This is where Andi Carter, the main character of the Circle C Adventures series for kids, shares about her life and adventures in the Old West of the 1880s.
It's great fun when you can find pictures of real kids from history and can use the pictures without worrying about copyrights. Going through old family pictures, we found these real-life relatives that work well to depict a couple of the characters. First, here's Andi at age 9, courtesy of my real-life great-aunt Nada. And a great picture of Chad, courtesy of my grandfather Hubert (Nada's brother).
Just for fun!
Here are a few pictures of some of the places I visited while attending Miss Whitaker's Academy for Young Ladies in San Francisco. I didn't visit these places because I wanted to, by the way. My friend Jenny and I sort of ended up in Chinatown while we were trying to help Lin Mei escape from her cruel slave master. (See Andrea Carter and the San Francisco Smugglers).
I am sharing tiny pictures to get you interested. You need to click on the pictures, which will take you to the full-size image on the original sites. These pictures are copyrighted, and I wanted to be as honest about this as I could. Sharing it this way sends you to the real pictures.
Enjoy!
Click on the pictures to see the larger images! A little mui tsai with a baby on her back. She has to work hard from dawn to dusk.
A busy sidewalk in Chinatown.
A narrow alley much like the one Jenny, I, and the little slave girls got trapped in!
There are many, many openings that lead under Chinatown--dark, dangerous places.
A street vendor "writing" for a child.
And lastly, "Nob Hill," the site of Miss Whitaker's Academy for Young Ladies--up where the rich folks live.
I hope you take time and visit all these places and "see" what I saw in 1881.
Every so often we have to get together and take more pictures for possible future covers. So . . . Taffy, Rosa, Taffy's "owner," the photographer, "Rosa's" mom, and I all got together the other day to play around. Now, whether any of these pictures will ever find their way on a cover of the Circle C books is anybody's guess. But it's fun to at least post some of the fun we had. Who knows? Maybe one day you'll see a book with our new pictures on it.
The weather was sunny but cold. Poor Rosa! Her tennis shoe had to come off and her foot nearly froze. We were there for over two hours. "Taffy" (AKA Star) was a good sport and did everything we asked.
Enjoy the pictures! We like the outdoor pictures the best!
The sun was going down and added a nice glow to the picture.
This post is doubling as a Show and Tell for Mary over at CanadaGirl's blog. I thought it was pretty unique. Stop over at Mary's to see more S&Ts! Oh dear! This poor filly got her head stuck in a tree. For real. This is not Photoshopped! Here is the article that goes along with this picture:
This young filly needed to be freed from the tree after curiosity got the better of her. The horse, "Gracie," was unable to free itself and could have been in danger were it not for a passer-by who came to the rescue after he heard the horse whinnying. Jason Harschbarger, a neighbor in the town of Pullman, West Virginia, USA, arrived at the scene, which resembled the image of Winnie the Pooh getting stuck in the honey tree. Mr Harschbarger collected his tools and was able to carefully set the horse free by using a chainsaw to slowly cut the wood around its neck. Fortunately for Gracie, she was able to escape her ordeal with only a few minor injuries and, according to Mr Harschbarger, is on the road to recovery. Following his rescue operation, Mr Harschbarger told a local television station: "She has a few cuts on her face and ear."
It remains unclear why Gracie put her head into the gap.
I thought I'd post a couple of fun pictures I found. Enjoy!
Here's me at age 7. I don't understand why my mother always put that ridiculous bow in my hair!
Below is a picture of Mitch showing off. This looks crazy to me, but he wanted to prove that his horse, Chase, is faster than an "iron horse." He did beat the train to the crossing--by a hair's breath!
I'm showing Hannah to Taffy. She's actually not such a pest, after all. (Hannah; not Taffy)
My best friend Taffy and me! (Yes, occasionally I have to wear a dress, but that doesn't stop me from riding!)
I hope you enjoyed these pictures. I'll try to put some more up sometime.
Here's a picture of the rattle my brother Mitch brought back for me a few years ago. He'd been up in the hills and stumbled across a large rattlesnake. He killed it, cut off the rattle, and gave it to me. I keep it in my Treasure Box. Don't you wish you had one of these?
Here's the snake before Mitch killed it. Do you see that rattle?
If you want to read about rattlesnakes in California and HEAR a rattlesnake shaking its rattle, click here: CALIFORNIA RATTLESNAKES
It's my cover girl's birthday this month (her 21st, if you can believe that!). To honor her I am going to post a picture of the two-page spread the July issue of Focus on the Family's Brio Magazine printed. So, with no further ado, here it is. Brio did a nice job with the article that she (and I) wrote over a year ago (these things take time to get published).
Jessica, at 16 years old, portrayed my main character, Andi, a 12-year-old. Another trivia fact: Jessica was the first youngster to read my Andi stories (at age 10), so it seems fitting that she should be on the cover.
Happy Birthday, Jessica!
It's probably best that the print is too small to read. I'd no doubt get in real trouble for posting this otherwise. As it is, it's an advertisement for Brio, so how can they object to that? Go on over to your local Christian bookstore and pick up a copy if you'd like to know what the article says.
It's time for some pictures. While up at a school visit, I had the incredible opportunity to visit a 3-day-old palomino foal at the Bar 3 Quarter Horses ranch. Couldn't pass up the opportunity to take some pictures of "Taffy" as a baby. Taffy's real name is Shines Yellow Boy. His mama is San Peppy Doodlebug, and his sire is Shine Like Music. Click here to see some really fantastic pictures of the horses these folks have (and offer for sale, too!): Bar 3 Quarter Horses
Thank you, Robin, for letting me take pictures of your beautiful foal!
Look at Taffy's curly little mane!
Dinnertime is anytime.
After dinner it's....playtime!
Another friend sent me an 18-second video of Star (Taffy's grown-up model) having a good time with the water trough. Sarah said I should post it, so here it is (Thank you, Vicki, for sharing this):
It's great fun when you can find pictures of real kids from history and can use the pictures without worrying about copyrights. Going through old family pictures, we found these real-life relatives that work well to depict a couple of the characters. First, here's Andi at age 9, courtesy of my real-life great-aunt Nada. And a great picture of Chad, courtesy of my grandfather Hubert (Nada's brother).
We like the outdoor pictures the best!
The sun was going down and added a nice glow to the picture.
Star (Taffy) was looking for more carrots!
So . . . what do you think of my new hat? 
All of us taking a break!
Oh dear! This poor filly got her head stuck in a tree. For real. This is not Photoshopped! Here is the article that goes along with this picture:
Look at Taffy's curly little mane!
Dinnertime is anytime.
After dinner it's....playtime!
