Here are some pictures of the gourds at the gourd festival and the class. I'll show you the ugly one first (mine).... The gourd I picked had an opening that was slanted. I wanted it to look like a cracked egg with little lizards crawling out (ok, I'm a little macabre!). The lizard pattern was from a Native American kit. I would like to paint the lizards a couple of shades of green and then stain the rest of the gourd so it looks natural. Here are some of the instructor's sample gourds: For this one, she used a doilie to create the pattern. It was my favorite. This is another simple but pretty one she did. Here is one with similar Native American designs to the one I did. Now here were some awesome sculpted gourds for sale at the festival. I was afraid to even look at the price!

Hi All, It was snowing on my way home from work today: ( Spring really in at a stand still. I think we are going to jump straight into summer, lol. Laura, I had to work on Easter. I kept joking that we were scheduled to work because management decided we were the heathens. I did have a nice Good Friday though. I went to the Broadway Market with my sister-in-law and her kids. It is an old Polish tradition to go there for foods like homemade candy and baked goods, see the easter bunny, buy Polish pottery and so on. It was packed as it always is pre-Easter. It is is a strange place because the whole neighborhood is now a ghetto, but the Broadway Market is still there. I could hardly carry out all the stuff I bought! I did buy two pretty Easter planters for my relatives that were in the hospital and I stopped to see them on the way home. Maryanne, I sure hope your testing went good. I've never had to do that for a job. Though this one I did have to do a drug test. Beth, Glad to hear most of the flowers survived. The winter aconites you sent me are still blooming! They are very cheery looking. They multiply don't they? Susan, I'm glad you are getting your family into shape. I know how it is. I'm afraid to leave Gary home alone for more than 2 days, lol. I'm sure hoping your brother will be ok. My cousin had to have her brain operated on for tumors about 2 years ago now, and she is doing good, so it is possible : ) Susann, I've not bought from them. I have bought from Forest Farm for odd items, so I can recommend them for that. They also have search by needs on their website. I'll put the link below. Nancy, So glad to hear you had a great time with your sisters! Sassy, That is so odd, living in a home with no street address! Well, I'm sure it is turning into a home irregardless : ) Susie, I hope you got your computer fixed. Please post when your weather takes a turn for the better. It will have to come here soon after that! If I missed anyone, you know I didn't mean it : ) Have a good night everyone, Remy

Purplemoon, I'm not sure which your talking about, the original watercolor, Or the print I have. I'm going to say it's the print. Here is a Appaloosa, I thought it looked like the horse in the painting. Both could be seen as a paint or a appy but really with the print at least Appaloosa's and paints where not even around at the time it was painted. I have no idea with the other one the artist did not speak english :) Appaloosa's did not become a breed until 1938 and I know paints much later as they are just crop outs of QH, and become a breed in the 60's? Appaloosa's don't want horses colored like paints or pinto's and kick them out of the club if one comes up so before they started doing that I'm sure lots where colored like theses guys a pintaloosa. The print was a painting done in the 17th century, back when there was spotted Lipizzaner horse's the name is "Portrait of a Royal Stallion" and it is doing a levade very common with the training of the Lipizzaner of that time. so if it is a spotted horse it's probably a spanish janet or spotted Lipizzaner, not a Appaloosa or a paint as they where not even around when the painting was done. Here is some spotted Lipizzaner's before they whet out of rage at the end of the 17th centruty, where the Indians got a hold of them and they become mustangs and wild horses as the white man wanted solid horses like the English rode not horses with spots or patches like the Indians had. some colored horses where shot on sight. It was funny as the print was a hot topic even on ebay they got E-mails with this very debate and kept changing the name of it! now they have it listed under a few names to keep the Appalossa lovers happy as well as the Pinto. I talked about this with a lady who writes horse books and she too thought it was a Spotted Lipizzaner/spanish Janent the stock in which the Appaloosa came from but not a Appaloosa. I don't think it's a Appaloosa but it's simpler for me to say as it's rare that some one would want to go into detail like this :) I'm not really into the cowboy and Indian art that you see most of the time with Appaloosa's I guess I should say I collect art that reflects the history of the Appaloosa before it was the Appaloosa maybe I should say spotted Lipizzaner/spanish Janent tiger horse art? I collect Tang horses also as I love the big head and body on little legs something I would never want in a real horse! Here are a few others I have and nope their not Appaloosas, as Appaloosas where not even a breed back then! Probably the only differance in Appaloosa's and paints is that the Appaloosa was breed selecivly by a tribe of Indians and the best ones where kept and the ones not good enough for breeding where tradeded away or gelded, while the pinto spainsh horses where just left to be mustangs and breed with what ever, when the "cowboys" chought them and trained them as cow poines they made a little bit of money on the weekends running 1/4 or a quarter mile on the mustangs, soon Tb's where brought over and breed with theses mustang cow ponies but of course all the colored horses where not used, but they did come up every now and then only to be shoved under a rug in shame, people got tired of losing money and nice horses just becuase of a white patch or too and made a place where coloered quarter horses could still have papers and be called paints in 1962 so all a paint is is a colored quater horse, While the Appaloosa's has more spainsh roots intact. but appaloosa's now are really the Mutt of the horse world!

Thank you so much ladies! I'm glad I reposted this Easter Tea Party too when you are all so kind with your compliments. Karen and Luvs and Yachter, you might remember when I first posted it as it was when Judith was "hosting" a Tea Party on this forum about 2 years ago. I recall even YOU, Karen did a little tea setting which was wonderful! That event was the reason I set up this fireside tea and then invited my mom over. Jeanne, you made a comment I hadn't thought of and that's how my mom DID have a part in helping me pick my wedding china and that did add an extra specialness to its use for our tea. Karen, love the vintage Easter card - Bring on the Bunnies! Thanks again ladies! DD