For my daughter's birthday, I created a quilt from fabric remnants that she had selected.The dimensions are 44 inches by 36 inches with four inch squares.
03 December 2014
A Quilt
For my daughter's birthday, I created a quilt from fabric remnants that she had selected.The dimensions are 44 inches by 36 inches with four inch squares.
30 November 2014
The Company on My Daily Commute
For the forty-minute drive to and from work, I am not alone. Colorful characters fill the time, making it sometimes difficult to leave the car when the destination is reached. Elizabeth Bennet admits that she "could easily forgive his pride if he had not mortified mine"; Mr Micawber outlines Uriah Heep's crimes; Anne arrives at Green Gables, full of hope; the Scarlet Pimpernel escapes, yet again; Mary enters the secret garden; Anne sells Mr Harrison's cow; Sara Crewe is removed from Miss Michin's grasp, and fairy tales delight--and sometimes horrify. All this is thanks to LibriVox, a free audiobook site filled with classics, poems and more.
Some of the readers are magical, like Ty Hynes and Karen Savage. Ty Hynes made David Copperfield live and breathe--mesmerizing from the preface to the very last chapter. Karen Savage gave the best reading of Pride and Prejudice I have ever heard, bringing my favorite book to life. Both readers made me eager to listen to the other works they've recorded. Thanks to them and other readers on LibriVox, travel will never be dull nor my mind idle.
The Site:
LibriVox
The Books Listened To (not necessarily in order)
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, as read by Ty Hynes
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, as read by Glen Hallstrom
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, as read by Karen Savage
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, as read by Karen Savage
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen, as read by Karen Savage
Persuasion by Jane Austen, as read by Karen Savage
Grimm's Fairy Tales by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, as read by Bob Neufeld
English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs, as read by Joy Chan
The Light Princess and Other Tales by George MacDonald, as read by Clive Catterall
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, as read by Karen Savage
Little Princess, by Frances Hodgson Burnett, as read by Karen Savage
The Scarlett Pimpernel, by Baroness Orczy, as read by Karen Savage
The Elusive Pimpernel, by Baroness Orczy, as read by Karen Savage
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery, as read by Karen Savage
Anne of Avonlea by Lucy Maud Montgomery, as read by Karen Savage (in progress)
Other works read by Ty Hynes
Other works read by Karen Savage
Some of the readers are magical, like Ty Hynes and Karen Savage. Ty Hynes made David Copperfield live and breathe--mesmerizing from the preface to the very last chapter. Karen Savage gave the best reading of Pride and Prejudice I have ever heard, bringing my favorite book to life. Both readers made me eager to listen to the other works they've recorded. Thanks to them and other readers on LibriVox, travel will never be dull nor my mind idle.
The Site:
LibriVox
The Books Listened To (not necessarily in order)
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, as read by Ty Hynes
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, as read by Glen Hallstrom
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, as read by Karen Savage
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, as read by Karen Savage
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen, as read by Karen Savage
Persuasion by Jane Austen, as read by Karen Savage
Grimm's Fairy Tales by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, as read by Bob Neufeld
English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs, as read by Joy Chan
The Light Princess and Other Tales by George MacDonald, as read by Clive Catterall
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, as read by Karen Savage
Little Princess, by Frances Hodgson Burnett, as read by Karen Savage
The Scarlett Pimpernel, by Baroness Orczy, as read by Karen Savage
The Elusive Pimpernel, by Baroness Orczy, as read by Karen Savage
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery, as read by Karen Savage
Anne of Avonlea by Lucy Maud Montgomery, as read by Karen Savage (in progress)
Other works read by Ty Hynes
Other works read by Karen Savage
02 March 2014
Flash Mobs, Revisted
On a dreary day, I decided to watch Flash Mob on the Copenhagen Metro to cheer myself. I realized that just as Chaiyya, Chaiyya has ruined trains for me (can't see one without desiring to dance on their tops), the Copenhagen Metro Flash mob has ruined metros for me, as I expect to be serenaded by an orchestra when I ride one.
Despite this turn of events, I am still as much a fan of flash mobs as ever, and have managed to find some new ones (and some old) which can brighten any day. My only complaint is that in these flash mobs, there are too much time spent on filming the observers rather than the performers.
Uh-oh..
Opera Company of Philadelphia Ikea Random Act of Culture - May 26, 2012
From Mozart's Magic Flute...
From Mozart's Magic Flute...
01 March 2014
Random Videos
I am fervent fan of flash mobs. However, there are other videos that don't strictly qualify as flash mobs, but have that certain je ne sais quoi that makes them eminently watchable. Here are a few of my favorite new discoveries:
2cellos Thunderstruck
The original is bland by comparison...
Musical Eastern Faucet
The tune is so haunting. Don't be surprised if you find yourself humming it..
Carmina Barmina Burana Flashmob
Probably the best flashmob you ever saw!!!!!!
Well, it is very good...
From Improv Everywhere
2cellos Thunderstruck
The original is bland by comparison...
Musical Eastern Faucet
The tune is so haunting. Don't be surprised if you find yourself humming it..
Carmina Barmina Burana Flashmob
Probably the best flashmob you ever saw!!!!!!
Well, it is very good...
From Improv Everywhere
18 September 2012
A Weekend's Adventure
This weekend the girls and I went to Freeport on one of our weekend adventures. Our intent was to go to a Hapkido Tournament.
The tournament was an experience, though it seemed to feature more Karate and Tae Kwon Do than Hapkido.
The hall was filled with practitioners of all ages and abilities with belts ranging from yellow to black. At any moment, there were at least six different activities happening--katas with and without weapons and sparring. We watched for hours, then left, making our way back toward the center of town.
We didn't get very far.
When we got to the center, it was to find a parade in progress. Instead of seeking a back route out of town, we parked the car at one of L L Bean parking lots, walked up to the main street, and watched the parade from a stone wall. The parade was put on by the Maine State Federation of Fire Fighters, and featured firetrucks of all makes, models and years from all around Maine. It was such fun!
Since we were already in town, we went to the Sherman's Maine Books and Stationary. There, the girls and I broke off to examine the sales table and everything else.
We all managed to find treasures: my youngest girl found a lovely book about China from the sales table, while my eldest found a mini-Popsical/lip balm combo, and I found Cooking Know-How by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough (also from the sales table).
On the way home, we took Route One and passed by Two Brother's Books. I had been passing by this store for at least ten years and had been attracted by the "Used Books" sign. Today, the temptation proved too strong. We turned round in the driveway of a shoe company and drove back to the book shop.
What a surprise! The entire first floor of a traditional front house-back, house-and partial barn was a bookshop filled with used books!
Nirvana.
The youngest found a stack of five books that she had to whittle down to one, including books about China, Iraq, Egypt and more. The eldest struggled over two Nancy Drew-like books, finally settling on a book from a Sue Barton, Student Nurse series. I found books for Tim martial arts, including on about the way of the warrior.
And I? I found an incredible book called Food in England by Dorothy Hartley. The book is a goldmine! It is several historical recipe books in one, including recipes from the early ages up through the late 1800s.
Once home, I put the Cooking Know-How book to good use by using the recipe "French-Inspired Chicken and Rice" to cook dinner. It was delicious.
What a wonderful weekend's adventure!
25 July 2012
To pickle CUCUMBERS fliced
To pickle CUCUMBERS fliced
Pare thirty large cucumbers, flice them to a pewter difh,
take fix onions, flice and row on them fome falt, fo cover them and then ftand
to drain twenty four hours; take your pickle of white wine vinegar, nutmeg,
pepper, cloves and mace, boil the spices in the pickle, drain the liquor clean
from the cucumbers, put them into a deep pot, pour the liquor upon them boiling
hot, and cover them very clofe; when they are cold drain the liquor from them,
give it another boil, and when it is cold, pour it on them again; fo keep them
for ufe.
Moxon, Elizabeth, English Housewifery Exemplified, 1764
Thanks to the unexpected
bounty of 20 pounds of organic-practice-grown cucumbers from a fellow
homeschooling mom, I had the opportunity to make pickles, as well as use
cucumbers for snacks and sandwiches.
The first batch I made was a
childhood favorite: Bread and Butter pickles, which I made using a recipe from
Ball’s Blue Book Guide of Preserving.
The second batch was Kosher Dills from the Rodale Garden Book Preserving Summer’s Bounty.
But the third batch?
I wanted to do something
completely different.
A fan of period cookbooks,
one of my favorite finds was Elizabeth Moxon’s English Housewifery Exemplified which was first published in 1764. The
recipes are simple well written, so I thought I would try one. The above recipe
seemed to fit the bill. However, there were a few details missing: exact amounts.
Vinegar only is used, but how much vinegar is
not specified. Nor is the amount of the spices. The only fixed amounts are
those for the onions and cucumbers. Looking at other recipes, especially that
for Bread and Butter which included sliced cucumbers, there were similarities,
such as a certain amount of spices per jar. Since I didn’t have a deep pot in
which to store the cucumbers, I decided to use the method of cold pack pickles,
and since I used only vinegar, I would only have to process them for ten
minutes in a boiling-water bath.
The logistics were
challenging, as I had only two large burners on which to both boil the vinegar
and boil the water to sterilize the jars, as well as a spice cabinet that could
have been better organized and better stocked (on the ever-growing to-do list).
Four to six weeks to wait…
I look forward to tasting the
results!
17 July 2012
The Bra or Who Knew Its History Could Be So Exciting??!!
During the day, I received an exciting post on the costume list to which I belong: "Interesting Underwear Find". The link brought me to this article which detailed a "discovery of 15th century undergarments in Austria" in the Daily Mail.
"Fascinating", I think, as an amateur costume history buff who was introduced to the world of period clothing by Hilary Derby, the costume designer during the 1984 season at the Theatre at Monmouth (can you imagine: one of the costumer's took out Patterns of Fashion I, Englishwoman's Dress and their Construction 1660-1860 and made a reproduction of the dress Martha Washington wore to the inauguration to wear to one of the opening nights).
But it was to grow more fascinating still.
Many of the costumers who belong to the loop began to write in, complaining that the pictures provided in the Daily Mail did not accurately provide a full image of the piece found--that it could have been, in fact, a portion of a bodice that did no longer existed.
And, some people wrote in, the garments described as underpants in the American lingo, could have been worn by both men as well as women.
Next, someone posted a link to this article: "Bras in the 15th century? A Preliminary Report" by Beatrix Nutz.
The end result? Who knows?
Messages are still coming in...
Who knew the history of bras could be so exciting?
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