Italian Mastiff in my house

Oh sure, she may look menacing to you, but she is so lovable. When she is outside her and her sister run through the yard playing tag. She has a condition known as cherry eye. We had operations done on her eyes to try to correct it, but we won't do anymore operations. If we elected to do another surgery then she would lose the ability to make tears. Personally, I think that is wrong. We just wipe her face clean from all the dirt she plays in all day. She is such a great dog. How cute is that mug?

Joseph Sparrowhawk and Sarah Persinger 4

Sarah and Joseph had several children. In the state of Virginia at the time it was against the law to marry a Native American. Native people were not even considered human beings. White or Black were the only classifications. If a person was Mulatto, the person was an outcast. They were in neither class. Sarah had several Mulatto children, and they were taken away from her. The state of Virginia took her to court, and wanted to know who the father of the children was. She would not tell them. The children were considered wards of Overseers of the Poor. Andrew was the brother of Sarah, so he ended up taking the children. Interestingly enough while the children were in the Overseer of the Poor they were considered Mulatto, but once they were moved into the house of Andrew they were considered White. I am sure this made their lives a little easier, but they were still Mulatto to some people.

Sarah married another man later in life, and Joseph had to walk the Trail of Tears with two of the children he and Sarah shared. The two children were darker complected and Sarah and Joseph thought it would be too difficult for them to be considered White. Joseph died in Oklahoma, and Sarah stayed in Virginia.

Book Art

Have you walked into an antique store to find art that is found in books? I am sure if you have gone to an antique store then you have ran across some images that were originally in books.

This image was suppose to be Mary Magdalene she is talking to a skull in a cave. Many cultures had relationships with the dead. We still do today as we visit graves, and talk to our ancestors. The relationship they had included making a mask, and even decorating a skull. Which leads me to think that at one time someone decided to allow the skull of a family member to be interred, but make a skull out of rock.
What is it about skulls that has made such an impact on society today. I must admit I love skulls. I have dreamed of having a skull in my library since I was a little girl. Although I thought about having a real skull for a hot second...then I thought about it the next second...that belongs to someone else. I am not sure how this image came to me. I really wanted a crystal skull! Did I see it somewhere in the Encyclopedia in our house? I must have seen it somewhere.

One day I was sharing this image with my husband. He said it was creepy. I kept justifying to him..."it is a crystal skull, not a real one." He said "It is still creep." Years have passed since I told him that I wanted a crystal skull. I do have one, and so do each of my children. I have a life size crystal skull, my son has a green one, and my daughter has a rose quartz. I want a few more. There are artist creating these with great skill.

The next time you are in an antique store go for the whole book instead of just an image. It is a much better deal!

Godiva

Easter chocolates were from Godiva this year. Last year we had Italian Chocolate. This year I stopped in the Godiva shop and bought all the goodies from Godiva. These little truffle horses were a big hit with everyone.

Transforming

I finally got to fit into this skirt. This is what I wore to Easter Candle Light Service. It was a beautiful service, and very long.

What have I learned on my Lenten journey. Well, this year I gave up luxury goods, and chocolate. I cut my sugar consumption by half. Although, I did not buy luxury gifts for myself. I did go a little overboard on buying luxury items for others.

I feel good about my accomplishments, and I want to continue on my path to transform myself. Any transformations for you?

Loving Sunday Dinner

I wish I would have taken a photo of the meal I had for dinner. My husband made Sunday dinner for the second Sunday in a row. We had Ravioli, Roast that was wrapped in bacon with yummy spices, New potatoes with roasted onions, green and red peppers, one dinner roll, salad, chocolate eclair with berries.

This was a great holiday break. I have so enjoyed not cooking. I must say my husband is a great cook too. I hope you all have had a great Holiday weekend too!

Happy Easter to Everyone!

I thought this was adorable so I had to change it around to share with everyone. I think it could not be greater. An Easter bunny on a Scooter is just plain classic.

Have a great Easter everyone, and if you don't believe then Have a Great Sunday! It is all good!!!

Warm wishes to you all!!!

Families Happy Easter

This is an actual Marriage Certificate. The Bible that this come from is HUGE. The Maxon family took this Bible to the Church to have it signed. George Washington Maxon is proclaiming Ida E. Bailey as his wife. Both of them are from Blackstone, Mass. Married May, 20th 1886. These people are not part of my family. I bought this Catholic Bible about 10 years ago on ebay. I loved the art that was in it. There is also a four leaf clover and another leaf of some kind. I have left them on the page that the family added them to since it may be special to that family. I have wanted to share this for a long time. Since this Bible is leather and the cover is a little lose I keep it covered in a plain white sheet so the pages wont become damaged by the sun.

There are some other family pages in the Bible, and if there is an interest I will share them. For now, here are some of the reasons why I bought this one in the first place...

This is a pledge that no one in the family signed. It is about drinking alcoholic beverages.

Here is the cover, and you can see the Stainless Steel hinges that keep it closed. I am not selling this Bible. I just want to share this family information, since it may be important to someone out there. I love doing family research myself, and hope that if someone out there had information to share they would do the same.

If you happen to know Maxon families from Blackstone, Mass this may be their family.

Something to Share

Today, while the two big dogs were barking at the mail man, and the little dogs were barking because the big dogs were barking. My son was sick lying on the couch watching something about cars. I went upstairs and went through a couple of old Bibles that I have collected over the years. I began to wonder why I haven't shared some of the beautiful images before.

I love the shadowing of this one of the Annunciation.

I can almost hear the angels singing just looking at this.

This is one of the color plates.

Another color plate.

Another beautiful one, there are so many of them it was hard to choose.

Tomorrow I will have to share a family Bible that I have had for several years. I will have to share it with all my twitter friends so maybe someone can identify the family.

Castello Di Amorosa

We spent the day at Castello Di Amorosa. This is one of the many wineries in Napa Valley, CA. As many people know it is the dream of our family to have a vineyard, olive orchard and our Italian museum. One of the aspects of having a winery in a beautiful place is having a lure. Something that is going to get the people in the door. The Castle is different, and inviting. Idea was taken from a 12 Century Tuscan castle. It is 121,000 square feet. We actually only saw two floors. It is 17 bucks each adult and I think that the children were 7 bucks each. The Adults are allowed to taste test 5 different wines, and the children were given juice. I think for the 17 bucks we should get a better brochure. I get it though, it is expensive building such a beautiful place, and it is really nice. I loved all the photo opps.  I got with the children. There are even chickens and sheep outside to give it a more realistic feel.

The wine we tasted was good too, so overall I was pleased. I am sure that there are some great events that they have  to offer too. Could you imagine having your Prom there? WOW!