Oak Cliff Murals

Oak Cliff is actually a district or neighborhood of Dallas, having been annexed by Dallas in 1903. Southwest of downtown Dallas, it is a neighborhood full of history and beauty. Early and mid-century homes abound as well as parks and some really nice golf courses (according to my hubby!) 

The last time we were in Oak Cliff (having gone to the Texas Theatre of course!) we decided to drive around a little in this historic area. To my surprise, there were many murals painted on the buildings -- this part of Oak Cliff is fast becoming known as an arts district and includes historical theaters, neighborhood restaurants, and locally owned shops (and watering holes if you know what I mean!).

You may remember my "letter F" post, 50 Novembers, where I went on and on wrote about the history of the Texas Theatre -- if not, here's a link if you'd like to check it out. 

This is just down the street from the Theatre and shows the different kinds of arts and entertainment in the area.  Oh! Is that the Texas Theatre I see?  Hehe, I hadn't notice that before! Even if it is blue!

You'll need to click on these to get some close-up detail!

This is a great area for people watching -- and dog walking!!

The other half of the mural

This was taken on the sidewalk walking toward the Texas Theatre.

It's fun just to drive on this street -- such colorful shops!

My other trips to this area have been just to the Texas Theatre, so it was really nice to be there in the afternoon and on such a gorgeous day.

This is the on the wall of the North Oak Cliff Library which was the first branch built in the Dallas Public Library system in 1914. This current branch replaced the original one and was built in 1986 -- a local artist painted the mural. That's Martin Luther King, Jr. on the far left, holding a history book. He is shown to link the civil rights struggles of both Mexican Americans and African Americans. 

This is the other side of the mural

The eagles depict the Mexican flag -- an eagle perched on a cactus with a snake in its talons -- and that's one of the leaders of Mexico holding a history book. 

There were more murals around town, but those will have to wait for another day!

Sharing Oak Cliff murals over at Miss Jenny's for Alphabe-Thursday where we are studying the letter O.

Also sharing at Smiling Sally's for Blue Monday and for her Fifth Blogiversary! I'm adding this post because of all the blue but there's a special one for Sally over on Magnolia's Attic -- you're invited to attend!!

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Noli and the Glitter Explosion

It's always a fun time when we have a Noli sleepover!

Did you know that her name is Magnolia? 

Noli for short!

That jumper she's wearing was one that I made for her mother for the first day of school in first grade -- it has a blouse to go with it too (you can see it on mommy here!)

I try to have something special for us to do when Noli is here, but there are all the tried and true activities that we MUST do every time.

Like playing the ponies, um, with the ponies, hehe

and Legos (especially the horse trailer set)

and watching a movie and playing computer games

I believe this movie is Santa Paws

and watching the outside kitties

There's Funny Face (a temporary name) on the shed steps, Daddy Blackie on the potting table, and little Midnight underneath. He's solid black like his daddy so you can barely see him!

So, on our last sleepover, we had the great Glitter Explosion Experiment.... Noli was pretty excited to do it -- glitter you know....

We gathered the ingredients -- 

a big vase, baking soda, vinegar, food coloring, 

a baking pan for the overflow....  

and, of course, the most important ingredient, GLITTER!

Noli was pretty stoked that she got new glitter out of the deal, in fancy shaker tubes!

First came the baking soda, carefully measured out....

then the food coloring

and the most fun part.... 

can I hear you say GLITTER!!

I'm putting in some of each color, Mumsie, won't that be pretty?

then the vinegar.... ohhh, it's starting to explode!!

better get out of the way!!

hmmm, it fizzled out..... let's add more baking soda and vinegar

Here it comes again!

Cool explosion, pretty bubbles and flying glitter!!

After all was done, we poured the gunk into the pan to play with it...

and, of course, add more glitter! 

Hmmm, could this have had something to do with the dinky size of the explosion?

Only a year old!!

Next time, I'll buy new baking soda!

Later on we played Polly Pocket

and Polly got a new makeover the next day!

But you'll have to wait for another time to find out just what happened to Miss Polly and her friends....

Glitter could be involved.....

just sayin'

Sharing over at Miss Jenny's for Alphabe-Thursday where we are studying the letter N

and at Grandma's Briefs for GRAND Social

♥♥

The Middle Wife

This came to me in an email and I about fell out of my chair laughing when I read it. I googled it just for kicks and giggles and it's been around for a few years so you might have seen it. No matter, it's still hilarious whether you've seen it before or never!

UberRoom on Etsy

The Middle Wife

I've been teaching now for about fifteen years. I have two kids myself, but the best

birth story I know is the one I saw in my own second grade classroom a few years ago.

When I was a kid, I loved show-and-tell. So I always have a few sessions with my students. It helps them get over shyness and usually show-and-tell is pretty tame. Kids bring in pet turtles, model airplanes, pictures of fish they catch, stuff like that. And I never ever place boundaries or limitations on them. If they want to lug it to school and talk about it, they're welcome.

Well one day this little girl, Erica, a very bright, very outgoing kid, takes her turn and waddles up to the front of the class with a pillow stuffed under her sweater.

She holds up a snapshot of an infant: "This is Luke, my baby brother, and I am going to tell you about his birthday."

Nolaonesie on Etsy

"First, Mom and Dad made him as a symbol of their love, and then Dad put a seed in my Mom's stomach, and Luke grew in there. He ate for 9 months through an umbrella cord."

She's standing there with her hands on the pillow, and I'm trying not to laugh and wishing I had my camcorder with me. The kids are watching her in amazement.

"Then about two Saturdays ago, my Mom starts saying and going, 'Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh.'" 

(Erica puts a hand behind her back and groans.)

  

"She walked around the house for, like an hour, 'Oh, Oh, Oh.'" 

(Now this kid is doing a hysterical duck walk and groaning.)

"My Dad called the middle wife. 

She delivers babies, but she doesn't have a sign on the car, like the Domino's man." 

"They got my Mom to lie down in bed like this." 

(Then Erica lies down with her back against the wall.)

"And then, pop! My Mom had this bag of water she kept in there in case he got thirsty, and it just blew up and spilled all over the bed, like psshhheew." 

(This kid has her legs spread with her little hands miming water flowing away. It was too much.)

"Then the middle wife starts saying "Push, push" and "Breathe. breathe.

They started counting, but never got past ten. Then all of a sudden, out comes my little brother."

CakeToppersPlus on Etsy

"He was covered in yucky stuff that they said it was from Mom's play-center (placenta) so there must be a lot of toys inside there. When he got out, the middle wife spanked him for crawling up in there."

Then Erica stood up, took a big theatrical bow and returned to her seat. I'm sure I applauded the loudest. Ever since then, when it's show-and-tell day, I bring my camcorder, just in case another "Middle Wife" comes along.

Sharing over at Miss Jenny's for Alphabe-Thursday where we are studying the letter M
and at Grandma's Briefs for GRAND Social

(PS -- I added the pics! Links provided)



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Lobster Shirt

Is this the coolest shirt or what?!! 

This is Adam, my son. 

In his lobster shirt.

Nonchalantly taking his own picture....

Lobster shirt all dressed up in a skinny tie

with Bobcat Goldthwait at the Oak Cliff Film Festival (Oak Cliff, TX)

for the screening of Bobcat's Bigfoot movie Willow Creek 

Don't you want a shirt with lobsters crawling all over it?  Better than the t-shirt he had as a kid with 3-D bugs on it made out of some kind of puffy, rubbery material.... and yes, I bought it for him but it gave me the creeps every time I washed it!

But I love those lobsters!!

Sharing Adam's lobster shirt over at Miss Jenny's for Alphabe-Thursday where we are studying the letter L

♥♥

Sea Shells by the Sea Shore -- a BBA Challenge

Each month the Blogging Business Artisans Etsy team has a challenge project with the theme given by the team members. July's theme was my idea (blush blush) and was to create something that was vacation related -- a vacation memory, something that represents a place visited, colors or scents associated with a special place, or even something funny that happened on a vacation.

With this in mind, I decided that I would finish a sea shell cross-stitch piece that I started years ago, but had never finished (the procrastinator in me is always lurking about.....)

The fabric is really more ivory in color -- I just couldn't get the background color right!

Aren't these colors pretty? Shells always seem to have the loveliest pinks!

I have always loved shells and have quite a few gathered from various places, but I had never done much with them. So when it came time to tear down the absolutely awful very outdated wallpaper that was in the hall bath when we moved in, I opted for a beach theme and used those shells! The bathroom fixtures are kind of an aqua blue and have always reminded me of the ocean. We painted the walls a lighter version of that aqua blue and the granite tile we selected reminds me of sand. So sea shells were a natural for decoration!

Knowing that I have a fondness for shells, my daughter painted this watercolor for me! I love the soft muted colors, especially the peachy pink. I like that she painted it in a style with softened edges and just the hint of a shell, like a fading memory. That blue background is perfect on the wall too -- just a bit darker!

She also gave me this shell shadow box (the shells are not real) and it lives on top of a white wall-hung cabinet in the bathroom. 

It's really cool with three-dimensional shells

I've got to get the cross-stitch framed, but this is sort of what it will look like in a white frame. (This frame is not the right size!)  I think it will be perfect alongside the watercolor! Since this is vertical and the shell watercolor is horizontal, I'll probably do a skinny cross-stitch to fill up the space -- I already have one in mind that has shells in a row! Now, if I can just get it finished before 2020!!

Now on to the vacation memory....

When I was a child, my family always visited the grandparents every summer -- one set in Alabama and the other in Florida. We often took a side trip and one year we spent a few days at a seaside cabin, maybe on the Gulf Coast. It could have even been on a river because, as I recall, it was fresh water! Anyway, I was somewhere between 8 and 10 and my older brother was with us. 

The cabin extended over the water and my brother and I were swimming and saw a flounder! I had never seen a flounder before and my brother told me how they have two eyes on one side of their flat body and that when they turned over, the eyes migrated to whatever side was up! Since he was older and wiser than me, I believed every word! Of course, now I know that a flounder is born with eyes on either side, but that one does migrate over to the chosen side that he turns onto.... but they STAY there, they don't move around the head every time the fish turns over as my brother wanted me to believe!

 

They're not a very pretty fish but they're great to eat!! 

It was a fun time doing something I had never done before, and to top it all off, I found finger paints in a cabinet... I'd never done that before either!!

Sharing with
Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound
Blue Monday at Smiling Sally's


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