Phil Springer, Songwriter! (More Than Santa Baby!)

 

One thing that you should know about me: I have a deep regard for songwriters.  Phil Springer is a songwriter who will turn 100 years old in May. He has over 540 musical credits, the most famous song being one that he cowrote with Joan Javits for Eartha Kitt, "Santa Baby".  His daughter, Tamar Springer has written and produced a documentary about her father "More Than Santa Baby".  I am very pleased to tell you that you may go to a website and VOTE on this documentary!  Please do!

https://forms.gle/KDNYYfsRfnxiAmE98

The website is the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival People's Choice Awards. Once you see the form, type in "More Than Santa Baby" in the Short Film Category.  You might say, "but I haven't seen it!"  I haven't seen this documentary either, but I will! And I KNOW that I will love it, so I have no qualms about voting for it.  

I hope you have seen the video of Phil Springer playing "Moonlight Sonata " on the piano. Hey, it has 1.6 million views! I am pleased to say that it won a 2024 WEBBY award for Best Individual Performance. 

Here is Phil Springer's website:  Composer of Santa Baby
 

If you click on that link, you will also see a book mentioned: "The Last Legacy of  E. Y. "Yip" Harburg". I hope you know his name! He is the one who gave us all the lyrics for many songs, including all of the songs from "The Wizard of Oz"!  Yip Harburg and Phil Springer were great friends and song collaborators. (If someone is going through a tough time, give them a bag of lemon drops and hand write this line from Harburg. "May your troubles melt like lemon drops".  I am paraphrasing of course, but that is totally lifted from the marvelous "Over The Rainbow"!)

Look! This tree is in bloom right at our front walkway. Do you know what it is? (You won't win anything, just my great respect, if you know.)  Spring officially begins tomorrow on March 20th, but it already looks like Spring to me!

Please don't forget to go to that site and vote for the documentary about Phil Springer.  I will send a message to Tamar Springer that I wrote this post on my blog.  I am thanking you all in advance! You are all just the best!

 

Harriet Powers: Textile Artist (Quilter)

 

Harriet Powers was born into slavery in 1837 near Athens, Georgia. It is not certain how many quilts she made in her lifetime, but we know of two that have survived:  the Bible Quilt from 1886 and the Pictorial Quilt from 1888. Both are proudly displayed at museums in Washington, D.C. and Boston, Massachusetts. Just last month, a set of U.S. stamps was issued in honor of Harriet Powers.  I have a photo of the stamps above.  You know I had to buy myself some too!  I must admit a fondness for stamps. If you are new to reading my blog, look over on the side there, and you will read that I married my pen pal!  Yes, Richard and I wrote actual letters to each other for nine years. (I always tried my best to find interesting stamps to go on his letters!) Back then, all our stamps had an actual money amount stamped upon them. Now, the stamps that we buy are "forever" stamps and are supposed to be good, no matter if the postal prices increase. (And they do, very often!) Therefore, we are not able to use these "forever" stamps on letters or cards sent out of the country, we must buy the round "airmail" stamps that to me are rather bland.  Oh well! 

Before, I started telling you about how much I love stamps, I was talking about Harriet Powers.  You would not believe how much I have read about her!  I only just heard of her when a group of people were petitioning the United States Postal Advisory Committee to get them to approve her quilts as a choice for new stamps. (Did you know that there are folks trying to get stamps issued all the time?  No living person can be on a United States stamp and it must reflect American history, culture or environment.)

 There is a really great piece that I read about Harriet Powers and I strongly urge you to click on the following to read it!  Harriet Powers: Rediscovered Artist-Storyteller | DailyArt Magazine

I do hope you are able to see that! You will be rewarded with an actual photograph of Harriet Powers herself!  You will see that even though she dressed very neatly for the camera, she made sure that she wore an apron, no doubt made by herself! (You can recognize the sun.) In my reading about her, it seems that there is some confusion about whether or not she could read or write. I am thinking that she must have learned to do so, perhaps later in her life.  Here are some quotes from her regarding the pictures in her quilts, speaking of an eclipse," The sun went off to a small spot and then to darkness."  And of a meteor shower, "The falling of the stars on Nov. 13, 1833. God's hands staid the stars". Her description of the quilt she made of the Lord's Supper, "I composed a quilt of the Lord's Supper. 2 thousand and 500 diamonds."  

The imagery of her words!  How I love them!  At the beginning of this post, I told you that she had been born into slavery. Just let that sink in for a moment. Consider what her life would have been like, from 1837 until 1910.    Her quilts must have been very special to her. Harriet Powers is buried in Athens, Georgia. I read that in 2023, her memorial headstone at the Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery was restored. It was sponsored by the Women of Color Quilters Network. It is my hope that this post conveys my deep respect for Harriet Powers and for all who work with their hands to create beauty. 

Quilting! My own grandmother made quilts in North Georgia. She lived to be 96 years old.  My very own brother makes the most beautiful quilts! Did I also get a set of the Harriet Powers stamps for him too?  You know I did! 

I wonder what you think of my very colorful tablecloth I like to use at Christmas? One year, I placed all the Christmas cracker hats together and put an orange on top of them.  I just liked the colors! (By the way, Harriet Powers quilts were much more colorful. The ones that we have left have faded but they are still beautiful.)

Keep looking for beauty, always.   "2 thousand and 500 diamonds."

Harriet Powers' quilts leave a complicated legacy for her descendent | WBUR News

Golden

 

Well, the Winter Olympics are over, and I can't help but feel a bit sad. I didn't get to watch as much as I would have liked.  If you only had the basic NBC coverage, you had to make do with the crumbs that were tossed to you.  Apparently, the best coverage for US viewers was on Peacock, which we don't have. Never mind, I would pick up my phone and type in "Medal count" and it would display the countries and show the medals won by each country! In my last post, I said it looked as if Great Britain would win a gold medal, and they did! In fact, they ended up winning five medals- three gold, one silver and one bronze. Did you see that Tom Daley, a fellow British Olympian knitted Matt Weston a little pouch for his gold medals? (Tom Daley is an Olympic gold medalist in Diving AND a fantastic knitter/crocheter!)  It tickled me that in the video that I saw, Matt Weston had his gold medals in a sock inside his pocket! Ha! That sounds just like a typical Brit to me! 

Since I am from Georgia, I am very pleased to show you a video of Elena Meyers Taylor.  I hope you can see it! (She and her family live in Douglasville, Georgia!) She won a gold medal at the age of 41! She is the mother of two little boys, and I hope you have seen some coverage of her with her husband and sons. I find her story not only admirable but very inspiring. 

Alysa Liu won a gold medal in figure skating for the USA in a fantastic performance!  You can easily see that on YouTube, but you might not have seen her throw out the first pitch at a baseball game in 2025! I have that for you above! Hey, she put her own special "spin" on it. I love it! Her life story is also pretty interesting. Her father is Chinese and came to this country after organizing and participating in the student protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989. You may read more about her just here.

No gold medals here but I am happy to say that we do have pine warblers that visit us.  This bird is gold enough for me!

Hope you are all doing well.  There is a blizzard in the northeast just now in this country. I am grateful to be in the South. It is cold today (after last week having two days with the temps at 80 degrees!) but with bright sunshine, we consider ourselves lucky.  

See if you can click on the link below!  It is a cover of a Coldplay song. From our son!  I love it, I can't stop singing it.  

Golden!

The Hardest Part by Chris Guest

2026 Winter Olympics Milan/Cortina (Quelle Semaine!)

 

Quelle semaine!   (3 Gold, 3 Silver, 1 Bronze)

Et ce n'est que mercredi!

Even I could translate the above! This was on President Macron's Instagram post from yesterday, showing the Olympic medals won by France.  In English, it says "What a week! And it is only Wednesday!"  (The medals were shown as drawings, not in a language. His post was really a Tintin comic.)  

Have you enjoyed watching the Winter Olympics in Milan/Cortina? I have! All those young athletes with their dreams! It is marvelous to me. I do wish we could see more of Milan itself. It all looks so incredibly lovely. The camera has lingered on the image of the magnificent cathedral there. Have you noticed it? How wonderful it would be to see it in person. It is huge, the third largest in the world, I think I read.  Cortina is the area with all the snowy mountains in the background. It looks so beautiful that it just doesn't look real!

Ben Ogden from Vermont won the Silver Medal in the Cross-Country skiing sprint.  Last time this happened for the USA was in 1976!  It was great to see him on the podium, and he was "flipping for joy"! He actually did a back flip off the podium! Did you know that Ben Ogden is also a knitter? Yes, you read that correctly! You may read about it just here.  

Jaelin Kauf, an American from Colorado, won the Silver Medal in Women's Moguls. She is also a knitter! They showed her whole family with the knitted hats that she had made for them. Now, I know that most people only think of the physical and mental acumen it takes to become an Olympian athlete, but isn't it nice to see these people with other interests too?

Jordan Stolz, an American from Wisconsin, won the Gold Medal for Men's Speed Skating, 1000 meters. AND he set a new record! He did it in 1 minute and 6 seconds. Amazing. It was fun to watch; he shaved a second off his time right at the very end! 

It was hoped that the ice skaters from Great Britain would win a medal today, but it was not to be. Fear and Gibson ended up with 7th place.  (The Gold went to France, the Silver to the USA and the Bronze to Canada.) I very much liked their plaid or tartan outfits and the Scottish medley of music that they used.  The three songs that I heard in the background were: "I'm Gonna Walk 500 Miles" by the Proclaimers, "Auld Lang Syne" and "The Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond".  Can anyone tell me who is singing the "Loch Lomond" song?  I tried to research this but all I can read in the British papers was their consternation that Great Britain didn't win a medal!  (Never mind that, just pay attention to the music and the outfits the way I do. Tee hee!)

It is certainly possible that tomorrow (Friday the 13th) Great Britain will medal in the Skeleton.  Matt Weston is in the lead just now. Fingers crossed for him!  Isn't it amazing to see them just zoom down the ice on that narrow board beneath them? Their speeds are up to 80 miles per hour!

Now, I even love the Olympic mascots, Tina and Milo! 

I promise that I am not glued to my TV set watching the Olympics, honest! Our weather has warmed up very nicely and we have been able to get out and walk. For the past few days, it has gone up into the 60's! Sunny and pleasant, it is just right for us.

P.S.  Don't forget to tell me who was singing that "Loch Lomond" song, if anyone knows!

Snow Is Falling All Around (Break Out the SUET)

 

Last weekend we had snow and ice to worry about in the North Georgia area. Guess what, we had a similar storm THIS weekend!  We had been warned about it for days but the areas that would get the most snow just could not be pinned down.  I am thankful that our county only received a light dusting of snow.  Just north and east of us, it was a different story! My brother mentioned in a text that in Athens, Georgia they got 6-7 inches of snow. (My sister in reply had to say 6 -7! I hope you all know the kids saying 6-7 these days! What does it mean? Nobody knows!)  Anyway, what was I talking about before I started telling you about the crazy things that Gen Z is coming up with? Oh yes, SNOW!

There is a list of the highest snow totals ever recorded in Georgia, and I notice that the dates of Feb. 10-13, 1973, are there with Macon, Georgia receiving 16. 5 inches. I told you about that in a blog post! My Dad expertly drove through that severe storm on a drive up I-75 in our big yellow 1972 Ford LTD.  Click on the following if you want to read that post -  SNOW!   (By the way, if anyone is new reading my blog, our Dad passed away in February of 2019. He was just the best. You know how people think their fathers can do anything? He really could!)

What to do when you are not sure if it is safe to get out on the roads? 

Enjoy the birds!

See the snow? Just a light dusting, as I told you! It was like dust too, very unusual here in the Deep South, I am told. It was like powder. At the beginning of the storm, the TV weather map showed us we were getting snow but...no snow did we see. The meteorologist told us this word: "VIRGA". It means that the snow is present, but it is evaporating or sublimating in the upper atmosphere before it comes down. That is how I am explaining it in my layman's terms!

Birds puff themselves up to stay warm. Look at the cardinal above!

Of course, suet is very much appreciated by them also...

Birds are smart, they filled up on this suet before the storm arrived! I remember my Dad calling me one time and telling me that he knew we were about to have a big snowstorm because the birds had been in a feeding frenzy that day. He was right, of course!

You can buy suet very easily in the stores. Save the container and it makes a nice mold to make your own suet. You know that is what I do!

SUET:   2 tablespoons lard or shortening, 2 teaspoons peanut butter (try for no or low sodium), 1 cup of good quality bird seed with sunflowers, 2 tablespoons oats, 2 tablespoons corn meal.

Mix dry together and set aside.  Combine lard and peanut butter in small saucepan and melt over low heat. Mix well. Pour wet into dry. Stir to combine. Spoon into tray that you saved from the suet! Freeze for 2 hours. (It fits perfectly into a plastic sandwich bag.) Leave out for a bit and then, place in suet feeder. Note: not recommended if above 50 degrees.) 

There, that is the kind of recipe that you get from me!  

                

Hey! You know how people do these elaborate decorations on gingerbread men? I like to just get a toothpick and give them faces before I put them in the oven. (And each one has three buttons too!) The leftover over dough gets the circle treatment and I make a snowflake pattern on those! (Along with the odd tree here and there.)

See, looking at birds and making gingerbread men.  Life is sweet!

Oh! Of course, I couldn't help but think that with all the people staying inside due to the snowstorm that they should all be listening to our son's song! "Snow is Falling All Around" is the title of the post, and that is one of the lines from his song! 

"Home Inside Your Heart" 

There, I know I just had his song on here last month but doggone it, it is GOOD.  

Take care!

Camels and Signs

 

There are two of my blogging friends in different parts of the world and they have both had camels on their posts recently!  Camels? Yes, camels!  Debra from Edmonton, Canada showed us her amazing drawing of a camel. (She Who Seeks). Please go and look at it just here!

Patricia from Australia told us that she was in Dubai and purchased some bejeweled camel figures. She added them to her Nativity Scene for Christmas.  (Red Cardinal) You may see Patricia's camels  just here.

Okay, TWO camel posts, that is enough of a sign for me! Is it possible that even camels remind you of a song, Kay? You know it!

Ralph McTell is a very, very good guitarist/singer/songwriter. When his children were young, he made a FANTASTIC collection of songs. "Alphabet Zoo".  He wrote a song for each letter of the alphabet and had an animal for each letter. (He did 27 songs.  The letter "N" got two of them "Nellie, the Newt" and "Nigel, the Nightingale". You know your life is better for knowing that.)

Hope you love this genius song as much as I do!  If you notice, the background sounds like the kind of music that you could hear in the Middle East. Not that I have ever been there but hey, I have seen "The Ten Commandments" and since most of my knowledge is from films, it is enough for me to be impressed. Anyway, the thought of a very small camel bringing the Three Wise Men with their gifts, is such a lovely way to show children that even the smallest can do great things. 

Signs! Do you believe in signs? This reminds me of two movies. The first one is "Thunderheart" from 1992. It was directed by one of my favorite directors, Michael Apted. (I have written about him before!) Graham Greene, the actor who died last year, has a great role in this film.  (Graham Greene is a well beloved Native Canadian but he portrays a native American in this movie.) He tells the main character, "You had a SIGN!".  Now, you will just have to see the movie to know what this is about! The second film is even more obvious; it is the movie "Signs"!  It is from 2002 and was written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It is an interesting movie, scary but thoughtful also. Oh, and there are some good bits of humor in it too! "It felt wrong not to swing", is a line that my son and I quote to each other sometimes!

Now, I have never seen a camel but here is a photo of a cat, posing on a rock for Richard.  I hope this creature will be okay in the coming ice storm that is predicted for this area.  They are opening warming stations for all the homeless people also. It is scary to think of being outside in the temps they are telling us will happen. We will have several days that will not be above freezing, which is very cold for Georgia. Hope everyone is careful and takes the right precautions for dealing with the weather.

Wherever you are in this world, this is the sign that you should carry warmth to all!  My quote on my calendar today says, "If peace be in the heart, the wildest winter storm is full of solemn beauty."  (C.F. Richardson). 

Precisely (Ha Ha)

 

Some words just keep popping up for me and when they do, you know I have to share them with you.  I like to read articles from "The Guardian". I have been informed that I have read 267 pieces, precisely.  Since my brain is wired to go straight to song lyrics, you know that must have triggered those little grey cells to start singing a Beatles song!  "When I'm Sixty-Four" was one of the first songs written by Paul McCartney when he was just a lad of 14!  I wonder if he thinks 64 is so very old now! Ha ha! (No offense, Sir Paul, you know I LOVE you!) I found a very good cover version. Hope you like it as much as I do....

I said "ha ha" just above. That is usually meant to describe a laugh or a chuckle, but did you know it also means something regarding landscape design?  I watched a TV series set in England recently, which was filmed at a stately home. One of the characters went outside the house into the front garden and suddenly, there was a low stone wall. "Hey!", (I shouted out to my poor husband who puts up with me with great patience), "What's that called again?". I had discovered the word a while back but couldn't think of it.  Never mind, I did a search for it and found the word...it is called a "ha ha"! Originally built to keep out livestock, they were later incorporated into the landscape. It blended in such a way that when one came upon it, "ah ah" was the response, which became "ha ha". 

That is it, precisely!   Ha ha

We had some heavy clouds come in yesterday. It was thought that we might get snow, but we were advised that instead of the Metro Atlanta area getting snow, it would be the counties SOUTH of us that would see it! Sure enough this morning, we saw beautiful pictures of the snow on TV but none here. Never mind! Speaking of snow, anyone else see the story about the bridge in Hamburg, Germany about the tiny snow figures? The little snowmen/snowwomen were all along the side of the stone bridge and one mean person knocked them all down. The townspeople simply showed up and REBUILT them! I was astonished at all the different snow figures. Just delightful.

We have walked in all kinds of weather recently. It really is better to have sunshine, but the clouds and fog have a beauty all their own.

Hello there, blue sky! So nice to see you!

Hope you are all doing well these days. Take care.