, Linda writes with a wonderfully dry wit reminiscent of comedian Larry David. Every Monday she hosts “I Don’t Like Mondays Blog Hop,” a great
way to link up your blog, meet new bloggers and gain new followers. (Linda gets
extra points for being a Jersey girl!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://juliahoneswritinglife.blogspot.com/">My Writing Life</a></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Julia is an avid reader, passionate writer, a mom, and a creative spirit with
an inquisitive mind (I like that!). She’s also the poetry editor of the
Southern Pacific Review. I’ve recently discovered Julia’s blog and very glad I
did.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.mywyomingadventure.com/">My Wyoming Adventure</a></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Kristina blogs about her life as
a wife and mother in the beautiful, scenic state of Wyoming. Her blog has
stunning photos, fascinating bits of local history, and entertaining stories
about her family and pets.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://uspandey.com/">One Grain Amongst The Storm</a></span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">An inspiring writer from India, U.S. Pandey’s blog has heartwarming stories and
monologues on life, as well as photography, poems, and book reviews. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><b><a href="http://rumpunchdrunk.blogspot.com/">Rum-Punch Drunk</a></b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Thought-provoking blog from a
British writer with a knack for presenting topics that can really stimulate
conversation and the free flow of ideas. Plus, he has a wonderful sense of humor.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKvcvmivQksWRKsZ3v-33ABRebZPGoBgUSnt193JrtzJGAWjMVZC5WUI1DPc3Te74xcotxlFzC1PU5_c4nXVcuEJ3JllBbTT_52Jq5mF41CBOlHCI5OTsjrxdrvfArZc82ZNk76OKAPgcJ/s1600/AwardsCollage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKvcvmivQksWRKsZ3v-33ABRebZPGoBgUSnt193JrtzJGAWjMVZC5WUI1DPc3Te74xcotxlFzC1PU5_c4nXVcuEJ3JllBbTT_52Jq5mF41CBOlHCI5OTsjrxdrvfArZc82ZNk76OKAPgcJ/s400/AwardsCollage.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: small;">"Two-awards-in-one award." Sunny and Awesome!</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Nominees, please </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">pick up your double award! Even if you don't do an award post (and believe me, I understand the time involved), you may take your award; you deserve it! For those doing the award post, here are the rules:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">1. Display the Award image in your post.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">2. Link back to the person/blog nominating you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">3. List random acts about yourself. Since I am passing out a combined "two-awards-in-one award," via my awards collage, you may list anywhere from 7 to 10 random facts about yourself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">4. Nominate 10 bloggers and link those blogs in your post. Notify the nominees.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">~~~~~~~~~~~</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">~~~~~~~~~~~</span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Part 2: The Liebster Award...and more</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy1PfF94xLgWn1A8WjkvLhBEmu63d1LYwxslrbMQakX2IMAYtwaO0s9LKtIpqBijLZ1fLoWGuSyvbzofrszorGDdjNTVW0fdVzVDHtgCfKCpzHtnclxpJv2UHmD_VQdL2O3sjGeakjtg3U/s1600/Leibster-Blog-Award.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy1PfF94xLgWn1A8WjkvLhBEmu63d1LYwxslrbMQakX2IMAYtwaO0s9LKtIpqBijLZ1fLoWGuSyvbzofrszorGDdjNTVW0fdVzVDHtgCfKCpzHtnclxpJv2UHmD_VQdL2O3sjGeakjtg3U/s1600/Leibster-Blog-Award.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Thank you, Donna! Thank you, Patricia! I am truly honored. The Liebster Award is given as recognition to up-and-coming bloggers with fewer than
200 followers (and to drive ‘em crazy answering
questions made up by the awarder lol!). Rules (yep, there are always rules):</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">1. Display the Award image in your blog post.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">2. Link back to the blogger who gave it to you.<br />3. Post 11 random facts about yourself.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">4. Answer 11 questions from the person giving you the award.</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">5. Create 11 new questions for your nominees to answer</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">6. Pass the award to 11 bloggers with fewer than 200 followers and link them in your post. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Notify the nominees.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Since I already posted 10 random facts above, I am adding one more fact to make it 11 for the Liebster Award...</span><b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Fact:</b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">
Before I ever had dogs, I had cats. First cat was Roger, a beautiful all-white stray tom who
found the food I put out for him very inviting and kept coming back.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I am nominating
the following outstanding blogs for the Liebster Award, followed by my 11
questions for the nominees, and that's followed by my answers to Donna's questions and Patricia's questions for me...</span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">whew</i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /><b><span style="color: #660000;">OK, if you're still with me at this point, it's probably time for a <i>second cup of coffee or
glass of wine</i>. :) </span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>Award Nominees for the Liebster Award</b>.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">..in alphabetical order:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://photographic-sketchbook.blogspot.com/">Angelika’s PhotographicSketchbook</a></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">A talented and creative
photographer based in London, Angelika's blog has a stunning array of photographs from
aerial views of clouds to urban street scenes and parks, using various effects in color and black and white.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://keepinyouout.blogspot.com/">Can’t Keep It In No More</a></span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Awarding again to Donna. Well deserved! Plus,
now she gets to answer my questions, too lol! :)</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://www.evibev.com/">Evidence of Bev</a></span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">An empty-nest mom, grandmother, and nurse,
Bev blogs about life topics, food, and photography. She often cooks up
delicious and healthy recipes from whatever she has on hand and posts about it
with pictures.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://dhaston.blogspot.com/">Heartbeat of a Simple Common Man</a></span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Thoughtful blogger from India with an
interesting perspective, Dhaston writes about everyday issues we can all relate
to. I enjoyed (and agree with) his latest post on politeness.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://jonwatersauthor.com/">Jon Waters</a></span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">An aspiring author and blogger, Jon is a
health-nut in a good way! He writes knowledgeable on nutrition and a healthy
lifestyle. Inspiring quotes too.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://larksnotesthis.com/">Larks Notes This</a></span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">A mom with a young daughter, Larks blogs about parenting, civil discourse,
politics, and food. Her writing is smart, straight forward, and fun.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><b><a href="http://paintinglucy.blogspot.com/">Lucy Chen’s Art Blog</a></b>:<b> </b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Lucy is a talented artist and her blog
features her art as well as work from other artists. Vincent Van Gogh is her
favorite artist. Need I say more?!</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://magicalmysticalmimi.blogspot.com/">Magical Mystical Mimi</a></span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Mimi is an excellent writer, a thoughtful and
very creative lady, and her blog is fun to read! She will follow you back and
leave great comments. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://icyfar582.blogspot.com/">Meg on the Go</a></span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Meg really is on the go, a married mom with
two active teenagers! Meg is an excellent writer, and she blogs with wit and
knowledge about her passions: baseball, history, theatre, sports, and more.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://mymorningcupofcoffee.blogspot.com/">My Morning Cup</a></span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">A mother of grown sons and now stay-at-home
mom to one dog and one cat, Coffee Lady blogs about whatever is on her mind in
a low-key style fueled by glorious caffeine.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://monkeybellhop.com/">The Monkey Bellhop</a></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Very funny and entertaining, John’s
blog will make you laugh! Definitely worth a look-see, and he’s just written a
collection of humorous stories. (Plus, he was born in New Jersey, extra points
for that!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">~~~~~~~~~~~</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">~~~~~~~~~~~</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Honorable Mention</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">...More excellent blogs worth checking out: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://bigdassorted.blogspot.co.uk/"><b>Assorted
Thoughts From An Unsorted Mind:</b> </a> <span style="background: white;">Big D blogs about music, movies, books and comics. Very
entertaining!</span></span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://ko-te.com/en/">Eva Tornado</a>:</b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> Beauty and fashion from a very creative
Russian lady living in Portugal.</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;"><a href="http://introvertedart.blogspot.com/">Introverted Art</a></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">: Ana is a very talented and expressive artist. Her watercolors are especially lovely.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><b><a href="http://melodylowes.com/">Meanwhile, Melody Muses</a>: </b></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 170%;">Melody’s blog of beautiful
poetry, art and photography.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.funny-joke-pictures.com/">Robert’s Blog of Hilarious Funnies</a>: </span></b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 170%;">Very funny jokes and
pictures!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">My</span><b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">11</span><b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Questions for the Nominees</b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">. As in the other awards above, I
completely understand if you don't do award posts. Just know that your blog is appreciated! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">1. Why did you decide to start blogging?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">2. What is your favorite quote or saying?</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">3. Given a choice of various restaurants, what type of food would you choose?</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">4. Do you have a favorite movie from the past
year?</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">5. If you had the chance to meet one person
for a day, who would it be?</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">6. Do you prefer the beach or the mountains?</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">7. If space travel was as common and safe as
traveling on an airplane, would you go?</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">8. If you had a time machine, would you go to
the past or the future? Why?</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">9. Do you have a bucket list? If so, what
three things are at the top? ?</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">10. If your life became a movie, what actress
or actor would you cast in the starring role as you?</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">11. Do clowns scare you? Would that prevent
you from going to McDonald’s? (OK, just having fun here…lol!)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">~~~~~~~~~~~</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">~~~~~~~~~~~</span></span></b></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Answering
Donna’s 11 questions for me (cleverly hosted by Mother Goose):</b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">1. Why did Humpty Dumpty sit on a wall? </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><b>Because falling would be a crack-up!</b></span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">2. Do you know the muffin man? </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><b>He’s that Kirby
vacuum cleaner salesman who came to my door.</b></span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">3. Was the mother who tied the cradle to the bough ever arrested for child abuse?<b> </b></span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><b>No, because the cradle was on the bough but the baby was in the sling.</b></span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">4.Was the crooked man straight?<b> </b><i><span style="color: #20124d;"><b>It took a lot to straighten him out.</b></span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">5. Why did the old lady swallow a fly? <i><span style="color: #20124d;"><b>Protein!</b></span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">6.If
she cut their tails with a carving knife, why didn’t the three blind mice run away
from the farmer’s wife? </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><b>Because they couldn’t see what they were doing.</b></span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">7. If Jack Horner was a good boy, why did he sit in the corner? </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><b>He liked to draw
on corner walls.</b></span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">8. Why
was Mary quite contrary? </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><b>She lost an argument with Bo Peep’s sheep.</b></span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">9.Did the black sheep ever suffer from self-esteem issues? </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><b>Nope, they were confident
they had lots of wool, three bags full.</b></span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">10. Did Little Bo Peep ever do a show? </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><b>Oh yeah, lots of Peep and Sheep shows!</b></span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">11. Aren’t you glad the questions are over? </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><b>You have no idea! lol!</b></span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">~~~~~~~~~~~</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">~~~~~~~~~~~</span></span></b></span></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Answering
Patricia’s 11 questions for me:</b><br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">1. What is your favorite
movie? <i><span style="color: #20124d;"><b>“To Kill a Mockingbird.”</b></span></i></span></span></div>
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2. Who was your 1st love? <i><span style="color: #20124d;"><b>The boy I met at a carnival when I was a young teen.</b></span></i><br />
3. If you could go back to when you were 10 years old, would you change
anything? <i><span style="color: #20124d;"><b>I’d convince my parents that I should have a puppy.</b></span></i><br />
4. What part in what film would you love to play or be? <i>T<span style="color: #20124d;"><b>he part of Meryl
Streep in “Out of Africa,” in her love scenes with Robert Redford.</b></span></i><br />
5. If you could be any one person for a day, who would it be? <i><span style="color: #20124d;"><b>J.K Rowling</b></span></i><br />
6. What food do you like best? <i><span style="color: #20124d;"><b>Italian!</b></span></i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">7. What is your favorite number? </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>3</b></i><br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">
8. Your favorite music CD? <i><span style="color: #20124d;"><b>The Traveling Wilburys Collection</b></span></i><br />
9. What car do you have? <i><span style="color: #20124d;"><b>Ford Escape</b></span></i><br />
10. Do you have a PC/Laptop or Phone for your internet use? <i><b><span style="color: #20124d;">Most definitely</span>.</b></i><br />
11. How many pairs of shoes do you own? <i><span style="color: #20124d;"><b>Not
as many as I’d like.</b></span></i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">~~~~~~~~~~~</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">~~~~~~~~~~~</span></span></b></div>
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<span class="usercontent"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Last Award: <b>Wonderful
Team Member Readership Award, </b>received from <a href="http://themotherofnine9.wordpress.com/">Melanie</a>, a </span></span><span class="usercontent"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">humorous and joyful writer who has raised
nine children on a hobby farm in Canada. Thank you, Melanie!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Anyone reading my blog may take the </span><b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Wonderful Team Member
Readership Award.</b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> You deserve it (especially if you read through to the end of
this long post!). Feel free to post it on your blog…and there are No rules, No
questions, No random facts. Tossing out the rule book here! <b>Enjoy your blogger award.</b></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHGodWlmkykfNcvdBTnPiJf86IV2huYmk-pxrbe2KgGp5aXr4bmGgnDPcv5gsJ8DW71QlHQYoMzmILM19pzXjVbl00UX0MuXoPeGyvoCylfOv_LOFSIgjGWiMj3ThIKVkyhy5pbkW9E_lg/s1600/Wonderful-Readership-Award.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHGodWlmkykfNcvdBTnPiJf86IV2huYmk-pxrbe2KgGp5aXr4bmGgnDPcv5gsJ8DW71QlHQYoMzmILM19pzXjVbl00UX0MuXoPeGyvoCylfOv_LOFSIgjGWiMj3ThIKVkyhy5pbkW9E_lg/s320/Wonderful-Readership-Award.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Awarding this to Everyone reading my blog!</span></td></tr>
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<span class="usercontent"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">©JerseyLil’s2Cents</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> </span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">©JerseyLil’s 2 Cents. All rights reserved.</div>JerseyLilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18381518701383106141noreply@blogger.com42tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8002257954816576516.post-41667920249454632252013-03-17T18:53:00.000-04:002013-03-17T18:56:48.108-04:00Clancy and The Blarney<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNBkfr4iY3vnyucXxOqa2u2Ckyfd39Gb_4SYddeloj9Eqzgww6onvdZ9_Nti-DOSU7yIwoKv4j1Oq_YQHrAk4M-akPsnp0NNO1ZxfjpWdzS7vnqjcvrfOH2abDCnnnKXMxTuHj0Iw2GHC_/s1600/Dogs_Irish_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNBkfr4iY3vnyucXxOqa2u2Ckyfd39Gb_4SYddeloj9Eqzgww6onvdZ9_Nti-DOSU7yIwoKv4j1Oq_YQHrAk4M-akPsnp0NNO1ZxfjpWdzS7vnqjcvrfOH2abDCnnnKXMxTuHj0Iw2GHC_/s320/Dogs_Irish_C.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Top o’ the Day from
Roscoe O’Dog and Coco O’Dog! We’re taking over JerseyLil’s computer while she’s
busy eating Irish chocolate to wish everyone good cheer on the Feast of St. Patrick! </span></b></span><b style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In true Irish tradition, may the celebrating continue throughout the month of March, or until you run out of pints to drink and stories to tell.</span></b><br />
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Dogs are quite fond of St. Patrick. Legend has it that he chased away the snakes from Ireland, and we enjoy chasing reptiles and critters, too. </span></b></span><br />
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<b style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have you heard the story of the Irish dog named Clancy who came upon a leprechaun one glorious morning </b><b style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and had the most exhilarating chase of his life? </b><b style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, sit back with a pint and we'll tell you the tale.</b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCZbrHnhaJXOeSL2APipGeJUC77Z8WimHBw3ZUhfKItqd3GGk2sRnPsB7a3oj73yzl1cVtvptuVQZxcm7Kp4E2Yn9P7-F6eEIWeQeEChcN2ts1YXbqWkgZEQkDzSRQotfX54pmxYlHDSQV/s1600/MaryRiversDog_framed_Ver2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCZbrHnhaJXOeSL2APipGeJUC77Z8WimHBw3ZUhfKItqd3GGk2sRnPsB7a3oj73yzl1cVtvptuVQZxcm7Kp4E2Yn9P7-F6eEIWeQeEChcN2ts1YXbqWkgZEQkDzSRQotfX54pmxYlHDSQV/s400/MaryRiversDog_framed_Ver2.jpg" width="288" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="font-size: medium;">Irish
ancestor’s dog. Name lost to history but we’ll call him "Clancy."</b><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>
(From Mannix/Rivers/Leonard Family Genealogy, circa early 1900s)</b></span></span></span><br />
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<b style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once upon a charmed morning on the Emerald Isle in a place only glimpsed for brief moments when the mist of dawn lifts to reveal a golden sunrise, </b><b style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a handsome and spirited canine named Clancy </b><b style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">was enjoying the start of a new day. </b><b style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was shaping up to be a</b><b style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> beautiful morning and Clancy's keen sense of smell could detect the aroma of breakfast sausages in the air. </b><b style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lazily digging around in the green clover for dog bones he had earlier buried, Clancy s</b><b style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">uddenly sniffed out a wee </b><b style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">man wearing a worn but bright top hat and smoking a clay pipe</b><b style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. What a surprise, it was a leprechaun. Startled, the leprechaun hurriedly ran away, puffs of smoke and bits of gold dust trailing behind him.</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhguViOxK9SloCIp9bKioT1dkfGJoon5sT4ODSkflc5TGgtYSF-cvTcTcfkLcm8MFcYBAWfKYq-yDHBW1prA3WrSha5-ecN1XAygjyQK6Xaoq-YRe-NF5F8NVh9tPbUJCkvtpK4goV41BCX/s1600/Leprechaun-smoking-pipe_150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhguViOxK9SloCIp9bKioT1dkfGJoon5sT4ODSkflc5TGgtYSF-cvTcTcfkLcm8MFcYBAWfKYq-yDHBW1prA3WrSha5-ecN1XAygjyQK6Xaoq-YRe-NF5F8NVh9tPbUJCkvtpK4goV41BCX/s1600/Leprechaun-smoking-pipe_150.jpg" /></a></div>
<b style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Excited by the thrill of the chase, Clancy ran after that swiftly fleeing leprechaun, over hill and dale, until he cornered the wee trickster at the end of the rainbow. Once there and cornered, the wee fellow was compelled, upon the oath of ancient laws, to hand over his pot of gold. Clancy's chase was rewarded, he had the pot of gold! </b><b style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Oh, but that's not the end of this dog's tale. </span></b><br />
<b style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b>
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<b style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Running happily through fields of shamrocks carrying his treasure, Clancy came upon a bushy-tailed red squirrel native to the land. Eyeing that shiny pot of gold, the squirrel began chattering loudly at Clancy, trying to get him to drop the gold and pursue a chase through the fields. Clancy pondered the situation...oh, how he loved a good squirrel chase, but he was not about to part with his hard-earned prize. </span></b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe5cqniuQ0jMS_iGgKh9uOZr65TFc7y5RAFoWnpzRU0HUa5A1uPyQqtVeSAvOYf5-CbeG4v6iKTs88bpzdOeBwPrGMM3hp-KAsMklhDD2qNG7cxFsVNz-ViniwfSCRtGHphkjb1q1hluR7/s1600/Red+Squirrel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe5cqniuQ0jMS_iGgKh9uOZr65TFc7y5RAFoWnpzRU0HUa5A1uPyQqtVeSAvOYf5-CbeG4v6iKTs88bpzdOeBwPrGMM3hp-KAsMklhDD2qNG7cxFsVNz-ViniwfSCRtGHphkjb1q1hluR7/s320/Red+Squirrel.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Irish red squirrel (Clancy's nemsis)</b><br />
(photo from Wikimedia Commons)</td></tr>
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<b style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Determined not to give up on the much-desired gold, the clever squirrel then claimed to have a tasty stash of corned beef-flavored dog bones hidden
among the shamrocks. That got Clancy's attention; he was hungry after chasing the fleet-footed leprechaun over hill and dale. While Clancy was momentarily distracted by the thought of delicious corned beef-flavored bones, the squirrel quickly grabbed that pot of gold from Clancy and ran off, chattering away with glee and
waving his bushy, blow-dried tail behind him. There was no stash of dog bones to be
found. Clancy had been tricked…by a squirrel. That old squirrel was full of the
blarney!</span></b></div>
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<b style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Feeling dejected and about to bark at someone, Clancy brooded in his dog house, then wandered over to the local Watering Bowl Pub to drown his sorrows. While lapping a pint and exchanging miseries with his canine buddies, he suddenly caught a glint of something out of the corner of his eye. Curious, he sniffed around and "Praise be to St. Paddy," there in the corner of the room was the pot of gold!</b><br />
<b style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></b>
<b style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After running off with Clancy's treasure, the wily squirrel had scurried over to the Pub to rest and celebrate with a pint. Having a bit too much of the celebrating, the squirrel meandered off accidentally leaving the gold behind. So Clancy got his paws on that pot of gold again...that lucky dog! </b><br />
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<b style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And that's no blarney tale! </b><b><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> </span></b><br />
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<b><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>May your dog bones be
plenty; May your troubles be few.<br />
May the paw-fect good fortune of the Irish Dog be with you!</i></span></span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2SMqzCGti-YOVXzFelYvUGoT2Bzi_N2AMy3YuK7dr5fVquece-xUr7vIqkSgPBeW4mqNROlxI6C_TXOnFPga1fETefRTcVCYVBu_ZcTe7iqGEb8Iwt_5WESlp4lPif02tFTsJiHBXxsIf/s1600/Pet+Irish_50.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2SMqzCGti-YOVXzFelYvUGoT2Bzi_N2AMy3YuK7dr5fVquece-xUr7vIqkSgPBeW4mqNROlxI6C_TXOnFPga1fETefRTcVCYVBu_ZcTe7iqGEb8Iwt_5WESlp4lPif02tFTsJiHBXxsIf/s200/Pet+Irish_50.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<b><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span></b>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">An original fable ©2013
JerseyLils2Cents</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Leprechaun image from public domain clipart</span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">©JerseyLil’s 2 Cents. All rights reserved.</div>JerseyLilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18381518701383106141noreply@blogger.com48tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8002257954816576516.post-69603787844887784652013-03-11T17:12:00.001-04:002013-03-11T17:12:22.336-04:00Barking to the Snow Gods<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfXYxF9Eu1r6AdDqD2Lslp3DImSkigB6hN_wT2zo0akQhXA02UdSWygOJR4ucjwwSiktcoye8xZNhrMV6EcAPPWid3luk8tqKvhTS_vPzK6gBC53k3VU6pNubGEPGb7TfaZhUJribA7mFy/s1600/Coco+likes+it_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="435" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfXYxF9Eu1r6AdDqD2Lslp3DImSkigB6hN_wT2zo0akQhXA02UdSWygOJR4ucjwwSiktcoye8xZNhrMV6EcAPPWid3luk8tqKvhTS_vPzK6gBC53k3VU6pNubGEPGb7TfaZhUJribA7mFy/s640/Coco+likes+it_C.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: small;"><b>Coco likes what she sees!</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Winter decided it was not to be taken for granted here, and with a blustery huff and puff, called upon the snow gods. All too happy to oblige, the merry but bored snow gods quit tossing frosty icicles at the moon, and instead tossed them down to the ground taking direct aim at my yard. Coincidence? I think not. I believe Roscoe and Coco have been barking to the snow gods, and along came a late season winter storm.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-dtPZZk-RD2h6VV0GjkCqajH-XbO-bV3pSyM310JrYBV0d2XEZsFQN9FaFpBq_8GzCKwpf8LcmyuvRWDD9JuLEoBKcSZ005kMwXYY5NzTeltVOipW7iaQKK3bnB9MOEXbfKbUsS2REfDH/s1600/Backyard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="459" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-dtPZZk-RD2h6VV0GjkCqajH-XbO-bV3pSyM310JrYBV0d2XEZsFQN9FaFpBq_8GzCKwpf8LcmyuvRWDD9JuLEoBKcSZ005kMwXYY5NzTeltVOipW7iaQKK3bnB9MOEXbfKbUsS2REfDH/s640/Backyard.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: small;"><b>Coming down in big flakes.</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">For several
hours, snow fell in big flakes accumulating like a soft, white blanket on the ground. It looked pretty
and serene, as long as you were snug and warm inside watching it, preferably with
a mug of hot chocolate or a glass of red wine...with a side of dark chocolate! Outside,
it was chilly and windy. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMlg2weRURH_noKoUJZSAGZ_oAJ6jnO72QFdu-8M3J6blHgk9xAKuvSG1H-m-71aR2XXSrLYwFXBnYLQSBFM7pgcGy1Cwc-EXw4ZhMvjauI0920yJ1Ji6G7NdR_-dL6BJchJ_miWQA3Hjn/s1600/Roscoe+checks+it+out_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMlg2weRURH_noKoUJZSAGZ_oAJ6jnO72QFdu-8M3J6blHgk9xAKuvSG1H-m-71aR2XXSrLYwFXBnYLQSBFM7pgcGy1Cwc-EXw4ZhMvjauI0920yJ1Ji6G7NdR_-dL6BJchJ_miWQA3Hjn/s400/Roscoe+checks+it+out_C.jpg" width="350" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: small;"><b>Roscoe checks it out.</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0OIkOqjmeXrPc3mxjEtQ8M2-LouO3g5ivfYaTlI6RvWGMqC9ipWxN6u2MGJG2Dctw0pV4gRjPfejAHel_1-DzxCrG9f8MOD8F-Qve5vJ5riBZ72Iy6-P20zPFteg6zZkNFx5Kz4CovO9i/s1600/Snow+Drink_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0OIkOqjmeXrPc3mxjEtQ8M2-LouO3g5ivfYaTlI6RvWGMqC9ipWxN6u2MGJG2Dctw0pV4gRjPfejAHel_1-DzxCrG9f8MOD8F-Qve5vJ5riBZ72Iy6-P20zPFteg6zZkNFx5Kz4CovO9i/s320/Snow+Drink_C.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-size: small;"><b>Refreshing snow drink.</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">This was a wet, mushy snow, the kind that only sticks
around long enough to say, “Hold off spring, Mother Nature is not done with winter!” After a while, it turned to an icy rain. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">By the next morning, the sun came out, temperatures were above freezing, and much of the snow began melting. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Still, the dogs
had a chance to get outside and check it out…which is only good reason for snow
to be in my yard so close to spring. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Spring
officially starts here on March 20</span><sup style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">. I am ready for spring!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Perhaps
with the promise of extra trips to the dog park and a few extra doggy biscuits,
we’ll have no more barking to the snow gods. Well, at least not until next winter.</span><br />
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©2013 JerseyLil’s2Cents</div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">©JerseyLil’s 2 Cents. All rights reserved.</div>JerseyLilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18381518701383106141noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8002257954816576516.post-39016655446072062682013-03-01T19:13:00.002-05:002013-03-01T19:13:42.854-05:00Snow Dogs and Musings on Winter <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlxbDTKSNtYhA7k5wgQgPcnQ1h8ZeX86lOqKQEJ_2FELwtnUb0Ai7unIpNcD8Zd_IsYPpgY1zxcHIFtwK-uCcH0s8w3zS3Qh0VWBvJxQ5x3JEle-PrVyaCqwCgnDSO3dCXfFrA54VmMxl-/s1600/Coco+SnowDog_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlxbDTKSNtYhA7k5wgQgPcnQ1h8ZeX86lOqKQEJ_2FELwtnUb0Ai7unIpNcD8Zd_IsYPpgY1zxcHIFtwK-uCcH0s8w3zS3Qh0VWBvJxQ5x3JEle-PrVyaCqwCgnDSO3dCXfFrA54VmMxl-/s400/Coco+SnowDog_C.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b><span style="color: #660000;">Coco, my snow dog, from last winter when we actually had snow</span>.</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">My snow dogs
want to know…where’s all the snow this winter? Roscoe and Coco are eager to get
out and frolic around in the fluffy white stuff. Yes, fun for them, but not so
much fun for me attempting to shovel the stuff while bundled up so tightly I
can barely move. Expert shoveler, I am not, LOL! Ah, but watching my dogs run
around joyfully playing in the snow is fun (if only they could shovel and play!).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">This photo shows all the snow we've had so far this winter and the season is nearly done. Now you see why my snow dogs are complaining. Many areas farther up along the Northeast have had heavy snow storms, but my area was spared the brunt of those storms. I call it being "spared." My dogs call it being "gypped."</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmrfG9gfCitrIoCJ4fc_p5FqscEAYphK_cMfxIj99hHvyJ-S9gKOlflLCQ6w2fcuUdhK9lD32RQi22BlIRud8gEhMPloYFscjE-OcnWPhQtFITh77jfaKStu5TNeW_TS_RGFVcIDqUWk7M/s1600/Snow2013_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmrfG9gfCitrIoCJ4fc_p5FqscEAYphK_cMfxIj99hHvyJ-S9gKOlflLCQ6w2fcuUdhK9lD32RQi22BlIRud8gEhMPloYFscjE-OcnWPhQtFITh77jfaKStu5TNeW_TS_RGFVcIDqUWk7M/s640/Snow2013_C.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 17px;"><b>You call this snow? Roscoe and Coco are not impressed!</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Although snowfall has been sparse here this winter, I am not complaining. My dogs are the inquisitive
ones regarding snow. I could take it or leave it. In fact, when I lived in sunny
Southern California years ago, I can say I never missed the snow. Not once. But
like Dorothy in Oz who finds she’s not in Kansas anymore, I’m not in California anymore. When you live in the Northeast USA, it will snow every winter, at least a little bit, and
sometimes a whole lot.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I grew up in
New Jersey and as a child, loved to play in the snow and especially enjoyed
snow days off from school. As an adult, I eyed sunny California and didn’t look
back when it came to winter. Now I am back on the East Coast again, not in New Jersey, currently in Maryland, but the weather is similar. That being said, I don’t totally hate snow. A new
snowfall can be a lovely, peaceful scene. I’ve always loved those Currier &
Ives prints of snow scenes in early America with winter travelers happily
riding through sparkling white snow in horse-drawn carriages. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #660000;"><b>Currier & Ives. Isn’t this a lovely scene…and look, there’s a dog in
it, too!</b></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">There is
something inviting and romantic about watching the snow fall outside while
sitting inside so cozy by a fireplace holding a mug of hot chocolate, or sipping
a glass of wine by the warm glow of the fire….OK, I
saw that scene in a movie lol! Sounds lovely, though. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">More often the
reality is: shovel, shovel, toil and trouble, white fluffy goodness turns to mushy
mess and patches of ice you don’t readily see cause you to fall hard on
your butt. Ouch! Well, perhaps you are more coordinated than I am, but it's a scenario I've experienced more than once. I now prepare by wearing extra layers...everywhere! Still,
for my sweet pups, I wouldn’t mind just one nice snowfall so they can play
around in it. Then I really must give them lessons in shoveling. Hey,
maybe I could attach a shovel to the end of a sleigh and they could pull it. After all, they are
Northern mixed-breed dogs. Roscoe is Collie, German Shepherd, Chow, Akita mix;
Coco is German Shepherd mix. Well, one can dream, and I am always thinking! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">My dogs are
clamoring for me to post more photos of them. Such attention hounds! Look for them to be guest blogging here again around St. Patrick's Day (I am part-Irish, so my dogs get to be Irish too). Since we have no good snow photos for
this year, I am posting their pictures from last winter. Aren’t they just adorable? <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Roscoe and Coco last year when we had snow worth playing in</span></h3>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #660000;"><b>Let’s Play!</b></span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #660000;"><b>Coco likes what she sees!</b></span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXyf1S3ifOFvTK7HNBiRM-XGo-WNc76iktyhq8wi89hIDoXDer_tSYPCvtwQI68GbYzJN7EbTpTvHzjIpI2nEBYuuGInHaIiStcvjxHJSRZhnrtlkX34yn_Cq4qDMvPk3Bh0H8AB4gjSWM/s1600/Cleared+the+path_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXyf1S3ifOFvTK7HNBiRM-XGo-WNc76iktyhq8wi89hIDoXDer_tSYPCvtwQI68GbYzJN7EbTpTvHzjIpI2nEBYuuGInHaIiStcvjxHJSRZhnrtlkX34yn_Cq4qDMvPk3Bh0H8AB4gjSWM/s400/Cleared+the+path_C.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #660000;"><b>OK we cleared a path. Now for some rest!</b></span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2VSIjNB5SNGRtFL4lLI6fQ9YU04usug6VoOZRolB8t28XmgT3yP-9Nxu9D3b4HxUPSIuU3qFA0zXtWW8ix-Cqm9BEAVMpJ5xtUdVMEq0CujRVw2VK7_wCpsNxXYK544ozT54pZemf1n_I/s1600/Roscoe+playing_C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2VSIjNB5SNGRtFL4lLI6fQ9YU04usug6VoOZRolB8t28XmgT3yP-9Nxu9D3b4HxUPSIuU3qFA0zXtWW8ix-Cqm9BEAVMpJ5xtUdVMEq0CujRVw2VK7_wCpsNxXYK544ozT54pZemf1n_I/s400/Roscoe+playing_C.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b style="color: #660000;">Roscoe thinks it doesn't get any better than this!</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I'll close this post with a photo I took of a snow bird on a fence singing
for spring. My dogs can have winter, I’ll take spring. Sing, little songbird, sing!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">©JerseyLil’s2Cents 2013</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">©JerseyLil’s 2 Cents. All rights reserved.</div>JerseyLilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18381518701383106141noreply@blogger.com48tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8002257954816576516.post-4993417150972372722013-02-26T04:28:00.000-05:002013-02-26T12:14:40.947-05:00Funnies to Cheer Up FriendsFunnies to enjoy! Posting this especially for my friends who need some cheering up, Donna (CrazyMama) and Rum-Punch Drunk, and anyone else who can use some cheering up today. :)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The truth behind UFOs...just one big tortoise in the sky!</span></b></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Exactly my thoughts before morning coffee!</b></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">What really happened to the Titanic!</span></b></td></tr>
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">©JerseyLil’s 2 Cents. All rights reserved.</div>JerseyLilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18381518701383106141noreply@blogger.com35tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8002257954816576516.post-57765670659224385382013-02-14T16:17:00.000-05:002015-02-23T11:37:26.670-05:00Photographs and Memories: Stephan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #660000;"><b style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>Wheat Field with Poppies and a Lark</i>,</b> <b><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Vincent Van Gogh</span><span style="line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></span></b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Image with quote and painting ©2013 JerseyLils2Cents</b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #660000;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></b></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Have you ever
known someone who can walk into a room and just own it? That aptly describes my
friend, Stephan. We shared a non-romantic yet special Valentine’s Day together
many years ago. Before I write about that day, let me tell you a bit about my
friend. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">A little over
20 years ago, I met Stephan at a spiritual teaching center in the East County
area of San Diego, California, during the time when I was on a spiritual quest.
We hit it off right away. Both of us had moved to California from the East
Coast. I was from New Jersey, he was from neighboring Pennsylvania. Stephan was
a gifted artist whose paintings were as vivid and alive as his personality. We
shared a love of Impressionist period artists, especially Vincent Van Gogh and Claude
Monet.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">After knowing Stephan for a few months, I mentioned that I was looking
for a new roommate. My last roommate had just left after nearly burning down
the apartment when she forgot about a pan left on a lit stove while otherwise
preoccupied in her room with her boyfriend. Just two weeks prior to that
unfortunate incident, she had left the shower running, using up all
the hot water and adding to the water bill, again while otherwise preoccupied in her room with her
boyfriend. Well, she was nice but an airhead, and it was my apartment to begin
with, so she left. Stephan needed a new place and we became roommates. Turned
out, Stephan was the best roommate I ever had. Neat, considerate, not only
cleaned his own room but helped clean the rest of the apartment too, and paid
his share of the rent on time. Plus, he cooked. The ideal roommate! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #660000;"><b>With Stephan in San Diego many years ago </b></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Before you
think perhaps we may have gotten together romantically since we hit it off so
well, that never happened. It never could. Stephan was gay, proudly gay, sometimes
flamboyantly gay, and I loved him. He was energetic, artistic, sensitive, tall,
and good looking. My girlfriends would sigh over how a hunk like that could be
so unavailable. And don’t think for one moment that a few of them didn’t flirt and
try to change his persuasion lol! He took it all good-naturedly, although
somewhat warily. He wished people would understand that being gay is not a
lifestyle choice, it is who you are. Stephan told me that from the time he was
a young boy, he knew he was different. Even his choice of toys differed from
the other boys. He didn’t care about trucks; he’d rather play dress up in his
mother’s clothes. At the age when the other boys became interested in girls, he
found his attraction was to boys instead. Moving to California to start a new
life, he slightly changed the spelling of his name from Stephen to Stephan, and
felt freer in the more progressive environment of California. I completely
understood. For an entirely different reason, I had moved to California to
start a new life away from my past.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Not only was
Stephan a talented artist, he also had a marvelous sense of design. One day
when I came home from work, he had redecorated the living room, rearranging my
mismatched flea market furniture finds into a “conversational corner,” painting the plain, wooden crates I used for book shelves, and putting out pretty glass vases
with big, brightly-colored handmade paper flowers from Mexico. Wow, that’s my living room? I was amazed and pleased. The
guy could really class up a place!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Now, about the
Valentine’s Day we shared. Neither of us had dates. He called me at work and said, <i>how about dinner, I’ll cook something for
us and get a bottle of wine</i>. Sounded great! Stopping at See’s Candies on the
way home, I picked out a delicious assortment of chocolates that would go
perfectly with red wine. It was a nice, relaxing evening. Since there was no
romance involved, there was no pressure, just good food, wine, and
conversation. He surprised me with a lovely Valentine’s gift, a yellow rose, and
a colorful red hair clip. I still keep that hair clip in my jewelry box.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">We were
roommates for less than a year. Stephan moved in with a new boyfriend. Over the
next couple of years, we gradually lost touch when I no longer attended
meetings at the spiritual center where we had met. Eventually, I met my husband
and moved 600 miles away to Northern California.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">In 1995, I
heard from friends in San Diego that Stephan was ill. Within a few months and
before I had a chance to see him again, my friends called to say that Stephan
had died from complications of HIV. I was very saddened. He was such a vivacious
soul, a brilliant flame so full of life, and now that flame would be no more. Stephan
Yancoskie passed away July 14, 1995</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The following year, my husband and I moved from
California to the East Coast. </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I
believe people cross our paths in life for a reason. Some just stand out as
special in our lives. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Classical music inspired Stephan when he was creating art. The French composer Claude Debussy was one of his favorites, especially Debussy’s lovely, haunting piano solo, “Clair de Lune,” which means “moonlight” in French. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Stephan, my friend, wherever you are in the universe, I am
raising a glass of wine for you and listening to "Clair de Lune." Thank you for
sharing your love of art with me, thank you for tips on design, thank you for
the smiles we shared all those years ago. As life continues beyond in another time and place, may our paths cross again, my friend.</span><br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">©JerseyLil’s 2 Cents. All rights reserved.</div>JerseyLilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18381518701383106141noreply@blogger.com42