Winter

Winter

Monday, December 3, 2012

Just Decorating

I have been trying to decorate today. Well, I am supposed to be cleaning house but I have the attention span of a gnat. I seem to bounce from one thing to another. I have a very cute snowman that I put up somewhere and today I have tried to remember where I put it. In my searching I ran across some things I thought I would share with you.

Before Peter Jackson turned the books by J.R.R. Tolkien into movies they were books that were read over and over in our house. In fact my husband still reads The Hobbit once a year. In fact, one of the conditions of him marrying me was I read the whole Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I did too, sitting out by the swimming pool when I lived at home. When our daughter was born we would ask her, " What do you have in it's pockets, little Bilbo Baggins." Just silly things that get in our family history.

When our daughter was about eight she started reading them all on her own and she is even a bigger fan that her Dad and when she was in art class, she sculpted Smaug.  So because in 11 days the Hobbit movie comes out, I thought I would take a picture of her sculpture.

I always loved how she could get the eyes to look at you and look real. She did the texture of the skin and the horns so well too. Not to mention the pile of gold he is sitting on.

I can't remember what she made the wings out of but they look really real like you would think dragon wings would look like, I mean if we still had dragons.

I also found this old candle stick holder.

When I was a little girl on my great-grandmothers nightstand in her room this candle holder sat. She said she kept it there in case the electricity went out. I would think about walking from room to room carrying it to light my way. I have used it the few times we have lost power.

I ran across this too. One of the hard things about going through houses is you find things that you know you should keep but at the time you don't know why. I kept this when we were going through my grandmothers things. I was shocked when I opened the box.

It looked almost brand new. I could tell that there was film in it and I didn't want to take the risk of ruining the film so I took down to our local camera shop and let them develop what was in the camera. You know what what in it? Pictures from my first birthday. I had never seen pictures of myself when I was a baby  and never of my first birthday. My Mom was so young, Barely 20 and I was wearing a frilly dress with petticoats. You could see how happy she was and she was laughing at the camera. I have those pictures around here but I didn't want to go down one more rabbit trail.

I never have found the snowman. Next year when I am not teaching school, I am going to organize this whole house. I have stuff stuck every where.

So just a rabbit trail on my way to decorate my house. Here is one thing I got decorated. Remember the cubby hole thing that my husband made? I put Christmas things in it.
We haven't had rain but we have had mist like a cloud is sitting on top of us. So everything is dark even with the lights on. Sorry for the bad quality of my pictures.

So that is what I have done today. I think all that I have left to do is put the Christmas tree up and I don't know when we will get to that. Reading over this post, it is a rabbit trail too. :)

Have a great week,
~Kim~

17 comments:

Debbie said...

ooohhhh Kim you are so funny!! I would keep that camera!

Debbie said...

I have a feeling my answer will follow a rabbit trail too, haha. First of all I will admit that I have not read the books. However, two of my sons have and LOVED them. And the movies. And then, I am soo impressed with your daughters sculpture. soo good! How exciting to find that film in that camera. Just soo neat. I would have loved that. Love the cubby whole thing...looks great. Enjoy the rest of your day!

Empty Nester said...

ARGH!!!! I was typing a comment and was way far into it and POOF! It disappeared. Now I have to start all over...let's see now...You have to post those pictures of your 1st birthday! I MUST see them! And hang onto that camera- it might be worth some money. Those were really good cameras back in the way day. Your daughter is so talented! She truly is an artist! Wow! AND I'm so glad I finally know who Birdie really belongs to. She ADORES everything Hobbit/Lord of the Rings.. she has multiple copies of everything in various styles, even collectible. She named her dog Strider. She can quote nearly every single page. She's CRAZY about that stuff. Just one more way our families are connected. I love it! Oh, and that candlestick that belonged to your great grandmother- too special!

TexWisGirl said...

oh, that brownie camera w/ your photos in it is a forgotten treasure! awesome!

Julia said...

I remember those Brownie cameras. I'm so glad that you got the pictures of you developed. Your grandma must not have used it as it does look like new and you still have the box. I would love to see those pictures of you and your mom when you were a baby. What a treasure kept secret for a long time. wow.

Your daughter is talented like my granddaughter. She has many dragons that she made of Femo and she bakes them in the oven to harden them. Yours look like it's made of Femo too.

I started decorating the entrance and I've also put up my nativity and my little village.
I've been carrying plastic totes of ornaments up from the basement.
The next thing will be my old artificial tree.

Hugs,
JB


Alica said...

I like your rabbit trails! What a find in that camera!! You just have to show us those pictures sometime soon!

Unknown said...

Oh, wow! Another rabbit trailer! Love it! I remember as a child being sent to my room to clean my closet. I would start, but then get distracted, and make a bigger mess taking out and looking at mementos. Have you ever read, If You Give a Moose a Muffin? If I were a moose and you were a moose, it would be our life stories.

That camera part is the coolest thing ever! Just waiting, like a time capsule, to brighten your day! There is another children's book called Flotsam you should see. It is about a boy who finds an old camera washed up on the beach. He takes the film to get developed and... I just read it to my class today. I had to explain camera film... :(

Love the dragon! So much detail! Such amazing talent! I can't wait for the Hobbit too! My husband loves the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

Well, your journey today seemed to be more special than finding your snowman. Kind of like a Hobbit journey, but without the scary creatures. It was God wanted you to find today! Dewdrops of grace and mercy!

Blessings, friend! Please keep sharing rabbit trails... To me, they are perfectly normal!

Love,
Heather

Kathy ... aka Nana said...

I've had days like that ... my OCD self doesn't like those gnat-attention-span days, but that doesn't stop me from having them on occasion. ;-)

I LOVE that dragon! Amazing!

Rugs and Pugs said...

Your daughter's sculpture is simply amazing. What a talented girl.
LOVE the story about the camera and the pictures you found in it. What fun.
Hugs :)
Lauren

Kim said...

The camera thing is so cool. What a treasure! The dragon sculpture is amazing, so much detail. You knw I have never read any of those books.

Kessie said...

I'd never heard about the pictures in that camera! Amazing! I'm glad you're decorating. I put up our two decorations when we did our tree on Sunday night. It's so nice to have new things to look at.

Also, if anyone is curious about the dragon, it's made out of Super Sculpy over an armature of wire and tinfoil. :-)

Beth said...

You have a real collector's item in the camera. The pictures are an added bonus.

The dragon sculpture is very good.

Patrice said...

Love the dragon sculpture!

Cathy G. said...

LOVE your daughter's dragon sculpture! That is some talent! Does she have artwork in a gallery?
Keep the box with your camera too.... collectors love the original boxes. So neat to have those old photos and how wonderful they were preserved inside the camera!
Hope the sun shines tomorrow..... we had such a dreary foggy and dark day here.... it was hard to get motivated to accomplish anything!
Keep up the good decorating!
Hugs!
Cathy G

moosecraft said...

The camera is a great find! I always wondered how long film can hold an image and still be able to be developed. Smaug is exquisite! Your daughter is an awesome sculptor!

Pom Pom said...

The camera is wonderful! I love it that you found yourself there.
Frilly dress, gleeful mama, a big birthday. Amazing.
I like that candle holder very much. It is very Dickens.
I have the attention span of a gnat, too. Dang.
Take care today, good friend.
Oh! THE sculpture is FANTASTIC! REALLY!
Bill is the same with LOTR. I am only a Hobbit reader.

Thistle Cove Farm said...

Yes, a rambling post filled with wonderful memories! Your daughter is SO talented; that dragon is fabulous!! The film in the camera is fabulous as well; so glad the memories were ones to hold close to heart.
There are candles in every room here; the power is always going off and the bedrooms aren't on the generator.