French Open Tennis...The Nectar of Life?!

     It's that time of year again!! :-) The time of year when my attention span becomes the size of a gnat, and all I do is stare into the T.V., with my head turning to the left.....and then turning to the right....and then turning to the left...and then....Well, you get where I'm going with this, right?! LOL It's time for the French Open Tennis Tournament!!!!
    It actually started yesterday, but I was so engrossed in finishing my talk that I totally forgot it was coming on!!! I know!.......I know!!!!!! LOL How is that even possible for a tennis nut like me?!!...But make no mistake, I KNOW it's on now!!! :-] In fact, I already watched Schiovone beat Melony Oudin this morning!...She steam-rolled her!
     My hubby is not the least bit interested in my beloved tennis right now. {Although if nothing else is on, and he doesn't need a nap, he'll watch certain matches with me. He has a couple of people he asks about occasionally.} His attention is totally on the garden he's developing in the backyard...and, of course, the hummingbird feeder!

       Over the next few days I'm going to be playing music, and conversations I had with hubby, as background sounds while I show you all of the plants and flowers he's developing back there. He's gone 'Garden Man Mad'!!! LOL He even came in from outside yesterday....'No Girl-Land', I call it!! ^_^ ...and started talking all about how the neighbors have had the nerve to plant 'already grown' plants in their gardens! He's feeling very proud of himself that his were just seeds....and now? They're A-L-I-V-E!!!!!...and steadily growing!
       Of course, the plant talk has been interrupted on occasion with hummingbird feeder talk!...He boiled up his own nectar yesterday. That's the clear stuff in the feeder...

      He assures me that, come rain or.....or...well, more rain, frankly! LOL...the hummingbirds are gonna come running to this feeder today!! "They're gonna bring all of their hummingbird buddies, and have a party out there!!"...That's HIS story! My story is that he's gonna have a long Spring and Summer, boiling new batches of nectar twice a week, for our 'snooty' NO-SHOW hummingbirds!! LOL
      Oh Well...he may not have hummingbirds, but he does have the camera! And boy! he really gave it a work-out this weekend, photographing the plants and flowers that he's growing!...And although there were a few random 'Uh! Why did you take a picture of this?' comments from me, I think he did a pretty good job! LOL Why did I ask that?! Look at this shot. I mean, it's a pretty tree...but in the dark...and rain...it looks just like...

      ...a tree! LOL
   But this shot is gorgeous!!

      It's the robin nest that's in the tree right next to the house! It looks really well worked on, but all day yesterday it just sat there without even one robin visitor! I mean, I saw the robins. They were pecking around all over the backyard. But not one of them even looked in the direction of the nest! O_0 What's that about?!!
     I was expecting some cute little blue egg photos pretty soon!!!....Well, guess what?! :-) My robins may be acting coy, but my friend's robins have been hard at work! Look at these photos she got!!!

      Is that cool or what?!!!! :-] I almost wish I knew a good 'robin being born' song! Well, I don't.......but I do think this one is appropriate! :-) And if you can listen to it without smiling you're a better girl than me this morning!!! LOL
     Okay, An older poem from a while ago, and I'm off to start my day. Have a good day everybody!! :-]


A New Life

There's  a new one on the way,
with a frightened, teenage mom,
making all her life's  decisions,
void of playfulness and calm.

There's  a little one now coming.
Sacrifice will be the key
to a happy, joyful life,
for this little He or She.

There's  another life that's  ending-
name is Teenager' and 'Child';
Now replaced with 'Mom' and 'Mother',
Sacrificed may be her smile-
for at least a little while.     

"Please Give One Of These Shops Their First Sale!!"

         Look at these 2 fabulous 18"X18" Cushion Covers!! Do you believe that someone hasn't scooped them up?! I saw them the other day when I was doing my usual thing, looking around at different items and shops on Etsy. I found them by going to Etsy's front page, scrolling down a little and looking on the left side, under "WAYS TO SHOP". There you'll find "POUNCE-Fresh Shops". If you click on it and choose "Undiscovered" you can 'Pounce', or search through, all of the shops on Etsy that have not had a sale yet. I was flabbergasted at the shops that haven't sold a single thing, especially because of how creative, talented, and great their items are! So, I thought I'd share with you!

    The Cushion covers in my header photo are from a shop called miaandstitch. These are her Black and Forest Cushion Covers. Others that I like in her shop are the Vanilla Cushion Cover...

    ...the Off White and Green Floral Cushion Cover...

    ...and the Duck-egg Blue Modern Classic Cushion Cover.

    Worth at least ONE sale, don't you think?! I think this shop is worth a LOT of sales!!

   Another shop not getting the love it deserves is LunaSolar9. Look at these cute Leather Sandals-Luna Resonant Size 8!

    ...Her Luna Rhytmic Size 9...

    ...and her Luna Lunar Size 8.5.

    When was the last time you had a high quality leather, hand-crafted sandal?!...And I think they're adorable, being a fan of the flip flop!! Certainly worth a sale, even if you don't have the weather for them right now!

    Know anybody that's having a baby? Need a really nice gift for them? You have to check out the receiving blankets at SharingThreads! There's 2 reasons I like this shop. She loves to sew. (I like people who don't just do what they do for money, but do it for love) And she loves to 'give back'. So, a portion of her proceeds will go to an organization called "Bridge of Love" which helps place abandoned children in loving homes...Ready to give her a sale yet? Let me show you these adorable blankets!

    This is her dinosaurs and pull toys receiving blanket ...

    ....It's closely woven flannel of very high quality. And it comes with a matching burp cloth!

    I'm especially partial to her mitered corned receiving blanket. Why?...

    ...It has flowers!! You know how much I love a flower! :-)

And who couldn't love this Under the Sea-receiving blanket and burp cloth?!

   Now, Come on!!! Worth at last one sale, right?!

Now, as one of the 'self-proclaimed' pocketbook/purse nuts, this shop REALLY got my attention! The shop is utary. Wait til you see the cute-ness!

     A clutch Purse/Bag in olive green...

    ....One in Antique Green, with the cutest flower you ever seen right on the front...

    And her Japanese Cherry Blossom Purse/Bag.

Okay, I'm done raving...And just so you know, I got permission from all of these shop owners. And my love for their items comes from a genuinely respectful place. I remember when I first started selling my crocheted items on Etsy. I was SURE I would never get a sale! But I did!...Not enough sales yet,...^_^... but I did get some!

    Do you have an Etsy shop? If so, you know what I mean about the feelings you have before your first sale. If you don't have a shop there yourself, do me a favor and at least check these shops out, okay. And have a good rest of the weekend! I hope it's a looooong one for you too! :-)

    (The poem I'm sharing today is about being NEW at something else, motherhood. But the sentiment can apply to being new shop owners too! I hope you like it!)

A New Life

There's a new one on the way,

with a frightened, teenage mom,

making all her life's decisions,

void of playfulness and calm.

There's a little one now coming.

Sacrifice will be the key

to a happy, joyful life,

for this little He or She.

There's  another life that's ending-

one of Teenager' and 'Child';

Now replaced with 'Mom' and 'Mother',

Sacrificed may be her smile-

for at least a little while.

New Life!

***Don't forget about my GIVE AWAY! On May 21st, 7 days from now, I'll be drawing a name out of the box for someone to receive, FREE, a book of my poems AND a crochet/bead necklace that I handmade myself! See the "Connection Rules" posting on this blog for the details.***

Sometimes life, new life, starts with struggle, trying to get acceptance, and labor, but of course there is always...LOVE. This is true, whether you're talking about a new HUMAN baby on the way, or...in my case...a new baby CROCHETED ART CREATION! My poem today was written about my 17 year old niece's pregnancy. But I wanted to share MY new babies too. None of these have ever been seen online...until now. They ALSO came with some struggle, labor, etc. And I'm trying to get some acceptance for them! :-)) First...Let me share my orange and yellow baby! I love how the swirly button matched the color of the bead dangle.

 Then my purple babies. (The camera never shows the purple as pretty as I think it looks in person though.)

I've got some pink too!

 And some green!...one with a dragonfly button.

I made this brown one with the turquoise because of the brown striding in the top heart-shaped bead. My girlfriend said she wouldn't have thought of these colors together, but I couldn't think of anything else!! LOL

 I have a smaller speckled blue and black baby. [How many people can say that!!! :-))]

  And last, but not least, my two new babies with some red!

 They were all made with LOVE!...None of these are in my shop, and I'm not sure they will be. I just had a friend lovingly agree to try to show some of them in a craft show she's involved in next weekend. I can't wait to see what kind of response they'll get...I hope they don't reject my babies!!! What mother could take that?!!

A New Life

There's  a new one on the way,
with a frightened, teenage mom,
making all her life's  decisions,
void of playfulness and calm.

There's  a little one now coming.
Sacrifice will be the key
to a happy, joyful life,
for this little He or She.

There's  another life that's  ending-
name is "Teenager" and "Child";
Now replaced with "Mom" and "Mother",
Sacrificed may be her smile-
for at least a little while.