I thought this pic was hilarious! Marcus & Kerry went hunting this past weekend & posed for this picture. They are two peas in a pod, it was so good to see Kerry & Landon (Kerry's nephew).
We were blessed to have the Pulleys down from St. Louis this past weekend. Tracy, Mike, Isabel & Gibby (the dog) arrived on Thursday night (11-8-07) and in a whirlwind blew through Tuscaloosa. I told Tracy that she needed to come in a few days early or at least hide out an extra day so that they can have a vacay day from their vacations! Whew were they busy! Friday night was dinner at Pepitos with Cheyenne & Aubrey. Poor Marcus had to work late & was unable to attend. Dinner was good, the company was better. It is so good to see Isabel. She has grown so much in the last year. Being able to see this beautiful little girl who was SOOOO tiny & delicate at our wedding and is now a true little toddler bustling around the room getting into mischief is such a blessing. We explored the new Alumni Hall store at Midtown, awesome Bama gear for anyone interested.
For the last few weeks the owner's of my company have been touring Europe. On their travels they journeyed to the Czech Republic. John Hickman, knowing my heritage is Czech, took a whole bunch of photos for me. He came back with beautiful landscapes & buildings. But there was one Christian church that really takes the cake. I have attached the story & the pictures to explain them. It is an amazing & freaky building. But the cause & reason for it is more interesting, it will make you think about years before our time, the journey of those with faith, & the ingenuity of the human mind. Enjoy (also with it being Halloween-time, these sort of fit :) )
This Ossuary chapel is located in Kunta Hora. This chapel with its belonging graveyard had become a well-knownand attractive place to get ones relatives buried in a longtime ago. Why you may ask?.. The answer is to be found in the actions of a certain abbot Henry. In theyear of thy lord 1278 the Cistercian abbot Henry embarked on a pilgrimvoyage to the Holy Land (Palestine). This was more or less common practicefor people of the church at the time. What he couldn't have imagined is theeffect a little symbolic deed that he performed would have on the future ofthe little Sedlec church. While in Palestine abbot Henry visited the Golgotha and from there hebrought back to Sedlec a jar full of earth. He referred to this as 'Holy Soil'.When he got back he spread the earth over the Sedlec cemetery and thus thecemetery begun to be considered as a piece of sacred land. The burial groundrapidly became one of the most popular in central Europe and people from allover the country and Europe came to Sedlec to get buried when they felt thestrength of life diminishing. Many brought their dead relatives or friendsto be buried in the holy soil of the Sedlec cemetery believing that the holynessof the ground was a sure way to guarantee the buried a place in heaven.Many corpses and bones were accumulated this way and especially during thetimes of the plague (the black death) many who were about to die from thedisease came themselves to be buried in Sedlec. By 1318 over 30 000 bodieswere buried there and this gave rise to the creation of the ossuary. The ossuary is located in the All Saints' Chapel built around 1400.The chapel is still surrounded by a functioning graveyard and if youtake a careful look at the top of its towers you will see thatthat a "jolly roger", or a skull and crossbones, replace the usual Christiancross. The ossuary itself dates from 1511 when a half-blind monkwas given the task to gather the bones from the abolished graves andputting them in the crypt to make place for new "customers". The taskmay seem somewhat macabre and unenviable but it served a practicalpurpose. Anyhow - now the material was in store and waiting for anidea and someone to realize that idea. A more questionable task than the one of the half-blind monk was the one of the local woodcarver who as late as 1870 was hired to decorate the inside of the Chapel with the human material (an approximate of40 000 sets of human bones) at his disposal. The name of the artist was Frantisek Rindt and the employer was the Duke (Prince?) ofShwartzenberg. The coats of arms of the family Shwartzenberg was one of the creations evolved from the artists mind. Another one isthe chandelier which contains every human bone in the body, severaltimes over, of course. However questionable the Ossuary - it is real. The bones are real.The feeling of death is real. But also the feeling of peace.Most of the dead in the Ossuary died a "natural" i.e. non-violentdeath and the bones were removed from the ground to give moreChristians the possibility to be buried on holy ground.I'd like to stress the fact that the church is not made of bonesas so many seem to think! The interior is decorated with humanbones but it's a "normal" church made of stone and bricks. I'd also like to point out that it's a normal Christian church supporting and teaching the followings of Christ. It's not some weird cult or Satanist church or anything like that.
Last night I hosted a 'trunk show' for a coworker, Sheila Skelton (hence the SS). She has developed this amazing hobby making jewelry. She uses Dichroic glass to create unique shapes & colorings that are one of a kind pieces. The kiln her husband bought & built in their work shop is used to fire these pieces at 1400 degrees for 12 hours; she then allows them to cool & adds the 'bell' for either earring creation or pendant. She also makes a cheese & cracker display out of a glass bottle that she melts down. It is so cool & such a neat display for company.
Of course, being a girl who lives to create "pretty parties" I jumped at the chance to set up a spread of finger foods & punch. I had about 12 people come in & out for the evening & Sheila did a great job with sales. I want to get the word out & showcase some of her pieces so this entry is doing just that! If any of you see any pieces that you like or even just colors, she can custom make a piece. Do note that it is impossible to recreate an exact of something you see (in case it sells before you get to it) but she can try her best. In my opinion doesn't every girl want that unique piece made only for her anyway?? I sure do.
$25.00 for the 'Bottle' cheese & cracker set
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