Q is for Queens, Princesses, and Royals

Okay, I admit it. I follow the British Royals. I'd like to say that I'm not interested in such an unimportant thing, but that wouldn't be telling the truth. I don't know if it's because they are a fairy tale come to life or if it's just because they have way better clothes than I do, but I read most of the stories I see about them.

I can tell you that Princess Kate (or Duchess of Cambridge, I think) shocked the fashion world when she wore panty hose during her trip to Canada. I can tell you that Prince Harry has served in Afghanistan and his father might be Diana's groomsman. I can tell you that the Queen rules the family with an iron hand and likes brightly colored, tailored suits. I can tell you that Camilla has always been Prince Charles's love and that he champions environmental causes. And I can tell you that Kate is due to have her second child any day now. Which brings me to my story.

The other morning Ward and I were eating breakfast. He was checking his work email to see what disasters were waiting for him when he made it to the office, and I was watching one of the morning news shows. At one point, the show did a teaser about how the hospital was preparing for Kate's imminent delivery. Ward poked his head up and said, "She's popping them out really fast, isn't she?" I know he didn't follow the details of the royal life, so I said, "You don't mean a third child, do you? She's only on her second." I proceeded to question him and found out that he had no idea that Kate was pregnant and ready to deliver the second in line to the throne. Not that he didn't know when she was due or whether or not she had morning sickness this time, he had NO idea that she was even pregnant.

And here's why I found that so amazing. This man can tell you every world situation and the backgrounds behind them. He can tell you the latest medical study and the pieces missing from the research. He can you about every presidential hopeful and their views on important issues. All of this means, that he does pay attention to what's going on in the world. It amazed me that somehow while he was paying attention to what was important, he hadn't noticed the constant stories about Kate's pregnancy. He said that he wasn't interested in that sort of thing. I totally understand that. What amazes me is that he was able to filter out the stories totally. (OK, maybe not totally. He did know who Kate was.)

Are there any others of you out there who didn't know Princess Kate is pregnant with her second child?
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And as long as we're on the subject of royals, a book recommendation:

The Uncommon Reader: a Novella by Alan Bennett

The is a fun little story about the Queen after she borrows a book from a bookmobile in front of the palace. That book leads to another and she starts reading a wide variety of books that change her views on life and the world. I don't know if the descriptions are correct, but it also gives an idea of what it must be like to be a royal and always on display.

P is Politeness

Polite or Not-So-Polite

When you talk about politeness, I think the first thing that comes to most people's mind is saying, "Please" and "Thank You." Those are the basic things we try to teach our kids when they are young and build upon that as they get older. While what people consider polite behavior can vary from culture to culture and person and person, I think that most would agree that being polite is showing respect to another person during your interactions with them. However, that doesn't always happen. I think we all have examples of the indifferent sales person as well as a friend that says something insensitive. I know I, myself, had been guilty of this from time to time. Sometimes even with the best of intentions, the foot gets inserted into the mouth, and some not-so-polite things come out.

Have you ever said something that you wish you could take back or had something said to you that crossed the line into the not-so-polite area? I asked a few people for examples of not-so-polite behavior and here are some that they gave me.

I was wearing drawstring pants and on an elevator when a person said,
"When are you due?"
"I'm not pregnant."
"Yes, you are. I see your belly button."
"That's not my belly button, that's the tie from my drawstring pants. I'm not pregnant. I'm fat."

My mother had a brain scan because of visual migraines and when it was over, the doctor said,
"You have a beautiful brain for someone your age."
"What does that mean?"
"If you were in your 20's I'd be concerned, but for someone in their 60's, it doesn't look too bad."

To a coworker, "You are thin except for your hips."

Cheerleading sponsor to high school cheerleader, "I can't get over how bowlegged you are. Did your mother ever give you cod liver oil?"

Now for one of my own unfortunate foot-in-mouth stories.
I was back at work after having my first baby, not sleeping well, and overwhelmed with the new parent thing. I was talking to a coworker who said her mother had seven kids. I said, "Wow, how did she keep from going crazy?" She replied, "She didn't. She jumped off the Mississippi River Bridge."

After she said this, I was embarrassed and felt horrible because I hadn't meant to make light of a very serious subject. But sometimes it just happens even when there are the best of intentions.
(BTW, her mother survived and was able to get help.)

So tactless and not-so-polite things are going to be said. When one of them happens, I always think about what my mother told me when I was in school, "Remember the source and move on." Then I try to remember the polite and nice things that happen every day.

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O is for Orange

I Spy Something Orange

Can you find?

--A smiling magnet holding up a "pileated woodpecker"

--An excellent biography about a woman who lives on and on

--The seed we use to feed real pileated woodpeckers and other visitors to our feeders

--Some candy we're saving for National Jelly Bean Day on April 22

--A tea kettle that helps with dry air in the winter

--Wally and Theo's sleds that are now used mostly to carry mulch

--The fringe on a classic flower of spring

--A book about a girl in a singing group with her sisters and who appeared often on the Lawrence Welk Show

--A fruit that would be hard to work into a rhyming poem

N is for Name and/or Nature

N is for Names

“I read in a book once that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but I've never been able to believe it. I don't believe a rose WOULD be as nice if it was called a thistle or a skunk cabbage.” 
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

This was going to be a post about names. How a name can affect perceptions and personalities. About how certain names are becoming extinct (Waldo and Zelma) and how Johnny Cash didn't like the name of Sue. Also, I was going to talk about the most popular names of last year (Sophia and Noah) and most popular names over the last 100 years (James and Mary). (BTW, the Social Security Administration has some interesting stats complied in this area.)  Then I was going to touch on crazy celebrity kid's names like North West, Apple, and Myrtle.

Next, I was going to tell the story about a friend, who after her divorce, decided to pick an entirely new last name--not her maiden name or her married name, but just one she like the sound of. And I was going to end with asking if you like your name and have you ever thought about changing it.

However, it was much too nice out to stay inside and develop these Name ideas. So I decided to go outside and do a Second Look and use the N for Nature.
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N is for Nature

Here are few things in nature that I saw 

this week during a Second Look.

This is the second set of daffodils to bloom.

This variety bloomed last week, but this is the first bloom in another bed.

The triple blossom daffodils are just coming out also.

Violets

Forsythia. 

The bumble bees have been swarming around the pieris japonica blooms. But also notice the smaller bee in the middle of the picture.

That smaller bee attached itself to the bottom of one of the bumble bees. I asked a friend, who raises bees, what was going on and she didn't know. Now, I've got the question into the extension agent. I've never seen anything quite like that.

This is the first bluebird I've seen this spring and I hope it builds a nest in the box. Last year it fought with sparrows for the box and the sparrows won. 

Female cardinal

M is for Model Engineering Show

Last weekend, I went to model engine expo with Ward and Theo. The show consisted of an entire convention hall filled with model engines and related things. Most of the engines were small scale, steel replicas of steam engines. Work to construct them was carefully done including making and casting molds for various pieces. They were remarkable works of craftsmanship and engineering. However, the expo did not hold my attention nearly as long as it did Ward's and Theo's who were also excited by the tools that were offered for sale. So while they were studying the finer points of gear ratios and vises, I took a few pictures.

There were rows and rows of various sizes and kinds of model engines.

Ward was interested in the Cyclops nail remover. It must be able to remove some pretty big nails because it was very heavy for me to lift.

An attraction for many kids (and adults) was this large course for remote control trucks.

There was also a lake for remote control boats. We were very impressed with these kids who didn't even dip a finger in the water. We commented to Theo that he would have been swimming in there at their age.

These men were watching a welding demonstration.

This was a working model of a factory where one engine drove all of the machines.

At a display of rings for sale, this man was trying to figure out the birthstone for April. 

This was a demonstration of a computer controlled milling machine.

This WWII veteran was my favorite spectator of the day. He quietly moved from display to display without comment.