Win a Poem!

Remember when I told you about my friend Mel, the author and poet who wrote those terrific poems for my nephews?  Well, she's running a poem giveaway!

(This is not the poem to be won, it will be a custom poem that is the prize.)

The details are here.

The prize is valued at up to $100, and would be great for yourself, or as a gift for a wedding, shower, new baby, bar mitzvah, or any other big event.

Go check her out, and good luck winning!

Blogs I Follow: Melinda Lancaster, Author and Poet

I have this friend, Mel.  She's not fibbing with that "author and poet," either.  She's got a poem hanging in the John F. Kennedy museum in Hyannis, MA.  Her currently-published children's book, Tyler and the Spider, is available on Amazon.  Of course, I've already got three copies of it, one for each nephew (autographed to them), and one for me and Eric.  There are more children's books in the works, and I'll be buying those as well, since her first is great!

Tyler was inspired by her 16-year-old daughter, who's got Rett Syndrome, and therefore occasionally confuses other kids with her inability to behave the same as they do.  In it, Tyler awakes to find himself face-to-face with a spider, about which he's heard terrible things.  Meanwhile, the spider is terrified of Tyler, having heard similarly frightening news about little boys.  Of course, the two realize that their differences are OK and there's nothing to fear.

In addition to her children's books and the poem that is in the JFK museum, Mel takes commissions for personalized poems through her business, DKS Verse.  You can contact her about her poetry and keep up with her travels on her Facebook fan page.

I was able to have Mel write a poem for each of my nephews when they were born.  They're absolutely wonderful.  My sister prefers internet privacy, and Mel used the name of each boy as the first letter of each line of the poems, so I'll only post the one written for my nephew on Eric's side of the family, Zachary Artemus Jensen.

Zeal has no boundries-
     it flies throughout the land
And lightens the dark corners
     in every heart of Man.
Casting off no shadow,
     Hope shines in every soul
Heaven's angels' voices sing-
     welcoming him home.
And they are joined in chorus
     by Tara's Harp and kings
Reaching out from Ireland's shore.
     Now hear the church bells ring.
Yet let the din be quieted
     for here lies a sleeping boy,
And wrapped gently in his mother's arms,
     her heart is filled with joy,
Reaching out, his hand is joined
     by his father's, strong and sure.
Together they will face tomorrow
     with love, sweet and pure.
Each passing day will find a boy
     one step closer to a man,
Making his way, slowly,
     in the best way that he can.
Under God's watchful eye,
     his soul will find its way;
Still, time will seem to fly
     from tomorrow to yesterday.
Just beyond the setting sun,
     The horizon waits for you;
Each day upon your journey there,
     may blessings be many, troubles be few.
Never fear that you may stumble
     nor that you might even fall,
So many loving hands will catch you
     and see you through it all.
Earth holds great promise
     it lies not far ahead
Now, though, just rest easy
     for angels are singing o'er your bed.

See why I wanted these?  She's so incredibly talented!

Want to read some more of her poetry?  Know what she's up to?  Know when her next book is coming out?  Follow her blog.

Blogs I Follow: The Flying Chef

Like many of you, I'm a blog-follower.  In fact, I follow a lot of blogs.  I may not read every post of every blog as they show up in my Blogger Reading List, and sometimes when I've skipped or missed posts, I may go back and read them later.  Or I may not read them at all if they seem not to be of interest to me or I simply don't have time.  But I do follow a lot of blogs and I like to read them.  I've always been a voracious reader, so this makes sense.  In fact, the appearance of blogs into my life is a wonderful thing; I'm someone who used to joke that I'd read the box of cereal if nothing else was around.

So I thought it was time to mention some of the blogs I read and call your attention to them, especially if they don't yet seem to have a lot of followers.  Get the word out, as it were.

Today, I thought I'd tell you about The Flying Chef.  The author is a woman named Heather, who lives in Pennsylvania, and I don't know her but I do like her.  It's kind of a given that I'd like someone who's a fan of antiquing, tea parties, classic rock, Jane Austen, Paris, and Beetlejuice.  I mean, really.  Plus, the banner has a witch!

Her blog started off as a sort of advertising medium for her impending webstore for kitchen gadgets and hostess gifts, but real life has gotten in the way and put that endeavor on hold for her.  I honestly don't know at this point whether she still intends to open the store, but it doesn't matter.  She keeps her blog current and there's a lot of good stuff on there.

Plus, she's got an in-real-life Craftique booth at the Seabase Shopping Center on Pittsburgh Street in Greenberg, PA.

Back to the blog, though.  She's got some great decorating ideas there, like her idea to decorate her bay window with real pine and use scrapbook paper as placemats.  There's also some incredibly random but cute stuff, great hosting tips, amazing-sounding recipes, lots of good information about various ways to help others, housekeeping tips, and bits of her own childhood.

The funniest thing is that she also posted a photo of her puppies, just like I did mine!

And she cares about health and keeping things natural, the same way Reef Botanicals does.

One last plug, check out one of the cute things she shows you how to make:

Isn't that great?  And she featured Reef Botanicals too!  Definitely check her out!

Sunshine Award!

Thanks to Jewelry by Nala for nominating us for this special award!

Rules for accepting this award:
* Put the logo on your blog or within your post.
* Pass the award onto 12 bloggers whose positivity and creativity inspire others in the blogging world.
* Link the nominees within your post.
* Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
* Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

I nominate the following blogs for the Sunshine Award, no particular order:

The very talented fabric crafter, Tuppence at Momfetti!

The amazing author, Melinda at Melinda Lancaster:  Author and Poet!

The drool-inducing baker and snack-maker, Robyn of Cakes 'n' All!

Hilarious and awe-inducing magician, Daniel Greenwolf!

Killer baker and artist Rebecca of What's Cookin' in Fat Cat's Kitchen?

The phenomenal body artist, Shannon Fennell!

Knitter, cook, and hockey fan, Vikki of Confessions of a Blond Sports Fan... Knitting Optional!

The talented and creative Christy of Embellished Bayou!

The jewelry making extraordinaire, Haffina, of Haffina's Creations!

The phenomenal creator of lampwork beads, Jolene of Kitzbitz Art Glass!

Purveyor of all the information we could possibly want about any animal of which we could possibly think, Nathan of Wild Facts!

Crafter of primitive Halloween dolls, Sue of Spooky Spells!


Be sure to check out their blogs; you'll enjoy, I promise!


Meanwhile, I've just found out that we were also nominated by Elizabeth, at Paradise Purls!  I'm surrounded by wonderful people!