(Queen Carolyn, user of Pire Tools)

When I was an undergraduate in the art department at Georgia Southern, my sculpture professor, a guy from Tennesse that made custom knives explained that we would learn to use pire tools this quarter.  We would go to a junk yard and collect salvaged metals for a sculpture we would weld. We would sandcast an aluminum  item. We would use pire saws and other grinding and polishing pire tools to complete an alabaster piece. We would produce a plaster totem-like column for the front courtyard. It required pire tools to construct the mold. 

I was excited and fascinated.  I leaned forward and asked a classmate that perched on a metal stool beside me, ” Hey. What’s a Pire tool?” Well, I suppose you might have figured it out.  I had no hands-on exposure to such tools and so POWER tools was a translation that I had to let sink in.  Wow. POW-er tools.

I don’t know lots of women that own their own power tools. Thankfully, I do know one and she just happens to be a dear friend, God-mother to my princesses  and  regal in every way.  As November slams to a close, I was feeling the crush of the Christmas demands edging their way around the corner, going faster than is safe for a really sharp curve. Hey, we are heading head-on into full throttle holiday time and I forgot to order my Mighty-Fancy Christmas tree from Honeydew Farms.  Honeydew Farms delivers a tree to your door, lets you select from 3 stellar choices. Then they clean cut the trunk.  Put it in the stand and position it it in your home.  Well, I lost the Mighty-Fancy order form this year.  Now I was going to have to find a time that my husband and I could go tree shopping, get him to put the thing in a stand and do all this simply, cheerfully and effortlessly, at a time when we both could be there.  Impossible.

After whining at lunch with Queen Carolyn, she calmly suggested that we should go ahead and get the tree and get it home.  No problem and no headaches.  Within one hour, we had gone to the friendly Snowy Mountain Tree lot behind Spanky’s. We selected, not one but two trees, had them tied to her roof and got them home.  That afternoon Carolyn came by with her little pire saw, extension cord and extra tree stand. Quick like a bunny, she clean-cut the trunks. Extra branches were trimmed off and trees were put in their stands. Not a curse word uttered. Not a bead of sweat appeared, and certainly no unpleasantness.  That little pire saw was so helpful. I want one!  No, not really.  But it was perfect for the job and Carolyn was one with the machine while she finished off those trunk bases.  I know she has renovated many a house and it is different from dealing with baseboards, cabinets, moldings, and other stuff I would pay carpenters lots do.  I was still impressed and thankful.

MORE November Birthday Queens- Dennis fixing Wendy’s Royal do (Birthday November 19). Erica (Birthday November 4)and Carolyn. Emma blowing you a kiss, (Birthday November 5) (click) see Patty G (Birthday Nov. 2) below.

Queen Emma has said to me that friendships are like planets and heavenly bodies. Their orbits around us change.  Sometimes they are close to you like a moon, an up-lifting presence that shines on you, brightens your path, and shines through dark times.  They can be just like comets that streak throught the sky in a blaze of beauty and excitement and then they are gone.  Like Venus, a friend can be there, waiting for you to find them amid the scattered stars that threaten to out shine them or confuse the search until all the glitter around them looks the same.  They are there never the less. Finding the true steady light of the friend, enjoying the time you have with them whether they are close or not is the challenge.   Calmly, methodically you can find them.  Their orbit seems far away, but it really is the perfect distance for them and for you, whether you know it or not.

Every friend has a purpose, a role, and a meaning in their path.  I try to be accepting and enjoy the balance of these shifting planets, comets, and stars.  Allow them to give me joy and peace and see it all a part of the design of my life’s journey. I still struggle with the acceptance part and Zen of this orbit idea that can describe friends’ relationships.

There are times I really need a kind reminder and Emma paints the friends as planets picture for me so I can stop trying to force my own agenda on people. Let it be. Just let it be what it is at that moment. My goal is to recognize their individual value, beauty, and place in my exisitance.   Next time your solitary gaze searches the quiet purple sky for the marvel of smooth light Venus, the haze of the Milky Way, an exiting comet, or our own constant moon, remember a friend you saw today, a buddy that you haven’t talked to in a few weeks, or the fun companion that helped make you laugh many years ago.   The journeys, the orbits that our friends take will not always be close to us, but their effect on our lives is as beautiful as the glow of the distant stars and planets.

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY QUEEN PATTY.

(Queen Patty looking royal. Click)

While I was writing a draft of November’s birthdays post, I  looked for images of the birthday Queens.  I had so much stuff to sort through, re-size and change to thumbnails and pages. I am embarrassed to say my photo software is a wreck with scattered folders. I have many files with just one lone, pitiful  image and I can’t figure out how to merge them.  

When Queen Becky C told me she had not figured out how to print and download the cute pics I had sent her, I breathed a sigh of relief.  When you are as techno-challenged as I am, it can be an isolating feeling and to hear someone admit their computer challenges is reassuring.   I travel slowly around that dangerously sharp learning curve of the digital cyber-highway.  I don’t know about you, but I can’t afford to have an e-crash at burn.com.   Would the geek squad rescue me with the jaws of life?   I can’t figure out why my digital camera won’t work ever since I bought a new memory card that allows for more images. What do I do now? Put in the old memory card.  Problem with that is I lost the darn thing, so I resorted to 35mm film for a family birthday party.  So I vow that I am going to teach Becky how to retrieve images I send her and I will ask Queen Carolyn to teach me how to use an ipod.  It’s humbling. My problems with technology go on and on. I won’t bore you with the rest. Just be patient with me and with this site.

(Click) Friend of Queens, Kelsey, Lee Anne, and Queen Rhonda at the Mansion for Coronation. Queen Stacy at Alligator Soul for Cocktails and Fun.

Queen Stacy and Queen Rhonda have October birthdays!  Stacy celebrates on the 6th and Rhonda on the 10th.  You could give them a call and wish them all the Fun, Fabulous times Royalty deserves.  Drop them a card or cute little something.  Reign On and Happy, Happy birthday. 

Click to see the true image and the huge tree trunk that they jump with ease.

September Mint Julep Queens’ Birthdays
Queen Holly was waiting last year for Princess M. to arrive. Click to see her is all her glory. September 4

Queen Leslie - New horse and second home keeps Queen L very busy.
September 10th

Social Secretary -Tiffani is now married.  We need pictures:)
September 12

Click on image

Our only MJQ at large, Carolyn G spends most of her year away from Savannah in DEEEtroit.

 Click on image

Queen Carolyn G has spent most of her summer at her Detroit castle.  Her birthday was August 4th.  We all hope it was FAB:)  When she is in Savannah visiting her daughter, hopefully she can meet us for Happy Hour at Alligator Soul, August 30th at 5:30.  Reign on!!!

 Click for larger image

Happy Birthday !!! (Click on image to see them in all their Royalness.)