Author Archives: explorenewness

learning a NEW poetry style: Haiku

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haikuvisual

Well, I’m definitely NOT a poet! In my family, that would be my Mother, and I’m not about to accroach that distinction! I believe I may have heard about the poetry style of Haiku before…but not being overly interested until recently, I haven’t known what exactly makes a poem a Haiku!

If you are like me and are unfamiliar with Haiku…..learn about it at Haiku – Wikipedia and/or  Haiku – WikiHow.  {Do it!  Click the link and learn something NEW!} 😮

This Haiku by Brian P Cleary brought a smile to my face (as my son is, at this very moment, going through his grades online)!

REPORT CARD

Four days of the year,

One tiny piece of paper

Turns my stomach sour.

There’s even a program that will detect a Haiku in a transcript for you! {check it out here} Although, there’s a lot more to a Haiku than the mere counting of syllables, I thought that sounded like a very fun thing to do!  One of these days, I’d like to write a Haiku for/about each family member and have people guess which poem is for each individual.  Part of the beauty of writing poetry, is writing in a way that isn’t too transparent…but isn’t too terribly difficult to understand either.  It’s a tricky balancing act I think!

Also, as I’ve been poking around poetry sites  lately, I learned something else NEW!  I did NOT know the United States had a Poet Laureate.  Did you!?!   Check her out here!

a NEW project finished, yeah!

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ironingboard

Yeah! My NEW pull-out ironing board project is finished!  When I blogged about my NEWly organized laundry room, I mentioned the ironing board wasn’t quite finish, but now it is!  It pulls out….it swivels….then when I’m done with it, it is OUT OF SIGHT!  Love it!

I was ironing a section of a small quilt I made by trying a NEW item:  a Jellyroll!

jellyroll

After burning out piecing together my last quilt, I decided I’d try these pre-cut coordinating fabric strips.  Much easier!!!  I’ll show you the finished product after I get it all quilted and bound.

So, what’s NEW with you?  Hope you all had a great Memorial Day!….and hope you all learn or do something NEW today!

a NEW Goal: Learn how to bite my tongue when appropriate

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bite

Yes, this is my NEW goal! :o)  I need to learn to bite my tongue on certain occasions!  My husband can tell you about the MANY occasions when I should have!  Is there a class where I can learn this?  Who is the expert in this field?  Is there an online tutorial somewhere?

Let me tell you of the latest occasion…when I should have bit, and bit hard! 😮  I recently joined a friend at the airport to greet her son who had been out of the country for many months.  While waiting, she was telling me of her husband’s views on a certain tradition some families have in this area.   Although her husband finds fault with it, I happen to know it is simply how families show their love and support.  So, I jokingly said to her, “I’m going to text Joe (her husband) and say Fine, let your son wonder if he’s loved or not”.  I’m sure she thought this was the most illogical comment ever, (since she didn’t know my thought process)….and because OF COURSE their son knows he’s loved!

I think that comment (that should have been squelched behind my pearly whites digging into my pink taste buds) was also a defensive knee-jerk reactive comment.  You see, one of my big pet peeves in life is people who are judgemental and stereotypical.  I even remember writing a paper and doing an  oral report in college about people who stereotype.  Does that make me judgemental about people who are judgemental???  Ha!  Anyway…adding to this mix, I’m sure, was previous comments I’ve heard from Joe about this state’s dominant religion and how he finds fault with its culture….which,  of course, I found to be quite stereotypical.

So!  I’m going to try to bite my tongue more!  I realize it’s not the most concrete goal….but I’m going to work on it!

NEW compliments for my OLD Clam Chowder recipe

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clamchowder2My OLD Clam Chowder recipe which I got from my Sister-In-Law many years ago has always been a favorite…and it ALWAYS gets compliments!  My goal for the RECIPE section of this blog is to get the recipes as well as a photo of all my family’s favorite dishes (little by little).  So…the photo is NEW, but the recipe is pretty old!  It’s TRIED AND TRUE!  If you try it, let me know what you think!  It’s really easy….but delicious!

Recipe Card Template 1up 4x6

a NEW book review – The BlackTulip

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blacktulip{photo source}

I recently posted about volunteering at the local tulip festival and I mentioned wanting to read Alexandre Dumas’ book THE BLACK TULIP.  I did read it, and a few of you were wondering how I liked it, so I thought I’d give it a quick review:

First of all….I was PLEASANTLY SURPRISED that this book was pretty short.  I was kind of expecting it to be like Dumas’ other books (Count of Monte Cristo = 1276 pages; Three Musketeers 784 pages!!!)…but it was only in the 200’s, yeah!

I liked this book!  Nice, fast and good read!  It had somewhat of the same theme as Count of Monte Cristo in that the main character was incarcerated (but innocently, of course).  I love books that have a little history and a little romance and this one did.  There wasn’t any real surprises….I always knew exactly who the good guy was and who the bad guy was and, in the end, the good guy would win. So, no suspense, but that’s ok.  I thought it was interesting that this book DID have the typical lover’s triangle, BUT one of those ‘lovers’ was an object (the black tulip) rather than another person.

I’d recommend this book!  Especially since the time commitment wasn’t huge :o)  I liked it, but didn’t LOVE it. (Those are reserved for a very few).  If you read it, let me know what you think!

Also, according to eHOW.com:

In 1850, Alexandre Dumas published a novel called “The Black Tulip.”  This publication brought attention to the idea of and the search for a truly black tulip.

No tulip, or any other flower or plant, can ever be purely black and lacking any color, according to the technical director of the International Flower Bulb Center in the Netherlands.

Have a great day everyone!  Do or learn something NeW!

NEW Recipe…Almond Joy-ness

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almondjoyness

I love, loVE, LOVE coconut!  YUM!  So when I noticed this recipe for Almond Joy Bites at Will Cook For Smiles, I had to try it!  I also had  to share some of these delicious morsels with a neighbor…simply because it was just too dangerously fattening to have all these sitting on MY kitchen counter!  Spread the JOY, right?!?

Have a terrific day everyone!!!  Learn or DO something NEW today!

Learning NEW things about tulips

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redtulips

Hello! Aren’t tulips BEAUTIFUL!!!!???!!!  I volunteered at a local tulip  festival today and after my shift, I just had to go around and take some pics of these fabulous beauties!  Did you know there are over 109 different species of tulips?  Wowza!  Check these out:

tulips

tuplip2

AND look at this interesting one…an upside-down tulip!  I tried to search for the actual name and one website had a similar looking one (only in red) and said the locals in Turkey call it the Weeping Bride Tulip.  But if any of you know the actual name of this specie, please leave me a comment and let me know!

upsidedown

Also, now I think I want to read Alexandre Dumas’ book ‘The Black Tulip’!  I’ll let you know my review on that in a later post.   I also need to enter a to-do item on my calendar for the fall:  Plant more tulip bulbs!!!

Have a great day everyone!  Go and do or learn something NEW! 

NEW genealogical stuff in my brain!

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greenlilac

Wow! This week (and last week) has WHIZZED by!  I guess I’ve been overly busy with things.   Along with all the ‘normal-life’ activities…I took a fun NEW class on Photoshop last week and went to a Family History conference this week.  All GOOD stuff….so I have some NEW stuff in my brain.  Yeah! 🙂

I realized I hadn’t been out shooting much this week, but wanted to continue with the Alicia’s Project Nurture Photography Challenge.  This week’s theme is green(easy!), so I hurriedly went out to the backyard and took a pic of the lilac bushes…just starting to bud and blossom.  Therefore, here’s my entry for this week  (above).

So…about this NEW genealogical stuff in my brain:  I want to share one GREAT thing that’s happening in the world of family history.  There’s a project underway called the “Preserve The Pensions – War of 1812”.  When its completed, it should be wonderful!  One of the presentations I attended today explained that in order for people to get their military pensions, they had to prove they were entitled to them.  Makes sense, right?  However!…Since they couldn’t just go down to the copy-shop and make a copy of their marriage certificate, family bible or other important documents..guess what many did!?!?!  They TORE OUT the page of the family bible, (for instance the ‘Marriages’ page) and sent THE ORIGINAL into the government as proof they were married to the soldier and should be eligible for benefits!  WOW!!!!  So this project is in the process of digitizing all the files… (all those original documents)!  Such a GREAT thing!  They have a long way to go and it’s expensive, so they’d like donations.  What they have digitized so-far is free on Fold3.com.  Check it out!

Have a great day and DO OR LEARN SOMETHING NEW!

Linking to: Project Alicia