The time came today for us to say goodbye to the most wonderful dog a family could ever ask for.  Our Sophia Samantha passed over the Rainbow Bridge this morning, peacefully and with me holding her.  She had been with us for 16-3/4 years and every day was just a such a joy. 

We've been through a lot of changes in those years; kids growing up, losing family members, gaining new family members, graduations, breakups, more graduations, empty nesting, retirement, new jobs and more. 

Sophie has been such a great source of comfort and companionship for me especially; I can hardly think of enough words to describe how I feel.  Suffice to say the house will be lonely without her and my world will forever change.  I appreciate your continued support as I move forward, Sophie-less.

Here are just a few of my favorites from the hundreds of photos that I have of her.  

This would always bring me to tears, laughing so hard.
She'd eat that just like we did.

Yes, Sophie, that IS a frisbee on top of the Chimenea.  

My sweet and gentle doggie girl.

Frisbee collecting at it's best.  She'd stack them all herself,
then pick them all up together. :-)

 Job hunting: Part II

We used to say that working in an elementary school office isn't for the faint of heart, and it's definitely not, but this job hunting thing is truly kicking my butt!  
It's hard enough to find the right job industry fit, the right location, the right pay; and I'm not that picky but also, full  time doesn't always mean 40 hours, it's just under these days and that's likely because of the changes to health care.  
Is it me or have there been a lot of changes to the way things are done in the interview process; it's amazing how unprofessional people can be.  I know I can be a bit of a perfectionist and from the "old school" of business, so some of this stuff really bugs me, maybe more than most people, but come on..."you might want to sit in the green chair, it's probably the cleanest".  Um, really? 
Giving up is not an option so I'll keep sending out resumes and going on interviews when they come up and keeping a good attitude!  
Meanwhile back at the studio, I'm painting some new findings for earrings in some pretty new colors!  Hoping the weather holds out this weekend and I can get out for a photo shoot as well as some product photos for my destash shop.
What's everyone up to this weekend? 

Shameless  Shop Plug

Many of you know that I make and sell jewelry from my Maravillosa Jewelry shop on Etsy, but have you been to my photography shop?  Please stop by Thistleandthyme.etsy.com,  take a look and let me know what you like and what you'd like to see me add. 

I really enjoy doing small photo shoots at local venues, my last was at Heritage Village, here in Largo.  Lighting that day was sketchy but I managed a few interesting photos and I've ordered a few to be printed and should have them by early next week to start listing. 
I was also able to take a shot of this guy riding along Walsingham Rd. through the old wavy glass window of the church. I don't know his name or his game, tried to find him after I left the park but no luck; one day I'll find him and ask.  You just never know what you'll see out there! 
Next on the list, when it clears up a bit and my day allows, I'm going back to the Botanical gardens and to Sand Key.  Haven't been to either for a while and early mornings on the beach are just the best, not just for photography but for mind and soul.  That's probably needed right now more than my passion for photos!  Along with those two I also want to find new interesting natural areas, inspiring architecture, horses(!), I'd love to find a pasture of horses; all local if possible.  If you know of anything that would fit the bill please let me know.

Well, my journey continues tomorrow with another job interview, 9 a.m.  General office work; part time, but if this fits I may be able to get more hours to work up to full time. 
Two resumes went out over the weekend, hoping to get a phone call to come in for an interview for the other, but we'll see.  Both jobs are close to home, like within a couple of miles or minutes so that's a plus. 
I know, silly pics but I stress easily so they made me laugh.  Wish me luck!

As I said before, the internet has increased the availability of finding family records to a degree no one could have imagined.  Years ago I had no way of knowing all of the information that I know now about my family, about circumstances, about my personal history, and I'm forever thankful.
For years I struggled to find information on my great grandmother, on and off line.  My dad remembered his dad talking about her so fondly and the only photo I have of her is tin plate image (scanned and preserved) that was framed in my great aunt Hazel's house.  
From what grampa told me, she was a  ginger like me, which made my search even more personal.  I felt a mysterious connection to her that I couldn't explain but now that I've found her death certificate...yup, just the other day, I know I was meant to solve the mystery of how, when and where she passed away.  
Hopefully I can find someone in PA, near the cemetery, to take a photo of her grave marker and send it to me.  It would be the final piece of the puzzle and put Maggie to rest, at least in my heart and mind.
My journey doesn't end with finding Maggie though.  After years of research I have her family tree going back many many generations but my grandfather's paternal side seems to come to the proverbial brick wall each time I try a new avenue to explore.  It can be frustrating, infuriating even when this happens, but each time I make just a little progress I know I'll find the next piece!
Many of you know me and know that I don't give up easily, on anything!  I'll keep looking, researching and asking questions until I find something to tie them all together.  There are always new records to be uncovered, documented and uploaded from a variety of sites that I frequent.  It's not as easy as it looks on TV since I'm not a celebrity that the history channel will fly all over the world to find out who my ancestors were and find the unique stories that are uncovered through other people's hard work.  I'm simply one, spellbound, brown-eyed ginger seeking connections ever since I was handed mimeographed pages of family history from my mother's side when I was a teenager.  

Thank you to my great uncle's wife for bringing their family to life...my life!  I'm forever grateful!

Not many of my friends or followers may know that I'm an avid genealogist which is why it occurred to me to post about a recent find in both sides of my family history. 

Years ago, when my grandfather was alive and I still lived at home, I had a talk with him about family, my grandmother's family, and what he could remember of his mother in particular.  He had a tattoo on his forearm of initials; his and his dad's from what I can remember, I would imagine he did this in the Navy.  
The third registration for WW1 in 1918 was held on September 12, for men age 18 through 45. These men were born 1872 - 1886 and 1897 - 1900. They answered a twenty question form which included name, age in years, date of birth - not birthplace, citizenship, and address of nearest kin.  He was too young to serve but back in those days you could probably tell them anything and they'd take you, so he lied and said he was a year older and was soon on a Naval ship at 17.  In 1920 he received a notice that his father had passed away in Ohio but he was never able to find his grave in the cemetery.  I found out some time ago, long after he was gone, that his father didn't have a marker but at least Grandpa knew what cemetery he was buried in so maybe in some way that gave him some peace of mind.  He never spoke very fondly of his dad, understandably considering the situation, but maybe after all those years he was able to come to terms with what he thought he had to do.

The next question on his mind was what had happened to his mother, Margaret (Maggie Sutliff)?  
She had died in 1914 but he didn't know what from or where she was buried. 
Before his father left him, he told him he was a man now and had to go to work, at age 13.  G-Grandfather put his daughter in an orphanage and sent my grandfather to live with his brother and get a job to help out with food and bills.  Grandpa did what he could and vowed to get his sister out of the orphanage as soon as he could afford to, which I'm sure drove his need for into the service.  He did as he promised, set her up with a job and a place to live and went to live his own life out West as a cowboy.  Yes, Gramps was a real cowboy, learned to rope and ride and worked as a hand on a farm in Jackson Hole WY.  
 

When my dad was young, he recalled taking a phone call from a woman who was trying to reach her brother, Russ.  Dad had never met his Aunt Hazel but his dad had spoken about her and what he had done for her.  They finally met after many years and after her husband died she came to Florida to live near us; the sweetest looking, best smelling little lady I'd ever met.  I bought her favorite cologne for her every year for Christmas or her birthday; I'll never forget the smell of "White Shoulders".  

I searched for years to find a death certificate for Grandpa's mother; I wrote to every local county office that I could find but I wasn't successful. With the start of the internet and all of the records going online I thought for sure I'd find Maggie and made her a promise that she would not be forgotten. 
Stay tuned for the next installment...

To say that I'm gobsmacked almost doesn't cover my feelings today.  I thought I was on the way to new and interesting job but ended up disappointed and honestly, pissed off.
I've never been so un-impressed by a staff of people in my life.  Laid back is fine but totally unprofessional, disorganized and lazy is something I can't tolerate.  Not disclosing vital information to a potential employee is unforgivable and not being there to answer questions about said vital info, is disrespectful.  A total deal breaker in my book.
So, no tears, no regrets...just moving forward.  
I think I'll have a sale!  Yeah, why not!  I'll ponder it a bit and post it later here and on my biz page, but yeah.  I'm thinking a sale is what I need to do!  :-)

Well, I did it!  I got the job and start tomorrow morning!  I'm feeling a combination of excitement and a wee bit of fear as I start a whole new line of work after 20 years.  I left my job of 16 years, 4 years ago this month, to bring my shops up to a new level and I think I've accomplished that on many levels.  Making a living with just my shops is however, still in the future, and I'm not giving up on that at all but I feel that it's time for me to get back out in the work force, meet some new people and gain some independence.

I won't be as available on a daily basis but I'll be blogging each week at least and posting photos of new things, both jewelry and photography.  My weekends will be precious, again, and I'll hopefully be able to get some day trips in to take some new photos to share.

Thanks for coming along on my new venture with me and I'll see you soon!
 

Later today I'm going to my first job interview in, well, many years.  Had an 11:00am appt but was moved up to 3:00...Yay, more time to stress!  Nah, it's no big deal (inserting calming photo).  I'm interviewing them too so hopefully that'll take some stress off of me.  Just feels weird to have to go back out into the big scary world of business again after 4 years of "retirement".  Although I've been working, I've also been my own boss for 4 years which has been excellent, but not as fruitful as I'd wished.  Plus, I'm looking for more independence so I have to start somewhere and no time like the present.

Wish me luck, ya'll and I'll see you on the other side.