artist date photos

artist date

no pics from tue/wed yet (just a web grab), but wanted to share how refreshing it was to hop in the car this week and drive 150 miles to visit my mom. It had been 8 weeks and a much overdue trip - so, good stuff all around!

the route i drive goes through miles and miles of wide open farmland, rolling hills, passing clouds, barns, silos, cows... so many of things that I love! Old cemeteries, vine covered buildings, dirt roads, I could go on!

i stopped frequently as the mood arose, camera ready-at-the-draw! one road definitely freaked me out a bit, though. All of the houses appeared to be crumbling and pretty desolate.. I watch too many movies like that...! so I drove about 2 miles and made a u-turn after crossing a creepy open-grate bridge with swirling rapids down below! lol

enjoyong the solitude and allowing nature to excite and inspire, was what my trip home was all about! I saw two separate flocks of wild turkeys and lots of males puffing or spreading out their tail feathers (just like peacocks) to attract females for mating.



I also listened to my Artist's Way cds and I appreciated the part about artists being VISUAL and how important the weekly artist date is ~ for the purpose of "filling the well." Which is exactly what i did. Pure bliss!

Full Circle Friendship

As I am usually the one seeking to re-connect with misplaced friendships along the way, I had a pleasant surprise waiting for me last month when I logged in to my flickr account! I had a new message, titled "Greetings From Philadelphia." And here's the kick... I moved two states away, 37 years ago! I'm smiling as I head off to bed tonight, after a long phone conversation filled with memories and laughter and thinking to myself, "What a treasure to be able to close a loop left open so many decades ago!" XO

19th century sisters: augusta, alice and edna

a photo bycookievf on Flickr.

...also known as "GUS, PETE and TED!" The nicknames were affectionately given to these three sisters by their father ~ who was hoping for boys! Happily, after Alice came Bruce, then Scott and finally Helen.. and my great grandfather was pleased and to some degree, relieved. He now had two sons to continue the family's business of manufacturing wood lacquers and stains, which they did. So successfully in fact, that the reins were eventually passed on to the 3rd and 4th generations, becoming world-renowned particulary in the music business (guitar lacquers, stains & finishes) at the very same Philadelphia location, where it continued until 2009, for 135 years!

Alice, my maternal grandmother, lived 99 years and 10 months and has been my SPECIAL guardian angel watching closely over me since 1995.

A new chapter has been added to this wonderful McFadden family tree. In my quest to research family genealogy, I have just located one of Edna's granddaughters and we're sharing photos, stories. documents and are now linked with another 2nd cousin on Facebook!

Approx 1915 ~ my great uncle, Scott McFadden, with a company truck