A Picture's Worth A Thousand Words

I heard a quote that said, "You don't take a photograph. You ask, quietly, to borrow it."

In seeing these pictures of my grandmother, Edith Matthews Sadler; my grandfather, John Sadler and my great-grandparents Sam & Edith Matthews; I feel like I've borrowed a mere second in their lives. A day that was lived long before I, and even my parents, were born. I will never know what they did that day; their conversations and anticipations or what inspired the person behind the camera to take the shot, but I love knowing that shortly before or after this picture, there was a laugh let-out, a comment made, plans carried on with.

I had the opportunity to know my paternal grandparents, John & Edith ("Edie") Sadler, very well. Their presence in my life no doubt shaped who and what I am today. But as I've grown older, I've forgotten those subtleties about them that I failed to take permanent note of when I was very young. What I do still remember is Granny's lilting, mellifluous voice ushering us to take our shoes off at the door and Pop-Pop's irrefutable presence; steady, seasoned, certain. Granny's signature Estee Lauder pink lips and life-long love of the water as a true Floridian. Pop-Pop's always present coffee mug and just right dousing of Old Spice.

My sister is the spitting image of Granny. They share the same graceful manner and assertiveness. I don't know that I have any outstanding characteristics of her, other than my love of music and the very "Edie" way of walking sideways into someone when walking and talking to them at the same time. I remember her teaching us scales on the piano with the gentle tap of her finger nails on the keys and the painting of the girl on the spiral staircase that hung above the piano.

But all of these memories were things about her from later in her life. I love that these pictures show a shadow of people that I remember well, but who I did not know when these moments were captured.

Edith Matthews Sadler - Stewart, Florida
August 14, 1947
Edith Matthews with a friend
John Sadler Little Edie Sam Matthews (with his foot on the car)
Sam Matthews

Don't count your chickens before they hatch...

I did not know I wanted chickens until I saw this. Let me introduce the Eglu Modern Chicken Coop from Omlet (ingenious name!). "It's an ideal way to keep up to 10 chickens in a town, city or on a hobby farm. It features slide out dropping trays, hose clean surfaces, twin walled insulated, no maintenance and No Foxes Allowed protection. The eglu cube makes is easy to keep a large number of hens and leaves you with more time to enjoy the pleasures of owning chickens."

And what's THIS? That's right... it's a rabbit habitat from Eglu. The company promises happier bunnies and happier humans. Sounds pretty good to me...

But, wait... it gets better. These come in 5 colors to suit every fancy. I love this little company and it's mission to help those with limited space enjoy the benefits of rural life!