§ I'm gettin' geared up....'tis near the season---

FRIDAY FRAGMENTS

FIRST & FOREMOST...I want to thank each and everyone for all the wonderful birthday wishes in the past few days. You guys, my bloggin' buddies, are top in my book!!! THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART. Y'all definitely know how to make this ol' gal feel really special.

The Super Bowl is over, I was pleased to have the Giants win. Very much so. But now....it'll soon be MY time of year for sports. Following professional baseball!! Soon, I'll hear the crack of the bat...see the home runs, and root for my favorite teams. D'Back, Rockies, Astros, and of course my all time favorite, the Yankees!! It's gonna be an odd season for me and the Yankees, tho. Jorge Posada retired a few weeks back. Not surprising because of his turmoil and 'bad' season last year, but still he's been with the team almost 'forever'. I love what he did, I just plain 'loved' him. Anyway, it's now coming up on Spring Training... and I read that the one time Spring Training ballpark in Tucson [one of two---the Colorado Rockies no longer train there either], the AZ Diamondbacks used to train in Tucson at Tucson Electric Park. But, I read that it's now had a name change...Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium [pronounced KEEno]. Tho, the D'backs train elsewhere as do the Rockies, I'm happy to hear that the bond issue that we passed when we lived in Tucson...that the ballpark is going to be used by the Chicago White Sox here and there a few times. At least the money spent decades ago isn't going to waste on the huge park. March 2nd and 3rd are the scheduled 1st games of the season. "PLAY BALL"

The Kino name as mentioned above is named after Father Kino [a Catholic Missionary for the Pima tribe in and around Arizona] - also he's connected with the history of the San Xavier Mission just outside Tucson on the reservation.





The "White Dove of the Desert"

The Super Bowl Commercials...well, at least the one I picked WAS part of the top ten. [if you want to watch the commercial, click on hyperlink & scroll down] But, the #1....so darned political, even NFL dropped it from you tube? Unbelievable. It made a statement. The corrupt American government, the people who suffer...the country in HALF time. Needing to go forth for the 2nd half and win!!! I kinda liked it actually. Thing is tho, it's really sad to have the need to use this time slot to make a political point so strong and yet it's all about ONE auto maker? It should have been more about the American People who suffer with no jobs, etc. etc. and leave it go at that. Another point, Americans know about the economy...they know HOW to be strong; it's the government that's weak. Top Ten commercials list here.

connected to: Friday Fragments [linked button found at BOTTOM of blog page]

PHOTO ART FRIDAY & Friday Favorites, mingled in together this week with Floral Friday Foto Memes


I used the photo of a church in our city -- one that is located atop Upper Broadway...on a bluff overlooking the Bay. This is the original photo - with that image, in my Paintshop Pro, I used these techniques:

"Define Filter"
"Edge Art"
and
"Custom"
"Frame and Texture"
"Gold Nameplate" *Corpus Christi* [in English: Christ's Body]
making it turn to a monochrome watercolor...





And then, this one that ties into part of the post below...



PaintShop Pro

EFFECTS used:
Pastel filter
Hot Wax
Edge Glow
Wrinkle Emboss
Color Adjustment
crop/paste behind frame
Gold Nameplate: "Luck of the Iris"






connecting to: PHOTO ART FRIDAY meme

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I was invited to join in on the meme --Floral Friday Foto, and with this blossom/plant being one of my favorites I thought I'd combine this with, of course, Friday's Favorites. You see, when I grew up in Colorado, my father, the man with the greenest thumb ever...had acres of flowers, fruit trees, and a vast vegetable garden!! One species of flowers that he had bordering his property lines, along the split railing fencing...was IRIS. Tons of colors in the Rocky Mountain Springtime!! Relocating to Tucson after Bud retired, iris did not grow well. And I've never seen anyone's yards around here in the sub-tropical Texas Coast have any iris blooming either. I figured it was too wet or something. But then, one time when we were in Lowes Improvment stores, they had bins of different patented iris. I spied a blue one!! I took it home an planted it. So far, in the last eight years, it's only bloomed once!! Then, Dawn, a blogger from near my hometown in Colorado sent me some iris bulbs to plant. One is thriving!! It has bloomed every Spring. As it is right now....PURPLE is a favorite color of mine, and IRIS is a favorite flower for Springtime-------








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and

§ He loves me, he loves me not....

FRIDAY FRAGMENTS

The February issue of MY TEXAS LIFE is online. Some 'hearty' recipes this month!! View by using the sidebar link.

What a terrific book I just finished reading! [THE WINDOWS OF HEAVEN authored by Ron Rozelle] So filled with a personal view [tho fiction, but based on factual events] on the historic Texas Catastrophic Hurricane of 1900!

Still, today [2012]....This event holds the record as the United States' deadliest natural disaster.

From the beginning to the ending epilogue, it was profound, poignant, and oh so intimate...an imaginary step back in time, and what the people of 1900 Galveston Island went through on the fateful Saturday in September when a catastrophic hurricane pummeled the area with destructive winds, rain, and the ferocious Gulf Waters and floods. Families, two orphanages, houses...etc. Background stories of the citizens' efforts to stay alive, while still the author gives a 'human' perspective of their lives. From the two weathermen of that time, to the rich and very poor. Outstanding!! And the epilogue [I rarely take time to read an epilogue]...but this book, I didn't want to see it end, it was that extreme...the epilogue has a modern day NASA weatherman traveling to Galveston and just viewing in his mind what it would have been like some 100+ years ago. I rarely do continued research after reading a novel, but this book had me online several days, searching for answers and images!! Read it if you can. It's well worth finding it and adding it to your 'to read list'.



















IMAGES OF THE AFTERMATH -found online

We tried CiCi's Pizza for the very first time ever... this week; not bad. I really liked their Spinach/Romano Cheese pizza. And their salad buffet was really cold, fresh and crispy!! Oh, and need I mention the dessert bar? Whoa...Boston Cream Pizza? Yep, according to Bud I should try it..."it's super"...as he goes back for seconds in that department, lol!! I had one slice of Pepperoni, the Spinach Romano pizza -one slice. A large bowl of pasta/chicken/vegetable soup, a huge salad with three different lettuces/red cabbage/baby carrots/grape tomatoes/red onion/black olives...topped with light Italian dressing and garlic croutons. Along with the salad I grabbed and added to my plate two garlic bread sticks. I had no dessert, but Bud made up for what I didn't take. He doesn't gain an ounce and can eat anything in front of him!!

Valentine's Day is coming ever so quickly! I love red, so this is another good holiday to decorate the home with hearts and love. I didn't do much, but had to have something: valentine's ribbon, glass hearts, ladybug hi-ball glasses, mice in love, and red candles [can't see the candles but the silver candle holders], and red shredded foil [all on the fireplace mantel], the living room coffee table, and not to forget the dining room table---


...the fireplace



...on the coffee table




...the dining room centerpiece

connected to: Friday Fragments [linked button at BOTTOM of blog]

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PHOTO ART FRIDAY

I took this image of a wildflower [sunflower] that I posted on my Monday's blog for Mellow Yellow and macro Monday---Making it aged newspaper. The steps I used in PaintShop Pro were: "pastel" 2] "colored edges" 3] "aged" 4] "picture frame preset" 5] aged again 6] then, added the gold title plate with "FADED GLORY" with these results:





connecting to: PHOTO ART FRIDAY meme


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FRIDAY FAVORITES

This painting has been a favorite of mine for a long long time. As a youngster, the image was framed and hanging on the municipal's library wall....it reminded me of my grandparents, even tho my own grandparents don't even come close to physical features in this painting--I don't know why, but it just did. Then, as I grew older and had two children of my own, I saw it again, and told Erik and Irene that 'once it reminded me of grandpa and grandma but now it reminds me of my folks, YOUR grandparents'. Well, just a few years back, Erik came to visit us from Houston for the weekend, and he had in his car's trunk a surprise wrapped in brown paper. When he got it into the house he handed it over to me and I tore the papering off, only to find that he found the print and had it framed....Keeping for the theme of Valentine's as I have with hearts and flowers today, I thought this would be a perfect time to share it. Of course, it's on the fireplace wall surrounded by the silver candle holders, I mentioned above, with red candles. The painting is titled THIS IS MY LOVE and the artist is Leslie Emery. Painted in 1950 [I was one year old]. It is a gift and wonderful gesture from Erik, that I will treasure, I hope, for years to come...




connecting to:




Further Reading:

GALVESTON TEXAS 1900 HURRICANE RECOVERY

From another site GALVESTON ISLAND FACTS, it stated:

The Cold Facts of the Great Galveston Hurricane
Estimated Maximum Wind Speed: 120 mph The official anemometer blew away after recording a sustained
wind speed of 84 mph and gust of 102 mph.
Estimated Storm Surge: 15 to 20 ft Galveston's highest point stood
only 8.7 feet above sea level.
The storm surge occurred at high tide.
Estimated Saffir-Simpson Category: Category 4
Estimated Dead: 8,000 -- 6,000 in Galveston + 2,000 in surrounding area (Some place the figure as high as 12,000).
Estimated Number of Homes Destroyed: 3,600-plus in Galveston.
Estimated Total Damage: $25 to 50 million (in 1900 dollars);
$500 million to $1 billion (in 2003 dollars)

YOU TUBE VIDEO OF "after" DESTRUCTION

RELATED ORPHANAGE VIDEO

§ Browser fragments...

Nasty cold took ahold of me big time...but things are looking better as the days wear down. I know it was wearing ME down.

A new Friday Meme has caught my eye, and I want to participate, so I'll add it below my fragments

I completed the book: "Secret Confessions of Anne Shakespeare". If you love fiction, imagination of an author such as Arliss Ryan [the author of said book], a bit of 'what ifs' and 'could this be possible, perhaps?' ---Yes, it's about William Shakespeare somewhat, [written in 1st person - by Anne herself] but the characters, both besides William and his wife Anne Hathaway, many others also surface in the book - filled with actors of their time in history; with a hint of lust for other men [Anne], and William's taste for taverns and being 'the talk of the town' good at what he does; acting and play writing. To be held in very high esteem was his goal. But did he actually pen the famous literary marvels? What was his family like? Parents, children, - his marriage?...it's all revealed in this novel. And if you are even into being a little bit of a history buff, and a shade curious, I would highly recommend this book. It's worth reading just to get to the end...ohhhhh, the ending - was outstanding; marvelous!!

I have given up on the threaded commenting system in Blogger for now. I worked and worked and worked on it...getting it enabled and functioning properly through my Firefox and Chrome Browser...then, the next morning ---**POOF**, it was all gone. I clicked on my own comment link to read and perhaps 'reply' to some ---nothing there but a white, blank, page. "Ferrrgit 'bout it"!! Too much hassle. I'll just wait for better results from Blogger's staff to come up with something that'll work properly ---on ALL Browsers. Even if it did work for a day's time on FF and Chrome, those reply threaded comments code NEVER worked in Internet Explorer.

connecting to: Friday Fragments [linked button on top of blog]




FRIDAY FAVORITES & Friday Photo Art

A favorite of mine is cardinals. I love both the real, live, flesh and blood cardinals [no, not the baseball team or the football team...the bird is what I love] and china cardinal figurines. The bold, bright, scarlet flitting through the sky or dancing through the tree limbs...they're so so beautiful. I have a small bone china collection placed on my master bedroom bed's headboard; draped with plum silk against the plum wall color along with the two pewter lamps [which have muted lavender lamp shades]. Here is one of them...




connecting to:



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"Anti pasto...presto...change-o "Fresco""....Then, for Photo Art Friday meme and the challenge, I used the same image of the cardinal and came up with this work of 'art' ---


PAINT SHOP PRO
steps used:

1] feather/cut the cardinal [saved] background effects mosaic/antique 25/25/72/2/13

2] on cut, saved, bird, I used these effects:
textures blue sandstone -blur 7 detail 19 luminance 15

3] textures asphalt -depth 12 ambiance 7 shimmer 4 smooth 0

pasted the feather cut cardinal back into mosaic background


When completed, I used preset framing chalkboard filling in with hex color #000000 then, wooden preset frame changing color to a matching lichen green and finishing it off with gold title plate.



connecting to: PHOTO ART FRIDAY meme


PS...I don't have Photoshop on my computer, I use only Paintshop Pro, so the textures on Friday Photo Art are not presets from the meme's owner, only from my program. I work with what I have; hoping that's okay.