My Shadow

"Peter Pan:  Look! My shadow! My very own shadow!
Wendy:  It's only a shadow.
Peter Pan:  Yes, but it's all mine! Oh, I'm so clever! Oh, the cleverness of me!"

Did you watch the newest version of "Peter Pan" last night? I taped it and started watching it tonight.  I noticed mixed reviews on Facebook last night, but so far I think it is pretty good. I had forgotten I knew all the words to the songs. It really brings back memories.

And I still don't want to grow up. In fact, I WON'T grow up!!

My Grandfather's Obituary, November 11, 1929, Part II

(Blogger said my post was too long, so here's Part II)
I was so excited and thought it would be easy to find the actual obituary. But it wasn't. I don't know how many times I looked at the obituary below before I realized it was for my grandfather, Michael James Barrett Kelly. 

Here it is cropped and enlarged. This obituary was in the Indianapolis Star on November 11, 1929. He actually died on November 10, 1929.

I asked the librarian if it could have been in any other newspapers of that time, so she pulled several other tapes. By this time I was getting the hang of the Microfiche machine.

This obituary is from the Indianapolis Star on November 11, 1929. Do you see it? The more I searched, the more interesting it was to read the news of the day so long ago.

Here it is a little larger.

And here it is cropped and enlarged again.

Next I searched the Indianapolis Times and found this obituary.

A little closer.

Cropped and enlarged.

For Mom's present, I put all four notices on one sheet of paper and framed it. I also gave her copies of everything I found. She loved it and said it meant a lot to finally see her father's obituary after all these years.

I think it is pretty special, too.

My Grandfather's Obituary, November 11, 1929, Part I

This is my grandmother, Helen Marie Laffey Kelly, and my grandfather, Michael James Barrett Kelly, on their wedding day, November 19, 1919. She was 24; he was 41. 

I never knew my grandfather. He died when my mom was two. She never knew him either, really. The other day Mom mentioned she had never seen her father's obituary, so I decided to find it and present it to her for her birthday.

First, I spent a couple of hours on the computer doing a search for my grandfather's birth and death dates. I found them fairly easily. Then I went to the Indiana State Library Genealogy Department and told the librarian what I was looking for. She asked if I had a death date and I told her November 11, 1929. She went to the file cabinet and pulled out a tape for the newspaper for that day. She showed me how to put it in the Microfiche machine (it seemed very old-fashioned) and start searching.  

Well, right away under "Death Notices", we found it listed! Do you see it above? It's not easy to see. 

And here it is cropped and edited.

Blogger said my post was too long, so this is a two-parter. Scroll up for Part II.

Jacob's Ladder

Every June I travel to Battleground, Indiana, for the Indiana Fiddlers' Gathering. In addition to  great music, they offer camping and music workshops and a dance. There are also little booths that sell crafts. Every year the Quilter's Club booth draws my attention. I stop and chat with the ladies who are sitting around a quilt on a frame, quilting and talking. They have a raffle for one of their quilts and I always buy some, 6 for $5.00. I never expect to win.

But this year I did!!

This is the label on the back telling all about it.

I can't tell you how excited I was!!
Lucky me!!

Avery's 9th Birthday and TARDIS

Last weekend marked Avery's 9th birthday. She decided she wanted a "Dr. Who" theme for her party. After much discussion, we decided to make a "TARDIS" birthday cake. Now, just a few weeks ago, I had never heard the word "TARDIS". I had to do some investigating. Here is Wiki's definition:

The TARDIS (/ˈtɑːdɪs/; Time and Relative Dimension in Space) is a time machine and spacecraft in the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who.  A properly maintained and piloted TARDIS can transport its occupants to any point in time and any place in the universe. The interior of a TARDIS is much larger than its exterior, which can blend in with its surroundings using the ship's "chameleon circuit". In the series, the Doctor pilots an apparently unreliable, obsolete Type 40, Mark 1 TARDIS. Its chameleon circuit is broken, leaving it stuck in the shape of a 1960s-style London police box after a visit to London in 1963. Although "TARDIS" is a type of craft rather than a specific one, the Doctor's TARDIS is usually referred to as "the" TARDIS or, in some of the earlier serials, just as "the ship", "the blue box", "the capsule" or "the police box". 

There you go. Everything you ever wanted to know about the TARDIS.

On Saturday, Sam and I spent pretty much the whole day making this cake. And it really turned out pretty good! My first time for fondant!

The TARDIS cake!

Happy birthday to you!

They didn't believe we "made" the cake!

She blew out all 9 candles! (Applause!!)

Aunt Jess arrived fresh from a photo shoot where she had her eyes "done" by a make up artist. So beautiful!

This one found some fire trucks to play with.

It is tradition that the birthday person read her card before opening the gift. Much to the boredom of her audience. I love the looks on these kids' faces!

Ooops! She's losing them!

At last! Now she's got their attention. What is it?!

I love the look on the little girl's face next to Avery. The present was some sort of doll. The boys were like "so?"

This is when Avery's dad went to get her big surprise! It was all very exciting.

You can't see very well, but the big surprise was a hamster. He is black and white.

Happy birthday, sweet Avery!

The Swimming Song

It has been a wonderfully cool summer! I am really enjoying it. I just don't do well in hot weather. It was warm enough to take the grandkids swimming at my cousin's house this week. We had a good time! It brought to mind a song I know about swimming, written by Loudon Wainwright III. You can hear it here. 

The Swimming Song

This summer I went swimming

This summer I might have drowned

But I held my breath and I kicked my feet 

And I moved my arms around

I moved my arms around.

This summer I swam in the ocean

And I swam in a swimming pool

Salt my wounds, chlorined my eyes

I'm a self-destructive fool

I'm a self-destructive fool.

This summer I did the back stroke

And you know that that's not all

I did the breast stroke and the butterfly

And the old Australian crawl

The old Australian crawl.

This summer I swam in a public place

And a reservoir to boot

At the latter I was informal

At the former I wore my suit

I wore my swimming suit.

Oh, this summer I did swan dives

And jack-knives for you all

And once when you weren't looking

I did a cannon-ball

I did a cannon-ball!

Avery and me. We're both pink.

In the hot tub. They loved the hot tub.

Volleyball. Ethan had a great time playing with the other kids that were there.

And he made some new friends.

Selfie. Edited a bit. 

I couldn't decide which one I liked best, so I posted them both.

My Dad

This is my dad, born August 27, 1924. Soon to be 90 years old.

 I took this picture down from the wall in my parents' bedroom.

I photographed the picture, downloaded to Lightroom and did a little editing. I wanted to see how many grandchildren and great-grandchildren resembled Dad.

I've really never noticed Dad's almond-shaped eyes before, since he has always worn glasses.

 I love the sweet baby dress he is wearing. I wonder who made it, did his older brother, Paul Fletcher, wear it before him? 

What do you think? Who do you see in that little sweet face?

LILACS AT HOLCOMB GARDENS 2014

Every year I like to go to Holcomb Gardens to see and smell the lilac garden. This year sister Patsy was in town, so we went there one day. Alas, most of the lilacs were past their prime, the big juicy purple  ones, but we found some pretty pink ones. Oh my, there's nothing like a good sniff of lilac in the Spring!

 

Holcomb Gardens is such a beautiful, peaceful place.

We got kind of silly from smelling the lilacs and decided to pose with some of the dead ones.

Didn't know this guy, probably a student at Butler, but I thought he looked like a modern day "Thinker" statue.

MOTHER'S DAY 2014

I have a lot of pictures to share today. It was such a fun day, I can't just choose a few.

We had a wonderful Mother's Day brunch at Cousin Helen's house. Great food, company, and HATS! We must have taken a zillion pictures. The following are a choice selection of mine.

The food was delicious!

The table set so beautifully!

It was a beautiful day and we had fun taking pictures. This is me and my beautiful niece, Sarah.  Her hat was outrageous and suited her perfectly!

Me and my two sisters.

Another of me and my two sisters.

Cousin Helen's husband is involved with the Indy 500 and they have a pace car for the month.

Cousin Helen took the aunts for an exciting ride in the pace car!

Sister Beth having a quiet moment on the veranda.

Sister Patsy also having a quiet moment on the veranda.

Niece Nellie waited until last to decorate her hat. I guess the flowers were all gone because she only used leaves. Nellie looks gorgeous in anything!

Niece Sarah making the most out of her hat.

Sister Beth and her two beautiful daughters.

Gorgeous!

Hats from the back.

Niece Sarah making goo-goo eyes.

Mom and Nellie having a moment together.

My creation.

Sister Beth and Mom.

Lovely photo of Mom and her three daughters.

Last, but not least, Sarah photo-bombing our picture. Cute!