And The Winner Is...

First: cut names apart.
Second: Mix them up.
Third: put them in a little wooden basket.
Fourth: Tell Lexie to get a paper.(She must settle down so she'll stop getting several.)
When she finally picks only one?

It is Nancy@ La Chambre Rose!

1101 South Johnston

See Chari at Happy to design for more Sunday Faves


This is a collage of my "formative" years. I was Formed during the nine years I lived in Ada, OK. The house we lived in is in the background and my five siblings are represented along with me.
The clock is there because my father always kept our clocks 5 minutes fast. Always. He was late for everything and unfortunately I inherited this trait from him. The upstairs window is outlined with the opening words to "In the Still of the Night" because I always sat up there at night and sang. I still sing all the time.
That is me in the center, spit curls and all. I was playing a Buddy Holly record on my new record player. I put the beginning words to "Every Day" above and below the picture. "Every day, it's gettin' closer. Goin' faster than a rollercoaster."
CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO ENBIGGY IT.

Drawing Time!

Nothing, if not Honest.

Thanks, Miss "Aunt of 14" who is as honest as they come.
Now I must post some honest things about me.

Um...
I did not know I liked gardening until I was 40.
I love bricks. I don't know why.
I loved Being a mother, and honestly thought (still do) of my children as my friends.
I have seen a ghost.
I hear music at all times, giving my life a sound track.
Once I gave a spelling test to my third graders and sang a song for every word, instead of a sentence.

Cow Spanker

This thing got out.



So I had to use this "Cow Spanker" to get it back into the corral.
I was asked about this item the last time I mentioned it in a post.It rattles, too.
I guess that is a way to get the cow rattled enough to do what you want it to.
Not bad for a "City Okie."
I have come a long way, Baby.

Big Give Away Time!

I thought I'd better pop this back up to the top--just in case.
Two Hundred Posts!
But we all knew I was wordy, didn't we?







Let me see if I can list everything in this giveaway.
There is a JOURNAL that I embellished.
A bookmark. (Notice a familiar card there, Lynn?)
Masks by Tim Holtz. Never used.
A 5 inch diameter tambourine. Can't wait to see how the winner uses this, because I have another one and I'm not afraid to copy.
A little decoupaged box full of assorted items.(charms, old game pieces, studs, etc)
A vintage silver fork from a local flea market. It says 1847 Rogers Brothers on the back, what ever that means.
A picture of a Christening that I tore from a vintage baby book from a local antique store.
A ribboned "Romance" card.
Three pages from an old botanical book.
Three pages from an old music book that I bought on the Internet.
Six old timey cards that I bought in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Four pieces of decorative paper by K&Company. (Two sided)
A candle that I personally embellished.
A gold candle holder.
Two butterfly appliques.
Bag of amber speckled beads.
A half dozen acrylic pumpkins to scatter on your Thanksgiving table.

Plus, I will pack it all with gauze squares that my brother-in-law bought (a bunch) at an auction because he wanted the other stuff on the pallet, and I found them to be VERY handy to have in your craft studio! I am sure they will be a better buffer than those foam peanuts.
OK!
The plan is to do the same thing we are used to doing.
Tell me you want it.
Follow me for another chance!
Post on your blog and link back for a third chance.
Let me know that you did so.

Oh, Almost forgot!
This begins today, October 1st, the day my son was supposed to be born, many years ago, and it will end on October 11th, the day my son was actually born, many years ago. Eleven day time bomb!

In a Cabin in the Woods, A Little Man By the Window Stood

Saturday, my seester, Barbie, and I went on a little ride in the forest around my house. We were treasure hunting. When we got out of the woods the vortex of Shasta pulled us toward Lake Shasta City. Or was it Shasta City, Or was it Shasta Lake City, City of Shasta Lake. (Yes they all exist.)
I found Fairies to add to my Girly car.
We got some magic stones.
There is a store there that people talk about the gigantic space ship that will come and circle the earth three times in 2012.
With a straight face.

Y'all might want to hie thyself up to the vortex and get some of those magic stones.

Bow? What Bow?

See Beverly for more Pinkeys.

Are YOU My Mother?

"I am not your mother. I am a cow," said the cow.

Bureaucracy Rears Its Ugly Head

The following is a bit I wrote for the East Valley Times a couple of years ago.
The Reeeeeeely funny thing about this came in the mail this summer!

A few days ago a Shasta College catalog came in the mail.
Coincidentally I had been pondering the possibility of taking a class in pottery making. I checked the catalog and found a beginning ceramics class. What luck!
I went to my computer to fill out the application form, thinking,
“My oh my! The Internet has made so many things easier-for most people.”
On the school’s website, I got a questionnaire with multiple-choice answers.
My first choice to make was:

Am I still in high school? Or
Have I attended college classes before? Or
Is this my first time to enroll in Shasta College?

OK, well, I am definitely not still in high school, and I have taken college classes before, but I am enrolling in this college for the first time.
Eenie meenie miney me, I think I’ll take choice number three.

Unfortunately, this choice generated instructions for me to attend orientation and matriculation. (Matriculation?) Then I needed to be assessed in math and English.
Oh, no I don’t.
I ignored that part.
Next instruction:
Send high school transcript.
Since my high school was torn down about thirty years ago, I think I’ll ignore that part, too.

Next they requested that I write letters asking for any college transcripts I might have accumulated.
This was getting confusing. That’s too many letters to write for a fun class.
I skipped that part as well.
Next came the level of education question. Didn’t I already answer this? My choices were:
__Finished high school (Yes, During the Kennedy administration!)
__GED (Didn’t know this was an option at the time.)
__Some College (Yes, about 300 units!)
Since the technology wouldn’t let me elaborate, I chose the latter.

Now I found questions (still multiple choice) about my reasons for attempting to enroll in college. My choices were something like:
__To further my career
__To learn new skills so I can leave my sorry job
__For professional growth
__I just got out of high school and don’t know what else to do.

No, I don’t want to do any of the above! I only want to take the one class, just for fun!
As it turned out, after name and address none of the questions were answerable.

I needed a real person.
I called and got to speak to a sweet young voice that assured me that I could take the pottery class for fun. I just needed to get a “Webadvisor” account on line.

So, I spent the next half-hour arguing with my computer screen and pounding on my keyboard, attempting to accidentally establish a webadvisor connection.

(Let me interject here, that everything I accomplish on my computer, I do so by accident.)

Somewhere during my inexpedient floundering, I got an email from a guy at the school asking me if I needed help. He was very polite. He didn’t say, “What in heck are you trying to do, you cretinous schmendrick?” as I am sure he was thinking.

I dashed off the following return email.


Hi there,
What I want to do is enroll in Beginning Ceramics S2598.
What I did was attempt to apply for a webadvisor account.

Lynn Guinn & lguinn are taken, (Imagine! There’s another Lynn Guinn in these parts!) so I added #947 (my favorite flight, to Cancun, where I was wishing I could immediately be transported.), and the account was set. When I tried to access this account to enroll in said ceramics class I got back that lguinn947 is not a valid user name.

I tried several times with several capitalization configurations, and
sometimes it liked my username but not my password, and sometimes it liked my password and not my user name!

I am sure it is I, who is bungling here, because computers never make mistakes.

Perhaps the system is annoyed with me because I do not want to follow all of the directions and send for the appropriate transcripts, but I am a 61 year old retired public school teacher with a masters degree and this procedure would require more letter writing and red tape than I wish to participate in. I don't want to further my career; I don't want credit, or even a grade. I simply want to play with clay.
Thank you for your help,
Lynn Guinn,
Confirmation number 1631-02006S-4-01085007-099634441-0745276358
(Quite an epic number, wouldn’t you say?)

The helpful guy gave me the tools I needed to enroll. When I finally got through, I found that the twenty spaces in the class were filled and there were twenty-five more wishful artists on the waiting list.
I couldn’t help but think that when I began the process of enrollment there was plenty of room for me in the class, but by the time I actually applied, alas, the spaces were all filled.

I hope that by the fall semester the people at the college have realized they need more classes in clay. I certainly hope I don’t forget my confirmation number.
__________________________________________________________________

Then this came this summer:
__________________________

Dear Lynn,

Our student records reflect missing information in regards to your high school attendance.

In order for Shasta College to provide you the best service now and in the future, please reply to this email and provide us with the following information;

*Name of high school last attended

*City and state of high school

*Year of graduation or pending graduation

Please reply to this email with the updated information.

Thank you for your time, and we hope that Shasta College is meeting your educational needs.

Shasta College
Admissions & Records

Guilty Treasures

OK, so I do have a "Collection."
However I must say, I use it.
It's practical.
It is durable.
It does not break.
(Unless you drop certain pieces on a tile floor from a high perch.)
If I overhear someone say, "One can't have too much Fitz and Floyd," I scoff.
I someone says, "One can't have too much Arthur Court," I say, "I KNOW!--So True!"
I got the salad bowl, my first piece, from the staff of a school I was leaving to go to another school. I was sad to leave them, but I felt the need to change my direction a bit. I use that bowl almost every day. I think of them, too.
I can't imaging what else I might need in this category, but if I see something, IT. IS. MINE!
By the bye, Guilty?
No. Just teasing.

Delicious Zero Calorie Snack

Stewart's Diet Orange 'n Cream soda
+
Orange Sugar-Free Jello
=
Yummy Snack

You Are Welcome