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Quote of the Day

Shall I ask the brave soldier who fights by my side In the cause of mankind, if our creeds agree? ~ Thomas Moore

(AP Photo: a Marine honor detail at Dover AFB carries the casket of Cpl Joe Wrightsman, who drowned while trying to rescue an Afghani policeman from the Helmand river).

Full Disclosure

My boss and I caught a ride to the state terrorist task force meeting at the capitol today with a guy who works in emergency management for our local Big Corporation. Ski is a wonderful person but unfortunately he is also a former Marine. In fact, he and I were stationed at the same air base and in the same air group back in the 80’s (though we were in different squadrons and never met each other), and our conversations tend to start out along the lines of “Remember that biker bar outside the back gate?” and go straight downhill.

My sweet, ladylike boss was trapped in the back seat listening to us reminisce for an hour and a half, so it’s probably a good thing that my next evaluation isn’t until April.

The Online Bookshelf - Cathedral Cities of Spain

By W.W. Collins, published 1908, with 60 color plates. Views of Segovia (above) and Granada.


From Project Gutenberg.

Patterns of the Past - Doe and Fawn

A cross-stitch pattern offered in McCall's Needlework and Crafts, Winter 1955-56 for a dollar fifty-nine.

Crochet - a Pinafore for Kitchen Duty

From Workbasket magazine, June 1950, a crocheted pinafore to use in the kitchen as either a washcloth or (maybe?) a potholder. Instructions on my Flickr account.

Vintage Images - Birds

More nice, copyright-free stuff from Dover.

Et Tu, YouTube?

The advertisements that appear when I visit YouTube are, I know, based on a carefully-calculated scientific algorithm that is fed data on my Internet habits and interprets it accordingly. The ones asking if I’d like to meet senior men in my area are puzzling enough; what I really can’t figure out is why offers of cheap hotel rooms in Abu Dhabi keep popping up.

Is there something about my eBay, Amazon, Google and Expedia usage that indicates I’m yearning for a naughty weekend in the Middle East with a geezer?

"Giving A Dance"

By Madge (Mrs. Humphrey)

"THE chief consideration, after compiling the list of guests, is that of the refreshments that will be required. To combine hospitality with an outlay within one's means is the problem that confronts the average hostess. The well-to-do find no difficulty in it, but those of limited incomes have some thinking to do before arriving at conclusions. After having accepted invitations for one's young people from different families of one's acquaintance, a time arrives when reciprocity becomes necessary. One cannot go onaccepting hospitality without making any return. The alternative is to drop gradually out of the circle of one's visiting-list.

For an ordinary dance, whether given at home or elsewhere, there are usually buffet refreshments and a sit-down supper at midnight. It saves much trouble to employ a caterer, arrange with him the character of the menu for both, settle the price per head, and leave everything in his hands. He supplies buffet, tablecloth, glass, china, dishes, and attendants. Lights and flowers also come within his province, and occasionally he even supplies dance programmes.

The following menu for buffet refreshments is of an average description. The
cost is according to the number of guests. If they are under one hundred the charge is 3s per head ; if for one hundred and fifty, it is 2s. 9d. per head ; and if for two hundred, 2s. 6d. One cannot tell the probable number until answers to the invitations have been received, but the caterer should be informed as early as possible.

MENU.

Buffet Refreshments.
Sandwiches.
Foie-gras a là Regence.
Saumon Fumé. Anchois.
Volaille. Concombre.
Cresson.
Gateaux Fraais.
Biscuits Assortis. Petits Fours.
Gateaux Variés. Brioches.
Coeurs d'Amandes. Crescents.
Chocolats. Bouchées des Dames. .
Fondants.
Thé.
Limonade.
Café.
Orangeade.
Glaces.
Creme aux Fraises. Creme a la Vanille.
Cafe glacé.

A bountiful provision has to be made, for dancing makes many people both hungry and thirsty, and it is the duty of every man to invite his partner after every dance to go and have some refreshment.

At a Cinderella dance there is no set supper. The buffet is all, and it has to be
well provided, even though the dance should finish at midnight ; for the dancers know that there is to be no supper. Cinderellas seldom end quite by midnight ; 1 A.M. is a usual hour, and sometimes invitations are from 9.30 to 2 A.M. By this time everyone is very hungry, and no hostess would like to see a half-empty buffet even at the last.

For a light supper the following menu can be supplied at 6s. per head for one hundred persons, 5s. 9d. for one hundred and fifty, 5s. 3d. for two, and 5s. for three hundred.

MENU.

Filets de sole a là Royale.
Petites salades de Homard.
Medaillons de Volaille Bechamel.
Petites Langues en Surprise.
Bouchées de Jambon.
Poulets de Surrey. Langue de Bceuf.
Jambon d'York a la Gelée.
Salades.
Sandwiches.
Gelée aux Fruits. Chartreuse d'Abricots.
Bavaroise d'Ananas. Bouchées des Dames.
Meringues a la Creme.
Gateaux Variés.
Biscuits Assortis. Petits Fours.
Chocolats. Fondants.
Marrons Glacés.
Thé. Café.
Limonade.
Glacés.
Creme aux Fraises. Eau de Muscat.
Dessert.
Consomme en Tasses.

This final item, hot soup, is of comparatively recent introduction, and it deserves the great popularity it has attained. Many a bad cold has been averted by this cup of hot soup taken after getting overheated in dancing and being about to face the night air. Some hostesses have it handed through the rooms on trays, just like tea, so that everyone may be served with it without going to the buffet. Sometimes it is served at a special table near the hall door."

From Every Woman's Encyclopedia, Volume 1, published 1911.

No Me Impune Lacessit

In the pantheon of dubious truisms, one of the most pernicious must be “It’s a poor workman who blames his tools”. I have never heard this said in any environment where the tools provided weren’t complete crap.

A very funny and very true post from Susannah at Cargo Cult Craft. Particularly about the scissors. Touch my sewing scissors and you die.

Caturday!

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They're Ba-ack....

Rotten little bastards.

Quote of the Day

Political survival lies at the heart of disaster politics. Unless politicians are beholden to the people, they have little motivation to spend resources to protect their citizens from Mother Nature, especially when these resources could otherwise be earmarked for themselves and their small cadre of supporters. What is worse, the casualty count after a disaster is a major determinant of the amount of international assistance a country receives. Relief funds can even enhance a nondemocrat’s hold on power if they are used to buy off supporting elites. ~ Alastair Smith and Alejandro Quiroz Flores, Disaster Politics; Why Earthquakes Rock Democracies Less (photo credit Chicago Examiner)

Further Proof (As If We Needed It) That The Deity is Male

The spousal unit spent the last two days helping a neighbor put a new roof on his mother's house. The temperatures and humidity both have been in the mid-90s.

He (bounding up from the basement, where he has just taken a shower): Hey, I've lost eight pounds!

Me: %&#$*&^$!!!

The Online Bookshelf - Mr. Wicker's Window

A children's fantasy from a gentler time. From Project Gutenberg.

Patterns of the Past - Fall Fashions, 1956

From Modern Needlecraft, #28, Fall 1956.

Crochet - a Pansy Potholder

From Workbasket magazine, December 1950, a classic. Three pages of instruction on my Flickr account, here.

Vintage Posters - Pantomimes Lumineuses

From Dover Publications.

Fair Winds and Following Seas

This week we said goodbye to our Americorps volunteer, a quiet, hard-working lad who is a triple minority within the department; he is not white, nor female, nor middle-aged. We threw him a dessert potluck and I brought this.

Five-Cup Salad

1 cup sour cream
1 cup miniature marshmallows
1 cup coconut
1 cup mandarin oranges, drained
1 cup pineapple chunks, drained

Stir all five ingredients together and refrigerate for one hour. I didn’t have pineapple chunks on hand so I used tidbits.

May your future employers value you as much as we do, kid. You’ll be missed.

Caturday!