This textile is entitled “The Bridal Chamber of Herse” and dates from 1550 C.E.
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I hope you guys are enjoying the new blog. I am sure it’s disconcerting to some, and some have probably left in utter disgust. Perhaps a few have even decided this is a great visit. I guess I like that it’s so diverse, you never know what to expect, and I continually look for new stuff to titillate your taste and eye buds. The sad fact is that there aren’t many crafting, food, and gardening blogs that update regularly. That’s the way most people operate. I am somewhat driven. We all have to find our own niche as it were. I hope you can just skip the stuff that bores you to tears and enjoy what you do like. I do want input, so feel free. Although this is MY forum, I do not wish to either offend or bore the entire world to a degree that I am left to talking only to myself. I do that regularly enough as it is. So, rant away at what you like, would like more of, or utterly detest. I’ll listen at least, though I make no promises.
I really am going to take a post and give you some idea of what some of these links are. Some are worth your incorporating perhaps.
That said, lets see what’s cooking, percolating, or oozing up to the surface today!
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Yesterday we learned that Mexico began the assault on the Alamo. Today the deed was completed with many dead. A rather ugly incident to be sure, and one that generated all the patriotic hoopla necessary to continue the fight for control of Texas. I’m never quite sure why we applaud taking someone else’s land. We seem to find this time in our history as glorious expansion. Instead, we murdered in typical ethnic cleansing measure tens of thousands of people, all because we wanted the land. Odd I find.
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I am not one of those who uses any holiday as an excuse to craft things. I certainly don’t have time or inclination to make things for St. Patrick’s day, although actually it has big significance for me: the Contrarian and I arrived from Connecticut to Iowa on that day, and I became an official citizen of Iowa. Anyhoo, Sandi’s Crochet Blog has a pattern for a leprechaun hat that you can adapt to some decorating plan if you wish. And even if not, she has lots of helpful hints on her blog if you are a crochet person.
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If you have come to know me at all, you have discerned that I am wary of fundamentalists, and I tend to write about the subject with regularity. I have since stopped a Catholic blog I was doing. There is a great deal of talk in the public square about what role religion played in the formation of this country, and thus what role it should play in public affairs today. I am a very strict secularist, myself. My faith belongs in Church, not in politics. That’s my opinion. For a review of a new book on faith and our forefathers, stop by Religion in American History, and read a fine post about Steven Waldman’s “Founding Faith.”
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I feel I need to alert you to this one. Many of you go to Pioneer Woman, as I do. and today I saw an amazing thing. She is asking you to take a survey to get to know her readership better as she prepares for a new skin for her blog. The goodie is a $300 gift certificate to a random winner who takes the survey. I did so, and didn’t think too much about it. At the end, it said I had to go back to the post, and leave a comment so she would know I took it. (She’s using a professional survey company) When I returned, I found in excess of 6600 comments, and knew I could never download it, but tried anyway. I saw a goodly number of comments that were very angry. They felt the survey had nothing to do with getting to know anyone, but were solely directed at the usual marketing campaign, asking location, age, income, occupation, etc. Admittedly there were no questions you and I might typically ask our readers. So you are warned, Go and take it if you wish, I wish I hadn’t and can’t win in any event since I can’t leave a comment.
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My sweet tooth is oh hiatus at the moment until I can shop. No butter really sucks! But Epicurious provides me something to drool over most every day it seems. Profiteroles with Coffee Ice Cream sounds so decadently delicious that I want to cry. I want some now! Psst. It’s cream puffs with ice cream and chocolate sauce.
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At Gardening Tips ‘n Ideas, we find a plant that I am not familiar with, and frankly don’t know if it’s suitable for Iowa or not. She is growing it in South Washington state I believe. It seems a hardy bugger, and she says its super soft and luxuriant. She has a nice picture of it, the botanical name, and if you decide you like it, it should be easy to find out enough about it to determine if you can grow it. It’s called a Albany Woolly Bush.
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Knitting dragonflies is a new blogger I’ve found. She’s involved in an award game today, and that isn’t really the point, but she does list about 10 other knitting blogs she likes. If you are a knitting fanatic you may want to check out her list to see if you have these blogs. I guess it should get me to thinking about a quiz or poll or something. Hehe, mostly because I’m nosey!
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I don’t know about you, but I loved those futuristic predictions about how technology would be changing our lives. Course, I think we were supposed to have personal little jet planes by now, and I haven’t seen any dealerships for them yet, but…Live Science has the top 10 technological advances that will change your life. I bet you just gotta go look and see now right? Just say Hydrogen and therapeutic cloning.
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I for one, was thrilled that Hillary did so well on Tuesday, but that has not stopped as Mad Kane says, the onslaught from the blogger left demanding that she still step aside for their candidate. She has a good argument and another of her best limericks. Have fun.
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MamieDale is also a new blog find. She shows you how to do a silhouette and mount it for scrapbooking. I remember doing these in grade school. I had forgotten all about them until this blog. Would be fun to do pets as well don’t you think?
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Just thought you should know that Midlife by Farmlife is well worth a daily check. Jeannelle is one fine photographer and her prose ain’t bad either. Nostalgic and all around good reads all the time. Don’t miss her!
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Back to food! The Midwest neurotica has a chicken recipe, and can’t we all use just one more. This one requires cherry coke! This one is simple, and sounds strange, but she said it was good. When you have little time, this could be the time saver you are looking for.
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Begging for Bargains has a couple of things you might want to take a look at. There is one for being a tester for products, to free checklists for spring cleaning (wow do I need this), clip art, and stuff for moms. I just picked up the feed, so I’ll be more current next time, promise.
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Another thing that makes me nearly insane is when people claim the don’t believe in evolution. If ever a scientific proposition had more proof than that for evolution, I doubt I’ve seen it. Cracking the genome was the icing on the cake by the way. After a long and bitter struggle, it seems that real science is winning out in the state of Florida against the powers of religious fanaticism. The evangelical nut cases did push through a “scientific theory” attachment to evolution, but little else. (theory in science is not what it’s commonly thought of. In science, the theory of evolution is actually more “proven” than gravity is.) Read all about it on the editorial page of the NYTimes.
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The heresy of one age becomes the orthodoxy of the next. -Helen Keller
“The word ‘politics’ is derived from the word ‘poly’, meaning ‘many’, and the word ‘ticks’, meaning ‘blood sucking parasites’.” ~~ Larry Hardiman
“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” ~~Sir Richard Steele
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Of all the Royals, Sarah Ferguson seemed the most normal. She seemed to laugh at the stuffiness exhibited by the Queen and well that stodge of all stodges, Prince Charlie. Scandalous Woman has a very nice biographical sketch of the woman Prince Andrew wed. Support women’s history!
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I usually draw the line at food that is fussy fixing. Things like ravioli. But I seldom turn down a recipe from Simply Recipes because, well they are just that good, and the site is lovely, and the pictures are delightfully delicious to look at. Try this one: turkey and bacon rolls.
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Okay, if you are so insufferably addicted to reusing everything in your house, then go over to the Tip Junkie and find ways to use the CD case. Calendar? Photo frame? It’s truly amazing how inventive some folks can be isn’t it? They call it repurposing. Isn’t that snooty as heck? lol. It’s reusing trash! Gimme a break. Okay, I may try one, …..maybe two. You cannot know how badly I want to go to Michaels.
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We watch a good deal of History channel stuff, and I know we’ve watched a series on the American Revolution and the US presidents. Somewhere in all that I learned that John and Abigail Adams carried on a long and fascinating letter writing life. They are collected in a book, linked by the US History Site Blog. The book is entitled “My Dearest Friend” and is edited by Margaret Hogan and C. James Taylor. There is a link for certain free audio offerings as well from Harvard University Press. Enjoy this one. I think this book would be a great gift for anyone who loves American history.
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On this day in history:
~1521 Magellan discovered Guam
~1619 Cyrano de Bergerac, dramatist was born
~1806 Elizabeth Barrett Browning born
~1831 Edgar Allen Poe removed from Westpoint
~1836 The Alamo was captured
~1836 Davy Crockett, killed, Alamo
~1857 Dred Scott decision, slaves cannot be citizens
~1888 Louisa May Alcott, writer, died
~1896 First car driven in Detroit, driven by Charles B. King
~1906 Lou Costello born, comedian
~1921 Edict in Pa. women are to wear skirts at least 4 inches below the knee
~1964 Muhammad Ali takes his new name
~1981 Walter Cronkite’s last anchor night for CBS news
~1982 Ayn Rand, writer, philosopher, died
~1986 Georgia O’Keeffe, artist, died
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I swear it’s true:
Teacher Appoints Student Insect Monitor
An Eagle Rock schoolteacher doesn’t want any bugs squashed in her classroom, so she’s appointed a student insect monitor to take wiggling, creepy critters outside.
Melodie Conrad’s be-kind-to-bugs effort is getting praise from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which is giving her its Compassionate Teacher Award.
The Eagle Rock Elementary School & Magnet Center teacher says there’s simply too much violence in society, adding, “I just wanted to be careful that they’re exposed to just the opposite in this room.”
It’s not a matter of creating bug activists. Conrad says she is aiming to instill a sense of respect for life.
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Information from: (Los Angeles) Daily News, http://www.dailynews.com/ & Davesdaily.com
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