Nancy's Notes

Friday, March 14, 2014

Morning Thoughts

This morning I've been thinking...
These are places that I'd like to be this weekend!

The island is not far...doable!

I'd love to go back to London~

Back to Pebble Beach, would be awesome!

Going to the Ranch! Ahh, a glorious and peaceful place to be anytime!

At the ranch with my granddaughters!

Or with my grandsons! A blast, always!

Spending time with grands, daughter in law and daughter! Crazy fun!

Humm, thinking this would be fun again! Watching dress up time, in vintage dresses!

Ahhh, driving in the mountains again to Telluride, Co! Breathtaking scenery, isn't it?

I'll kick back like this cowboy and keep thinkin'!

So, where are you thinking you would like to be?
Do tell~

Have a great weekend!

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Just Silver And Maybe Breaking It~

I'm a little bit crazy about silver and I'm a little bit crazy about history!

Silver In History

The mining of silver began some 5000 years ago.
Silver was first mined in about 3000 B.C. in Anatolia (modern day Turkey). These early lodes were a valuable resource for the civilizations that flourished in the Near East, Crete, and Greece throughout antiquity.
In about 1200 B.C., the center of silver production shifted to Greece’s Laurium mines, where it continued to feed the region’s burgeoning empires. In about 100 A.D., Spain became the capital of silver production. The Spanish mines were the major supplier for the Roman Empire and an essential trading component along the Asian spice routes.
With the Moorish invasion of Spain, the practice of silver mining migrated to a broader range of countries, most of them in Central Europe. Several major silver mine discoveries occurred between 750 and 1200 A.D., including the Germany and Eastern Europe.
The 500-year period from 1000 and 1500 A.D. was one of significant growth thanks to an increased number of mines as well as improvements in production and technology.
However, no single event in the history of silver rivals the importance of the discovery of the New World in 1492. This momentous finding and the years that followed reinvented the role of silver throughout the world.
The Spanish conquest of the New World led to mining of the silver element that dramatically eclipsed anything that had come before that time. Between 1500 and 1800, Bolivia, Peru and Mexico accounted for over 85 percent of world production and trade.
Later, several other countries began to contribute more substantially, notably the United States with the discovery of the Comstock Lode in Nevada. Silver production continued to expand worldwide, growing from 40 to 80 million troy ounces annually by the 1870s.
The period from 1876 to 1920 represented an explosion in both technological innovation and exploitation of new regions worldwide. Production over the last quarter of the 19th century quadrupled over the average of the first 75 years to a total of nearly 120 million troy ounces annually.
Similarly, new discoveries in Australia, Central America and Europe greatly augmented total world silver production. The twenty years between 1900 and 1920 resulted in a 50 % increase in global production, and brought the total to about 190 million troy ounces annually. These increases were spurred by discoveries in Canada, the United States, Africa, Mexico, Chile, Japan, and other countries.
In the last century, new technologies have also contributed to a massive rise in overall silver production. Major breakthroughs included steam-assisted drilling, mining, mine dewatering, and improved haulage. Furthermore, advances in mining techniques enhanced the ability to separate silver from other ores and made it possible to handle larger volumes of ore that contained silver.
Such methods were critical to the increased volume of production, as many of the high-grade ores throughout the world had been largely depleted by the end of the 19th century.
Today, more than 5000 years after ancient cultures first began to mine this precious metal, yearly global mine production averages 671 million troy ounces.

https://www.silverinstitute.org/site/silver-essentials/silver-in-history/

It is Spring Break in our neck of the woods...

Hope to be breaking it!

We are empty nesters, but I still think it's time for a break-

When and where is yet to be determined!

I'll see what Mr. Notes pulse is like this morning!

Will you be entertaining the thought of a little break?

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Pencil Sketch Creations~

Oh my heavens, I was awake most of the night. Don't ask about my Monday nights. Do you ever just sit there with your eyes wide open and think too much?

Blogging and Pinterest helped this insomniac last night.

By the way, are you a Pinterest fan? Please share your board with me and leave me your link.
Here's my link. http://www.pinterest.com/nan4852/

Well, last night, yours truly started to play with photographs in Picasa and that sort of thing...this is what happened-

Some pencil sketches of my photographs that I've taken.

I love this of my mother~

And I love this one of my dad~

Now I'm happy I was awake most of the night...

I would not have thought of working on pencil creations.

Linking....
Inspire Me Tuesday~

Hope you are having a great week~

Monday, March 3, 2014

Dark Thirty~

Dark thirty photograph-

Have a great day!

Sunday, March 2, 2014

A Sweet and Special Sunday!

HaPpY BiRtHday!

Reagan Caroline!

I do not know if you will be a vet, an accountant, an engineer, an architect, a teacher, or scientist or the next president, but I know that you are such a smart little girl and the cutest, prettiest, funniest, most brilliant and happiest girl in the world!

March 2, 2008 was a blessed day~