WOWSER!! Kirk, that is an absolute GORGEOUS chair!!! And I loved reading your story of how it came about! Is your family holding any of your next holidays for ransom in return for interest on payments???LOL!! And what a neat point that your grandma got it in the dump!! Yes, history is repeating itself!! Kinda scary, maybe you should do more research on grandma and see what you'll be doing next!??LOL!! I love the picture, haven't seen anything like that in a long time, thanks for showing and reminding us. I love the rustic quality of it. And she won a ribbon for it, how cool is that!!?? And tell Ms. Carol that I love, love, love her moosey. My house is alot of cabin and lodge stuff,(we'll hafta compare bears sometimes!) and I was really admiring her work. She done a fantastic job on it! Does she have anymore work like that? I'd love to see her other handiwork, too. I'm very impressed!!! Enjoy your new old rocker, it's the bomb!!! blessings-sherri

Definitely Yard Art !!! All of it! And it's yard art of the VERY best kind since there is a story to go with all of it. I LOVE IT! May others please join with in pictures of their yard art. I did a little yard arting this morning. We collected a number of cypress knees when on vacation to Florda many, many years ago. We made a glass topped coffee table and lamps from them which have long been dismantled, but I kept them. Just a few minutes ago I lined them up on the top of the lattice frame that borders the deck. Looks kind of silly, but oh well; nobody will ever up there anyway ... LOL ... but I finally did something with them after all these years and they do hold happy memories. So what's your bit to offer in the yard art category?

Thanks for all the kind and encouraging comments, I really appreciate it! When I do something more in the future that is 'presentable' I'll post again. Newhomebuilder, how awful for you to have lost your MIL's work in a fire! I sometimes wonder about that sort of scenario. The scientific illustrations were for things like technical papers in scholarly journals, a reference text, a couple magazines, and one in Encarta. It was all very exacting work, much different than the painting I posted above, for instance. For some projects I needed to use a dissecting scope just to see the subject. I worked with a scope over the span of about a year and my eyes seemed to be more susceptible to strain after all that. jakabedy, good for your husband! It takes a while for the ol' brain to locate those neurons again, but they're still there! They say that you have to keep challenging yourself as you age; use it or lose it, right! lynn melb, one of my first college art classes had a lot of women who had taken up art later in life and they were very motivated, worked very hard, and did some very nice work. Do post some of yours sometime.

I have thoroughly enjoyed browsing all the photos and reading the stories of your collections here. Such beautiful pieces and wonderful, touching stories. To see most of mine, you'd think my home was full of antiques, which is far from the real deal, but these seem to be most of my most interesting non-art things. However, some of you have given me some ideas for things I could do in the future with things I have stored! This is a small collection of silver vases, albeit in need of some polish right now. My collection of miniature tea sets. This started with my aunt giving me her much-used Mickey Mouse set she had used back in the 30's as a child and a then-new set when I was about 8-years old (the blue and white delft set). The rest is a mix of old and new I picked up along the way as an adult. I also have a lot of old hankies that belonged to my grandmother and great-grandmother, and yes I use them at weddings and funerals. They made some of them, including the tatting on the edges. Gallery hallway of family photos (old and new) To honor our home states (Alabama and Ohio) I started looking for old maps of our states and regions. This is one of Alabama and of the Eastern US in our breakfast room. The next one is an Agricultural map of Ohio. I think I've posted enough. Thanks for viewing. BTW, those clocks are awesome! And I adore that mirror, and I can't say enough about that belly cast!