Just Di

On a Happier Note

Since I shared how odd my son's graduation was I thought I would show you what I meant - now - look how many people shook his hand on the way to being hooded by his advisor.
 


Now you have to know my son really did not want to go to his graduation - we had to talk him into it - you know mom and dad worked hard for this!  He did refuse to buy his full regalia ($1,000.00) - but he was disappointed he did not get the funky hat with the ceremony one he got - has to get the full expensive package to get the velvet funky hat (just look at them - they were very whimsical!)
Now - take a look at the shoes - you can see he did not shave - and I guess was not worried what he had on under the gown either!

OK - now - back to creating - I am working on my 4 x 4 cat swap with Cherry Pie Art Stamps
Going to a baby shower tomorrow and hope to craft some in the afternoon. 

Nature - The Good and the Bad

I have been watching a little Hawk family for a few months now - since I saw Momma feeding them when they were just little things - to when they were big enough to fly a little from the nests - here are some pics - first is Momma who stayed very near the nest early on:
                  
And the Babies when they were just big enough to peak over the next(only one would show its face early on):
 
They got bigger real fast and were more apt to get out of the nest - these were taken just before they started flying - I could catch both of them then:
 

And I say The good and the bad - because when we returned from our trip to CT - we noticed a small group (clump was more like it!) of feathers kind of together by the back fence under a tree - I was hoping it was not what I thought it was - but after a torrential rain, my husband found the one of the baby hawks - right where we found the feathers, must have been left in the tree and fell when it rained.  It was obvious something had gotten a hold of it.I know this is nature taking care of nature - but I sure did not like to think what happened to that poor baby.  There has been another large hawk hanging around for a while - and I have to say Momma has been staying very nearby and I have seen her fighting off this hawk when it gets near her remaining baby.  Hopefully next year she will breed again.

Create

I know it has been a while - and I really have been working on some things - here are some Zens I worked on over the last month while I was traveling and in hotel rooms at night - and I am working on some other ATC's - finishing off a lot of backgrounds and working on some more swaps - will post when I am finished.  Enjoy.
 

 

 

  

Philosophically Speaking

We just returned form Connecticut where we attended the graduation ceremony of my oldest son's receiving his Ph.D.  He actually received it last year -however, this university only has the graduation ceremonies once a year.  I am glad we attended - however, I was saddened to see that the students receiving their Master's did not get the same treatment as the Ph.D.'s -yes - the doctorates are a higher degree and they had a hooding ceremony as part of their walking, they had their names called, and walked across the gym floor one at a time receiving congratulatory handshakes along the way -  but at a minimum the Master's students  could have had their name called.  Yes - I am saying they did not even have their names called (the Master's students that is) - and there were 2 groups - one on each side of the gym floor that were going through receiving their "diplomas" at the same time and did not even receive a handshake from the President of the university.  I felt sad for all the parents their - some coming from a long distance - to not even hear their child's name called in recognition of their hard work.  And I was happy that when my other son received his Master's - he University of South Florida did NOT do it the same way - he did have his name called and walked across the stage to receive a handshake from the President of the University - I guess evryone college does it differently.

I did take lots of photos and will share once I download form my camera.  I also have a few pics of the baby hawks in the next in our front yard.  They are getting bigger and I would not be surprised if they fly very soon.  And - I did make some zens while I was away - will share those too once I have them scanned.  Later!  Di

Create

I know - long time no swap - been working on a lot of things - I have gotten hooked on making birds nests fromwire and beads - not sure what I will use them for - but I am sure I will find something - I started making these about 3 months ago - have a jar full - maybe my Hawks nests in my front yard inspired me -

            

Then I also have been working on my next ReadLead Swap - it will be made into a fat book - ATC size (a little wider to accommodate binding) - this what I did - now I always think it needs something else - I am thinking I have a butterfly bead - I could sew a "flight path" then attach the bead at the end of the path - or something else - it looks bland - I used a paint chip sample from a local hardware store - I had to do 29 of these - (should have seen the stack I left with!) -

         

Then I did make one ATC size - in the small cut out (which by the way the paint chip came with that opening) - I put in a transparent piece of acrylic that I had stamped on left over from my tag swap with Read Lead group.