R is for Royal Request

In light of yesterday’s post I thought I’d let you know how things turned out with my royal request.

Last night I called Buckingham Palace and spoke with The Queen.

Okay, I’m fibbing… I spoke with a sweet lady, in General Enquiries, who could easily have been The Queen - you never really know, do you - that accent can be tricky.

Here's how it all went down... 

I found this website called The official website of The British Monarchy and there was a Contact Us button. Really, I kid you not - it was that easy. 

Well, okay, maybe not that easy, I did have to press the Contact Us button.

Then, I found myself at a very interesting page: the Contact a member of the Royal Family page; first on the list was The Queen. Just like that!

Now, they do not accept emails; one must phone or write. 

So, late–really, really late–last night, I phoned. I hope I didn't sound tired - like right, I was way too excited... I was calling the Palace... who could possibly be tired. I'm tired now mind you.

I explained to the sweet lady, in General Enquiries–where they want to know what the general reason for your enquiry is–that I wished to obtain a photo of The Queen in casual attire as I wanted to draw a portrait of her. She, the sweet lady that sounded like The Queen, listened attentively and with confidence redirected my call. 

"Where?" you ask -  to another equally sweet lady (I think they have to pass a sweetness test to work at The Palace) in Royal Archives - not exactly the area I was looking for - but a start... or end to what could have been a sweet thing. 

I was informed that she, sweet lady number two, did not know who, at the Palace, would handle personal photos, as they were, after all, personal; she then, very sweetly, suggested I try CameraPress.com and RoyalImages.co.uk to see if they would have what I was looking for. 

Based on my quick perusal of their respective websites the photos are all of official engagements and not what I would like as a reference photo for my drawing.

She, still sweet and still number two, further suggested I could write The Queen a note and request the desired photo of her; so… I’m penning a note as we speak! 

Yes… I will write The Queen and ask if she, perchance, has a photo tossing about of herself sporting that elusive "I'm done with the crown for today" look that I might use as my reference photo.

I want to draw “a glimpse at the real woman beneath the crown jewels”. (I am borrowing said phrase from Linda Grimes, who left it in her comment yesterday - thanks, Linda)

Another Linda I wish to thank is not a blogger, but an off-blog personal friend. She called to enquire about another matter after which we discussed my “Q” post.

Sharing my frustrations with not being able to find more photos of Her Majesty in casual attire Linda piped up–like the woman in the know that she is–that I should google “Queen at Balmoral” - well… what can I say except, “Bingo.” 

Here's what I found following Linda's suggestion... 

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Doesn't The Queen have a beautiful smile - she genuinely seems to be enjoying herself in these candid shots. I have taken the liberty of cropping them as I would only be doing a head shot when I draw her.

Which is your favourite? 

What do you think, should I use one of these and just do it?  

Or wait… and see if another option presents itself?

Anyway… one can have a little fun, right! Life’s just too short not to go for it. 

I want to thank all of you for cheering me on with this project, and a special thanks to Martin, for the retweet - every little bit helps.

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Also, since we are on "R" I want to give a shout out to Ruth at Ruth's Yummy Stuff. (aka Ruth's Recipes)  If you haven't been by her place you really are missing some great recipes. 

I recommend taking a look at her Blog Archive where all the titles of her posts (and recipes) will be right at your fingertips. Tell her Jenny sent you!

I've been dabbling with wanting some wheat and gluten free dishes and Ruth has been busy helping me out. To which I say, "Thanks, Ruth - you rock!" 

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And to my fellow A-Zers - how're you all doing? Hang in we're on the home stretch! No quitting now... we've come too far! Right Al! Eh, Bushman... you good? (sure you are - you're rocking this gig) And Dani... stay strong!  

Cheers, Jenny

Re source information: all these photos were found by googling: “queen at balmoral”, “queen at sandringham”, “queen with her horses”, “queen with her dogs”. These photos have been copied and pasted so many times the original information is hard to find. My apologies to the original photographers - should you see your photos here, please advise and I will be happy to link them to you.  Jenny Pearson

Q is for Quite a Quandary

I need your help…

Last November I drew a portrait of a lovely young woman, from Ireland… she was going through a difficult time when her friend Matthew asked me to draw a portrait of her for her birthday.

I loved every pencil stroke that went into my finished piece; I rediscovered a passion I had long forgotten.

As the months have passed and my drawing continues I am looking for another subject.

Well… that’s not quite right - I have a subject in mind, but lack a photo that “speaks” to me.

I wish to draw a portrait of The Queen of England, Elizabeth ll.

Now, there are millions upon millions of pictures of this famous face - all with crowns, jewels and all the pomp and pageantry that accompanies being royal.

What I want to draw is The Queen in casual mode; the photo taken when she is not on duty, not on display; where she is The Woman behind her Queen persona; out having fun with family and friends.

Alas, these photos are hard to come by - hence I am in quite a quandary.

Yes, I have googled “queen elizabeth ll casual” and found this photo…

I like it, but I would love to see more of The Queen’s face.

Further, this photo is very small, only 82 KB, so I am unable to enlarge it beyond the size here which makes getting details very hard; not that I can’t improvise - I did with the photo of the young woman which was very soft in details.

I am bold enough to phone Buckingham Palace and ask what I should do in a case like this. I may very well be calling as this post gets published to see if they might oblige me with such a photo. (if I don't ask I'll never know)

However, it never hurts to ask YOU, my dear readers, if you might have in your possession a photo of The Woman behind The Queen… without crown, without diamonds and without duty dictating her expression. 

I would like it to be a recent photo, taken within the last few years.

If such a photo exists, and you are willing to share it, I would love to see it.

Do you have such a photo, or know of anyone that does?

Cheers, Jenny

P is for Pretty or Plain

Two little girls are out for a walk with their mother - one is pretty, one is plain.

They come upon a stranger who looks at the pretty girl and acknowledges her outward beauty with, “Oh my, aren’t you a pretty little girl.” Not so much as a word is said to the other.

The pretty girl smiles then turns to her sister and says, “See, I told you I was prettier than you.” To which she tosses her curls, puffs out her wee chest and exhales at the thought of being one of the prettier specimens on the planet.

The mother has long known the vanity of her “pretty” daughter is a problem and it is only getting worse. 

She shares this with a friend and the friend says, “Leave it to me. Bring the girls by tomorrow and I’ll fix this problem.”

The next day arrives with the usual fanfare of dressing for an outing to Auntie’s, as the mother’s friend is affectionately called.

Both girls are hugged and acknowledged by Auntie; not a word is said about appearances.

Tea and cookies have been set out on the dining room table and the “ladies” are invited to sit - one girl on either side of Auntie as is the custom at these teatime outings.

Today’s table setting has the addition of two gifts. One is wrapped in a pretty white box tied with a double gold ribbon and a very pleasing powder pink bow on top.

Source - Me!

The other is in a crumpled plain paper bag tied with a single strand of gold ribbon and no bow.

Auntie pours tea and serves cookies much to the frustration of the pretty girl who longs to know ''what is in those".

Auntie looks at the girls, “I have some gifts for you today.” As she says this she looks at the sweet girl to her right - the one often overlooked because of her plain appearance; she smiles at her.

“I will let you each choose one gift. If you pick the same one you will share what is inside.”

Auntie looks to her left - indeed what she sees is a pretty little girl with golden curls framing her angelic face - it is hard not to pause and drink in her beauty.

Without hesitation the pretty little girl reaches into the middle of the table and grabs the pretty white box wrapped with a double gold ribbon with the pleasing powder pink bow on top. 

“I want this one, you can have that one."

Auntie asks the sweet little girl to her right if she would like to have the remaining gift.

“Oh yes, Auntie, I’ve had my eye on it since I sat down. I find it very interesting. I wonder what’s inside.”

Auntie knew what was about to happen next was how idioms like "be cruel to be kind" took form.

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Moral of this story:

Do not be fooled by what’s on the outside… Pretty or Plain, it’s what’s inside that counts.

This is a true story, save for details that have been changed to protect Auntie and the girls - hahahaha!

What do you think was in the white box and in the paper bag?

Which would you have chosen... now be honest?!

Cheers, Jenny

O is for Ongoing Oppression

Busy day at the office.

Lovely dinner with a good friend.

Quick stop at Safeway for a few items on the way home.

Unpack groceries and do a load of laundry.

Then wait to fold.

It was in this ‘wait to fold’ mode that I flipped on the telly.

I’m really not much of a TV watcher - oh, I do have my favourites but if they’re not on I’m busy finishing a portrait - or… driving around looking for wayward telescopes and the men that man them. 

Tonight, while surfing through the on screen program selections I was intrigued by a movie; it was billed as a documentary.

I’m a fan of documentaries… so I selected its channel.

Towels and sheets were left unattended in the dryer as I sat and took in the story before me.

The show was called: The Central Park Five.

Source

If I had heard about this story I confess it was not jumping easily to the forefront of my thoughts - though it did ring a bell further back, in the shadows.

I’m not going to dissect it here - if it piques your curiosity I’ve linked to the story HERE.

By the end...

I was left feeling sad for us as a race - we really are cruel and unkind. I fall into this category too, so by no means do I cast a stone at someone that I am not dodging myself in return.

We all do it - even under the guise of sainthood and feigned goodness, we are, at times, unkind to each other. 

Out of this comes a story…

But… I’m tired, it’s late and I think my story will have to wait until the Letter R - just because.

So… was that a little cruel and unkind? - ah… such ongoing oppression must not be seen as a roadblock, but merely an opportunity for me to organize my thoughts of otherworldly orbs…

Did curiosity really kill the cat?

Cheers, Jenny

N is for Nothing New

Which then leaves me with telling you something old.

On Sunday, April 14th, I celebrated being a mother for my twenty-sixth year. Where does the time go!

Often I look back on the whole business of “yes, let’s have kids” and wonder what was I smoking - or, not smoking might be more like it - when I nodded in agreement. (as this was “his” idea)

If I had the ability to look ahead and see what was in store I would have realized the importance of marrying rich… or taken up with a band of really successful bank robbers.

Kids cost - and that is nothing new.

The basic cost of raising a child can kill any dream you might have had about owning more than the shirt on your back - really, forget about that Harley, the collector edition Corvette Stingray that caught your eye, the cottage in Cariboo country… which were all within reach when both of you worked and had only to pay for yourselves.

Enter the cute, wee, helpless bloodsucker - aka the fruit of your loins - and from then on in it’s a steady stream of intravenous cash sucking tubes attached to your wallet. 

Let’s take feet - my sweet precious has these amazingly slender feet (4A width), size 10.5 - beautiful longs toes and a high instep - great if you want to be a shoe model.

Try and find shoes for these gorgeous feet - okay, it can be done, but at a price. Since foot care was a specialty of mine there was no compromising when it came to buying proper footwear.

 Runners alone needed to be purchased every three months at the sum of $189.00 - that’s right. Try and find a runner that’s a 4A width and deals with feet that pronate. The running shop I dealt with wasn't interested in the liver I was selling - I did, however, get a discount when I bought two pair. 

Let’s move up to the teeth - yes, it’s the single mother that gets the child which needs orthodontia - but not just a regular set of braces.

Oh no, my sweet precious needed all four wisdom teeth removed. An eye tooth wouldn’t descend - it was stuck up there behind her nose - so there was surgery involved and extra hooks and chains needed to be attached to the braces to pull that rogue tooth from it’s hiding spot.

Then, god forbid I wasn't going to see sweet precious fulfill her dreams of working for Disney so off to film/animation summer camp she went year after year. 

Let’s not forget the backup plan, just in case she still wanted to be a vet, which every little girl that has a horse fetish dreams of becoming, I hired the best math and science tutor for those last three years of high school. 

So… as you can see I was a walking intravenous cash drip (aka the walking dead); my wants were on the back burner of that stove, in that cabin in the country, you know, the one in the Cariboo that I've been dreaming of since before sweet precious was even a thought.

- - - - - -

I’m happy to say - the pressure’s been off for a while... well, sort of... as a parent I’ll never really stop “being there” - but on February 14th I treated myself to a Valentine’s Day gift - and bought myself a shiny new car - ja, Das Auto!

Colour: Shark Blue - Nickname: Sharkie
2.5L VW Golf - Das Auto, with Das Attitude!

And… my house, which has been neglected, is getting a serious facelift this May (better it than me) and… just for the fun of it I’m going to check out that Harley I’ve been wanting since I was twenty-nine.

There’s a cottage in the Cariboo that I’ve got my eye on too… but that may still be a distant dream; one I continue to entertain now and then. (I did go in and get those dreams of mine off the back burner though)

The Cabin in the Cariboo

View from the Cabin in the Cariboo

Dreams cost… and that is nothing new - only now, I think I can afford a few of them.

Have you put your dreams on hold to raise your family? 

Cheers, Jenny

M is for Men and the Moon

Saturday evening I made a quick run downtown, in need of getting some mail off to a friend, I went to the main post office there.

And… since I have a new car any chance I get to hop in it and drive is welcome.

On my way back home I made a left at an intersection I pass daily - on the south side of the street (my right) I noticed a couple of guys (I’m big on noticing guys) and a funny looking white cylindric object which they were bending over. (yes, that caught my eye too)

I drove on, but curiosity got the better of me - I pulled a u-turn and headed back to check them, and the white thing, out!

Dobsonian

I parked and headed over to the group - whereby I got uber excited when I saw what looked like a telescope - a Dobsonian no less. (that’s what they told me it was called)

Well, I introduced myself and asked if they minded if I took a look - man, it was amazing. There in clear view was Jupiter and its four largest moons - I was totally taken aback at how close and how clear they all looked. 

I should mention - we did zero in on the moon also, which on this evening was sporting a playful cheshire grin - it was spectacular!

Okay… the men were good to look at too - but man, those moons, and that Jupiter - enough to give a girl goosebumps. Yes, yes, I am a strange bird - what can I say!

I spent about thirty or so minutes with the men, we chatted about astrophysics and astronomy - you know, simple stuff, and when my brain started smoking out of my ears I figured it was time to head home. 

Suffice it to say I am now looking at buying myself my very own Dobsonian telescope.

Does the night sky intrigue you too?

Cheers, Jenny

L is for Lottery Luck

Well, seems like one in three Canadians will be buying a ticket for today’s 55 million dollar lotto draw.

Source

If you live in Canada, will you be one of those three?

Prior to typing this post I was watching the evening news, it was giving this draw a little air time since the amount far exceeds the usual sum which is often under 10 million dollars.

What was interesting were some of the stats they shared: a person has a one in four million chance of winning the full amount or a share in the full amount.

Further, the news anchor stated, studies show that sixty percent of lottery winners go through their winnings in seven years - that’s right, seven years! Wow!

I once saw a show on television featuring lotto winners (or losers in this case) and what had happened to them over a ten year period. Sadly, the above statement is true; losses are tallied in more than dollars as families are destroyed and lives forever altered, and not in a good way either.

Yesterday, as I went out for a walk with Lucky (aka Wee Dog) I dropped into a shop and picked up a couple of tickets (one for mom, because she asked) and one for me - because I’m feeling lucky!

But then I always feel lucky - so I’ve already won! (remember my Life Lottery post... )

What would you do with 55 million dollars? 

Cheers, Jenny