this week's challenge was to find a vintage photograph and create a life story for a stranger in the photo.......I tweaked it a little and wrote the life story of the photographer of this photo
here it is (from the
flickr group post)
I happen to have picked this photo for the clothes on the clothesline...it drew me in
then you think someone in the 1940's clicked this photo to show the family members, yet there are the clothes on the line prominently displayed......seems like back then they took photos sparingly and made sure to focus on the subject......yet here we have the background more in focus than the faces
so for my challenge I am focusing on the story of the PHOTOGRAPHER....here goes my fiction
this was taken on a summer day with family visiting by a woman! a woman using her husband's new fangled camera, he is at work, she is not usually the photographer, she is the mother of the baby in the photo.....and the woman holding the baby up is her sister, visiting from far away.....the photographer is a new mother for the first time and she herself is young.....under 20 and her sister in the photo is her oldest sister, she is from a large family in the midwest, and she has moved west with her veteran husband, he has taken her away from her family and familiar surroundings for his job, I suspect this is after world war 2 has ended and her elder unmarried sister has come west to see the newborn nephew on her vacation from her job, she began working soon after high school and continued to this day, now in her 30's and husbandless and childless, living at home with her elderly widowed father.
back to the photographer, her name is Katherine, her hubby calls her katy but her family calls her Kay, Kay married her high school sweetheart, he was 2 years ahead of her in school, and he went straight into the service upon his graduation, she married him after her high school graduation when he was home on leave that fall/winter...it was like marrying a stranger, he had been away all of the years she finished high school, but she thought he was handsome in his uniform and it felt patriotic to marry him.
Kay stayed with her father and 3 older sisters when he returned to the war, she also had 2 younger sisters and 2 older brothers, they were a family of 9 children, one had died before she was born, and her mother had passed away when Kay was 10, but with the 3 older sisters she was never lacking in mothering love, she was the first sister to marry.....both boys had also married and had children and were living their lives away from the modest family homestead......Kay was 20 at the time she took this photo and overwhelmed with the duties needed to keep house, tend a baby, care for a ladder climbing husband that kept inviting suave people to dinner for drinks and cards on wednesday nights.....she was expected to keep a perfect house, prepare gourmet faire, have her son in bed and asleep when her husband returned from his day at work...all on a meager income that seemed unable to keep the lights on, she felt alone and had longed for her family to visit......now her sister was visiting and she wanted to savor the visit but still had the mounting chores to do, I think in this photo she is unable to not focus on the clothes drying since they are her work, her pride, her proof of worth to the family back home in the midwest....she had sent them birth announcement photos, professionally taken, they had seen her cherubic son, and here she can share the cuddly one with her older sister while she is able to do her housework
Kay went on to have another child, a little girl after her husband returned from the Korean War, she spent those years of his military service in the company of her older sisters, who had moved west after their patriarch passed away and it was somehow easier with the four women and children in the house and slowly they found their new house in California to be home, but when Kay's husband returned from the war the second time, it was stressful trying to balance time for him with the sisterhood time, Kay always felt pulled in every direction, there were few photographs taken of her because she was always busy tending to someone......her greatest joy was seeing 2 of her 3 older sisters marry and stay in the neighborhood, albeit late in life and without children, her sister's husbands came into the marriages with children so there were children for her 2 kids to play with at holiday parties.......and what parties they were! One of her brothers in laws, Sid, came from money and spared no expense when family gatherings occurred, he would provide catered goods and staff to let the family relax and visit, all of this seemed nice but still added stress to Kay's life having to listen to her husband complain that Sid was showing off and making them stay in their place.......but she could see how happy her sister was with Sid and that Sid was just jovial and goodnatured and never mentioned the money......but marital strife always followed these family gatherings for Kay, to the point that she began to dread the holidays.........that dread continued for 10 years, until that bright day that she became a Grandma for the first time.........seeing her first grandson be spoiled with a rented santa claus and lavished with gifts as the first grandbaby amongst the extended family....was priceless......and from that point on Kay seemed brighter and happier about the holidays
She never was a great homemaker, her sewing and laundry skills were good but her cooking and time management were always lacking, her husband discovered that he could tolerate her cooking much better AFTER 3 cocktails.....and so was their life until they found themselves nearing her husband's retirement from a middle management position where he could wield his power ego at work, as the months quickened to his time at home with her full time she began to dread every DAY......until she saw an ad in a lady's magazine for beautician's college......before her husband retired, she approached him with the smart idea that she could get training and work to help earn money while he enjoyed his retirement golfing and fishing with his veteran buddies......he balked at the cost, but she had the numbers crunched and suggested that if she worked full time she could recover the school fees in the first 2 years! He agreed, she excelled at her chosen late in life profession......she loved being with the ladies in the salon all day, chit chatting and looking glamourous, it was the 60's after all and she was still young enough looking to pass for 30, her continued education in the beauty world led her to attend many hair shows, rub elbows with Vidal Sassoon, train with him and be hit on by him, she was married and it made her smile to think that someone found her attractive of such fame and glamour....she went on to become a favored hair stylist to the stars and was soon enough not working the floor of a salon but on call to homes, studios, movie sets and award celebrations!
While she moved with the times and seemed to be gone alot, she still was there for all of her grandson's events and her children knew she was enjoying her time away from the kitchen.......funny how in the 1960's and 70's she seemed to wear ALOT of dry clean only designer clothing and mini dresses that required no IRONING, her husband never felt wanting since most of his retired buddies had wives at home that were more than happy to have another to dinner and keep their husband's out of the house golfing, fishing, playing cards.........Kay became more than she ever dreamed she could, and her grandkids still talk of the day gramma met rock hudson and doris day on a movie set, kay is still setting hair and performing makeover's in her current residence at sunset acre's retirement village, the ladies still request her, she has enjoyed seeing her grandson's have children and occassionally misses her husband, he passed away from lung cancer 5 years ago, but she does not miss that clothes line!
May your winter be full of wonder and your land be full of peace
our smallish house full of 3 loud, rambunctious kids......headache inducing.....suffice to say outdoors is best!
I have been attempting to clear out the freezer and cupboards, too much going into a season that needs some room to store food, granted I canned lots this year but it needs to be eaten to be of value!
We had a great time watching emerson play in the snow....he loves to throw snowballs and make snow angels....he is our angel....so sweet!
Somehow our toddler has managed to finally go down for his nap at 3:30 pm.....it has been a challenging week of sleep, so I am thankful for any time he sleeps....but now it is time to get ready to go to the Halloween Carnival and I refuse to wake him, we do not need an ANGRY bee............the carnival goes until 7pm, chances are we will catch the end of the event, all fine by me!
I have been stalking the fall colors, trying to capture them at just that right moment......so we have had many sojourns into a variety of trails around our home, the light is usually wrong, the leaves hide from me, sick of seeing me I am sure.....but this day, this moment, with the sun high enough to illuminate some leaves and some trees displaying orange and gold I was happy with some of my captures of trees and shadows and leaves......then just as we were about to head back home, I heard another photographer say the magic word "BEAR" we ended up staying another 2 hours and taking tons of photographs, most a blur, badly composed or too dark to see the bear......this is my favorite capture, our 3 year old and I watched this large mama bear pluck a salmon, yes the salmon are running and there is a gate right where we were....the bears know how to fish and especially with trapped fish!.......the baby had eaten some 4 already on its own, but this moment we saw the mama put a fish in the baby's mouth......nature, nurture and noble!
While we had an early bout of snow, we are looking forward to some semblance of fall.....I love this shot taken with the full moon over the sleepy hollow pumpkin patch, evocative of that idyllic harvest complete with pumpkins and spooky stories!
We went to the Camp Richardson Oktoberfest for the first time this year and our munchkin loved the fun he had!
in this video he is saying that he is making the music with his horn, granted a peanut butter bar, but he did have the timing and loved the oktoberfest music!
October 3rd and October 4th of 2009....it snowed a bit, enough for there to be chain controls on the highways and had us thinking of a white halloween.......it is the white pumpkin, charlie brown!
I have been obsessed with picking them all up as they are strewn on their papery wings by the wind from the still attached to the tree pine cones that are opening, maybe from our mega heat wave, i see them flutter and everywhere I go there they are......once crushed by car tires they leave little oily stains on the blacktop from the pure nutrition mother nature is providing, sadly so much is concrete and pavement, the seeds have no chance to plant in the earth......I collect the loose abandoned nuts and have picked up about 20 cones to strip soon.....what to do with all these free foraged pine nuts?
While we seem to live in paradise, with beautiful vistas all around us, I sometimes seem to be blind to the forest for the trees, we survived the Angora Fire and still shudder when we smell smoke.....brings the memories rushing back of the evacuation the first time voluntarily and the 2nd time while we were in Reno, 2 hours away at an appointment......I despise heights, especially precipice type forest roads on which my husband likes to drive i think just to hear me scream, but the views were incredible this weekend, seeing both the beauty and the wrath of nature from one spot on the forest service lookout road
We had snow in early august, not inches of depth but enough to make you know it was snow, then the reoccurring heat wave from hell, no air conditioning or insulation makes this house an oven, the cold is easier to deal with, we have a forced gas heater as well as a gas burning pellet stove and gas oven.....anyway it got hot and humid about last week and I had a HUGE amount of fresh farm stand produce that was not getting eaten fast enough and led to the lovely addition of fruit fly annoying insect things into our mix of enough spiders and mites to start a mite farm........sooooo my cooking was diminished by heat and disgust, we ate lots of fruits and vegis raw and in salads and sandwiches, but gourmet faire it was NOT and everytime I cut into something I would curse at the flying bombers attempting to beat me to my prize......no fun
I think the flies are on the wane and the rain finally came sunday morning, whether caused by chem trails or mother nature I am just glad to have the humidity decreased......in this same week we have had many extending family medical stress, pending results causing more stress than good, by tuesday we should know the path of treatments for the multiple family members in the care of specialists, so knowing will lesten the stress but I suspect some of this underlying waiting stress has helped the three year old discover new boundaries to push.........and saturday was a true brat fest and refuse to use the potty day, after 3 good potty days......just makes me scream louder NO, stop, please do not do that.........and more than one night of the 3 year old rolling and tossing so much in his sleep that he fell out of bed more than 3 times in 2 days.......literally moving and crying most nights, growing pains, nightmares.....all just more than normal!
I have had my escapist moments into books and I watched some movie on Lifetime just to escape, somehow I neglect to acknowledge how truly lucky I am, to be able to be present in my son's growth, the mistress of laundry that never ends, the dishes that call my name only, this week ends with me on the high of a julia child story, some peaches to replenish my peach cucumber fest, blue skies revealing a lovely sunset and hopes of restful sleep for all!
I love our local south lake tahoe farmer's market, as I have mentioned in previous posts...and older posts....out of town farm stands..as a matter of fact I started my blog with a farmer's market love.....it makes me happy......my favorite farmer had beets this week, the sweetest most perfect small beets with perfectly sweet tops.......biodynamic farming....I am thrilled with the grapes being available again, pesticide free and a toddler favorite from the booth that sells organic raisins, nuts, peaches and tomatoes....I have been buying his tomatoes since the first week of this year's market, he has had greenhouse grown tomatoes since MAY....yummy and perfect both raw or cooked in tomato goodness!
I was happy to get some onions, eggplant and peppers from the market and made ratatouille this week twice! I also bought a crusty loaf of bread and drooled at the pot pies and pastries!
Great photo pool of tots @ the farmer's market, and a giveaway here http://foodietots.com/2009/07/31/foodie-tots-love-farmers-markets/
I think part of the reason I loved the book Farm City was that Novella Carpenter's passion is evident .......in every word you read you can hear her breathing with passion the air of the east bay and today when the happy coincidence of hearing that she was being interviewed on KQED made me find the link and listen to the streaming audio on the laptop while I processed 3 bunches of beets and watched the toddler while doing 2 loads of laundry...it was a GREAT interview, her diction and cadence perfectly beautiful in words and passion, the passion I have for eating yummy food and photographing it all needs to hear that my small world which collided with Flickr and the inspiration that is TheseDaysinFrenchLife led me to read the book written by the sister of Garlic Breath and that is a good thing!
I felt fine yesterday, bright, energy laden, and then today a dead battery....just no energy, somehow when hubby got sick I seem to have gotten it back......I love this photo with the playing munchkin and the shadows and bright sun...taken in emeryville at the city hall....yesterday this 3 year old and I dug up part of the front yard.....where nothing ever grows, not even weeds or clover......i dug some of the most concrete like earth i have ever seen.......we pulled up tree roots and then mixed a whole 20 pound bag of soil ammendment into the remaining broken up dirt.....we watered it heavily, stomped in the mud, made sure the dirt was draining and holding water rather than acting like concrete and just sheeting it off.....then we planted marigolds and sunflower seeds.......no photos, just 2 messy and sweaty gardeners that came back in the house for showers........now, today, I marvel that i did it, since my energy has vanished I just fear i have the cold again.........here is hoping the light returns and i am back to myself soon!
I came home from the bay area, with the slightest bit of sore throat, I thought from reading aloud to the family the whole book, FARM CITY.....but in reality it was the beginning of some cold.
What a glorious saturday we had, canoeing at kiva beach on the shores of lake tahoe with our free within 4 miles from home commute, just easy parking, early enough to literally park right
next to the trail to the 
shore......yes we got a bit sunburned and tired but it makes the living in a tourist resort seem understandable, there is a reason tons of people flock here for their vacations, there is a reason most summers we are at fallen leaf lake mid week after work, to avoid the crowds and still appreciate all the natural beauty we live in the midst of
This is the boy at the center of his universe, he actually thought the 120 other kids at the south lake tahoe library on this friday were there to see him, when in reality all were there to see the Bubble Lady and celebrate summer reading with free ice cream on this hot afternoon!
"look at me gene" one would expect from professional performers and he did have those adults around us cracking up with his acting....but alas we had to leave early he would not stop distracting other kids!
The house smells odd, the dishes need to be done, but somehow I find the bottled cucumbers etherial and pretty......the branston is yet to be bottled still cooking.....all have to sit for 1-4 weeks before they are perfectly edible but I will be impatient I am sure!
I went to our local fabulous south lake tahoe, california tuesday installment (on hwy 50), then the following day went to the carson city, nevada pony express pavillion offering at mills park (on hwy 50) and then sunday had me pushing the family to placerville, california for the founders day celebration and wagon train arrival/parade and we made it and parked and were able to attend the placerville downtown weekly offering saturday morning (on main street that backs up to hwy 50)......what a great week for me! I got some great eggs at two of the markets and peaches at all 3, I have to say the corn from carson city was not great, and the onions from south lake were super HOT......The fabulous vegetables have been great in everything and we are eating a tomato or two a day, they are just the best, how they make the horrid grocery store tomatoes seem like a whole different item, like comparing a cup of coffee to water, the flavors and scents are that different!
suddenly snap and start emitting dragon like fumes and just feel like I am going to explode over small trifles......of course does not help to have hormones that seem to pour kerosene on my fire.....so today I baked these items, made fab food from the farmer's markets into meals.....yes i mucked up a bit and burnt some oatmeal and toasting nuts enough to make the house stink!
I hate throwing away food, but the burnt nuts were never going to enhance the bread.....so i 
made the bread without the nuts,
plenty crunchy
as is!!!!!!
The Farmers Market was FABULOUS today
I am proud of this capture, the floating fairies of dandelion puff seem to linger and dance in the shadows of the trees in our backyard on a sunny sunday morning
This weeks It all Begins with a color challenge • Contrast •
Making this for dinner, just sounds good to me on this dreary day where I wish I was in bed watching chick flicks eating popcorn, drinking citrus smoothies ... hey I might just make some popcorn and take a nap while this cooks the next 2 hours!
confit byaldi recipe by thomas keller
I am making blueberry sour cream muffins from coconut&lime recipe is here http://coconutlime.blogspot.com/2004/07/blueberry-sour-cream-muffins.html
in hopes of winning a vita mix.....plus I had some blueberries heading south, so the dough is a bit thick, like a bread dough, but I read the comments and everyone said they turned out fine.....I of course had to alter the recipe a bit, I added lemon zest and crushed dried mint leaves to the butter as it melted and a whopping tablespoon of ginger juice from the ginger people, something about blueberries and lemon, and then lemon l
oves ginger i think! I also sprinkled vanilla sugar on the tops of the muffins before baking, since the sugar with the vanilla pod in it gets clumpy, it is the perfect way to disperse the grains by crumbling them over the tops of the muffins!
the recipe is easy, just a few more bowls than I would like to clean, but I am in a bad mood There was an abundance of dough it seemed too much for the 12 normal sized muffins, but I decided to fill them evenly, which meant FULL not 3/4 full, hoping that with the density of the batter they would not run all over and muck up the oven, they pretty much stayed in the tin, just some blueberry juice of bursting berries oozed a bit, but thankfully no mega cleaning on the oven is needed!
They are cakelike and moist and not overly sweet.....i bet hubby will love them! I had one with a pat of butter to taste test.....gotta go have another!
