Knight Studio in Kilgore, Texas

This photo was sent to me by a reader, who assumed it is probably from the 1920s or 1930s.  If you happen across this and know more, please let me know!  See more info about it at This Eclectic Life.

Wizard Wells, Texas

I'm posting the full story at my main site this morning, but wanted the pictures here so they could be viewed in a larger size.  Here is the link, in case you want the scoop on this tiny Texas community.

As If I Don't Have Enough To Do ...

I got distracted with an application on my iPhone!  It's called Colorsplash, and I haven't mastered it, yet. 

Take a photo on your phone, upload it into this application and it becomes a black and white.  Then, you can add color on bits of the photo by using your finger as a paint brush.  This was the best I could do, but now I'm hooked.

Do you use that application?  Know any tricks?

I'm going to go paint my world pretty!

GIST #1

The "gist" of an argument is defined as the "main point" or "essence."  The letters "G.I.S.T." can also be an acronym for "Grace In Small Things."  That is a movement that Schmutzie started to remind us, as we battle the noisiness of life, not to overlook the tiny reasons we have to be thankful for each day.  Schmutzie encourages folks to list five tiny things each day in which we find "grace."  Those small things are the gist of life, aren't they?

To be honest, I've tried this exercise before.  I even joined the group and started a Ning blog.  That lasted about ten days.  Multiple choice question:  I didn't continue because

The correct answer is, of course, "F," and if you got that wrong, you failed.  I've decided that I will post my "grace" here on my Posterous blog.  Not daily ... just occasionally ... and not always five things.  I won't feel guilty about not following the rules. 

Here's the first of my lists of grace:

1. Posterous.  That's right.  Posting here is as simple as an e-mail.  I "hide" from my regular blog here, because I don't feel any "pressure" when I post at this site.  It's just for fun ... for me ... and if you want to read it, that's cool.
   
2. Heirloom tomatoes that are too pretty to eat ... but I did, and they were delicious (at least the green striped one was --- that link is to the picture).
3. Busy city streets, like the one shown above, where I can get lost in the crowd and just "people watch."  That's San Francisco, and I think I left my heart there.  In fact, I did, because my son lives there.  Great reason to have to visit San Francisco, eh?
4. Apps for my iPhone.  Particularly one that is a solitaire card game (oh, I can't remember the name and I'm too lazy to look).  Since downloading it, I am no longer grumpy when I stand in line at the grocery or the post office. In fact, I let people jump ahead of me in line so I can finish a game. It distracts me when I'm driving on the freeway, but....
5. Jamie at Duward Discussion.  She's a blogging friend whose wisdom and wry wit always amazes me.
   

That's the gist of it.

Tomatoes Too Pretty To Eat

I saw a vegetable stand and could not pass it without browsing.  These heirloom tomatoes caught my eye.  I've been holding them in my hand just sniffing them ... they don't smell like the hothouse tomatoes we buy at the supermarket.  They smell real and of the earth.  And, I'm remembering (our sense of smell is a wonderful trigger for memories):

• Following my grandfather as he gathered tomatoes in the truck patch, with the sun beating down on our heads.  While Papaw wasn't looking, I popped cherry tomatoes into my mouth, sure that he would never know I had done it --- even though telltale juice dribbled down my chin.
• Walking through a field of tomatoes at the end of summer with my two blond haired toddlers in tow.  I was gathering tomatoes to make picante sauce, and trying to get them to taste sun-ripened tomatoes.  They were too busy squealing and swatting the giant grasshoppers that kept using them as springboards.
• Watching my mother's gnarled hands as she sliced fresh tomatoes for hamburgers at a family picnic.  I hoped that my hands would never be that crippled with arthritis.  Oops.  Vain hope.

I can't wait to eat these tomatoes, but I had to take a picture to remember them.  They are pretty.

The Art Bench

Last week, I posted photos for a meme called Monochrome Weekly where bloggers who like to take photographs in black and white share their shots.  This bench in Mendocino, California had caught my eye when we visited.  I love the idea of making art from recycled materials.  This is definitely "art," but I don't know comfortable it might be to lounge on it!

One reader, Kilauea Poetry (who is an impressive photographer) wished she could see it larger.  I'm uploading it here in the hopes that one can see more detail.

Distractions

I am so easily distracted by the mundane.  Although I have plenty of projects that I should be doing, I always seem to find something to keep me from my work. 

I stepped into the garage and spied an ugly,  dirt-encrusted, wooden box.  It had thirty tiny drawers and it was covered in lacy spider webs.  Those spider webs looked like jewels! 

Aha!  An idea formed itself in my pea brain.  I cleaned that wooden box and oiled it with lemon oil.  I removed the horrible rusty wire drawer pulls that were on it.  I don't have enough of the "crystal" drawer pulls, but I might use large earrings as drawer pulls (if I can figure out how to do it).

After popping some jewelry into the box, I think I have a new use for it!  The five cats should have a great time unloading this!

Resurrection

After months of ignoring this blog, I visited it this weekend with every intention of deleting all the posts and posting them to my main blog at This Eclectic Life.  I saw no reason to try to keep two blogs in operation, because obviously I wasn't doing a good job of it.

Unfortunately, I fell in love with Posterous all over again!  I've decided to try to do a better job of interweaving the two blogs.  I post a lot of pictures at my site, but there are often pictures that don't fit the post.  For instance, today I posted for a Monochrome Weekly theme, but I had colorful pictures we had taken on a walk through Denton, Texas (that's my hometown).  I wanted to show them off, so I am putting them here. 

One image is of a skull that was spray painted on the sidewalk (that's the one I changed to black and white --- along with some other "artsy fartsy" attempts).  There is also a photograph of the courthouse and several from Fry Street (the fun part of town).

Keep in mind that I make no claims of being a "photographer," but I'm learning.

Thirteen Pictures From A Ghostly Adventure

A stay at The Woodbine Hotel in Madisonville, Texas turned into a ghostly adventure.  I've posted thirteen pictures taken at the hotel during two nights last week.  The woman in the older photo was said to haunt the place.  Two of the pictures seem to show strange lights.  The camera was on a tripod, and everything else in the picture is in focus.  Were they orbs?  I have no clue, but you can read about my ghost hunt in three parts on my blog:
Part 1:  Just My Imagination?

Part 2: Another Verse To The Ghost Story At The Woodbine

Part 3: Resistance.  Part Three Of The Ghostly Adventures At The Woodbine

Know any ghostly places to visit?

Elegant Mashed Potatoes

At a wedding reception last night, there was a "mashed potato bar."  I was pretty impressed.  We dished up potatoes from the chafing dishes into martini glasses (they let me handle real glass!), then we garnished it with an assortment of condiments.  There were chopped chives, sour cream, cheeses, picante sauce, and lots of bacon!  It was very elegant.

That gave me an idea for our family holiday.  But, I won't trust those honyocks with real glass.  I'll buy the plastic martini glasses down at Wal Mart!