WE HAVE A WINNER!

We have a winner....This lucky winner of the Vintage Garden teapot said:

Oh My Goodness! I love this teapot! I have been looking for a teapot and have not found one that grabs me, this one just jumped off the page. I am in teapot love. Yes I would love to win this!! I may have to look at Princess House teapots. Beautiful!! Congrats on over 100 followers and over 200 posts! Keep on bloggin!!

May 7, 2010 8:42 PM  

 

The lucky gal is Linda at A La Carte!

My hubby carefully tossed all those names...fifty nine of them in a beautiful Princess House Lead Crystal Mother's Day Collectible vase and he drew the name of Linda at A La Carte!  Ignore the time frame on this computer. It shows 9:17 P.M. MDT by the time we drew and I got situated to write this down and then for some reason the internet is moving at the pace of a snail on it's last leg! But when I save anything to edit later it date stamps it an hour earlier! Weird! I also have my winning name locked into my camera! I need a new camera! Argh..I had some cute pictures to share! Darn! But thank you to every one who participated and remember the pink petal plates will be drawn on Saturday June 5, 2010 and the 050 hand blown teapot on June 13th! Get those postcards to me to so you can be entered in the postcard giveaway! My gift box is going to be so cool that I won't draw a winner til all the USA states are accounted for and I don't mind duplicates for your state! So far Texas is number one with 8 cards to me from the great state of Texas! .

Last Day For My First Teapot Giveaway

Tonight at 9:00 MDT I will have the hubby draw the name of the first winner of my Vintage Garden Teapot. Just leave a comment here or on the original post and be my follower. If you sent others my way you have received additional entries.

It is simple and I will make sure the hubby picks that one lucky winner at Nine O'clock tonight! My daughter had tonsil surgery Friday so I was suppose to draw last night and time got away from us caring for her! Be there tonight! I am sorry to have let you down last night!

Memorial Day by Joyce Kilmer

The bugle echoes shrill and sweet,
But not of war it sings to-day.
The road is rhythmic with the feet
Of men-at-arms who come to pray.

The roses blossom white and red
On tombs where weary soldiers lie;
Flags wave above the honored dead
And martial music cleaves the sky.

Above their wreath-strewn graves we kneel,
They kept the faith and fought the fight.
Through flying lead and crimson steel
They plunged for Freedom and the Right.

May we, their grateful children, learn
Their strength, who lie beneath this sod,
Who went through fire and death to earn
At last the accolade of God.

In shining rank on rank arrayed
They march, the legions of the Lord;
He is their Captain unafraid,
The Prince of Peace...Who brought a sword.

THE WALL

This is a tough post for me to write. It is full of emotion and sentiment and I had started it the night my daughters little dog passed away. So I set it aside and decided I needed to write it.

If you look at the tall girl in my header picture that is my mom Cecilia's cousin Hedwige. She lost her only son in Vietnam and today I will honor him and all the men and women who died in that awful conflict they called Vietnam.

James Louis Turner was born on February 7, 1946. in La Junta, Colorado. He died on April 26, 1968 at Quang Nam, South Vietnam. He was a Cpl E4 in the USMC.. His mother passed away on October 24, 1976. I doubt she ever recovered from the grieve of her loss. James began his Vietnam tour on November 22, 1967. He was a ground casualty  and his body was recovered. His name is on the Wall Panel  52E Line 25. Please visit his name on the wall if you are ever in Washington D.C. He took an assignment at the last moment, and the operations clerk who typed his order was the man who was suppose to go. For whatever reason God had he took James instead.  That gentleman  Ronald Campbell deserves my respect and my prayers as he is here and James is gone. But for reasons none of us will ever know we live and we die on God's terms.

I thought perhaps you would share a little personal history with me here. I am sorry I do not have a photo to show you. When the traveling wall came to Thornton two years ago I could not take myself away from it. I went there every day for five days and I walked the rows and looked at names and thought how many families were torn because of their losses. War is an awful thing.

Looking back and reflecting on Vietnam I say our nation was very disrespectful to those men and women who served. I could tell you more personal stories but then I would never stop to post. I just know many were hurting and our nation turned their backs on these fine upstanding men and women. They were sent there by a government who refused to stick by them when they came home crippled and depairing. If you do not believe me, come to my city and take a walk on the 16th Street Mall in downtown Denver. You will see dozens of Vietnam Vets lying in doorways, begging with handmade signs.

They did the world a great service and the world disrespected them.  My thoughts and prayers are with each and every family that lost their loved one in that awful war.

As always, when I am praying for God's perfect timing, He ultimately gives it to me.

"Those who walk uprightly enter into peace." Isaiah 57:2

Never forget.

Postcard Exchange Update

Ok Alaska and Arkansas! Why won't you join the fun? Delaware, I am shocked! You too! Idaho, Illinois, Kansas and Kentucky!  All the wonders your state has to offer and you won't share! Minnesota, Missouri and Montana! You are all no shows! Nebraska, New Mexico, you two are my neighbors! New Hampshire and North Dakota! You make me sad! :(   Rhode Island, you won't budge! South Carolina and South Dakota, why? Tennessee , West Virginia and Wisconsin cheese heads! Not one of you is willing to represent your fine state?

I am listing all the states that have a postcards or two or three! In the case of Texas, a very well loved state, there are seven! When you see the final goody box winner you will be sad :( that you chose not to join us! So please don't be left out! Come join today!

Those of you in countries abroad, I am waiting for you! Please come and participate! My list is so very small compared to all the fine countries all over the world!

Come join in the great fun! You will not be disappointed!

Alabama    1
Alaska
 Arizona      1
Arkansas
California     4
Colorado     3
Connecticut   1
Delaware
Florida         4
Georgia       3
Hawaii         1
Idaho
Illinois          1
Indiana        1
Iowa           3
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana               1
Maine                    1
Maryland               1
Massachusetts        2
Michigan                 2
Minnesota
Mississippi                1
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada            1
New Hampshire
New Jersey      1
New Mexico    1
New York        2
North Carolina  2 1
North Dakota
Ohio                 3
Oklahoma         1
Oregon             2
Pennsylvania     1
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas              8
Utah                2
Vermont          1
Virginia 2
Washington 1
West Virginia
Wisconsin   1
Wyoming  1
Washington D.C.  1

I have the following countries:

Chile 1
Mexico 1
Japan 1
France  2
Norway 2


If your state postcard image is listed here you still need to send me a postcard! If you know that your state is covered, cover it again! Be proud of where you live! Blessings to you!

The Touch of the Master's Hand By Myra Brooks Welch

 

 

"Touch of the Master’s Hand," by Myra Welsh

T’was battered and scarred, and the auctioneer
Thought it scarcely worth his while
To waste much time on the old violin,
But held it up with a smile.

"What am I bidden, good folks," he cried,
"Who’ll start the bidding for me?"
"A dollar, a dollar," then, two! Only two?
"Two dollars, and who’ll make it three?

"Three dollars, once; three dollars, twice;
Going for three . . . "But no,
From the room, far back, a grey haired man
Came forward and picked up the bow;

Then, wiping the dust from the old violin,
And tightening the loose strings,
He played a melody pure and sweet
As a caroling angel sings.

The music ceased, and the auctioneer,
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said: "What am I bid for the old violin?"
And he held it up with the bow.

"A thousand dollars, and who’ll make it two?
Two thousand! And who’ll make it three?
Three thousand, once; three thousand, twice;
And going and gone," said he.

The people cheered, but some of them cried,
"We do not quite understand
What changed its worth?" Swift came the reply:
"The touch of a master’s hand."

And many a man with life out of tune,
And battered and scarred with sin,
Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd,
Much like the old violin.

A "mess of potage," a glass of wine;
A game, and he travels on.
He is "going" once, and "going" twice,
He’s "going" and almost "gone."

But the Master comes and the foolish crowd
Never can quite understand
The worth of a soul and the change that’s wrought
By the touch of the Master’s hand.

 

Welcome to Spiritual Sundays. Please click on the button on my sidebar (right) and visit Charlotte and Ginger and thank them for hosting this uplifting Sunday post.

I think the poem says it all.

Maxine on Memorial Day