I messed with the contrast and such as much as I could without having Photoshop.
Here’s the writing from the portrait of my mom:
Here’s the other picture with writing on it:
And here’s a close-up of that writing, also overcontrasted to make everything clear:
What else to make from the tour bus outside my parents’ house?
Taking Dophin’s advice had an unintended consequence.
So, I just took the picture down and scanned it in. I had to cut off the coach. Hopefully none of his relatives were waiting around with baited breath (bated breath?) to see their great grandfather on Tiny Cat Pants. Click to embiggen and get a kick out of the hairstyles. (Because, really, if you don’t know the people, the most fun you can have is to laugh at their hairstyles.) I think the tall kid in the back may be Tiny Pasture’s grandpa (I kid).
Here’s my Grandpa Hick.
And look at the brooding hottie below him!
I don’t know why my dad’s cat looks so giant, but here’s him in the chair for a true reflection of his size.
What I love about this photo is that, if you look closely, you can see how he’s turned this chair into his command center. There’s his chapstick, his house phone, the glint of his cell phone, the glass with just a smidge of Diet Vernor’s Ginger Ale in the bottom, nail clippers, a book, his bear, and his cat. The only thing I’m not seeing is his tv remote, which, I think we can safely assume is just hidden by the bear. All this and I can be sure of two things–one, he’ll soon come in here because he’s bored and, two, he’ll soon holler at me to check the thermostat, because he’s cold.
He gets his stitches out today. He’s very excited, and desperate for it to be done. He tried to talk me into doing it earlier and I promised that I would if the nurse isn’t here by 3.
If it comes to that, I hope he lets me liveblog it.
I tried to wander around the house finding all the stuff I’d want to show you if you were wandering around the house with me.
My Great Grandma Teckla was a writer and painter. Here’s a portrait of my mom she did. I have no idea what the characters in the upper right hand corner are, but I’ve noticed them on other things she’s done. Makes me wonder. Also, this is by far one of her worse works, but I love it because it’s my mom painted by her grandma. Or “Grandmother” as Mom calls her.
My mom is a cross-sticher in her spare time. She bought this book full of cat counted-cross-stitch and so the room I’m sleeping in is full of cats. This is my favorite.
Speaking of cats, my dad’s cat (because, let’s be honest, the cat and my dad are inseparable) has a hook so you can hang him for easy storage.
My mom also designed and made this piece for my dad’s mom, my Grandma A. It’s the chorus of a song Grandma A used to sing us to put us to bed and surrounding it are all the things that, in the song, the old woman asked to help her move her pig. Mom matted it in purple, because that was my grandma’s favorite color, and the thread is old thread from my Grandma’s mom.
Just for Exador and Christian, here’s a photo of a vicious pit bull mauling, where Mrs. Wigglebottom, as a puppy, got a hold of my mom’s rocking chair and tried to eat one of the runners.
And last, here is the wheel of the cradle we’ve all been kept in as newborns, for four generations (my grandma D, her sister, my mom, her sisters, all of us cousins on that side, and my nephews).
And here’s the cradle. My Grandma D. was born in 1921, just to let you know how old it is. It’s surprisingly sturdy, but babies tend to outgrow it quickly, as you can imagine. It really is just for tiny babies, before they start to be able to even roll over.
I want to take a picture of a picture, see, and I can’t figure out how to turn my dad’s camera’s flash off and so I’m getting a glare off the glass. I don’t know what kind of help I need exactly, since I can’t take a picture of the camera to get help, but is there some way I can trick the flash into not going off.
But look at how cool this photo is! My grandpa was born in 1908 and we figure he’s about 16 in this picture (after they’d moved out of the chicken coop and into town) and so this is my grandpa on his high school football team in the early thirties. Look at how small their pads are! He’s in the middle row, if you look to the big white flash, and then look to the right, there are three guys. He’s the one in the middle, with the stripes on his shirt.
It looks like there are three types of shirts. I wonder if that gives some clue about what position a person played. Also, check out the coach.
Tiny Cat Pants 