Random Photo Monday: New Stars

It's been a while since I posted a Random Photo Monday shot – Monday is not my snappiest day of the week. And I know everyone is probably tired beyond belief of seeing Christmas decorations everywhere, but I really had to show these off. The red and green wooden stars here were Christmas gifts from my littlest cousins in Texas. And I mean really little – ages not-quite-three-years and a-little-over-one-year. Their mom sent along photos of the kiddoes decorating these ornaments, and they are super cute. I have a small collection of star ornaments (like the gold wire star here), and these fit right in. Our tiny tree was too small to hang them on it, but they looked really pretty on the china cabinet, don't you think? (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Random Photo Monday: Mom-In-Law's Birthday

Today is my mother-in-law's 85th birthday. We weren't able to make the trek to Texas this year, to celebrate with her, but we did manage to get down there last year for her 84th. The second photo here was taken then. In the first shot she was about five years old, so it dates from around 1929-30. Quite a cutie, wasn't she?

I'm very fortunate in that she and I have always gotten along really well - I know that's not always the case with mothers and their daughters-in-law. She made me feel like a member of the family right from the start, and over the years she's always treated me more like a daughter than an "in-law." Of course, both of us have always thought the guy I married is pretty great - so we had that in common from the beginning.

Random Photo Monday: Greetings from Methuselah

Friday was my birthday. Never mind how old (old enough to know better, as my mother used to say). And this year I only got one birthday card – from my cousin MLB (thanks, Cuzzie!). We grew up together, and I can always depend on her for a card that cheers me up and brings me a few chuckles. Aside from that, the only birthday greeting I got was an email ad from Borders! Sad, but true – it's come to that. Well, my hubby did tell me "Happy Birthday" when he woke me up Friday morning, and he let me sleep late which was sweet. But there was no cute and mushy birthday card waiting at breakfast, and no nicely wrapped package containing chocolates or diamonds this year. Bummer.

But the thing that really made me sad was that there was no card from M's mom. Usually, I can expect my mother-in-law to remember even if no one else does. But she's been having a lot of health problems this year, and she's still recovering from a fall she suffered last November that left her with some pretty serious head injuries. So she's doing really well to remember her own birthday – can't expect her to be sending out birthday cards right now. And since my mother and grandmothers are gone now, I've come to realize (with something of a jolt), that I've suddenly become one of the matriarchs in both my family and M's. The ones who remember birthdays and keep track of all the family history. How did that happen?

So, anyway, in honor of my own appearance on the scene, I'm putting up a shot of moi at my very first birthday party back in the foggy mists of time. Yes, I know it's self-centered and egotistical. But those are privileges that come with advanced age. And I know the photo is pretty blurry (well, I said it was the foggy mists of time, didn't I?) – but it's the best one of the bunch from that day. My mother was the photographer and she was never very handy with a camera. Generally, people in her photos ended up with no heads or only half a body, so this is one of the really successful shots!

Random Photo Monday: Garden Cat

So it seems we're back from the beach. Feels like we were just getting ready for the trip a few minutes ago, and now we're home already. Spent several days in Rehoboth, Delaware, sunning and playing in the surf, and eating way too much at all the great restaurants (it's back to the diet this week, darn it).

One of the things I love doing while we're in Rehoboth is just walking around the little community right around the beach, taking photos of storefronts and the colorful window displays. On this trip, I discovered a shop selling these garden thingies, and fell for this guy – if I had a garden, I'd have brought him home with me.

Random Photo Monday: Many Happy Returns

Actually more than one photo today, and not entirely random.

Several centuries ago, on a planet far, far away . . . there was a teenage wedding and the old folks wished them well. Oops! Sorry, but I always slip into Chuck Berry mode when I think about our wedding; because while M was twenty and very nearly a grownup, I was still just nineteen and nowhere near as sophisticated as I pretended to be.

And that part about the "old folks" wishing us well – I'm sure they did. But it was hard to tell because most of them simply sobbed through the entire ceremony. We had one of the weepiest weddings in history – mostly, I think, because we were so young and looked even younger. Even my maid of honor – who was also my aunt – wept. I'm told even my father-in-law brushed away a tear or two. But M and I were happy – we were having a lot more fun than we'd thought we would.

The bridesmaids' dresses looked much better in real life than they do in the photos. But that peau de soie must have been unbearably hot in the Texas summer. Sorry, girls.

We almost didn't have a wedding at all – not a real wedding ceremony with the white dress, the cake, and the reception in the church hall. When we decided to get married before moving to Austin for our junior year of college, we assumed we'd just go down to the courthouse in San Antonio and sign the papers and that would be it. Well, it was the '60s and we were on our way to being hippies and were really trying to avoid all that middle-class bourgeois establishment tradition. But when our mothers heard "no wedding," they were so obviously devastated, that we had to relent. I guess even radical "freaks" (as we thought of ourselves back then) want their moms to be happy.

So, getting back to the point. One very hot and rainy day in late August, back in – well, about 256 years ago, if my calculations are correct – M and I got hitched, in a small but lovely Presbyterian church in San Antonio, Texas. I had my auntie and my little cousins as my attendants, and M had his three best pals backing him up (they'd taken him out the night before and gotten him completely blotto, but he still made it to the church on time). We survived the heat and the rain showers, and the fiasco of the wrong flowers being delivered. And M didn't smack me or even get mad when I kidded him after he stumbled over his vows – although we'll always remember that my first words to him as his wedded wife were "You blew it!"

It's not really polite to threaten your Best Man
with physical violence in the receiving line, Dear!

And I wouldn't be at all surprised if that was what he was feeling about the whole venture right about then. But after all these eons together, I think we've both long ago come to realize that we really didn't blow it – we made exactly the right decision. Even though one of us was still just a teenie-bopper.

So, as Chuck Berry also sagely said, "C'est la vie, said the old folks / It goes to show, you never can tell!"
I know it doesn't look like it, but he really had kissed me once or twice before the ceremony!

Random Photo Monday: Grandpa Horn

Well, it's a little late, but I thought in honor of his birthday, I'd put up a photo of my husband's maternal grandfather, Milton Lee Horn. He was born August 9th, 1898, in San Antonio, Texas.

And yes, I said grandfather. In spite of the fancy duds, he was definitely male. Probably around two years old in this photo, he really doesn't look too happy about the ruffles and lace, does he?

Grandpa Horn was a descendant of one of the Alsatian families who came to Texas from Alsace-Lorraine in the mid-19th Century and settled in the Bexar County area. Arriving soon after Texas became part of the U.S., at one time his clan owned a goodly chunk of what is now the "near" Northside of San Antonio. But with uncanny business acumen, they'd managed to give away most of that property by the time Grandpa died in 1989. Which means it's probably just as well that my hubby became an English teacher, and didn't give real estate a whirl. That kind of financial know-how just has to be genetic!

Random Photo Monday: Henry and Lizzie

When my husband's grandmother died, she left a wonderful collection of photos behind. And as I was the only one in the family who had any interest in genealogy or family history research, I inherited most of them. And this morning when I was looking around for some photo that would be appropriate for the month of July, this one caught my eye.

This is a snapshot of M's great-grandparents, Henry and Elizabeth Horn (or "Ma & Pa Horn" as it says on the back of the photo). He was born July 6, 1866 in San Antonio, Texas. And she died on July 23, 1960, at the age of 95, also in San Antonio. The picture was probably taken around 1920, in front of their house on their farm land near the corner of San Pedro and what became Basse Road. If you know anything about San Antonio, you'll realize just how much that area has changed in almost a hundred years.

Henry Felician Horn was a member of one of the Alsatian families who settled in Bexar County around the time Texas became a part of the US. His mother and father were both born in France, and came to Texas by way of New Orleans in about 1856. Elizabeth Locke Horn (yes, "lock-horn" – you heard right) was an interesting character – I'm determined to write a book about her someday. Called "Lizzie" or "Hattie" by the family, she was the daughter of Texas pioneers from Tennessee and Illinois who came to San Antonio in one of the wagon trains of settlers sometime in the mid-19th century. She and Henry had six children, and my husband's grandfather was the next to the youngest. And although she's looking fairly serious here, in all the other photos I have of Lizzie Locke (that's how I think of her), she's always got a nice smile on her face – always looks like she was having such a wonderful time!

Random Photo Monday: A Salute To Our Fathers

Well, these photos are really not exactly random. For my first Random Photo Monday post in quite a while, I'm putting up a couple of family shots. Both taken during World War II – my father in his Navy whites (with the sun in his eyes, darn it!), and M's stepdad in his Army uniform. Handsome dudes, weren't they?

The strange thing is that both were born in the month of October, and both died in the month of July – my father on July 12th and M's on July 4th (holidays tend to be rather traumatic in both our families).

[Cross-posted at Children of the Lone Star.]

Random Photo Monday: Another Christmas Past

Pardon the shameless nostalgia, and the faded condition of the photo. It was Christmas Eve. I was four years old. The pajama doll was a gift, as I recall, from one of my aunts. I'm dressed in the matching sleepwear. Looks like pajamas but it could have been a nightie – don't really remember which. Those dolls were very popular in the 1950s.

The tree is a pretty typical '50s version, too – large multi-colored lights (trust me on that), and lots of tinsel. The ivy that appears to be growing out of it was actually growing in a wall planter behind the tree. My mother always had lots of ivy growing everywhere – I even have a pot of it that I inherited from her, and it's thriving in my living room right now.

Wish I could say that I inherited all the ornaments on the tree, too – I remember there was a little glass snowman and a Santa Claus that I especially coveted. But all my mother's ornaments were broken or lost in a move from San Antonio to Fort Worth, years ago. And the creche was lost or broken or given away years before that. I used to love arranging it and moving the figures around every year. I had a parakeet and a toy fox terrier who also loved playing with it – and in it. So, actually, I guess it's no surprise it didn't make it past my childhood.

Random Photo Monday: Christmas Long Ago, On a Planet Far, Far Away

This week, I'm putting up one of my favorite shots from Christmases Past. This is a snap of me at the age of four, and my cousin MLB, who would have been about ten months old at the time. And I believe we were at her house, because I have another shot of me taken that same year at my house, and the trees are slightly different.

Notice the antique TV. Of course, it was probably state of the art at the time. Not sure what that box on top is – since this was decades before DVD players.

I actually do (vaguely) remember having this picture taken. We had been seated in an adorable pose, holding our nicely wrapped packages and smiling for the camera. I was also holding onto the back of her dress until just before the Brownie snapped. Of course, as soon as I let go, Cuzzie started giggling madly and took off to do a little exploratory crawling. Well, I suppose that just proves she was hard to handle even at that tender age.

Random Photo Monday: All Dolled Up for Christmas

This is a shot of a few of the small dolls in my collection: two Betsy McCalls and a Sasson Ginny. Sorry about the shadows and blurriness – it was taken a few years ago, before we went digital.

Each of these dolls is about 8 inches tall. The tree is a foot high. The Betsy in the middle was found at a Salvation Army store – she was very dirty, and quite bald. See what a little cleaning and a new wig can do?

The other two were bought at the big Eastern National Doll Show held four times a year in Gaithersburg, Maryland. M. and I used to be regular attendees. Never missed a show. But for the last couple of years we've been staying away from the Gaithersburg show – didn't go to the December show this past weekend. Sad. But when you're trying to control a dangerous habit, it's best not to put yourself in the path of temptation.

For all you Blue Monday visitors, if you click on the photo, you'll get a larger version which will allow you to see the blue dress on the first Betsy McCall. I know it doesn't really show up in the smaller shot. For more Blue Monday views, or to participate yourself, visit Smiling Sally's Blue Monday website here.

Random Photo Monday: Blue Ribbon Sasha

I've been playing with the photos of some of my doll collection recently – most of them were taken before we went digital, so I'm trying to get them all scanned in or converted from slides. It's fun, but lots of (admittedly unnecessary) work.

This is a shot of one of my Sasha dolls. The original Sashas were the work of Swiss artist Sasha Morgenthaler, and were created as handmade artist dolls from the 1940s to the early 1970s, when they were put into production as play dolls. The Sashas (and her male counterpart, Gregor) are all about 16 or 17 inches tall, and are amazingly pose-able.

The outfit she's wearing really belongs to an American Girl Felicity doll, but I thought the blue ribbon on the hat looked very pretty with her blue eyes. And, once again, this looks like it might be a good candidate for Smiling Sally's Blue Monday Meme (be sure to stop by and check out all the other Monday Blues, or maybe contribute something blue yourself).

For another shot of some of my Sashas, see Greetings from the Crazy Doll Lady.
You can find out more about Sasha dolls by visiting Marie Morgan's Sasha Doll website here.

Random Photo Monday: Plant Life

Off and on, over the last couple of years, I've been spending a little time digitizing our old 35mm slides. We have thousands, so it's obviously a never-ending process.

This one caught my attention the other day. It was taken somewhere on the River Walk, in San Antonio TX, when I was about nineteen years old. The photographer was my husband-to-be.

I'm not exactly sure what those plants are called - but don't they look like something from Doctor Who? Fortunately, I got away before they could wrap me up and devour me.

Random Photo Monday: Spite House

This little blue house is the “Spite House,” in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. Located on Queen Street, it was originally built in 1830 by John Hollensbury who owned one of the adjacent houses and wanted to keep loiterers and noisy horse-drawn wagons out of his alley.

The house is two stories high and only seven feet wide, and has about 330 square feet of living space. It’s a private residence, so you can’t look inside unless you know the owners. But that bright blue color certainly helps it stand out from its neighbors, doesn’t it?

Added later:
I hadn’t thought about it at the time I first put this up this morning, but this sort of fits in with Smiling Sally’s Blue Monday meme. See other offerings or participate yourself by visiting her blog.

Random Photo Monday: November Quartet

M and I spent some time in Old Town Alexandria over the weekend, and I found this great group on a doorstep. Looking a bit worse for wear, wouldn't you say? That one on the far right looks exactly like I look when I get out of bed in the mornings.

Random Photo Monday: On the Road

We’ve been back from our Texas trip for a few days now, but I’m still readjusting. Not waking up in a hotel room every morning is very nice. And even better is not sitting in the car for eight or nine hours everyday.

Of course, I really enjoyed the trip. It was great seeing family and friends again – it had been a couple of years since our last visit. But the drive between Virginia and Texas is a long, long ordeal. Funny – it didn’t seem quite so long when I wasn’t quite so elderly!

Anyway, this photo is pretty representative of the view I’ve had for the last few weeks.

Random Photo Monday: October is a Busy Month

For some reason, September and October are important months in my family and my husband’s as well. Lots of birthdays, anniversaries and death dates in those two months. So in honor of all the October events, I’m putting up a couple of family photos today.

The first is a very fuzzy copy of an old cabinet card. The lady in the picture is my husband’s (maternal) great-grandmother, Louisa Matilda Kuentz (nicknamed “Lucy”) who was born October 6, 1869, in San Antonio TX. Her mother and father had both been born in Alsace Lorraine, France, and emigrated to this country in about 1850. Not easy to make out her features, but you can tell she must have spent quite a while with a curling iron.

The second photo has also deteriorated over time – I gave it a slight crop, but didn’t do a lot of retouching. It’s a snapshot of my grandparents shortly after they were married on October 8, 1918. My grandfather still has his WWI cavalry uniform on, so it must have been taken very soon after their wedding. He was born in Scranton PA, into a family that had only recently arrived from Wales. He was stationed in San Antonio during the war and met my grandmother there, and just stayed on after the fighting was over. Well, that’s not entirely true – there was a lot of fighting between the two of them after the war, too – but that’s another story.

Random Photo Monday: September Sunrise

Rise and shine!

I intended to put this up yesterday, as part of the Sunday Sunrise/Sunset meme, but just never managed to get around to it. So here it is on Monday. Our apartment faces east, so we get to see some spectacular sunrises, especially in the later fall and winter, after all the leaves are off the trees. This one was taken one morning about a week ago.

Random Photo Monday: Goodbye to Summer

Well, autumn is supposed to arrive at 11:44 AM today. Isn't meteorology a marvelous thing?

And I'm already getting nostalgic for summer 2008. The pool is closed now. They had the Doggy Swim yesterday afternoon for all the pet canines here in our condo community, but we forgot to go watch. Darn. I'd really like to have gotten a photo of that.

Instead, here's a shot taken on one of the last Sundays the pool was open to human traffic.

Random Photo Monday: Beach Life

It's just the second week of September, and already I'm getting nostalgic for summer and the beach! These are a few shots from Rehoboth.

Welcome to Rehoboth

Crowded beach

Salt water taffy!

Hiding from the sun

Where'd everybody go?

Margarita time!

Amusing amusements

Che bella luna!

Closing after 30 years on the boardwalk

Where I get my Vera Bradley fix

Cross my palm with silver

Beach fortress

The boys are there, too!