It's A Very Cherry World!

REDNESDAY

2012-02-14T09:22:00.014-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day, my friends! A wonderful thing about Blog Land is that we are loved and cherished by each other every day. Reading blogs can always cheer me up when I'm down!

I was pretty much out of it, as far as crafting, this Valentine season. Didn't really get into it until last week, and I didn't feel like scurrying so I only did a few. After I opened my box of Valentine tags from swaps the past few years, I regretted not having a swap this year. Next year, for sure!

This is the one I made for Jade (the little girl I babysit). I was so excited to find the heart with her name on it at the country store last week. It's the perfect touch! The background is from a paper tablecloth I found as a yard sale leftover last summer.

When a friend moved about five years ago, she asked if I could hold on to a few quilts/comforters for her. She never returned for them, and I can't seem to track her down. This quilt (machine stitched) is so ragged that I doubt it would make a good cutter, but it has such cute patterns that I thought I'd show them to you. By the way, if anyone wants it (or a part of it) for a cutter, let me know and you'll only have to pay postage!

THE LITTLE ICE AGE ( OR CHRISTMAS REVISITED)

2012-02-11T10:23:00.012-05:00

Have you ever heard of "the Little Ice Age"? I hadn't until yesterday when I was reading my Farmers' Almanac. But, more on that later (bear with me).

I know Christmas is long gone, but you obviously know that most of the U.S. has less than a 50% chance of seeing snow on Christmas in any given year. Of course, in many areas, the likelihood is much lower.

Then, why did the writers of all those wonderful carols and songs use words such as "dashing through the snow in a one-horse open sleigh" and "please have snow and mistletoe".

Of course, the holiday as we know it today saw a renaissance during the 19th century. In both Britain and the U.S. there was a push to reintroduce many of the long abandoned Christmas traditions.

Charles Dickens, Washington Irving, and Clement C. Moore played a large role in the recasting of the ideal Christmas. And thanks to the intermingling of cultures in the U.S., and the marriage of Queen Victoria to German-born Prince Albert, Germanic Christmas traditions found wider appeal.

By the time the 19th century was over, Christmas was moved from being out of favor in the U.S., to being an important national holiday.

Now, while all of this was happening the planet was in the thick of a phenomenon that climatologists have named "the Little Ice Age". This was a period of time from the mid-16th century until the late 19th century, when the entire world was much cooler than it is now. During this time glaciers grew larger and winters were longer and colder across the globe, and snow fell in areas where it once hadn't.

Canals and rivers in Great Britain and the Netherlands were frequently frozen deeply enough to support ice skating and winter festivals. The Norse colonies in Greenland starved and vanished (by the 15th century), as crops failed and livestock could not be maintained through increasingly harsh winters. The first River Thames Frost Fair was in 1607. In the winter of 1780 New York Harbor froze, allowing people to walk from Manhattan to Staten Island.

Many springs and summers were cold and wet, although there was great variability between years and groups of years. Crop practices throughout Europe had to be altered to adapt to the shortened, less reliable growing season, and there were many years of dearth and famine.

In North America, the early European settlers reported exceptionally severe winters. For example, in 1607-1608, ice persisted on Lake Superior until June. The journal of Pierre de Troyes, Chevalier de Troyes, who led an expedition to James Bay (between Quebec and Ontario) in 1686, recorded that James Bay was still littered with so much floating ice that he could hide behind it in his canoe on July 1.

So, thanks to the Little Ice Age, white Christmases were much more common 150 years ago (when many of our Christmas traditions were taking shape) than they are today!

Sources: Farmers' Almanac, Lewiston, ME and Wikipedia

REDNESDAY

2012-02-07T10:44:00.012-05:00

Hello everyone! Meet the twins . . .

The one on the right I've had for many years, can't even remember where I got her. The week after Christmas I knocked her off the shelf and had to reglue her skirt. Mister can't understand why I don't just throw away broken things. (He just doesn't understand!) The one on the left I picked up at the thrift store last week for $2.00. A broken bell in her hand but, who cares? Not me! Now both can live brokenly ever after!

EDIT: I remembered this quote that Stitch says in the Lilo & Stitch movie: "This is my family. I found it all on my own. It's little, and broken, but still good. Yeah, still good."

At the same thrift store outing, I got this picnic hamper for $2.50! I just wanted the thermos in it, but the lady said they had to go as a set so, for the price, I took them. I threw away this hamper as it was a cheap, broken one, and transferred the goodies to one of my vintage Redman picnic baskets.

This is a Thermos brand thermos, but was made in England - along with all the other items in the basket.

A pretty vintage handkerchief purchased on the same trip for $1.00.

More trip items - a cute little brooch and an adorable felt bag that holds . . .

a measuring tape!

WHOOPIE PIE RECIPE + SUPER BOWL FARE

2012-02-05T13:36:00.011-05:00

Gee, I thought "everyone" has heard of whoopie pies! Here's my recipe, which was my mother's, from back in the early 60's.

WHOOPIE PIES

Preheat oven 350F

Sift together:
2 Cups flour
1 tsp. baking SODA
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 Cup baking cocoa (Hershey's, etc.)
1 Cup sugar

Add one egg, 1/3 Cup oil (vegetable, canola types), 1 tsp. vanilla, and 3/4 Cup milk

Grease one or two cookie sheets, even if they're non-stick. Drop mix on sheets, like you would cookie dough, with a heaping tablespoon. (I use a serving tablespoon, not the measuring one.) Bake for 12 minutes. This will make approximately 24 pie halves, or 12 complete pies. Oh, by the way, they look like cookies, too, but soft!

FILLING:

1 Cup Confectioner's (powdered) sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
3 Tbsp. Marshmallow Fluff (no substitutions)

Mix the butter and sugar, then add vanilla, then Fluff.

This makes exactly enough filling for the amount of pies in the recipe but, personally, I like a lot more filling! You may want to add an extra half, or whole, recipe to make more filling.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Now, for those of you who don't know what Fluff is, it's . . . sugar, basically! It might not be available everywhere, so check some online whoopie pie recipes for alternate fillings.

I don't know about the rest of the country but, here in New England, we all grew up on fluffernutters - the ultimate in 60's comfort food! I still eat them often! Fluff was created right here in Lynn, Massachusetts!

Here is the website for Fluff, if anyone is interested in the history or recipes. They even have a "Fluff Finder" to locate places to buy it.

Now, with my New England Patriots playing in the Super Bowl tonight, I had to decide on what Mister and I will be eating. We don't do any "parties" - just the two of us, so it's usually just chips and soda. This year I decided to make meatballs in the crockpot for subs (hoagies, grinders, etc.),

and I splurged and bought some beer! Mister doesn't drink at all, and I just drink occasionally because it's awkward around him but, this is the Super Bowl, man!

(click here for the history of Sam Adams beer)

Foxboro, Mass., which is the home of the Patriots, is two towns over from where I live. I grew up in the town between Medway and Foxboro - Norfolk (or as we say in this state, Norfawk!) - and we could hear the cheering at the stadium, or concerts, if we were outside!

I just realized that Fluff, Sam Adams beer, and the Patriots are all local yokels! It's definitely a home-grown weekend. I sure hope my team wins tonight!

WHOOPIE PIES!

2012-02-02T17:35:00.004-05:00

I made Whoopie Pies this afternoon. I love these delectable things!

Not enough frosting, though - next time I'll 1-1/2 or double the recipe!

Wish I had a heart-shaped pan to make some like these from Williams-Sonoma.

Late this afternoon, Katherine and Becky went over to their grandmother's, down the street, for supper. K's diet consists mainly of bagels and cream cheese (the Asperger's and Sensory stuff, y'know). She decided she wanted to try some "new" food, so mo-in-law cooked her some chicken, baked potatoes, and corn. Becky walked home after about 20 minutes because nothing looked good to her. K's been there for about an hour and a half. I hope she comes home with a new food added to her short list!

REDNESDAY

2012-01-31T11:25:00.012-05:00

Make sure your reds are "posted" today!

A few Valentines to show you today. I decorated this fabric-covered box last year and, I loved it so much, that it's been hanging in my pantry/craft room all year! I dusted it off and brought it out to the kitchen for this holiday season.

Here's a close-up of the inside ~

My vintage celluloid fan, that I still know nothing about!

And a pretty little February angel with beautiful feather wings!

Now, yesterday, I received this package in the mail~

And inside that package was this package~

And, inside this package, was a beautiful vintage tablecloth!

A wonderful gift from an awesome blog friend - Holly of Cutie Pie Cottage! Isn't this pattern pretty? I love it! Thanks so much, Holly! I'm sure Smokey will love sleeping on this one, too, lol!

PAPER BAG JOURNAL - FAIRIES!

2012-01-30T09:54:00.014-05:00

Yesterday was Jade's birthday, and she's now 8 years old! For a gift, I made her a paper bag book, because she loves the one I made last year (here). She also loves fairies, so I made a fairy book out of an old calendar and some note cards I had. Here it is:

"Lavender loves to dance!"

"Buttercup loves to sing in the sunshine!"

"Wild Cherry loves to . . . play hide and seek in the tree tops!"

After church yesterday, Becky and I stopped at Friendly's (family restaurant) to get some ice cream. I said to her, "Wouldn't it be funny if Jade and her mom were here, because they live close by and come here occasionally." Well, about 30 seconds later, in walks Jade, her mom, sister, and grandmother, for a birthday lunch for Jade!

Smokey's Hideout

2012-01-28T17:18:00.001-05:00

Note to self: remember to keep linen cupboard door shut!

REDNESDAY

2012-01-24T10:41:00.009-05:00

I swear, kids have much better fashions these days than adults! I'm always finding the cutest outfits in the Girls section at stores. Jade showed up yesterday with this adorable red hoodie, covered in bling . . . soooo cute! (beside it is my red coat and scarf)

Last night I made a cat house for the cats. Chloe decided to take up residence in it, so Becky moved it up to her room, because Chloe is her cat. Here, I took a picture of Becky taking a picture of Chloe!

So far, we haven't seen much snow this year - this little guy will have to do! We had six inches (15cm) of fluffy white stuff on Saturday, which is almost completely gone today. Yesterday was 45F/7C and today will be 50F/10C. The china set in the cupboard is Homer Laughlin 'duBarry' pattern.

When I was at the thrift store a few weeks ago, I found this canister on the floor in one of the back rooms filled with utensils. I asked if it was for sale, and they said yes! The tin money box was an eBay UK purchase a year or so ago - love the graphics!

ANNIVERSARY GIVEAWAY WINNER!

2012-01-19T07:28:00.003-05:00

And . . . (drum roll, please) . . . the winner of the Rednesday 3rd Anniversary giveaway, which was chosen by a random number generator (my 19-yr-old), is Jann of Have a daily cup from Mrs. Olson!! I'm sure this is enough stuff to fill her cup! Congratulations, Jann!

REDNESDAY

2012-01-17T14:44:00.009-05:00

Welcome to Rednesday! We had a surprise snowfall during the (Monday) night. About 1-1/2" (4cm), but most of it melted during the day. I forgot to show you these melamine plates I picked up on clearance after Christmas. They were at the grocery store, and they're so darned cute that I had to get four! I think they ended up being 20 or 30 cents each. They will be used for teacher treats next year.

Katherine (19) and her best friend went into Boston this past Friday to the New England Auto Show. They had a blast! K bought these three model cars as souvenirs. The red and blue are Lamborghinis, and the police car is a Corvette.

That's all for now! Oh, and I will be picking the winner of the Anniversary Giveaway tomorrow!

THERE'S A NEW KID IN TOWN

2012-01-15T14:03:00.010-05:00

Hi! My name is Cherry and I'm new in town. I'm a little shy, but I love to make new friends. Do you like my pretty new dress? It was made just for me!

I even got a new pair of patent-leather shoes with cherries on the buckles!

I've got something behind my back. Can you guess what it is? Tee, hee! (I love secrets!)

A bunch of cherries, of course! They're my favorite snack . . . I wonder why?

Peek-a-boo! Look how tall I am! I'm such a big girl!

Where did I come from? Do you even need to ask? I'm an ImagiMeri Creation, of course!

Meri had a give-away this past Fall and Sue won. She got to choose from a variety of images and she chose me! This is what I looked like before I came to life:

I kinda look like a cross between Shirley Temple and Little Orphan Annie! I needed a new dress so Sue asked Miss Meri if I could have a red one with cherries on the front. I'm so happy! (And, so is Sue!)

Meri - thank you so much for your divine creation! I was expecting something small, maybe 6 inches, but this blew me away - she's awesome!!

JANUARY PAGE-A-MONTH BOOK

2012-01-13T16:05:00.010-05:00

Amid all the hectic-ness of my life I managed to finish my January pages. For the cover, I finally settled on this wedding-style photo album that I got at the thrift shop. It has a canvas texture, and I haven't even thought about how I'll decorate this cover yet.

I took out the pages and the binding so I can open the covers flat. I'll use some large rings to hold it together when I'm done.

I decided on a two-page spread for each month because I think that will be more of a challenge! Each page is 10" x 8-1/4" cardstock, and here is my January:

The papers, border strip, bird and deer cutouts are all K&Company. I love their stuff! The "Happy" and "First" words are from Jenni Bowlin bingo cards. The two stars are Martha Stewart and the bling is from Michaels Craft Store.

This gorgeous nordic page is what made me decide to go with large pages. I love it so much that I didn't want to cut it up - I love both the bunnies and the deer! And, of course, I didn't want to cover it up so that's how I went with two pages.

To me, January is a month to relax and do "nothing". Normally, here in New England, it's a snowy and cold month. So, after the December holidays and before Valentine's Day, school vacation and seed-starting, I enjoy the quietness of January. I like to read magazines and seed catalogs and rearrange my house decorations!

My printer is still down (I have to call HP to get repair help), so I wasn't able to print out some vintage pics that I wanted to use, but I like the look of this "quiet" January spread.

If you have done, or are going to do, a January page, please leave a comment on this post so I can see your work!

REDNESDAY'S ANNIVERSARY!

2012-01-10T13:33:00.014-05:00

Guess what? Rednesday is 3 years old this week!

Woo, hoo, let's have a party! My first Rednesday post was January 14, 2009. So, for my anniversary, I'm going to have a give-away! (Naturally!) This is open to all you red lovers, and here's what you'll be getting:

I was in Jo-Ann Fabric the other day and saw this pretty cut-out felt heart and thought it would be great to include. That made me look for some more red/Valentine stuff while there ~ the red and clear bling hearts, the Valentine clear stamp and backing, a fat quarter of a red print fabric, the Queen of Hearts pad of paper, the heart ribbon, and . . .

the K&Company dimensional stickers.
There is also a handful of vintage checker pieces, a package of vintage red piping, one vintage doll clothespin, a pair of vintage clip-on earrings, two 1-inch floral "badges" (pinless), a 5x7" paper scrapbook, and . . .

five sheets of 6x6" paper from the Cosmo Cricket Odds & Ends Mini Deck!
Everyone who leaves a comment will be entered. I'll leave the giveaway open until next Wednesday, and announce the winner on Thursday the 19th. Good luck!

I'm working on my January Page-of-the-Month and will show you in a few days.

REDNESDAY

2012-01-03T19:04:00.007-05:00

Jeepers, is it Rednesday already?! I'll blame it on the Monday holiday. That usually throws me off.

Well, the good news is that I ordered my new camera from Amazon and it should come this week. Then I can start taking lot of (clear) red pics again! For now, I'll leave you with a few of my favorite cherry images ~

The Graphics Fairy

Green Paper

by artist Cicely Mary Barker

HAPPY NEW YEAR, BLOGGERS!

2011-12-31T17:41:00.012-05:00

Auld Lang Syne, loosely translated "for the sake of old times", is a Scottish poem written by Robert Burns in 1788. I was looking for a picture in my blog archives and ended up reading a bunch of posts from a few years ago. That was fun to look back at them!

My favorite New Year's Eve memories are from when I was a child in the late 50's/early 60's. My mom was one of six kids and would have a party every year with her brother and sisters, their spouses, and one or two close friends. It was good, clean fun and they never overdid it with their drinking. They danced and laughed all night long, waiting for Guy Lombardo at midnight!

I'm one of six kids also! We couldn't wait until the morning after to see who could get the best spoils: party hats, noise makers, swizzle sticks, and stale chips! These were like gold to us kids!

In my 20's I would go to respectable nightclubs with friends. The type of club where you would don your (long) evening gown and listen to Sinatra, Streisand, etc. type of music. Those were good times, too!

After I became a Christian, the church I attended would have a gospel sing-along until midnight. I really enjoyed those!

Nowadays I stay home and enjoy New Year's Eve on Africam. South Africa has their midnight at my 5:00 p.m., so I get to "party" with them for hours!

I hope you all have the healthiest year ever and may God bless you all with prosperity! (and I'm not just talking $$$!)

REDNESDAY

2011-12-27T15:19:00.008-05:00

Happy week after Christmas/week before the New Year!

I'm tired! Are you? Note to self: never offer a set of dishes on eBay ever again! Why, you ask? Because I made a stupid mistake of not changing the weight of the item on the eBay form and the set was listed as being between 1 and 2 pounds, instead of the 24+ pounds it really was! So the lucky buyer only paid $7.15 for shipping three boxes of dishes instead of the $29.14 that it really cost! Merry Christmas to him! Plus, it took me a few hours to wrap each piece in bubble wrap and box them up. Mister couldn't understand why I didn't just contact the guy and tell him about the mistake but, I said, it's just that - my mistake, not his. Live and learn!

I did have a very enjoyable Christmas. The (4) cats got a 6-foot cat tower.

Mister got a subscription to the New England Patriots weekly newspaper.

Katherine's big gift was an X Box 360, but her best gift was a "vintage" Banjo - Kazooie game for the old Nintendo 64 system from her sister!

Becky got mostly games for Wii and her Nintendo DS, and clothes. Mister got me this beautiful tea cup, among other things, and some money towards a new camera! Yahoo! Jade's mom gave me a $25 gift cert to A.C. Moore, and my mo-in-law gave me a $100 gift cert to Michael's - of which I spent most of it there yesterday!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T18:43:00.000-05:00

A REDNESDAY CHRISTMAS

2011-12-20T08:13:00.012-05:00

I hope you all have the best Christmas ever!

I call this a "tag-oration"; a tag that's a decoration. I save my Christmas cards each year, and this one was screaming "patriotic" to me! So I pulled out some K & Co. patriotic pieces for the bunting, stars, and the circle (which is raised up). The tree on the bottom is a K & Co. 'Clearly Yours' dimensional sticker. The bird holding a Merry Christmas message was cut from my Cath Kidston catalog. I glued it onto card stock and is raised up also. Some extra glitter and a stars hanger, and let the banner ever wave! Carol, I thought of you as I was making this!

It was definitely a tag-full month! They're so much fun to make and make great gifts, too. These next two are for the high school secretaries. They're made on 6" x 6" chipboard pieces. I just love the three kids peeking over the fence!

These two are for the two crossing guards I see every morning and afternoon when I take Jade to her school.

This little snow globe-without-the-snow thing is made from a 1-1/2" high by 1-3/4" wide plastic cover to a hand sanitizer pump bottle. It's for Becky's teacher assistant.

The teachers, secretaries, and crossing guards will also be getting a bag of goodies consisting of brownies with peanut butter chips, white chocolate-dipped pretzel sticks, and a few other little home-made goodies!

In the next few days, Katherine and I will be making Transformer cupcakes for Christmas! LOL!

Katherine wanted to decorate the tree this year. Needless to say, most of my beloved vintage ornaments never made it to the tree! :( But Keroro did! He's the green frog on the top of the tree - a Japanese animation character.
Once again, I wish you all a very merry Christmas, and may you and yours be blessed beyond measure!

NEW - 2012 Monthly Craft!

2011-12-16T09:31:00.010-05:00

My January page is here.

Okay, I know it's not even Christmas yet, but . . .

Do you remember, in 2010 Elizabeth, of Creative Breathing, did a monthly Tag-A-Long, making one tag for each month of the year?

And, how recently, Lindsey of Two Crazy Crafters made a book called December Daily, here and here?

Well, I am going to make a "book-a-long", if you will, in 2012! I will make a book, probably 6" x 6" approximately, with a page for each month of the year. I haven't decided if I'm going to make each month as one page or a two-page spread (like the photo below). I don't even know if I will make my own book, use a blank journal, or a vintage book.

I'm going to call it the Page-of-the-Month Club and you are all invited to join in! There will be no rules, no themes, no color schemes, no deadlines. Whatever floats your boat, as long as you do each month's page during that month. There will be no sign-up or Linky, but just post each page on your blog so others can see your progress. When I post mine, you can leave a comment about yours so I know to go see it. Above all - have fun! I look forward to seeing your creativity during the coming year!

Here's a smaller pic you can use on your sidebar.

REDNESDAY

2011-12-14T11:39:00.008-05:00

Sorry I'm late! Do you believe that I forgot what day it was? Busy Christmas shopping, decorating, and cleaning has got me turned upside down! (But, in a fun way!)

How many of you are Cath Kidston fans? I certainly am! I thought I'd share some of her Christmas items with you this week.

This is a delightful dish towel, and below it is a matching apron. Who wouldn't look great in this apron?

Love these bluebird mugs!! I'd "kill" to have the blue one!

These are the best looking slippers I've seen in my life!

Wouldn't it be fun to have these tags on your gifts this year?

MY SECRET SANTA & TAG SWAPS!

2011-12-11T11:20:00.006-05:00

My goodness! Are you ladies (and gents!) as busy as I've been this past week, getting ready for Christmas? On top of regular life, and dog sitting Bentley, it's been very tiring - but a good tired!

It was so exciting to receive two tags and a Secret Santa package this week! I'll start with the tags.

The one on the right is from Linnea of Neabear and B'Daddy's Nest. The one on the left is from Wendi of Soul Delights. Such beautiful details on both of them! Linnea made hers double-sided, too!

I was surprised when Wendi also sent along a redwork towel and a hand-made tote bag! And, also a Ghiradelli chocolate bar! ;) Thank you, ladies!
Again, sorry for the poor photo quality. It breaks my heart that I can't afford $100 to buy a new camera. Would you believe my printer/scanner is down, too? It just won't turn on - don't know if it just needs a new power cord or if it's something more serious. As you all know, a camera is vital to blogging! But, I'm the type that can make do and carry on!

Now, on to my Secret Santa gifts! I joined the Secret Santa Soiree this year. I received the most wonderful gifts that were tailor-made for me!

In the background is a folded square tablecloth made from red bandanas! I absolutely love it! Look at that scrub brush in the center ~ her dress is the holder! Ingenious! Three vintage Hitchcock mystery magazines - I can't wait to dive into those. At the bottom is a beautiful card of a teacup with cherries on it, and a (real) teabag inside! To the left of that is a pair of vintage red-capped S&P shakers with cherries painted on them - I squealed with delight when I saw these! Beside the scrub lady is a most wonderful hand-made pillowcase of a sunbonnet girl with a cherries print skirt. I'm going to hang it like a dishtowel! On the case is a (not-hand-made) tag of sunflowers that says Sunshine on a Stem. I like that saying! Right above that is a juice glass with a cherry on it - perfect!
The rest of the items in the pic are pretty gift bags and ribbons that these items were wrapped in. My Secret Santa wrote little notes, one for each item - I enjoyed reading these so much, it was a nice personal touch! I tell you, I couldn't have picked out better items for myself - well done, Secret Santa! And you know what? My S.S. didn't reveal herself! But, I know who she is! ;)

REDNESDAY

2011-12-06T13:06:00.019-05:00

Today I'm going to share some Christmas images that you might like to use!

CHRISTMAS TAGS AND BENTLEY!

2011-12-02T13:03:00.007-05:00

Ladies, are your tags mailed out yet? Today's the mailing deadline. My tags are all gone, now I can't wait to receive!

Katherine is dog-sitting her cousin's dog while she's on vacation this week. I forget what kind he is, but Bentley is a cute little white fluffball! Yesterday was our first day with him and things were quite hectic around here, what with the four cats feeling quite put out by the whole ordeal!

Mister has a new job after being unemployed for three years. He's doing shift work at a beer bottle manufacturing plant. A far cry from biochemistry! But, it will pay some of the bills. This week he's on the graveyard shift (midnight to 8:00) which doesn't coincide well with Bentley's barking at the cats! Oh well, the dog will be gone before we know it.

He sure liked playing with the empty cat food bag!

(Santa, I need a new camera for Christmas!)

REDNESDAY

2011-11-29T11:37:00.009-05:00

I can't believe how many of you have Christmas decorations up already! I wish I did! But, with all the warm weather we've been having here in New England (Today was 65F/18.5C, and my Fairy Rose bush is still blossoming!), I really don't feel like it. I can't imagine living in a warm climate year-round!

I love getting sidetracked sometimes. I was all set to post this around 1:45 this afternoon when Mister said, "Let's go to the thrift store". So we went and I got some cool stuff to show you!

My camera is still not working properly. Non-flash shots come out white, like over-exposure. Flash shots have horizontal lines throughout. I have no idea what these are all about. Here we go:

How about this wooden cherries garland? I LOVE it, of course! A pretty Teleflora compote with roses, and a figurine of a girl (or angel) playing a red flute. The "wings" are giant bows that go with the jacket she wears.

This is the Scripture on the front of her dress:

A pretty gold and roses Lefton plate, a wood box that once had Christmas cards in it, and a box of small red candles. A happy day for me!

REDNESDAY

2011-11-22T13:50:00.010-05:00

I'm so upset! There's something wrong with the exposure on my camera and the pics are coming out white. I was going to take some pics of my Thanksgiving preparations, in red, but now I will be making pictoral substitutions!

I started out my day making coffee in my red Cuisinart coffee maker. Then I poured it into my Cath Kidston red spotty oversized mug.
I pulled out the Endust and a red flannel dust cloth and set to work in the living room!
After dusting, I opened my recipe box and found my recipes for Apple Pie and Sweet Potato Casserole. Wednesday is baking day!

I was going to show you the red McCoy cookie jar that I got at the thrift store a few days ago for $3. Just imagine this one in red, without the lid and metal handle!

REDNESDAY

2011-11-15T13:55:00.009-05:00

My turkey died on Sunday . . . the little fellow in this picture had a mate, but Becky knocked it over accidentally and it smashed to smithereens.

On the same day, which happened to be my birthday, Mister dropped and broke my yellow Fire King bowl! He said that instead of giving me china for my birthday, they were getting rid of some!
Now I have to get a replacement yellow bowl - we use that one all the time.

Mister had this maraschino cherries jar in the barn and decided, recently, to let me have it. I soaked the label off and filled it with my vintage wood and spun cherries!

Here's a clean image of the lid in case anyone wants it!Oh, by the way, thanks for all the offers to be my tag partner! I chose Wendi of SoulDelights, because she was the first one to respond.

CHRISTMAS TAG SWAP PARTNERS

2011-11-13T09:36:00.011-05:00

Okay, ladies, here we go! I couldn't wait until Monday to list your partners. We have a healthy list of 22 of you! Hooray!

Here's your partners:

Ruby Jean of Ruby Jean and Donna of Donna's Lavender Nest
Mamatkins of (no blog) mamatkins@hotmail.com and Cheryll of Gone Stitchin'
Linda Ruthie of Linda Ruthie's Aprons and Sara of Different Randomness
Susie of Little Susie Home Maker and Deb the Garage Sale Gal
Carly of SwtVintageLove and Sharon of My Vintage Studio
Lynn of Life On the Wienee Ranch and Mary of Visits With Mary
Tammy (no blog) and Chris of Perfectly Printed
Anne of A Shabby Life and Mary who is Ms. Redo
Shirley of Zetta's Aprons and Toni of Blue Mountain Rise
Janice of Curtains In My Tree and Hope of Pixies Ponderings
Tammy Gail of Wholly Surrendered and Myrna of My Enchanted Home
Wendi of SoulDelights and Myself

Now, you all know what to do! Let's get crafting!

The link to the original post with all the instructions and deadlines is here.

(NORTH) AMERICAN CHRISTMAS

2011-11-10T11:02:00.014-05:00

As the holidays approach, the giant foreign factories are kicking into high gear to provide Americans with monstrous piles of cheaply produced goods - merchandise that has been produced at the expense of American labor.

I believe that this year should be different. North Americans should give the gift of concern for their fellow countrymen by purchasing Homeland-made products.There is no longer the excuse that, at gift-giving time, nothing can be found that is made and produced by American hands.

It's time to think outside the "gift" box, everyone!

Who says a gift needs to fit inside a shirt box wrapped in Chinese produced wrapping paper? Everyone gets their hair cut, right? Give gift certificates to your local barber shop or hair salon. And, while on that subject, there are manicures, gym memberships, eyeglass frames. Know someone with a back problem? Give them the gift of a chiropractor visit - bliss!

Use your imagination - we all know that gift cards are available for "everything" - restaurants, movie theatres, and car wash/detailing owned and operated by your local American working guy. You can even make your own gift certificates for things like lawn mowing/raking, driveway plowing or sealing, golf lessons, cleaning lady for a day, or even a tune-up by a local computer technician.

Think you can't find anything Made In America anymore? You're on the internet right now, correct? Just type into your search engine "items made in the U.S." or "items made in Canada", and you'll have no problem! I know there's a store in New York called Made In America Store. You can visit it, or shop at their online store. And, of course, don't forget your favorite ETSY shoppes!

And, what about your holiday decorations? Do you really need to buy more boxes of light strings and baubles marked Made in China? Home-made and bought, baby!

You see, Christmas shopping should no longer be about draining American pockets to fill foreign ones. Christmas buying should now include caring about your fellow countrymen, and encouraging American small businesses to keep plugging away to follow their dreams. When we care about other Americans, we care about our communities and the benefits that come back to us in ways we can't imagine.

(P.S. - I got this idea from an email I received this week - not my originality!)

REDNESDAY

2011-11-08T10:26:00.009-05:00

Welcome everyone! Snow and cold are gone here. It's Indian Summer - yesterday was 60F/15C, today is supposed to get up to 68F/20C! I'm lovin' it!

I'm sitting here at the computer with one of my Africam cams on, watching Wildebeest and Impalas at dusk. Three Giraffes wandered through a few minutes ago. With Daylight Savings Time, South Africa is now 7 hours ahead of me so, while it's 11:00 a.m. here right now, it's 6:00 p.m. there.

This first set of photos I took on my way back from church on Sunday. Someone new moved into this house within the past year and, recently, he put out some interesting yard decorations . . . and I love them!

The first is a 1940's Farmall tractor. The owner said it originally had steel(?) wheels instead of rubber tires because of the war effort.

This awesome Texaco Sky Chief gas pump has been restored. I forget if he said it was from the 30's or 40's. His two dogs were running around and jumping all over me so it was hard to focus! Notice the hydrant on the right - probably for the dogs!

We never got around to talking about this old fire truck, because our discussion had turned towards the dogs. One of them had snuck through the invisible fence and was sauntering down the street! I had a nice visit with them all!

I forgot to show you this first aid kit last week, from my auction stash. I don't know the year, but it's got some cool stuff inside!

Don't forget that Friday, Nov. 11, is the deadline for signing up with the Tag Swap! ;)

IN GOD WE TRUST

2011-11-04T22:36:00.003-04:00

What's God got to do with it?

The House voted 396-9 this week to reaffirm as the national motto the phrase "In God We Trust" and encouraged its pronouncement on public buildings and continued printing on the coin of the realm. The motto was made official in 1956 during the height of Cold War hysteria over godless communism.

" . . . it would seem that Americans are more aware today than half a century ago that it's up to us to secure our freedom through enlightened secular policies with practical social applications rather than faith-based hope in empty mottoes reflecting an era gone by." (NOT!)

Click HERE to read what else Michael Shermer has to say in the LA Times about this!

REDNESDAY

2011-11-01T12:45:00.014-04:00

Just a bit of mid-week humor, folks! Happy November!

I'm showing you the rest of the auction reds today. This is a colorful vintage cake tin in usable condition, I was happy to discover - the inside is very clean with no rust.

It's joining the collection in the Pantry now.

This is the cookie jar I mentioned - it's Red Riding Hood. There is no maker's mark on it. Some eBay-ers say it's Hall, but I don't know for sure. I will be selling this as I already have a few cookie jars that I'm happy with. She's in perfect condition, except for a chip on the inside rim.
This is a wonderful collection of old, wood, Fisher Price toys from the early 60's. I'll be selling these, as well - still undecided about the carousel in the back left - it's awfully cute!

Last is this wonderful child's seat/stool. Adorable graphics! Included is a close-up of the graphics in case anyone wants to use it.

MADE IT THROUGH!

2011-10-30T21:13:00.010-04:00

We had a Nor'easter last night (Saturday). We were suppose to get between 6"-12" (15-30cm) of snow but, God was gracious, and we only got about 3 inches. Lost our power between 5:30 a.m. and 9:45 a.m. There was no church this morning because they lost their power, too! In fact, there are 123 schools in Massachusetts that don't have school tomorrow (probably due to power outages) - mine is not one of them, :( .

I was so surprised to see that some of my flowers still weathered the storm! I went outside after lunch and here's what I found:

I can't believe how hardy these petunias are! They were covered with snow this morning, and bounced right back! (Well, sort of. They're a bit droopy, but the petals are fine.)

Geranium 'Mr. Wren' still going strong, too! Love the shadows in this pic.

And this Lantana, too! It fared much better than the Marigold did.

Fairy World is none the worse for wear, either. I think Jade will be happy about that!

Yesterday morning, I was smart enough to get some cuttings before the weather changed. I'm glad I did! As I was walking through the kitchen this evening, I caught a waft of those wee little roses smelling up the room - it was so pleasant!

Besides the rose buds, I cut Cosmos, Nicotiana, Calicarpa, Mums, the last blue Scabiosa, Marigolds, Pineapple Sage, and the light pink Chrysanthemum 'Sheffield Pink'.

SNOW AND FIGURINES

2011-10-28T16:34:00.010-04:00

Hollyhocks and Petunias

It snowed last night! October 27th! The temp went down to below freezing; it was 30F/-1C this morning. It was only an inch but, still, it was frozen to the truck and I had to scrape with a kitchen spatula (vintage, mind you) and pour water over the windshield because the defroster wouldn't kick in fast enough!

Even here in Massachusetts, we rarely get snow in November, let alone October. The earliest that I remember snow was about 16 years ago when it snowed on my birthday, November 13. We're expected to get 2-5" more tomorrow night (Saturday). This is unheard of . . . and I won't stand for it! (I better go lay down.)

I'm glad I took cuttings on Monday, although these geraniums surprisingly made it through the night. The tall one in the back still has a blossom on it!

Now, for the pleasantries of vintage figurines that came from the auction last weekend.

I'll be selling these pretty pink Made-in-Japan candlesticks on Etsy soon. The angels will be added to my Christmas figurine collection.

All of these ones are Lefton. The feather wings on the February angel are in perfect condition, and I was so excited to get a November angel! The birds and choirboys will go on Etsy, also.

Now, this pretty little "tussie-mussie" is only about 1-1/2" across and so old-fashioned. This was in that suitcase of doll clothes.

And, finally, this armillary, which was my most expensive single item ($15). It stands about 24" tall and, when I went to pick up my items at the end of the auction, I found out it had a Home Goods sticker on the bottom - on clearance for $22! Oh, well, I've always wanted one. Mister will polyurethane it for outdoors next Spring.

All in all, I spent about $45 at the auction - the suitcase with doll clothes was $5, a box of vintage Fisher Price toys (that I'll show on Rednesday) was $4, some tin cans were $4, and the armillary $15. At the end, the auctioneer said that all the leftover items could be taken for a donation. I gave $15 for all the figurines, a vintage child's stepstool, a vintage cookie jar, the vintage handkerchiefs, and a vintage 60's full first aid kit. Pretty good haul this time around!

That's making me feel a little bit better about the snow! . . . NOT!

I'm linking this post to Pink Saturday this week!

CHRISTMAS TAG SWAP

2011-10-27T09:25:00.010-04:00

The link to the list of partners is HERE.

Welcome to the 2011 Christmas Tag Swap! This will be easy-peasy, just like the Autumn Swap we did recently. In fact, I'll just transfer directions from that post to this, so I don't have to retype them!

NOTICE: If you love tag swaps, but don't celebrate Christmas, sign up and ask your partner for a Winter (or Hanukkah) tag swap instead! I'd hate to leave anyone out of this.

1. You will be making one tag to swap with one person. (If you want to make more than one tag for your partner, that's up to you.)

2. Sign up in the Comments section or by emailing me.

3. Sign up will be for two weeks, from now until Friday, Nov. 11 (although I always accept stragglers!). There's no limit to how many may join, as it's a one-on-one swap.

4. I will list your partners on Monday, Nov. 14.

5. Mailing deadline will be Friday, Dec. 2 - that gives you three weeks to make and mail!

6. Once you receive your tag, post it on your blog. There may be one or two who have a partner without a blog - please post the tag you make for them, too! If you want to view others' tags you can go to the Partners post that I'll make, with everyone's blog link on it.

7. Now, because this is Christmas, you certainly may send your partner any goodies, of any kind, that you'd like to!

8. Contact your swap partner for her mailing address. If you have any questions or concerns, please let me (or your swap partner) know!

Newbies, here's how to make them:

~ You can make them as simple or as elaborate as you want.
~ They can be any shape. Don't go larger than 6"x 6" or it won't be considered a "tag". Most people make their tags 3"x4" or 4"x6", though.
~ You want it to be sturdy, not flimsy, so your best bet is to use a piece of cardboard as a backing - many cut out from cereal boxes, etc. - that's a good thickness.
~ Glue sticks or double-sided tape work well for adding paper on. You'll need a stronger glue, or glue gun, when adding embellishments.
~ Print out pictures from the internet and/or use scrapbook papers found at craft stores. Oh, and a word of caution, while you're at the craft store you'll want to bring home a ton of little do-dads to add on - so take lots of money, lol!
~ A piece of ribbon or string to hang it with and, voila, you've got yourself a tag!

Let me know if I have forgotten anything, and please feel free to advertise this on your own blog - the more, the merrier!

REDNESDAY

2011-10-25T10:03:00.020-04:00

Welcome! Mister and I went to the semi-annual auction of our favorite thrift store. I got lots of "good stuff cheap"!

We bid on this box of old rotary dial telephones for a friend who is a serious phone collector. Nobody else wanted them, so we stole them for $2.00. I'd love the red one!

Two knee huggers, a Santa (made in Japan), and a ceramic bird salt shaker.

Some wonderful vintage hankies ~ one with a "K" for my Katherine!

This is, I believe, a child's suitcase. It measures 10-1/2" x 14" x 5-3/4", and has a cool faux snakeskin pattern on it. The metal tag says "Shortrip" and it was stuffed with doll clothes and accessories, of which I'll have to sort through. I love old cases - they're great for storage!

This is my favorite item, that I got for $4.00. A 1947 little portable sewing kit. It is sooooooo cute! Awesome bright, bold graphics that I love. It's in very good condition, especially since it's 64 years old! (Hmmm, reminds me of a Beatles song!)

I wish it still had the scissors, but beggars can't be choosers. There's some fabric scraps under the cardboard that someone was practicing on - looks like 70's type fabric.

Here's Betty! She comes with the case, so I assume you got to make doll clothes with this kit.

That's all I'll show you today. I have more reds from this auction that I'll show next week, and some pretty figurines and stuff that I'll show you in between!

* * * * *

Now, heads up everyone! I'll be presenting my Christmas Tag Swap in the next day or two, so be on the alert!

ANOTHER CHERRY BLOG!

2011-10-23T20:52:00.003-04:00

I received an email from Sue in Dublin, Ireland - she has a blog called CherrySue, Doin' the D o! I've added it to my Cherry Blogs list, and you must go visit her!
I love meeting new cherry bloggers!

CRAFT FAIR ITEMS

2011-10-20T21:48:00.011-04:00

A local nursing home/rehab has a holiday craft fair every year where the residents make stuff to sell. This year they put out the call for family and friends to help out, so I made some tags and a few other items to donate:

This "frame" is a bamboo coaster. I love the Tea tag - just might make one for myself!

The butterfly here is 3-d, but you can't see it. I love how pretty the bead fringe looks from the camera flash! On the Shine tag, on the bottom ruffle, I used two Fastenater staples. The Fastenater was on clearance at Michael's recently; originally $30 marked down to $10 - not worth $30 in my book, but I love it!

These are mini composition notebooks.

Some Christmas ornaments make with wood stars.

I made these wands last year to sell on Etsy, but the pics on the printer paper blurred slightly from the decoupage. They're good enough for the craft fair, but (someday) I'll make more with clearer pics for Etsy.

I also made this simple Autumn banner. I tried to stay away from making Christmas items, as everyone does that.

When I bought the Fastenater, I also picked up this 12" pad on clearance. Originally $14.99, marked down to $4.99; when I got to the register it rang up as $2.99. Now, that's a bargain! And a very pretty one at that!

REDNESDAY

2011-10-18T12:53:00.008-04:00

Welcome! I love this chipmunk illustration - just had to use it again!

It's been a slow-starting Autumn this year in New England - it still feels like late Summer. I just hope Winter doesn't surprise us! I have a few Autumn flowers to share today.

A nice deep red mum ~

Sedum 'Autumn Joy' matches the shed nicely!

Pineapple Sage getting ready to open~
I don't know about the rest of the country, but this Sage always opens in November for me. It's early this year. Pineapple Sage is an annual - I take cuttings each year to grow over the winter.

Now let's see if I can persuade Mister to mow the lawn! ;)

I'M FEELING GRAY TODAY

2011-10-16T11:45:00.007-04:00

I'm feeling gray today, but it's a good kind of gray. Harkerware Pottery gray, that is!

Earlier this year, Mister came home from the dump with a truck-load of dishes that someone had left there in the free section. This set is the Harkerware "Pate Sur Pate" pattern, and there are four dinner plates, bread plates, cups and saucers, and a sugar and creamer. All are in perfect condition! The tea cups are not those tiny useless ones, they're a bit larger, probably 8 ounces.

They look great with the yellow accents. And, coincidentally, Mister had picked up these grey leaf juice-size glasses about a year ago. I had tucked them away thinking they would eventually go on Etsy because they didn't match anything I had. Now they do! They have a cursive L on the bottom, which I'm assuming stands for Libbey.

(Yes, I took the dead flower out of the vase!)

So, if you're ever feeling a bit gray . . . go buy china!

REDNESDAY

2011-10-11T18:00:00.009-04:00

But, better late than never! I was shoveling dirt back into my barn garden.
Over the past month, I took all the plants out and either relocated them or put them in pots. Then Mister put in a drainage pipe and rebuilt part of the stone wall.

flickr photo

I had asked him to dig out a boulder (or "very large rock") for me, and he decided to dig out all the dirt and screen it, because the soil was very rocky.

Then, I began with a layer of leaf mold a few inches deep, then covered that with a few inches of soil, and wetted that all down with the hose (so the cats wouldn't use it for a bathroom).

There's a lot more to do . . . putting the rest of the soil back, mixing some perlite and manure in it, and then replanting the bulbs and potted plants. I'm tired!

flickr photo

I GOT MY TAG YESTERDAY!

2011-10-05T19:34:00.008-04:00

I'm so thrilled! My partner in the Autumn Tag Swap was Lynn of Life On The Wienee Ranch! She did a fantastic job here, lots of details, and double sided!

She also tucked in these adorable stickers ~

And, you'll never guess who they're made by. None other than our dear blog friend, Jenny, of Everyday is a Holiday!

This is the tag that I sent to her:

Can't wait for Christmas swaps to begin!

REDNESDAY

2011-10-04T13:09:00.008-04:00

Welcome everyone to the first Rednesday in October! The air here in New England is cool and crisp! Just right for a visit to the apple farm, which I might do on Friday as there's no school.

Y'know, I like my blog friends so much that I'm willing to take the shirt off my back for you! Which is exactly what I did in order to photo it! A cute little screen printed, long-sleeved, t-shirt that I recently picked up at K-Mart.

These little scarecrow buddies seem to be having a good time. I think the two on the left are sharing a private joke!

I have slowly been filling up my wooden spool jar with finds from yard sales and thrift stores. I'm just about at the top!

Last week I showed you a red transferware mug. Here it is (on the right) with its two buddies.

I showed you my Impatiens a while back. Here they are all filled out in the planter, which is an ice bucket stand!

AUTUMN TAG SWAP PARTICIPANTS

2011-10-01T08:37:00.003-04:00

I hope you're not getting tired of seeing Autumn Tag Swap posts!

Participants - I know some of you mailed out your tags late (which is OK) and missed the deadline for linking up. I added another Linky to accommodate you (and me!) - it will be open through Wednesday. It is at the bottom of the same post here.

MORE YARD SALE STUFF

2011-09-30T11:54:00.009-04:00

Here are the rest of the items that I picked up at yard sales and thrift shops last weekend.

A pretty, chipped, serving dish. I've been told that this pattern is a Homer Loughlin Harlequin, but I haven't seen any of that pattern in this shape. If you have a clue, let me know, because I have four small plates in the same pattern. Also, a Bombay Company swag.

A green metal mug tree, that I'll probably use to hang tags or ornaments on, and an Anchor Hocking Wexford wine or liquor bottle that's 12" tall, to add to my Wexford collection.

A Red Rose Tea/Wade Pottery "January" snowman figurine (1-6/8"). I have the blue "July" Uncle Sam figure, and Katherine has some of the older animal ones. Did you know . . . that the bottom of the figurines are ridged (or graded) to strike matches on? How thrifty!

A pretty "shabby" fake birdcage that has a door that opens, and the top opens, too. I need to decide what to do with it now!

Last is this lovely vase with a girl feeding a bird. There's no sticker so I don't know who made it - Lefton, maybe? The vase is kinda in the shape of an open book.

REDNESDAY

2011-09-27T10:14:00.010-04:00

Welcome to another Autumn Rednesday! Did you see on my right sidebar that I won ImagiMeri's giveaway? I'm so thrilled! She will make a statue based on a picture that I chose. Her work is awesome! Go check her out!

I did a bit of yard sale-ing and thrift shopping this past weekend. At my fave thrift shop I found these three vintage ornament boxes - and this was on Monday! Don't know why nobody scooped them up over the weekend, but they're mine now! Although I did have to do a bit of taping and glueing.

These are the other reds I picked up ~ a length of Pokemon "Pikachu" flannel fabric for Katherine, two little elves, a 1969 Snoopy mouth harp (which will go on my Etsy), and a Meakin red transferware mug (this makes #3, so I now have yet another official collection!).

Now, personally, I don't celebrate Halloween, but I do love all the vintage graphics! I found this through Google a while ago (forget where) and thought of all you Halloween decorators and just knew you'd like to have it for a label! (yeah, I know it's more orange than red!)

Last, I have a silly little photo of pretty birds eating out of a wheelbarrow! This is a live feed camera in Australia called Backyard Galah Cam. They have the prettiest birds Down Under! It's about 2:00 a.m. there as I'm typing this at noon EST. I took this photo earlier this week.

Now it's your turn!

AUTUMN TAG SWAP LINKY

2011-09-26T19:31:00.004-04:00

Sorry it's so late in the day, ladies! I had forgotten about the link until Tammy reminded me! I'll leave it open all week, so you'll have plenty of time to post the tag you received. I don't have mine yet; but, then again, I didn't check the mail today!

FIRST DAY OF AUTUMN!

2011-09-22T22:56:00.016-04:00

Today, Friday, is the first day of Autumn! I made this accordion book recently and was waiting for the equinox to show it to you.

I started with this blank accordion book that I got at Big Lots for $1. You could just make one with heavy cardboard or chipboard, and card stock. As you can see, the covers are a bright turquoise, so I took some tan craft acrylic paint and went around all the edges to hide the turquoise. (You can see the painted edge on the right side.)

(Sorry, but I'm not a step-by-step photographer!)

I began with a variety of scrapbook paper in Fall colors, cut to size, and decoupage glued them to the book. After every two facing pages, I'd fold up the book and put a heavy book on top for a few hours, so the pages didn't warp. I also left the heavy book on at night until I was done with all the gluing.

I chose the alphabet letters from Clipart ETC, sized and colored them on the computer (I use paint.net instead of paint shop - it's free!), printed them out and glued them onto the scrapbook paper. I still used the heavy book.

I purchased some gold colored blingy sticky-flowers (Jolee, I think) and placed them on the flowers of each letter.

I also got some rub-on words for Autumn, rubbed them onto paper, tore around the edges, and glued onto the pages. Unfortunately, the rub-ons were cheap and didn't stick well, so after these little pieces of paper were glued and dried, I carefully decoupaged over the paper pieces to keep the letters intact.

I added a few more embellishments here and there and then went to work on the outer covers. I picked up a nice brown swirly blingy thing at A. C. Moore for the front cover. Again, the word was rubbed on and decoupaged over. I should have decoupaged the whole front cover, but I was so eager to put the bling in place, that I forgot!

The last thing I did was decoupage over the tan paint that was my first step - to prevent the paint from coming off the edges.
And, there you have it! I decided to keep it on this table, but used the piano for photos because the lighting is much better!

P.S. - TAG SWAP LADIES - I hope you all have your tag in the mail! Yesterday was mailing day!

WORLD RHINO DAY

2011-09-21T23:19:00.011-04:00

WWF is dedicating the second International Rhino Day, on 22nd September, to the brave men and women who devote their lives to defending rhinos. They are true heroes and we salute them.

Did you know

the world's rhino population

has declined 90% since 1970?

Four of the five species of rhinoceros are in danger of extinction in the wild, due mostly to illegal trade in rhino horn and increasingly, to habitat loss. If not for conservation efforts, there would be no wild rhinos alive today.

Four of the five remaining species of rhino will become extinct in the wild in our lifetime if we do not take action to stop poaching and support rhino conservation.

Rhinos in crisis: Rhino horn is NOT medicine!

Education about rhino horn is desperately needed.

We need to teach people to stop thinking of rhino horn as a valuable commodity and start focusing on the facts. Rhino horn has no medicinal properties, no curative benefits, and no magical powers.

* * * * * * * * * * *

I enjoy watching the rhinos come to the water holes at my Africam locations - the babies are adorable, believe it or not! So, you can see that I have a personal interest in rhinos. (Even though my favorite African animal is the cheetah!)

Here's a photo I took last year.

This is from last month.

REDNESDAY

2011-09-20T10:00:00.012-04:00

I have a shelf above my computer that I painted white with red trim. Some of my "collectibles" are stored there ~

Mister picked up a computer desk some months ago and this little glass jar w/lid was in one of the drawers - so cute! It's just shy of 2" tall.
What? Do you think I wouldn't buy a Jessie Pez? LOL! The mushroom guy is a Steinbach; and the ceramic cottage is a measuring spoon holder sans spoons.
The oriental cat teapot wears my name bracelet that Jade and I made last year. The old red rabbit was purchased for 25 cents at a yard sale on Saturday. I've never seen a red rabbit, and . . . if you look close, there are yellow cherries painted on its' chest!! You know he was just waiting for me to buy him!

REDNESDAY

2011-09-13T14:14:00.009-04:00

Photo courtesy of 2 Crazy Crafters

Welcome to another Rednesday! I'm getting into my new school routine, getting up before 7:00 a.m. for Jade's arrival, getting her fed and dressed to go to school at 8:30. Come back to take Becky to the high school at 9:00. (Right now she's there for two classes a day and we'll try to up it a class every few weeks, and hope that's not rushing her too much.) Pick her up at 11:15; pick Jade up at 3:00 on Mon, Tues, and Wed; then she leaves at 6:00 those days. She doesn't come Thursdays and Fridays, so it's like I have a long weekend each week!

What's red this week? Well, a new dotty spotty rug for the door - that no one likes except me. Even the cats were afraid of it the first day! But, hey, for $4.50 on clearance at Wally World (WalMart), they'll all have to suffer with it!

I also picked up these adorable mushroom plant-waterer-thingies at my local Ocean State Job Lot for $1 each. They have holes on the back side of the top mushroom for water, but I'm just using them for decoration.

Next, is my latest red purse, that I got at a thrift store about 3 or 4 months ago.

A simple display of Fall decorations.

Mister found this vintage Pepsi bottle . . . guess where? . . . on the side of the road with some stuff! It goes nicely with the Red Rock bottle that he picked up some months ago. (I keep saran wrap on my bowls on the top shelf 'cuz I hate to dust!)

And, my coleuses looking ever-so-grand in front of the graceful Kiss-Me-Over-The-Garden-Gate (polygonum) flowers!

What's on your red plate today?

VICTORIAN SUMMERHOUSES

2011-09-11T12:48:00.010-04:00

Do you like any of these: arbors, summerhouses, gazebos, or pavilions? I have a book called The Classic Garden by Graham Rose, that has a chapter on Arbors and Retreats, and I'm enjoying it immensely! These structures are so dreamy! I scanned a few pages of illustrations for you, so you can dream with me!

Here's some of what the book says about "Inside the Victorian Summerhouse":

"Normally, reading was an activity confined to the library, study or drawing-room. Taking tea was a ceremony that usually took place in the parlor. Therefore in the belle epoque [this time period], merely reading a book or taking tea in a summerhouse had something akin to heresy about it and it induced an exciting sense of mischief. This was amplified because the weather in those northern regions where summerhouses were most frequently built was only rarely kind enough to make using them a pleasure.

"But even when the decision to use the summerhouse had been taken, the ripple of anticipation of a more relaxed feast in the garden was mitigated by the fact that a large element of ceremony still had to be preserved. Flawless, well-starched linen would cover the table. Genteel cutlery and crockery would be used and a maid in a pinafore and cap would ensure suitably deferential service.

(photo from sissymaids.groupsite.com)

"To stage such a tea party, a summerhouse had, in many ways, to be designed to resemble a parlor. It had to be large enough to seat up to eight people in some comfort. So that they could all enjoy the garden view, it had to have large windows on most of its sides. In very hot weather it had to be suitably ventilated, which meant that the windows had to be capable of being opened to create a through draft. Adjustable roof-ventilation was often provided to allow rising heat to escape. Under adverse conditions on windy days the summerhouse had to be suitably snug. Apart from the main table and chairs, there also had to be shelf space for such paraphernalia as kettles heated by spirit lamps to provide hot water to replenish the tea pots. By modern standards, tea in the Victorian summerhouse was hardly a spontaneous affair."

Phew! That sounds like a lot of work to me! Give me my Diet Pepsi and a sandwich any day! But, it would have been wonderful if you had the servants to do everything for you. Which is your favorite of these illustrations? I think mine is the Gothic Summerhouse - love those windows!

AUTUMN TAG SWAP PARTNERS

2011-09-08T11:10:00.014-04:00

Partner time, ladies!

Deb, Garage Sale Gal and Chris, Perfectly Printed
Renee, My Vintage Mending and Bitsy, Bits of Ribbon
Trisha, Glass Slippers and Janice, Curtains In My Tree
Linnea, Neabear and Jo, . . . and a cherry on top
Sandy, 521 Lake St. and Tammy, Tammy's In Love (Tammy, please send Sandy your email)
Lynn, Life on the Wienee Ranch and myself
Ruby Jean, Ruby Jean and Tammy Gail, Wholly Surrendered

For those of you new to tag making I've added a few pics below, of tags that I've made in the past, as samples.
~ You can make them as simple or as elaborate as you want.
~ They can be any shape. Don't go larger than 6"x6" or it won't be considered a "tag". Most people make their tags 3"x4" or 4"x6", though.
~ You want it to be sturdy, not flimsy, so your best bet is to use a piece of cardboard as a backing - many cut out from cereal boxes, etc. - that's a good thickness.
~ Glue sticks or double-sided tape work well for adding paper on. You'll need a stronger glue, or glue gun, when adding embellishments.
~ Print out pictures from the internet and/or use scrapbook papers found at craft stores. Oh, and a word of caution, while you're at the craft store you'll want to bring home a ton of little do-dads to add on - so take lots of money, lol!
~ A piece of ribbon or string to hang it with and, voila, you've got yourself a tag!

Contact your swap partner for her mailing address. If you have any questions or concerns, please let me (or your swap partner) know!

You will have two weeks to make the tags and have them mailed out no later than Thursday, Sept. 22nd. On Monday, Sept. 26th I will open a Linky post so we can all share our tags on our blogs.

REDNESDAY

2011-09-06T11:51:00.013-04:00

Happy September Rednesday friends! It's almost time to get out your cosy sweaters and sweatshirts for the Fall! I've started getting out some of my Fall decorations; or, should I say back-to-school dec's ~ my display thermoses, and also my Royal China Memory Lane dishes with acorns around the rims. I don't know if the smallest thermos, on the right, belonged to a picnic set or something ~ it is a Thermos brand, but it says "Happy h Home" and has W's all over it (which I know stands for Wickett!)

I finally found something to do with my big, wide, red rickrack. I'm displaying "the Queen's jewels" on it right above my computer!

Cookbooks and a vintage little wheelbarrow!

This was a nice treat a few nights ago ~ male Oblong Winged Katydid! They don't like to be found. I don't know what he was doing up on my deck, but I sure surprised him when I let the cat in!
This one is 2 inches/5 cm long. If you don't know what the Katydid sounds like, go to this page, scroll down to "Some Memorable Songs" and click on the graph for common true katydid.

REDNESDAY

2011-08-30T15:19:00.016-04:00

Welcome! Today/yesterday (Tuesday) is the first day of school in my town. Which was quite a surprise, because there are still many streets, especially main routes, that are blocked off due to down trees and power lines from Tropical Storm Irene.

The school's message was "Some streets in town may not be open for bus traffic. Parents are encouraged to seek the nearest available open bus stop or transport children to school. Parents are encouraged to closely supervise students at bus stops and when walking, since there may be electrical wires remaining on roadways and sidewalks, from the storm." (Now, how dumb is that?) They should have waited an extra day.

Yesterday, I got Conrad (our red Chevy 4x4 truck) all spiffied up for the first day of school!

(I wish he looked like this!)

Katherine named him a few years back. Mister used to have a pit bull, Baby, that his dad had brought up from Florida. The dog was kept at their commercial property in the next town. Mister would go walk her through the woods every day, and get her every Saturday to go to the dump with him. Well, Baby was just that - a big, lovable baby! She loves people, but doesn't like other dogs. Every time she saw one she'd get all excited and hyper, and her outlet was to chew on the truck interior!

So, Conrad got some spiffy new duct tape yesterday!

Two years ago, Mister's dad took the dog back down to Florida with him. The truck still smells like dog on a humid day! Can you see how the passenger seat looks darker than the driver's? Dog!

AUTUMN TAG SWAP

2011-08-30T14:12:00.005-04:00

Okay, folks, here it is ~ the Autumn Tag Swap!

You can make any shape tag that you want, and no larger than 6" x 6".Sign up in the comment section below and, when I have all the names in, I will randomly pair you up with another participant.

Sign up begins today, Tuesday, August 30 and closes Wednesday, Sept. 7th. Then on Thursday, Sept. 8th I will list the swap partners. You will have two weeks to make the tags and have them mailed out no later than Thursday, Sept. 22nd. On Monday, Sept. 26th I will open a Linky post so we can all share our tags on our blogs.

There may be a few people who do not have blogs, so their partner with a blog should post both the giving and receiving tags.

Let me know if I have forgotten anything! Oh, and feel free to advertise this on your own blog.

Partner list is here.

IRENE IS GONE!

2011-08-29T09:18:00.004-04:00

We fared well during this storm even though, unfortunately, others did not. There was torrential rain Saturday night and Sunday morning; gusty wind most of Sunday, then tapered off toward the evening.
We didn't lose power even though much of the town, and neighboring towns did. There are lots of branches down all over the yard, and one (dead) tree down on the edge of the yard/woods. We had an automated message from the police department last night telling us which roads would be blocked off today because of downed trees and power lines. Hmm, I wonder if this will affect the first day of school tomorrow?

Our house must be in some sort of sheltered place because I remember a few years ago there was a microburst tornado that passed through town. Our house/yard, and the cul-de-sac beside us, looked fairly normal when it was over. We thought it was just a bad thunderstorm. I drove up town to get some pizza after, and was shocked at all the damage around town!

So, praise the Lord for his protection and safety, and I pray those up and down the East Coast will receive the help they need as quickly as possible.

(I will post about the tag swap on Rednesday.)

TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK . . .

2011-08-24T17:48:00.005-04:00

I want to host an Autumn Tag "party". Should we do a tag swap, or a tag blog hop?

For those of you not familiar with these . . .

~ a tag swap is where you make a tag, I choose randomly a partner for you from those who sign up, and you mail the tag you made to each other.

~ a tag blog hop is where you make your tag, post it on your blog, then link it to my blog on a certain date (like on Rednesdays) so we can all view each other's.

Let me know what you like, and I'll choose from the majority of comments!

REDNESDAY

2011-08-23T14:50:00.009-04:00

Welcome to Rednesday! I picked up this historic novel because, well, look at the name of it - my last name is Wickett! The story is centered in Boston - I live 45 minutes out of the city. Set during the 1918 influenza epidemic, Lydia marries Henry Wickett - my Mister's name! Henry's former business partner steals the formula for a medicine Henry created called Wickett's Remedy. Can't wait to read it!

Some more red flowers ~

Hibiscus

Marigold 'Scarlet Starlet'

Hollyhock

Portulaca

ALTERED CHIPBOARD ALBUM

2011-08-21T17:44:00.015-04:00

Hard to believe that I'm posting two days in a row, huh? Well, I just couldn't wait to show you what I've made over the past few weeks. First, I must give credit to the most talented and imaginative Dana Gustafson of Paper Daydream for designing this beautiful album that I copied! I couldn't help it - it was just too beautiful not to make one! Of course, I tweaked it here and there - it's not an exact copy; and, I've fallen in love with bling! So, without further ado, here it is ~

There are two sheets of each design in this 8x8 block by Graphics 45 called Once Upon A Springtime. I cut a fairy out of one sheet and taped it on top of the one on the upper left with some sticky dimensional foam pieces. (I didn't realize until after I posted this photo that the cover page is angled down a bit so that in the peek-a-boo pic the girl can't be seen.)

I knew that I wanted to glitter the middle of the flowers here, but the few bottles of yellow I have are more dull than bright. My solution? I dug into the kid craft box that I keep around, and pulled out the tubes of Crayola glitter glue! I can't believe that they performed better than my "adult" glitter glue - and, it's dimensional! Then I decided to use some red on the front cover, on the flourishes on the right side.

I had a 12x12 scrapbook paper with vertical designs that I used on a lot of the edges in this project. (Of course, I forgot to see who makes it before it got glued on!) I loved how this side has pink with green dots to match the green dotty paper

Butterflies are from K & Co.

The strip on the left here has some Scribbles 3D paint on it, called Golden Brown. A few gossamer-winged butterflies on the right and a wee little fairy that I glued on the watering can to help guide it! Can and flowers are K & Co.

Blue Crayola glitter glue here. The chipboard pieces on the right were painted a color called Fog with some glitter glue brushed over them. The bling jewels on the right are from the kid box, too!

You can't see it too well, but the right side of the paper here is cut with a Martha Stewart punch and it resembles eyelet.

This back cover paper is another "no-name" that I had. I put the logos of Graphics 45 (paper) and Want 2 Scrap (Dana's design, chipboard album and bling) on stickers here to remember where I got them.

I had so much fun making this. Of course, the fairies are what sold me in the first place. I doubt that I'll put any photos in it but will just keep it as a pretty-to-look-at book! Dana, thanks so much for the inspiration!

WE'RE OFF TO SEE THE WIZARD . . .

2011-08-20T07:40:00.002-04:00

I'm joining the Wizard of Oz ATC Blog Hop hosted by the Two Crazy Crafters! Ever since they announced this about a month ago, I knew exactly what I wanted to do - and I made it right away.

Are you familiar with Veggie Tales, the kids videos? They have a Christmas music cd in which Pa Grape sings The 8 Polish Foods of Christmas. At some point in the song someone mentions getting very sleepy, and you can hear Larry the Cucumber in the background saying, "Poppies, poppies, poppies"! I've remembered that phrase for years, which gave me the theme for my (very first) ATC!

Now, I don't know if there are rules about flatness or going outside the lines but, if so, I didn't follow them! A bright yellow brick road background with some millinery flowers, a section of a paper drink umbrella, a label from a red poppy seed packet and, ta da! - my finished product.

REDNESDAY

2011-08-16T15:09:00.002-04:00

Happy Rednesday to you all! My computer is in the shop because it needs a new cd/dvd drive. I took it in last Thursday (to Staples) and they wouldn't let me bring it home. Said they needed to keep it there until the part came in. To me that's ridiculous because I could have been using it all weekend. I'm on Mister's laptop right now and, because of that, I don't have any pics to show you - they're all stored on my 'puter! But, I'm sure you'll have just as much fun with each other's posts, as I know I will!

REDNESDAY

2011-08-09T14:29:00.011-04:00

Hi everyone! Welcome to Rednesday! Yes, I know it's still Summer, and it's as hot as Hades in many places still, but . . .

Football season starts this week!! Woo hoo!! (Happy dance, happy dance!) I'm so excited!

A few more reds from the garden ~

Plains Coreopsis, self-sows, grows 3+ feet and needs staking.

A no-name Dahlia, but oh-so-pretty! I just dry off the tubers, throw them in a bucket, and store in the basement for the winter.

A satiny red Estee Lauder case that I picked up at a yard sale. Good sized: 11 x 9 x 4" deep.

The back side of my doo-dads storage caddy.

And a yard sale sign . . .

GERONIMO! I mean, GERANIUM!

2011-08-08T13:44:00.012-04:00

I love Geraniums and Pelargoniums, especially the old-fashioned varieties and the ivy ones (the trailing kind). I used to have some of the rose-scented and apple-scented - need to get some more some day! These are what I have at the moment.

I have the wild geraniums growing in my yard (Geranium maculatum). They are perennials and bloom in late May where I live, and stand about 1-2 feet tall.

This is called Geranium sanguinium 'nanum', a perennial. It's supposed to be a miniature (6" tall), but mine grows to about a foot or so and spreads more than I'd like it to. The grass on the right is Hakonecheloa Grass.

This one is Geranium 'biokovo', also a Spring perennial, and it's about 8" tall. A very pale pink with pink stamens - very pretty with a wild Columbine and Lily of the Valley in the background!

Now, for the annuals (or zonals) ~ Madame Langguth with white variegated leaves.

Mr. Wren - one of the antique varieties

Velma Cox, another with variegated leaves that I picked up at a local garden center.

I love this one! It's a Regal Geranium, otherwise known as the Martha Washington Geranium. They have large flowers. I got this at my church's plant sale in the Spring and I don't know which variety it is. Can't wait until it grows up!

Appleblossom Rosebud - this was Queen Victoria's favorite geranium! I bought this, and Mr. Wren, a few years ago from Select Seeds, of which this photo is from. Mine isn't blossoming at the moment.
And there you have them! See you on Rednesday!

REDNESDAY - SECRETS!

2011-08-02T08:44:00.012-04:00

Can you keep a secret? Sure, you can! We all have harmless secrets that we keep from our spouse, family, best friends, etc. I have a secret - it's called my blog! It's a secret that Mister and my family know nothing about, except for my 18-yr-old (she could care less).

Why keep it a secret? It's like a diary, it's very personal to me. I can express myself anyway I want to here without criticism. Mister knows I read blogs and have blog friends, and win blog giveaways occasionally. He thinks that's wonderful - but he doesn't know I have my very own blog! ;) Of course, I don't write anything bad about him or others.

So, Monday he comes home with some stuff that was left on the curb after a weekend yard sale. I wanted to take pics of the great vintage graphics on some of them, so I used the excuse that I would look them up online to see if they were worth anything!

Aren't these fab?

This lid has got to be the best!

Not red, but the lettering is just too cool not to show!

I stole this one from him!

This is awesome! Why would anyone just leave this? He said this is his third vintage suitcase. Uh oh! An official collection!

Now, over to an unrelated pic (sort of). Mister picked up this drink tub with stand last year. It has a hole in the bottom for ice drainage. I knew that filling it with potting soil would be too heavy, so I cut a thick piece of styrofoam to fit most of the bottom half of the tub. Then went the potting soil and Impatiens that I grew from seed.
The cats enjoy laying underneath it, on the well cover! See that pile of mulch in the background? Another freebie! The house across the street from my mo-in-law is for sale and they were sprucing up the yard. This left-over mulch was in the driveway with a free sign, so of course Mister filled up the pick-up (one and a half times) and brought it home! Yay!

MILK GLASS CAKE STAND + DAYLILIES

2011-07-30T20:05:00.008-04:00

Look what I picked up at my fave thrift store! A beautiful milk glass cake stand - for only 5 bucks! I'm lovin' the details on it ~

It's even pretty upside down! They just don't make things like they used to.

Now, we all know that Ditch Lilies look like these, right?

Well, these are supposed to be Ditch Lilies, but obviously they're not. I transplanted them from the same patch in my yard as the above-colored ones, but these are obviously something else - and I love them! That's a Hyperion in the background.

Court Maid

Little Business

Peek-a-Boo!

CAMPING ON REDNESDAY

2011-07-26T10:51:00.016-04:00

I found this great book at a yard sale last year. It's dated 1961. Lots of fun photos and text, too! Come on, let's go camping this Rednesday!

Funny how, in this cover pic, the dad is in 'camouflage' and blends in with the rocks. No red, no center stage!

"Women take advantage of all the new conveniences that make camping easy." Yeah, right! Where's the air conditioning and refrigerator, toilet and t.v.? LOL!

Remember how heavy these metal coolers were (are)? Get a load of the bathing suits!

What I wouldn't give for one of these thermos/snack units! (They're red plaid) I've seen them on eBay for mega bucks. It would be so awesome to find one at a yard sale! *sigh*

Yes, we love going camping in a freshly starched and ironed dress! I hope she didn't forget her stockings! And, what's with those burgers - is the Jolly Green Giant coming for lunch?

Well, while you've got the station wagon here, you might as well sleep in it - or on it!
Oh, look, another dress! Do you see the piece of log on the picnic bench used for a booster seat? More cool cars, too!
Yup, I've got my cool red tent, cool two-toned sedan, and the awesomest vintage suitcase! Ah, this is the life!

ABANDONED SHED

2011-07-24T00:02:00.005-04:00

This little abandoned outbuilding sits on the side of my (long) driveway down near the road. I just love how those vines grow over and hang down! This pic almost reminds me of a tropical island! (I've been to Haiti and rural Jamaica.)

Although not in bloom yet, those tall plants in front of the shed are Jewel Weed, or Touch-Me-Not, and they really look like a tropical flower! (Google photo)

It's A Beautiful Life

2011-07-22T15:02:00.003-04:00

I crafted this "tag" last week. It's made from a 6" flower-shaped piece of a chipboard album. I covered it with a 6x6 paper from the webster's pages line called Postcards from Paris. The "cherish" word is also out of the same 6x6 paper stack. A few embellishments were added, and a string of 3mm pearls were glued around the edge. Trying to find the right glue for the pearls was a challenge! I have about a dozen different types of glue and, finally, found that Fabri-Tac worked the best. If anyone else has a glue that they're pleased with for this type of work, do let me know! You can right-click on the photo to enlarge and view the details.

REDNESDAY - RED HOT SUMMER!

2011-07-19T08:21:00.010-04:00

Well, as I mentioned last week, Global Warming, I mean Summer, has hit New England! Thursday and Friday this week are supposed to be 96F/36C, which is mega-hot for us. Thursday's description on the news station says "blazing heat"! But just think how boring life would be if we didn't have weather to complain about!

Last week I went with Katherine and her friends to see the Transformers movie - awesome!

Yesterday we went to Toys R Us to buy My Little Ponies - she collects everything! It's amazing the seriousness of figure and action figure collectors. She was telling me that most Pony collectors are adults and that Hasbro actually listens to the collectors about which ponies should or shouldn't be in the new show or in their line of toys!

Also last week, Mister cleaned all the green mildewy stuff off the north side of the house, which happens to be our main entrance on the deck. He scrubbed the deck clean and re-stained it. Got rid of the cat "house" and built a new one. Then he repainted this funky retro metal couch that he picked up last year. I'd say the deck's looking pretty good now!
I've always been forgetting to take a snapshot of my cutesy S&P cabins - one with a red roof and one with a blue roof.

I picked up this garden flag at the end of the season last year. I needed a flag holder for it and had this plastic hanger that is split in the middle of the bottom - voila! A temporary (if not permanent) solution!

SUNDAY FLOWERS II

2011-07-17T10:32:00.017-04:00

Time for more flowers from my garden!

Crown Vetch

Daylily 'Jolyne Nichole'

Yellow 'Moonbeam' Coreopsis and
White & Magenta Rose Campion

Echinacea 'Summer Sky'

Blue Platycodon (Balloon Flower)

Daylily 'Becky Lynn' (my daughter's name!) and
Polyantha Rose 'The Fairy'

Hen and Chicks in bloom

I love Foxgloves, especially the unusual varieties. I only have three so far, and here they are:

Digitalis Parviflora (from Spain)
'Milk Chocolate'

Digitalis Trojana

Digitalis Obscura

REDNESDAY

2011-07-12T13:09:00.012-04:00

Happy HOT Rednesday to you! Summer has finally arrived here in little ol' Medway - it's been about 90F/32C for a few days. Of course, that's to be expected because it's Vacation Bible School week - it's always hot for VBS week! Does anyone recognize the towel in the photo above? It's from the set I won from Puddle Jumper Creations back in April. I love them, and one is usually hanging on my oven handle just about every day!

Below, I'm showing a rearrangement on my above-sink shelf in the kitchen.

This awesome measuring glass holds 1-1/2 cups, or 12 ounces. I've never seen one this large, and it goes so nicely with my other red-lettered measuring glasses, below.

Three's a collection!

On the other red/white tulip shelf is my red-capped glass S&P collection, of which I've added a few sets since I last showed it.
I made this large, 6"x6", tag in May. Katherine was invited to her friend's graduation party and we couldn't afford a gift. So I made this. But, when Katherine saw it, she thought I had made it for her, and I didn't have the heart to tell her it was for Taylor - so Katherine got it and never knew! (Katherine graduates this year, but has to finish her tutoring through the summer before she gets her diploma.) P.S. - she never did go to Taylor's party!
This was made with a chipboard shape and the Mary Engelbreit prints are from my daily calendar.

HAPPY REDNESDAY!

2011-07-05T11:08:00.013-04:00

Welcome back to Rednesday! Hope all you U.S.-ers had a great long weekend! I had a mild stomach bug last week, but am back to normal (whatever that is) now. I've been doing a "mulch marathon" this week. With my babysitting money, I've been buying a few bags each week. I'm up to 13 bags and will probably need 3 or 4 more - whew!

I noticed that Mister had a few dirty coffee mugs on the counter and thought they'd make a nice photo! The flag one is from a set of four Ralph Lauren I got at a yard sale last year.

This is one of the cubbyholes in the unit beside my computer. I got the beer glass at a thrift shop only because my Dad used to drink Black Label, and it's a nice memory. The cup is Adams of England called "The Season of Blossoms", a yard sale find. The game pieces are from a vintage Wide World Travel Game. After I loaded the photo here, Katherine (Teen) walked by and asked if I liked it. I said, yeah, it's got red in it. She giggled and said she had turned the yellow ship in the opposite direction on purpose! (There is no dust, there is no dust, there is no dust . . . )

A pile of baskets with the cherries box, and my canisters on the book shelf.

And, now for the patriotics that I didn't get to show last week. Mister's humongous 48-star flag:

A few shelves in the living room:

A close-up of the green dish and butter knife. I haven't looked up the maker of the green dish, but it probably had a lid - wish it was red or blue! The knife is a Wm. Rogers & Son that says "United States of America" with an eagle and shield. Wouldn't it be cool to have a whole set in this pattern?

And, that wraps it up for me! I hope to see lots of red vacation shots this summer!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

2011-07-03T23:02:00.005-04:00

REDNESDAY!

2011-06-28T17:12:00.004-04:00

Hi everyone! I'm not posting today because I'm a bit under the weather - should be fine in a day or two. I'll look forward to viewing all your posts!

REDNESDAY - HAPPY SUMMER!

2011-06-21T15:15:00.010-04:00

(drawing courtesy of The Graphics Fairy)

Happy Summer (officially) everyone! I'm so tired! School is out, I was up late last night making a last-minute gift for the crossing guard; then, after school I took Becky and her cousin to Friendly's for lunch and ice cream to celebrate the last day of school. I'm feeling a bit punchy, if you know what I mean!

Here is what I made this week - it's a four-sided hanging thingy with pics about crossing guards. This morning I added some of those stick-on little fake jewels to jazz it up a bit. First, I used white card stock, tracing the circle around a CD. Then I double-side taped the printed paper on that. I trimmed the edges with pinking shears. Next, I cut out the pics that I printed from Google images and taped them on.
I folded each circle in half, lengthwise. I then taped three of the sides to each other, leaving an opening for the fourth. Before I put that piece in, I took a bit of old jewelry "bling" and strung it with embroidery thread. Draping that over the inside fold, I then taped on the fourth panel. I tied a few knots in the top so it wouldn't slide down through the center, and there you have it!

Next to show you is an easy-peasy patriotic garland that I made using vintage Christmas ornament light covers! I took a length of wired ribbon, attached "flag" grosgrain ribbon at six even intervals and sewed the houses to the grosgrain.

REDNESDAY

2011-06-14T16:45:00.006-04:00

Happy Rednesday, everyone! Here I have a few items from our church's yard sale this past weekend:

Two cute little tins, a Hazel Atlas swanky swig, and a Josef Originals wind-up musical figurine.

A funky polka-dotty kitchen towel, and a 1948 Bible stories book!
A few other items were taken as well, including a green woven Burlington picnic basket with a "pie" shelf - for $3.00! It looks like it's hardly been used. Actually, I gave her $5.00 for it because she didn't have any ones on her - it was Friday afternoon, the day before the sale and I had dropped off my plant offerings for the plant sale.

And, speaking of plants, here's a shot of my red Columbine!

REMINDER: For those of you involved with the Initially Yours Craft Swap, click on the link at the top of the right column to add yours!

AMERICAN FLAG DAY

2011-06-14T09:45:00.004-04:00

In the United States, Flag Day is celebrated on June 14. It commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States, which happened that day by resolution of the Second Continental Congress in 1777. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation that officially established June 14 as Flag Day.
Does your country have a flag day? When is it?

INITIALLY YOURS SWAP LINK

2011-06-12T21:08:00.002-04:00

Okay, folks, it's time to strut your stuff! I can't wait to see all the fabulous creations and gifts you've made this month! Link up now!

REDNESDAY

2011-06-07T12:04:00.012-04:00

Oh, I do believe that summer has arrived early in New England!
This "Sweet Cherries" box was a yard sale purchase. I think it was just a display box for the CD's it was holding because, when I asked about the box, the lady thought I wanted all the CD's in the box! But she finally agreed to sell me just the box.

It has a pretty matching interior, too!

Mister picked up this corner unit for $5 the other day, thinking it would go on a wall in the living room. I looked at it and said it should go on the kitchen counter to hold all his stuff that he collects in that corner! He loved the idea!

I found this blue milk jug at another yard sale this weekend, to add to my small collection. (I'm glad this and the above photo both have red in them!)

Like my neon Cafe sign? It's plastic! Isn't it cool?

Lastly, the first bloom of my Turkenlouis Oriental Poppy - brilliant!
This is one of those shots you couldn't take on purpose, if you tried. It's the back of the poppy. Right click and look at it close up - all the colors are original, I didn't do anything to it at all - cool! (Or maybe I should say psychedelic!)

SUNDAY FLOWERS

2011-06-05T10:58:00.011-04:00

Just some garden flowers for your Sunday enjoyment!

Geranium and Penstemon Pygmaeus

White Columbine

Pyrethrum

Sun Rose 'Henfield Brilliant'

Sweet Rocket and Camassia

"antique" Irises

Columbine

Viola

Weigela

Orange Poppy

FEARSOME LIONS

2011-06-02T11:04:00.013-04:00

As most of you know, I watch Africam live on my computer every day (see here). Today I'm going to introduce you to The Mapogo Pride, aka the Mapogo Mafia, South Africa's infamous gang of 6 male lions (5 of which are brothers), that have dominated the Sabi Sand Game Reserve for nearly a decade. (The article below is from the Africam website.)

Map showing location of Sabi Sands

The Mapogos may well have been the most infamous lion pride in all of Africa. They were unique in that they were a six male lion coalition (five of which were brothers) that joined together nearly 10 years ago, and have since dominated one of the wildest parts of Southern Africa, the Sabi Sand Game Reserve.

Named after a South African security company sometimes said to have harsh and questionable methods, the Mapogos were able to control such a large region through size, intimidation, strength and fear. - not to mention attempting to kill nearly every single male lion they came across including cubs that were not their own. If the females attempted to protect these cubs, they got taken out as well. It is estimated that they have killed well over 60 lions throughout their reign, and they have even been known to eat them afterwards.

They also maintained control through their somewhat unorthodox mating practices. As where a normal pride would have one dominant male for its females in a given territory, the Mapogos would mate with many females in multiple prides across their entire massive region. This seemed to be an attempt to make sure that any lion cubs growing up in the area were from their bloodline.

One well known account of the rise of the Mapogos concerned a rival pride that was a coalition of two males known as the Nkuhumas. The two males had been mating with females from a pride that the Mapogos also had a vested interest in. The brothers dealt with this threat directly, as was their way. They killed one of the male lions, then chased off the other, mated with the lionesses and killed some of the Nkuhuma cubs. There were many reports in the days following the assault of wounded Nkuhuma lionesses and cubs that had been killed but the total death count is unknown.

As far as prey goes there is almost nothing beyond their reach. They have been known to take down full grown male giraffes, rhino, hippo and massive buffalo.

Even powerful coalitions sometimes have one particular member whose mere presence creates legend. For the Mapogos this would be none other than the notorious “ Mr.T”, also known as “SaTan”. His mohawk style mane has been the last thing seen by many a creature. To observers, he is known for being almost intentionally cruel and at the same time completely indifferent to the prey he leaves in his wake - including other lions.

It is easy to see in this brief account of their history that the Mapogos far reaching power seemed unshakable. However, like all great empires, even theirs could not last forever. It was rumored that the first was taken in a stealth attack at the water's edge by a crocodile a few years ago. At that time the remaining brothers were beginning to separate into different territories in the area, but would come together from time to time if a new threat had to be dealt with.

Kinky Tail

Mr. T and Makhulu

Two of the Mapogos, “Kinky Tail”, and “Mr. T”, ventured away from the other three quite awhile ago, perhaps sealing their fate. Rumor had it that there was a new coalition in the area. It was thought to be a group of 4 males that had come from the Kruger National Park. This group has since been named "The Majingilanes" which means to march in military like movements. They were younger than the Mapogos, and were looking to try and claim a piece of the Sabi Sand.

Coming upon one of these new Majingilane lions on its own, Mr. T and Kinky Tail attacked and killed him with grizzly vigor. Unfortunately for the Mapogos, this would not be enough to scare off their new rivals, and within hours the remaining Majingilanes moved in for revenge. By the next day, Kinky Tail was dead...meeting a demise he had proudly given to others.

Kinky Tail and Mr. T with the Majingilane

Mr. T was thought to be fatally injured, but lived up to his legend by escaping and heading south to meet up with his remaining brothers. There is no doubt that increased age and waning strength is dethroning the once fearless Mapogos. For all intents and purposes their reign as the unstoppable rulers of the Sabi Sand is over.

How long will it be before the remaining Mapogos are merely shadows in the dark? How long before we have only the grim tales and ominous photos left to remind us of their empire? Given the power and focus the Mapogos have had and still fight for, their stories will resonate long after their lives have faded away.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

As luck would have it, that fight between Mr. T and Kinky Tail with the Majingilanes last summer, happened right near the Nkhoro Lodge, where one of the Africam cameras is located. Unfortunately, we couldn't see any of the action but could hear all the fighting going on. Actually, I'm glad we couldn't view it because it was extremely loud and quite unnerving! The above fight photo was taken by one of the Nkhoro rangers.