Inspiration in the Pine Barrens

I find old, forgotten, abandoned places to be great sources of intrigue and inspiration. Yesterday was spent hiking through the Pine Barrens of New Jersey with my husband, exploring the solitude of the woods and the ruins of Brooksbrae Brick Factory. The factory was built over 100 years ago but never operated due to the owner’s untimely death, and the site it was built upon has now returned to forest on land that is now located within a state park.  Abandoned railroad tracks ran parallel to the old factory site.

The site of the old Brooksbrae Brick Factory ruins reminded me a bit of a site near the house I grew up in where my brother and I used to play.  A factory that had been built there in 1897 exploded and burned down the year before I was born, and the lot remained vacant throughout my childhood.  My brother and I used to go there to pick giant cat tails to use as “jousting poles” while we pretended to be warring knights astride our bicycles.

Inspiration is a Family Affair

This Christmas, after the gifts had been opened, Christmas dinner eaten, and cookies consumed at the big family dinner table… my Dad had one more box to open and share with me.  Since he knows that I like to use antique postcard images as faces for my chenille ornaments, he brought out a few stacks of his recent acquisitions.  I enjoyed looking through all of them and selecting some to borrow as much as I enjoyed hearing the story of how he had scavenged them from the site of an old home that was slated for demolition.

Some of them were inscribed with notes from the sender in English, and some in German.  Some were never sent, and many had 1 cent stamps on them along with postmarks from the 1902 – 1907 range.

Many will provide the inspiration for new ornaments in 2010.  Happy New Year to all!