The Girlhood Gazette

I just realized that it is March and this is usually the time of year that I host either a poetry or essay contest (did you vote on which one it should be? If you didn’t, click here to do so - but please don’t vote again if you already did). Life has just gotten in the way and I have not had time to organize details for that right now. I will (Lord willing) try to have the contest in April sometime, so be looking out for news on that!

In the meantime, check out the photography contest that is going right now!

I’m entering another i heart faces photography contest! This time the theme is hands… Here is a photo I took a few years ago. I really didn’t know hardly anything about photography, and yet it still remains one of my favorite photos. You can read the story below.

I had received my own camera for my 16th birthday, and we were out one weekend just doing yardwork, burning brush, etc. and I had my camera on me, as usual. I was out in the yard, and my mom was up on the deck off the back of the house, when she started calling me to come up and bring my camera. This little bird, which we later identified as a Ruby Crowned Kinglet, must have flown into the window and was laying on the deck, stunned. I took a few shots and then mom put on her gloves and picked it up. It didn’t seem nervous or anything, but just sat there, and I got this wonderful photo. After that it fluttered off and landed on my sister’s shirt and camped out there for a while. Apparently it wasn’t too badly injured because later it left. I love looking at this picture because of that memory and just because I like the photo - I like how the lighting came out, and the gray tones. When I decided to enter this one in the contest I tried editing it with Photoshop, and it looked nice… but I decided to go with the original photo after all.

I posted this photo yesterday for Wordless Wednesday. Amazing isn’t it? It’s not everyday you get to see a whole room FULL of harps.

Last weekend some friends of ours whom we had not seen in 3 years came up for a visit! Hannah, the older of the two, is an amazing harpist. I’d love to call myself a harpist - perhaps I can - but I have only been playing just over a year and am teaching myself. I have a small 27-string lever harp, which you can see to the right there. I am borrowing it from my incredibly generous friend, Raeanne, who is letting me use it until I can save up for my own harp.

Anyway, back to our guests. Friday morning we somewhat spontaneously decided to make the trip up to visit the Lyon & Healy harp factory. What a place! Perhaps it’s just that I am in love with harp that made it so wonderful, but this place is amazing. We toured the factory and got to see how the harps are made. Did you know it takes about a year to complete a harp?! Now I know why they are so painfully expensive.

After touring the factory (no photography allowed - sorry!), we were taken to the harp showroom, which was my WW photo this week. Dozens of harps all lined up in every size, color and kind. We were given a “salesperson” and a little room to the side, and any of the harps we wanted to play, they would wheel in for us! And we could play as long as we wished (it was a good thing we got hungry for lunch or we would have been there a really long time! ).

Hannah requested to play a pedal harp designed by Carlos Salzedo, a modern harpist. This is not my favorite harp from L & H for its looks, but of course I wasn’t going to NOT play it! The sound was just amazing and as you see from the pictures, it is HUGE, especially compared to what I am used to playing!

If you are wondering the difference between a lever and pedal harp, lever harps have - guess - levers on them, which allow you to play your notes sharp or flat. Pedal harps use - surprise - pedals to play flats and sharps, and you work them with your feet which frees your hands. You can play more complex music on a pedal harp, and they are much larger with more strings (concert grands - what I am playing in the photo - have 47 strings).

Below is a photo of my favorite harp. I would probably have to save up my whole life to buy this, but it was amazing to play it even if just for a while!

The harp I am currently saving for is a 36 string lever harp from Harps of Praise. Below is a picture of it:

Want to help me get my harp? Of course you do! If your blog needs a fresh look or maybe you are just starting a blog…or maybe you just need a signature to end your posts or a button; head over to www.PrairieRoseDesigns.com. Or you can check out the Maidens of Virtue Shoppe. You can know you are helping the harp fund.

Thanks for visiting!

Come back tomorrow to read the Tell Me Thursday for this photo!

Keep your eyes peeled for some news on a photography contest I’ll be having! I’m getting all the details organized and I’ll post here when everything is set to go. You can also check the home site, Maidens of Virtue, where I will post the full details.

I’ve been thinking I should do a photography contest because it seems like photography is very popular right now; at least I seem to be running into a LOT of people who are interested in it.

Feel free to comment and let me know if you think this is a good idea and if you would be entering! (By the way, all you writers out there - this is not to replace the poetry/essay contest I hold in the spring. This is a separate contest and I will still be holding the writing contest, Lord willing. Cast your vote if it should be an essay or poetry contest here).

Once again, I apologize for the lack of posting. Sometimes life gets in the way and blogging is not always my top priority!

I decided that once in a while I will do Wordless Wednesday as I LOVE photography and this would be a good way to actually use some of the photos I take. (Please note that my photos are copyrighted and may not be reused without permission).

And then the Thursday after, you can come back and read the story behind the photo - if there is one!

I posted the above picture yesterday for WW. This is my kitty. Her name is Gavana - fancy name, isn’t it? That’s because she is from Russia; she is a special breed which is (mostly) hypo-allergenic, which is important because both my sister and my dad are pretty severely allergic to cats! But with this breed, they are fine - strange, isn’t it? The reason is that this breed doesn’t have dander, which is the cause of most cat allergies.

Gavana is an extremely talkative, social cat as long as it is only the family around. The second she hears a car in the driveway she bolts upstairs and doesn’t come out until the company has left!

She is quite the goofball sometimes, as you can see from the photo. She enjoys sunning herself in very strange positions that look decidedly uncomfortable to me, but seem to be satisfactory to her. She gets in lots of trouble but we love her anyway!

Come back tomorrow to read the Tell Me Thursday for this photo!

I hope you’ll forgive me for inserting a little commercial here. Over at our home site, MaidensOfVirtue.com, I’ve marked down my custom-made boa scarves for the chilly weather season!

These fun scarves are warm and feminine and a stylish accessory to add to your fall and winter wardrobe. Hand-crocheted in a cozy homespun yarn in the color of your choice, they make great gifts or get one for yourself! (Or both! Hee hee).

If you are interested in a different type of yarn, like a chenille or chunky yarn for example, just let me know and I’ll see what I can do (this may cause the price to be different depending on the yarn).

Please feel free to pass this on to your friends and family who may be interested, or if you’re REALLY excited (as I’m sure you all are ) you can post it on your blog. Want that cute graphic? Here’s the code (will be deleted after the sale is over):

<a href=”http://www.maidensofvirtue.com/shoppe/boa_scarves.html” mce_href=”http://www.maidensofvirtue.com/shoppe/boa_scarves.html” target=”_blank”><img class=”aligncenter” src=”http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp160/QuietMom/boascarfsale.jpg” mce_src=”http://i407.photobucket.com/albums/pp160/QuietMom/boascarfsale.jpg” border=”0″ alt=”Photobucket” width=”375″ height=”200″ /></a>

“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn’t it?” 

- “Anne of Green Gables” by L. M. Montgomery