Becca Jane St Clair

Okay Harry Potter fans….we need your help!

My friend’s daughter purchased the item below to be installed at the head of her swimming pool. She was told that it is a prop from one of the Harry Potter films, but the seller didn’t know which one.

So, we need your help! If you can identify this item, please let me know in the comments. Please share this link around to as many HP fans as possible. If you have a screenshot of the movie scene, that would be even better. If I have to, I will sit down and re-watch all 7 of the DVDs to identify it (such a hardship, I know).

On to the photos:

Sorry for the bad photo, but it’s crammed into my friend’s garage and this was the best front on photo I could get. I had to hold the camera over my shoulder behind me to even get this much of it!

I was wondering if it was from the Prefect’s bathroom perhaps?

Any ideas please comment and let me know! You can easily share this post with your friends by clicking on the share button.

Thanks!!

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The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission. If you are not reading this on http://blog.beccajanestclair.com, my facebook page, or the RSS feed(s), please notify me.

[LJ readers reading this on the LJ RSS feed: Please click on the link at the top of the entry to go directly to my blog to leave a comment, as comments left on the LJ RSS do not get seen by me. Facebook users can comment directly on Facebook.]

I just wanted to thank all of my friends who have assisted Miss M so far. Miss M has now raised over $1300 in her Hysterectomy Fund!

Thank you to ALL of you who have donated money, crafted items for us to sell in PhoenixFunds, or purchased items from her shop. It means a lot to Miss M, and to me as well to know that there are caring people out there!

But…we still have a goal to meet. M is halfway to her downpayment amount, and of course, this does not include any of the actual costs associated with the surgery itself, the hospital fees, or any other fees. So, we need to continue to fundraise.

EDIT TO ADD: And, Miss M just found out that she is getting NO ASSISTANCE on the ER hospital bill, a total of over $8,000.

Please pass on links to my site, to her site, to the shops, anything you can do to help continue to spread the word.

Here are all the links to help M:

Her Website: http://giveneyestosee.com/blog

Blow-by-blow: http://giveneyestosee.com/blog/hysterectomy/

Donated items Storefront: http://PhoenixFunds.etsy.com
[FYI, we are currently having technical difficulties with our shop, please check back as we hope to have it up and running again soon!]

Her Storefront: http://PhoenixFireDesigns.etsy.com

Her Website: http://www.phoenixfiredesigns.com

Direction Donations via Paypal: http://tiny.cc/hysterectomy

Direct Donations via Fund Me: http://www.gofundme.com/hysterectomy

Address for mailing things:
Miss M. Turner
PO BOX 1484
Elfers, FL 34680
USA

If you’re a crafter and sell on Etsy, consider joining our Team and giving us an item to sell for M’s behalf. If you don’t sell on Etsy, but would still like to contribute an item for sale, drop us a comment. Alternately, Miss M is also fundraising through sales of non-arts and craft items on eBay, so if you have anything hanging around that might be profitable, I’m sure she’d be glad to take it off your hands!

I also am looking for other charities we might not have contacted yet, so if you are in the Tampa area and have any leads, please pass them on! I also have been contacting local media outlets in Tampa, so again, if you have a contact to share, please leave us a comment.

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The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission. If you are not reading this on http://blog.beccajanestclair.com, my facebook page, or the RSS feed(s), please notify me.

[LJ readers reading this on the LJ RSS feed: Please click on the link at the top of the entry to go directly to my blog to leave a comment, as comments left on the LJ RSS do not get seen by me. Facebook users can comment directly on Facebook.]

Do you use Google? Now you can add my blog by going to the google friend connect box and clicking “join” or “add”…right now I can’t remember what it says. LOL

Question: Does England have a Fourth of July?
Answer: Of course it does, between the third and fifth!

Today is Independence Day in the US, the day which Americans celebrate their independence from Great Britain. On July 4, 1776, the second continental congress approved the Declaration of Independence, having officially declared separation from Great Britain two days prior.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

It just turns out that my pursuit of happiness has taken me back to the UK!

Did you know they don’t call that war the Revolutionary War in the UK? It’s actually called the American War of Independence.

I am spending my day, sadly, alone, as Tim has gone back to his training. I DID order in some burgers from Tesco, so I’ll at least have a burger for dinner tonight. I have a sing-out with my chorus tonight, too, but I don’t think I’ll be able to get them to sing any of the “American” anthem songs. I don’t even have any fireworks! I originally wanted to get some back at Bonfire Night when they were selling them and hang onto them until July, but I forgot. I will have to make a note in my diary (US: organizer/date book) this year so I don’t forget.

But it did remind me of one of my all-time American campfire classics, the S’more.

S’mores are a barbecue and campfire classic in America. The melted chocolate and gooey marshmallow make for a tasty sweet treat after all that meat! In the UK, I understand that one thing people like to do here is take a banana and shove chocolate buttons in it and put that on the grill for a sticky, gooey treat. But I’m partial to S’mores.

Authentic S’mores are made with marshmallow, a graham cracker, and a bit of Hershey. All three are a bit elusive in this country, but we DO have marshmallows. Not as big as the Jet Puff ones, but they are marshmallows. Fortunately, my mom sent me a bag of American Marshmallows and I had been holding on to them for an occasion. The occasion turned out to be the first barbecue of the year at my friend N and P’s house back in April, but I was saving on posting about it until today.

For the cracker AND chocolate part, I cheated a little. I bought Chocolate Digestive biscuits so I wouldn’t have to worry about melting the chocolate. It worked well!

You will need, for each person:

1 skewer or stick
1 large marshmallow
2 chocolate digestive biscuits

And it’s quite easy. While the flames are dying on the barbecue, stick a marshmallow on a stick and hold it to the coals. Don’t get too close or the marshmallow will catch on fire! When the edges are crispy, it’s time to take it off. Now CAREFULLY pull the marshmallow off the skewer and place it on top of a biscuit, chocolate side up. Top with another biscuit and there you have it, an improvised S’more!

Edit to add: Ironically, I wrote this and scheduled it for publication today, and as I was going through Google Reader this morning, a post by Michelle at The American Resident caught my attention, as she’s also blogged about S’mores! How funny! So go read her blog if you want another way of making a S’more. Hers even includes indoor instructions!

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The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission. If you are not reading this on http://blog.beccajanestclair.com, my facebook page, or the RSS feed(s), please notify me.

[LJ readers reading this on the LJ RSS feed: Please click on the link at the top of the entry to go directly to my blog to leave a comment, as comments left on the LJ RSS do not get seen by me. Facebook users can comment directly on Facebook.]

If you live under a rock, you might not know that my favourite band of all-time is Canadian rock group, Barenaked Ladies. BNL and I have been through a lot since I first listened to Gordon in my (then) boyfriend’s car in 1996. I have gone on road trips, cruises, slept in my car, camped out, squeezed 8 people into a hotel room, driven all night, held tailgates, snuck into meet and greets, threw panties, bras, and monkeys, held up signs, wore strange antennae on my head, and wore cat ears for this band. Yes, we’ve been through a lot together.

fortunately, they DO tour in the UK on occasion, so I wasn’t going to be BNL-less when I moved. My other favourite band, Carbon Leaf, has yet to show up here. BNL was performing at Glastonbury and Hard Rock Calling and added two other shows to their short trip – one in Glasgow and one in London.

Of course, I don’t live anywhere near either of those places. When they toured in September 2010, Tim and I took the train up to Glasgow and stayed in an inexpensive hotel and hung out with the BNL UK crowd. I had decided NOT to see BNL on this trip, as I wasn’t feeling Glasto, I didn’t want to spend £125 for Hard Rock, and I didn’t want to get a hotel room on my own in Glasgow, since Tim would be at his training down near London.

Wait, did you say London?

Tim’s training was in Watford, which is actually on the Overground and Underground. On a fast train, it takes less than 15 minutes to get to London Euston. BNL’s London gig was at Koko, off the Northern Line of the Underground which even goes directly to Euston. And there were trains as late as 1:30 in the morning, too.

I decided to buy a ticket at the last minute and I headed down in the morning after letting a few of my friends know that I would be there. The doors weren’t opening until 7PM, but any good fan knows that if you want to be front row, you have to queue. Some of my friends were already at the venue when I arrived at noon, but I still managed to be eighth in “line”. We passed a pleasant afternoon in the sweltering heat, chatting, drinking, and having fun until it was time to be let in. And then, I had a problem.

Because I had ordered my ticket online the night before, I had a will-call ticket. Despite the fact that Koko’s box office window had been opened all day, I was not permitted to pick up my will-call ticket until the doors opened! My friends promised they would hold a front row spot for me while I sorted out my ticket, but they didn’t have any luck and I wound up in the second row, behind one of our tallest friends. Okay, second row might not be a big deal to you, but it was when I had queued from noon! When we were at Glasgow, Tim and I were about 15th and 16th to arrive for queueing and I wound up standing sideways so I could squeeze into the front row. The London crowd was not budging to let anyone in. I got upset and annoyed. I texted my friends I had been waiting with (because they couldn’t even see me!) to tell them I was stuck in the second row, and my friends Lou, Kirsty, and Liam were AMAZING and somehow managed to find me a spot in the front row….and it also happened to be center stage right at Ed’s mic!

The show was fantastic. Spot on. Everything I love about this band and then some. Everytime I go to a show, it feels like they personally picked songs for me, and this night was no different. Summertime, Blame it on Me, What a Good Boy…the list goes on. I was sad they didn’t play Jane (my blog’s namesake*!), but it was still a fantastic show.

What a Good Boy, as shared by Kirsty on YouTube:

Link: http://youtu.be/Fjx2rbIcbHU

Blame it On me:

Link: http://youtu.be/mmJJFWQ7hK8

Photos:
[apologies for the fuzzyness. The smoke machine made it difficult to take photos, and then I discovered I had a smudge on my camera. Photos taken with my Olympus Mμ 3000]

After the show, we hung around and I managed to get a photo with Ed, but I had to head off to join Tim at Watford….I wound up on the slow train, so I didn’t get to the hotel until nearly 2AM. Then, I woke up in the middle of the night with horrible leg cramps, so Tim had me stay an extra day with him.

*The girl works at the store sweet Jane St Clair. My first name is Rebecca, and my middle is Jane, hence, BeccaJaneStClair :D.

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The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission. If you are not reading this on http://blog.beccajanestclair.com, my facebook page, or the RSS feed(s), please notify me.

[LJ readers reading this on the LJ RSS feed: Please click on the link at the top of the entry to go directly to my blog to leave a comment, as comments left on the LJ RSS do not get seen by me. Facebook users can comment directly on Facebook.]