sunday in pictures and aunt margarette

Regis and I roasted and froze more than 300 Hungarian hot wax, cayenne, and jalapeno peppers this morning. We have learned to love hot peppers and eat them in almost everything, even our omelets. We got them from Adam and Lupita at Living Land Farm. Here they are in their raw state:

And here they are after being roasted in the oven. We froze them in small vacuum sealed bags so we should have a good supply for the long winter.

They're so colorful and so rich in flavor. Aren't they beautiful?

Regis got a new camera a week or so ago. He sold his old camera on eBay (with a great made-up story) and had some cash from a few projects so it didn't really cost him much. It's an upgrade from the other camera so we're having fun with it. He loves to take pictures and I love to dress up in costumes. We're a great pair.

So, here's what we did yesterday. I tried on all configurations of my costumes and Regis took pictures of me. As I looked them over later it occurred to me that it might be considered weird by some people after all to dress up and spend the day having your picture taken. I know many people who dodge the camera. More thoughts on that later. Here are the pictures.

My Halloween tights.

Parts of my witch costume. Love the purple glitter broom. Oh, and the red wig. I always wanted to be a redhead and this works out better than the hair dye I tried in my youth.

More of the witch costume. I am not completely brainless during this session...I was party planning and have two great ideas for fall and winter parties. I should do this for a living.

Cool shoes with my Halloween tights. I think Regis bought both of these for me.

I'm looking pensive in my devil horns and neon orange tights.

Gus participated in some of the photos. Here he is looking pensively out the window.

Beautiful dog.

This is my leopard director's chair that I inherited from Rachel when she left the district. It's a hoot of a chair but you have to know how to sit in it. It's not a chair for amateurs.

Another goofy hat thing and I guess I haven't even mentioned the wig. This is my Marilyn Monroe wig. It's a tiny bit more expensive and whole more comfortable than a Halloween wig.

Love these tights.

These tights have little flying witches on them.

Black and white Harlequin tights. I'm not sure there are enough days in October for me to wear all my tights.

This morning, as I was roasting peppers and musing about my picture taking propensities, it occurred to me that this might be a genetic thing. I dragged out a couple of old photo albums I inherited from my Grandma Elsie. Here is a small sample:

This is my Grandma Elsie, my dad's mother. Notice in these pictures of her, she strikes the same pose. I'm assuming it's the same picket fence, too. You wouldn't go out looking for a picket fence to be photographed in front of, now would you?

Grandma Else

Grandma Elsie

Grandma Elsie. I never knew my grandma to wear pants until maybe the early 80s. She also would not take a nap during the day if it meant lying down. She would sleep sitting up on a kitchen chair but would not lie on the couch or God forbid, a bed.

Now, this is my Aunt Margarette. I spelled her name Margaret at first, then saw on the back of some of the photos that she had signed it Margarette. She was my dad's father's sister, if I remember right. Do not use this information for any genealogical research as it is only accurate as far as my memory goes which is not far.

Margarette likes to dress up and have her picture taken. Some of these are from the 1930s when I imagine film and film developing were not cheap.

When I was growing up, we got holiday cards from Margaret. I remember we kind of snickered at her posing and fancy ways. Hmmm.

Margarette lived somewhere in St. Paul when I was working in White Bear Lake. I spoke to her on the phone only one time and never met her.

This is a great pose and not the only photo I have of Margarette perched on the fender of a car.

Margarette looking pensive.

Wish I knew where this was taken.

They hauled the piano bench to the yard for a photo session. Good idea.

I have on a pair of shoes similar to this in the photo with the witch tights.

Maybe I could get my picture taken on the counter at River Rock.

Margarette might have been a character, I'm thinking.

She looks a little innocent here. Maybe it was in her younger days.

Love the signature.

Funny that I don't have any pictures of her with another hair do. I suppose the albums I have only span a certain number of years.

So, that's it. This is the German-Irish side of my family gene pool and I am quite sure there is a similar cast of characters on the Norwegian side. I'll do a little research and report back. Just wanted you to know that none of this is my fault...the costumes, the photo sessions, the love of cool shoes. It's my gene pool...that's my story.