Posts

Fifty Years of Dirt Daubers and Dust: My Mom's Story of an Almost Forgotten Painting

Image
7ish x 9ish Crucifixion Scene by F.R. Bogdan, 1930 (Photos courtesy of Tom Sale)   A few years ago, as we were helping to clean out my grandparents house following my grandfather's death and my grandmother being moved into a nursing home, my mom remembered a fantastic story. We were working on what was her room back in the day. It was converted attic space, and there was a tiny door leading to a section of the attic that remained storage. My husband was digging around in that area, pulling out dirt dauber nest covered items, all dusty and mostly broken. My mother mentioned a painting in passing, quickly disregarding it, as it was probably ruined or may not even be there any longer. I had never heard of this painting, hidden away fifty years ago. So, intrigued, my mother told me the story, as Mike rummaged around looking for a painting. An early 1900's ad in several church publications. I was expecting a small rolled canvas. Instead, he pulls out a long, canvas wr

My Life as a Wench; Trial and Error

Image
This past weekend was my first stint as a serving wench at Scarborough Renaissance Festival . I had so much fun. I worked a wedding reception, serving bread to muh lords and ladies. It was definitely a learning experience. Costume   Me I'll start with the costume. I regrettably kept my mother up until 2am on Friday night/Saturday morning. I can sew... okay, I can kind of sew. My mother, on the other hand, has the life's ambition to be a theatre seamstress, so it worked out. Borrowed a pattern from a friend, bought fabric and hauled butt to my mom's house. After many sighs and 'wish I had more time' statements, my mom busts out her sewing machine. The costume was beautiful and fit every aspect and criteria given me by the Scarborough handbook. She performed a miracle... that flopped. Completely my fault. Everyone Else I show up in my working peasant garb, to find that everyone else on the crew is wearing more of a bohemian gypsy motif. I felt completely

Movie Review: Silent House (2011)

Image
I am far from a 'professional' critic, and I have really no bearing on whether or not one should see a movie, however, I thought I'd start posting movie reviews... unsolicited. This past Friday, I took the day off to hang out with the kiddos. Harley Quinn wanted to see Silent House with Elizabeth Olsen ... I believe she is the younger sister of the Olsen twins for those who enjoy useless trivia. Not going to get technical, because honestly who cares? Most of those overly 'look at the information I know' reviews just make the reviewers look like pompous asses. So, I grabbed my newly won free passes for Studio Movie Grill , threw the kids in the car and headed to the movies. After much arguing with Amber about the genre choice (she hates scary movies), I plied her with a frozen hot chocolate and we found our seats. Now for the review part: I liked it for it's artsy cinematography. There were some really creatively shot scenes. Ms. Olsen is a very fun actres

Big Weekend

I have a very full weekend planned. Ordering  Dermestid Beetles . HQ is very excited about this endeavor. Working with  Pinky Diablo  on animal preservation and harvesting for projects. Still tons of Girl Scout goings on... will be throughout the month. Participating in the season's last cookie booth and cookie money is due, so I will be busting derriere getting cookies delivered and money accounted for. Product reviews. I have a few that I am behind on for  Influenster . I need to get on that. I will be doing video, or at least trying my hand at it. I've also lucked into reviewing a product that I am very excited about:  Eraselets . I have a package on it's way to me and will be posting a review a bit later. They are currently in the running to  get on the shelf at Walmart . I really like the potential of this product! Of course, the hum drum housecleaning and straightening. I've been neglecting... I own it. Taking tomorrow off to be with my kiddos on their l

Trying This Thing Out

I am not quite sure what I am going to do with this, however I know that I have a lot to say. Let's see how it goes!