Saturday, August 29, 2026

Caturday!

 


Friday, August 28, 2026

Quote of the Day

 


Find out who you are and do it on purpose. And do it with purpose. ~ Dolly Parton

Wednesday, August 26, 2026

Tuesday, August 25, 2026

Vintage Crochet - a Glass Jacket from 1961

 


A useful summer project from Workbasket magazine, June 1961.  Knit Cro Sheen is still available at Michael's, and this may save your porch furniture from those unpleasant rings that glasses of iced tea can make. The rest of the magazine is available at the Internet Archive.

Monday, August 24, 2026

Lore of the Corps - The Battle of Bladensburg



On this day in 1814, 103 Marines and "flotillamen" from the Washington Navy Yard held off a numerically superior British force long enough to help save the Declaration of Independence.

"It was an unmitigated military disaster, save for a small band of US Marines whose desperate defense of the nation's capital allowed for the Declaration of Independence - and the President - to be whisked away to safety."  Claire Barret, Military Times.

Saturday, August 22, 2026

Caturday!

 


Friday, August 21, 2026

Quote of the Day

 


High noon in August! over all the land
The very air is palpitant withheat;
While stretching far, the fields of ripening wheat
Unrippled lie as plains of yellow sand. ~ Henry Sylvester Cornwell

Thursday, August 20, 2026

Grrrsday

 


Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Knitting - A Leaf Edging From 1952


 From Workbasket magazine, February 19152, an attractive and not too complicated edging.  This would have looked much better after blocking, IMHO. Left click to enlarge.

Monday, August 17, 2026

Holidays We Don't Celebrate Nearly Enough - Happy National Thrift Shop Day

 

Spare & Share Shoppe, Gridley, Illinois

Also, Brian's least favorite holiday.

Saturday, August 15, 2026

Caturday!

 


Friday, August 14, 2026

Quote Of The Day

 

Morning Wake Up by Pascal Campion

Sometimes I think that dogs must have been created especially in order to improve our morale and to give us a good opinion of ourselves when we are most in need of encouragement.

(Google attributes this quote variously to Antoine St-Exupery, James Herriot, and Sigmund Freud.  I can no longer locate the book where I actually found it).

Thursday, August 13, 2026

Tuesday, August 11, 2026

Other Crafts - A Leather Shopping Bag from 1950

 


A shopping bag to make from leather scraps (with very little tweaking, you could turn this into a clutch or a wallet - just line it so small items don't fall out).  From Crafts for Everyone, by Louis V. Newkirk, 1950.  This can be read for free online at the Hathi Trust site, but you will need a library or school account to download it.

Thursday, August 6, 2026

Chicago, Chicago, That Toddlin' Town

 


Off to stuff myself with culture for four days - Cendrillon and Carmen at the Chicago Summer Opera series, and then the Willem de Kooning exhibit at the art institute.

Whether this trip will include visits to two of my favorite Loop restaurants (Bereket and the Dearborn) remains to be seen.

Tuesday, August 4, 2026

Knitting - A Scrap Yarn Rug from 1950

 

From Workbasket magazine, September of 1950, and is another iteration on the theme of strip-knitted rugs.  This issue is my own, and is not yet up at the Antique Pattern Library site.



Left click to enlarge.

 


Monday, August 3, 2026

Annus Mirabilis

 


Saturday, August 1, 2026

Caturday!


 

Friday, July 31, 2026

Quote of the Day

 


A fence lasts three years, a dog lasts three fences, a horse lasts three dogs; and a man lasts three horses.  ~  German proverb.

Thursday, July 30, 2026

Grrrsday

 


Tuesday, July 28, 2026

Vintage Sewing - A Handbag to Match Your Suit from 1943


 From Woman and Home, February, 1943.  Another way to "make do" on the UK home front. Left-click to enlarge.

Monday, July 27, 2026

Vintage Advertising - Grape Nuts Cereal

 

Maybe we should send a carload to Congress.  From Blue Book Magazine, April 1918.

Sunday, July 26, 2026

Caturday!

 


Friday, July 24, 2026

Quote of the Day

 

copyright-free image from the Graphics Fairy

A moon-flooded prairie; a straying
Of leal-hearted lovers; a baying
Of far-away watching dogs; a dreaming
Of brown-fisted farmers; a gleaming
Of fireflies eddying nigh - 
And that is July! ~ James N. Matthews

Thursday, July 23, 2026

Grrrsday

 


Tuesday, July 21, 2026

Vintage Crafting - A Hot Mat from 1951


 This ... interesting little craft from the February, 1951 issue of Workbasket magazine falls in the category of "we can't do it anymore."  Separate rubber canning rings haven't been a thing for at least forty years, if not longer.  I wonder what you could substitute?

Friday, July 17, 2026

Brothers And Sisters, I Bid You Beware Of Giving Your Heart To A Dog To Tear

 


He was fifteen years old, which is a good long life for a German Shepherd.  Just not long enough.

Thursday, July 16, 2026

Grrrsday

 


(#2, especially this weekend.  It is just too damned hot).

Friday, July 10, 2026

Quote Of The Day

 


I'm afraid I found this unbearably accurate last month.

Thursday, July 9, 2026

Grrrsday

 


Monday, July 6, 2026

I Blame The Democrats

 


I've come down with prickly heat.

Saturday, July 4, 2026

Caturday!

 


Friday, July 3, 2026

Thursday, July 2, 2026

Grrrsday

 


Tuesday, June 30, 2026

Vintage Sewing: Some Muslin Lingerie from 1910

 






From Harper's Handy-book for Girls, a project considered suitable for girls (especially those who might someday have to sew their own undergarments).  The book can be found online.  



Tuesday, June 23, 2026

A Brief Hiatus

 


Headed to Seattle to celebrate #2 Brother's #1 son retiring from the Air Force this weekend.  Time is fleeting, etc etc.

Saturday, June 20, 2026

Caturday!

 


Friday, June 19, 2026

Quote of the Day

 


Evil begins when you begin to treat people as things. ~ Terry Pratchett

Thursday, June 18, 2026

Grrrsday

 


Tuesday, June 16, 2026

Children's Crafts - "Fanciful Felt Bookmarks" from 1960

 


From McCalls Golden Do-it Book, 1960.  Left-click to enlarge, or go to the copy on the Internet Archive.

Dig that smug-looking cat.

Monday, June 15, 2026

Vintage Holidays - Flag Day

 

copyright-free image from the Graphics Fairy

Saturday, June 13, 2026

Caturday!

 


In other news, Minnie went missing Wednesday night - I was afraid she had bolted out the back door while we were running the hose out into the back yard.  Turns out she was hiding in the storage room under the porch.

She appeared this morning long enough to let me see what a terrible human she thinks I am, and went back into the storage room.  

Thursday, June 11, 2026

It's Deja Vu All Over Again



The entire south end of town is flooded, along with our basement.  Let's see, when did this happen before?

Just to make things really bearable, we're supposed to get another storm tonight.

Friday, June 5, 2026

Quote of the Day

 


We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother...
Amd gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us...~ Wm Shakespeare

Thursday, June 4, 2026

Grrrsday