Toy Boats

Did you have a favorite toy boat for your tub or for the creek?

Below is just a snippet from the Collectors Weekly website. Visit the site for some more interesting facts.

Realistic replicas of wooden sail boats, sometimes referred to as “pond yachts,” were popularized during the sailing-schooner trend beginning in the 1860s. Though ostensibly for the children of affluent families, these boats were up to six feet long and were often piloted by fathers. During the same era, the world’s navies were transitioning from sail to steam, a change visible in model boats, too. Self-propelled toy boats provided fascinating entertainment for kids everywhere, some of which used tiny steam engines to run continuously for up to an hour. Everything from delicate pleasure boats with ornate floral designs and gilded bows to ominous hard-working warships floated on park ponds.

2016 in REVIEW

The past year has been in pretty exciting for our family and Hardgrave Photography.
The year started in Guatemala spending time with wonderful kids, celebrating the New Year and my birthday.  January was blessed with visiting universities with friends from Guatemala - and that led to information...  Angels were photographed in the studio and new babies too.
February started the hope and process of Jazmín coming to live with us and going to school at Arkansas Tech.  I also got to dress up and play fairies with beautiful little girls during the Enchanted Fairy sessions.
March was exciting as Jazmín got her passport - one more step toward making a dream a reality. The fire engine and kids turnouts was brought out of storage for Lil Firefighters.
April started out with an awesome education opportunity in Dallas at the Southwest Professional Photographers convention. It ended perfectly with the graduation of my oldest - Natalia from University of Central Arkansas.
May brought so many blessings! Jazmín was granted her student Visa to come to the US, and I spent Mother's Day in Puebla Mexico with Natalia.
June started off Senior season with the Beautiful Madison Rule. It was also  my pleasure to offer Father's Day  mini sessions for free. Everyone should have a great photo with their dad! Natalia moved to Fayetteville.
July was incredibly busy preparing for the Arkansas Professional Photographers educational event. This was my  year to be in charge. I was also voted in as the President of the organization. The day after the event, I was on a plane to Guatemala to pick up my daughter  - Jazmín - FINALLY.
August was busy preparing Jazmín for classes. She had to get new vaccinations. We had to find an orthodontist. Natalia started a dental assistant program in NWAR. I started teaching Beginner Spanish at FUMC Dardanelle.
September we celebrated both girls' birthday. Jazmín started learning to drive. There were lots of babies to photograph.
October was fun with spending time with our international students from University of Ozarks - David and Mandy.  Halloween night we did our annual free photos at the studio for all the kids. Over 100 kids come to have photos taken and $60 was raised for buying books for the library at Shadow of His Wings, in Guatemala.
November was really busy with all kinds of outdoor sessions. The colors were late this year - but perfect for November photos. Thanksgiving was special as I baked bread with my Grandma's recipe with both of my daughters. Santa came to see us too!
December 1 brought fantastic news - Natalia was accepted to Dental School in Memphis!!! We are beyond proud and thrilled. Also, December always starts out with photos at Needy Paws Animal Shelter. The fundraiser we have done for the past 20 years. Snow days photos were precious!  And Christmas is wonderful with all my family in one place.
Happy New Year - I wish you love and comfort.
GOD BLESS

The Meanings and Myths of Pearls

I found this cool article about pearls on the website Bellatory

Pearls symbolize wisdom acquired through experience. They are believed to attract wealth and luck as well as offer protection. Known for their calming effect, pearls can balance one's karma, strengthen relationships, and keep children safe. The pearl is also said to symbolize the purity, generosity, integrity, and loyalty of its wearer.



To find out  more, visit the Bellatory website.

Glasses

My whole family wheres glasses!  I got my first pair when I was 5.

I found the information below at the Museum of Vision website.

A simple historical timeline of eyeglasses starts with their invention, believed to be between 1268 and 1289 in Italy. The inventor is unknown.  The earliest eyeglasses were worn by monks and scholars. They were held in front of the eyes or balanced on the nose.





 The invention of the printing press in 1452, the growing rate of literacy and the availability of books, encouraged new designs and the eventual mass production of inexpensive eyeglasses.

Rocking Horses

There is a cool place in the UK that has beautiful rocking horses - Stephens Brothers. Below is some info from there site. 

History of Rocking Horses

The history of rocking horses can be traced back to the Middle Ages, when a popular children’s toy was the hobby horse – a fake horse’s head attached to a long stick. Children would place the stick between their legs and “ride” the horse around. These toys can still be found today.

The hobby horse was replaced in the 16th century by the barrel horse, which consisted of a circular log supported by four legs and adorned with a fake horse head. Crude in nature, this toy mimicked the back of a horse better than a hobby horse.

The rocking horse in its current form is widely believed to have first appeared in the early 17th century. It was around this time that bow rockers were invented, introducing rocking to the world of toy horses. There were, however, improvements to be made to the first rocking horses. Being made from solid wood, they were heavy and their center of gravity was high, so they could easily topple over.

It was in the Victorian age that the ‘safety stand’ was introduced and the idea of making the horses hollow was conceived. This made the horses lighter and more stable, and gave birth to the idea of a secret compartment being fitted into the horse’s underbelly.

The family heirloom horse could store photographs, mint coins, locks of baby hair and other such trinkets for future generations to find. During this era the style of choice was the dappled grey rocking horse, which was a favourite of Queen Victoria. Her love of rocking horses was instrumental in increasing the popularity of the toys.

During the 20th century there was a significant decline in rocking horse makers, largely as a result of the World Wars and the Great Depression. By the 1960s it seemed like the craft was disappearing forever. Fortunately, a few skilled craftsmen began returning to the art of making rocking horses, restoring old pieces to their former glory and creating new designs. It is thanks to the work of those determined craftsmen and all those working at Stevenson Brothers today, that these beautiful toys continue to enchant adults and children alike all over the world.

Baby got the Blues??

I found this  interesting article on the website Things You Didn't Know, by writer  Richard Mertz

1. Happy families
A researcher in Denmark has said that everyone with blue eyes in this world is related in one way or another. It’s been said that around 6000-10000 years ago, you’d only see brown eyes, and a DNA mutation allowing blue eyes to crop up means that all of us with blue eyes really are from the same person!

2. Alcohol frenzy!
We all like a good night out down the pub, but there’s always one that has too much to drink. However, blue eyed friends, it’s less likely to be you than your other colored eye counterparts! Studies show that blue eyed people are more tolerant of alcohol, which may be why shockingly, those with blue eyes tend to abuse alcohol more.

3. Melanin deficient
Blue eyes have less melanin in than darker colored eyes do. What does this mean though? That our eyes are more sensitive to light, and so you need to protect them more, especially from the sun’s UV rays.

4. Brown dominates blue
You may think that if you have blue eyes, and you have a child with someone who has blue eyes, then your child will have blue eyes. Wrong. Because the brown allele is the dominant allele. This also means that although blue eyed people came into the world thousands of years ago, we could just as easily leave if this were to happen enough.

5. Different colored eyes
You can list the different eye colors out there: blue, green, brown and hazel, but it’s not very often you see someone with different colored eyes. Well, Waardenburg syndrome makes it possible. Whilst this can mean you have different colored eyes, it also could be the reason for having very pale blue eyes.

6. White skin
If you’ve got areas of white skin on your body, then you might be able to blame your blue eyes. There’s a skin condition called vitiligo which causes some of your skin to lose its pigmentation, making it appear white. This can happen anywhere on your body, including your face.

7. Blue eyed mutant
It’s the mutation which happened thousands of years ago which means millions of us have blue eyes. However, some places in the world seem to be less likely to get these mutants. Around the Balkans, it’s said that 99% of the population have blue eyes, and this is also the place where it’s believed the first blue eyed person was born.

8. Blue eyed baby
You may have heard about babies being born with blue eyes, and then getting darker shortly after, but this doesn’t always happen. The eyes get darker because of the levels of melanin in the eyes, and the stage at which the melanin kicks in is different for all babies. For some, it kicks in whilst still in the womb, and for others, it’s after they’ve been born.

9. Blue eye boogie
Blue eyes are a very popular song topic. Some of these include ‘Pale Blue Eyes’ by R.E.M. and ‘Blue Eyes’ by Elton John.

10. Disorders
Blue eyes are also a symptom of ocular albinism. This affects just the eyes, and means they become very pale, as well as giving you an increased risk of developing other visionary problems. If you’ve got this disorder, you need to be really careful to ensure you aren’t too exposed to the sun’s UV rays.

11. Ethnic origins
If you’re from a line of Africans or Asians, then you’re more than likely going to have brown eyes, but it is still possible to have blue eyes. This is possible because of the way that blue is the recessive gene, and so you could go generations with brown eyes, and then out of nowhere, a blue eyed baby comes along!

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