Thank you for asking awm03, it was in Boston, Ma. in the early thirties. It was only a 15 minute show and it was my Mom and her three brothers. She was the soloist and they sang back up and played instruments. They were called "Three Jacks and a Queen" and yes, they got tons of request by their fans. We have them all in storage, God knows why lol. They mainly sang country and pop. She had an amazing voice in the style of Patsy Cline. Low and rich. Many scouts offered her jobs to go on the road with the 'BIG" bands but she was happiest near her family and they only wanted her and not her brothers. When she married, the station WHDH let her go as they didn't keep married women on their staff. Can you imagine? Up until 1960, when a teacher got married she couldn't work, that was in Ma. Times sure have changed. At this time of year my Mom would have been singing the masses at church. It was thrilling to hear her and, even when she got Alzheimers she still sang with abandon and was well loved by all around her. Singing was huge in our family. On Friday night the new song sheet would come out for five cents and one of us would go and get it and we'd learn all the words and sing in harmony while washing and drying dishes etc. I miss that part of family life. It seems families don't do much of these things any more.

Yes sure Ellendi, when on a tour, the tour guides keep you on the left side of the Rialto bridge all of the time. Go off on your own and go over to the other side of the bridge which was where the Jews were banished as they got more successful. It's fascinating. The food was fabulous, jewelry and all gifts were better priced and the people in general were more than gracious. We bought all our take home items there. There is a very beautiful temple with a great historical story. My niece told me about so I tried it and tell everyone. Venice is full of upper crust people on the left side looking at the Rialto bridge but the other side, wow. We loved it.

jemdandy, thank you for your suggestions and your kind words. I do sell my jewelry as well as give it away, donate it to charity, keep it for my personal collection and store it in inventory when I can't get rid of it. Point well taken about obtaining signed agreements when using others artwork and you are right. It's the prudent thing to do. I guess I just had in mind that here at the KT less formal arrangements could be made - kind of like the old fashioned handshake of years past. Maybe I'll leave it at this for the moment: those of you who are willing to give me permission to use your photos and would also like a more formal use agreement, please message me privately so we can work that out. And, those of you who don't care about a use agreement can just give their permission in this thread. Not a perfect arrangement legally, but I'm willing to risk it as I am just a small time jewelry maker looking for inspiration for future designs/paintings. Arrangement or not, I would give credit to the photographer for any work that I did use. I will never use the work of another person without their permission first. Some of you may remember Dave. He took a lot of nature pictures and used to post them here. Many years ago (when I was still lurking), I asked him if I could use his photos and he gave me his blessings. We did not have a formal agreement, but I still have the email he sent granting permission and I suppose if his estate came after me, I could use it to defend myself. Maybe it's naive on my part, but I miss those kinder gentler times when people didn't have to worry about and protect themselves from being sued at every turn. I suppose my hope is to be able to make a simple arrangement here that doesn't have to involve a team of attorneys. As far as custom work; yes I have done quite a bit of it. Mostly pet portraits. Thank you, sabbath! I'm so glad you were able to see the photos! Some of that older technology can be cranky at times. rob, thank you for posting the Peter Pan photo. It is a wonderful photo. I love the composition and the lighting and the subject! Casey is a very talented photographer and I look forward to seeing her photos each morning.

Thank you so much for the new comments and ideas. DM actually came to me to apologize. She just didn't want me taking on additional effort because of her. I know she meant well and of course I feel badly for having been frustrated. But we worked it out. She is saving all dirty bathrooms for me!! We had a good laugh. DM is very private and it's hard to have a meaningful conversation with her. This has been a reminder to me to work a little harder to find different approaches of communication with her. Linelle, 4Katz and sheilaaus122: thank you for your kind words. Anglophilia: I am so sorry for the difficulties you are going through with your daughter. I hope you can find a communication approach to help you work things out. Deeinohio, Mrs. S and DGS2015: I appreciate the cleaning ideas and will try them out to see which one(s) work for us. Nannygoat18 and Yayagal: Ultimately, we don't want to upset relatives who are approaching end of life. I need to remember to try to understand the motivation behind the words and not react to the words themselves. I suppose being a mother is more important to her identity than I realized. Whew! This has been so cathartic. Thank you each for your kind and thoughtful comments, ideas and support. I feel so much better. And I have new tools in my tool chest - for cleaning and for communication!