Saturday, July 29, 2023

Friday, July 28, 2023

Quote Of The Day

 


Knowing Emmett Till had been born
in '41 and my father in '42,

knowing Mississippi made a wound of his only body
while my father's slept tender in Alabama,

knowing how quick my father was to whistle,
to hum, to quip back, to be smart - while Black -

I turned my head in the classroom,
turned my head from the film-lit photograph,

from the misshapen yield of that river,
toward the gentle vacancies of the baseball field.

Oh, child.  It's 1992.
Your father will be beside you at the dinner table.

There is a mother whose son was lost to Mississippi.
She's telling you, Look

~ Amanda Gunn

Thursday, July 27, 2023

The Online Bookshelf: Animal Portraiture by Wilhelm Kuhnert

 



One hundred breath-taking color studies by early 20th century animal painter Wilhelm Kuhnert.  Free download at Project Gutenberg.



Tuesday, July 25, 2023

Other Crafts - Raffia Coasters from 1950

 


Ideal for these hot, muggy, ice-tea-drinking summer days (left-click to enlarge),  a set of coasters to braid from raffia, which still can be found in craft stores.  If you're too far or too hard up, you could also do this in #10 crochet cotton.

From the Open Library, Crafts for Everyone by Louis V. Newkirk.  Not available as a download, but you can borrow it in one-hour increments if you have a free account.  


Monday, July 24, 2023

National Preserving Awareness Week

 


Blitzen and Sheba are doing their bit.

Sunday, July 23, 2023

For This, I got the Tommy Lee Jones Over-The-Top-of-The-Reading-Glasses Death Stare

 


Me:  What do you call a cow that has just given birth?

He:  I dunno, what?

Me:  Decalfeinated!

(It's terrible being married to a man with no sense of humor).

Saturday, July 22, 2023

Friday, July 21, 2023

Quote Of The Day

 


The fascination of any search after truth lies not in the attainment, which at best is found to be very relative, but in the pursuit, where all the powers of the mind and character are brought into play and are absorbed in the task. ~ Florence Bascom

Thursday, July 20, 2023

Tuesday, July 18, 2023

Children's Crafts - Clothespin People from 1953

 


From the McCall's Golden Book for Children, 1953, an idea for someone small who is bored with other summer activities.  Of course, you need to have a good old-fashioned round-topped pegs for this to really work.  The kind you buy in a craft store won't do.

The book is full of ideas for children's crafts, and is available as a one-hour loan at the Open Library (You'll need an account, but it's free).

Monday, July 17, 2023

Beware Of All Enterprises That Require New Clothes

 




We leave for Alaska in fifteen days, and I hope this gets here before then.

Vintage Magazines - All Story Love Stories

 


Boy, if this isn't a tear-jerker, I don't know what is.

Sunday, July 9, 2023

Quelle Surprise

 


Having been sucked back into providing support for a Red Cross response (the Derecho that hit the Midwest earlier this month), I am now working with a new volunteer who is a retired railroad dispatcher, and who told me that there's a locomotive named after me.

That pleasant thought aside, I am going to be up to my armpits in Red Cross stuff this week so please excuse any gaps in posting.

Saturday, July 8, 2023

Friday, July 7, 2023

Quote Of The Day

 


If you ever get to thinking you're really something, try calling another man's dog ~ Anonymous

Thursday, July 6, 2023

Tuesday, July 4, 2023

Vintage Woodworking - a Maple Leaf Whatnot from 1943

 


In belated homage to Canada Day, a corner whatnot shelf from The Young Craftsman, a collection of projects considered easy and suitable for the young from various magazines such as Popular Mechanics, published in 1943. It's a free download at the Internet Archive.

Monday, July 3, 2023

Saturday, July 1, 2023