Neno's Award

Beth from bethinquetteart.blogspot.com gave me Neno's Award. I am so humbled by her kindness. Beth had some very kind words about me but to her I say, YOU are the encouragement. Your art and your words feed the soul of many. Thank you for being the person you are, the world shines brighter because you are in it.

Thank you, dear friend :)

Two Icons Gone

Michael Jackson's song "Black and White" will always be a favorite of mine, as well as the video. It is sad to know that the genius will never make another song for us. We were looking forward to his concert debut, we were hoping he had new material and our ears and soul would be nourished once more by his magic. He will be missed.

My heart goes out to his children, they knew the man as no one will. I know they will miss him sorely, he was their world. I just hope whoever gets them does not separate them and gives them plenty of love.

Farrah Fawcett lost her fight against cancer. I enjoyed the show "Charlie's Angels", I liked all three actresses. I loved Farrah's hairstyle and had my hair cut the same. She entertained us and showed the world she could act.

Both these people shared a part of themselves with us and for that I am thankful.

Good Ole Colorado Springs

Well, the city council had their meeting about the coyotes. They put it on the back burner stating that they had more important issues to deal with right now. So, for now they will be left alone.

I love looking at the "back pages" of the paper, this is where they tell you what happened 100, 75 and 50 years ago. If it's interesting I always check up on it to make sure its accurate, just call me the history police :)

Today it had a blurp on the naming of animals at the zoo (we do that a lot here, have a contest for naming a new born animal). The first zoo here, started in 1906 by John Coughlin by 1916 the zoo was made into an auto camp. In 1926 was when my father started what people know today as The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. My father loved animals, the year the zoo opened a marjar from India gave my Dad a white elephant called Empress. I do not know if Empress and Tess were the same elephant or if they were two different elephants.

My dad taught Tess to throw tires, this was great fun until Tess was in a parade and she went after cars trying to throw the tires :)
Tess died in 1936 and she is buried in a pet cemetery on the out skirts of the city. My little mini doxie that died 2 years ago is buried in the same cemetery as Tess.

The last thing in the "back pages" was in 1959 a Gene Vories published his book "Arrowhead Ranch". It's a turn of the century fiction book but the Walsenburg, Colorado ranch is real and was owned by his family. I thought I'd try and find the book, sounds like an interesting read.

Take care everyone.

Things Going On In Colorado Springs

Today the city council are voting to shoot coyotes, the coyotes have to be vicious and you have to have a permit plus you can only shoot them after dusk and before 4:00 a.m. The town is going to h-ll in a hand basket. We will see if it passes, it more then likely will.

The Gazette paper is going after a few institutions, Memorial Hospital was one, they even went to court where the Gazette won. The paper wanted to see some financial papers, the hospital said no. The hospital should have read the new law, they know it now plus they have to pay all legal fees. Now the paper is going thru the police department but just the last couple of years. I wish they would go back to 1959. There was a police officer that was murdered on Monument St. but his car and body was found one street over on Dale Street. There's not a scrap of reporting on it, I had a lead on it a year ago but the person clammed up on me and refused to talk to me about it (I come up against this a lot trying to find out more things about my dad). I'd like to know the officer's name, he saved my life which cost him his.

We'll see how far and long the paper will keep doing this, they just got a new CEO. Will he keep up the good work or put a lid on everything?

Half of the country's state attorneys are coming here, they are going to talk about the country's drug traffic and a few other things. My guess is that they are up to no good but I always feel that way when people who have power get together :)

That's all I've got to say for now, take care everyone

Happy Father's Day, Daddy

When all the veils are lifted
And all the tales have been told
There's a gift at the end of the rainbow
More precious than a pot of gold

Happy Father's Day, daddy

It's A Wild Life Or Is It Wildlife

We live in beautiful Colorado Springs, on the southeast side. It's more of the plains but we have a beautiful view of the mountains. The west side is closer to the mountains and wild animals are always coming down.

It's not unusual for a bear to roam the golf course of the Broadmoor, deer are always grazing on your lawn and we have a moose that likes the creek by Colorado College. Out on the plains you know that there are antelopes, foxes and coyotes. The antelopes are the ones you usually see. Growing up here you believe that it is as natural as the sun coming up.

But, the last few months we have had a fox and a coyote in our back yard. The fox got one of the neighbor's cats, bummer. But, yesterday a young bear got lost and found himself at Wal Mart, he didn't bother with the Citadel Mall which was a hop, skip and a jump from there. He also wandered in a few yards (not ours, thank goodness). The wild life people captured him and took him back to the mountains.

My dogs wouldn't go out yesterday without us, now I know why. Poor Galileo, he just wanted to sit in my lap and he shook the whole time. Just the smell of the bear scared him. This is unusual, for the wildlife to come in so close on the south side. It shows me that they have built far too much and food is getting scarce.

It's a wildlife here :) hope everyone has a good week end!

Bill Maher, No, No

As I have said I am a big Bill Maher fan but his last show I didn't care for.

He blasted Obama for being in the news too much. What Bill has failed to see is that Obama is trying to show America that he is accessible, he's not doing this so America will like him.

Come on Bill, you can do better than that on your show, have Palin on. Oh, no that's a mistake, Palin would demand an apology for everything you said. Then she would turn it into a soap box.

I can just see Palin as President, demanding from other countries an apology. That would go over big. :)

Well Bill, you'll just have to find something else to talk about. You've always been able to put the truth out there for everyone but on this one you're wrong. I think your sources are being paid off by the Republican party.

Till next time people, have a great rest of the week!

The Francis Boies Penrose Story

I would like to introduce you to my Uncle Francis, he was born in Philadelphia, PA in the year 1867 the 5th son of my grandparents. My Uncle had a beautiful talent, he loved to draw. When my grandparents would go on trips without the kids, their nanny would have them write letters to my grandparents. Francis' letter and envelope would have drawings on them. His nickname was Friday.

My Uncle attended Harvard, two things happened to him there. The first was a fellow student with the nickname "piggy" fell in love with him and constantly sent him letters. My grandfather's advice was to burn every letter and discourage "piggy". My grandfather had plans for his brother Boies to become President of the United States and a scandal like this could hurt him. Uncle Francis did as his father said.

The second thing that happened was Francis became very sick, they called it a brain fever(this is what we call meningitis today and a blow to the head can also cause brain fever). He had to leave Harvard in his second year and went back home to Philly, he was eighteen. My grandfather, who was a doctor, had a cure for everything. A change in climate and hard work were his remedies, so when my Uncle Francis was strong enough he was sent to England. My grandmother, who had died in 1881, had family there.

By 1912 my Uncle was 45 years old. He had married and had children, the last one was a newborn. My Uncle got a job on a ship, its name was "Titanic". There were many people on this ship who knew my family well. The only person who did not take this trip was Rockefeller, he was booked to take it but didn't. The richest men in America had a meeting on the fateful night of the Titanic, even the head of the U.S. Treasury was there. They were going to take their money out of America because the government was going to start taxing individuals. A bomb went off in that room killing every person there.

My Uncle knew of the meeting and went to check on everyone. He saw water and dead bodies.

Everyone knows the rest of what happened except what Washington was doing. The bomb was to go off at a certain time, the President had arranged a meeting with my Uncle Boies (who was head of Naval Affairs) during this time. Uncle Boies gets the message the Titanic is in trouble and the President is not going to do anything. Uncle Boies leaves Washington (the President is pissed) and gets his yacht the "Betty". He is able to save my Uncle Francis and a few others.

Fast forward to Washington, my Uncle Francis and the other surviving employees are taken away where they are questioned. My Uncle is tortured, he keeps telling them what he knows and he keeps saying all he wants to do, is go home to his family. I do not know how long they kept him, he had to sign a paper to never talk about what he knew. At one time they were going to blame my Uncle for planting the bomb then they changed their minds. Note: a messenger was sent to Mrs. Astor to make sure that she never mention the meeting.

They released my Uncle Francis, who was tired, in shock and was mentally plus physically drained. He went home to England, when he arrived he discovered his whole family had been murdered even the baby. My Uncle had a complete nervous breakdown.

My family brought him home to Philly where they put him in a mental hospital. There were parts of the Penrose family that would tell people my Uncle was adopted and he was born in New Mexico, that is not true. They did this because people thought it was bad when a member of a family had to be in a mental hospital.

My father brought my Uncle to Colorado Springs in the late 1930's, my uncle's nurse (who had been on the Titanic and rescued also) took care of him till he died in 1947. Mary Marvin stayed on with my family and my mother appointed her to help Fairbanks and Berkey with the book about my Uncle Richard. This book never mentions the Titanic or the letters my Uncle Richard wrote concerning this incident. My dad had wanted them in the book, my mother did not.

My father made my Uncle Francis' life as pleasant as he could and if you look at the picture of him you can see a gentleness about him. So, that's the story about my Uncle from my father and what happened on the Titanic.

Slave Camp

If you have been watching CNN, then you know the story about the WWII slave camp that our soldiers were in. The military made these men sign a paper that they were NEVER to speak about this. The military said it was a mistake, that they never said the men could not talk about it. BULLSH-T, these men were told not to speak about it and its NOT the first time our government has told people to sign a document and not talk about what happened.

My Uncle Francis was on the Titanic and worked on the ship. He had to sign a paper and was told to never talk about it. And that people will be my next post, the truth about the Titanic , my Uncle Francis' story.

And for those people who do not believe in the holocaust: Hitler's men did put Jewish, Gypsy and Gay people in camps, they did kill them, number them, gave very little food to them and experiment on them. This is a reminder to all of us, that when the wrong people have power (those behind the throne) bad things happen. German people are good people with good hearts, the ones in the 30's elected a friut cake, who surrounded himself with more friut cakes. We have elected a few fruit cakes in our time, who made promises. What else is new! The holocaust is a reminder for the world that nothing like this should ever happen again!

It is to remind us not to be animals, to show humane kindness. It is a reminder of what can happen and as humans, we need to be reminded over and over and over.

Uncle Boies

My Uncle was the most famous of all the Penrose's. He was a senator, all he really wanted to be was a mayor of his beloved Philadelphia but that was not to be.

In the 1930's a book was written about him, it was a favorite in women's
book clubs because it gave an inside look on Washington. I liked the book, in fact I have a copy of it. Another man wanted to do a book about my Uncle in the 1950's, he was a broadway producer, writer, pretty famous for the time. He came and talked to my father who was excited about the book. But, something happened and the book was never done, in fact I tried to find the guy. The last thing I found was around the late 1950's, someone tried to kill him. I think they succeeded because thats all I could discover. So much for the book.

So, I thought I would share about my Uncle, this is what he did the last year of his life in the senate. That year was 1921:
April - He wanted equality for blacks. he said that they should be equal to whites in hotels, cafes, restaurants, educational institutions and amusements. They fought him hard on this one.

June - He had gotten Mr Mellon in as head of Treasury and he was doing a bang up job, nineteen countries owed us money and Mr. Mellon had worked out a plan for them to pay it back.

My Uncle left Washington to go back to Philly, President Hoover had left my Uncle with no offices in Washington (I find this very odd because Hoover was a geologist like my Uncle Richard and a friend of my Uncle Richard's).

My Uncle helped with the election of the next Governor of Penn. (I think this was the reason he left Washington)

July - He called for disarmament of the U.S. (World War One had ended). My Uncle didn't believe in war. They fought him hard on this one too.

Sept - He installs a movie theatre in his Washington apartments

Oct - He is trying to get tax bills passed, the Soldiers Bonus bill thru and a corporation tax thru.

On Dec. 30, 1921 Uncle Richard stops by to see my Uncle in Washington. My Uncle is in perfect health, great mood and nothing is wrong. At one minute before midnite on Dec. 31st, 1921 my Uncle is dead.

The papers are full that he was sick, poor health blah, blah, blah. Lies, lies, lies. My Uncles Richard and Charles along with my father get together, they hire people to find out who killed my Uncle and who put the contract out on him.

My Uncle had many enemies, there was a senator who was going to be brought up on treason charges, my Uncle stood up for him and with him (he became his friend after that) but that is the way the Penrose's are, even if our enemies are falsely accused we will stand up and state the truth. But, there were two enemies my Uncle had, they were the Vare brothers (one of them was a senator). The Vare brothers were heavily connected with the mafia, Lucky Luciano was a close friend, the Vare boys owned one of the Philly newspapers and they were involved in what was called "the bloody fifth ward". You didn't have to go far to find out that they were the ones that put out the contract.

Why, my family didn't go to the government I'll never know. Maybe it's because of what they did to my Uncle Francis or maybe they felt there was someone higher up involved because the newspapers weren't printing the truth. No matter, they put out a contract on the hired gun and the man that hired him. For them justice was done.

My Uncle was a loving caring person, he had a great sense of humor. In his younger years he wrote plays and poetry, he even wrote a pamphlet for Barnum on elephants (Barnum passed out this pamphlet at his circus). He never married but he had a lot of mistresses. He loved America and he really loved the city of his birth, Philly. He was never involved with the mafia and he never took a bribe. He had a photogenic mind, he would read something and it stayed there, word for word. All the Penroses had this except me, I remember conversations word for word, I guess the gene said "lets skip the reading material and go for conversations instead" :)

So, there you have it my Uncle and the last year of his life. He was a very good man.

Bill Maher Fan

My husband and I are BIG Bill Maher fans. He always tells it like it is and is totally honest about himself along with bringing out the truth about this country and its people.

He is the only one to come out and tell the truth that W (George W. Bush), was a coke head (cocaine). Yes people, W loves the white stuff. He was a big friend of the Tutts and the Broadmoor was like a second home. When someone does something in my backyard then I know about it :)
And yes its true that he drank a lot also but the coke and booze is not my point because I don't really care about other peoples vices until they are running our country :) but the point is, Bill had the guts to talk about it where everybody else was running away from it in terror.

So, anyway Bill had two Republicans on his show and they were talking about how the republicans are coming up with a new plan(OMG). My husband and I talked about this after the show, the plan that they will problay come up with is World War 3 (they never said what the plan is).

Well, people that means we have to keep Obama in office AS LONG AS POSSIBLE. The Republicans are already trying to screw up what Obama is trying to do. So lets screw the Republicans up by keeping Obama around tell h-ll freezes over. And just a little note of interest, I am a registered republican (it runs in the family), but I vote for the man not the party :)

So, that's my first rant, I have more because a lot was in the news today but I wanted to share about the show we watched :)
Till next time