Wonderful ideas, everybody! I finally purchased an old wooden door for $15. The bottom half is 3 rows of 3 panes of glass, and the top is empty/open (used to be paned, as well). I'm making it into a garden gate to go under an arbor. I'll post more details later, as the project progresses. Theresa, some other places near Waldo to visit are the Blue Star Nursery in Hawthorne (352-481-3300), south of Waldo on 301, and the Breezy Oaks Nursery (352-481-3795) outside of Hawthorne, a couple miles east of the intersection of 301 and Hwy 20, on Hwy 20. Both are lovely nurseries, but very different. Also near Waldo is the Herb Garden nursery in Melrose on Hwy 26, but I'm not sure what their hours are. You can call them at (352) 475-5475. There is also the Greathouse Butterfly Farm on Hwy 26, between Melrose and Orange Heights. http://www.greathousebutterflyfarm.com/contact.htm Another wonderful place to visit in the area is Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' old home place, which is now a state park on Orange Lake in Cross Creek. http://abfla.com/parks/MarjorieKinnanRawlings/marjoriekinnanrawlings.html The restaurant The Yearling in Cross Creek is absolutely stellar ( http://www.florida-secrets.com/Restaurants/ENW/Yearling.htm ), as is the Blue Water Bay Restaurant in Melrose ( http://thebluewaterbay.com/ ), where they grow their own herbs! The Friday night seafood buffet is just unbelievable. I am a very picky restuarant goer (because it is rare I find a place that can cook better than I do), and I am telling you, I've had company from Seattle and Chicago who were very impressed with the cuisine at both these places. All these places are in east Alachua County or just over the county line in Putnam County. You wouldn't even have to go through Gainesville. If you wanted to make a weekend of it, you could find a bed and breakfast in Micanopy http://www.lanierbb.com/inns/bb7562.html or Melrose http://bed.florida-2.us/profile/FL/Melrose/4746 . Micanopy is famous for its antique shops, but I find it pricey. Quaint little town, though. Oh yeah, Crone's Cradle Conserve is in Citra, just south of Alachua County and Cross Creek, in Marion County http://www.cronescradleconserve.com/ If you wanted to make a weekend of it, and also go into G-ville, there is the Kanapaha Gardens there http://www.kanapaha.org/, and to the west, in Newberry, is Dudley Farm State Park http://www.floridastateparks.org/dudleyfarm/default.cfm , which I HIGHLY recommend! Also, a very nice B&B in G-ville, the Sweetwater Branch Inn http://www.sweetwaterinn.com/inn.html, where I used to have the most delicious lunches, until they quit opening to the public. Have fun! (If you were to check out everything I've suggested, you'd need 3-5 days, at least!) It's a lovely area of Florida. I don't know what your internet search skills are, and don't mean to be condescending, but if you go to yellowpages.com, you can get addresses for all these places, and then go to mapquest.com and put in those addresses and get the mileage between them. Hope this isn't too off-topic for everyone, but also hope if anyone is ever planning a trip to Florida, it will enrich your experience.

First off, you have a really choice frame. This site has a similar example described as easel frame with gilded finish and SB monogram on the back. Maybe you could send them your pic and ask for more info. Keep us posted. Here is a link that might be useful: Ruby Lane Frame

This is a most riveting subject, and a most interesting thread. I think there is a little bit of truth in many of the posts so far and I've changed my mind on this one at least five times. The actual print inside the frame gave me the impression of a photograph because of the fine white line like old photos get when they are damaged. That being said, one can take a photo of a drawing and parts of this picture are without a doubt hand rendered including the background and that could very well be a studio backdrop. My impression at this point is that this is likely a studio portrait and that it is in essence a composite with the facial features being the true rendering off a negative and the rest a lot of touch up and very poorly executed outright embellishment. If you'd like to see an example of a turn of the century hand painted studio backdrop, I can show you a large portrait of my great-grandfather and his brother sitting in a real chair, but with a very fake staircase behind them. LOL It was not an unusual practise, clear on up to the forties and fifties for some photographers to take portraits in black and white and hand tint and retouch them in the dark room. It wasn't because of the cameras not being able to, but the studios having the equipment to develop them. So seeing 'sketch marks' doesn't prove anything but the skill of the craftsman who took and developed the portrait because you're just as likely to see the editing on a real photograph as not. I have a portrait of my g'grandmother I'm inserting here because judging by her age it would have been taken about 1918-20. It has been hand tinted, and if you look at her blouse, it has obviously been hand retouched for detail and the bottom darkened out to extend the photo as much as possible to the paper to fill it. I think this is what happened to the boy's dress......it was probably enhanced by hand and the chair by imagination and lack of artistic ability. Even poor people scrounged up the money for portraits in the old days, God knows my ancestors weren't rich people and we have them to pass along. But they certainly were special enough not to be done on a whim. One portrait my g'parents had taken in the twenties was of my little aunt who was expected to die at birth, but lived until two years. So, they coughed up the money, even with ten kids, to have a portrait taken of her. I'm no expert and I'm not pretending to be but before I'd blow this one off as a fake, I'd have it checked out. Regardless of how it pans out, and even if it turns out to be a Cracker Barrel nostalgia shot..........it's a Jim Dandy and worth hanging on a wall just to see the mug on that kid.

A home is a collection of rooms, like an outfit. You just told us you want a cute pair of shoes, but didn't tell us what the outfit looks like. Is this the first room that you are decorating and plan on doing other rooms after this is done? If this is the beginning of your journey there are still fixed elements that can't be changed - kind of like your complexion, hair color, eye color when choosing an outfit. What we pick has to work with the flooring, kitchen countertops, bathroom vanities, wood trim. We also have to consider the overall style of the home to pick décor that fits, same as we would need to understand your body shape to pick an outfit that will look good on you. Knowing your favorite colors is important for either choosing a cute outfit or décor for your home. If I love blue and you hate blue, you may not like the décor I choose. If you love lace and pearls and I like leather and chrome you may not like the décor I choose. Can you help us help you and tell us more about your home, your preferred styles and your favorite colors?