In Walter Knott's Footsteps: Calico (1)

The little town of Calico, near Yermo, California, sprang to life with a silver boom. At it's peak the place had about 1,200 residents. But like most boom towns, things went bust. After a short but lively existance, from 1881 to 1896, Calico quickly faded into a "ghost town," as seen in the photo above.
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In 1951, just ten years after opening his highly sucessful mock ghost town in Buena Park, Walter Knott purchased the entire real ghost town of Calico. He already had a couple personal links to the site. First, he had briefly worked as a carpenter during a short-lived scheme to revive one of Calico's mines. Secondly, Walter's uncle, lawman John C. King helped found Calico and was a key partner in its most productive mine: The Silver King.
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The Knotts rebuilt many of the long-since-missing buildings in town, and added a few additional buildings they thought would help the tourist trade. Like Ghost Town at Knott's Berry Farm, Calico soon had a general store full of tourist tchotchkes, a saloon serving boysenberry punch, a train ride, a gussied-up mine to explore, mule rides, a "Mystery Shack," and much more. In the photos below you can see what the town looked like during Knott's reconstruction effort in the 1950s and what it looks like today. Note that both images are taken from a similar angle to the older image above.
Ultimately, government interference kept Walter from making Calico the kind of financial success he had hoped. In 1966, he gifted the whole town to the County of San Bernardino, and it became a regional park. Today, visitors can see all the layers of the site's history: From prehistoric rock formations, to silver mining boom town, to 1950s roadside attraction, to county historical park. All of it is fascinating. I'll share more Calico photos with you in the coming days.

Gypsy Spot Snow Challenge


This week's challenge at the Gyspy Spot was to use snow or snowmen in a Gyspy created and cut design.  I used my new Snow Friends cartridge along with Accent Essentials and Winter Woodlands to make a Let It Snow layout.


My layout features these two happy dancing snowpeople playing in the falling flakes.  The snowpeople are trimmed in white ink dots and mini pearls.  The blue sweater snowman is trimmed in white pearls, where as the pink and burgundy snow-woman is trimmed in pink mini pearls.  Even snow-women like to be pretty. And don't you just love the striped hat?


The layout title is LET IT SNOW, a cut from the Winter Woodlands cartridge.  The title is embellished with two small silver snowflakes. There are also larger snowflakes falling on the layout.  The largest snowflake was cut in navy cardstock and topped with winter blue cardstock.  The mid-sized snowflakes were cut with a silver metallic base, and a light blue Core'dinations White Washed topper.  The navy sections of the flakes were hand embellished with white pen.


Above is a close up of my snowman doing his winter storm happy dance!



Not to be out done, the snow-woman is doing an Irish Jig as her happy dance!

Happy Monday!


Happy Post-Thanksgiving Monday!  Have you recovered from the turkey and stuffing feast?  I must tell you, with absolutely NO modesty, that I prepared the best turkey we have ever had!  Really.  I brined the turkey and stuffed it with lemons and oranges, onion and garlic, and finally fresh herbs.  It was THE BEST!  Next time I will use a bigger turkey... We ran out of meat far too soon.

As good as it was, and it WAS GOOD, the turkey was not the highlight of the holiday.  I had all three of my "children" home from their various locations.  Aaron, a teacher in another part of the state, was here for just two days due to a Basketball Tournament at his high school.  Bethany was in from the College of Charleston until Saturday night. And Ian went back to college in Atlanta on Sunday.  We also had our friends the Conrads and their new baby daughter Sophie over for Thanksgiving day.  Doug and I learned to play Catch Phrase and Apples to Apples.  We had so much fun that I purchased the lastest versions of both games at Target on Saturday.


Okay, so enough of my holiday.  The challenge cut at Bitten by the Bug this week is the telephone on the From My Kitchen cartridge.  I used various papers from the SEI Winter Song cardstock set to cut my telephone and accessories.  And WHO would I be calling at this time of year?  Hello, Santa?
I am hoping to put in my last minute orders with the big guy.


I added Prima poinsettias and leaves to my card, as well as Season's Greetings ribbons.  I also used my favorite black pen to add a few dots, as well as a copic red marker.  I used red metallic paper for a few of the embellishing cuts.  I also used the Mini Monograms cartridge to cut the scalloped circle tag. 


The good news about this card is IF Santa's line continues to be busy, the card will fit an A2 envelope so I can drop this cardin the post.  There is still plenty of time for a North Pole delivery before Santa's sleigh is packed..

One additional note, be sure to go by the Gypsy Spot.  Today is the last day to register for the Gypsy give-a-way!!  This is your chance to pick up a free Gypsy.  What a great pre-Christmas gift for yourself!!!!

In Walter Knott's Footsteps: Buena Park

Walter Knott and his cousin, Jim Preston, rented land south of Buena Park and started growing berries there in 1920. They soon opened a berry stand and then a nursery to sell berry plants. The before-and-after photos above show the original berry stand around 1926 and that exact same location as it appears today.
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After a while, Jim left to run his own farm in Norwalk. Then Cordelia Knott added a tea room, which eventually grew into the popular Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant (which turned 75 this year). Their daughter, Virginia, opened a small gift shop which grew into a large one. Walter started adding attractions to occupy visitors while they waited for a table at the restaurant. Eventually, this string of small attractions led to a larger one -- A replica of a Ghost Town, which opened to the public in 1941.
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One of the earliest attractions in Ghost Town was the Wagon Train Show, in the Gold Trails Hotel, which appears in the before-and-after photos below. The older photo shows the hotel (new construction, incorporating a few pieces of buildings in actual ghost towns) in the 1940s. The "after" photo shows the recently rebuilt hotel as it appears today.
I won't give you a blow-by-blow account of all the ways Knott's Berry Farm prospered and grew. It's a pretty well known story. Suffice it to say, it was very, very successful, owing in large part to the hard work of the Knott family themselves. The photos below show a later addition to Ghost Town: The Calico Saloon. The first image shows it when it was new, around 1952, and the second image shows it as it appears today.
The Calico Saloon sat right across from the Calico Mine Ride and the Calico and Ghost Town Railroad on Calico Square. Why were all these 1950s and early 1960s additions named "Calico?" Stay tuned.

In Walter Knott's Footsteps: Shandon

The Knott's long experiment in the Mojave proved a failure. Walter took other jobs nearby, including one as a carpenter in a short-lived scheme to revive a silver mine at Calico. (More on Calico later.) But it was clear that they needed a new start -- And that start appeared in the form of a job in Shandon, California, near Paso Robles. Walter was allowed to use a strip of land to raise fruits and vegetables for the ranch hands, and could sell anything they didn't eat. It turned out he had a lot left to take to market. Combined with income from Cordelia's new business making candy for nearby shops, they were soon solvent again.
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The strip of land Walter farmed in Shandon is shown below. It lay between the Estrella River and the home of the ranch owner, which is shown above in its current (vacant) state.
On their feet once again, they were prepared when, in 1920, Walter's cousin Jim Preston suggested they move south and partner with him to start a berry farm near Buena Park. Indeed, without the time they spent in Shandon, there would have been no Preston & Knott's Berry Place (later known as Knott's Berry Farm).
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The photo below shows the Shandon property from another angle. It took Katie and me a good deal of time tracking around Shandon to find this location when we visited last year. My research had only turned up a few sketchy descriptions of the property. Luckily, the guys at the local San Luis Obispo County Fire Station pointed us to a knowledgeable local rancher who in turn led us to the entrance of the Red Cedar Vinyard, where we found the ranch house.
Of course, the Knotts didn't live in the big adobe ranch house. They undoubtedly lived "in town." I never did figure out an address for them. The photo below shows the local United Methodist Church and gives you an idea of the kind of town we're talking about,... Small. Rural. A little bit charming around the edges. There are about 1,000 residents living there today. The ones I met were friendly and helpful.
Old-timers in town still remember the Knotts fondly, and recall being treated with the utmost hospitality when they later visited their old neighbors in Buena Park.

In Walter Knott's Footsteps: Newberry Springs (2)

Today's images are before-and-after photos of the Knott homestead in Newberry Springs. Aside from the small house disappearing, things haven't changed much since the family left. But with no buildings to use as landmarks, the mountains in the distance were our only guide.
The photos above look west and the ones below look east. One wonders if struggling like pioneers in an inhospitable place somehow appealed to Walter Knott (who grew up with his grandmother's stories of coming west in a covered wagon), or whether it was just the free land that appealed to him. Or perhaps a bit of both.
Standing in the middle of the desert, looking at this land, one can well imagine how hard living here must have been for Cordelia. Walter probably didn't enjoy it much either, but at least it was his idea. And as Phil pointed out, "Cordelia was a city girl" and not used to roughing it.

Paris, Guest blogger for Style Society, Giveaway,...

I'm going to Paris for 1 week. You all have a great time. I think I will :)

Meanwhile check out the post which will be live on Monday 30th November. I'm guest blogger for Style Society (by Dorothy Perkins)!!! :)

You can also enter their competition and win a pair of shoes.

You all still have time to join giveaway wich will ends on 10.12.09 and win a handmade scarf.

In Walter Knott's Footsteps: Newberry Springs (1)

The second stop on our Knott trek was the parcel of land Walter and Cordelia homesteaded in Newberry Springs on the Mojave Desert from about 1914 to about 1917. The photo above shows what it looks like today. The Knotts tried to grow grapes here, which proved to be one of their few significant business missteps. However, they still stuck it out long enough (three years) to establish the homestead.
The black and white photos in today's post are from the homestead and show the Knott kids, Cordelia, and the family dog with a number of turkeys. I don't know if I'll get to post again before the 26th, so I'd better make use of these gratuitous gobbler shots while I can.
If you don't hear from me before then (or even if you do), have a happy Thanksgiving!

Teo Jasmin

Lovely Brand called Téo Jasmin contacted me so that I put some of their product on my blog. It wasn't a problem because their collection is really great. Check out their site.

domača naloga

Bodite tako dobri, lepi, pametni in veseli da rešite tole anketo :D
1) skopirajte v gmail, povečajte pisavo,..
2) odgovorite na vprašanja (npr. očrnite pravilne, izbrišite nepravilne,.... po smislu)
3) pošljite na mail: anita.marenk@gmail.com

ANKETA O BLOGIH

Pozdravljeni! Sem študentka slovenistike na ljubljanski Filozofski fakulteti in v okviru Izbirnega diplomskega seminarja iz jezika pripravljam seminarsko nalogo o blogih. Prosim vas za odgovore v anketi, saj mi bodo v veliko pomoč pri raziskovanju.

1. Spol: a) ženski b) moški

2. Starost: a) do 18 let b) 19–30 let c) 31–45 let e) nad 46 let

3. Izobrazba: a) nedokončana osnovna šola b) končana osnovna šola c) končana srednja šola d) končana poklicna šola d) končana gimnazija e) končana višja, visoka šola ali več)

4. Zaposlitveni status: a) zaposlen/-a b) nezaposlen/gospodinja c) študent d) dijak e) drugo

5. Tvoj odnos do bloganja. Sem: a) ustvarjalec/-ka (blog pišem tudi sam/-a) b) komentator/-ka (svojega bloga ne pišem, a komentiram druge) c) bralec/-ka (svojega bloga ne pišem, ne komentiram drugih, a jih samo berem)

6. Katere teme v okviru blogov te zanimajo? (Lahko obkrožiš več odgovorov): a) moda b) računalništvo c) domače živali d) tehnika e) avtomobilizem f) narava g) fotografija h) znane osebe i) film j) šport k) kuhinja l) glasba m) trači n) otroci o) ________________

7. Kako veliko pomembnost pripisuješ aplikacijam, kot so kratki filmi, predvajana glasba, slike, aktivne povezave na druga spletna mesta, na blogu? a) zelo pomemben b) pomemben c) niti pomemben, niti nepomemben d) nepomemben

8. Te prevelika uporaba aplikacij na blogu moti? a) da b) ne

9. V katerem jeziku najraje prebiraš bloge? a) v knjižnem jeziku (zborni, pogovorni jezik) b) v neknjižnem jeziku (sleng) c) vseeno mi je

10. Koliko vas motijo slovnične in pravopisne napake v blogih? a) sploh me ne motijo b) večinoma me ne motijo c) nekoliko me motijo d) zelo me motijo

11. Ali zaradi tega manj bereš bloge, ki imajo slovnične in pravopisne napake?(Odgovarjajo samo tisti, ki so v 10. vprašanju obkrožili odgovor b, c ali d.) a) da b) ne

12.Popravi napake:Stal sem na Prešernovem Trg-u,ovit s zelenim šalom in v rokah držal Slovensko zastavo. Model zraven mene je točil solze. Krejzi, Slovenija in Slovenski nogomet v Južno afriški Republiki. Kaj več si človek sploh ne more več želeti ! Z očetom od Markota bova še danes kupila letalsko karto.

yoox report

I just want to try how it works on yoox so I have ordered 2 plain T-shirts because there wasn't any shipping.

I ordered it on Thursday night. It was delivered this morning (Tuesday) by UPS. -5 days

order
box :D
see by chloe'
dkny jeans
Everything was perfect till I tried on dkny shirt. In the front there was a small hole in it.
Because I don`t want to mess around with shipping again I used the super glue and a button and saved the shirt :)

In Walter Knott's Footsteps: Norco

On Saturday, Phil, Katie and I headed east, out of Orange County (*gasp!*) to do a sort of "Walking in Walter Knott's Footsteps" tour. Our first stop was Norco, where we found the site where the Knotts started a second berry stand and nursery. It never took off like the original Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park. The photo above shows the Norco stand and nursery in about 1930, at the corner of Hamner Ave. and 3rd Street. (They also grew berries not far away.) The photo below shows what the same spot looked like as of Saturday.
Our next stop was in Newberry Springs, on the Mojave Desert, where Walter and Cordelia Knott homesteaded some land and went broke. Then we spent the rest of the day at the old mining town of Calico, which the Knotts purchased, rebuilt, and turned into a tourist attraction in the 1950s. In the coming days, I'll share photos of the homestead and Calico, along with additional information to shed more light on the Knott's story.

Another Cupcake Wrapper - to Enhance Your Holiday Buffet


I know, I know - I'm late!!  It is Tuesday and I did not post my new Custom Crops project yesterday.   I had one new project this week, Poinsettia Cupcake Wrappers. 



I am going to be honest and tell you that this is my favorite cupcake wrapper to date.  They are cut with Plantin Schoolbook and Winter Woodland.... And are just SOOO festive.  I am picturing the top layer of my triple layer server filled with poinsettia wrapped cupcakes!!!  The cut file and complete instructions are available at Custom Crops - just follow the blinkie at the left to my articles at CC.  As a bonus, the cupcake and frosting recipes were also included...... And they are SUPER YUMMIE!!




By the way, today is Pink Tuesday at Custom Crops.  Pink Tuesday is CC's answer to Black Friday... Earlier and prettier!! Be sure to do a little shopping while you are checking out the new projects.



And finally, I wanted to share a photo of the flowers I received today from my husband for our anniversary.  Aren't they beautiful?  He knows I love pink roses.... But not as much as I love him!!!!