The Bella Sinclair, Golden Heart, Mermaid, and Valued Follower Awards

Thank you so much Silke at Metamorphosis for honoring me with the Bella Sinclair Award. If you have not met Silke yet, she is a sweet, generous, talented mixed media artist who lives in beautiful Savannah, Georgia.

The Bella Sinclair Award was just recently created by the incredible Ces at Ces and Her Dishes, to honor her friend and artist, Bella Sinclair, who recently suffered the tragic, unexpected and untimely death of her husband.

As Ces wrote: “I designed this award to celebrate art in the blogs and to honor the value of friendship, sisterhood, sharing and caring. It is to be awarded to the gifted, accomplished, eloquent and talented blogger whose friendship and influence inspire us to do our best. That I named it after Bella Sinclair is because she epitomizes all of these things. She is an inspiration to many of us.”

I am incredibly honored to give this beautiful award "celebrating art, inspiration, friendship, sisterhood, sharing and caring" to:

Angela at Letters from Usedom

Delwyn at a hazy moon

Jan at awake is good

Jackie at Teacher's Pet

Janet at Just Me and My Art

Lola at aglio, olio & peperoncino

Margaret at MargaretPANPipes

Natalie at Musings from the Deep

Rosaria at sixty-five what now

The Mermaid Award was given to me recently by Lola at aglio, olio & peperoncino. Lola is incredibly talented and insightful, a world traveler who works in the film industry and writes her fascinating blog from Rome, Italy.

I am delighted to give the Mermaid Award for “alluring, amusing, bewitching, impressive & inspiring blogs” to:

Beate at Beate Knappe mixed media art (this is the first blog I ever read!)

Sallymandy at the blue kimono

Silke at Metamorphosis

Katelen at The Poetic Artist

Sophia at where there are no chickadees

The Golden Heart Award was given to me recently by the wonderful Delwyn at a hazy moon. Her blog about her life in Australia is filled with stunning photography, poetry and art.

I am so pleased to give the Golden Heart Award, for “caring, creative souls” to:

Annette at A Wisp of Creativity

Diantha at Living Your Potential

Michele at Artistic Buffet

Renee at Circling My Head

And last, but definitely not least, I was happy to recently receive the Valued Follower Award from the insightful Sallymandy at the blue kimono. Her blog is filled with wisdom, art and scenes from her beautiful native state of Montana.

I give this award to all of you who visit my blogs (including A note from your Mother) on a regular basis. You know who you are, and I am so honored that you take the time to stop by. I consider each and every one of you my dear Blogland friends, and I treasure you all!


Please be sure to visit each of these wonderful, wonderful blogs, if you have not already done so. They are a feast for the eyes, mind and spirit!

Layers of history

I recently was driving down a busy suburban road, when I spotted a sign I had never seen before tucked along the side of the road. Revolutionary War Veteran? In Wisconsin? Wisconsin didn't become a state until 1848.

I had to find a place to turn the car around to see what that was all about.

There, in the middle of suburban sprawl, tucked among some large trees, was a little cemetery from long ago. I love such places. I love the trees, the old monuments, the history. These final resting places capture my imagination. Each person represented here had his or her own history of hopes, dreams, disappointments. A lifetime of days or many, many years.

But I never knew before that here, in Brookfield, Wisconsin, was the final resting place of a Revolutionary War veteran. Nathan Hatch, born in Massachusetts in 1757, died in 1847, he moved to Wisconsin in the 1840s. What a life he must have had!

Wisconsin isn't usually thought of when we learned about the Civil War, but we have our share of veterans from that war buried here, as well as someone who fought in the War of 1812.

I had no idea. I wonder how many people flying by in their vans and SUVs notice this little gem of history.

It really is a lovely peaceful place, hidden in plain view right in the middle of the hustle and bustle of modern life. And, unusual for these times, there really are oaks in Oak Hill Cemetery. Beautiful, tall oaks, providing cooling shade the day I stopped to walk among the markers.

Here's another interesting bit of information about Brookfield, Wisconsin. Did you know that Caroline Ingalls, the mother of author Laura Ingalls Wilder (LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE), was born in Brookfield in 1839? There is even a book about the years she spent in Brookfield, called LITTLE HOUSE IN BROOKFIELD.

Here is a picture of the real Charles and Caroline Ingalls, the parents of Laura Ingalls Wilder.

They don't exactly look like the Ma and Pa Ingalls we know from the television series, do they?

I really enjoy finding the layers of history hidden in the most unlikely places, don't you?

Thanks to all my wonderful Blogland friends who commented on my last posts, I do so enjoy hearing from you and reading your kind comments! And to all my American friends - I hope you have a safe, happy 4th of July weekend!

12 Hours There and 12 Hours Back!

And we're off. At the crack of noon! The plan is to make it to Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, two hours south of the Mid Ohio race course.
THIS is for Liz Gunby of JumbleSaleRabbits blogspot in Scotland. She loves VW vans. Joe was speeding by and I was saying, "OH, oh! Where's the camera!" This is the portion I got. The back was equally perfect! Vanagon!
Arriving in Cincinnati and passing over the Ohio River, the border between Ohio and Kentucky.
Are we there yet? We made it to the airbase, had a good night's sleep, then headed to the racetrack the next morning. Andrew was already there with the VW TDI Cup race team.
This is JOe and Drew looking over track diagrams and having lunch in the fabulous huge VW tent which included catering and classroom for drivers and flats screens everywhere. They had waffles with VW on them for breakfast.
A Pirelli poster using Andrew in his car, #32! "Pirelli grips like no other."
Prerace! All the fresh faced and scrubbed TDI Cup drivers doing the celeb thing and signing autographs. That's Andrew signing for a fan.
Andrew (not him in this pic) was also here to work with APR motorsports. He crewed for them in between the VW stuff. He was dead on his feet by the time Sunday night rolled around. This is Erin in black with the little red apron. She makes sure APR drivers and crew are well fed and cared for. APR is known for it's hospitality. I think the drivers want to be on the team just for the food!

Joe took this of me and Andrew just before the race. I stole those pants off of a Revolutionary War soldier. What was I thinking! Blahhh.
Andrew suiting up. It's really buzzing in the VW tech tent. Camera crews for the documentary, race fans and family. Are you bored yet. Yeah, I know. This is an art blog, but I'll get to that.
The picture below is of Andrew careening back onto the track after bouncing off into the grass in this WICKED curve. A lot of drivers lost it on this curve, one smashing into the wall. CRAZY! I love this picture of the blonde lady. Look at her reaction.
The BIG picture after that is of Andrew's car making this same turn after rear ending a car in front of him. Imagine a lot of loud car noise here!

Alrighty then. Are you still here? Now we're back at APR where Erin and her assistant Hippy Mark have done their magic once again. Andrew has lost the VW race and has now switched his hat from TDI Cup to APR Motorsports.
These are two of the APR drivers, Mike Sweeney and Dion Von Molke suiting up for the the Koni Challenge race. Chow down boys, the race is coming up! Learn more about APR (Audi Porsche Racing) here www.goapr.com/race/
The race was near the end when I took this picture. The two APR cars are in first and second place! It was a wild race. Our friend Randy Pobst was right behind them racing for another team. This is torture for me to watch. Three laps from the end APR front runner, Ian Bass (the afore mentioned Erin's son) loses power on his car. Randy takes it to second place!
Woo hoo! I love racing. It's not over til it's over!
Here they are on the podium. APR guys in red and Randy (with his hand up) in black. All great guys.
This is the rowdy APR team after their win. They are truly a family. That's Andrew in blue. They couldn't peel the TDI cup driver suit off of him! He's having the time of his life.
Meanwhile, the race is over and we're on the road for home. This is where we stayed the first night.
JUST Kidding! That's a bomb shelter behind the Commanding Officer's house, Quarters One, at the Air Force Base. We stayed another night at this beautiful historic base. The Wright brothers made their first flight including a flight and "turn" here. Interested in more about this, including historic photos, follow this link:
http://www.strategic-air-command.com/bases/Wright-Patterson_AFB.htm
On the road again. Rocky Tennessee here. About now you're wondering,"What about the longest yard sale, Ronnie?" Well, it was too far off the beaten track for this trip, but we did stop at the Kentucky Artisan Center in Berea, Kentucky. So, here's the ART PART! Finally....
Once they were gourds! This rooster was about 4 feet tall!
Extraordinary woodwork. $800 plus for the rocker. Click the pic for a close look at the old bearded men carved on the back. Beautiful work.
Felted hats and bags. This art center is located in a thriving artist community. I MUST return!
The whole downtown is art galleries and working studios and a college. Check out this link to learn more.... Beria, Kentucky
Beautiful wooden hats and bowls.
The end! An Amish couple returning from church on a Sunday morning. I'm glad to be home.
Have a great week, friends.
Love and all good things,
Ronnie