Finished At Last!

Last night I finally finished a painting and now another unfinished one is ready for framing.

This is another wrapped canvas.  I think my last for a while.  It saves on framing, but I'd rather acrylic paint on paper.

The inspiration for this came from bathing at an onsen in Japan.  As you might know the women leave their clothing in a locker and then with a very small towel go into a large bathing room.  Seated on a low stool each fills a bucket with water and proceeds to soap her body.  Settling into the routine I noticed the older woman seated to my left slowly washing her feet with care and attention.  That image has lingered with me as I came to realize the value that bathing, rinsing and then soaking in a tub can be to the soul.

The image of washing of feet has come to mean more as I worked on this piece and Marian would ask me to tell another new student in our class what I was doing.  Ultimately, I came to say that it is more than washing my feet. 

Now I look at it and I see the flaws of this and that . . . but, that, too, has value, so I'll leave it.

I think I started the one below last year along with one of Aunt Margaret's Gem.  They've both been sitting on my easel in the loft, unfinished for many months.  Heather had given me a little art book for Christmas that gave me some ideas of what I might do with each of them.  I decided to make the Uncle Cal, Lily and Zella piece  smaller and more simple.  Last night it happened to be in my art bag at class when I finished the onsen piece.

After finishing the smaller section Marian happened by and suggested I frame the whole thing.  It had surprisingly become an interesting piece as a whole.  A local artist, Steven K. Sheffield http://www.utahands.com/artists/sheffield/09portfolio.html, whose work I admire has done some pieces by first painting to a point and then masking off a border and continuing to paint further on the inner section.   I've always liked that.  Now I sort of fell into something similar--thanks to Marian. 

(On Steve's site he has a piece, "Still Waters" that is similar to the very small, affordable painting I have of his from Art and Soup this year.  He just did it the night before.  Its unframed on Masonite.)

For the Cal and the girls painting Marian will help me cut a custom mat to fit a standard frame.  She is the best!
Marian Dunn.    http://www.mariandunngallery.com/

Cal suggested the title "Cowboys Love."  At first I thought he meant cowboy's love, but no, cowboys love.  This is from a photo I took of Cal, Lily and Zella leaving Golden Corral heading to the car.  He had given Lily one of his old cowboy hats.  When we got back to their place he found an old hat for each one of the children. 

Heather reminded me that she hadn't seen the completed Haitian Mother.  Again, a wrapped canvas

Now for  Margaret's Gem.

Polly is doing some really nice work.  I hope she has sent you photos of what she has done.  We are really fortunate to have such a great teacher.

Family Sights in Paisley

Our cousin, Elizabeth Hunter McArthur, Uncle Joe's daughter, lives in Dalkeith about an hour from Edinburgh.  She sent me these photos of places in Paisley that are part of our family heritage.  She and cousins Maddie and Angie from England are going to meet in Paisley for some browsing of family spots.

At 10-years of age our grandmother, Mary Preston Hunter started half-timers school.  Half the day she attended school and the other half she worked in Coats'Thread Mill.  At fourteen she graduated and began work full-time.  One of her job assignments was to guide the thread with her toe to wind it evenly onto a large bobbin of thread.  You might recall the wooden bobbin that I had on my piano top.  Can you imagine that hour after hour for even half a day?

Coats' Half-Timer School, Maxwellton Street, Ferguslie, Paisley, Scotland.

Elizabeth wrote, "Previously had been turned into a night club then left as a shell for about 10 years since the fire.  Apparently it is now going to be restored externally, internally and turned into apartments."

This building, originally designed in 1886 as a school, was indeed a "palace of education". Contemporary descriptions of the newly-built school described it as "an exquisite building which will delight the visitor whether he be an educational or architectural expert, for neither pains nor money were spared during its construction". It was also described as "an admirably equipped school" and as "a model of beauty and appropriateness".

The architects of this new school were Woodhouse and Morley. It was thought appropriate by the Coats family to appoint them for this work, as they had, during the 1880s, successfully designed for their clients "the most magnificent cotton mills in Scotland", at Ferguslie.

Without the restrictions in designing a mill building, the architects could afford to "let their hair down" and design the new school in a flamboyant manner and this they did. If the Coats family were the Medicis of Victorian Paisley, the resulting school building turned out to be a little Florentine palace, with architrave doors, carved floral roundels, balustrated parapets, white marble panels depicting learning and geography and a splendid polished granite portico or loggia as a grand main entrance.

The new building was opened by Peter Coats Jnr. on the 10th of January 1887. The Coats family took a paternal interest in their workers and education had a high priority. For example, in the 1830s, the youngest workers at their mills were allowed to leave work an hour early. This enabled them to attend evening classes in the neighbourhood, to improve their education.

J & P Coats opened their Ferguslie Half-time school as an adjunct to the nearby mills. The school could accommodate 400 young girls, all in employ of the company and all educated to government approved standards. The young female workers would attend this school and work in the mills on alternate days, hence the name "Half-time". The school was innovative for its time. It boasted well-lit classrooms on the ground floor, with adjacent cloakrooms and toilets. The mill girls were given lessons mainly in the three "Rs". Nourishing meals were prepared for them in the basement kitchen. A gallery overlooking the ground floor enabled the viewer or visitor to see concerts, plays and recitations performed by the pupils.

From its opening, the school took a leading place in Scottish education. Most Paisley families today will recall that they had a grannie or a great grannie who worked in the mills and received part-time education as a Half-timer in Coats' school. The school functioned under the patronage of J and P Coats until 1904. That year, full time education became compulsory for all Scottish children and the administration of the school fell to the Paisley School Board.

In 1921, the building, having had various uses, became the East dining hall for the clerical workers of Ferguslie Mills. From 1969 to 1973, the building was used by the mill's fire prevention team. During this period, the building was also used for evening classes, one of which was the art of fly-tying for anglers!
http://www.paisley.org.uk/history/halftimer.php

Take this link to view the block of houses where Etta Hunter and her family lived before moving to the company (Ross's Cloth Works)-owned Arkleston Cottage. 

Link: Hunter home, 24 Kilnside Road, Paisley.

Arkleston Cottage is no longer.  Jan had a walk through with our mother and father in 1963.  It had been torn down and replaced by the building of a motorway by the time we moved to Scotland in 1970.

This map is the approximate location near the M8. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&q=YO17+6UX&ie=UTF8&ll=54.262417,-0.774536&spn=0.239802,0.674973&z=11&om=1&source=embed

A cousin, Amber Barker Sirimanne put up this photo at facebook that shows the interior. 

I remember my mother speaking of the bed in the kitchen wall that they pulled out for sleeping.  I'm wondering if it is behind the shiny wood doors on the wall to the right.  Four to a bed--double-size--no queens or king-size back then. 

Hame o' Mine

Since this posting I've found other Paisley sites Mother noted in her diary written in 1963, 37 years after she had immigrated to the U.S.A.  

Of her first visit to Paisley she wrote--

"My nephew-in-law [Hugh Shaw] drove us up to Glenifer Braes in relays and we looked all over the countryside, it was a beautiful sight, we saw the Bonnie Wee Well, also.  This is the hills we used to walk up to when we were children and spend the day picking berries, bluebells and flourish [sweet cicely], it brought back memories."

Glenifer Braes 

Located 3 miles (5 km) southwest of Paisley, the Gleniffer Braes Country Park form part of the 526 ha (1300 acres) of woodland and moorland which makes up the Gleniffer Braes in Renfrewshire. The park has waymarked and guided walks, as well as play areas and views over Paisley and Glasgow. There are various events in the park throughout the year.

View Larger Map  

Other Paisley historical sites of family interest.

Paisley Thread Mill Museum.  

 http://www.paisley.org.uk/attractions/paisley_thread_mill_museum.php

From this link go to fully restored and furnished 18th century weavers cottages at Sma Shot Cottages. 

 

Paisley Abbey at http://www.paisley.org.uk/attractions/abbey.php

Abbey Close  http://www.paisley.org.uk/attractions/hall.php

Paisley High has some beautiful photos of older parts of the city.  http://www.paisley.org.uk/attractions/oakshaw-trinity-church.php

The Paisley Pattern.  http://www.paisley.org.uk/history/pattern.php

1887 Gazetteer.  http://www.paisley.org.uk/history/gazetteer.php

My Toon Stories of living in Paisley. These are two of the dozen or so.

http://www.paisley.org.uk/paisley_people/mytoon2.php   

http://www.paisley.org.uk/paisley_people/mytoonassylum.php

Chat with Jargine Peterson, former seminary student in East Kilbride.

Mark and Polly may remember Jargine Peterson, now Maitland of East Kilbride.  She's married with a family in Glenrothes, NE of Glasgow. 

A facebook chat that happened this a.m.:

 Jargine
Hi MaryEttta it's Jargine
12:34pmMe
Hi, there. How are you?

12:34pmJargine
I am well thanks. It was really good to find you after so many years
12:35pmMe
It was indeed!

So glad you happened to notice on Heather's [Heather Duke Slattery] list.

12:35pmJargine
I always have an image in my mind of us all young at your house for seminary - those were good and happy days
12:36pmMe
Those were good times.

So long ago and look at us now!

12:36pmJargine
can't believe we are all much older and dare I say wiser now!!!
12:36pmMe
yes there is greater wisdom.

i need to tell you something of a memory.

12:37pmJargine
of those times?
12:37pmMe
yes

12:38pmJargine
is it a happy one?
12:38pmMe
Me
yes. every time i read the new testament at a certain passage i think of you and a talk that you gave

12:38pmJargine
I can't remember can you tell me what it was
12:39pmMe
since reconnecting with you i haven't had a moment to browse for the scripture, but it was a talk you gave using a word that was unfamiliar to me at the time and not commonly used in my vernacular, but it seemed to be a word that you in your teen years understood very well.

now i'll just have to leave it at that until i find the word. but i share that with you to let you know that you have not been far from my memory and that i learned something from you that has lingered with me all these years.

12:45pmJargine
Hope that you can remind me of this as I am intrigued. You have reminded me of something right now - I had a friend who was very close to me in Glenrothes where I live and she died in 1998 of lung cancer. Her name was Eileen and she was just like an older sister to me. I was able to be with her in her last few months and sometimes I used to say things that she said were very relevant to her life - the spirit was very strong then and I seemed to be very close to the Lord as I strived to help her. I loved her very much and still miss her.
12:46pmJargine
not sure why I am telling you this right now
12:47pmMe
the Spirit of the Lord is what I also remember manifesting the truth of what you were saying. Sunday i really will have to spend some time going through the New Testament and perhaps perusing the scriptures i used in those years.

12:49pmJargine
I have been a bit down recently due to having such difficulties in my family since my mum died in September but I have been reading every day again from the Book of Mormon and finding strength from doing this. Maybe I was meant to talk to you right now...........
12:52pmMe
David continued to encourage reading from the scriptures daily and I fine myself doing the same thing. Each morning I awaken with a fresh mind thinking of my love for the Lord and Our Father and almost always I sense what is important for that day. It has helped me to move step by step through difficulties and unfamiliar territory since David died.

12:53pmMe
When I arise I enjoy listening to or playing a hymn on the piano, reading from the scriptures and then my kneeling prayer. When I don't do this I know the difference and feel the lack of it.

Since the fall I've been reading the Book of Mormon from a different point of view than what has been typical for me.

12:54pmMe
I've been reading and noting in the upper margin all things Jesus Christ. In doing so I've felt that I've come to know Him better and to understand better what I need to change in my life.

It has been life changing.

One more thing.  I'd like you to know that typically when the children would be playing a game that they would call themselves by another name, Chrissie would call herself Jargine.

* * * * *

I can't believe the ongoing and expanding connections with extended family and friends that have evolved from January onwards.  

As I wrote our cousin Elizabeth in Dalkeith, Scotland if I don't process all that opens up each day 

I'll drown.  

Its exciting and rewarding to really, really know that it is people that count most in our lives. 

What a gathering it is.

I didn't intend to look for friends from our Scotland days until I needed to verify Nellie Martin, the dear lady that had known my grandfather--the only such person I ever  met.  Nellie's photo in her younger days with my grandparents turned up on Hunter Family from one of our Hunter cousins.  

I'm so glad I wrote the Hunter history back in 1987.  Its incomplete now with what we know but, it documents what I knew then that I don't remember now.  I consult it most days that I do Hunter research.  

I regret I don't have the digital copy.  If anyone wants to start retyping the text so it can be updated and edited for others, please do.  

Anyone need a project?

Memorial Weekend 2010

Memorial weekend began Thursday.  After giving my penultimate tour (thanks, Clay) of the year it was convenient to stop by a plant nursery for some marigolds and small mums and then on to Salt Lake City Cemetery.

 William and Henrietta/Harriet Howard Hunter plots.

 Look what happens when a seedling cedar grows up atop a grave site--or maybe it was a wee birdie that dropped a seed that sprouted.  In any event William Hunter's grave stone is missing, perhaps washed away by flooding of years past.  Polly and I have made a commitment to make a match with Henrietta's and place it this summer. 

I was dismayed to see that the neighboring new marker had encroached upon Great Grandfather's space.  Now I see it as a plus.  What we have in mind to set will fit just right and look very authentic for the original.

Robert Hunter and Aunt Jessie Hunter McKinlay's family plots.

Uncle Robert was the first of the John and Mary Preston Hunter children to immigrate to the U.S. in 1913.  Within six months he died of appendicitis in Brigham City and buried in the McKinlay plot.  At Hunter Family face book group I've posted the memorabilia sent to Scotland commemorating his passing if you want to take a look.  The combination of what is said by the missionaries that knew Robert and his family and the newspaper obituaries with the photos of the day prompted me to go to the cemetery and this time not just be there but to leave flowers.  We'll make a marker for Robert in the style of Henrietta's for his grave site.

I didn't realize until I was a student at BYU that I had not only an uncle, but great grandparents, and great aunts that had lived in Salt Lake City.  The first immigrated in 1892.  I started to see that I had "pioneers" in my family.

Interestingly, this morning I finally found William and Henrietta's 2ggranddaughter with whom I had corresponded on our family genealogy before my move from Montana and her change of surname.  Not only her, but her two sisters and father.  Hopefully we'll see them show up on Hunter Family and learn more about their ggrandfather that stayed in Massachusetts when the rest of the family continued to Utah.  Perhaps they will have not only stories to tell but pictures to share.

The saga continues on.

Friday was a nice day to drive to Franklin and look forward to sitting on my bench in thought, planting marigolds and painting the bench.  Threat of drizzle interrupted  the planting for an attempt at painting while sitting and contemplating the years gone by.  The cemetery looked lovely and the mature trees are leafing out.  Diane and Lee are both well and inquired of all of you.

Note the robin egg on Dad's marker.  It had dropped by the bench and seemed at home on the marker.

Karma and B. R. and the bench. 

Tomorrow our local families are coming to lunch and swim on opening weekend--and the temps are forecast to be warm and clear.  Hooray!  Let summer begin.

Familia Gonzaga, Recap and Update 2

As you might remember, the latter part of January I received a letter from Brazil.   I read the letter at a series of stop lights to I-15 and then on to Mapleton crying all the way and feeling a marvelous joy.  It is an almost unbelievable blessing for which I'm deeply grateful.

To recap--

Since my missionary service in Brazil 50 years ago, overtime hearing news of people we had taught and had been baptized, leaving the church,  I had thought that the only one who benefited from my mission was me--in many and meaningful ways.  I've always carried a feeling of loss.  That was lifted by the  letter from the son of a couple my companion, Norma Mills Shiner, and I had taught in Santos, my first area, 1961.

In the letter from Mauricio Gonzaga, he explained that he is one of four children of Justino and Suelena Gonzaga.  He wrote that they now have 24 (now 25--one more was born two weeks ago in South Jordan, UT that I met yesterday.)  He wrote that all the descendants are fully involved in the church and sealed in the temple.  Six have served/are serving missions in Brazil.  His son and daughter are currently serving as well as a nephew.  The photos Mauricio sent are beautiful of the family.  With his two children preparing to serve missions he had felt a desire to somehow contact the missionaries that had brought the gospel to his parents and to thank them for having answered the call to serve.

What a ripple-effect . . .

As I rummaged through my missionary memorabilia  I found a letter to my parents relating something of our teaching experience.  We had taught the Gonzagas for many nights until 11:30 p.m. in answering their questions.  Saul Messias, our branch president had been a Presbyterian minister prior to his conversion.  He was helpful to Suelena, who had been a Presbyterian, in resolving a particular concern she had.  The branch members showed interest and support in Justino and Suelena.  Sister Mills and I had been fasting and my home ward had also been fasting and praying for our missionary work.  They were baptized in the ocean March 12, 1961.

Justino and Suelena are now in Utah until June 10th when they return to Santos.  We watched a DVD of their 50th wedding anniversary capturing much of the personalities of everyone.  Hopefully we will be able to arrange a time they can meet Norma also.  While visiting them yesterday we did a Skype session with Mauricio, his wife and younger son.  It was huge to get his letter in January and now it has come full circle to talk with them on web cam. 

As I have shared this experience with family and friends these past several months I've felt to add--
"It wasn't us.  It was the Spirit that was there that they felt and accepted.  It was also the members of the branch that helped to teach and to fellowship.  It was the fasting of San Pedro Ward in California as well as our own fasting and prayers.  This same thing can happen again and again with all of us.  And it does."

To read Mauricio's letter was wonderful, but to actually embrace Justino and Suelena yesterday, to meet some of their family and sense their goodness still, has been remarkable.

Justino and Suelena

Suelena, Kath, ME, Kaue, Marcia

Marcia, her husband and 5 children are living in South Jordan near the Oquirrh Mountain Temple--20 minutes from my home.  Marcia served us some warm apple pie as a remembrance of the apple pie Norma and I had made for them in Santos.  It has become a tradition in their family.  Marie Callendars' never tasted soooo good.

Best for last . . . 

#25 in the Gonzaga family. 

Catarina--I think, gotta check on that.

12 days old.  Isn't she a beauty! 

They are all beautiful and I am thrilled.  I had to leave after an hour and a half visit.  My Portuguese is so bad--my head was spinning.  I really hadn't thought anyone had stayed committed to the gospel we had taught.  It seems I've had a little glimpse of the joy Jesus has spoken of--of the one.  

Here are some of 25 from 2. 

I can scarcely take it in.

Clay at the Hershey Track Meet in Mapleton.

After a couple of cancellations for rain, Wednesday we had one spot of sun in the valley over Maple Mountain High School.  Clay ran the 50-yd dash, the 200 and did the baseball throw event.   Jill, Dave, Danny and I had a great morning cheering the kids. 

Earlier in the month Polly, David and I watched Christopher run more races than he had planned.  Great to see him step up when the team needed him.  Cold day for May. 

Track is fun to watch.  Sorry no pics from Christopher's meet.

Clay's performances:

 50-yard dash

200 starting

Baseball throw

Jan and Cal Update

Jan called today with the great news that she had figured out how to upload photos to facebook.  We are both delighted.

These are from their recent trip to California.



Lunch at the harbor.

The remodel in progress of our Pescadores home in San Pedro.

Our old neighborhood.  Hard to believe how the palm trees and other vegetation have matured.













The harbor view we all loved.  Granny used to count the ships coming in and give a daily report to Daddy when he came home from work.








Cal and LexiAnn back home in Washington.


Its fun to visit my sisters and see the illustrations of what they've been doing.