Thursday, September 29, 2011
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Dear Doris, part two...
It's Sunday morning...perhaps the best morning of the entire week. Why not grab a hot cup of coffee....
...and dish up some yummy and delicious cake....
....curl up in a cozy blanket...
...and sit back, relax, and read where Leif/Luigi/Ivanovitch will take us today....
For those just tuning in, you can start at the beginning of this saga in my July post, "The Reinhewitz Tower", where I found a vintage postcard addressed to a Miss Doris Geenan...and then view the "Dear Doris, part one" post to get the rest of the story. Here's where our story takes us today...
"Dear Doris-
This is the largest city in Switzerland & and home of the German-speaking Swiss- or "Svizza Dicha" as they are called. The city is one of the cleanest, most modern, & most picturesque in Europe - but my friends here tell me that the "Svizza-Dicha" are a hard nosed group at best & very difficult to get along with. The German they speak here is a far cry from any other German anywhere else.
Wm. Tell"
"Dear Doris-
Back in Suisse again & I take it these are ski cabins on front- looks sort of cold. Some day I'll have to check this skiing out- you're just a guy who doesn't rate, with some of the dollies here, unless you participate in "the sport".
Right now I'm tired of traveling & when I get back to Grenoble- I won't move for at least a week.
-Trigger-"
"Dear Doris-
This is Munich prior to the air bombing. In the whole picture I don't think there is even one building they missed. What is amazing is the speed with which reconstruction has proceeded. All the rubble has been cleared away & new buildings are going up daily.
The G.I.'s here aren't helping the American name much as far as one can see. Too bad the Army sends kids over here.
Heinrich"
I've tried to put them in order as best as I can tell their date on the cancellation, but sometimes it's hard to tell...come back next Sunday to follow our Mystery Man on his next escapade through "the old country"!
Monday, September 19, 2011
Dear Doris... part one
Ok...so some of my viewers might remember a few posts back when I found some really cool vintage postcards at my local store (August, "The Reinhewitz Tower"). One in particular caught my attention, because it was written to a young woman, from a man touring through war-torn Europe in 1950. The woman's name was "Doris", and the young man's name was "Leif"......
Last week as I flipped through hundreds and hundreds of postcards, I suddenly saw a snippet of familiar handwriting....and a familiar name....
We may not know who this mystery man was, but we know that he had two words on his mind as he traveled so far from home:
....or so I thought.....
Last week as I flipped through hundreds and hundreds of postcards, I suddenly saw a snippet of familiar handwriting....and a familiar name....
Could it really be? Out of thousands and thousands of postcards, was this really another postcard written from Leif to his beloved Kappa Alpha Theta-ite?
"Dear Doris,
The ship in the foreground is the one we came up from Palma on (filled with seasick Spanish soldiers & boot sailors). Barcelona turned out to be not such a good idea for New Years Eve. Drinks cost $3.60 a piece & I guess you know I just about left this dear olde worlde when they preseuto-ed me with a bill for about $25.
Once Wealthy Roberto"
My heart started racing, and as I looked at the address, it was the same as the one I had bought back in July. The handwriting was the same, the address was the same, even the quirky charisma was the same. There was only one difference....
This card wasn't from Leif.
It was from Once Lucky Roberto.
I tried to understand how all these pieces matched up, but not the name. A little later from the same shoebox of postcards, came another card addressed to Doris Geenan...Only this time, it was sign "Ali"!
"Still Salaam Doris-
This town is actually far more colorful than any post card can do justice- it is 250 kilometers south of Algiers on the edge of the Sahara- but cold.
Played typical tourist today & went camel riding in the sand dunes- tres-gai.
Ali."
I sat at this antique store the rest of the afternoon, sifting through boxes of cards, and in total, I found 14 postcards addressed to "Miss Doris Geenan" of Madison, Wisconsin.
Each one, carefully marked to Doris.....and then suddenly, the identity of the man who wrote them became a little clearer.....
...when this man was in Sweden, he signed them "Leif"
...when he was in Algiers, he signed them "Ali"
...when he was in France, he signed them "Lucky Pierre"
...when he was in Vienna, he signed them "Ivanovitch"
So the "Leif" who I had wished a happy life only a few posts earlier on my blog wasn't really a "Leif", and I have no clue who he was. Somehow this group of postcards survived...together...and ended up in a giant collection in the middle of Washington state...Each card is unique in the picture it paints of a time long ago...
...So join me, as I post each card on my blog, and follow Leif/Ali/Once Wealthy Roberto on his journey across Europe. I've put them in order as best as I could, based on the dates on their postmarks. From what I can tell, this young man was in the army, working on reconstructing Europe after WWII. He arrived in France right after the new year in 1950, and corresponds with Doris until May....What does he write? You'll have to wait and see!
We may not know who this mystery man was, but we know that he had two words on his mind as he traveled so far from home:
"Dear Doris..."
Saturday, September 17, 2011
September surprises...
I love making treasuries, and seeing what I can find...here are a few of my favorite listings this week...
Chickadee and maple leaves lid, JimAndGina, $35.00
Traveller's hoops, Summerone, $24.00
Green trees on table runner, krycza06, $55.00
Clay house for dwarves, Koroneczka, $8.00
Indian corn-fall harvest photo by shannonleighstudios, $40.00
Birch tree embroidery hoop by erinf115, $32.00
Twin barns photo print by DragonFlyandClover, $20.00
Raven with candy corn painting by Corvid337, $16.00
Traveller's hoops, Summerone, $24.00
Green trees on table runner, krycza06, $55.00
Clay house for dwarves, Koroneczka, $8.00
Birch tree embroidery hoop by erinf115, $32.00
Twin barns photo print by DragonFlyandClover, $20.00
Raven with candy corn painting by Corvid337, $16.00
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Just a rock...
If there's one thing you need to know about me, it's that I love rocks.
I love looking for rocks. I love reading about rocks. I even love painting rocks...
Every year for spring break (that elusive week that teachers dream about all winter), we pack up the dogs, hop in the truck, and head down to the high deserts of Southeast Oregon and Northern Nevada. While we're there, we find agates, opals, sunstones, petrified wood, and even once, a meteorite. Last year on our annual pilgrimage, we went to a location in Nevada known for a special type of rhyolite, called wonderstone. Wonderstone is indeed wonderful, for the many different patterns accenting each rock (you might have seen some of the items in my shop photographed with some wonderstone in the background!).
One rock in particular caught my eye. To me, this remnant from some extinct volcano was more than just a rock....it painted a picture in my mind.
I looked at both sides carefully, and then slowly began shaping this stone into a square form...I had initially thought I would place this stone in a lapidary setting, but then I started painting...
....and painting, and painting....
I couldn't erase this beautiful scene from my mind, and I could imagine it being a sunset in the desert, on some remote and dry barren land...
I painted it in acrylic...
...and I painted it in watercolor...
I painted this scene over and over again, each time playing with different blends of color.
Then one night, while coasting around Etsy looking for new items to favorite, my eyes came upon this scene, and I recognized it immediantly...
However, I couldn't have recognized it, for this was a real photo...of some unknown place that just happened to look like the world I glimpsed while looking at a rock. This photo was taken by Patty Stafford, and when I saw it, I knew I had to have it. So now my collection is complete, at least until I pick up another rock, and take a closer look...
Feel free to check out Patty's shop at the link below, and see what other treasures might be lurking within the wardrobe...(but that's a story for another day...)
"Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it."
-Michelangelo
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)