Quote of the Day....

"Remember,there are two ways to spread happiness,either be the light who shines it, or the mirror that reflects it; every moment counts."

As quoted by my father, Pete Duke, the wisest man I know. I love you, Dad!

Fancy Girl!

I recently had to spring for a light turn out sheet for Dancer-all I had in my possession was a heavy blanket which would have had the poor girl dying of the heat;(with the way the weather has been yo-yo-ing this time of year.)

Quite the fashionista, don't you think?

A Brief Photo Essay of a Recent Drive Thru Gettysburg

We drove thru Wright Avenue to Devil's Den and I felt compelled to take a few shots of the beautiful spring palette of colors....

The landscape makes me want to pick up a paintbrush and start painting...

I can't help but feel so honored to live so close to the park and be able to enjoy it's beauty everyday.My favorite monument on the battlefield. The 69th New York used the Irish Wolfhound as the regimental mascot. (The wolfhound is depicted on the regiment's coat of arms.) Two Irish wolfhounds were adopted by the unit and were clad in green coats bearing the number "69" in gold letters. They would parade immediately to the rear of the Regimental Color Guard.
My favorite tree-Sickle's Witness Tree.

Captain Bigelow of the 9th Massachusetts Battery described the scene in July over a hundred years ago: “A spirited military spectacle lay before us; General Sickles was standing beneath a tree close by, staff officers and orderlies coming and going in all directions…” Bigelow continued “…at the famous ‘Peach Orchard’ angle on rising ground along the Emmetsburg Road, about 500 yards in our front, white smoke was curling up from… the deep-toned booming of [Union] guns…while the enemy’s shells were flying over or breaking around us.” Charles W. Reed later wrote: “at the foot of the hill…were Maj. Gen Sickels headquarters under a tree. we halted…a few minutes giveing [sic] me time to take a scetch [sic] of him. one of his Aids was already wounded by a piece of shell in the back and the surgeon was doing it up.” Confederate artillery shells flew toward the Trostle Farm. The 9th Massachusetts Battery retreated back to this location. As they were preparing to pull out, they were ordered to stay and sacrifice themselves so that a new line could be formed behind them on Cemetery Ridge. The 9th Massachusetts (Bigelow’s) Battery fired from left to right against Confederates attacking from the high ground near the Emmitsburg Road. The Confederates shot the horses on purpose so that they couldn’t pull the cannon back to Cemetery Ridge. The Confederates did finally capture Bigelow’s Battery. Bigelow’s guns were later recovered in a countercharge by Union infantry.

What I'm Reading This Week

As my parents used to tell me when I would attempt to help myself to more at the dinner table than they knew I was capable of finishing, "Your eyes are bigger than your belly." I have this bad habit with books. Why do I even think I can finish all these in the allotted three week time they allow for checking out stuff? Oh beautiful, wonderful books-there is nothing, absolutely nothing that can replace them, is there?

Before and After

I have a terrible weakness for chairs.

When I saw this one sitting forlornly at the curb one day, I couldn't resist driving back with the van to rescue it. Rick of course silently rolled his eyes heavenward. He tries to be a good sport about my endeavors-I knew I married him for a reason!

A trip to Walmart, some pretty $2.00/yard fabric, a little bit of paint and voila! Instant chic. (I won't tell you about my original intention of trying to paint it first-I mean all; upholstery and everything!) Here was my inspiration. Trust me, it didn't turn out like that, lol. You know it's not working when your kids and husband can't even look you in the eye when they say, "Sure, it looks good, mommy-we've never really seen a painted chair like that, but you did a nice job." I knew at that point the chair was in desperate need of some 911!

Work, Cars, and Viruses, Oh My!

Whew! Spring has been busy! I thank you for your patience while I deal with little things like work, kids, and all those pressing issues inbetween that require immediate attention such as automobile transmissions, pesky viruses, dogs,horses and more work. Add to that a trip to Texas next month to help my mom with a HUGE SHOW she has been invited to be a guest speaker at, and well, I have pretty much summed up the story of my life in the past few weeks. I hope to share lots with you very soon, I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

How I Spent Sunday

I had the pleasure of spending one of the most lovely days I've had in a long time with one of my best friends in the world along with her family and friends. She is in the band Fynesound. In honor of some dear guests they had visiting from bonnie Scotland, they had a fabulous informal jam session. There was also a piper who I delightfully stumbled upon practiced outside by barn-(being a first generation American with a Scottish mum, you know I just had to call both her and grandmother on my cell phone to share in listening to a few tunes!