Tattered Past

Handmade Christmas

2011-12-24T15:06:00.000-07:00

I've been busy doing crafts for friends and for my etsy shop. These are some silver spoons and games tiles I inked.

They will be put together in various combinations. I love how the colors turn out.

Meanwhile I've been receiving wonderful handmade gifts. A beautiful tag from my friend Janet and try as I might I couldn't get a decent picture so you'll just have to take my word for it. lol
A crocheted and lace ornament from Lee is Australia. Again no photo.

I did get a good photo of this little Alpaca bag from Karen. I'm using it for a wallet. Behind it is a lovely candle from Ellie. Thank You All.

These things have been especially precious as my husband lost his job two weeks ago. We are doing okay and since it is just the two of us we are fine with just a nice dinner. We had already sent off the gifts to kids and grandkids. We have our home, plenty of food and good friends near and far.

Yesterday we had an unexpected visitor. This hawk was in our tree and then down on our back fence. Such wonderful birds.

Here's Maggie our Catahoula with her Christmas bandanna. She has one for every holiday and mood.

Merry Christmas from our home to yours.

Imagine That

2011-12-21T19:51:00.000-07:00

Imagine my surprise when I picked up the phone this morning and it was my grandson, Brendan, telling me he saw his puppy on the computer. He was so excited. See my last post here.

When my daughter got on the phone and explained what was going on I asked her to write the story up to share:

Hi, Mom. About a month ago, Brendan kept wanting to sleep with me at bedtime. He was very upset when I told him he had to sleep in his bed. When I asked him why he wanted to sleep in my bed so bad he said "because I miss you, Mommy". So, I tried to think of something that I could give him, to sleep with. Then I thought of my "Puppy". When I gave it to him, I told him that this puppy was very special and I loved it very much. I told him that when he sleeps with it at night, and it would be like he is with me. He got a huge smile on his face and went right to sleep. He has slept with it every night since, and also makes sure that he has it at nap time. When I was reading your blog today, I showed Brendan the picture and asked him who was in it. He screamed, "It's my Puppy!!" It makes me feel so good, that a special toy I had growing up, can now bring my son comfort. I keep trying to remember who gave me that puppy, but it really doesn't matter. All that matters, is what it meant to me, and now means to Brendan.

P.S. I still think those ornaments are ugly! :-P"

Imagine That!?!

I don't remember who sent it either. But to have the photo and now have this photo is PRICELESS.

Happy Holiday Memories

Tuesdays With Rita: Baby's First Christmas

2011-12-20T13:12:00.000-07:00

I was going to try and find another holiday photo from my own childhood but decided this might be better.

Two weeks ago I posted a picture of my first Christmas. This is my daughter's first Christmas. We were at my mother's house and as you can see Mom loved to decorate.

I don't remember what else Jessica got that year or even much of what happened but she did have that stuffed puppy for a long time.

Look closely at the bottom of the tree, right in the middle.. . . see that pink ornament with the gold balls around the outside? I remember when we bought those. It was at Gibson's in Great Bend, Kansas. It's funny that one of the set is on the tree from my 11th Christmas which I posted last week.

Ironically, I picked those ornaments out and Jessica always said they were the ugliest ornaments we had. Ugly or pretty they still have a place in our family history.

Blog Award

2011-12-20T12:55:00.000-07:00

My friend Amy over at tbn ranch
always inspires me or gives me a much needed chuckle with her zany outlook on life, animals and getting by.

Amy is a great poet, animal groomer, horse, dony and chicken owner and who knows what else.

Amy has honored me with a This Candle Lighter Award for blogs which bring light to the world, through positive and uplifting writing. Thank you, Amy.

I pondered this over night and have come up with two blogs that I feel especially meet the criteria.

http://www.alittlerain.com/uncategorized/life-after-cancer/ is my friends blog about being diagnosed with cancer and beating it. Now she is moving on in a strong, awe inspiring post-cancer life. Go spend a little time with Elaine and learn what a true fighter is.

Carmen inspires me in a different way. Her posts read like poetry and she is always sharing her wonderful artwork with the world. Drop by and pay her a visit at http://www.couragetocreatewriteandlove.com/

If you receive this award, there’s more good news… there’s no rules! You can pass it along if you like or just let me know you received the message. Congratulations Ladies, thank you Amy and Happy Holidays to One and All.

A Little Bit of Joy

2011-12-18T19:38:00.000-07:00

The other day a bit of joy arrived in my post office box. I won a lovely vintage style stocking from Lilla Le Vine in Honolulu. You can see it here. While you are there take a look around at her wonderful vintage/Paris inspired projects.

This is it but my photo isn't near as good as hers.

Inside the stocking were some pretty little tags which I am putting to good use.

Every year the Phoenix Writers Club has a book exchange as part of the Christmas party. Everybody is supposed to bring in a slightly used/or new book and tell us about it. Then we draw numbers to see who gets to choose from the always interesting pile of books. Sound nice? Take a book and get a book?

Well, here's the twist. If you have a book you really want somebody who wants that book and has their turn later can take that book (certain restrictions apply.) Then you get to go choose from the book table again. This goes on for quite some time and it is always fascinating to see which books people end of "fighting" over. I remember last year These Is My Words by Nancy Turner was very popular. It happens to be one of my all-time favorite books.

So Lilla's pretty little tags have been stuck to the books I am taking and one punched and hung from the bag with the numbers along with a couple of little bells. They look very nice.

Here's the books from today's exchange. Paris Wife was the most popular this year.

Some of my Inner Critics held court on the back table and one went home as a door prize.

Thank you, Lilla. For the lovely
stocking and just for sending me some "joy."

Thursday Art

2011-12-15T19:32:00.001-07:00

Every Thursday afternoon my friend, Barbara, and I meet at Barnes & Noble for coffee/tea

and art time. Today we spent about 3.5 hours and I did another owl. When I started working on

him I expected him to become "psychedelic" as the one from a couple of weeks ago but he had a

mind of his own.

Barbara says he needs a name but we didn't come up with one. Any ideas?

The owl was done in my Canson Mix Media: multi-media spiral bound book, 7 x 10 with a .35 Rapidosketch pen and colored pencils.

I haven't decided on a background. Maybe there won't be one. This was very

relaxing and a big surprise to me.

Yes, I'm a Writer

2011-12-15T11:52:00.000-07:00

During the Writers Inspiration Group first six years we have had many memorable moments. Sometimes something a person writes, or says, or a kindness one does or a new member with something to say.

One of my favorite memories is when Arzani showed up for the first time after being invited by another member. Arzani introduced herself and said, "I'm not a writer, I just wanted to see what you were all about."

Arzani fit right in and kept coming saying she felt so at home with the group.

She proved quickly to all of us that YES! she was a writer.

A couple of months later National Novel Writers Month (NaNoWriMo) started and Arzani

jumped on the bandwagon to write a book of 50,000 in 30 days.

The Legacy of Violetta Rose was born and before we knew it Arzani had published her book on CreateSpace and was doing book signings. You can find more about her and the book here.

After 20 years in Arizona she and her husband decided it was time to move on and experience a new place. The day after Thanksgiving they left for Oregon. She sent this photo this week:

They are experiencing a lot besides a new location. (We don't get much snow here in Phoenix.)

As her departure date neared we started thinking of something special to do for her. Cindi wrote a poem and we had everybody sign it. Then I turned it in to a mixed-media piece of art.

I love doing these types of collages. Lots of paint, gesso, stamps, ephemera,

fibers and charms. Arzani was delighted.

So here's to Arzani and her new life.

We miss you!

Anniversary and Goals

2011-12-14T08:53:00.000-07:00

Two years ago this month I wrote my first blog post. You can see it here. The one and only comment I received was by my friend Lisa who said I would soon be addicted. She was right!

Oddly it seems that December is my month to accomplish things. I think that is partly because I stay home more to avoid the crowds and traffic.

This fall my goal was to get a new Web site up for my genealogical and historical research business. It went up this week and you can visit it here. I still have some tweeking and more stuff to add but there it is and I'm feeling happy about that.

I also added some Inner Critics, a wall hanging and some ROD style journals to my Etsy shop.

Another postcard from my grandfather's collection. This one is dated Jan. 22, 1910 and is from his sister Ruth Covey.

Tuesdays With Rita: Christmas Milestones

2011-12-13T08:27:00.000-07:00

Our family didn't take many pictures on an average day but holidays, visiting family and moves seemed to always bring out the camera. Milestones, graduations and birthdays, usually start the shutter bugs. Funny I don't have a single picture from a birthday and I don't remember any birthday parties.

There are still milestones . . . like the year I got my first record player.

Christmas 1965 I was falling in love with the Beatles (can you see the album already tucked proudly on the stand?) and others.

I was 12 and heading in that in-between time when I still wanted my Barbies but wanted to be "grown-up" too. Times sure were different then. I think girls go through that at 5 now. But no matter. I played lots and lots of music on that record player and although it is long gone I still have most of my record album collection (and something to play it on.)

By the way, I still have some of those ornaments, too.

What milestones in your life coincided with holidays?

The Owls Have It

2011-12-08T10:21:00.000-07:00

My friend, Barbara, and I have started meeting at Barnes & Noble every Thursday to share coffee/tea, companionship and creativity.

Last week I started on this owl from a magazine ad.

I then gave the torn out page to Barbara to do with as she pleased. Imagine

my surprise when I went through my blog roll this morning and found this.

You can read more about this fun owl at her blog and also see another way she challenged herself.

What fun it is to share something we both enjoy. I've been trying so many new things since I met Barbara and really appreciate her friendship and creativity.

The owl was done in a Canson Mix Media 7x10 art pad with a Rapidosketch .50 pen. I'm trying to decide if I want to add some color. What do you think?

Letter To Santa

2011-12-06T19:33:00.000-07:00

I've often written about my writing group: The Writers Inspiration Group. We get together every Tuesday and somebody gives out prompts and we write for about ten minutes and then read whatever we came up with; if we want. No editing, no critiquing.

What is so amazing is how we often write the same things, or a prompt hits one (or more) of us in the gut. That happened today as Susanne gave us holiday stationery and told us to write a letter to Santa. We could choose a piece of paper with a person on it as the writer (I pulled out "a doctor") or as ourselves or whomever.

The doctor prompt didn't do anything for me but I kept thinking about that two-month-old me I wrote about this morning. So I wrote the letter from "me." It was a very strange feeling to think about what I might have wished for.

Here's my letter:

Then I got home and a friend had left a comment on this morning's post about whether I was talking about the "tear" in the photo or "tears" of the child. It was funny because when I wrote that as "tear" I wasn't sure I was spelling it right because eye tears came to mind. Does that make any sense? lol

This may all seem a bit nonsensical but I wanted to share how writing a simple blog post has touched me during the day and I'm sure will continue to touch me as I think about my family. I don't mean to be sad or anything about this, it's just the way it is and was. It makes me who I am and sometimes coincidences happen to make us appreciate our lives.

Tuesdays With Rita: First Christmas

2011-12-06T10:20:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about Christmas Past and realized I don't have

many pictures or memories of Christmas as a child.

Sorting pictures back through time I found these two of me and my first Christmas.

My parents and ten-year-old sister were living in a tiny trailer on the main street

of Montezuma, Kansas. Next door was the cafe they owned.

I was born in this trailer in the middle of October. The trailer

was so small my sister had to sleep on the couch.

I can almost feel my Mother's love while studying this picture. I wonder what she was thinking.

I'm intrigued by those costumed dolls on the shelf. They must have been my sister's collection.
They must have been lost in the many moves my family went through

as I don't remember them being around.

Excuse the tearing on this photo. It must have been stuck to another one but it is one

of the few I have of my Father holding me. See my little eye peeking out through the tears?

Even though things didn't work out and I don't have any memories of my dad I can

feel how much he loved me too.

My sister never liked having her picture taken. I can picture Mom and Dad trading of the old box Kodak to get pictures of each of them with their new baby.

Do you have pictures of your first Christmas? Have you been told stories about it?

Clanton Days

2011-11-30T19:06:00.001-07:00

Terry "Ike" Clanton is quite a character. He is a distant cousin of the original Ike Clanton who played a key roll in the events surrounding the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Terry has taken it upon himself to set the record straight about what happened that infamous day in Tombstone, Arizona.

Terry is an actor, announcer, and host of the Haunted Saloon. You can learn more about "Ike" here.

This year my husband and I attended the 18th Annual Clanton Days Rendezvous after a hiatus of three years. We didn't let our friends know we were coming and what fun it was to watch their faces especially since I now wear glasses.

We were only there one night so missed some of the festivities such as Terry's Tour of Tombstone, from the Clanton Point of View. The gunfight reenactment at the O.K. Corral itself. And dinner and liars and costume contests on Friday night.

We showed up at the Tombstone Livery on Saturday night. We dressed Western but not in costumes. There were our old friends and some new friends to make. We had a chuck wagon style dinner with bean, salad, potatoes and dutch oven brisket. Yum.

Owner of the place, Cowboy Doug, entertained with stories, cowboy fashions and roping tricks.

Our friend, Susanne, sang "God Bless America" dressed as the Western heroine Annie Oakley.

Terry "Ike" Clanton (left) and Ben T. Traywick, retired town historian, answered questions about history and the Town Too Tough to Die.

Later Steven "Doc Holliday" Keith introduced us to his faro table at on Fifth Street and told us about the history of the legendary figure of "Doc."

A grand ol' time was had by all.

Tuesdays With Rita: Human Irritants

2011-11-29T19:35:00.000-07:00

On one of my Yahoo groups we got on the subject of people we would like to give a wake-up call in some way. It got comical as one member wants a dart gun so she can shoot idiots on television, another wants a tank to run through certain areas of government or crowded stores and then they came up with those air horns they use at sports events for people who block doorways.

Some of us yell or make snide remarks or sometimes just move shyly away but we don't really do anything about it and then we have to decide if we are going to let it ruin our day (which is a whole different subject.)

What I really noticed about this conversation was that we all hate the same kinds of things, have had the same types of experiences and wish we could just stand up and do Something. Reading what others had to write and their suggestions on how to deal with the human irritants was therapeutic in itself. I actually found myself chuckling.

So here's a list of human irritants and a few ideas on how to deal with them. I hope you get a few chuckles.

1. People in a crowd of slowing traffic stop in front of a store door or whatever and cause everybody else to have to wait while they stand in the doorway and check their cell phone or decide which way they want to go.

2. People on cell phones in restaurants.
3. People in line, say at the post office, who don't pay attention when they are being called to the counter.

4. People moving chairs around in a coffee shop or similar and not picking them up so there is a huge screeching noise.

5. People who stand in line and when it's their turn to pay change their minds, or have to dig for five minutes in their bag for their money, or actually want to run and get one more thing.

6. In stores where there is one line and the cashiers don't pay any attention to the person in front of that line and instead wait on whomever might be standing in their space.

7. Cell phones ringing during talks and plays and even worse . . . the people who answer them.

8. People who talk on the phone (or sometimes in person) with a piece of hard candy or wad of gum in their mouth.

9. Standing in front of a display looking at something and somebody steps right in front of me to look at the same thing.

10. Texting or talking on the phone while driving, walking in parking lots, in a crowd, or while someone is trying to talk.

11. Tailgaters.

Well, I could come up with more and I'm sure you each have your own list.

I'm sure you have all heard the trick of when you have to get up in front of a crowd and are very nervous picture them in their underwear. So what I'm thinking is if we all have funny things to picture when these irritating people get in our way then it will help us smile and move on.

As I was driving around today I pictured a big train horn to get people to pay attention. Or carry around a chopstick to poke people in the ribs when they get in the way or cause problems. How about a fake hand to take the candy. Slapstick type things come to mind.

Of course, we couldn't or wouldn't do these things but I bet you will remember this post and perhaps smile a bit next time you meet up with a human irritant.

How would you deal with some of the human irritants out there?

Let's make it 222.

2011-11-26T10:06:00.000-07:00

I am always amazed and inspired by my writing friend c.b. wentworth. She in turn has been inspired by other bloggers including Cindy Archer. On the linked blogpost Cindy Archer listed 22 things she has done and then 22 things she has not done. Entertaining and thought provoking.

C. B. turned the list into 22 things she is thankful for in reference to Thanksgiving in the U.S. One of the comments mentioned getting 22 people to do the same and then why not 222 people. Sounds good to me.

Since I already did a Thanksgiving list I'm going back to 22 Things About Me:

1. I've been working on my genealogy for about 30 years and have numerous colonial families.
2. I've never been East of the Mississippi.
3. I wrote the book "O.K. Corral Postscript: The Death of Ike Clanton"
4. I used to own a horse name Blaze.
5. I love sarsaparilla.
6. My favorite food is steamed snow crab.
7. I do "morning pages" almost every day.
8. I love wearing my boots, hat and buckskin fringed jacket.
9. I've seen Old Faithful, the giant redwoods, the Royal Gorge and the Grand Canyon.
10. I've accepted that I will never be able to read all the books that catch my interest.
11. I used to backpack into wilderness areas.
12. I have a nine room Victorian dollhouse.
13. I've been working on a book about my childhood for my daughter and it is taking way to long.
14. I enjoy learning new things.
15. I still have my first Barbie, Ken and Skipper.
16. I've never fired a gun.
17. I believe there is life besides here on Earth.
18. I never knew my dad.
19. I love Harry Potter and I'm currently going through all the movies, again.
20. I have lunch almost every Tuesday with a friend of 25+ years.
21. I hate cell phones in restaurants and bookstores.
22. I cherish all the keepsakes from family members who have passed away.

Make your own list of 22 things and link back to this post. Let's see if we can make it to 222 people.

p.s. Even if you don't share your list I found thinking about them made me really aware of how grateful I am for my life.

Mandala Class

2011-11-25T12:11:00.000-07:00

Over at Willowing and Friends Guadalupe Brizuela Cabal has started

a class in doing mandalas. You can find it here.

The class started last week but I haven't had much time to even watch

the videos until last night. Guadalupe gives us two templates to download.

I printed them on cardstock and the "kind-of" followed along with her

directions. I say "kind-of" because I always end up doing my own thing

with these classes.

Here's my mandala from the first template:

I used InkTense watercolor pencils which I love. This gave me a bit of a chance to practice blending but working on cardstock wasn't much fun.

So I tried my own design on watercolor paper and the pencils worked much better but it didn't fit on my scanner very well so the colors here aren't very good.

This has been fun and interesting. She used a compass and a triangle to get the designs and gives lots of information on "reference points" and "adding layers."

I look forward to learning a lot more from this workshop and want to send a special

THANK YOU GUADALUPE.

If you haven't signed up go pay a visit. You will be amazed.

Tuesdays With Rita: Tiny Gratefulness

2011-11-22T19:45:00.000-07:00

We spent the weekend in Tombstone, Arizona listening to boots on the boardwalk

and watching all the men in black frock coats (well, at least I did.)

Now I'm feeling a little brain dead.
It seemed the harder I tried to think of something special to write about this week the more the ideas eluded me.

Finally while waiting for my writing group to start today I had the idea I was looking for.

With Thanksgiving in the U.S. just two days away we are all thinking about family and turkey. It will just be the two of us and my husband is on call but I still look forward to the holiday. I am thankful for my family, my friends and his job but I wanted to go beyond that. So I decided to share five tiny things I'm thankful for:

1. Ladybugs that protect the garden and tickle my fingers.

2. Glitter that brightens a journal page, a card and a day.

3. Ice that makes my tea more refreshing.

4. Words that go together to make conversation, for communicating love and in the books I love to read.

5. Ink that swirls on the page to form the words and drawings to turn my journals into thought filled safes.

What are five tiny things you are thankful for?

Tuesdays With Rita: Postcard Collections

2011-11-15T08:37:00.001-07:00

What is it about postcards that attracts so many of us? Whether old or new, from places we've been or places we just want to go to, many people collect these wonderful bits of ephemera.

When my daughter was little we started collecting postcards for her. Where ever we went we came home with a handful of postcards. She still has that collection and now her son is starting his own. Every so often I send the boys each a postcard just for fun and to show them where I live. Arizona is far different than Washington and it is a bit hard for them to understand the distances but they enjoy the postcards.

A couple of weeks ago the leader of the day at my writing group used old postcards she had found at antique stores as prompts. We could write about the place shown or, even more fun, was reading the messages and writing as if we were the author or the recipient of those short bits of life.

I was reminded of the postcards my Granddad Covey collected. I ended up with a small envelope of them. It is so interesting to look through them.

Harold Cecil Covey was born in Harper, Kansas on October 14, 1899. His family were farmers and some of them are still in the area. I remember him as a very quiet, solemn, and stern man. He was a barber in a very small town up until he died.

Here's one of the postcards:

The back says "Hello Cecil, Suppose you are having a fine time now as you don't have to go to school. Come out here and we will go swimming in the river. Harry" It is addressed to Master Cecil Covey, DuQuoin, Kansas and postmarked Jerome, April 1918.

Wilburn, Nov. 1919. "Dear Cousin, How would you like to be run over by this big roller. I am well. How are you? Herbert" Wilburn was a tiny town near Fowler where my grandma lived. They were married January 22, 1922. I never heard how they met. It's fun to speculate.

This one is dated Fowler, June 27, 1909 and is also from Herbert. I wonder how Herbert chose to send this card to Cecil or if he even really looked at it. Cecil was only 11.

Here's a few others from the same time period.

Do you have a postcard collection? Are you drawn to these wonderful bits of history?

Just as these kitties are traveling as your visit family members during the holidays ask about their postcard collections. You might come up with some surprises in your family history.

(p.s. You can click on the postcards and print them out to use in your artwork.)

Tuesdays With Rita: Sharing Creativity

2011-11-08T08:41:00.000-07:00

My husband often rides his mountain bike in the desert North of Phoenix. In the summer he rides at night with friends but since the temps have dropped he can ride during the day and see new and different things that are outside his flashlight beam.

Saturday he found trash art. There may be an official name for taking whatever is found in the desert and making it in to something but I don't know what it is.

This one has tires, metal, shotgun shells painted red, beer cans, bricks and wood.

This one has dumped stone and brick, and topped off with a chair and lots of beer cans.

This is all on city land so he hopes some bureaucrats doesn't take it upon

themselves to tear these down.

A friend in Northern Arizona sent me this link:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2011/10/28/141795907/who-left-a-tree-then-a-coffin-in-the-library#commentBlock

The art is amazing but most of all I love that this guy just does it. No recognition needed. He just wants to spread the "word" of how he feels about the demise of our libraries and some of his own creativity.

The greatest part, perhaps, is that this happens in Scotland and the newspaper asked if people wanted to know who the artist is and the majority said no. Sadly, they mention this probably couldn't happen in America and I agree.

One of my points with all of this is mentioned in one of the blog comments. These artists are showing "unconditional love." They are sharing their thoughts, passion, time and creativity in a non-promoting manner.

For quite some time now I've wanted to make rocks to spread my thoughts to the world. They won't be anything like these sculptures but I hope they brighten someones day.

How could you spread the "word?"

Stunned

2011-11-04T15:46:00.000-07:00

I find inspiration all over the Internet through blogs, classes, workshops and all the wonderful people who share their own inspiration and warm hearts.

One of the blogs I look forward to reading is by Carmen at A Playground of Imagination, Beauty and Love. Carmen has a way with words and images and a truly wonderful view of the world.

A few weeks ago she shared a video of a vintage postcard book she made. You can see it here. I love it and commented that I would have to look for some postcards to make one of my own. Carmen answered and offered to send me a few to get started. As somebody who loves "stuff" I gladly accepted and pledged to send a package in return.

Well, Carmen's package arrived today and I was stunned, speechless and ecstatic.

See why?

This was the first layer, so to speak. As I opened all those little packages I kept finding more and more treasures. Including an old key. Something I had mentioned that I have been looking for.

Lots of amazing postcards for my own book.

Some amazing photos. Isn't that baby in the bowl wonderful?

I'm having trouble putting in words what I want to say. I'm touched that somebody I have only met on the Internet could be so generous. (She even sent a birthday card making it all a birthday present.)

I've been touched by many of her posts and look forward to her posts and now I can see how she really does make a difference by being her.

I hope one day we can share a hug but for now I just want to say

Thank you, Carmen.

Tuesdays With Rita: A Wee Bit Irish

2011-11-01T20:20:00.000-07:00

As a family historian with a wee bit of Irish in the genealogy I was excited to learn about a new research library being built at the Irish Cultural Center in downtown Phoenix.

Here's the artist rendition from the center's Web site. http://www.azirish.org/

The small cottage on the left has been there for a long time and is built to show what an Irish cottage looked like. I went down there a few years ago to find out exactly what peat for the fireplace would look like. The library and reading rooms will be in the Medieval building in the back.

To the right is the hall where we met last night in a reception for Irish Ambassador Michael Collins.

Here he is being presented a paving stone by one of the Center leaders. He talked about the 500,000 Arizonans with Irish connections and how these Centers bring our past and our present together in pride of being Irish. He talked about his country coming out ahead after three years of tough times. He was most pleasant and made my wee bit of Irish perk right up and feel that pride.

I haven't looked at my genealogy charts in a long time and the only name I can remember right now is McFerran. This family came to America during Colonial Times and left their mark during the Revolution and in various ways since. Now I'm anxious to dig my papers out and re-acquaint myself with my Irish roots.

These are some of the costumes hanging in the hall. The Center hosts many events throughout the year including dances, concerts and dinners.

This quilt was made by one of the ladies present and will be auctioned off as a fund raiser for the library.

I know I haven't paid enough attention to my Irish ancestors and hope to learn more as time permits. Are you just a wee bit Irish? Have you learned about your Irish background?

Birds of Prey

2011-10-31T12:17:00.000-07:00

On the West side of our house is a very tall eucalyptus tree. We have a standing debate in our house about getting this tree trimmed. I always vote "no."

Now the neighbor across the street has weighed in as a "no" because he is delighting in the birds our tree attracts . . . because it is tall and those empty top branches give them a great view.

This is an osprey (we believe) that he caught a couple of weeks ago. We were gone but he said half the neighborhood was standing around looking at our tree. Osprey live on fish so if this is one we wonder how he is doing here in the desert . . . although there are lakes in the area.

Last week he watched a hawk enjoying the view.

Pretty soon another hawk appeared and chased the first one away.

Aren't these birds amazing?

We also have a visiting owl but we haven't gotten any photos yet. We believe his/her nest is under one of the overpasses on the the local freeway. I LOVE waking up in the early morning hours and hearing him hoot, hoot, hooting away.

There are so many surprises in the desert, in the city and wherever you may be if you just keep your eyes and ears open.

Tuesdays With Rita: Class Reunion

2011-10-25T19:49:00.000-07:00

Saturday night was my 40 year class reunion. The attendance was down but we had a great time. It always amazes me how some people change and some stay just the same. Both in looks and personality. Most of us have mellowed: there were a couple who were still snobs.

I attended East High School in Phoenix which was new then and has since been torn down. I am envious of people who can actually go to homecoming and visit their school at the time of reunions.

The girl on the end of the front row with the long hair and her hand in front of her face was at the reunion. She still has beautiful hair. The other one in the middle of the row and turned partially around was there too. I can't really see most of the faces. I was in the back. When I got married I went from a "W" last name to an "A."

One of the guys, Jim, saved Everything. He had all the yearbooks, newspapers, fliers, programs and anything else in the paper area. It was amazing.

Here's everybody that was at the reunion from our class. (There were some other classes there also.)
My husband was way off to the side taking this but he did pretty good. I'm sitting on the right with the white patterened shirt.

Our school colors were red and purple which I hated but now I see that the combination is popular. Who would have thought. Our mascot was the Longhorns which caused a lot of ribbing because the school was a few blocks from the feedlots and packing company. It was especially bad when we had a home game and the wind was in the "wrong" direction.

We split up into the grade schools we had attended. There were quite a few that "fed" into the high school. I actually only attended Balsz a month as we had just moved down from Kansas. That is another story.

One of our classmates is a professional photographer so I look forward to seeing his photos. I took quite a few and when we all got together my husband took some. It's really funny how he wasn't very involved at his school (Scottsdale High) and when we went to his ten year reunion he didn't know anybody. He's found people he knows or have common interests or friends at all my reunions (we've only missed one.) This year it was our student body president, Doug, who knew my husband's step-father and used to have lunch with him about every week. Doug was very excited to meet my Doug and talk about Lee.

My favorite part of the evening was sitting with old friends going through yearbooks. I was on the yearbook staff but also I just love those memories.

What memories do you have of your high school or one of your reunions?

BFF - Best Friends Forever

2011-10-24T17:48:00.000-07:00

When I was 12 years old a new girl came to town. She lived catty-corner across the alley and we quickly became best friends forever. One time we went to Dodge City, Kansas with my mom and I introduced her to my favorite place: the Longhorn Saloon (sarsparilla) and Boot Hill in general.

That's Lydia on the left and me on the right playing tourist. Boot Hill was great back then, all open and easy to get around. Sadly that has changed but that is another blog post, or not.

We moved to Arizona the next spring and a few months after that Lydia's family moved back to Florida. We have stayed in touch ever since. In school we wrote volumes, maybe why never really journaled. I had Lydia to write with all my teenage woes.

Our birthdays are one day apart and we still exchange gifts. Lydia has an amazing ability to come up with cool stuff. She has sent me Winnie The Pooh books, an Elvis tote bag, Chronicles of Narnia books, jewelry and always caring thoughts.

This year it was a book and mug from Suzy Toronto. They are great. I look forward to lots of inspiration from both but especially the tea I plan on putting in the mug.

Lydia put in a special request for an Inner Critic so I sent her one of those along with a couple of other things. I can just picture her poking the IC and zipping his mouth as she works in the family business office.

Birth Day

2011-10-19T18:08:00.000-07:00

Last week I found this little camera on sale for $5.19 at Walgreens. It isn't great but it is lightweight which makes me happy in this time when I am trying to lighten all my loads but still want to come up with photos for my blog.

I had to head to the Arizona State Archives today and put the camera to the test. This building was opened about three years ago after much hard work by many people.

After I finish with my client work I always spend a little time working on my own projects. It is a 30 minute drive so I don't just run down there much anymore.

Today I decided to check the Graham County, Arizona deeds for Doug's Martin family. This is the same family we worked on in Washington. I've felt for awhile that Doug's great grandmother was Jane Remley Martin but I hadn't found her full name in any of the records.

On November 29, 1893 Jane Remley Martin and her husband, James Martin of Solomonville sold a lot in that town to Lydia C. Dowdle. It is unusual for a wife's name to be listed like this, with her maiden name. I don't remember ever seeing it and it is almost always James Martin and wife, Jane Martin.

What I love about research is the mystery, the puzzles and finding the answer. This felt like one great birthday present. So even though Doug was sent to Tucson for the rest of the week I had a pretty good day.

Of course stopping at Starbucks for a large hot chai and a peanut butter cupcake sure didn't hurt. Because the cupcake was a mini I also had an orange/cranberry scone. Yum.

I'll close with a photo of the purple sage. My little camera did pretty good.

Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes and thanks to Jane for helping me find her full name.

Tuesdays With Rita: Birthdays

2011-10-18T19:15:00.000-07:00

My birthday is tomorrow. Here's a picture of my mother holding me at about four or five months. I was a very small baby, born at home, in the middle of the night. I got conflicting stories but one was that my drunken father had lit in to mom and brought on labor 2 or 3 months early. I caught a cold and spent a couple of months in an incubator in the small town clinic. I weighed around four pounds. The doctor always called me his miracle baby. Frankly, I think that woman in the plaid dress was a miracle mom. I has her sixth baby. My sister the oldest than a few miscarriages and a baby brother who lived a couple of days. How my mom lived through that is impossible to comprehend.

This is my mother holding my daughter at about 4 months. Jessica didn't want to come in to the world and I was in labor for 18 hours but no other problems and she never had any health issues as a child.

Mom was so proud of her. Since my sister's family lived in another state she wasn't able to be around my niece and nephew when they were babies. Or when my niece had her babies. Jessica was ten when we lost her Nana. While I was in Washington this summer we talked a lot about her memories of Nana. Mostly that there was always lots of food. Mom loved to cook and she was an amazing cook.

I miss my mom. Jessica misses her but her memories aren't as strong. Because of that amazingly strong lady we are both here. She left us an amazing legacy.

Tell us about your mom, your birth and the connections that reach into this time.

Tuesdays With Rita: Writers Inspiration Group

2011-10-11T20:17:00.001-07:00

About six or seven years ago I took a creative writing class at the local community college. I learned a lot and made friends with one of the classmates, Cindi.

We both love to write although she's more of a poet and children's writer and I do non-fiction and history. We got to talking because we both have fibromyalgia and other issues and we had daughters graduating from the same school. We just hit it off and became good friends.

We kept trying to challenge each other to write but there wasn't enough of whatever we needed to keep doing it. About the same time we discovered the book, Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg. This book is an absolute must for anybody who wants to do any writing. Through various prompts and very short essays Natalie teaches how to do the stream-of-consciousness type of writing that just gets the words down on the page.

And an example of one of the essays.

Cindi and I finally decided to start a little group of writers using prompts and ideas from this book. We wouldn't critique or judge. We would just get together and write. I talked to an acquaintance at the local Barnes & Noble and we set it up to meet in the coffee shop on Tuesdays. Our first meeting was October 11, 2005.

The group we named the Writers Inspiration Group or WIG; celebrated it's sixth anniversary today. Most of the people who joined the first few months are still members. We have met EVERY Tuesday except holidays and the day Sarah Palin was to do a book signing at the store. (Actually we just moved to another location for that day so we did meet.) Either Cindi or I have been at every meeting except one.

The amazing thing is how the group has grown to be a close knit group of friends. We have dinners and parties and join each other at writing events around the Valley of the Sun. We cheer when somebody gets something published and give ideas when somebody is stuck on a project. I am often at a loss for words when it comes to describing the members of the group, the energy and the connections.

We still give two or three prompts every Tuesday and we write. Over the years we started reading what we write and sometimes we laugh and sometimes we cry . . . but we never critique or judge.

Here are a few prompts we have used in the past. The trick is to take the prompt and start writing without worrying about what you write, grammar, or even if it makes sense. Just write. The first prompt is one Natalie Goldberg says to use over and over.

I remember when . . .

Use these three words in a story, essay or poem: cake, coffee shop, rain

Describe a travel mishap (if you don't have one of your own make one up)

Describe a day at the beach using all five senses

What is your favorite season and why?

If you were a super hero, who would you be?

Get the idea? Try writing a few things and you will be amazed at what you come up with. Let me know how it goes. Perhaps you could start a similar group in your area. There are always writers looking for other writers to find inspiration.

Today's Ponderings

2011-10-05T19:57:00.047-07:00

Our country’s flag ripples in the wind, a cool wind that hints of autumn

even here in the desert where the temperatures run in the triple digits for months on end.

The smells on the wind are drowned out by the café mocha (with whipped cream)

that sits by the side of my laptop. I used to hate going anywhere alone. A feeling left

over from a lonely childhood or peer pressure during adolescence that convinced me

that being alone meant nobody wanted to be with me.

Even if being alone was by my own choice.

Now in my 50’s I treasure being alone. To write mostly. I think nothing of heading to

the local Starbucks or Barnes & Noble for a few hours with the keypad or

pen and paper.

Today is even more special because I can sit outside for the first time in months.

I can enjoy the breeze in my hair and even the sound of traffic.

The day started out bad with more pain than usual after a restless night. And fasting for

routine blood work. Sitting in the office crowded with people including a man next to

me who smelled of stale cigarettes and sweat. I felt the bad mood building.

I went home and had breakfast, petted the dog and tried to figure out what to do with my day;

feeling more lost and depressed as time went on. My husband called and convinced me to get out of

the house and get a coffee or chai. Spend some time with my laptop and enjoy the beautiful day.

On the way here I started noticing things that made me smile:

A license plate that I read as Happy Grammy (Hpy Grmy)

And a young guy riding a bicycle with a dog trailer behind .. . .

a Chihuahua peeking out, enjoying the view and the cool breeze.

A couple on a three wheeler bicycle, like my grandma used to ride, the driver a young guy with long

curly hair and in the basket on the back a young women in scrubs; long blond hair flying in the wind.

It’s time to start enjoying our wonderful lifestyle here in the desert. Doug and I have made plans to

become tourists and go out and about with camera, Flat Stanley and adventurous hearts. Sitting

outside feels like when we visited Seattle and had lunch at a little bistro near the wharf. Sometimes it

takes looking at where you are in a different way to truly appreciate it.

I’m smiling and I do believe the world is smiling back.

Tuesdays With Rita: Church Memories

2011-10-04T10:14:00.000-07:00

This picture is the Church of God in my hometown of Great Bend, Kansas. The couple standing in the back is my Great Uncle Bill Wilburn, (Preacher) and his wife Ruby.

I remember those pews so well. I remember sitting with my Mom. That window in the back was the nursery and allowed the person caring for the babies to see and hear the sermon.

That's my Mom in the upper right corner with my sister next to her with the glasses. I was sitting in the second row with the other young children. The white scratch is through my face.

My Mom had various ways of keeping me entertained during the sermon. One was to make babies in a blanket from her handkerchief.

They looked like this.

This was one of the handkerchiefs my mother embroidered. Isn't it lovely? See the little "babies" peaking out from the blanket with the flowers?

To make these fold the handkerchief in half.

Then roll up opposite corners to make the babies.

Pull the other corners up behind and in front of the babies to make their little blanket.

I remember these so well. They were one of the ways my Mom showed her love for me.

I still get a warm feeling when I make them for myself.

Do you have special little memories from church or some other quiet time with your parents?

Thirty-Five Years Ago

2011-10-02T19:35:00.000-07:00

At this exact time, thirty-five years ago, Doug and I were heading north to Colorado for our honeymoon. We were married at the First Christian Church in Phoenix, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, on Oct. 2, 1976. Through thick and thin we've managed to hold together.

Today we went to Joe's Crab Shack for an early dinner (we both hate crowds) and had crab stuffed mushrooms and the steamed crab buckets. Here we are waiting for our food:

We have to go to Tempe to get to a Joe's so we enjoy making a day of it. To "walk it off" we went to Tempe Marketplace and browsed the stores. I was excited to find that Bath and Body Works have returned to the lavender/vanilla pillow spray. They had a different scent for awhile. This is like the original one and I LOVE it.

For desert we split a scone sitting by the fountains in front of Barnes & Noble.

The sun was starting to set and it was really nice out.

On the way home we pass through the Reservation along the north end of Scottsdale. I took a few pictures along the way. Then I noticed a big heart in the clouds. By the time we got past some underpasses and big buildings the heart was gone.

A few minutes later we saw this rainbow.

It doesn't show up real well but you can see it coming out of the bottom of the clouds right out of the McDowell Mountains.

I can't decide which is better. The darker one has a better setting in front but I also like the flags.

Anyway, it was a wonderful day. Relaxing and full of togetherness.

I wonder what the next 35 years have in store for us.

Things That Never Change

2011-09-30T13:43:00.000-07:00

One of the things I have to do for my job as a genealogist and historian is scan old newspapers (and other records) for specific information. The other day I had to go through the Phoenix Daily Herald for early 1895. Here's one of the pages I chose at random and because I liked that add in the upper right-hand corner.

These newspapers are on microfilm and this is actually one of the better ones as far as clarity and ease of reading. Every time I have to do this it comes to me how much things really don't change.

In 1895 the schools were short on funding, a woman and her two children barely escaped a house fire, there were a couple of shootings and a stabbing, a new restaurant opened and the county prisoners were working on the road between Phoenix and Tempe.

The Bee Hive store had these quarter-page ads that changed every day. The art work was fun to see. I chose a copy of this one because of the dress.

If you've visited downtown

Phoenix you probably saw the Rosson House. It is a beautiful Victorian house

built for Dr. Rosson in 1895.

http://www.rossonhousemuseum.org/

I can just picture Dr. Rosson sitting on that lovely porch reading the Phoenix Herald and wondering if he should head to the Bee Hive for a new scarf.

Tuesdays With Rita: Art Journal, Hand Prints

2011-09-27T09:10:00.001-07:00

When I was in kindergarten our teacher had us spread our hands on a black sheet of construction paper and then she flicked white stuff all over the page leaving our hand prints to stand out.

This is one of my most vivid childhood memories. Maybe because my mom had those prints throughout her life and I saw them many times. I don't remember what the "white stuff" was, it was thicker than paint, and kind of stood up on the paper.

Those prints have disappeared but the memory is there.

Last year when I went to spend a few weeks with our grandsons I took some things with me to do crafts along with the supplies to work in my travel art journal.

One day I was looking at the pile of felt and decided to trace the boys hands. After cutting out they fit nicely into my journal.

This year I made sure to stick a piece of felt in my book to do it again. A new "tradition" is born.

The boys stood still better this year and were excited to see their hand prints take a place in my journal.

Art journaling has made a big difference in how I look at things. I notice and keep the little things in life . . . and also keep better track of those times that tend to slip by, like children growing.

Who needs those fancy kits they sell in card and craft shops for making hand prints. A piece of felt and a marker work just fine. And they fit right in there with the photos, pressed leaves and flowers, tickets and receipts that will keep our memories alive for years and years.

Some day the boys will look back on these hand prints just like I did my prints on black construction paper.

What memories can you create for the future?

The Medium

2011-09-26T17:57:00.000-07:00

Friday evening my husband I went over to Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe. I love this bookstore but I don't get over there very often.

Allison DuBois was the speaker. For those who don't know, the television show "Medium" was based on her work here in the Phoenix area. As much as I enjoyed the show seeing her in person is amazing. She glows with positive energy and a love of life. I have all of her books including the one she signed Friday, Talk To Me. Allison's husband, Joe, and her daughters were with her. Isn't that wonderful?

The place was packed, far beyond what anybody expected, so we couldn't see her during the talk but I heard her just fine. Some of the things that stand out are:

When we pass-on we revert to the age at which we were happiest. As another of Allison's books says, We Are Their Heaven, so they choose to stay with us. Ask them to give a sign that is indelibly them . . . such as a favorite flower or food. Keep your "conversations" with them happy. They don't want to see you unhappy. If you put pictures up around your house choose ones from when they were younger or happy or well. If you enter a place or room and it feels sick, as if the room has cancer, acknowledge that feeling and it will go away.

When the talk was over and Allison was nearly finished signing I finally made my way up to her to have my book signed and talk for a minute. The last time I saw her she talked about Tombstone, Arizona being one of her favorite places to go because of all the energy. I asked her this time if she had been there lately and she said no but she loves to stay in the Rose Room at the Silver Nugget bed and breakfast. I told her about some of my experiences in the town and it was just great to connect with someone with that common interest . . . even if just for a few moments.

Here's the photo my husband took of our meeting:

Allison, me with my back to the camera, the bookstore lady.

I also had an interesting time with the people who were there. Standing in line at the restroom the lady next to me asked how far we'd come and I told her. She had come about twice as far and I said that was really determination. Her reply was, "To see her? YES!"

Found Poetry

2011-09-23T14:20:00.001-07:00

After I published my post on found poetry I realized I forgot to show the pictures of working on it.

That little tin is a gift card tin from Michael's. I love these tins. They come in very handy for lots of things; in this case a place to put all my words and phrases cut from magazines and books. Although I said I used a gluestick I actually used this Zig glue pen. These are great for applying just a bit of glue and being left in the car on a hot day doesn't seem to affect them (at least if they are in a bag in the trunk.) Those little scissors come with a cap and are great for travelling, too.

I did notice that I had way too many things to work with. I thought it would be good to spend an afternoon cutting words and phrases and have them all ready to go. But when it came to the poetry it was overwhelming (and even a small cough was disastrous.) I think if I wanted to work on just a poem again I would cut out things that inspired me that moment for the main part and perhaps use my tin for the secondary words. Make sense?

I have been inspired over and over to do these found poems, most recently, of course by Quinn's book. And now my blog has inspired somebody else. Find out more about that at Creative Carmelina. I always find Carmelina's blog inspiring and peaceful because she uses such calming colors.

Enjoy.

P.S. I'd love to read your poems!!

Watch The Squirrels

2011-09-21T14:52:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, Janet, who is in my Yahoo Sketchbook Group wrote to us that she was sitting on the porch watching two squirrels fight. This struck me, especially, because I just wrote a poem about watching squirrels.

I've written before about Quinn McDonald's book Raw Art Journaling: Making Meaning, Making Art. She started a workshop based on the book at the Artists of the Round Table Yahoo Group. I was excited to sign up but because I was in Washington and had limited Internet access I was late getting started. I've been so busy I just can't seem to get focused so I'm following Quinn's worksheets without really staying with the group.

This is the book I am using is this Canson Mix Media spiral bound pad. I really like the size of these books and the weight of the paper.

One of the lessons was to draw our gremlin (or Inner Critic).

This is mine, He doesn't have a name yet. He sits there like an old rock with his mean eyebrows and stitching mouth. Part of the reason he criticizes every thing is he is green (with envy?)

Another lesson is to use found poetry. I love these exercises. You go through a bunch of magazines, catalogues or books and cut out various words. Then playing around with them you "write" a poem.

Mine reads:

"Life

You always wanted
to make a difference,
to discover harmony
and a future of hope.
You only need
to relax
stay positive
and watch the squirrels
outside."

The background was done with Neocolor II Watersoluable Crayons, glue stick, Rapidograph pen and Caran d'Ache Supracolor Soft Aquarelle pencils with a waterbrush.

The next type of found poem is more difficult. Take a page from a book and circle words and phrases that make sense and form your poem. This one reads:

"My parents
gave me the gift of
exquisite molehills,
a green diamond,
and tiny green pearls.

I proudly jump for joy.

No one taught them to fly.
Growing up has its
own treasures.

We hold perfectly still
as feathers come down to our pond,
a fragile family treasure
for imaginary refuge."

This made some sense at the time but now I'm not too sure. That's okay, I'll do more.

The supplies for this were the Caran d'Ache Sup[racolor soft aquarelle pencils, gluestick, Rapidograph pen and a waterbrush.

These pencils are really nice and the best part I found the set of 18 at a thrift store for about $3.00.

Now excuse me while I go sit on the gremlin (or Inner Critic) so he can't keep me from pushing the publish button.

It is scary to put stuff out there that isn't great but I'm learning. I will . . .

push , , ,

that . . .

button.

Tuesdays With Rita: To Do Lists

2011-09-20T08:11:00.001-07:00

Susanne, a friend and member of one of my writing groups, commented the other day that my blog always makes her think. Me too,

This week I've been so busy I haven't had much time to think . . . at least I haven't come up with any worthwhile thoughts. I've tried writing a few blog posts but none of them seemed right.

There goes that Inner Critic, Again.

So, I sit here at Barnes and Noble with a strawberry/banana smoothie trying to come up with something different to write about. But my brain is hung up on the other things I should be doing.

Sometimes it helps to get those things down on paper so here goes:
1. Finish my article on haunted Tombstone for the Tombstone Times journal.
2. Work on the Web site for my genealogy business.
3. Get caught up in the workshop Quinn McDonald is doing over at the A.R.T.Yahoo group for her new book, Raw Art Journaling: Making Meaning, Making Art.
4. Plan prompts for the Writers Inspiration Group tomorrow.
5. Work on my mystery novel.
6. Work on other articles I have started but don't seem to finish. (That Inner Critic, Again.) .
7. Start the newsletter for the Phoenix Writers Club.
8. Do my blog. (hehe)
9. Go home and clean house, including sorting through all the boxes we recently took out of storage.
10. Work on the Martin genealogy so I can include the family information with the photos I took this summer in Washington
11. Get ready to Finish This Book (by Keri Smith) with Arlene at Spirit Essence Art. (I did buy it while I was at B&N.)
12 Weed the garden and get it ready for fall planting.

You know what? It works. I feel more focused. I can finish that article and write another blog post for today so this really will be "Tuesdays With Rita."

What's on your list?

Terry and Wyatt Earp

2011-09-19T18:30:00.002-07:00

Our speakers at the Phoenix Writers Club on Saturday were Wyatt and Terry Earp.

They are two wonderful people who have touched so many lives.

Terry is a playwright who has 36 plays to her credit.

(Why the fish? We meet at the Bluewater Grill in central Phoenix.)

Wyatt is related to the "original" Wyatt Earp and if you've ever seen photos of Wyatt in his retirement years you will see that the contemporary Wyatt looks just like him. They were at a function with Hugh O'Brien a few years ago. Hugh played Wyatt Earp in the television hit of the 1950s. He asked Terry to write a play and after thinking on it she decided an elderly Wyatt looking back on his younger years and especially the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral would be a good idea. O'Brien didn't go with the play because of other commitments so Terry got to thinking again and her husband began performing "Wyatt Earp: A Life on the Frontier."

The play has been performed 635 times since then. Wyatt has performed all over the Southwest and in Alaska, Boston, Edinburgh and Budapest. Amazing. Terry went on to write "Gentleman Doc Holliday" which Wyatt has performed 372 times. Terry also wrote and performs the parts of the women in the Wyatt and "Doc's" lives.

As Terry talked about her writing career the one thing that stood out to me was that she just did it. She said she wrote plays, submitted them and had them produced before she heard all the warnings about how difficult it is. She said, "I didn't know any better." In other words, knowing what the pros had to say didn't hold her back. Terry just did it. As writers, or anything, we should remember that.

Wyatt talked about promotion. He said to focus on people and groups where people have a common interest. He showed us Cowboy magazine, the Wild West History Association and the Tombstone Tumbleweed as possible outlets for people interested in their plays. He also talks to everyone. If somebody says they live in some little town he says he has always wanted to perform there. "Magic happens," said Wyatt as he told about performing around the world. Opportunities open up if you let the universe know you are out there.

These are important things for writers, performers, artists and anybody who wants to get their work out there. Wyatt and Terry have long inspired me. As writers, performers, Old West history buffs and as fantastic people.

For more about Wyatt and Terry Earp visit their Web site here.

Street Performers

2011-09-14T14:27:00.000-07:00

Here's another spread from my Washington travel journal. I did this in the car on the drive from Seattle to Yakima with only a pencil, Pitt Pen, waterbrush and strips cut from a Peerless Watercolor Paint Book. (If you aren't familiar with these paint books they are wonderful for travel.)

.
This page was done from memories of the street performers or buskers at the

Pike Place Market a few days before.

We passed this guy and his piano which obviously came out of the van behind him.

He was a fun player and sang a song that had everybody laughing. We went on down the

street for a bit and when we came back he was gone and somebody else in his place. They

must have this schedule down to the minute. It's amazing.

When I spotted these three guys from the back it was like stepping back in time.

Not that I ever saw the Beatles in person.

They were really pretty good as you can see and hear from this short video.

I wish I had filmed them longer. I didn't realize at that point just how much video my little Kodak could actually hold. I figured that out much later.

I've been anxious to show this video to my friend who just spent a month in London and wrote about the buskers there. It was funny when I found a bit of London in Seattle.

Tuesdays With Rita: Project Steps

2011-09-13T08:44:00.005-07:00

One of the things I missed while away was my garden. I knew it would be

hard for Doug to work all day and then come home and take care of the

garden so I didn't expect him to do more than harvest and water.

In other words weeding was not on his list of honey-dos.

I was amazed at how quickly it got out of control. The corn, lavender, spinach and

zucchini are all gone. The zucchini was still producing when I left but the record

breaking temps in August put an end to that. The okra is still going nuts although

the plant in front is looking really sad. The tomatoes are surviving and

I get a couple of vine-ripened yummys every day.

The biggest problem is all that Bermuda grass and weeds that have gotten bigger than some of the plants that are supposed to be there. There's one vine thing that I thought was my cantaloupe but on doing some research (comparing leaves on the Internet) it turns out to be a weed.

So where am I going with this? A reminder that when we keep up with things on a daily, weekly, monthly basis whether it be our health, our finances, a writing project, an art project or a garden it is much easier to keep up when you do it in small doses . . . weeding daily is much easier to handle than to come back and have to do it all at once.

I've decided to just wait until it cools off and get out there and attack the whole garden . . . and plant new crops for the fall. August may be tough in the desert
but we will have a wonderful fall for planting again.

Meanwhile I can spend time each day on updating things on my
computer, writing ideas for my novel, working in my art journal
and sorting through stuff in the house.

What project are you working on that would be easier to face in small doses?

Travel Journal, 2011

2011-09-08T12:40:00.000-07:00

Every year I head up to Washington to visit my grandsons. For the past few years I have taken a moleskine journal to record all the little things that happen.

I put paint on a few pages, add pockets to others, and just generally get it ready for the trip. The first page includes my packing lists and last minute to-do lists from getting ready for the trip. This a page for my tickets and other stuff from the trip up.

I collect any and everything along the way and as you can see it gets pretty fat by the end of the trip. I do leave a few pages blank along the way so I can go back and add photos when I get home . . . I try to keep the book chronological but that doesn't always work and I don't worry about that.

One of the "must dos" is prepare a page for Flat Stanley. He is a character from a series of children's books. A bulletin board fell on him and now he can mail himself to all kinds of places and slide in to others to solve little mysteries. When you buy a Flat Stanley book you get a Flat Stanley to take on your adventures. I lost mine so I made a new one and he gets a special place in each of my journals.

During my trip I take him out and get pictures of Stanley enjoying the same things I do. It is fun, especially for the kids. This page is from lunch at the Oyster House on the pier in Olympia, Washington. That is my great, great nephew stuffing his face. We sat outside and I had crab cakes and fried oysters. I absolutely love seafood and this was a great treat.

Another important part of every trip to Washington is visiting the "bee tree" in Naches. This is actually a trumpet vine that has grown up over a utility pole and looks like a tree. It literally buzzes with all the bees. That's why there are bee buttons on the front of the journal. My grandsons and I talk about the bee tree a lot; it is our special place.

Most of these pages are done with watercolor crayons or paints. There are stickers and cutout words from magazines. Pretty simple. I use a glue stick to keep everything in place although for the buttons I used Ultimate Glue and tied them in place on the back with yarn. The writing on the cover is a paint marker. The moleskine is the one with the lavender band and has thicker pages than others. I love them.

I will be sharing more pages from my journal and more about my trip as time goes on. Thank you for visiting and sharing this with me.

Tuesdays With Rita: Back-to-school, genealogy

2011-09-06T09:03:00.001-07:00

Well, it's been over a month since I've been able to spend any time at the computer. I've tried to catch up on e-mails, blog posts, etc. but finally gave up and decided to start fresh. I hope I haven't missed any major developments in the lives of my Internet friends.

The trip to Washington has me thinking about many things. One of them is genealogy and the importance to our children and grandchildren.

The trip to Goldendale to work on my husband's family turned out to be a very special trip for my daughter and I. It was time for just us. Doing something we both enjoy. It reminded me of another trip we took in 1990.

My mother passed away that May. Her wishes were to be buried with my baby brother in Kansas. In June Jessica and I set out for Kansas and spent a couple of weeks visiting family and going to the cemetery. We also did quite a bit of genealogical research. This was in my avid genealogy phase so she didn't have a choice but luckily she has always shown an interest in finding things . . . especially cemeteries.

On this trip we visited Meade County, Kansas where my great, great grandparents settled. We got to see the Keith house; built by John Riley Keith, a stonemason.

We also visited the historical society and found the old Sunnydale School that had been moved in from the country. This was the same school my grandmother went to.
This was a surprise to us and to Grandma when I later showed her the photographs. Jessica is in the classroom talking to the lady

This is an apropos post as this is
my favorite time of year: back-to-
school, with the smell of crayons,
a fresh tray of paints, pencils to
sharpen and all the other joys of
new things.

I've thought that another reason I liked it so much. We didn't have much money growing up but when it came to back-to-school clothes and supplies I always got as much as we could manage.

I loved taking my daughter shopping for her supplies. Who'd have thought that one day I would be taking my grandsons shopping. I just talked to Alex and he is ready for his second week of First Grade and likes math the best.

What are your favorite back-to-school memories?

Back in the Desert

2011-08-31T16:06:00.000-07:00

Monday when we left Yakima, Washington is was in the 70s. When we got up in the mountains on the drive to Seattle the car said it was 55 degrees. This photos were taken around Snoqualmie Pass,

elevation 3,022 I didn't make note of the temperature in Seattle but it was cool. Three hours later I landed in Phoenix to find it 109 degrees. When the pilot made the comment as he announced we were descending into Phoenix the whole plane moaned. I want to know where they thought they were going? Phoenix is in the Sonoran Desert. It is August. Think about it. Yes, I get really sensitive about these weather things sometimes.

We arrived at Sea-Tac airport early so I had a long wait but I enjoyed reading and watching people. Three average looking "Joes" came to sit down and then quickly whipped out their high functioning yo-yos and started doing tricks I had never seen. I tried Googling for yo-yo conferences in either Seattle last week or Phoenix this week but didn't find anything. It is always interesting to me to see these little subcultures. There must be a lot of yo-yo enthusiasts around.

I found this YouTube video of a yo-yo master teaching a trick much like the guys were doing in the airport. Remember . . . they were right in front of me between two rows of seats. No causalities.

I have two yo-yos. A plain wooden one that I got at Ed Debevics (a 50's diner) and a nicer one. I just don't know where they are, which is probably just as well.

Pleasant Valley

2011-08-24T19:43:00.000-07:00

Driving through south central Washington I tried to imagine what it was like for the early settlers. The rolling hills covered in grasses now broken into fields of corn, orchards, and vineyards.

As we entered Goldendale I was entranced by the Victorian and Queen Anne style houses. My daughter and I were there in view of Mount Hood to learn more about her ancestors.

John Martin was born in Ohio in 1818. He married Susan Jane Philips in Indiana in 1841. The family spent some time in Missouri and Iowa before joining the westward movement. They had eleven children including Doug’s great grandfather, James L. Martin who was born sometime in the early 1850s.

Our first stop was at a beautiful old home on Broadway. The Presby Mansion is the home of the Klickitat County Historical Society and is one of the nicest and most interesting museums I’ve ever seen.

The kind lady who met us at the door showed us into the room where the society keeps their records. With the clues we already had we found information that William A. Martin the eldest son of John and Susan donated land in Pleasant Valley to the Church of Christ as a cemetery. We now have a copy of the deed. We also found a photograph of William Martin and James H. Beaks. We aren’t 100% sure but we feel confident the man on the left is the William. Martin…the resemblance to my husband is uncanny.

Some marriages and a county history added to our information. After touring the museum we drove the 11 miles to Bill Anderson Road where we were to turn right and follow the narrow dirt road that wound back to the cemetery.

After parking we had to open an old ranch gate to make out way into the cemetery. I was so impressed by the side of the hill and Mount Hood in the distance. It took us awhile but we found numerous names that had become familiar during our visit to the historical society. Tuttles, Beeks, Rowley and finally Martin’s were found.

Jessica’s face when we found her great great great grandparents was worth the stickers in my socks and incessant blowing wind.

There in the far corner under a tree were John Martin, August 14, 1818 to May 14, 1896, and Susan Jane Clossin (who had remarried after John’s death) Nov. 1, 1823 to July 29, 1920. “Gone but not forgotten”

Not in this family anyway. When Jessica’s great great grandfather, James Martin, moved to Solomonville, Arizona he took a big step. When Jessica married a man from Yakima, Washington we had no idea she would be returning to her own family roots. Various members of the Martin and Beeks families lived in Yakim including Susan. Susan was also living in Solomonville in 1900. We have indeed followed in their footsteps.

Second Week in Washington

2011-08-16T16:47:00.000-07:00

Here I am in my second week in Washington. I've had a few adventures and lots of quality time with "my boys." Since I didn't have photos last time here's an overview.

First is Flat Stanley having lunch at the Oyster House on the pier in Olympia. No I did NOT share my crab cakes or fried oysters.

This is Trent, our "Hope" baby. He was born very premature and is now almost two. I can't believe how much food this little guy puts away.

A regular tourist view of the pier in Olympia.

Pike Place Market in Seattle. Flowers, vegetables, fruit, fish and tons of people. Really too crowded for my tastes but fun. Lavender booths galore.

My boys in front of the "Bee Tree" a trumpet vine that has grown up around an utility pole and looks like a tree. It literally hums with all the bees and when we get close the boys hunker down and remind each other to be very quiet so they won't upset the bees.

This is my favorite time of year . . .back-to-school. I love school supplies and couldn't wait until I got here to take the boys school shopping. Brendan is going to be in preschool again which here is part of the regular school. Alex will be in first grade. He didn't have much on his list so I got them some extra things for home. Backpacks and crayons and paper, What Fun!

This is part of our daily routine. The boys get up and have breakfast. I finally drag myself up and we go for a long walk. This is returning home. They live at the end of this street with the park across the street. Lots of green, lots of trees and other fun things.

After our walk we have a snack and then a nap. In the afternoon they ride bikes, scooters, play ball or swim. Sometimes we come in to town.

Saturday Jessica and I went down to Goldendale where my husband's family settled in the late 1800s. They even spent a little time up here in Yakima.

And on the subject of genealogy I posted some pictures of my family a couple of weeks ago. I was told a few years ago these photos were of the Columbia River but after Sue left a comment I went back to check again. I had thought at one point this was Wisconsin. I should have gone with my first choice because Sue was right my family was in Wisconsin. I have more pictures from this group that I will publish when I get home and I found a Web site that shows the same scenes. So I apologize for the error and thank Sue for setting me straight. That is part of genealogy.

I can't wait to show you what Jessica and I found Sat. but that deserves a post in itself. I miss all my friends, I miss my Blogland friends and my Sketchgroup. With such limited internet time I'm lucky to do a post.

Please stay tuned.

A Week Up North

2011-08-12T17:41:00.001-07:00

Here I am sitting in Starbucks in Yakima, Washington. . . one week in to my three weeks in the Northwest.
I flew in to Seattle last Friday and my great-niece and her two-year-old met me at the airport and we went on to Pike's Place Market. We had never been there when it was completely open. I have to say that is out of my system. It is fun to see all the fruit and vegetables, the fish and seafood and the art and crafts but moving around is horrible. It is so crowded and with a stroller we could barely move.

I love places like that where I can graze . . .a cup of fresh shrimp and a raspberry, white chocolate cheesecake for lunch. Who can ask for more.

Saturday we went to the Olympia Farmer's Market on the pier which is wonderful. Lavender is a big thing up here and I swoon over all of that. So many fresh flowers and breads and pastries. Apple strudel was my choice.

Then off to the Oyster House on the pier for crab cakes and fried oysters. YUM. Little Trent had a kids meal of two large fish strips, french fries, along with crackers and everything else we could find. I have never seen a child eat like him. Besides the fact he's a little doll.

We walked off our late lunch in the shops of the area. Antiques, art, books and other wonderful things to drool over.

Sunday, My daughter and grandson came and got me to cross White Pass in view of Mr. Ranier to spend the rest of my trip here. I'm having a hard time getting on the Internet. And now I find I can't access the pictures I thought I had downloaded. So there aren't any pictures to share here.

One highlight of the flight up was seeing Mount St. Helens thrusting up through the clouds. I'd seen it before but not that close and it was so amazing to see the enormity of it.

I haven't done any writing but I'm trying to keep up with reading. I'm starting to get in to the routine of the household. The boys and walk a mile or so every morning. Tomorrow we will hit the yard sales. Alex lost a tooth yesterday so he's all ready!

I apologize for no pictures. I will work on that. I have so many of Seattle and Pike's Place Market and the fun shops in the area and the buskers and the boys and flowers and everything else. I miss my daily checks of my blogging friends and just emailing. I'm having fun with the boys.

Drum Roll Please. . . . . . . .

2011-08-02T21:33:00.000-07:00

The winner of the 200th Post drawing for this Inner Critic is. . .

Arlene.

I will zip him up and put him in the mail before I leave Friday.

Enjoy!

(Thanks everyone for the comments and the support through 202 posts!)

Tuesdays With Rita: The Dalles

2011-08-02T19:17:00.001-07:00

This picture was in the box with my Grandma Jennie's old photos. None of the other family wanted them so they came my way. They are a different style than most of the family photos and could almost be postcards. The first one has "old Navy yard" written on the back.

I was pretty sure the people were my Martin family. They moved around a lot. I have them in Ohio, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Kansas and Oregon.

Long before the Internet I started looking for similar places by digging through

postcards at antique stores. I did find a few places that seemed possible.

Then it was suggested it could be the Columbia River and when I could compare scenes on the Internet I finally felt confident these were taken along that mighty river.

The Martins were obviously adventurous but I think this is pushing it way to far.

I've crossed the Columbia a few times. It is amazing. These photos were apparently taken in the area called The Dalles. I haven't been there but it doesn't look like it is too far from my daughter's. I will be at her house for three weeks. Perhaps we can make a drive down. Perhaps we'll do it another time.

I do hope to walk in my ancestors' footsteps one day. (But not the ones on the cliffs!!!)

Have you made trips to find your ancestors? What did you learn about them and perhaps yourself?

Counting Down the Days

2011-08-01T17:31:00.012-07:00

It's time. The weeks of waiting for my trip to Washington to visit my grandsons is finally down to days - four to be exact. With the countdown has come the lists of things to do, errands to run, things to pack and deadlines to meet.

One of the priorities is getting a Moleskine sketchbook ready to keep track of the journey.

This is my book for this year. I found the great pencil bag at Walmart. It loops right over the journal and carries the pencils, pens and eraser I use the most.

There are Pitt pens, drawing pencils, charcoal pencils, black and white gel pens,

highlighters and a blending stump.

This is an inside page in the journal with some pictures I've cut out of magazines along with one of my lists. The pencil pouch can also go on the plane - it has watercolor pencils, an empty water brush that I can fill after passing through security and a tape runner.

This page has a pocket for Flat Stanley who always travels with us on major trips; and sometimes here int ow. This little bag will go in the checked suitcase. It has a small jar of gesso, scissors, glue stick, stamp pad and stamps, and various other items to add marks, color and texture to the pages of my journal.

One thing off the list.

Another to-do has been sprucing up the garden. We've had storms with lots of rain the last couple of nights and the garden is really blooming. This okra plant is almost as tall as I am and full of okra. The blooms are really pretty.

As I continue the countdown and begin my journey I will try to keep up with posts. (If you missed the 200th post you might want to go back and take a look for a special drawing that will take place tomorrow.)

Until then have a Great Week.

200th Post

2011-07-28T13:07:00.000-07:00

Wow. That snuck up on me. Two hundred posts.

I'm here at Barnes & Noble in "my" writing spot. I put that in parenthesise because if my writing buddies are here we get shifted around. But today, one is on her way to Missouri and the other is working so I'm all alone. I thought I would get a lot done but the files I thought were on my flash drive are not there. I was using the desktop so they safely at home. No getting the Phoenix Writers Club newsletter done, no writing an article on the Huachuca Water Company for the "Tombstone Times."

I do have a large hot chai to finish so I'm settled for awhile. Gee. I'm being forced to take a break. How cool is that?

We went to Quinn McDonald's book release at Changing Hands bookstore last night. It was great. There were over 30 people including some I've known on-line but never met in person. (We have plans to get together when I get back from Washington.) Quinn told some great stories about her days working for the CIA and FBI. She talked about the background of her new book. And had us make ourselves permission slips to do something we normally have a hard time doing . . . let go, make art,
make mistakes, take time off, whatever.

Near the end she held up two Inner Critic stuffies as prizes. The whole room went "Ahhhhhhhhhhh." It was so funny. Congratulations to the winners should they find me through the tag. It was pretty amazing to see the reaction of that many people all at once.

This morning I put three more in the mail to make their way to their new homes. I wonder if I remembered to zip their mouths shut. That could get pretty scary for some unsuspecting postal worker who doesn't usually listen to his inner critic.

I also had to go have a little replacement part put on my Kia, and stop by to pick up my eyedrops at the pharmacy. They were waiting for a fax from the Doc but when I called them they hadn't gotten the fax to begin with. This happens so often and I really wonder why they insist on using that system; especially when they don't double check. Just another gripe about the way our society has gone.

I did pick up a couple of post cards to send to my grandsons to remind them I am coming in about a week to give them big hugs and take them to visit the"bee tree." Alex has been worried because they are having a late season and the bee tree hadn't bloomed yet, and if the tree didn't bloom there wouldn't be any bees, and Grammy couldn't visit until we could go see the bee three.

Being a grandparent is the greatest thing on earth. Even when they are far away. It just takes a little more effort to find special things.

I hope you haven't minded the wee bit of rambling. As a reward to those who have stuck with me through this post, and in celebration of my 200th post, I'm going to have a contest. Leave a comment below and on Tuesday I will draw a name for one of you wonderful readers to win their own Inner Critic.

Good Luck. Enjoy and remember to take time for yourself.

Happy Day!

2011-07-27T09:25:00.000-07:00

My friend, Quinn McDonald is having a Celebration today for the release of her new book, Raw Art Journaling: Making Meaning, Marking Art. She is giving away an Inner Critic. Check out her blog and the Excitement over at QuinnCreative.

The release will actually be tonight at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona. I can't wait to go, she's going to have cookies and M&Ms.

Here's the book, the piece on found poetry I submitted for the book, and an Inner Critic.

Believe me. It took a lot of zipping that Inner Critic to get that piece made and submitted. A huge step for me. And look at the outcome. So, although our Inner Critics may be helpful at times, they should also spend a great deal of time zipped.

I hope to see some of you at Changing Hands tonight. Or perhaps at the A.R.T. (Artists of the Round Table) yahoo art group where Quinn is teaching a class based on her book. You have to join the group to participate but it is free. If you've never taken an online workshop here's your chance to give it a try...you only have to buy the book.

Now go make art.

Tuesdays With Rita: Lucy Martin Overdeer, Coming Together

2011-07-26T08:46:00.001-07:00

Isn't this picture lovely? This is my husband's great grandmother, Evelyn Lucille (Martin) Overdeer.

She was born in 1888 in Washington State and died in Globe, Arizona in 1920.

One time while visiting with Doug's "Granny" as everyone called her she allowed me to go through a box of photos and make copies with my camera. I had a special set of lenses that fit on the front of my SLR. (This was way before digital took over.) I was able to use natural light and get copies.

Granny told me the Martin's were from Goldendale, WA but I haven't had much luck in researching them until recently. Nobody in Doug's generation or even his mother's kept track of the genealogy. As far as I have found out there hasn't been any connection with the Martins since Granny was a small girl.

I happened across some articles in the early Arizona newspapers that gave me the connection. And surprise, surprise, surprise...some of them were in the tiny town where my daughter and her family now live. Through Ancestry and other sources I have traced the Martins back to Missouri and then Iowa. I wonder what the chances are they will be found in Ohio or Maryland where my Martin family were living generations earlier. Or even be from a common ancestor.

Twilight Zone music...I just realized Doug's great grandma was born a Martin and mine became a Martin through marriage. Her husband spent some time in Oregon and his father is buried in Portland.

This is just some of those synchronicities that happen while doing genealogical research. The connections can be uncanny.

For now I'm happy to know more about the lady in this photo and perhaps when I visit up there next month I can find even more about her Washington relatives.

Do you know of "coming together" stories in your family? Stories in which members of your family seem to come back together after generations or long distances?

Tuesdays With Rita: First Car, Kia Rio

2011-07-19T07:53:00.001-07:00

With a "new to me" car in the carport I've been thinking about my other cars. I really haven't had that many. We tend to buy a car and drive it until it won't drive any more.

This Ford Galaxy 500 was my first car. I can't even remember what year it was.

I didn't get my driver's license until I was 18 and already living out of the house. So this car took me through many of those early harrowing driving times. Over-reacting to rain slick roads and a red light and stalling in the middle of a busy intersection. No accidents and one minor ticket for doing a left hand turn seven minutes after the time allowed on a sign on the right side of the street. The cop said he tried to stop the car in front of me but couldn't get their attention. I guess I was an easy mark.

The only dent it ever got was in the "A" Mountain parking lot at ASU. Somebody bashed in the whole right side. I was not a happy camper.

My next car was a white '67 Cougar. Then a silver Mercury Sable. The last is my Pontiac Grand Am which we are donating to the Breast Cancer Society. In 1983 we bought a small 1982 Econoline Van which we still have and it runs great. That's Doug's vehicle along with his '48 Jeep Willys. He drives a work truck for his job so we don't have to worry about that.

So all my cars have been white or silver it feels funny to walk out on the carport and see the bright blue Kia Rio. It's fun to drive though and all I have to do is plug in my MP3. Gee, can you believe I'm catching up a bit in the electronic age.

What was your first car? Do you have pictures?

Weekend Happenings

2011-07-17T18:50:00.000-07:00

We've had quite a weekend and all I want to do now is crawl in to bed with a good novel. I'm currently reading "This Glittering World" by T. Greenwood for my book discussion group on Tuesday. I'm really enjoying it especially since it is set in Flagstaff and Phoenix, Arizona. I love reading novels about my own home state.

Friday night we had a great dinner with our friends, Wyatt and Terry Earp. Great food, great conversation and great friends. Who could ask for more? Wyatt was telling us about performing his Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp programs in Paris. I guess there are a lot of Old West fans there, too.

On the way home my Pontiac Grand Am which has been having lots of problems finally gave up the ghost. Doug worked on it all day Saturday and we decided it was going to cost more to repair it then it was worth...and I would be without a car for who knows how long.

So we went car shopping and came home with a 2009 Kia Rio. I never thought I would own a foreign car but we really like this one and it only had about 8,000 miles on it. Can you imagine? We got a great deal but I'm not looking forward to car payments again.

All of the cars I've owned have been silver or grey so this is going to take some getting used to. It drives well and seems quieter than my old Pontiac. We spent today running errands and taking turns driving.

Have a great week!

Under the Zucchini Leaf

2011-07-13T13:06:00.000-07:00

Meet Aunt Sage. She lives
under the zucchini leaf in
my special Arizona garden.

I met Aunt Sage when my writing buddy, Christine, brought her to our group yesterday.

She isn't much of a writer, the green thumb tends to get in the way, but she is great for the garden and on careful consideration she came home to live under the zucchini leaf.

She has her gardening gloves and a seed packet tucked neatly in her apron and of course a straw hat on her head...an absolute must in the Arizona sun.

So the question now is...how will she do with taking care of the weeds?

(Thank you, Christine.)

Tuesdays WIth Rita: Dust Bowl, Monsoon

2011-07-12T09:33:00.002-07:00

Summer Storms.

Many people have emailed me or commented after seeing the dust storm we had last Tuesday. It was a pretty big one. But not that unusual. We stood at the kitchen window and could see the house behind us although it was a bit hazy. The streetlight in front of it was a very dim glow. We couldn't see anything beyond that.

What was really strange was seeing all the dust in the morning. It was pooled in dips and looked like tan waves on the parking lots. Cars looked like they had grown fur overnight. Most of them still do...we don't bother to wash our cars very often in monsoon season. In my garden the zucchini leaves looked like they had some strange disease and my lettuce felt all velvety.

We've had a couple of smaller dust storms since then and some thunder and rain two nights ago. You just never know what will happen this time of year. However, what happens in one part of the Valley of the Sun doesn't happen all over. I was talking to a friend once who lives about a mile or so away...she was getting dumped on and we didn't get a drop.

I once heard a hairdresser say that if the weathermen say we have a 50% chance of rain it means that only 50% of the Valley will get rain. That's the best explanation I've heard.

The monsoon starts the first week or two of July and lasts through August. The weather goes from hot and humid to balmy to dusty to pouring down rain. You can see more about it here.

While watching the dust I got to thinking about the Dust Bowl my grandparents lived through. I wrote about that here. The family was in the cellar and couldn't tell when Grandad opened the doors and went outside...the dirt was so think it was black as night. That lasted for a very long time and whole cars and cattle were buried. People died.

This storm made national news. Makes me wonder about all the sensational stuff we see on tv.

One of the great things about the monsoons is the sunsets. I always enjoy a good sunset...but often forget to take pictures.

I've always been a bit afraid of storms and especially lightening. I still remember my grandparents telling me not to stand near the windows and for sure stay away from trees. No matter that those trees surrounded the house.

What storm memories do you have?

Inner Critic Tour

2011-07-07T11:29:00.000-07:00

Quinn McDonald has a free giveaway going on over at Create Mixed Media which includes her new book and one of my stuffed Inner Critics. Inspiring mixed media artist, Violette, has made a link to this on her blog here.

Thanks to Quinn, Violette and others, the little stuffies are making a whirlwind tour through blogland.

Thanks to everybody who helps spread the word.

To help celebrate I'm putting a
new batch of Inner Critics in my Etsy shop.

These little guys have been so much fun to make, sell and share. Writers, artists and everybody else with big mouthed Inner Critics can now tell them to just ZIP IT.

Sleepless in Arizona

2011-07-06T12:14:00.002-07:00

Last night was One of Those Nights. Awake around 1:30 and too restless to even try to go back to sleep. I knew I had to get up at 5:30 to take Doug in to his first day at a new job so that didn't help. I finally gave up and found a page in my art journal and started painting this portrait. I used only Neocolor II watersoluable crayons and black and white acrylic paint. I can see where she's off in various places but I'm pretty happy with her.

The monsoons have officially hit the desert. I went out a couple of days ago to start the water in the garden and this beautiful sky sent me flying back in for my camera. I love Arizona sunsets.

I took this photo of the garden a week or so ago and it has already grown a lot since then. We have had numerous harvests of lettuce and zucchini and two batches of okra. And finally the first two ripe tomatoes.

The Early Girl tomato plants were getting so big and the tomatoes so heavy we had to trim them back a little. It broke my heart to loose those green tomatoes until I started doing some research on how to make fried green tomatoes.

Our ancestors didn't like to waste food either so when they had to trim back the tomato plants they made use of those green tomatoes. I found numerous recipes on the Internet but we ended up using our own version:

Slice the green tomatoes in 1/4 to 1/2 inch slices

Put them in a bowl and cover with milk.

On a plate mix cornmeal, flour, and seasonings

Put the tomato slices into the flour mixture until well coated and add to a skillet of hot oil to brown on each side. (The consensus seems to be not to use olive oil which we normally would do. They say it overwhelms the tomatoes.)

We had our fried okra (done the same way) and fried green tomatoes with Doug's famous baby back ribs and it was the best meal we've had in a long time.

I don't know how much we are saving by having our own garden in the desert but going out and harvesting our dinner is like heaven on earth.

I've been told this is a night blooming cereus. I'm not sure. The original plant belonged to my mother who passed away in 1990. The first few years it bloomed on or around Mother's Day. It shoots out a long branch and the flower blooms at night and lasts through the next day. It folds up and eventually the branch falls off.

Last month it bloomed with four big blooms but my photos didn't turn out. The other morning I was greeted by this delicate flower and there's another one coming in. Whatever this plant is the message is clear...Mom is always with me in one way or another.

Tuesdays With Rita: Swimming Babies

2011-07-05T09:03:00.001-07:00

My friend, Cindi, wrote on her blog Loving Arizona Living, recently about how important pools are to all of us in Arizona. She was a Jersey girl and didn't grow up with pools just like this Kansas girl.

Raising families in Arizona changed that. Even though we didn't have a pool we decided it was important to start our daughter in swimming and survival at an early age. Here we are (I'm wearing the hat) in swim class when she was just a few months old. The program was called Swimfants and was a big hit.

She stayed in the program until she was about four
years old. She developed strong swimming skills.

Here she is with the instructor.

And our little bathing beauty. I have always loved this photo for some reason.

No the poor kid didn't have a chance. I didn't have any hair either.

As the popularity of the program grew the series, "That's Incredible" came to town to film the kids. We still have the video and there is a brief view of my back and Jessica jumping into the water. Gosh we haven't looked at that in years.

Since she was so young Jessica doesn't have many memories of those Swimfant years. She does remember swimming on the local Parks & Recreation team and going to meets all over the Valley of the Sun.

What memories do you have of heading to the pool?

Excitement in the Air

2011-07-04T13:15:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday, America.

About two years ago I took a class in raw art journaling at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe. The class was taught by a very vibrant and inspiring lady, Quinn McDonald, who has since become a friend. Sharing art does that for people in case you haven't noticed.

Raw Art Journaling attracted me because it is like mixed-media art journaling but simpler and touches me on a different level. In the class Quinn showed us one of her journals that had a wonderful tree on the left side with the cutest little bird flying away towards the right where she had made some notes pertaining to business calls and such. It was done with InkTense Pencils and was lovely.

Quinn travels around the country doing workshops for business and other venues. She journals on the go with pencils, a waterbrush pen, markers, and a few other odds and ends. When she asks for something to drink on an airplane she asks for a cup of water and pulls out her pencils and a waterbrush and she is set for a relaxing trip.

About a year ago Quinn, through her newsletter, asked for submissions in different categories of journaling for a book she was working on about raw art journaling. I sent in a found poetry piece and it was accepted. My first bit of published art. The books will start arriving this week and I can't wait to spend a few hours studying it. We met for coffee about a month ago and I got to see the book itself but I just breezed through it at that point... I didn't want to take up the visit time and I also wanted to savor each page.

You can see the book at amazon.com (my artwork isn't shown.) and learn more about Quinn here.

If you are in Arizona on July 27 join Quinn at the Changing Hands Bookstore. If you haven't been to Changing Hands it is an experience in itself.

I look forward to receiving my copy of this book and immersing myself in creativity.

There and Back Again

2011-07-01T20:11:00.000-07:00

I am sitting in the coffee shop across from my friend and fellow writer, C. B. Wentworth. C.B. returned a week or so ago from spending a month in London just "being." She's posted many photos from her trip including a pic she took for me of the Old Curiosity Shop. (I'm a big Dickens fan.) (Thank you, C. B.)

Today she was writing about all the junk food she enjoyed as part of "getting to know the neighborhood." Well, I have to say she brought back a Galaxy bar to share and English chocolate is so different from ours, especially when fresh. A heavenly delight. Today we settled for a mint chocolate Godiva bar. It worked.

C. B spent her month doing some touristy stuff but mostly just picking a direction to go for the day and jumping on the tube to explore with her main interest being coffee shops and book stores. She walked along the Thames and saw so many wonderful sights. She is still in a surreal world somewhere between London and Arizona but I'm glad to have her home and to take in all her excitement and amazing stories.

Even though the heat here in the desert is daunting right now I hope to catch some of her excitement and maybe find some new out-of-the-way places here in Phoenix. After all, many people come here from all over the world to do what C. B. did in London. In the meantime, I hope you will join me in following her adventures and make sure to backtrack through her blog to see more of Jolly Ol' England.

Thanks for sharing C. B.

Tuesdays With Rita: Life Changes, Graduation

2011-06-28T08:09:00.001-07:00

June is the month of Father's Day, weddings and graduation. Isn't it funny how that works? Father's Day I understand, I just wrote an article about the history of the holiday for the Tombstone Times. It is in honor of a Washington State woman's deceased father's birthday. She didn't think it was fair that there was a Mother's Day and not a Father's Day.

Graduation is obvious. The kids got out of school to help on the farm in the summer. I often wonder why we still follow that schedule but that's the way it is. And maybe that also has to do with the brides. The young ladies graduate and it's time to move on. Or was it because travel was easier in the summer? I haven't studied the history of weddings and frankly I enjoyed my October wedding...especially here in Arizona; although we almost got snowed in in Aspen on our honeymoon which would be fine but most of our stuff was still at my sister's in Denver.

But, I digress. I brought up graduation because I was thinking about my sister and how her graduation affected my life. She graduated from Great Bend High School 1961.

She was 19 and I was 8. It was a time of new beginnings for her and I know she was excited to move on with her life. This is actually one of the few photos where my sister smiled.

With the ten years difference, and no siblings in between, Betty's graduation and leaving home brought major changes to my life, too. Especially when she got married and moved to Colorado a couple of years later.

I had my own bedroom for the first time. Since mom worked full-time I spent a lot of time alone.

It was much later that I realized how much that change affected me. Betty was my idol. She was an artist, selling oil paintings and doing other artistic work while still in high school. She controlled the tv and totally influenced my love for Westerns. She had me convinced I couldn't stand hard-boiled egg yolks...because she didn't like the whites.

Betty always protected me and I could always turn to her. Sure we had our problems as siblings but as the years went on they ironed themselves out. I never became the artist she was. I do like egg yolks and popcorn and fried okra which she always ate just like popcorn.

Here we are on the pink couch I will never forget. Betty was 15 and I was five. Another reason I looked up to her... she had beautiful red hair and got to wear all those wonderful petticoats, full skirts and the other 1950's stuff that we all look back on with great nostalgia. Of course, I didn't realize that until much later either. (Besides thatm she was able to do her own hair by that time. Oh the things my mother did to me.)

She was my sister, my sometimes "mom," the artist I wanted to be and she was off living her life long before I even thought about it. Sometimes I miss my sister terribly...sometimes I still feel her near.

How did a major change in somebody else's life affect yours? How did you grow from that experience? What things are you still learning from that part of your life?

Tuesdays With Rita: First Gifts, Shopping

2011-06-21T10:55:00.001-07:00

This ad is from the Great Bend (Kansas) Daily Tribune of October 31, 1961. It was my sister's senior year in high school and I had just turned eight. Gibsons officially opened the first week of November and was the first discount center in my home town. It was out on Washington Street which was also the highway that went through town. I can still remember the "feel" of the store. It was the place where I bought the first gift for my mom...on my own. Or at least the first one I remember.

Mom loved chickens and the color orange. I don't remember if there were any chickens but I got her this very orange toucan hanging planter and it hung over her kitchen sink from that time until the day she died.

Since then it has hung in my bathroom with the same plastic plant that mom had put in it long ago.

It's odd but I can vividly remember buying this toucan. Of course mom was in the store but in another section. I was on the right hand side and there were plastic flowers and such in the area. I imagine mom wasn't too excited about a toucan but she cherished it and later when we went to Disneyland for the first time it fit in to memories of the Tiki Tiki Room.

What memories do you have of buying a special gift for somebody in your family? Is the item still around?

How Does Your Garden Grow

2011-06-17T14:38:00.000-07:00

It's finally over...my second cataract surgery was Wednesday and now I'm on the road to better sight. I like to take times like this to think of beginnings. Since I can't drive and I'm supposed to be somewhat quiet this seems like a good time to get some projects organized. To think about some articles I want to write and even get a start on some of them.

Meanwhile, life is going on around me.

My garden is growing and we are both looking forward to harvesting zucchini, lettuce, and okra in the morning. The tomatoes are lagging behind but I'm sure they will be worth the wait.

I worked really hard before the surgery to get as many weeds pulled as I could. Now Doug has taken over and I think he is enjoying the peaceful time among the green plants.

About a year ago I took Mary Ann Moss' "Remains of the Day" class. I love these wonderful journals. The yahoo group that came from members of the classes is supportive with sharing of ideas and techniques. We also have various swaps. This week I received ten pages made by other members and now I can't wait to put them in to a brand new ROD style journal.

Always generous other goodies were included with the package of finished pages. Aren't these wonderful bits and pieces of things for future ROD pages or collages?

The huge paper clip cracked me up.

So midst the renewal of my eyes I'm renewing my focus and some of my immediate goals. Are there any changes going on in your life that can be a catalyst for other positive changes?

Tuesdays With Rita: Concession Stands

2011-06-14T11:25:00.001-07:00

I've been on a cozy mystery reading kick. I've always loved cozies but in recent years I've tried to broaden my reading list. However, I always come back to cozies.

Cozies are just what the name implies. There's a murder off-stage and a group of people, usually friends living in a small town with simple lives that continue on after one of them solves the mystery. Think Agatha Christie and Jessica Fletcher.

Right now I am reading "Writers of the Purple Sage" by Barbara Burnett Smith. I found this on a sale rack quite a while back and of course it caught my attention because it is about a writer's group in the town of Purple Sage, Texas. Besides enjoying the book itself I'm learning some interesting tricks about writing from the characters. I have always wanted to write a cozy. One of those dreams I just never follow up on.

While reading last night this particular sentence stirred some strong memories. The main character, Jolie Wyatt has just arrived at the baseball field to watch her son play.

"I got out of the car and walked across the hard-packed dirt toward the small cinder-block building that served as the concession stand."

Suddenly I was back in the park in Great Bend, Kansas. Just behind the pool and probably near the fields, although I can't remember that detail, was the concession stand. The concession stand was small and usually manned by a high school girl bored out of her mind. She barely had to get off her stool to reach everything on the shelves. I don't remember if the stand was open during big events in the park but I sure do remember stopping paying it a visit.

After swimming in the public pool my friends and I stopped there for a snack to munch on as we walked home. My favorite was a frozen Zero candy bar. I still get them occasionally although but my adult self and my older teeth don't enjoy them as much as I did then.

Did the description of the concession stand jog any memories for you?

Tuesdays With Rita: Embracing New Technology

2011-06-07T19:11:00.001-07:00

Things in the communication world change so quickly these days. I can't keep up with the names let alone owning or learning all this new technology. I have a plain flip phone and no real desire to move on to whatever is available now.

Today as I was on my way to lunch with a friend I saw a billboard announcing "Qwest is now..." something or other. Oh boy. More changes. As companies change or are bought out not only do we have to deal with new technology but new policies and probably higher rates.

This picture is my great grandmother, Nellie Keith Martin, running one of the first switchboards in Southwestern Kansas. She was a young single mother trying to make her way in the world. Can you believe that chair? Oh, how her back must have hurt at the end of the day.

The back of the photo shows it was once in a black Victorian style album. The writing is my grandmothers: "Nellie Martin" and then mine "~~Fowler~~ Meade, 1914" The penciled part I can't make out except for the date of Dec. 24, 1930 or 1936.

What wonders we have seen in our life time. Computers, cell phones, microwaves. We seem to take technology and new things for granted...our society accepts and even demands a constant array of new stuff.

I try to imagine what it was like to get the first telephone in your area. Or the first stove. Or sewing machine. Or electricity. We hear stories of people who wouldn't accept these "new-fangled contraptions" just like some of us don't have the latest iPod or tablet or mobile device or whatever...

Do you know any stories of your family embracing or ignoring new things?

Tuesdays With Rita: Family Gardens

2011-05-31T10:02:00.001-07:00

They say that smells are the strongest memory inducers of all. One of my favorite smells is tomato plants.

I pick up the on-the-vine tomatoes at the grocery store just to smell the plant.

The smell of tomato plants brings back memories of my grandma who always had a very large garden until she moved to Arizona and lived in a trailer court. Her counter was covered with fresh vegetables: tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, okra, radishes and onions.

Fresh corn reminds me of my Aunt Marie who always had a garden. Corn was my favorite at her house. One summer they teased me about how I managed to eat my corn-on-the-cob without two front teeth. Nothing as simple as loosing my baby teeth would keep me away from fresh corn with lots of butter and a dash of salt.

This year Doug and I decided to plant a garden. Well, I decided and he went a long with me. As I was picking out seeds for lettuce, spinach, cherry tomatoes and green onions he threw in the corn. It is coming up fast and neither one of us can wait to have our own fresh corn.

We also put in okra plants and now we have little baby okras. Our mouths are watering already.

Oh, and there's the cantaloupe plant, the purple sage and some lavender.

Having a 26 x 12 garden in Arizona isn't the easiest of tasks but I'm on a roll.

As are the memories. Grandma and Aunt Marie bent over pulling weeds. Wilted lettuce and cucumber salads. The heavenly smell of tomatoes.

What memories do you have of family gardens and the harvest they produced?

Tuesdays With Rita: Home Economics Class

2011-05-24T13:21:00.001-07:00

Ah, home economics class. Seventh grade, 1965.

I found a picture of some of the girls in my class and the teacher at a fashion show. I didn't get to go. My mom always worked so I missed out on a lot of things. Besides, I was so shy and withdrawn I would never have done it. The photo was fun. It was from the Great Bend Daily Tribune at ancestry.com. However, by the time I got around to making a journal page I lost it. I decided that might be a good thing so worked without it.

One semester was for cooking and the other for sewing. We made a checked (mine was blue and white) toilet paper roll holder, an apron and a pleated skirt. None of those items have survived.

What did I learn in home ec?

Never ever put pins in your lips/mouth.
Sewing gathers is kind of fun; especially when you get to pull on the one thread.
Basting is boring and really pretty useless.
Patterns tear easily and like to fight back.
Zippers are horrible to put in.
Seventh grade girls are just plain mean especially when sitting around sewing by hand.

I don't know how I ended up at a table with a group of girls who thought the class was called "torment Rita."
Like I said, I was shy and withdrawn and never fought back. I won't mention their names but I remember them well. Their hands weren't idle but it didn't keep their mouths shut.

Now that makes me wonder about all the stories that were told, and possible feelings hurt, when the ladies all got together for a quilting bee.

And yes, I always put the pins in my mouth. I've never choked on one but I still can hear Mrs. Evan's voice.

Did you have home economics? Or perhaps wood shop? What did you learn?

My sister tried to take shop and the school wouldn't let her. They even called our mother in to complain. Mom said to let her do whatever she wanted. That was in the 1950s.

Isn't it amazing how one small memory leads to another and another and another...

Materials used on Journal Page:
Gesso
Vintage pattern
Caran d'Ache neocolor II watersoluble crayons
Pitt markers
Phrases from computer
Matte gel medium

Favorite Place and a Rant

2011-05-20T12:56:00.000-07:00

Here I am at my new favorite place to get away from the office and work: Barnes and Noble coffee shop. I have a hot chai and blues are playing on the store intercom. It's a beautiful day except for a bit of wind. All should be well, right?

Instead, I have a rant.

I've been thinking about this post all week. I don't like to get off into issues here, that's not the reason for this blog. But sometimes...you just have to say what you feel.

I've been a fan of John Walsh and "America's Most Wanted" for years. Sunday the president of Fox announced the show would be cancelled except for an occasional special. The reason he gave was the show isn't making money. He didn't even go by ratings...with over 5 million viewers every week they must be better than many other shows he's keeping.

The way my husband put it the only people who will be happy about the cancellation will be child molesters, rapists and murderers. Not the families of victims, the found children, and the people who's lives have been changed because this show helped make people aware of problems in our society.

In the 23 years since the show began they have led to the arrest of over 1,000 offenders around the world. John Walsh has been an advocate for children and the formation of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The Adam Walsh Act for the registration of sex offenders was passed and named after John's murdered six-year-old son.

Saving money may be one of the most important issues to everybody right now but this should be a reminder that no-matter-what making a difference is what really counts. John has made a difference in so many ways and as my hubby and I always say after John announces another capture on the show, "YEAH JOHN!"

Jim Sitton, who's daughter and two other family members were murdered on Thanksgiving 2009, started a facebook page to Save AMW. There are numerous blogs and campaigns to save the show. There are addresses to contact Fox officials and local stations to voice our opinions. Visit www.amw.com to see up-to-date information on the show.

I hope you will join me in making a difference.

My Maggie, the rescue dog, agrees.

Tuesdays With Rita: Drive-In Theater

2011-05-17T09:01:00.002-07:00

Last week a few people thought I was writing about drive-in movies. Well, I have to admit I was thinking about them so I thought I may as well write about those memories, too.

The Great Bend Drive-In was on the edge of town and looked very much like the one in this photo...except the playground was more on the other side. Remember those times of the whole family piling in the car, often with our own food and munchies, and heading to the drive-in. We often had to try a few spaces to get one of those window speakers that worked. Then, we kids were allowed to go down to the playground while the parents stayed in the car. Remember that scene from "Grease" when John Travolta is down at the playground after having a fight with Olivia Newton John?

It was a treat to get to go to the snack bar. At least for us. The hamburgers were pretty bad but I have to admit I sometimes stop at a fast food drive-in and get the cheapo hamburger just because they remind me of those from the snack bar.

As I became a pre-teen they started having "battle of the bands." The concession stand had a flat roof and local rock and roll bands would set up on the roof and play all night long. This was a fun time for the kids. I don't remember a lot except "G-L-O-R-I-A" was a favorite. That and the beach song with the rolling drums.

The ad on my journal page is from one of those "battles." What I don't understand is it says Freddie and the Dreamers were there. Now I can't imagine this being the real Freddie and the Dreamers so I wonder if we had a local band that mimicked them. Do any of you even remember Freddie and the Dreamers? Okay, we'll go there another time.

I don't remember any of the movies but I'm sure I saw all the Westerns especially if John Wayne was in them. One summer I went to Colorado to stay with my sister. I went to the drive-in with my aunt and older cousin and we saw "A Hard Day's Night" starring the Beatles. That was so fun. Yes, I have that movie on video and still enjoy it...especially the accents.

Okay, so the drive-in movies theater has taken me all all kinds of tangents with my memories. How about you? What memories come to you when thinking about the drive-in?

Like the Beach Boys sang, "I love the drive-in."

Materials used for this journal page:

Black watercolor oil pastels

White gesso

Photos from Google Images and ad from "Great Bend Tribune" on the Internet

Matte gel medium

White ink

White Sharpie poster pen

Punch out letters

Hanging With Writers

2011-05-13T14:48:00.000-07:00

I love being a writer.

I love hanging out with writers.

I love sharing the excitement of writers being published.

When my friend Amy came out with her book of folk poetry I not only had to get a copy but I had to make her something special to commerate the event.

I love the technique I learned from KC WIllis for making wall hangings so I copied the beautiful cover of Amy's book and made her a hanging.

It is geared to Amy's cowboy poetry.

The quote from the back cover is:

"This book is a collection of Western Folk Poetry about life, love, and cowboyin'. What else is there?"

You can find Amy's book here, along with some of her poetry. Isn't the cover gorgeous?

As a thank you Amy gave me a dozen fresh eggs. Yummy.

And, no, I can't tell the difference between the different type of eggs but fresh is Always better.

Tuesdays With Rita: Drive-In Restaurants

2011-05-10T09:47:00.001-07:00

Going out to eat was a special event when I was small. Even a trip to the drive-in. There were two or three in my home town...that I remember. There was Stewart's which looked just like this picture I found on Google

Images... at least as far as I remember.

My usual fare was a barbecue beef sandwich and a limeade along with whatever fries or onion rings I could con out of my mom and sister. When mom was feeling a bit richer I was able to get a shrimp basket.

A super treat.

I don't remember if they had carhops on skates. I don't think so.
Here's the ad from their grand opening in 1960. The year before my sister graduated from high school.

I found this ad from the Great Bend Tribune on the Ancestry.com Web site.

Another one was the A&W but I'll write about that one another time. I can't remember the third except I think my sister worked there for a bit and it was on the very edge of town and very, very small. More like a walk-up shack.

Did you go to the drive-in? What were your favorites?

The supplies I used to make this journal page were:

Image from Google

Acrylic craft paint

Pitt pens

Stamps with Staz-on ink

White Sharpie marker

Gesso

Sequin waste

Bubble wrap

Gel medium

Tuesdays With Rita: Genealogy Mysteries

2011-05-03T13:37:00.001-07:00

Every genealogy, indeed every family, has a mystery. For researchers these are called brick walls.

Grandma Thompson 1811 - 1900 has been my brick wall for a long time.

Grandma is buried in the cemetery in Meade, Kansas along with her daughter, son-in-law and many others and granddaughter; my great grandmother, Nellie Keith Martin, who I'm written about in many posts.

My Grandmother Jennie told me who Grandma Thompson was and how she was related and I realized the stone was put on about the same time as Nellie's; 1964.

I couldn't find a death record, or even her name, for a long time. So I went on about my researching. I traced the Keith's back along the wagon trail to Illinois and found Grandma Thompson again. And now she has a name...Jane Thompson married to Soloman Thompson. WooHoo. Progress.

As research progressed I learned Jane Thompson's maiden name was Malone and she was born in Tennessee sometime around 1811, Solomon died on September 9, 1871 and Jane, at age 79, made the choice in 1884 to travel west with her married daughters and sons-in-law.

I have her homestead papers from Kansas. On this page it describes her house as made of sod, 16 x 18 feet with 1 door and 1 window. She had a sod hen house that was 12 x 12. That's almost as big as her house! It also says her house is "habitable all seasons of the year." I wonder if any of us would agree.

The next document shows us Jane was illiterate as she signs with "her mark." The clerk would have signed her name and then she made her mark in the middle. She could probably recognize that much.

So I don't know much more about Jane. I don't know her parents. I don't know when or where she was born. But I do know that she was one tough woman to emigrate to Southwestern Kansas in the 1880s. Although she was illiterate she managed to keep up her household. She remained close to her family daughters until she died.

Do you have a mystery in your family? Have you tried to track it down. It's taken a lot of work to find out these things about Jane but I'm happy to know more than what was one her gravestone.

Journal Prompts and Inner Critics

2011-05-01T18:58:00.000-07:00

My friend, Teri, over at Quinceberry has started a week of journal prompts to trigger childhood memories.

She will present a quote and prompt each day. Today's post has brought back many memories that I plan on getting down as soon as I finish here. Pay Teri a visit and get some of your own memories flowing.

Another friend, who had ordered some of the Inner Critics from my Etsy shop, presented them to some friends who were at her house having an artsy weekend. She wrote the following:

"Your inner critic dolls were an absolute hit. I gave one each to my artist friends who came to spend a couple of days with me over Easter for an artist retreat.

"We just had so much fun with them. While we were having a drink before dinner, when one felt like commenting on what the other was saying, she'd get the doll out and make HER speak. It was hilarious. Then they'd get them to make all sorts of faces. We had a great time and they were definitely a winner."

When writing memoirs, or any type of writing, it is important to zip the Inner Critic while getting those first thoughts down. There is always plenty of time to edit and rewrite after the first ideas are down on paper or displayed on the computer screen.

Last Tuesday we had a lot of wind. When I got to Desert Ridge Market Place I noticed all the palo verde blossoms blowing around on the walkways. Some people think this is messy. I call it "God's confetti."

Tuesdays With Rita: Baby Animals

2011-04-26T12:13:00.001-07:00

We don't seem to hear much about it these days (or maybe it is because I live in a big city) but when I was small it was very common for children to receive baby chicks, ducks or bunnies for Easter.

My husband once had a duck named Mr. Peepers.

I had this chick. I don't remember his name.

I loved that little chick but of course the day came when we had to get rid of it. (Probably the reason these pets have gone out of style.) I was so upset. My mom told me that our neighbor had a friend on a farm who was going to take my little chick (along with her children's chicks if I remember right.)

I remember one day walking by the neighbor's porch (pictured above with our dog and my chick) and she was standing out there. I must have sent her some real crusties because she said, "I know you think I was the reason you had to get rid of your chicken but it wasn't my fault." I don't remember answering.

I still love baby chicks and wish we could have them here. Of course, just like puppies, they do grow up. We have had rabbits but it turned out I'm allergic to them.

During our Writers Inspiration Group this week I'm going to ask they write about an Easter pet. It can either be their own story or one they make up.

To get them started I'm bringing my chick and a ZhuZhu in a bunny costume.

Did you have an Easter pet?

Tuesdays With Rita: Female Ancestors

2011-04-19T08:04:00.001-07:00

Last week I went and heard one of my favorite authors and people read from her newest book. Jewell Parker Rhodes has nine books and teaches through the MFA program at ASU. She is such a

wonderful person and so inspiring. My favorite of all her books is "Douglass' Women" about Frederick Douglass.

During her talk Jewell talked about the television show "Who Do You Think You Are?" where Ancestry.com show different celebrities discovering their ancestry. As a long time genealogist I see "problems" with the show but it does have to fit into one hour and they are making it interesting for the average person. That's a good thing. Jewell asked why they don't do "regular people" and then explained that in her and her husband's ancestry is an Andersonville prisoner, a Salem witch, slavery, Irish, Norwegian, and Choctaw Indian.

How's that for a challenge? As I have been working on my Civil War Soldier, Samuel Wilburn, I thought, "Well, maybe I can do a little bit for her. Just for fun." Jewell was elated and we are going to get together after the ASU semester and get started. I can't wait.

Jewell also talked about how our ancestors live through us. That there is a connection for generations back. I absolutely believe this and especially through the women. So I thought I would share some of my women with you.

The baby in this photo is my grandmother, Carrie Amelia Waggoner Wilburn (1893-1952). I never met her. The lady at the top is her mother, Salenia Alzadie Freeman Waggoner (1870-1948) and the lady in them middle is her mother, Sarah M. Jackson Freeman Corbelle (1829-1911). Sarah lived through the Civil War. How different their lives were. Just try to imagine the changes they saw.

This is Mary McFerran Wilburn (1841-1924) who's fiance joined up with the Confederate Army in Arkansas and ended up in the Rock Island Prison Camp in Illinois. He returned and they were married. Lucky for me. Doesn't she look like one spunky lady?

And finally, meet Orpha Ann Collin(g)sworth

Waggoner Boruff (1844-1903) who's first husband, Joseph

Waggoner went away to the Civil War and never came back.

As the nation "celebrates" the 150th Anniversary of the War Between the States it is time to remember the women too. I don't have all the war stories put together but Jewell reminded me that I need to do that. I need to tell about the ancestor who was thrown into the fireplace when Union Soldiers raided her house. I don't know why. Was she trying to save some heirloom or the last of the food for her children? (She did survive.)

I have ancestors on both side of the war and now it's time to try and get their stories told. Do you have war stories in your family?

Mystery Writing and A Day at the Park

2011-04-16T19:23:00.000-07:00

We are lucky, here in the Valley of the Sun, to have a wonderful chapter of the Sisters In Crime mystery writers organization. I'm not a member of Desert Sleuths, mostly because the meetings are at night and I don't drive at night. I do go to as many of their events as possible. They are a truly wonderful group.

Today was their spring seminar at the Scottsdale Civic Center.

I got there early and roamed around the park a bit. I really have to do this more often. It was so beautiful. There were families everywhere. Including this cute little family enjoying the cool water.

I even found a trumpet vine which surprised me because this is what my grandsons and I call the "Bee Tree" in Washington as I wrote about here.

I have a terrible time with my little digital camera because I can't see the screen and so most of my photos didn't turn out. Still, I soaked in the atmosphere, the wonderful scents and the sounds from all the fountains.

The seminar or workshop was very good. We learned about Plot, How to Build Suspense, Thrillers vs Mysteries, Constructing Killer Characters, and Capturing Perfect Settings among others.

One of the things that stood out was the author of numerous books said she and her six-year-old watch "Adam 12" reruns religiously.

Oh for the days when kids could watch most anything on tv. I prefer most of those oldies, too.

Sharing

2011-04-13T10:54:00.000-07:00

My friend, June, over at Dezinaworld has another one of her freebies over here. It is a beautiful background that has inspired me to make something today. Perhaps and ATC. Perhaps a journal page. Or a card. The list is endless...it's just the time that always gets in the way. But thanks to June and so many others there is inspiration just a click away.

I challenge myself to finish a project for a client or writing or some housecleaning and then I reward myself with art. I'm afraid I haven't made it to the art table much lately. I have been keeping up with my poem-a-day challenge so today I'm going to be brave and share my silly poem from Day Five.

Most artists know
and writers, too
About morning pages
Three, not two

Julia Cameron tells us

In "The Artist's Way"

To put our thoughts

down every day.

Sometimes we rant

or plan or pray,

But each morning

We have our say.

Tuesdays With Rita: Friendships

2011-04-12T08:43:00.001-07:00

Friendship.

Over the years I have been lucky to have some truly wonderful friends. One of them is Janna, who gave me a haunting book by Gail Caldwell; "Let's Take the Long Way Home: A Memoir of Friendship."

While reading I found many wonderful phrases I wanted to remember. I didn't. I tried scanning back through but I can't find them. I know, I know, I should write them down or mark the pages or something but I hate interrupting my reading. And since I don't have a memory many things are lost to me. But the feeling remains. The feeling of joy over the friendship the author had with her friend, Caroline. The feeling of sadness when Caroline died. The warm fuzzy feeling I always get when I read about people who truly love their dogs.

My first "best friend" was Patty. She lived next door and although my memories of her are dim the feeling of having a true friend remains.

This picture is dated July 1960 but I wonder how long it stayed in Mom's camera before she had it developed. I was six. Patty must have been younger, but I don't remember. This was taken in our living room. That's the television on which I watched "Captain Kangaroo" and "Gunsmoke."

This one is dated May 1961. It was taken on the corner of Patty's corner lot. That was a favorite spot to hide when we played hide-and-seek on those long summer nights. I was heartbroken when Patty moved away. It seems it wasn't long after this because I was still young when the next family moved in.

I wish I could remember more about Patty. I imagine we played dolls and probably cowboys with my ranch set. I'm sure we caught lightening bugs. Patty went to a different (Catholic) school so she was my "at home" friend.

Who was your first best friend? What did you enjoy doing?

One Lovely Blog Award

2011-04-06T11:19:00.000-07:00

I've been honored with a blog award. This came from Jennifer at The Erudite Genealogist. Thank you, Jennifer. Although genealogy comes up in my blog I hadn't realized I had genealogy readers.

It is nice to be recognized and these awards are a great way to spread the word about some of

your favorite blogs.

The basic rules are:

1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who granted the award and their blog link.

2. Pass the award on to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered or just love so much.

A Southern Belle With Northern Roots

Jirene's Genealogy Tips

Family Roots and Branches

The Memory Keeper

Family Genealogy

Michael Douglas Jones

The We Tree Genealogy Blog

Pursuits of a Desperate Genie

3. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

How fun is that? And a wonderful way to perform a random act of kindness.

It is really fitting that today I reached 100 followers. Thank you all. I hope you visit some of these

wonderful blogs.

Enjoy!

Tuesdays With Rita: Spinning Wheel

2011-04-05T09:33:00.001-07:00

Today's prompt is two-fold.

I have always been interested in learning how things were done in the past. I learned to tat, knit and crochet from my grandma. I learned to sew from my mom,

along with lots of old-fashioned cooking secrets.

My sister was far better at all these things...and far more patient. I inherited a few projects from her. One was this spinning wheel. It isn't really an heirloom except that it was hers. I never got to see her use it. My brother-in-law sent it home with me...except there are no directions and I have a feeling some parts are missing.

Then a member of the Yahoo Sketchbook Group, Anna, offered some wool. Five bags full arrived over the weekend.

Doesn't it all look soooo cool? I love it.

I've tried finding this spinning wheel and the makers and the place she got it on the Internet and although I find brief mentions I'm not finding these specifically. The metal tag on the front says:

"Walter Kircher, 3550 Marburg/L., West Germany"

The paper tag above that says:

"Greentree Ranch Wools, Countryside Handweavers, 163 N. Carter Lake Road, Loveland, Colorado 80537, 303-667-6183"

My sister lived outside Brighton, Colorado and I remember how excited she was when she called to tell me about her spinning wheel. She had Nubian goats and also some sheep and also tried spinning dog hair. I don't know if she succeeded in that.

I want to try this wool but don't have a clue where to start. I want to feel and hear what it was like for my ancestors who spun. It must be a very relaxing job. I've found some videos to watch but first I need to learn more about my particular wheel. Can anybody help? Does somebody have instructions for this spinning wheel they could copy for me or tell me where to order them?

In the meantime, I'm thinking about the other traditions that were passed from generation to generation and are now being lost by so many families. I have lots of Grandma and Great grandma's doilies, quilts, and some dishes. I've forgotten how to tat, not that I was very good at it. Grandma couldn't slow her hands down enough for most of us to really pick it up. My great niece has her old shuttle.

Have you carried on any traditions? Are there still people around you could learn from? Are there some you could teach yourself like my sister did, and I now hope to do, with the spinning?

These things are so important. We all should work to keep them alive.

BTW, Anna also sent me some goat soap. It is lovely. You can find her here.

Challenges

2011-04-01T15:47:00.000-07:00

April is National Poetry Month.

A few weeks ago I had dinner with the Fab Four. We are four writers who have developed a special bond and get together every few months to share our lives, our goals and accomplishments and give each other support in the writing life. Two of the ladies are poets. As one of them shared her poems I kept asking myself "how does she do that?" They started talking about the Web site of Robert Lee Brewer of Writer's Digest Magazine.

I checked it out and just in time for his poem-a-day challenge for April. I love challenges. They get me moving. I challenge myself to try new things regularly. How about you?

Through this link you will find daily prompts for your own poetry and be able to read what others come up with. Ready to join me in this challenge?

April is also Autism Awareness Month.

People dealing with autism ask we wear blue this month to raise awareness of the growing problem of autism. "Autism is defined by a certain set of behaviors and is a 'spectrum disorder' that affects individuals differently and to varying degrees." One in 110 children are autistic.

I think about these children, their families, teachers and our community at large. They are challenged every day, indeed every minute.

April is my month to write poetry and learn more about autism or maybe write a poem about autism.

Tuesdays With Rita: Pioneer Life

2011-03-29T19:34:00.001-07:00

I haven't been particularly inspired lately. I think it is the allergies and general spring fever. I usually start thinking about my Tuesday post days ahead and decide on the photo and start thinking about what I want to write on Monday.

This week...nothing.

So I pulled out one of the archival boxes where I keep the family photos and started browsing through the faces. I found my first best friend, Patty, a school group including my grandmother, and one of my parents and sister long before I came along. Those will all be shared some day.

Today I have another picture of John and Mattie Keith. Mattie looks much younger and she seems to have a bit of a smile almost like she had a special thought come to mind just as the photo was taken. John looks the same; even the same angle. I wonder if this is their wedding photo.

I did a quick search for W. S. Edwards in Meade, Kansas and didn't find anything.

This is Clyde Keith, the son of Mattie and John, who was killed by a rattlesnake when about two years old. He looks like such a happy baby.

Can't you just imagine John sitting in that chair in the evening with his pipe or cigar? Perhaps a book or newspaper. There sure wasn't much too look at out the window or door from the background in this photo.This must be before they moved to town.

John and Mattie aren't direct ancestors but I have always been drawn to their pictures. I wonder if Mattie and I would have been friends. What kinds of things she liked to do. Did she keep a diary? Her daughter never mentioned one.

I'm still not feeling especially inspired but I'm thinking about Mattie and her life. Perhaps one day I'll write a story about her. What kind of stories would you write?

Back to Family History

2011-03-26T18:13:00.000-07:00

I began doing my genealogy in 1977. I remember so well because it was right after we got married. That was before personal computers and I collected everything in to a small spiral notebook.

Then I found the Family History Society of Arizona; a newly founded group with meetings across town. I drove to those meetings and learned about special forms, the LDS library and the large branch in Mesa, and much more. Tired of driving I founded a chapter closer to home. The Paradise Valley Chapter grew and I made numerous friends. One of them I still meet every Tuesday for lunch. I learned genealogy, taught genealogy, lectured and eventurally became a professional genealogist myself.

Over time I've gotten away from genealogy but always came back. Today I went to a seminar with my lunch buddy. It was great to see the people I haven't seen in years and to get all enthused with ideas for searching my family.

My friend Janna Larson of Genealogy One-On-One.

She kindly let me set up my Inner Critics and a couple of Shabby Journals on one end. They got a few guffaws.

The speaker today was Dick Eastman who has an on-line newsletter for technology and genealogy here. I haven't spent any time with his site but from the information he gave us today it will be well worth the time. He really talked to me as I am currently trying to sort through the research of the past 35 years and making it compact and ready to hand down to my descendants. I worry about digitizing everything vs keeping hard copies. Basically he says to keep as many copies in as many formats as possible.

This is good advice for all genealogists, writers and everybody else who has important documents, family photos and memories.

Please excuse me, while I go back up my laptop.

Tuesdays With Rita: Family Stories

2011-03-22T08:59:00.001-07:00

Study this picture for a few minutes. What do the faces tell you?

What do their clothes and the pose tell you?

This is John and Mattie (Hinsdale) Keith and their daughter, Dottie. They were cousins of my great grandmother Nellie Keith Martin who I have written about many times.

John was born in Illinois in 1863; near the beginning of the Civil War. He moved with other members of the family to Southwestern Kansas in about 1883. John was a store owner, farmer, school master and later the superintendent of the school. John and Mattie were married in 1898 and had two children: Clyde born in 1899 and Rena Dottie born in 1909. When Clyde was two years old he was bitten by a rattlesnake and died. John and Mattie both died in 1950.

After I began doing genealogy research around 1977 I managed to locate Dottie and wrote to her a few times. She was very proud of her father who was well respected in the area. She obviously loved her mother and thought she was beautiful. She told me about the brother she had never known.

Settlers on the prairie had so many things to worry about. Crop failure, fires, drought, outlaws, Indians, small pox... and rattlesnakes. I look at Hattie's face and see the worry, the loss, but also a bit of pride as she surely loved her little girl. John looks wistful. Was he thinking about his son?

I lost touch with Dottie. I wish I'd gotten to know her better. I even wish I had visited her. She was family. I often look at these pictures and think about the people in them. I try to learn as much as I can about my ancestors. Who they were and what they did. I hope, one day, to have all the stories written down so they won't be forgotten. So the family that follows will understand, at least a little bit, why they look worried, sad, or wistful.

Have you tried to find out who your ancestors or family members Really were? Are you preserving their stories. It's never too late to start.

Fairy Wings and Magic

2011-03-21T11:18:00.000-07:00

It's a dreary, cold, rainy day here in the desert. That just makes it more fun to write about my mini-me fairies getting ready to head out into the world.

Last week I showed you my mini-mes and their prospective wings (Here.)

Since then I've made backgrounds on watercolor paper with acrylics spread on with an old gift card and left to dry. A dark green ivy stamp, drawings of birds and flowers with added bling added to the fun background. Meanwhile, butterfly and moth wings were added to a childhood photo of myself. Then that was added to the top along with the word that describes my fairy self "Believer."

This project was done as a swap with the Yahoo Sketchbook Project Group. A wonderful group of ladies that has taught be so much. Eleven of us will send our little fairies to our fairy hostess, Lisa, who will swap them out and return 11 different fairies to our doors.

On the back of each one we added a current photo of ourselves which will add to the fun since most of us have never met in person. What a great way to get to know each other and experiment with new techniques.
I really got a kick out of cutting out 12 mini-mes (I have to have one for myself) and adding wings.

It felt a bit magical.

A Talk With the Grandson

2011-03-17T15:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my daughter, Jessica, called to say there was a little boy who wanted to talk to Grammy but wouldn't say why. Brendan came on the line to tell me, for the second time, all about their trip to Disneyland and Sea World.

Brendan

The little guy is so excited about the trip he just had to tell somebody all about it. And Grammy had a blast hearing about it. Including the pirates that go "ARGH."

His favorite ride was Space . He also liked the train on Thunder Mountain. He went on the teacups, Dumbo, cars, Nemo's submarine, and the carousal. He mentioned the Tiki Tiki Room and I reached far back into my memory to sing the song and he joined in.

So much excitement it reminded of all the times we took Jessica to the Magic Kingdom.

They got to pet a dolphin but he was a little afraid of the whales.

The whales jumped "way up high" and splashed him in the face.

A reminder that we should always look at life as through the eyes of a child.

Tuesdays With Rita: Family Photo Clues

2011-03-15T09:26:00.001-07:00

One of the best things about doing these weekly posts and digging through my boxes of photos is finding the details and memories that have lain hidden for so long.

That is me under my favorite tree in its springtime glory. It was a crabapple with little tiny sour apples that I loved to eat. There was a branch that fit me perfectly and I often set there waiting for my mom to come home from work. A few feet in front of me is our pekingese, Smokey. My best childhood friend.

Behind that is the old oak tree where my rope and wood swing hung. I loved to swing up high so I could see over the neighbors fence, garage and on down the street to all the other yards. I haven't thought of that swing in a long time. This picture brought back that feeling of soaring high up in the air and pumping my legs and body to fly higher and higher.

It occurred to me a while back that because our house was so small it might have been a garage or something at some time. Now I can see that it might be two houses put together or possibly an addition. It is so obvious from the two types of siding. I sure didn't remember that detail.

That window was over the kitchen sink. One of my favorite features of our house now is the window over the sink. I don't have any pictures of that kitchen. Sadly.

This is the house I grew up in. I remember it well. This picture and its clues make me wonder what clues are hiding in other family pictures. Pictures of where my various ancestors lived or worked.

What clues could you find in your family photos?

Tuesdays With Rita: Borders Closing

2011-03-08T09:24:00.001-07:00

Ever since I've been a writer I've been pulled to coffee shops. Isn't that why laptop computers were invented? For writers in coffee shops? Well, how about fountain pens? My favorite way to write is with a fountain pen and spiral notebook. Even when I'm working on a project on the computer. If I get stuck I start using pen and paper and the ideas flow again. I write most of my articles in longhand first.

My favorite place to go has been the Borders on Cactus Road a few miles from my house. It is now gone and I feel like a chunk of my life is also gone.

I can't even imagine how many words I wrote in that store. How many books and magazines I browsed and bought. Pens, journals, books for my daughter and later my grandkids. It's all been in that store right there.

I went by one day with pen and paper in hand to have one last hot chai and do some writing. The coffee shop was already closed. I looked around but didn't find any of the books on my list so I left. Melancholy set in as I saw the empty shelves, darkened coffee shop and booksellers who would soon be out of a job.

Of course, that got me to thinking about special places. Or perhaps "charged places" as my friend and fellow writer, Stella Pope-Duarte calls them. She talks about the ocean and other places that renew your energy.

Going to the mountains or the ocean is great but I was lucky to find one close to home and easily accessible. Now I'm searching for another one. Here I am with a chai at the Barnes & Noble at Desert Ridge. A nice place but not one that was on my regular route. That is obviously changed.

Other charged places in my life are Tombstone, Arizona. When I go to that town my energy explodes. Seattle seems to do that to me, too. I love the ocean but I haven't been there in ages. Mountain tops seem to draw me more. Closer to home I like antique shops, art centers and Old Town Scottsdale.

What are your special places? Where do you unwind or get energized?

If you don't have a special place close to home take the time to find one.

Tuesdays With Rita: Four-Year-Old Me

2011-03-01T09:08:00.001-07:00

How do you like the many mini-mes?

In my Yahoo Sketchbook Group we are doing an exchange of ourselves as fairies. They will be made in to 4 x 4 pages and swapped to go into a fat book. So I had to cut twelve little mes. That was somewhat relaxing and rather mindless...so I kept thinking about that little me.

What were her dreams? What was that four year old thinking? So much of my childhood has been blacked out. This could have been my first day of school. I remember my kindergarten teacher, somewhat. We had a piano in the classroom and I thought that was really something. There was a great play kitchen and I know I wanted to cook and be like my mother. Of course I had my crush on my cousin as I wrote about a few weeks ago.

Later I know I wanted to be a policewoman, like my mom. And of course I wanted to have horses. There was always the horses. I wanted to be a cowgirl. I think all through my childhood and up through highschool and into college becoming a policewoman was my main dream.
After cutting out the mini-mes I needed wings and happened to find a book on butterflies and moths in the dollar section at Target.

I had lots and lots of wings for my fairy me.

And now I need to take that little me and decide on backgrounds and embellishments.

In the meantime, more thoughts and memories are coming to the surface.

Take a picture of yourself as a child and study it. Think about that little girl or boy and what they wanted at that time. Learn more about yourself.