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Hi there!  I’m back.  Well, I never REALY left; I was just exploring other things.  I’ve taken several on-line scrapbooking classes and the last one (which was fabulous and very informing) was the “Motography” class with Heidi Swapp and Jessica Sprague!

Right now, I’m trying to implement something that I learned with this class and that is…adding my instagram photos to by side colum.  Working on it now.

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Rest …Restore…and Renew

 

Recently,

I recovered

an old photo that had been tucked away for

perhaps, 60-70 years.  The photo had been

sorely damaged, however the adorable baby

was almost intact! 

I’m not sure of “who” they

are.  My guess is they were friends of my Great

Grandmother Emiline and Great Grandfather John.

 

The baby, I believe, would have been Baby Beulah.

I couldn’t resist that angelic little baby face, I just

had to do my best and restore it with my only resources of

Picnic {which is closing 4/19/2012} and Picasa.

Here’s how I found it.   Yikes!  what a mess.

Using

Picasa, I used the “touch up” .  

Then on to Picnic and

finished up the rest of the touch ups and added some color. Not the greatest restoration.  But I think it definitely gives them

more character and helps me to get to “know” them a little better.

{even if I don’t really know for sure who they are!} For

now…They’ll be known as Baby Beulah and her Parents.

 

Ah…the splendor of it all!

I so love these cherry trees, especially since they grow right outside my 2nd story window!

it restores my soul just to be able

look out upon these beauties and

smell the faint sweet scent! 

 

The honey bees were all loaded up with their pollen “saddle bags”.

 

  These Southern Pine trees remind me of the old Victorian pictures of the real candles on their Christmas trees.  Guess that’s why they call it “candling out”. I love all the different textures between the soft linear pine needles and the multi levels of the prickly pine cone! Not to mention the buffing effect of the sky above.   After the less than great photos of these Cherry trees from my last post, I had to share these blossoms with their “delicate shade of pink” {to quote a line from “Steele Magnolias”} 

Cherry Tree Blossoms!

The Blossoms have Begun to Bloom!

The Bumble Bees are in

bumble-bee heaven!  {can you see him?}

{a bit disappointed  not being able to  fix the contrast like I can in Picasa 3}

Yellow pine trees are starting

to “candle out”. The yellow fog 

of pollen paints anything that is

still enough with it’s special  pixie pine dust!

In the distance you can here the children

playing and people sneezing in this wonderful Spring time weather! {80’s}

 

 

{you just might be able to pick out the bumble bee. He/she is almost in the center of the picture}

    

I rushed to take these photos of the cherry

tree branches that are just outside my

office/scrapbook room.  The sun was just

about to set and the last of the sunlight

from the West was accenting the blossoms

perfectly!                                                    {my bee shots?  Not so much. sigh.}

March makes me think of ….

just two things.

First,

{by magic moonlight}

March 17th , Saint Patrick’s Day and

all things Irish .  Green Isle of Ireland,

“dancing the jig”,

{bing.com}

finding a 4-leaf

clover! {brings very good luck}

 

Red hair and freckles, {like my son, Seth! and

his Great-Great Grandfather before him}

The lively music of drums and fiddles!

 

Secondly,

My Grandmother’s birthday was March 5th.  

{Laura Mae Brown, 100 years old}

She was a very

strong, enduring kind of woman.  Talented in

so many ways! She was a daughter, a sister, a

wife and a Mother.  A seamstress, cook and yes,

a bottle washer !  She raised 4 wonderful, well

adjusted children.  Always had a huge garden

and canned enough for the whole neighborhood. {if need be!} 

But, Laura was much more.

{ Laura Mae [Allen]Brown}

Born March 5, 1894.  

She lived to be 103. 

She left us with a legacy

of being a woman of strength and bravery! 

She had “True Grit”, the “luck of the Irish” and she was a blessed and Godly women.

My Grandmother valued her

family and her God

above all else .

{my grandmother cherished her Mother in Law}

Born in the western corner of Massachusetts,

in a home built right on the Mohawk Trail.  Grampa Flanigan’s house as it was

known.  Her Mother, Lizzie Belle {Flanigan}

and her sister Jenny, were both born in Ireland. Not much is known about that time, only the fact that the Flanigan family and many, many other Irish families immigrated to America, on a big ship sometime in the 1870’s.

{bing.com}

My Grandmother remembers her mother, Lizzie Belle, telling her the story of all the people crowded into a ship and how one night the mast broke under the heavy gales of a storm at sea! 

Once in America, they would all work hard, find a wonderful farm house to live in and even an education for their little Jennie and Lizzie Belle!

 

{the ONLY photo of Lizzie Belle-that I know of}

Later, Lizzie Belle married  a man by the name of Allen.  Soon, March 5th came and they had their first child, Laura Mae; my Grandmother.

{ Grampa Flanigan’s house on the Mohawk Trail}

Lizzie Belle would not  be married too long, having to endure a “divorce”. Something that was just not heard of in that day! (1900’s)

However, she managed to raise my Grandmother and her brother until the day  she must have been dreading, came all too soon. Lizzie Belle was sick.  Very sick, and knowing that she would soon die, she knew she had to send her children away to be cared for.

 

{from magic moonlight}

My Grandmother remembers being set upon her Mother’s lap as she was told of a “wonderful holiday”she would be going on.

{bing.com}

Such an adventure for “a child as wee as you!” “You’ll have the time of your life”, Lizzie Belle said. A ride in the new wagon to a big “bonny farm” with lots of animals and even “a pony!”

{The Graphics Fairy}

 

 

                “Tis a lucky lass that is able to go on such a holiday!” An adventure waiting for you just on the other side of that gate!

{bing.com}

Her brother would go live with his father, but he could not take Laura.

Just 10 years old, she would travel by a horse drawn wagon to a farm in New Hampshire, where she would become an indentured servant to this family for the next 8 years. 

{image found online}

It was a terrible and long 8 years for Laura Mae Allen. But in the wee hours of March 5th, after so many years of hardship; One strong and determined 18 year old girl set out on a new journey.  A new life, a long life. With many joys and sometimes heart aches. But a life of love, laughter, dancing to bright, lively music of fiddles and drums!  Of children and happiness that was spoken of from a loving mother to her little 10 year old girl; so many years ago!  

A note pinned on Lizzie Belle’s crazy quilt. This and a tiny little note book that Lizzie Belle used as a diary to record those early days at home with her family; are the only two  things that my Grandmother was able to keep of her Mother’s. Entrusted into my care {by my parents} I treasure these two beautiful items today.

{“Laura’s journey”} to be continued!

A snippet more on Leap Year trivia…

• Leap Day
• A wee bit more trivia…   February 29th tradition of the one day a woman may propose to a man…
• 

  traces the tradition to fifth-century Ireland, when St. Bridget supposedly complained to St. Patrick that gals were sick of waiting around for their procrastinating men to pop the question. Patrick consented to a leap day role reversal and, by some accounts, also declared that men who declined the proposal would be fined!

• (taken from bing) trivia facts.

Leap year day…post 2!

 

According to Irish folk lore, Feb. 29th

 

 

became the one day of the year that it was permissible

for a lady to ask a man’s hand in marriage.  It dates

back to the 15th (?) century.  If the man declined

her offer, it came with a heavy fine.   How silly

this seems today.   

 

Huh??

 

 

Any who….. in keeping with my

promise to make a double…leap year

day post; here are some more photos.

Most on the continuing saga of

“Project Life”.

 So nice to be caught up…finally!

 

I found that having one long column made it very easy to print out a paragraph or two about that week.  All at one time. Done!

 

Our lives are complicated enough.  It’s nice to journal these pages with a word or two per photo or a whole little story if need be.

 

 

 

 

 Spotting the birds singing again and the spring flowers blooming is a BIG deal up north.  Not so much here.  But it still makes me happy!

This is the only full page lay  out that I’ve done since  the new year!!  Credit for this layout goes to one of Jenni Bolin’s design team for my inspiration. I “think” it is one of Lisa Dickerson’s layout for the JB gallery.  I’ve had these photos of these very colorful birds for four years now.  It wasn’t until I saw her layout that inspired me to finally get a LO done.

{actually it’s NOT done yet…still have to journal}

Happy Leap year day!