Two women with a story to tell

This is a picture I found in a purse from an estate sale. It was tucked in a zippered pouch. I was attracted to the purse because of its age . It, like the picture seemed to have a story to tell.

The two women contrast greatly. The woman on the right looks so young and sweet, and maybe a little insecure.The woman on the left is much older with a stern expression.

Or could the expression be sheer exhaustion? Worn out and down by a long hard life.

It looks to me, from their clothes the photo was probably taken in the 1920's or 30's.

Back then life was hard in so many ways. Washing clothes on wash board and cooking three meals a day on a wood burning stove.

I see the pain in her eyes too. Maybe from living a life that turned out harder than she ever imagined.

The young one looks like she has so much hope in her pretty face. But she also has a hint of sadness about her. Maybe because she knows what life has in store for her.

But in my imagination, I see her having made it, and having had a happy ever after kind of life.

What do you think?

Conaghar

One of my favorite films is Conaghar. It has Sam Elliot in it , (need I say more) and a wonderful actress whose name escapes me. It is about a widow who writes notes on scraps of material and ties them to tumbleweeds. Her husband has left to go get cattle and is killed climbing a ravine on his horse. She feels his death the instant he dies. She doesn't start writing the notes until a year after he has been gone. The tumbleweeds blow all over the prairie and Conaghar starts finding them. But she doesn't put her name on the them, she just talks about her loneliness.
For two years after that she runs her home as a stagecoach stop to take care of her and her two step-children.
That's when she meets Conaghar.
But she waits for things to materialize for them ,because she doesn't know for sure, if her husband is dead or not.During that time she is filled with a longing just to talk to someone, an adult.
She finally finds out that her husband was killed. She has grieved for him for two years, and decides she has to move on, and her and Conaghar finally get together.

Lonley old farmhouse

I like to take long rides in the country and passed this house one day. Of course I had to stop and take a picture. I got out and walked around the property. It was so beautiful. I tried to imagine who had lived there. Had they been happy? I imagined the long winter evenings spent in their kitchen reading by lamplight. Or maybe the huge family dinners they had every Sunday after church. The kids playing tag in their huge yard. I left after a few minutes, but still carry the memory of the lonely old farmhouse with me.

Mom's Picture

This picture has been my Moms since she was a little girl. It hung behind her bed and she looked at every night before she went to sleep. She said it brought her peace. It still hangs in her bedroom. She lived in a tiny little town growing up, not far from where we live now.She has told me stories about her life since I was very small. How her Mother had dug out a spot for a little goldfish pond, but before Grandma could fill it, Mom took it over. She was real little and would take her blanket and a book and go lay in it and read, she said it became filled with a soft green moss over the years , and how it was a simple delight just to lay there on a hot summer day with her book. She talked of long walks on the railroad tracks and fishing in a little pond a mile done the road. Of how the beauty of the tiger lilies that ran down the tracks would take her breath away. I wish so much I could have lived back then. Times may have been hard but it seems to me that people loved a little more, and did things together. Mom and her brothers and sister would pick 100 quarts of blackberries a year for Grandma to can. They had fun doing it, and it was such an adventure to them. I myself am going blackberry picking tomorrow and I will think of a distant time and think of Mom

The Ghost of Violin Annie

Annie was a little girl in our town who died in the late 1800's of a tragic childhood illness. And even though her father was a doctor he could not save her. She was dark haired and had beautiful soft brown eyes, with skin as white as milk.
Annie was a violinist and it had been rumored she was destined for greatness. She is buried in a very Gothic cemetery. Her tombstone was hand carved in Italy out of the finest marble. Her grief stricken father would spare no expense . And at midnight Annie begins to play.

A very beloved Mermaid and her blonde companion

These are two of the mermaids I made recently. I have an absolute love of all things Mermaid. The beloved one, I stitched on linen and used watercolors on. The other Mermaid, is paper collage with heart glitter. I hope you like them. The beloved mermaid measures only 4 1/2 inches long and 3 inches wide. I made it for my sweet daughter.

Nature Inspiration

How pleasant the life of a bird must be.
Flitting about in each leafy tree;
In the leafy trees, so broad and tall,
Like a green and beautiful palace hall.
Mary Howitt

Woodman, spare that tree,
Touch not a single bough.
In youth it sheltered me,
And I'll protect it now.
G.P. Morris

Little moments make an hour,
Little thoughts a book;
Little seeds a tree or flower,
Rain drops make a brook;
Little deeds of faithful love
Make a home for you above.- sei

Art from Virginia Tiffany

These pictures are from the book, A Child's Garden of Verses ,by Robert Louis Stevenson. The artwork is done by Virginia Tiffany. I think it is one of the neatest books I've ever seen.Visually it just grabs you. The way she has used stichery and cloth to make the pictures, awesome!

My favorite artist

These are some pictures out of an old weekly planner of mine by the artist Marjolein Bastin. She has such a gift for capturing the beauty of wildlife. I treasure everything she does. I even have some scrap work she has done of Vera the Mouse. I will try to post some of that as well.

Inspiration

Jeremiah 33: 3

"Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.'

Romans 10:22

I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for me.

(Ignore Criticism)
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds."

Albert Einstein

Thought for day:

Focus on your potential instead of your limitations

House By the Sea

I read a book called, The House By the Sea, by May Sarton two years ago. It was a one of my favorites. May writes over a span of three years about her life in York, Maine.
Many things in her life are tragic, like the haunting loneliness she feels. But, many things in her life are wonderful too.
She is very candid about her fear of dying alone. A very near and present fear for her at that time.
She was an avid gardener, and so am I. I found myself so often seeing me in the passages of her book.
The way she described the joy of seeing her flowers bloom and planting and tending her garden. I find one of my greatest joys is growing things on my two little lots. I've lovingly worked for 13 years planting bushes and curling vines and trees. Covered fences with blackberry bushes. Planted peach trees and vegetable and flower gardens every Spring.
Gardening has given me great peace.
The greatest thing about May was her ability to appreciate the small things. To look for the wonder in the everyday ordinary life. I am going to try to do that myself.
Does anyone have a daily ordinary thing that makes them happy?

Inspiration,story, the most delicious Banana split cake you will ever, ever eat

In quietness and solitude lay our strength.
T.D Jakes
Happiness depends on ourselves.
Aristotle
The greater the obstacle the more glory in overcoming it.
Moliere


Yesterday I threw out a piece of watermelon for the birds. Which I must say they were enjoying considerably until the family of squirrels that live in the hundred year old Maple tree came a calling. These squirrels are quit tenacious. They took hold of that melon for dear life and tried hauling it up the tree. The blackbirds not to be detoured from their afternoon meal gave those squirrels a jolly fight. I was rolling. I laughed so hard I had tears coming out of my eyes. They finally put the fruit down and ran off to eat their corn.


This is my favorite summer recipe:

Banana Split Cake


2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup sugar
1 stick melted butter
Mix well, press firmly to bottom of a 9 by 13 pan.
Freeze while you perform the next step.
(First Layer)
2 (8oz) packages of cream cheese
soften these in the microwave for 30 to 60 seconds
then add 1 cup of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
mix well, then spread evenly over crust with a spoon
(second layer)
Slice 3 to 4 bananas over cream cheese
(third layer)
Slice about a pound and a half of fresh strawberries over bananas, you can also use frozen , if you use frozen put them in your fridge for an hour to soften them.
(forth layer)
1 can of crushed pineapple, drained
(fifth layer)
2 regular sized cool whips softened, then top cool whip with broken pecans and drain a jar of marachino cherries and arrange those to your liking. I also drizzle a little Hershey's Syrup over the whole wonderful thing.

It is really beautiful when your done and taste as good as it looks. I hope you all enjoy it and have a wonderful day.

Today was a good day. I cleaned off my bookshelf and found some of the books I had been looking for. I found an old Martha Stewart magazine that had how to make a quilt out of ticking. And a book that had a really great recipe for a low calorie cheesecake.
Then, of course I found the photo albums covered in dust and quite neglected. So I began to browse through them. Such a mistake , my heart always jumps to my throat when I see my children when they were very young. I saw me and my sister when we were little and I had my favorite little purse. I hurrried up and dusted those off before any more memories could come spilling out.
Does anyone else ever have a hard time going through old photos?