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Monthly Archives: August 2012

Weekly Photo Challenge: Free Spirit

Posted on August 31, 2012 by bigsmileu1

Property of Grandmother musings.

 

Join the Weekly Photo Challenge. Every week there is a new theme.

New to The Daily Post? Whether you’re a beginner or a professional, you’re invited to get involved in our Weekly Photo Challenge to help you meet your blogging goals and give you another way to take part in Post a Day / Post a Week. Everyone is welcome to participate, even if your blog isn’t about photography.

Here’s how it works:

1. Each week, we’ll provide a theme for creative inspiration. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog (a new post!) anytime before the following Friday when the next photo theme will be announced.

2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “Weekly Photo Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ tag.

3. Subscribe to The Daily Post so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements. Sign up via the email subscription link in the sidebar or RSS.

 

Grandmother Musings 2012-2013.
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jamie Nowinski – Grandmother Wisdom/Grandmother Musings with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

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Pool Done Broke Blues

Posted on August 30, 2012 by bigsmileu1

It figures!

The last warm days of the year.

I’m thinking

One more chance for a clear

Day in the pool.

 

I slaved!

All week to get the water right.

Ran the filter

Every single night.

Stupid mechanical pump.

 

It’s broke!

The noise it made gave me the chills.

It was hot.

And not with passionate thrills

Darn, Darn, Darn

 

It’s sad!

What will I do with my time.

Labor Day Weekend.

The water will turn to slime.

I have to close it up.

 

Goodbye!

Got me through the hottest summer.

Swimming made me happy.

Our parting is a real bummer.

Until next year…

 

 

 

Grandmother Musings 2012-2013.
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jamie Nowinski – Grandmother Wisdom/Grandmother Musings with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
 

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Posted on August 29, 2012 by bigsmileu1

I knew coffee was a wonderful beverage that I must have in the morning, afternoon, or any time, however, I did not know I could use it for so many other purposes. This is a great article with useful tips and directions on how to use coffee for more that just a pick me up beverage.
Please be sure to visit the original post at http://theafterburnsg.wordpress.com/2012/08/29/wow-who-knew-all-the-things-you-could-do-with-coffee/

theAfterBurnSG

To many, that morning cup of coffee is a ritual — an obsession, even. A solid 80 to 185 mg of caffeine per cup can kick start a morning, and it’s got even more benefits beyond the jolt. Each day 100 million American adults drink the elixir that’s been linked to improved mood, a lowered risk of some cancers, and increased calorie burn. Think coffee has no place past the mug? Here are some sneaky ways to get it into any diet.

1. Energy Smoothie

When iced coffee doesn’t do the trick, blend some Joe in a smoothie. Try a “ban-offee” version by blending ¾ cup of cooled coffee, a frozen banana, ¼ cup milk (of your choice), and a touch of maple syrup for a jolt with banana’s superfood powers. Extra perk: The potassium in bananas helps to replenish electrolytes lost from a night of boozing.

2. Coffee Muffins

View original post 1,032 more words

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Spread Love Everywhere You Go

Posted on August 28, 2012 by bigsmileu1

“Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.”
Mother Teresa 

 

A woman I know has a terrible disposition. She often wears a scowl on her face and her body language screams, “Get Away From Me!”  People are afraid to talk to her or ask her a question in fear that she will respond sarcastically. She is an unhappy and unloved soul.

          This woman is trapped in a cycle of sadness that she cannot break.  It moves round and round, never creating the happiness she so desperately needs. She is lonely and fearful, yet does not know how to reach out to others.

          I want to shout at this woman and recite what Mother Teresa lived,  “Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.”   I yearn for this woman to know that if she would only love, smile, and reach out, people would flock to her.  My desire is for her realize that her negative aura only produces negative reactions.

          For now, I will just pray for her and love her.  I will smile when she scowls and laugh when she is sarcastic.  Finally, when she leaves me, she will leave happier.  Peace.

 

                Grandmother Musings 2012-2013.
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jamie Nowinski – Grandmother Wisdom/Grandmother Musings with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
 

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A Rondel : A Wedding of Two Souls

Posted on August 27, 2012 by bigsmileu1

Taken by: Mila Zinkova (original source)

On an autumn morning, with bright-colored cheeks,

She walks down the aisle of her life.

Her future stands at his side as his wife.

The circle of life begins as the priest speaks.

 

As her veil  lifted by hands that she knows,

The familiar flutter in her heart beats fast.

The gentle blue eyes of her husband slows,

As words of enduring love is asked.

 

Joyful music of celebration swirls around.

The dance of binding sways.

Molding two into one in a blaze.

The couple begins their life together bound.

Until their death and they are in the ground.

 

20 Lines or Less posted the challenge of writing a Rondel Poem, and I thought I would give it a try.  I used the theme of a wedding because that is what is currently on my mind. My son is getting married in October and the wedding preparations are being made as I write.  Only a few more weeks to go and there will be a wedding of two souls.

 

Rondel

A French form consisting of 13 lines: two quatrains and a quintet, rhyming as follows:

ABba abAB abbaA. The capital letters are the refrains, or repeats.

 

Related Articles
Trying a Rondel for the First Time
Another Challenge…Just for Fun

Grandmother Musings 2012-2013.
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jamie Nowinski – Grandmother Wisdom/Grandmother Musings with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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Gluten-Free Snickerdoodle Cookies

Posted on August 26, 2012 by bigsmileu1

My doctor told me that if I wanted to stop the constant stomach-ache and bloating, I would need to stop eating dairy and gluten.  I have been working on this for the last few months, and I have seen a difference.

Shopping for gluten-free/dairy free products is expensive and not always very tasty.  I decided to experiment with some of my time-tested recipes and see if I could make them gluten-free.  Here is one of my first and tasty tries. 

I love Snickerdoodle cookies. In the past, I used the recipe I found on the Betty Crocker website.  This gluten-free recipe for Snickerdoodles is a version of that Betty Crocker recipe. They are tasty, and they would make a great treat to bring to parties.  No one needs to know that these cookies are gluten-free. They are so good!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup shortening

2 large eggs

2 3/4 cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

 

Directions:

 

1. Heat oven to 400ºF.

2. Mix 1 1/2 cups sugar, the butter, shortening and eggs in large bowl. Stir in Gluten Free Flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt.

3. Shape dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. Mix 1/4 cup sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

 

Makes 3 dozen cookies

Grandmother Musings 2012-2013.
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jamie Nowinski – Grandmother Wisdom/Grandmother Musings with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
 

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TRAIN – Shades of Seuss Challenge

Posted on August 25, 2012 by bigsmileu1

Railroad Station photo taken by J. Nowinski

When he was a little boy,

My husband thought it would be a joy.

To sit on the train and watch the sights,

He could hear the whistle and see the blinking lights.

He rides the train every day.

He works and then he gets his pay.

Winter, spring, summer, and fall.

He takes the train to the mall.

The conductor punches his ticket.

The punch sounds like a cricket.

Clickety-clack, clickety-clack goes the wheels.

The commuter train serves no meals.

The people sit and then they stand.

At their stop, they all disband.

His train pulls into Union Station.

It is one of the busiest in the nation.

Work, work, work, all day long,

When it is over he joins the throng

Back to the train is where they head,

They go towards home and to their beds.

My husband enjoys riding the train.

Personally, I think he is insane.

 

Railroad Sign photo taken by J. Nowinski

****If you would like to participate in the “Shades of Seuss Challenge” please check out  20 lines or less and post a poem. Better yet, join 20 lines or less and post your poems, prose, and photographs, daily.

Related Articles

Dr. Seuss Challenge

Dr. Seuss II

Shades of Seuss

 

Copyright © Jamie Nowinski and Grandmother Wisdom/ Grandmother Musings 2012-2013.
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jamie Nowinski – Grandmother Wisdom/Grandmother Musings with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

 

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My Other Car’s a Porsche!

Posted on August 23, 2012 by bigsmileu1

This picture is a lesson in ingenuity. No wagon? Just strip down a Yogo and attach a horse. There is room for the kiddies in the back and if it rains there is cover.

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New Words in the Dictionary

Posted on August 22, 2012 by bigsmileu1

Photo by Tim Boyle/Getty Images)

You probably have heard it on the news or read it on-line, that the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary is adding its annual updated words.  Since the English language is referred to as a “living language” where new words are constantly being made and replaced.  In order to keep the dictionary up to date with all the newest words, Merriam-Webster adds 100 of the most used words to its edition annually.

This year there is quite a controversy on the words chosen for the 2012 update to the dictionary. The hullabaloo surrounds the word F-bomb because of it reference to the four letter F-word.  However, Kory Stamper, the associate editor for Merriam-Webster, lobbied for the word based on its usage and history in the daily language.

Other words that have made the 2012 up-date are:

  • Aha-moment made famous by Oprah

  • E-reader

  • Man cave – thank you HGTV

  • Bucket list

  • Energy drink

  • Earworm- meaning a song that gets stuck in your head.

  • Craft beer

  • Tipping point

  • Game changer

  • Flexitarian –A person who is a vegetarian but sometimes eats meat or fish.

  • Gassed – meaning tired or exhausted

It is amazing that so many words that start out as slang terms end up in the dictionary.   Do you remember when byte, hard drive, and the Internet were just computer geek words?  They, too, eventually made it into the dictionary.  It will be interesting to see what words will show up in the 2013 dictionary up-date.

References

ITALIE, L. (2012, 8 13). F-bomb, Sexting Among New Words In Merriam-Webster Dictionary . Retrieved from TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/13/fbomb-sexting-among-100-d_n_1774070.html

Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary. (2012). Retrieved from Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary: http://www.merriam-webster.com/

New 2012 Words Added to Dictionary. (2012). Retrieved from Squidoo, LLC : http://www.squidoo.com/new-words-added-to-dictionary

 

 

Copyright © Jamie Nowinski and Grandmother Wisdom/ Grandmother Musings 2012-2013.
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jamie Nowinski – Grandmother Wisdom/Grandmother Musings with appropriate a

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Night Owl vs Early Bird

Posted on August 21, 2012 by bigsmileu1

    

My internal clock is set for burning the midnight oil and eating midnight snacks.  I am not sure why I enjoy staying up late and sleeping in, but I have always been dubbed a “night owl”.  I think it runs in my family.  My grandmother would stay up late watching TV until the screen went fuzzy.   I too have been known to go to bed with the birds singing.

     The problem is that it is so very difficult to live and work in a world that demands that I wake up with the birds.  It is especially hard, after a long summer break, to suddenly wake up and live on a morning person’s schedule.  Coffee and lots of it is required to survive.

     Morning people are a different breed from Night Owls.  They enjoy waking up to the sunlight and have no trouble getting all their work done before 8:00 P.M.  As a Night Owl, I start doing my best work at 8:00 P.M. and the creativity is really flowing after midnight when those early birds are fast asleep.   Going back to the world that strives on daylight time requires enormous energy for me. 

     The phrase of “Thank God It Is Friday” has a special meaning to a Night Owl, because it means that I can stay up late, once again.  The alarm is set to off and creativity flows once more.  The hardest part is going back to the weekday schedule and falling asleep on Sunday night.   I am a night owl living in an early bird world!

 

Copyright © Jamie Nowinski and Grandmother Wisdom/ Grandmother Musings 2012-2013.
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jamie Nowinski – Grandmother Wisdom/Grandmother Musings with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

 

 

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