SEPIA SATURDAY- In Honor of Memorial Day

Since it's almost Memorial Day I thought I would honor those in my family who were in the service.

If you follow my Sepia Saturday posts, you've met my Uncle Bob, my father's brother.

He graduated from the Air Corps Training Center on July 26, 1940. 

He was stationed in Alaska.

He never got to see any action.
He was on a training mission when his plane was lost at sea on Dec. 12, 1941.

He's memorialized on a plaque in the chapel at the University Of Chicago, his Alma Mater, along with all the other graduates that were killed in WW2.

These are my mother's brothers, Darrell and Dale with my Grandmother. Their other brother, Fred was also in the service. I don't seem to have any pictures of him in uniform. I'll also be thinking of him on Memorial Day.

This is Darrell in Burma.(I think it was Burma. I'm going to have to do some more research.)

I'm sure all of you will be thinking of your family members who were in the service on this Memorial Day.  And I'm sure all of us will be wishing for an end to war.

I found this quote on on one of the other Sepia Saturday posts: Enchanted Oak

I am not only a pacifist but a militant pacifist. I am willing to fight for peace. Nothing will end war unless the people themselves refuse to go to war...................................... Albert Einstein Be sure to go to Sepia Saturday to see more: Sepia Saturday  

THEME THURSDAY- Wrinkle

These are two images from our vintage linen collection. When these were stitched, housework was an art. Women took great pride in it. (Although the two little Dutch girls in the first picture don't look like they've mastered the art.)

In both of these embroideries they are ironing dish towels, of all things. Who would iron a dish towel? Certainly not me. I don't iron anything ever...wait a minute, yes I do. I iron vintage linens when we have them for sale in our Etsy shop: The Linen Closet . I also iron when I'm doing photo styling for books that we publish. We just finished a cook book and I ironed my fair share of tablecloths and napkins.

But in my other life I never iron. I always buy wrinkle-free clothes. Sometimes I buy 100% cotton by mistake. Those things languish at the back of my closet for years until they go out of style.

I hate wrinkles...both in cotton and flesh.

 Click here to see more Theme Thursdays

And don't miss our other blog, which Nancy is in charge of. She has a delicious recipe for Avocado pie today.
Ladies of the Grove

SHADOW SHOT SUNDAY

Oooops- it's Shadow Shot Sunday- quick do something.
Look through all your 5000 photos.

 

 

 

If you'd like to see some better shadow shots click here.

Shadow Shot Sunday

SEPIA SATURDAY, Buggies, prams, and strollers

They just don't make 'em like they used to. Today's strollers are decidedly utilitarian and not at all attractive.  Yesterday's babies traveled in style.

My Uncle Darrel in a beautiful wicker pram.

Me in an art deco work of art.

Me, again, in a cute little stroller with a prancing lamb.

My cousin, Freddie and I in our Easter outfits.  He in a stroller, me on a tricycle. 

(Note the adult transportation in the background, and is that a hitching post?)

My brother, Bob in my doll buggy.

I couldn't find a picture of Nancy in a buggy but this is even better... a mothers day card that she made herself.  With such a nice poem. I'll bet my mother loved it. 

My favorite form of transportation, though was not a buggy, pram, stroller or tricycle.

(Doesn't everyone have a picture like this?  This pony really got around.)

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THEME THURSDAY-Pets

Just a few of my favorite pet photos:

Don't touch that dial!

All in a days work.

Art connoisseur

Beautifully framed.

Take my picture, and hurry up about it!

Tails, you win.

Toot your own horn!

Read me a story.

To see more Theme Thursday pet photos click here

More embarrassing travel stories- China 1985(?)

Most people love massages. Not me! The idea of a stranger manhandling my body strikes terror in my heart. We were in a hotel in Beijing when Nancy and I spotted a sign in the lobby advertising massages.

We had just climbed the Great Wall and found out why everyone calls it "climbing". It's not a flat walk. It's mostly very steep hills. It was exhausting. We probably needed a massage.

Unfortunately we pointed out the sign to Dickie (the benefactor of our trip). Dickie loved to embarrass us.

Very soon after we got to our room, two male masseuses knocked at our door. They had towels draped over their arms. We didn't know the protocol. Do you take your clothes off? Nothing doing! They motioned for us to lay down on the beds. They didn't speak English. We didn't speak Chinese. Why did we trust them? I think it's because they were wearing white coats and looked official.

Well, it wasn't relaxing.  It was embarrassing. And then we had to pay for it! We assumed Dickie was treating us. No such luck!

WAIT THERE'S MORE EMBARRASSING MOMENTS;

"Foreign Devils" weren't so prevalent in China in 1988. Here I am being the center of attention.

Here I am riding a camel, well not really riding, just posing - prettily. Why was there a camel at the Great Wall?  (See the Great Wall in the background- notice how steep it is.)

SHADOW SHOT SUNDAY- New York, New York

This photo was taken in Manhattan. We were visiting Nancy's daughter, Megan, who lives in trendy Brooklyn. My favorite book when I was young was A Tree Grows In Brooklyn so I had always wanted to see Brooklyn. It didn't disappoint. We had a great time.

See more shadow shots or post your own at Shadow Shot Sunday

More zentangles

I'm completely addicted to this new art form.

It's supposed to be relaxing and put you in a zen-like  state while you're doing them.  I think it's true.

SHADOW SHOT SUNDAY- Time to smell the roses.

To see more beautiful shadows-http://heyharriet.blogspot.com

SEPIA SATURDAY-My mother's best friend comes to a sad end.

I got a message on Ancestry. com's message board. A very nice lady named Colleen had bought a 1933 Dixon High School yearbook in an antique shop in Freeport, Ill.  It had a picture and signature of my mother in it and she offered to send me a copy of it. I looked to see if I had that yearbook and found it but then noticed that instead of the messages being addressed to my mother they were addressed to her best friend, Fran. I don't know why I have Fran's yearbook instead of my mother's.

I wrote to Colleen and told her what I remembered about Fran: Fran dated Ronald Reagan in high school and my mother sometimes double dated with them.  He was a life guard on the Rock River and taught my mother to dive. My family visited Fran  when I was about 8 yrs. old.  She let me spend the night in a hammock. A big thrill for a little girl! She had married a doctor and they lived in a beautiful big house on the bank of a river in Oregon, Ill.

Several years after our visit we heard that Fran had killed herself.

Colleen is very into genealogy and was interested in researching Fran's life. She found out a lot of things that I didn't know. However, not why she committed suicide. Although there were, maybe, some hints.

After high school she went to Chicago and became a nurse. In 1943 she joined the Army and was stationed as a nurse in the South Pacific. She married Doctor Lambertus Warmolts, who was quite a bit older than her, in 1945. They adopted a baby girl in 1947 and in 1952 had (or adopted) a boy.

Fran moved to Tuscon, AZ. They seem to have lived together off and on after this. They still kept the house in Oregon so this may have been their winter house.

In 1960 Fran was found dead by her 13 year old daughter. A newspaper article said that she told her daughter that she was going to kill herself but since she had threatened this several times she didn't take it seriously. Her daughter had to crawl through a laundry chute to get to her because she had locked the door to her room.

A very sad end to a beautiful woman.

Here's my mother:

See more Sepia Saturday stories at http://sepiasaturday.blogspot.com