Sir Edward Landseer - Victorian painter

Sorry about not posting for a while, it has been very difficult for me to get to computer recently, but in the mean while I have had some time to think of what I should post. I decided to post about a Victorian painter, Sir Edward Landseer. He was well known for his portraits of animals, in fact because of his paintings of the Newfoundland dog, Landseer is the official name for the variety of that breed which he depicted in a painting like this

Saved by Sir Edward Landseer

Besides doing portraits of dogs he also did many of horses. Here is my favorite of his;

The Shrew Tamed or The Beautiful Housekeeper by Sir Edward Landseer

He was frequently commissioned to paint the Royal family and their pets.

Queen Victoria at Osborn House by Sir Edward Landseer

Besides having a obsession with the old things, I also have an obsession with animals, so you can imagine my excitement in finding these paintings.

Frost and Mist - Photography

It doesn't happen very often that you have both frost and mist at the same time, and besides it being not very usual I it is also very neat looking.

March for Life- Washington D.C.

I'm back from my wandering in our nation's capital! I had a great time, it was so inspiring to see so many young people gathered for a common cause, to stand up for something important, to be a witness and to help others realise that Life must be respected. Here is a video time lapse of the entire March for Life, it took about a hour and 31mins. It is really neat, and you just might get glimpse of yours truly.

Also part of our trip was, of course, visiting the various memorials and other tourist attractions. I think of the all those thing I enjoyed the museums the most, especially the Cyclorama at the Gettysburg museum. My most favorite part of the whole trip (excluding the March, because that was absolutely awe inspiring) I would have say that it was the Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine to the Immaculate` Conception. It was the most beautiful church I had ever been in, it was also the largest. We went to the Basilica early so we could get seats, went 4 hours in advance and we still ended up sitting on the floor, so in total we were at the Basilica for 8 hours. I must say that it was worth the wait and that I will always remember it.

Pope John Paul II to be Beatified on May 1st!

I have always been fond of the late Pope John Paul II and when I found this I just had to share the good news! I can't wait until May 1st!

             

     "Pope Benedict XVI has today promulgated a decree recognising a miracle took place at the intercession of the Ven. John Paul II. The beatification ceremony will take place May 1st in Rome, presided by Benedict XVI.

The date, the Second Sunday of Easter, coincides with Divine Mercy Sunday - a Feast Day instituted by John Paul II. The late Pope died on the solemnity, on April 2, 2005.

The announcement of the beatification comes after five years of investigations into the life and works of the Polish Pontiff. " ~ National Catholic Register

This coming week I will be taking a trip to Washington D.C. for the March for Life with a group of other kids. (in case you are wondering why won't being blogging). I'll try to remeber to blog about it when I get home.

Victorian Chatelaine

       What is a Chatelaine? Well its a type of jewelry that was worn by women in the Victorian era. They were  useful little trinkets that also doubled as jewelry. They could be almost anything, a nail file, small notebook, pencil, match case, scissors, needle case, anything that would be useful to a lady of that time. They would look something like this

They would be worn at the waste or at the neck. While I was looking for a picture I came across this cartoon from Punch magazine 1849,

Which makes me think where they really all that helpful? Well, probably not as much as they could have been, but they also had to be pretty and lite so that they could double as jewelry. So far as fulfilling their purpose as being useful and pretty (which is a very hard thing to put in to one object, completely)  they do rather well.