Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Here is one of my first fall pictures and so far my only fall pic. Where is the color at? Maybe some of this rain will help. This pic was taken near Lincoln's Tomb in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois. That one little tree really stood out in contrast to the "still" green trees around it.

Last Friday we went to Springfield to visit with my brother, Brian, my sister-in-law, Judy and their friends son, John who came along with them for the trip. They came down from Northfield, Minnesota. John visited Lincoln's Museum and we met him downtown and ate at the Livery. Then we went out to Lincoln's Tomb so he could see that. Everyone always rubs Lincoln's nose on the statue outside the tomb, as you can see by how shiny-bright it is. And by the way, if you've never visited Lincoln's Museum, you really need to make a special effort to do so. It is more than well worth the trip!


Here is a full-view of Lincoln's Tomb.



We had lunch here!




Here is my brother, Brian, getting read to tackle his "ponyshoe". He and I cheated and didn't get the full version!





This is a "ponyshoe" a small version of the "horseshoe". What you ask is a "horseshoe", other than the obvious, of course? Well, you won't find a "horseshoe" anywhere but Springfield, Il. It was founded in 1930 and originated at the Red Lion Room at the Leland Hotel in downtown Springfield. It consists of two slices of Toast (that's the pad on the shoe), Meat of your choice (that's the shoe itself), topped by a generous portion of French Fries (they are the nails of course), all topped with genuine, Leland Hotel recipe Cheese Sauce! The Cheese Sauce is the finish on the shoe and makes THE HORSESHOE a Springfield delicacy. Yum! Now that's artery clogging stuff right there!






Here is John's own version of the horseshoe.....he added some more chili cheese fries on top! Did he manage to eat it all? No!! But he gave it a good try.







Here is my sister-in-law, Judy, standing in from the The Livery where was had lunch in downtown Springfield.








Another interesting fact about me is that The Donner Party (Donner Pass) is part of my past. The Donners were my ancestors. They departed from Springfield, Illinois. This plaque is across from the old court house in Springfield, my birthplace.








Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Well, finally, here it is. My first altered cabinet card. It measures approximately 4 X 6 in size and I altered it with alcohol inks, stamping, gold leaf pen and various embellishments. The bottons, eyelet and snap are very old from an antique sewing kit I bought as well as the part of the needle package and the needle came from that package. There are two definitions on the card. One is - Domestic, belonging to the house or home; tame; not foreign--A household servant. The other is - Queenhood, The rank, quality, or character of a queen. She is a domestic queen! She feels very important in her household; she ranks #1.
These are really fun to create, although there are many hours invested in this one. They are time consuming, but the end result is really fun.
Here is another pic with the top where I attached beads with wire. You are able to hang it to show it off.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Have been quietly working on altering an antique cabinet card this week. It's my first try at it! I will post a pic of it when I'm completely finished. I have bought quite a few more on ebay to try my hand at also, it's exciting. I belong to a yahoo group with swaps and I'm looking forward to trading a few. Just what I needed; another project!!

I love quotes and such and found a wonderful one today worth repeating:
People tend to think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will descend like fine weather if you're fortunate. BUT HAPPINESS IS THE RESULT OF PERSONAL EFFORT. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly. --From Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

How true this is........TTL, Beth

Thursday, October 4, 2007

This past weekend we had a house full of people. My sister-in-law's mother passed away and the funeral was here in town. My family is from Minnesota and stayed with us during this time. It was a busy time, but we had a wonderful visit and played quite a few card games. Was great to see them and have the time together. Here are my nieces below and Father Stephan that came to perform the funeral. The first is my youngest niece Mary, who is still in high school. She plans on attending college probably out east to become a pastry chef. The live in Northfield, MN which is home to Malto Meal and also Jesse James robbed a bank there once. So they have Jesse James days every fall. Just a little bit of history.
Here is Abby, the "middle child"! Abby is in college for social work and when she was in high school she was national weight lifting champion in her class.

Here is my niece Anna Elizabeth...the oldest. She is in college to be an interpreter and can speak several languages. Yes, she's a little crazy as you can tell by the picture!






And here's Father Stephan....a very good friend of my brother and sister-in-law and he flew in all the way from Arizona where he lives now. He is a crosier. He stayed with us on Monday night and performed the funeral on Tuesday. It's not everyone who can say they had a priest dressing in their living room! Doesn't he look wonderful next to Tinkerbell. They match wonderfully!! He loved our kitties and remembered all their names right away. We made a deal that our next male kitten will be named Father Stephan after him!