New Work

New leather necklace we've donated to a help a great cause - Our House - a residential training center for kids who need an extra hand. They are having their big auction event Friday 9-20-13.

Coolsisters of the Month: McWilliams Sisters

The McWilliams sisters - Julia on the right (who later married Paul Child and we know where she went from there); the other, her devoted and much loved sister Dorothy, who led and active, rich and fully engaged life. They stayed close all their lives.  That's cool.

Where did we go?

Wow - where did the time go? We got a bit sidetracked for a spell. BUT...the Coolsisters have not forgotten about you and we are currently in the craft room building new handcrafted one-of-a-kind adornments. Will be posting soon and blogging again very soon.

Bird's nest found

Bird's nest found, a photo by curiouslee on Flickr.

Found

Bird's nest found, a photo by curiouslee on Flickr.

Millfield, Ohio

When we lived in our younger shells, we had a place in Millfield, Ohio, not far from Athens. We were kind of in college but kind of not. It was a slow life. On Saturday nights, we watched the Porter Wagonner show (with Dolly Parton before she was Dolly Parton and when Porter started sporting those Nudie jackets), played a lot of John Prine records, and drove a Corvair without a gas pedal (we just used a cord tied to the gas line under the car and tugged on it to go). We went back last weekend for a graduation and took and picture or two like this classic run-down building, which has been there a long time. We also drove down to the site of the 1930 Millfield Mine disaster when 80 men died one cold day at the Sunday mine. Millfield hasn't changed much but then neither have we. We could have move right back in and been very happy.

Coolsisters of the Month

Let's talk about Britain's fabulous du Pre sisters (HIlary on top; Jacqueline on bottom). Jacqueline was born in 1945 and showed musical promise before her fifth birthday. By age 10, she was studying cello with the greats like William Pleeth and later Casals, Tortelier and Rostropovich. In 1965 she recorded the Elgar Concerto and the London Symphony Orchestra, a recording which established her stardom. Seriously, you should listen to this. In 1967 she married pianist Daniel Barenboim. Tragically she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1973 and began to to deteriorate, she taught but performed less and less. On October 19, 1987 she died at the age of forty-two. She left behind - among other things - incredible recordings, her two Stradivarius cellos and her sister, Hilary.

Hilary du Pre, Jacqueline's older sister also had a natural affinity for music - flute - at an early age, but was overshadowed by Jacqueline. Hilary married Christopher Finzi and lived with him in the country with the family they made. In 1997, Hilary wrote a A Genius in the Family, with her brother Piers, chronicling the complex relationship she had with her sister which included a love affair between Jacqueline and HIlary's husband. The memoir and subsequent movie were highly controversial with many close to Jacqueline disputing Hilary's version of the facts. Hilary stood her ground and in spite of their difficult relationship, felt she had been true to her sister, "When you love someone, you love the whole of them."