sing along...

jingle bell

jingle bell

jingle bell

rock

Monograms and Chemistry

Walter Weldon was a chemist in London during the late 1800s.

He developed the Weldon Process to produce chlorine by boiling

hydrochloric acid with manganese dioxide.

Around 1888 he began to publish a series of books entitled

Weldon’s Practical Needlework.

Wait, what?!

Chemistry to needlework — Go figure?!

When designing a monogram for S.L.B, I knew exactly where to start—

Walter Weldon

This monogram was published by Weldon in 1893.

The 2010 Stitchfork version

Fresh, with a touch of history—good chemistry!

Wonder what Walter Weldon would think?

from Stitchfork...

and the stitched trio of Gobble, Gobble and Gobble...

and the fowl family outside our back door...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Remember the infamous words of the Muppet diva Miss Piggy,

"Never eat more than you can lift!"

fleur-de-lis

a centuries-old insignia of heraldry

official symbol of the state of Louisiana

emblem on the Chevrolet Corvette

on the label of Campbells Soup

element in the logo of Scouting organizations

symbol used on a compass rose to mark the direction of north

and on the Miller’s Thanksgiving table

...maybe marking the northerly direction of the pumpkin pie

random act of culture

One week from today, Thanksgiving will be behind us.

The holiday season will be in full swing.

And it will be the annual Black Friday.

Do you embrace the day and head out, list in hand, before dawn?

Or, like me, avoid shopping at all cost (pun intended!) on Black Friday?

I prefer to enjoy leftover pumpkin pie a healthy breakfast while

watching the frenzy on the morning news.

BUT...if I was leaked info that a Random Act of Culture was about to happen,

I might seriously reconsider.

What's a Random Act of Culture, you ask??

Watch this one that occurred earlier this month at the Macy's in Philadelphia.

A flash mob of 650 vocalists took shoppers by surprise.



Pass the whipped cream whole wheat toast please...

ps...I love to be outside the box, but would like to know how to make that youtube

video smaller to be inside the lines for a change.  Any suggestions??

Prickly Monogram

Thistle

An ancient Celtic symbol of nobility.

Scotland’s national symbol … the Guardian Thistle

Legend has it that a band of Vikings were about to attack a Scottish castle.

A barefoot Viking stepped on a thistle and cried out.

His cry alerted the Scots warriors who then defeated the attacking Danes.

A high chivalric order of Scotland is the Order of the Thistle

Thistle

A plant characterized by sharp prickles on all its margins.

Thistle notecards from a local photographer.

Selected them thinking they would be a gift,

but they don’t seem to want to leave MY desk.

Thistle

Sterling silver thistle cuff bracelet winging its

way to me from an artist on the west coast.

Thistle

The prickles deters animals and discourages them from feeding.

Hands off the thistles!

Except these thistles...

Thistles for the dinner table to encourage hands on eating!

Monograms and Tattoos

Happy Birthday Mom!

I got you a tattoo!

...on your robe that is! 

A monogrammed tattoo

Always love the monogrammed robes stars wore in the classic old movies.

 

Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant in Bringing Up Baby 1938

 Get your tattoo on — your robe that is!

What would you tattoo/monogram on your robe?

Got Pie?

“Sign, sign, everywhere a sign

Blocking out the scenery breaking my mind…”

1970 hit song by the Five Man Electrical Band

Driving along I had to hit the brakes, pull over, and take a picture of this sign!

Pump in Pie??

Okay…

Yes, yes, I know the letter ‘k’ is probably lying in the bushes under the sign.

But doesn’t this put wild images of unbelievable pumps sitting in a pie??

Should have gone inside to see what unbelievable pumps were in their pies...

Not a creature was stirring...

...not even a mouse.

 The November/December issue of Midwest Living has a favorite

recipe from Judeen Brown of Dundas, Minnesota.

 Instead of Judeen's sliced almond ears,

I used oatmeal for our ears.

(nut allergy in the family) 

Mice will be running rampant on our holiday tables!

one, two, three, four, five....

six???

wasn't me!!!

Surprise!

Lucille Ball

...is a brief emotional state experienced as the

result of an unexpected significant event.

It can be a place —

Surprise, Arizona

Surprise, Indiana

Surprise, Nebraska

It can be a ship —

HMS Surprise, a British Royal Navy ship

USS Surprise, a United States Navy ship

It can be music —

Surprise, a Paul Simon album

Surprise Symphony, Symphony No. 94 by Joseph Hayden

It can be a film —

Surprise, an animated Pixar 1991 short

But today it will be Claire, Bless My Nest, when she opens her mailbox

to find the tote custom monogrammed with her initials CGR.

Claire's name was drawn as the winner from the

Tutorial Tuesday at Hope Studios where Stitchfork was featured.

Claire usually chooses traditional monograms.

But said - please do something different! 

C, G, and R are three traditional fonts,

but...

 combined in a non-tradional monogram.

Surprise Claire!



thank you Jennifer at Hope Studios!



Hope some pleasant surprises find all of you this week!

Time's flying...

When wandering through college campuses,

I am always drawn in by the clock towers and their chimes.

Even though they chime every fifteen minutes,

it seems calming and reassuring of time well spent.



Johns Hopkins University



Vanderbilt University





University of Rochester

Bonus this weekend ~ we gain an hour of time!

Remember to turn your clocks back an hour.

As times flies...

Why did the chicken...

cross the road???

Meet The Girls

The Girls live across the street and venture over to visit most days.

Somehow they inherently know where The Hound’s invisible

fence line runs as they never cross it.

Except today.

When The Hound was not home.

Chicks with brains!

The Girls of Easton Bag

 for Iris (the girls’ 12-year-old chick wrangler) to collect their eggs



If the glove fits...

Gloves have been worn, as recorded in history, since 400 BC.

It wasn’t until the 13th century that gloves began

to be worn by ladies as fashion ornaments.

In the sixteenth century they reached their greatest

elaboration  when Queen Elizabeth I set the fashion

for wearing them richly embroidered and jeweled.

And for putting them on and taking them off during 

audiences to draw attention to her beautiful hands.

Elizabeth II's gloves

A Paris corporation, or guild of glovers, has existed from the thirteenth century.

A dear friend is packing and flying to Paris next week.

k will be putting on and taking off her monogrammed gloves to draw

attention to her beauty as she strolls along the Seine, sightsees

along the Champs Elysee and walks under the Eiffel Tower!

Bon voyage k!

What kind of gloves will you be showing off as the temps start to dip?

I might have to get this zipper-trimmed pair for me...