Have You Thanked a Veteran Today?

Today is Veteran's Day in the U.S. It's a day we celebrate, thank and remember all the men and women who have served our country in the Armed Forces. My dad of course, is my favorite veteran! He served more than 20 years in the Army and had a wonderful career. He was commissioned into the Army as a Lieutenant in 1958. He had some tough tours of duty - the worst being Viet Nam. He did more than one tour there and although we don't really talk about it a whole lot, I'm sure it was life changing for him and every other man and woman that served. My family was lucky, my dad came home to us and is living the good life. He's an awesome man,courageous, kind and in as good or better shape now than he was when he joined the Army in 1958. I have some great pics of my dad in uniform but I can't figure out how to scan them. But trust me, he was one good looking officer and gentleman! Thanks Dad! You are my favorite veteran!

My dad reads my blog. He thinks it quite amusing that we all have our crafting space ~ be it a room, a corner of a room or whatever. I think he's been feeling a little jealous lately because he decided if I had a craft room and my mom has a craft room, he needs a craft room, too. Before I share his special space with you I must first tell you - my dad is a man of simple means. It doesn't take a lot to make him happy. A warm summer day, a book and a quiet place to talk to God make him about as happy as anything I know. But, I do believe his new craft room may run a close second! The shell of his craft room is the garage to my parent's home. My dad has never believed a car actually had to be parked in the garage. No Sir! Far better uses for a garage than that. Mostly, the garage is used by my dad for watching the world go by. If he had a very comfortable (not) folding lawn chair (which has now been updgraded), a fridge full of beer and he would count himself a lucky and happy man! Now though, since my mom and I both have craft rooms, that is no longer good enough. Here's his story - remember, we are Southerners by birth so we (and by that I mean, He) are allowed to use the term redneck!

A REDNECK’S CRAFT ROOM by Jimmy E.

A few years ago my daughter, Terri, designed and had built a wonderful craft room in their newly remodeled basement. It is beautiful and cleverly designed. When Thada saw it she immediately decided that she wanted one also. She developed a beautiful craft room of her own in one of our bedrooms. She and Terri do wonderful crafts in their craft rooms. So…needless to say old Jimmy decided he would like to have one too. Thada and I decided that since I am pretty much a redneck, and keep my beer in the garage, that perhaps the garage could be slightly modified as my craft room. I immediately went to work on/in it. It is still a work of love in progress but I want to share its evolvement with you.

One nice spring day a light rain was falling and I was sitting in the garage reading. I went to my garage refrigerator and got myself a Bud Lime to enjoy as I read. Much to my consternation I realized that I had no place to sit my Bud after a soothing sip…so I went to the back of the garage and found this lovely end table just sitting there gathering dust. I pulled it out and placed it beside my comfortable garage chair and voila, my Redneck Craft Room had its Genesis. Also in the garage, I found the cute seashell photograph of me and several of my family enjoying a day at Virginia Beach. I placed it on the table to give my room the proper atmosphere. To further enhance the “beach atmosphere I added a can of bug spray.
In the rear corner of my craft room I set up this cleverly designed home improvement area, complete with an early American cobbler’s bench with vise. Peg board to the rear is replete with various crafting implements that can be used in home repairs…I think! I'm not really sure as I've never been a home repair kind of guy. No matter ~ those shelves behind me contain various items including a variety of paints and stains (just in case I ever really want to paint something). As you can see, I am busily attempting to drive a nail into a small part of a boat I am building.
I hope you enjoyed this tour of my Redneck craft room. It's my special space and like Terri and Thada, I'm sure I'll be creating all kinds of crafty things.... right after I finish my book and my beer!

Thanks for sending me the story about your craft room, Dad! It's a fabulous space and you should be quite proud. Really, you should!

For all my friends reading this post - I have some awesome pics to show you about our Guild Gathering last Saturday to celebrate our love of Blackbird designs. But, you'll have to wait. Today is about my favorite veteran! Tell me about your favorite veteran!

Thanks for stopping by!

Peace,
Terri