Bad Night At Black Rock

copyright-free image from Dover

Batdog and I went off to obedience class tonight, leaving the Man of the House and the New Kids to deal with the trick or treaters.

By the time we got home (around 8pm), he had just finished coaxing them back up out of the basement.  Then for some reason Batdog vomited on the dining room rug and he got out the handheld steamer* and fired it up.

The Kids are still in the basement.

*a pet 0wner's best friend.

Sewing - One Hour Dress

The One Hour Dress, brainchild of Mary Brooks Picken's correspondence school the Woman's Institute and courtesy of the Antique Pattern Library.  Copyright 1925.

Yes, I still can't find those damned Workbaskets.

Vintage Advertising - Sunkist Lemons

From the Woman's Home Companion, January 1921.

Caturday!

Quote Of The Day

Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind,
And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind. ~ Wm Shakespeare

Grrrsday

libre comme l'air, en parachute : first creative commons factory from jérémy dumont on Vimeo.

A Word To The Wise

Generally speaking, it is not a good idea to pretend to be choking on your sandwich during a Red Cross Disaster Action Team meeting.

Workbasket Magazines at the Antique Patterns Library

Last week I took all of my 1940's copies of Workbasket magazine that still needed to be scanned, placed them in a manila folder, and put them...

...Somewhere.

So until I find them again, here's a link to Vol 9, No 3 (March 1944), one of two vintage Workbaskets that APL has up on their website.

They recently acquired an almost-complete set of the little magazine, along with permission to copy them.  They've done two so far and I can't wait for the rest.

Vintage Magazines - Adventure

From September, 1930; about thirty-five years after cavalry charges became obsolete.

Completely Accidentally, I'm Sure

As soon as I started showing signs of being awake the other morning, Batdog -- as usual -- materialized at bedside and poked me with his nose.  Minnie got up from where she was sleeping across my ankles and strolled up and poked me with her nose.

I reached over to pet Batdog and Minnie shoved her head between my hand and his nose. Batdog stood up with his paws on the bed, glared at Minnie, and then fell over on top of her.

Caturday!

Quote Of The Day

...as a rule, United States Marshals are not as beautiful as Mary McCormack and as charming as Tommy Lee Jones.  Rather, they are typically as beautiful as Tommy Lee Jones and also as charming as Tommy Lee Jones. ~ Ken White

Grrrsday

Workbasket Magazine, May 1946

Another mostly-crochet number, with a doily, edging and matching insertion, and a potholder.  Two pages of instructions on how to do hemstitching and insertion on hankie corners are also included.

Four pages to download and print off may be found on my Flickr account.

Vintage Advertising - Fairy Soap

From Woman's Magazine, March 1914.

Have Needles, Will Travel

I'm meeting up there with two of the ladies I met on the Irish tour.  I've already located two second-hand bookshops within five minutes walk of our B&B.

Gotta love Yelp.

Quote of the Day

image from cdn.history.com

The dinosaurs are not all dead,

I saw one raise its iron head

To watch me walking down the road

Beyond our house today.

Its jaws were dripping with a load

Of earth and grass that it had cropped.

It must have heard me where I stopped,

Snorted white steam my way,

And stretched its long neck out to see,

And chewed, and grinned quite amiably. ~ Charles Malam

The Online Bookshelf - The Mouse's Wedding

Another little Edwardian oddity, full of beautiful colored illustrations of mice in kimonos. Free download from Project Gutenberg.

Proof God Loves Me

I got an email today from action.gop.com asking for my opinion on the proposed tax reform.

Vintage Magazines - McCall's, July 1922

Where Is Wong Fu When You Need Him?

From the online Q & A site, Quora:

Question:  What is your opinion of drag queens around children?

Answer:  I'm against drag queens being exposed to children.  A lot could go wrong.

Nails could be broken, wigs pulled off, someone could get knocked off her heels.  Children are wild, irrational, and unpredictable, and their characters are still in the formative stages.  Someone fabulous could get hurt.

Caturday!

Body Count

image from audubon.org

Reserve Cat just killed and ate a kinglet and I'm waiting for him to throw it back up.  I had no idea the fat old bastard could still move that fast.

Grrrsday

Say It Ain't So

Workbasket Magazine - April 1946

From April of 1946, an issue that is mostly crochet -- the hat, gloves, and bag shown on the cover, and a traycloth and Bible bookmark (in the shape of a cross).  The quilt pattern on the middle pages is Trumpet Flower, and four pages to print off and staple together can be found on my Flickr account.

Vintage Advertising - Jello

From Woman's Home Companion, January 1921. I must say, she's dressed a lot snazzier than I am when I'm doing housework.