Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Stamp of Approval, Beans and Birds

Today I read a quote attributed to Josh Billings, the pen name for the 19th century American humorist Henry Wheeler Shaw.

“Be like a postage stamp. Stick to one thing until you get there.”

Now that saying 'stuck with me' and I was determined to complete the task I began yesterday, and herewith present myself with an award:

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This award reminded me of when my sons were youngsters. I had given each of the two older boys a jar for the purpose of accumulating beans. When a chore was to be done, it was worth so many beans. The older son was not too impressed and his jar was added to sporadically, but the younger one worked to earn beans like there was no tomorrow. Soon he informed me that he had 160 beans. Now I'm sure there was some cash or treat traded for beans, but I don't remember the exact transactions, and neither apparently, does he. To this day, that particular son will say, "When I was a kid, all I earned was beans!" which breaks us all up because he puts on such a forlorn face. He knows how to play the crowd ;)

It was another wet day today, so I elected to stay home (to earn my award!)

Looking out of the window, I saw a little more of the Spotted Towhee... and a Townsend's Warbler looked in!

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Many Dark-eyed Juncos and a Robin dropped by, but I didn't take too many photos, because I had a job to do and was 'sticking with it'. ;)

I wonder how many more stamps of approval I'll earn?

11 comments:

  1. You are an inspiration, Glo! Not only did you succeed in your given task, but you managed to take a moment or two to appreciate the world around you at the same time. Those birds are gorgeous!

    I shall remember those beans ...

    P.S. Thank you so much for your generous (and constructive) comments on my poem. Much appreciated.

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  2. You get the Bliss Stamp of Approval anyday of the week, my dear. Love how you gave yourself a first class stamp, that really made me laugh.

    Yolanda XX

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  3. That's very good advice and I think you should always allow yourself to be distracted by birds, and very pretty birds they are too

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  4. I think that you fully deserved that stamp of approval, and will earn yourself many more!
    It's been cool and gloomy here today, but my post tomorrow is a bright and cheery one! Flighty xx

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  5. Wise words! I need to stick at one thing ... I never finish a job before flitting on to something else!
    xxx

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  6. Too funny. Stamps do indeed seem to be more impressive than beans. Your son lost out.. your gain! ;) Pretty feathered critters, as usual.

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  7. I'm sure you are benefiting from your diligence with the closets :-) That spotted towhee is very pretty.

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  8. I am so excited to receive all these lovely comments :) They're like extra postage on my stamp award!

    Caroline ~ Thanks so much for your lovely comment, and I was more than happy to read your terza rima and vote for it!

    I will have to get on with a new project soon! There are more closets to delve into.

    Yolanda ~ How lovely of you to come by via your magic spring carpet to leave such a lovely comment. I'm also happy to have brought a laugh ;)

    Juliet ~ Yes, it is great advice, and one that easily 'sticks', and I agree...being distracted by my garden birds is a must!

    Flighty ~ Thanks for the postmark impression on my stamp;) I look forward to seeing your cheery post and hope the sun shares some beams over there, as well as here!

    Kathy ~ I know the feeling of flitting from one thing to another ~ when you have lots on your mind to get done, it's easily done. Now I just have to keep this stamp image in my head!

    Hilary ~ Glad you enjoyed! I think they earned stickers, too, but the beans worked great until he realized that they were just that...beans! LOL He doesn't work for beans any longer so, perhaps it did him good ;)

    Nikki ~ It really is a non-stop task 0 keeping things tidy and organized and now that I have the time, there's no excuse...other than choosing to do things much more fun :) Yes, the Towhee has attractive markings and very red eyes (male), but he's a hard one to catch on camera.

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  9. I like the bean rewards, just remind him he could have been working for peanuts ;)
    You have my stamp of approval each time I visit, for I enjoy both your pictures and words. Mo

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  10. Thanks Mo! I will remember the peanuts when he next acts so ill done by! Thanks also for the kind words!

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  11. A quote new to me but one I will remember. Like the photo presentation. Thank you.

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