Decoration Day

A Soldier's Burial
by General George S. Patton

Not midst the chanting of the Requiem Hymn,
Nor with the solemn ritual of prayer,
Neath misty shadows from the oriel glass,
And dreamy perfume of the incensed air
Was he interred;
But the subtle stillness after fight,
And the half light between the night and the day,
We dragged his body all besmeared with mud,
And dropped if, clod-like, back into the clay.
Yet who shall say that he was not content,
Or missed the prayers, or drone of chanting choir,
He who had heard all day the Battle Hymn
Sung on all sides by a thousand throats of fire.
What painted glass can lovelier shadows cast
Than those the evening skies shall ever shed,
While, mingled with their light, Red Battle's Sun
Completes in magic colors o'er our dead
The flag for which they died.

My grandparents always called Memorial Day "Decoration Day." In trying to find out some of the history of the origins of this day I have read that there are over a dozen towns in the USA that lay claim to be the first to honor those who have given their lives in service to our country. Decoration Day was so named because the graves of our fallen war heroes were decorated on this day. Today we also remember all of those who have died in service to our country, not only on the battlefield but in our own towns and cities, our firefighters and police officers. Here in New York, it seems that everyone knows someone whose lives were forever changed on 9/11/2001. Time may ease the pain but will never erase the memory. We will never forget those who died trying to save the thousands who died in the towers. Heroes who ran in when others ran out.

Yesterday I watched this movie again. It was on HBO. I know it is on HBO on Demand again this month. I encourage you to watch it if you can. You can probably rent it if you don't have HBO. It is so well done and on this Memorial Day it is a good reminder of the sacrifices so many have made for us all. It is a good reminder that so many brave men and women serve and protect us now. May God bless them all. ♥ CS

Splat

This is how I feel today. I just want to lay on a big soft bed with a cool pillow and sprawl out and chill. So many things need my attention today. I need a clone. And a butler. And maybe a massage (achy fibromyalgia day, ugh!) But instead I will fortify myself with a glass of iced tea and a passel of wee beasties and press on. What do you do when you do when you are feeling less than motivated and you need to attack the list of things that need to be done? -C ♥

Gnome-body here but us chickens

...And maybe a Corgi or two. xo xo ♥ CS

Corgi Fur Can Save The World

Or at least help save the sea.

Corgi owners often joke how we wish there were a use for all of that fur that comes off of a shedding Corgi when they are blowing coat or during grooming. We've put it out for birds to make soft warm nests. Some people have even spun it into yarn to make interesting things. Here's a fantastic opportunity for everyone to help clean up some of these massive oil spills that are all over the news and happen every day. It is such a simple solution and makes sense. We shampoo because our hair and fur collects oil. The organization Matter of Trust takes boxes of donated hair and fur and makes mats or booms, which you can see in the video below. The fur absorbs the oil out of the sea. I can just imagine a few boxes put out at a dog show grooming area for exhibitors to put all of their brushed out and scissored fur clippings and then sent to Matter of Trust.

From their website:
"Pet owners: Fur, horse hair and wool is fine. Fur is curly which helps more in making mats. It does seem that human hair has less natural oil and is more efficient in soaking up oil. So, we are finding the sweet spot of ratio fur to hair! Pet hair doesn't have to be shampooed - but we ask that it not be filthy, please."

Some people get very creative with their boxes!


Here is a link to the recent article in the New York Times regarding this effort.





Visit www.matteroftrust.org for more information and complete details on how you can collect and send your fur for this innovative effort. CS ♥

Calling in the Marines

Some of you know that the past few months I've been struggling with a ruptured tendon on my right hand, an injury which I inflicted on to myself by rushing one morning and whacking it on a broken garage door while going out to the chickens. It has never been right so I had to have surgery to repair it last week. With some physical therapy my surgeon expects it to be fully functional and strong again. He knows I am an artist and work mostly in detailed miniature scale and I need my hand. He promised to take good care of me. In the meanwhile, I'm limited to what I can do by myself. For example, yesterday I needed to give one of the puppies a shot. Our friend Matt came over to help me. Matt was in the Marines and then studied to become a nurse. My daughter says that he is now someone who can give you your medicine and kick your butt if you don't take it. I believe he is also planning on becoming a firefighter. Any fire department will be lucky to have him. So lucky!

Yep. Sometimes you have to ask for help when you need it. Asking for help is not something I am good at since I tend to be somewhat of a control freak and I am much more comfortable helping others than asking for help. But so many of us, especially mothers, are like this. Don't you think? But I am getting better at it. It is easier to accept help when you need it when you have good friends who know you well enough to know when you need it, even if you are a stubborn ass like moi who thinks you can do it all by yourself. I am learning that it is OK to let someone help when you need to take care of yourself or need to heal. And that the world will not fall apart if I can't do everything exactly when I want to. Everything may not be perfect but letting go of some of that perfectionism is very humbling. And humble is good.

In the midst of dealing with my hand, right before Easter my heart was broken. My Corgi, Indy, was diagnosed with lymphoma. I knew something was not quite right. Even though he is no Spring chicken (he will be 13 in December) he was feeling lighter to me when I picked him up. You couldn't see it but I could feel it. I noticed that one day his face seemed a bit swollen. Thinking he was stung by a bee, I gave him a benadryl. The swelling went down some, so the next morning I gave him another and then put him on the table to examine him. His lymph glands on his neck and under his arms were swollen. I brought him right over to the vet and he asked me what I thought it was. I told him lymphoma. He examined him and felt it was as well, so we drew blood and he aspirated each lymph node. The next day his diagnosis was confirmed and we started chemotherapy. He responded well and within days his lymph glands were less swollen. We are taking it a day at a time and are hoping for remission. The last blood test showed that his red blood cells are rejuvenating, which is a good sign. He is tired and has a bad day here and there but all in all he is feeling good and in no pain and is happy and hungry.

Keep my little man in your good thoughts and prayers, will you? I love him so much and I know he wants to be here as much as I don't want him to leave. We are not ready to let each other go.

The day after my hand surgery, a big cold box was delivered to my door. It was from my friends Stephanie (Matt's mom) and Sylvia. Who, by the way I called on my way home from the recovery room when I was feeling no pain. They thought it was pretty funny (and so did my husband) that I was flying high before the drugs wore off. What can I tell you. I was feeling good. Until that night. Then I realized why the doctor had prescribed two different pain killers for me. OMG. I have fibromyalgia so I'm used to dealing with pain pretty much all the time. But this was wicked. I couldn't sleep for a few days even with the pain killers. But I did catch up on all the episodes of The Tudors (not for young viewers) on Showtime. Wow. That King Henry VIII was something else, wasn't he? I'm just sayin'...

Oh yes, back to the box. Inside were the most delicious chocolate covered strawberries. I've made them myself many times but let me tell you, these are really, really good. I'm a bit of a chocolate snob. It is my mother's fault. She only bought really good chocolate so I come by it honestly. I called the company to tell them how much I enjoyed them and when I mentioned that I would put a note on my blog they gave me this link for my Christmas Corgi Blog readers so we can all get a 15% discount! I have also put a box on the left side of the blog with a link so you can find it easily anytime. The discount comes off after you have added your item to the cart. Fair warning: these will call you from the fridge and you may not want to share.

Happy Friday, my lovelies! ♥ xo xo ♥ CS