Happy Mother's Day

“As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children” (1 Thessalonians 2:6b-7).   A mother’s love reflects the love of the Lord, deep in its capacity and generous in its application. She awakens in the middle of the night to nurse a hungry infant or care for a sick child. Her intuition injects love at points of pain and in situations that require extensive encouragement. A mother’s love lingers long in conversation and understands with her sensitive heart. She loves, because Christ’s love compels her to love like Him. Moreover, a mother’s love is loyal and longstanding. A child may be in trouble, but Mom is always close by, full of compassion and acceptance. Her love can be blind in its loyalty, but her offspring never doubts where they are welcome. Jesus was rejected by angry, jealous men and abandoned by His closest friends, but His mother was waiting with Him to the bitter end, “Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother…” (John 19:25a).  A mother’s love even has the capacity to be a mother to those who are not biologically her own. Amazingly, she can informally “adopt” people for a season and love them emotionally, physically, spiritually, and relationally. She opens her home, shares her food, gives her time, dispenses her wisdom, and encourages obedience to follow Christ. Paul experienced this. “Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too” (Romans 16:13). Moms sometime mother greatness not their own. Lastly, a mother’s love is gentle, the way God is gentle toward His children. He calls us to love and to lead like Jesus. Love serves people and does not rule with rigor. “God's servant must not be argumentative, but a gentle listener and a teacher who keeps cool, working firmly but patiently with those who refuse to obey” (2 Timothy 2:24, TM).  Prayer: Do I model gentle and patient love? Do others feel safe to share their sorrows with me? Related Readings: Genesis 47:12; Ruth 4:16; John 21:15-17; James 3:17 Post/Tweet this today: Moms sometime mother greatness not their own. #mother #love Taken from Reading #13 in the NEW 30-day devotional book, “Wisdom for Mothers”… http://bit.ly/InvUdR

Harlequin

Harlequin

The theme for Digital Whisper ATC Swap this month is Harlequin.

This is my latest creation for that swap.

I think summer has finally arrived here in Coos Bay Oregon.

The sun is shinning and has been for four days without rain or clouds.

I mowed my grass and worked in my yard planting bulbs and seeds and just puttering around all day Saturday.

It is strange how the weather affects ones mood. I feel full of energy and happy. I might even take a chance and wash the car this week!

I need to do some house cleaning but missed spring here so I guess it will be summer house cleaning. Closets, drawers, tops of tall furniture, ceilings and ceiling fans, silk flowers and blinds. 

I am getting ready to go to Las Vegas in three weeks to meet up with my oldest Son and visit my granddaughters and great granddaughter. Then we are driving to Temecula, CA to attend my youngest Son's graduation from Seminary. This has been his life's dream and after years of hard work and dedication he will graduate. Then the suspension will begin as we wait to see what church will call him to pastor. It might be far away or it might be in the same state. He won't know until they call. He has several on the list waiting for him to graduate. The one he is most interested in is in West Virginia. That is far far away but I will just have to plan a trip to where ever he is because I will miss him too much. 

As one of the administrators of Digital Whisper I have been asked to create a page for a magazine we are publishing. It will be an article titled "What is an ATC"? I also did an interview with one of the DW artists for the magazine. I must say it was a challenge because I do not know anything about a "clipping mask" in Photoshop and the corners of the pages had to be rounded. I still don't know if I get it but it is complete and ready for publication in June. I have been asked to create the magazine cover for the next issue coming out in the Fall. I love Digital Whisper because there I am always learning.

So that is what has been going on around here. What have you been up to?

Have a wonderful Summer!

 

We have lost another American Icon

I am so sad to hear that Dick Clark has passed away
He was a big part of my teenage years .
I was just thinking of him last week and now today I read he is gone.
BUT never forgotten
You will be misssed

Dick Clark, the ever-youthful television host and tireless entrepreneur who helped bring rock ‘n’ roll into the mainstream on American Bandstand, and later produced and hosted a vast range of programming from game shows to the year-end countdown from Times Square on New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, has died. He was 82.Spokesman Paul Shefrin said Clark had a heart attack Wednesday morning at Saint John’s hospital in Santa Monica, a day after he was admitted for an outpatient procedure. Clark had continued performing even after he suffered a stroke in 2004 that affected his ability to speak and walk.

Long dubbed “the world’s oldest teenager” because of his boyish appearance, Clark bridged the rebellious new music scene and traditional show business, and equally comfortable whether chatting about music with Sam Cooke or bantering with Ed McMahon about TV bloopers. He thrived as the founder of Dick Clark Productions, supplying movies, game and music shows, beauty contests and more to TV. Among his credits: The $25,000 Pyramid, TV’s Bloopers and Practical Jokes and the American Music Awards.

(PHOTOS: Remembering Dick Clark)

For a time in the 1980s, he had shows on all three networks and was listed among the Forbes 400 of wealthiest Americans. Clark also was part of radio as partner in the United Stations Radio Network, which provided programs — including Clark’s — to thousands of stations.

“There’s hardly any segment of the population that doesn’t see what I do,” Clark told The Associated Press in a 1985 interview. “It can be embarrassing. People come up to me and say, ‘I love your show,’ and I have no idea which one they’re talking about.”

The original American Bandstand was one of network TV’s longest-running series as part of ABC’s daytime lineup from 1957 to 1987. It later aired for a year in syndication and briefly on the USA Network. Over the years, it introduced stars ranging from Buddy Holly to Madonna. The show’s status as an American cultural institution was solidified when Clark donated Bandstand‘s original podium and backdrop to the Smithsonian Institution.

Clark joined Bandstand in 1956 after Bob Horn, who’d been the host since its 1952 debut, was fired. Under Clark’s guidance, it went from a local Philadelphia show to a national phenomenon.

“I played records, the kids danced, and America watched,” was how Clark once described the series’ simplicity. In his 1958 hit “Sweet Little Sixteen,” Chuck Berry sang that “they’ll be rocking on Bandstand, Philadelphia, P-A.”

As a host, he had the smooth delivery of a seasoned radio announcer. As a producer, he had an ear for a hit record. He also knew how to make wary adults welcome this odd new breed of music in their homes.

(LIST: 15 Best Game Show Hosts)

Clark endured accusations that he was in with the squares, with critic Lester Bangs defining Bandstand as “a leggily acceptable euphemism of the teenage experience.” In a 1985 interview, Clark acknowledged the complaints. “But I knew at the time that if we didn’t make the presentation to the older generation palatable, it could kill it. So along with Little Richard and Chuck Berry and the Platters and the Crows and the Jayhawks … the boys wore coats and ties and the girls combed their hair and they all looked like sweet little kids into a high school dance,” he said.

But Clark defended pop artists and artistic freedom, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame said in an online biography of the 1993 inductee. He helped give black artists their due by playing original R&B recordings instead of cover versions by white performers, and he condemned censorship.

His stroke in December 2004 forced him to miss his annual appearance on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. He returned the following year and, although his speech at times was difficult to understand, many praised his bravery, including other stroke victims.

Still speaking with difficulty, he continued taking part in his New Year’s shows, though in a diminished role. Ryan Seacrest became the main host.

“I’m just thankful I’m still able to enjoy this once-a-year treat,” he told The Associated Press by e-mail in December 2008 as another New Year’s Eve approached.

(MORE: Dick Clark’s Still Got It: Ringing in the New Year, NYC Style)

He was honored at the Emmy Awards in 2006, telling the crowd: “I have accomplished my childhood dream, to be in show business. Everybody should be so lucky to have their dreams come true. I’ve been truly blessed.”He was born Richard Wagstaff Clark in Mount Vernon, N.Y., in 1929. His father, Richard Augustus Clark, was a sales manager who worked in radio.

Clark idolized his athletic older brother, Bradley, who was killed in World War II. In his 1976 autobiography, Rock, Roll & Remember, Clark recalled how radio helped ease his loneliness and turned him into a fan of Steve Allen, Arthur Godfrey and other popular hosts

From Godfrey, he said, he learned that “a radio announcer does not talk to ‘those of you out there in radio land’; a radio announcer talks to me as an individual.”

Clark began his career in the mailroom of a Utica, N.Y., radio station in 1945. By age 26, he was a broadcasting veteran, with nine years’ experience on radio and TV stations in Syracuse and Utica, N.Y., and Philadelphia. He held a bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University. While in Philadelphia, Clark befriended McMahon, who later credited Clark for introducing him to his future Tonight Show boss, Johnny Carson.

In the 1960s, American Bandstand moved from black-and-white to color, from weekday broadcasts to once-a-week Saturday shows and from Philadelphia to Los Angeles. Although its influence started to ebb, it still featured some of the biggest stars of each decade, whether Janis Joplin, the Jackson 5, Talking Heads or Prince. But Clark never did book two of rock’s iconic groups, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Elvis Presley also never performed, although Clark managed an on-air telephone interview while Presley was in the Army.

When Michael Jackson died in June 2009, Clark recalled working with him since he was a child, adding, “of all the thousands of entertainers I have worked with, Michael was THE most outstanding. Many have tried and will try to copy him, but his talent will never be matched.”

(MORE: Philly Fifties: Rock ‘n Radio)

Clark kept more than records spinning with his Dick Clark Productions. Its credits included the Academy of Country Music and Golden Globe awards; TV movies including the Emmy-winning The Woman Who Willed a Miracle (1984), the $25,000 Pyramid game show and the 1985 film Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins. Clark himself made a cameo on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and a dramatic appearance as a witness on the original Perry Mason. He was an involuntary part of Michael Moore’s Academy Award-winning Bowling for Columbine, in which Clark is seen brushing off Moore as the filmmaker confronts him about working conditions at a restaurant owned by Clark. In 1974, at ABC’s request, Clark created the American Music Awards after the network lost the broadcast rights to the Grammy Awards.

He was also an author, with Dick Clark’s American Bandstand and such self-help books as Dick Clark’s Program for Success in Your Business and Personal Life and Looking Great, Staying Young. His unchanging looks inspired a joke in Peggy Sue Gets Married, the 1986 comedy starring Kathleen Turner as an unhappy wife and mother transported back to 1960. Watching Clark on a black and white TV set, she shakes her head in amazement, “Look at that man, he never ages.”

Clark’s clean-cut image survived a music industry scandal. In 1960, during a congressional investigation of “payola” or bribery in the record and radio industry, Clark was called on to testify.

He was cleared of any suspicions but was required by ABC to divest himself of record-company interests to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest. The demand cost him $8 million, Clark once estimated. His holdings included partial ownership of Swan Records, which later released the first U.S. version of the Beatles’ smash “She Loves You.”

In 2004, Clark announced plans for a revamped version of American Bandstand. The show, produced with American Idol creator Simon Fuller, was to feature a host other than Clark.

He was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 1994 and served as spokesman for the American Association of Diabetes Educators.

Clark, twice divorced, had a son, Richard Augustus II, with first wife Barbara Mallery and two children, Duane and Cindy, with second wife Loretta Martin. He married Kari Wigton in 1977.

Simple Elegance

These collages were created for the Simple Elegance Challenge at Digital Whisper

Look to the Heavens

Simply Elegant

Filters and brushes and layovers were used to make them

Pizza Pot Pie and Nutella Ravoli ?

Yeah !!
Remember when I said I was going to stop staying up late and get to bed earlier.
Well I have kept my resolution and found that it is pretty neat.

I have more time to fix some of those wonderful dishes I see on the Food Network.
I leave my office at around 3:30 so I can get to my Zumba class at 4PM.
I come home and start dinner and then enjoy some TV with my hubby.

I get to bed no later than 11PM, mostly it is 10PM. I wake up earlier and get started on my computer stuff like, email, blogging, my Etsy shop and occasionally Facebook depending on what is going on in there.

I feel better and find that all those hours on the computer were a waste.

Anyway I wanted to share with you what I fixed tonight for dinner.
It is a recipe from "Everyday Italian".

Pizza Pot Pie

1 cup chopped panceta
2 garlic cloves
1 small can of shopped tomatoes
salt
pepper

1 head of broccoli
1 and 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese (cubed)
2 large rotisserie chicken breast (cut in to small pieces)
1 tube of pizza dough
olive oil
You first put a little olive oil in a frying pan
turn the heat up to med high
add the panceta and the garlic, salt and pepper and stir until brown
add the tomatoes and simmer for 15 minutes

in a medium bowl
cut your broccoli flowers in half
add the mozzarella cheese
add the chicken
add the tomato sauce from the frying pan
stir until all is mixed well

you can put this in a large bowl or in to small ramekins

roll out your pizza dough and put on the top of the dish
make a slit in the center of the dough
brush the crust with olive oil and then dust with Parmesan cheese

Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes
This is a great way to get the kids to eat broccoli !

Nutella Ravioli

vegetable oil
1 Package of Won Tons
1 Jar of Nutella
2 Eggs
Sugar

Heat your oil in a frying pan

make an egg wash and brush each edge of your won ton
add a dollop of Neutella to the center of each won ton and fold over in a triangle and press the edges together.
Drop the won ton in the hot oil and fry until golden brown, approx 4 minutes
remove the won ton and place on a paper towel. Sprinkle sugar on top while hot.


These little goodies are easy to make and you can really put anything inside!

HAPPY EASTER

In your Easter bonnet,
with all the frills upon it,
You'll be the grandest lady in the Easter Parade.

My Mother sang this to me every Easter Morning of her life.

Happy Easter to all my wonderful friends and family. Have a wonderful Easter dinner and fun with the Easter Egg Hunt and fixing those Easter Baskets but

Let us not forget the true meaning of Easter.

Jesus died a horrible death for OUR sins

He has risen. Praise God!

Rain Rain Go Away !!!

I can't believe that it is the second of April and we are still being rained on day and night.
We have had a very few sun breaks since February. Rain, snow, sleet, hail, wind and more rain is getting old especially since most areas are enjoying the wonderful spring weather.

I guess I should be used to it after 6 years living here but I have to say, I HATE THIS WEATHER!!

It alters your mood, keeps you from doing things outdoors and washing your car? Forget it!
For the past three weeks I have been wanting to mow the grass but it is really hard to mow in the rain. YUK!!

Seems like all I do is complain about this and I really should stop because this is the norm for Oregon and living on the coast is not as bad as the inland cities soooo...I will wait and wait and wait for SUNSHINE.

Hope you are all enjoying your spring :)