tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26394020877331121002024-03-13T07:09:21.348-04:00Cassandra ConsidersAbout Cassandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09620554663275474210noreply@blogger.comBlogger136125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639402087733112100.post-77285953292453295692012-02-07T20:57:00.000-05:002012-02-07T21:11:03.451-05:00<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Frances Ridley
Havergal -<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif;">The
"Sweet Singer and Yet Strong"</span><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>1836-1879</b></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif; font-size: large;">“…there must be the
music of God's own love in that fair singer's heart; <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif; font-size: large;">and that so there
was joy in her face, joy in her words, joy in her ways.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif;">~ An Irish schoolgirl (upon meeting “Miss Frances”
in her 20<sup>th</sup> year)</span><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif;">Frances Ridley Havergal was the author of</span><span style="color: #40464b; font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif;"> approximately fifty Christian hymns and two hundred poems</span><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif;">. She is remembered as an
example of what a Christian can and ought to be - of living a life wholly
yielded to Jesus Christ. </span><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif;">She has been referred to as
"the sweetest voice of hymnody," and "the consecration
poet."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif; font-size: large;">Frances,
affectionately known as “Fannie” by family and friends, was born, the sixth and
youngest child of the Rev. William Henry Havergal and his wife, Jane, December
14, 1836, at Astley, Worcestershire, England. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif; font-size: large;">Her father was, at the time of Frances’ birth, Rector of Astley Church and
known as a writer, composer and hymn writer of about 100 hymns, and publisher of
sermons and religious pamphlets. Mr.
Havergal and his wife were both very earnest, spiritually-minded, evangelical
Christians; and their home has been characterized as “rich in all holy
influences, in much beauty, and in a delightful musicalness.” Mr. Havergal
was characterized as "a living song…filling the house with holy melodies”.
Despite being thrown out of a carriage
in 1829 and receiving a concussion which disabled him for some years, causing
loss of most of his sight by 1832, he published the <i>Old Church Psalmody" Op. 43</i>, in 1847, which is considered the
parent of most modern collections of church hymn tunes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Rev. Henry Havergal</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif;">Frances was a beautiful, yet delicate child, who was not able to
attend school regularly, but</span><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif;">
was bright, happy, and so full of life and vivacity, that her father called her
his "Little Quicksilver." She
was very fond of music from her babyhood, and sang almost as soon as she could
talk. One of her godmothers used to say:
"I believe Fanny will die singing" [and she certainly<i> did!] </i>When
Frances was three, it is said that she could read easy books, and was often
found, hidden under a table with some engrossing story. </span><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif;">Frances wrote verses from the age of seven with remarkable fluency,
and her poems were soon admitted into the British Christian magazine, <i>Good Words</i> and other religious
periodicals. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif; font-size: large;">The
first sorrow of Frances life, when she was eleven years old, was the death of
her dear mother in 1848. After her
mother's death, Frances spent much time with her eldest sister, Miriam, at
Oakhampton, where she is remembered as “a clever, amusing child, sometimes a
little willful and troublesome from mere excess of animal spirits, but always
affectionate and grateful for any little treat; much given to reading poetry,
and not so tidy as she afterwards became, for she used to leave books about in
the hay-loft, manger, and all sorts of garden nooks.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif; font-size: large;">In
1851 at the age of fourteen, Frances attended a school taught by a Mrs. Teed,
under whose prayerful and loving influence her religious desires were deepened
and strengthened. It was not until a
year later that she first experienced real faith in Jesus as her Savior. During a visit at Okehampton with Caroline
Cooke, who afterwards, in July of 1852, married her father and became her
"loved mother" (as Frances loved to call her), she was enabled to
trust the Lord Jesus, and earth and heaven were bright from that moment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif; font-size: large;">From
the time of her conversion Frances lived a very earnest Christian life. She attended schools and colleges in England
and Germany, and afterwards visited different parts of England, Switzerland,
Wales, Ireland, and Scotland; but everywhere she went she took a bold stand for
Christ. Frances had a thorough training
in linguistics and music and was a pianist and singer. Her scholastic achievements included
proficiency in several modern languages, in addition to Latin and Hebrew. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif;">When
Frances returned to England</span><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif;"> in December 1853</span><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif;">,
although supposed to be "finished," Frances continued her studies,
and with her father's tutelage learned enough Greek to enjoy studying the New
Testament. In July, 1854, when she was
eighteen, she was confirmed in Worcester Cathedral. She always observed the anniversary of her
confirmation by spending the day in prayer and holy retirement.<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif; text-align: justify;">Frances,
at eighteen and nineteen, wrote extensively. She asked the Lord to direct her writing, and
to give her every word, and even the rhymes of her poetry. Frances sent her
works to various contests, got prizes for them, and gave money to the Church
Missionary Society. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif; text-align: justify;">Throughout her life Frances
energetically engaged in religious and philanthropic work. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif; text-align: justify;">She
became closely associated with the Keswick Convention (as well as other
gatherings such as the Mildmay Conference and Moody and Sankey’s meetings).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif;">Frances first well-known hymn was written in 1859, during another
visit to Germany, when she was twenty-three years old. It was inspired by a
picture of the Crucifixion under which were the words: "I gave My life for
thee." The hymn nearly went into
the fire, for Frances was dissatisfied with her work; but instead of burning
it, on second thought she put it, crumpled and singed, into her pocket. Later on she read the verses to a dear old
Christian in an almshouse, who was so delighted with them that the young
authoress made copies and sent them to friends.
</span><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif;">Frances wrote
some of her own tunes for some of her hymns and her father wrote the music for
others.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif;">Frances also wrote many small devotional tracts and narratives in
prose </span><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif;">and numerous
little books of poems</span><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif;">, all marked by the same earnest and practical piety</span><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif;">. Themes for her writings were
faith, consecration, and service. </span><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif;">Her religious poetry became
exceedingly popular in evangelical circles. She published collections of her poems and
hymns in many separate volumes; the earliest is dated 1870. </span><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif;">Frances’
father died suddenly in 1870, to the intense grief of his family. This loss,
however, as all other losses, only made the Divine promises more real to
Frances. Her hymn, "Thou Art the
Helper of the Fatherless," flashed brightly upon Frances soon afterwards
when puzzling over a tune her father would have decided at once. "I think," she adds, "that even
in music the Lord is my helper now." </span><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif;">She prepared for the press a new edition of her father’s <i>Psalmody</i>, and </span><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif;">now added her own hymn tunes to
her other work. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif; font-size: large;">In
December 1873, Frances declared that she had received a blessing that had
"lifted her whole life into sunshine, of which all she had previously
experienced was but as pale and passing April gleams compared with the fullness
of summer glory." This blessing
came to her through a tiny book with the title, <i>All for Jesus</i>, which she received in a letter from a friend. She read it carefully and its contents
arrested her attention and set forth a fullness of blessing to which she felt
she had not attained. She was gratefully conscious of having for many years
loved the Lord, and delighted in His service; but "I want," she
wrote, "to come nearer stil', to have full realization of John
xiv.21." Frances often referred to
this experience, which made the closing years of her life such a blessing to
others.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif; font-size: large;">Frances’ whole life was now
lifted to a higher plane, and her few remaining years were the richest of her
life, richest in Christian experience, and richest in service for her King.
Wherever she went, her life was full of service, and her words were winged with
a new spiritual power. It was at this time, too, that she wrote her great
consecration hymn, "Take my Life and Let it Be."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif; font-size: large;">Frances
was a contemporary of the well-known American hymn writer, Fanny Crosby
(1820-1915). Although these two gifted
women never met, each was an admirer of the other. In a letter sent by Frances to Fanny Crosby,
she wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif; font-size: large;">“Dear
blind sister over the sea--<br />
An English heart goes forth to thee.<br />
We are linked by a cable of faith and song,<br />
Flashing bright sympathy swift along<br />
One in the East and one in the West,<br />
Singing for Him whom our souls love best.<br />
Singing for Jesus! Telling His love<br />
All the way to our home above,<br />
Where the severing sea, with its restless tide<br />
Never shall hinder and never divide.<br />
Sister, what shall our meeting soon be<br />
When our hearts shall sing and our eyes shall see?”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif; font-size: large;">In
the late 1870s, Frances’ time was occupied with her writing, in giving Bible
readings and addresses, in visiting the poor, and in doing needlework for the
Zenana missions and for the poor. In 1877 she took up temperance work as well.
She spent much time in visiting from house to house, to read the Bible and
point souls to Christ. She often gave Bible readings or addressed meetings in
drawing rooms and other places, and frequently led consecration meetings. The
first consecration meeting she was ever in was conducted by herself, and it was
a time of rich blessing. She often sang in churches, hospitals, and other
places. Every morning she spent much time in studying and marking her Bible. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif;">On her step-mother's death in 1878, Frances and her sister, Maria,
removed from Leamington to South Wales, near the Mumbles on the Welsh coast,
where they </span><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif;">set up
housekeeping together. Frances was so
tired, that even the sea air, and perfect rest failed to refresh her for some
time. She was only forty-two when she
died on June 3, 1879. Frances had chosen
1 John 1:7, “The Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin."
to be placed on her coffin, around and underneath her name; “the word from
heaven, under the shelter of which she could peacefully, yea triumphantly, fall
asleep.” This text was also engraved on
her tombstone at Astley, Worcestershire.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif;">Her sister, Maria, also published, in 1880, Frances’ autobiography, <i>Memorials of Frances Ridley Havergal</i>. The influence of this autobiography was noted
as remarkable as that of Frances’ hymns and poems. </span><span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif;">Her family and friends, following her
death, took up a large collection, and, as a memorial to her, sent this sum
abroad to be used by the native women in India to share the gospel with others.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: 'Goudy Old Style', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Francis’
legacy lives on long after her passing. <em><span style="font-style: normal;">Havergal Ladies’College, (aka Havergal College) founded in 1894</span></em><i> </i>in Toronto, Canada is named after Frances.
Her books and poems are still available
to the public, and her hymns are sung by millions of Christians. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</div>About Cassandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09620554663275474210noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639402087733112100.post-14732251087551696042011-12-09T14:19:00.000-05:002011-12-12T08:01:33.933-05:00Christmas Books from Cassandra's Collection...<table style="width: 194px;"><tbody>
<tr><td align="center" style="background: url("https://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/transparent_album_background.gif") no-repeat left; height: 194px;"><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/102260880725980783303/DecorativePublishersChristmasBindings?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite"><img height="160" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-7mqm9ozlIkE/TRJg_WmJfiE/AAAAAAAADa0/Rntd9TKqUSk/s160-c/DecorativePublishersChristmasBindings.jpg" style="margin: 1px 0px 0px 4px;" width="160" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td style="font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/102260880725980783303/DecorativePublishersChristmasBindings?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite" style="color: #4d4d4d; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Decorative Publishers' Christmas </a><br />
<strong>Bindings</strong><br />
<br />
Click on the book, and, then, click on slideshow...Enjoy, and a blessed Christmas to all!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>About Cassandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09620554663275474210noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639402087733112100.post-27134138102332650902011-11-27T15:33:00.001-05:002011-11-27T20:31:11.211-05:00A Delicious Childhood Memory<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v7su_bGG-w0/TtKeqscSunI/AAAAAAAADZM/gKDAfkuomeU/s1600/Pies+in+the+Pantry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v7su_bGG-w0/TtKeqscSunI/AAAAAAAADZM/gKDAfkuomeU/s320/Pies+in+the+Pantry.jpg" width="202" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Goudy Old Style","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Sarah
Wheeler’s Butterscotch Pie</span> <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Goudy Old Style","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;">(Reputed to be the <strong>First </strong>Butterscotch Pie)<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Goudy Old Style","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;">This pie was mistakenly “invented” in a bakery (the
Wheeler Creamerie Exchange of Connersville) in my home state of Indiana, when Sarah Wheeler, the
proprietor, scorched the cream pie she was cooking while talking with a
customer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her sons tasted the scorched
results and claimed they were delicious; thus, a new pie flavor was invented!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Goudy Old Style","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is the recipe Sarah is said to have published
in 1904 for a Methodist Church cookbook:<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Goudy Old Style","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: large;">2 ½ cups
milk</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Goudy Old Style","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: large;">2 eggs
separated</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Goudy Old Style","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: large;">¼ cup
flour</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Goudy Old Style","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: large;">1 cup
dark brown sugar, firmly packed</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Goudy Old Style","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: large;">½ cup
water</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Goudy Old Style","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: large;">1/8 tsp.
salt</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Goudy Old Style","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: large;">1 ½
Tbsp. butter or margarine</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Goudy Old Style","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: large;">1 tsp.
vanilla</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Goudy Old Style","serif";"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;">1 8-inch
baked pastry shell<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Goudy Old Style","serif";"><span style="color: black; font-size: large;">Thoroughly
combine ½ cup milk, egg yolks and flour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Set aside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Scald remaining 2 cups
of milk over hot water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Combine brown
sugar, water and salt in skillet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Place
over low heat and bring to a gentle boil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Cook until mixture thickens and a few bubbles break sending up not
whiffs, but puffs of smoke.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Add
caramelized sugar very slowly, stirring constantly, to scalded milk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When smooth, gradually stir in egg-yolk
mixture and cook, stirring constantly, over hot water until thick.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remove and add butter or margarine and vanilla.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When fat has melted, stir it in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cool.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Pour filling into cooled pie shell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Make a meringue using the egg whites, ¼ tsp. Cream of tartar and ¼ cup
sugar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Spread over pie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bake in hot oven (400 degrees) for 8 to 10
minutes or until delicately browned.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>About Cassandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09620554663275474210noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639402087733112100.post-37876045885036332892011-11-22T13:54:00.001-05:002011-11-22T16:59:22.863-05:00Thanksgiving Greetings via Cassandra's Antique Postcard Collection<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dq2KtPluO1s/TswbKYcYC_I/AAAAAAAADYw/CoRoIbfT9dg/s1600/New+England.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dq2KtPluO1s/TswbKYcYC_I/AAAAAAAADYw/CoRoIbfT9dg/s400/New+England.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>About Cassandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09620554663275474210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639402087733112100.post-70333071711166870872011-11-15T08:44:00.001-05:002012-02-07T21:12:03.982-05:00Speaking of All Things Bright & Beautiful...<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">...our 5 1/2 month old granddaughter, Alice Anabelle!</span><br />
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<br />About Cassandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09620554663275474210noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639402087733112100.post-28614042866672598082011-11-14T19:59:00.001-05:002011-11-14T20:05:30.486-05:00It Was a Lovely Autumn at the FarmPhotos taken this Fall at our farm in upstate New York: <br />
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<br /></div>About Cassandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09620554663275474210noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639402087733112100.post-10948131793144084912011-10-19T12:19:00.002-04:002011-10-19T12:38:50.750-04:00Cassandra’s Recipe for Apple Pan Dowdy<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_44Rd7qKgwE/Tp72RP-VI5I/AAAAAAAACh8/VoaHIYO1AP0/s1600/Family+Peeling+Apples.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="301" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_44Rd7qKgwE/Tp72RP-VI5I/AAAAAAAACh8/VoaHIYO1AP0/s400/Family+Peeling+Apples.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An Old Photo of a Family Peeling Apples Found by Cassandra in Indiana this Past Summer</td></tr>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;">“…apple pan dowdy makes your eyes light up and your tummy say, ‘howdy’…”</span></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;">An easy, delicious recipe for using all those wonderful,
fresh, ripe autumn apples:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4uH4Rce39Mo/Tp74HW3-L5I/AAAAAAAACi8/3YWMUr3JbVI/s1600/Woman-Peeling-an-Apple.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4uH4Rce39Mo/Tp74HW3-L5I/AAAAAAAACi8/3YWMUr3JbVI/s320/Woman-Peeling-an-Apple.jpg" width="260" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;">Preheat oven to 350 degrees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eifa6JD-knQ/Tp723Ezfb0I/AAAAAAAACiE/Rwevp2KSHlE/s1600/Grandma+Peeling+Apples.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eifa6JD-knQ/Tp723Ezfb0I/AAAAAAAACiE/Rwevp2KSHlE/s400/Grandma+Peeling+Apples.jpg" width="354" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Peel, core and cut enough apple slices to fill a medium iron
skillet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Cassandra loves her new
cabinet-mounted apple peeler/corer – only $8.99 at </span><a href="http://www.christmastreeshops.com/"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em>Christmas Tree Shops</em></span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;">!)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z6kQXPvZED4/Tp72_or0bwI/AAAAAAAACiM/YI-WUgCYrGs/s1600/Apples.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="277" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z6kQXPvZED4/Tp72_or0bwI/AAAAAAAACiM/YI-WUgCYrGs/s400/Apples.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;">Mix together ½ cup brown sugar, ½ cup butter,
2 tsp. cinnamon, and a sprinkle of nutmeg.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Pour mixture over apples.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bPdVv_x8tlQ/Tp73NR6GO1I/AAAAAAAACiU/0LC_UEE9VrI/s1600/size3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bPdVv_x8tlQ/Tp73NR6GO1I/AAAAAAAACiU/0LC_UEE9VrI/s320/size3.jpg" width="224" /></a></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;">Add 2
more cups brown sugar over top and cover with ready-made crust (Cassandra's favorite is Mrs. Smith's frozen <em>Oronoque Orchards™ Deep Dish Pie Crust</em>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Prick top and bake 1 hour at 350
degrees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ijFtvzw6icc/Tp73auoCznI/AAAAAAAACic/LoWFmHqeqmM/s1600/Peeling+Apples.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ijFtvzw6icc/Tp73auoCznI/AAAAAAAACic/LoWFmHqeqmM/s400/Peeling+Apples.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;">Serve warm with vanilla ice
cream, whipped cream or by pouring warm milk over the dowdy in a bowl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--ccLlngOWls/Tp73kiX1drI/AAAAAAAACik/9e_oK25ld2c/s1600/Apple+Peeler.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--ccLlngOWls/Tp73kiX1drI/AAAAAAAACik/9e_oK25ld2c/s400/Apple+Peeler.jpg" width="326" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Enjoy while listening to Dinah Shore’s famous rendition of the
song, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6BffiHlvfk">Shoo Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy</a>, </i>from
the late 1940s!</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-b7_F_9MXYBY/Tp73tDec0lI/AAAAAAAACis/7lKVvo2OTwk/s1600/Dinah+Shore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-b7_F_9MXYBY/Tp73tDec0lI/AAAAAAAACis/7lKVvo2OTwk/s320/Dinah+Shore.jpg" width="272" /></a></div>About Cassandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09620554663275474210noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639402087733112100.post-61830512299535280052011-10-18T16:04:00.003-04:002011-10-18T19:30:39.692-04:00Falling LeavesFrom an antique book, <em>Falling Leaves: Songs and Sketches arranged by E. Nesbit & Robert Ellice Mack</em>, which I recently purchased in upstate New York...<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UY_vGYf09R4/Tp3bnLlw5XI/AAAAAAAAChI/lbZWkChteHY/s1600/Falling+Leaves+Poem.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UY_vGYf09R4/Tp3bnLlw5XI/AAAAAAAAChI/lbZWkChteHY/s640/Falling+Leaves+Poem.jpg" width="516" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N9RJM_4E5PA/Tp3btxUbRVI/AAAAAAAAChQ/h9rAd_YgdTI/s1600/Illustration.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N9RJM_4E5PA/Tp3btxUbRVI/AAAAAAAAChQ/h9rAd_YgdTI/s400/Illustration.jpg" width="340" /></a></div>About Cassandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09620554663275474210noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639402087733112100.post-25945642756716956052011-10-17T17:54:00.001-04:002011-12-12T08:02:42.036-05:00Shop Windows of Paris<span style="font-family: Calibri;">(Photos taken by Cassandra)</span>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">On a recent trip to Paris during “Fashion Week,”
I thoroughly enjoyed the many shopping and “window shopping” opportunities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The French term for window shopping, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">faire du lèche-vitrine</i>, translates
directly as “to go window licking.” Of course the shop windows were filled with
fabulous fall haute couture, but I chose to photograph some more varied
items during my three days of walking the streets of Paris…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Au revoir!</span></div>About Cassandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09620554663275474210noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639402087733112100.post-64205793310563979472011-09-20T19:51:00.000-04:002011-10-19T13:10:30.231-04:00In the Days of the Golden Rod<div style="text-align: center;">
(All photos taken at or near Cassandra's upstate New York farmhouse.)</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Goudy Old Style","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;">Across
the meadow in brooding shadow<br />
I walk to drink of the autumn's wine<br />
The charm of story, the artist's glory,<br />
To-day on these silvering hills is mine;<br />
On height, in hollow, where'er I follow,<br />
By mellow hillside and searing sod,<br />
Its plumes uplifting, in light winds drifting,<br />
I see the glimmer of golden-rod. <br />
<br />
In this latest comer the vanished summer<br />
Has left its sunshine the world to cheer,<br />
And bids us remember in late September<br />
What beauty mates with the passing year.<br />
The days that are fleetest are still the sweetest,<br />
And life is near to the heart of God,<br />
And the peace of heaven to earth is given<br />
In this wonderful time of the golden-rod.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="color: black; font-family: "Goudy Old Style","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">by <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lucy Maud Montgomery</i></span></span></span></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>About Cassandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09620554663275474210noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639402087733112100.post-25472155127811810182011-09-11T17:02:00.000-04:002011-09-11T19:26:00.072-04:00Summer Sunset<div style="text-align: center;">
(Photos recently taken by Cassandra at her upstate New York farm...)</div>
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Sweet day of summer balm and rest,</div>
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Oh, stay thy flight!</div>
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Still wave, above yon mountain's crest, </div>
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Thy banners bright!</div>
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Still hold the portals of the west</div>
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Against the night!</div>
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Lo! how the waving forest trees</div>
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Beckon they stay!</div>
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Hark, how the fragrant evening's breeze</div>
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Doth woo delay!</div>
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While thrushes plead across the leas, </div>
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Pass not away!</div>
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But though all nature join the cry,</div>
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Not yet - not yet!</div>
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Behind yon rocky rampart high</div>
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Thy sun will set!</div>
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Each bird will hush - each floweret's eye</div>
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With tears be wet!</div>
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E'en now beyond the purpling hill</div>
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Thy light hath past:</div>
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The woodland shadows, silent chill--</div>
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Are o'er me cast.</div>
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The while thou wingest, tireless till</div>
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Thou gild the east!</div>
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The Father knows we cannot bear</div>
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Unclouded light;</div>
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Therefore each perfect day must share</div>
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With darksome night --</div>
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Until He bring that dawning fair,</div>
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Eternal--bright!</div>
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~ George S. Dwight, from <em>The Cool of the Day</em>, 1892</div>
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About Cassandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09620554663275474210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639402087733112100.post-76273856703425356422011-07-29T14:48:00.002-04:002011-07-29T15:52:10.809-04:00A Beloved Childhood “Friend”…<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uscAdk6GEOk/TjL9lgb7u5I/AAAAAAAACeE/5y7r5UEPsVw/s1600/My+Billy+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uscAdk6GEOk/TjL9lgb7u5I/AAAAAAAACeE/5y7r5UEPsVw/s400/My+Billy+2.jpg" width="260" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On my new rocking horse, "Billy" <br />
- note mother hiding on the left holding me on!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">When I was one year old, my parents received a call from my father’s office, telling them that a package addressed to me had arrived there from Marshall Fields in Chicago, sent by a client/friend of my father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When they arrived at the office to retrieve this mystery box, my parents were amazed that the “package” was actually a very large wooden crate in which was packed a beautiful large German rocking horse or <strong><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Schaukelpferde.</i></strong></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RNV6ZP3Qgso/TjL-FoXYz8I/AAAAAAAACeI/MTJbbKzphTA/s1600/My+Billy+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RNV6ZP3Qgso/TjL-FoXYz8I/AAAAAAAACeI/MTJbbKzphTA/s400/My+Billy+1.jpg" width="291" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xHnQZuvngAs/TjL-fnvFn4I/AAAAAAAACeQ/BRK9nm-0nZ0/s1600/scan0008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xHnQZuvngAs/TjL-fnvFn4I/AAAAAAAACeQ/BRK9nm-0nZ0/s320/scan0008.jpg" width="313" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cowgirl Cassandra on Billy at age 3.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I named my horse “Billy” - he sported a real horsehair mane and tail; red wooden, western-style stirrups; a real leather bridle and reins; a glossy painted bright gold saddle; beautiful hand-painted eyes; a soft brown velvet painted coat; and a red bow-style rocker. Billy was a beloved part of my early childhood years and those of my sisters and friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LK3TIZVXNQk/TjL-TwnpyhI/AAAAAAAACeM/boefBfwBVGw/s1600/My+Billy+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LK3TIZVXNQk/TjL-TwnpyhI/AAAAAAAACeM/boefBfwBVGw/s400/My+Billy+3.jpg" width="302" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Billy ridden by a young friend...</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Today Billy resides at the home of my sister and brother-in-law where he is in process of restoration - soon to be enjoyed again by another generation: starting with my new granddaughter, Alice Annabelle!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A Brief History of the Rocking Horse</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FyJfCSURTPI/TjL_DPl-BpI/AAAAAAAACeU/PfqAbt2ZmJ8/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="386" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FyJfCSURTPI/TjL_DPl-BpI/AAAAAAAACeU/PfqAbt2ZmJ8/s400/6.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">For centuries as far back as ancient Greece and Persia, children have been enamored of toy horses, playing kings and queens, knights and damsels, cowboys and cowgirls, & etc., with these timeless toys, whether on a stick, pulled by a string, or built on wheels or rockers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tgZZA_1KJaQ/TjL_MUnJ79I/AAAAAAAACeY/UgLM2i0Qntk/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tgZZA_1KJaQ/TjL_MUnJ79I/AAAAAAAACeY/UgLM2i0Qntk/s400/3.jpg" width="278" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Rocking horses first appeared in Europe, notably in Germany, in the seventeenth century and were especially popular in England during the Georgian and Victorian eras, when only the wealthiest of parents could afford such a luxury. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> elaborate</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">ly</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> han</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">dcrafted masterpieces, featured</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> leather saddles</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> and bridles</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, glass eyes and </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">real horsehair </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">manes and tails and <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">were believed to help develop children's' balance for riding real horses.</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9ns-2lPfCSg/TjL_lcmnOKI/AAAAAAAACec/93Vw2haH2y0/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9ns-2lPfCSg/TjL_lcmnOKI/AAAAAAAACec/93Vw2haH2y0/s400/5.jpg" width="301" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Rocking horses were also produced in the United States, as well as in Europe, during the Victorian & Edwardian eras, as the Industrial Revolution introduced a larger and more affluent middle class as well as less expensive productions costs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1880 a Cincinnatian invented and patented the “Safety Stand” or swinger base, which largely replaced the curved “bow” rocker of early years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many antique tin-types, cabinet cards, and early black and white photographs of children and their rocking horses can be found in both the U.S. and in Europe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TAkrQ4IjCa8/TjL_31Vc86I/AAAAAAAACek/6tba2kY1pPQ/s1600/16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="326" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TAkrQ4IjCa8/TjL_31Vc86I/AAAAAAAACek/6tba2kY1pPQ/s400/16.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V0tneWd90Bg/TjL_9rTlBrI/AAAAAAAACeo/2kWjnXfvSqk/s1600/8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V0tneWd90Bg/TjL_9rTlBrI/AAAAAAAACeo/2kWjnXfvSqk/s400/8.jpg" width="236" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Production progressed through the mid-twentieth century, at which time the crafting of fine rocking horses almost ceased.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During the past 20 years </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">there has been an increasing quantity of skilled craftsmen around the world producing and restoring quality rocking horses. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TTUwfuRI-Pk/TjMAKlkUy3I/AAAAAAAACes/hIPRu8yK-6M/s1600/15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TTUwfuRI-Pk/TjMAKlkUy3I/AAAAAAAACes/hIPRu8yK-6M/s400/15.jpg" width="285" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A Sampling of Current Rocking Horse Craftsmen…</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://www.rockinghorsedesign.com/index.htm"><span style="color: windowtext;">http://www.rockinghorsedesign.com/index.htm</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://www.kensington-rocking-horses.co.uk/"><span style="color: windowtext;">http://www.kensington-rocking-horses.co.uk/</span></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://www.riding-high-rocking-horses.co.uk/Default.asp"><span style="color: windowtext;">http://www.riding-high-rocking-horses.co.uk/Default.asp</span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://www.oldrockinghorses.com/"><span style="color: windowtext;">http://www.oldrockinghorses.com/</span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://www.legendsrockinghorses.co.uk/index.shtml"><span style="color: windowtext;">http://www.legendsrockinghorses.co.uk/index.shtml</span></a> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9lV6H5i4XcA/TjMAZy1K1HI/AAAAAAAACew/zr6isuFqXL4/s1600/19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9lV6H5i4XcA/TjMAZy1K1HI/AAAAAAAACew/zr6isuFqXL4/s400/19.jpg" width="275" /></a></div>About Cassandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09620554663275474210noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639402087733112100.post-16326393377932955152011-07-26T21:06:00.005-04:002011-07-26T21:28:06.289-04:00Favorite ♥ Places: The Belmont Manor House, Ashburn, Virginia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-95lLGTE5qiE/Ti9hNJ15kSI/AAAAAAAACco/hgbsFSWJpio/s1600/Front+View.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="230" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-95lLGTE5qiE/Ti9hNJ15kSI/AAAAAAAACco/hgbsFSWJpio/s400/Front+View.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">For me, one of the best parts of living in the Washington, DC area is the access one has to the many interesting historic sites of the area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My husband and I were recently invited by friends to a wonderful private 6-course dinner prepared by the chef of the Belmont Country Club in Ashburn, Virginia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The dinner took place in the clubhouse, which is actually the restored historic Belmont Manor House.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Curious about the Manor House’s history I did a little research and found that the former plantation has been host to a fascinating array of people during its 212 years of existence!</span></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IBkA09SlDjY/Ti9hXyQdVpI/AAAAAAAACcs/p03ASWAWq0o/s1600/Belmont+Manor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="82" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IBkA09SlDjY/Ti9hXyQdVpI/AAAAAAAACcs/p03ASWAWq0o/s400/Belmont+Manor.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">Strategically set with commanding views in every direction of the countryside and the Blue Ridge Mountains on the highest point – a 415 foot ridge - west of Leesburg in eastern Loudoun County, Virginia is the two-story, five-part Federal mansion, formerly known as Belmont Plantation. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Manor House (listed on the National Register of Historic Places) was built between the years of 1799-1802 by Col. Ludwell Lee (1761-1836) whose father, Richard Henry Lee, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></o:p></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SLlxCkehN1g/Ti9hjnzSZuI/AAAAAAAACcw/Z1LMdfcU5Ck/s1600/Richard+Henry+Lee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SLlxCkehN1g/Ti9hjnzSZuI/AAAAAAAACcw/Z1LMdfcU5Ck/s400/Richard+Henry+Lee.jpg" width="318" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Richard Henry Lee</span></td></tr>
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">The first owner of the property was Thomas Lee (1690-1750), who was given a land grant of 11,182 acres from Thomas, Sixth Lord Fairfax.</span> </span></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-R3Ld4dB90_0/Ti9h1gTNTiI/AAAAAAAACc0/1kfFO7uJ71I/s1600/Thomas+Lee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-R3Ld4dB90_0/Ti9h1gTNTiI/AAAAAAAACc0/1kfFO7uJ71I/s400/Thomas+Lee.jpg" width="323" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thomas Lee</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;">During the War of 1812, Ludwell Lee’s plantation served as a refuge for President Madison when the British attacked Washington, D.C. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Col. Lee had served in the Continental Army as aide-de-camp to General Lafayette during the American Revolution, so when Lafayette made his final visit to the U.S. in August 1825, Ludwell Lee lavishly entertained the French general, President John Quincy Adams and former President James Monroe at the plantation.</span></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GcPlRX7AslM/Ti9iA0h42UI/AAAAAAAACc4/x6n7tuyQ4-I/s1600/General+Lafayette.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GcPlRX7AslM/Ti9iA0h42UI/AAAAAAAACc4/x6n7tuyQ4-I/s400/General+Lafayette.jpg" width="316" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">General Lafayette</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">Although a slave owner, in 1819 Ludwell Lee helped organize the Loudoun Auxiliary of the American Colonization Movement, which assisted freed slaves to travel to the African nation of Liberia as settlers and missionaries.<o:p></o:p></span></span></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="googqs-tidbit1"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;">Following Ludwell Lee’s death in 1836, Belmont was purchased by Margaret Mercer (1791-1846), the daughter of former Maryland Gov.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;"> John Francis Mercer. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 6.5pt;">After her father died in 1821, Mercer, a staunch abolitionist, began to free the slaves</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> on the family’s plantation</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 6.5pt;"> near Annapolis, Maryland and pay their way to Africa via the </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;">American Colonization </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Movement, of which she was a member</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After purchasing Belmont, Miss Mercer immediately opened a </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">progressive Christian school for young ladies</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;">, the Belmont Academy, in the manor house, with 20 to 30 boarding students and some from the community. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;">She offered </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">moral instruction and a </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;">rigorous curriculum, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">including agriculture, sanitation, mathematics, science, astronomy, the natural sciences, and philosophy - subjects not usually taught to young women of that era.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Mercer was blessed with a keen and inquiring mind which led her to pursue extensive studies in medicine, agriculture, public health, and theology, during a period when such pursuits were deemed unsuitable for women. Her insistence that African Americans learn to read and write broke Virginia law and created hostility towards her in the community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://openlibrary.org/works/OL7544355W/Memoir_of_Miss_Margaret_Mercer">The Memoir of Margaret Mercer</a></i> can be downloaded free to computer or Kindle.)</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--q_tlRUjzp8/Ti9iPxJZFcI/AAAAAAAACc8/yU-NLdejXEo/s1600/Margaret+Mercer+Portrait.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--q_tlRUjzp8/Ti9iPxJZFcI/AAAAAAAACc8/yU-NLdejXEo/s400/Margaret+Mercer+Portrait.jpg" width="334" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Margaret Mercer 1848 by Thomas Sully<o:p></o:p></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Other notable owners of Belmont include former Kansas Governor Frederick M. Staunton and Mr. and Mrs. Edward B. McLean. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Edward was the son of the owner-publisher of the Washington Post and Evalyn Walsh McLean was the only daughter of a successful Colorado gold miner, who is best remembered as an owner of the famous Hope Diamond. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>President Warren G. Harding, a friend of the McLeans, often visited Belmont; and Mrs. McLean is said to have arranged trysts for the President at Belmont.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The McLeans raised and raced thoroughbred horses at Belmont and hosted many equestrian events during their ownership throughout the roaring ‘20s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Great Depression affected the McLean’s wealth; and in 1931 they lost Belmont at an auction, and it is said that there was a dispersal sale on the front lawn. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(</span><span class="googqs-tidbit1"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;">Evalyn Walsh McLean’s recently updated autobiography, </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Queen-Diamonds-Fabled-Legacy-Evalyn/dp/157736192X"><span style="font-size: large;"><u>Queen of Diamonds</u>,</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> is a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">great </i>read!)</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tQWgFecHM64/Ti9jk7c2k0I/AAAAAAAACdI/u69w-J9tkC4/s1600/Evalyn2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tQWgFecHM64/Ti9jk7c2k0I/AAAAAAAACdI/u69w-J9tkC4/s400/Evalyn2.jpg" width="302" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Evalyn Walsh McLean in the Roaring '20s wearing the Hope Diamond</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WT8Bs-siKGE/Ti9irTZs7lI/AAAAAAAACdA/DGB_N4SvxiU/s1600/Evalyn1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WT8Bs-siKGE/Ti9irTZs7lI/AAAAAAAACdA/DGB_N4SvxiU/s400/Evalyn1.jpg" width="282" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Evalyn Walsh McLean in the Roaring '20s wearing the Hope Diamond</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Belmont was next sold to General and Mrs. Patrick J. Hurley for $75,000 - $10,000 less than the price paid by the McLeans. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>General Hurley served as President Herbert Hoover’s Secretary of War; and during World War II (when Hurley was called to active duty as a brigadier general and served on a special mission to Australia and as the first U.S. minister to New Zealand, 1942; was a personal representative of the President of the United States to the Soviet Union, 1942, and to the nations of the Near East and Middle East, 1943; and was a presidential emissary and then ambassador to China, 1943-1944) the Hurleys rented Belmont to the Philippine Government-in-Exile for the duration.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yYDk9IiTzHY/Ti9j_DYTRNI/AAAAAAAACdM/EVlEgJien4c/s1600/General+%2526+Mrs.+Patrick+J.+Hurley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="199" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yYDk9IiTzHY/Ti9j_DYTRNI/AAAAAAAACdM/EVlEgJien4c/s320/General+%2526+Mrs.+Patrick+J.+Hurley.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">General and Mrs. Patrick J. Hurley</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div>About Cassandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09620554663275474210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639402087733112100.post-16272839910289944112011-07-25T14:53:00.002-04:002011-07-26T21:25:10.137-04:00Favorite ♥ Places: “The Owl Pen”, Greenwich, New York<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WJsoLI0ea3M/Ti23_nzNicI/AAAAAAAACb8/5IlycR2KoDE/s1600/013+%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WJsoLI0ea3M/Ti23_nzNicI/AAAAAAAACb8/5IlycR2KoDE/s400/013+%25284%2529.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This summer I was blessed to once again visit one of my very favorite antiquarian bookshops, <a href="http://www.abebooks.com/owl-pen-books-greenwich-ny-u.s.a/802871/sf">The Owl Pen</a>, nestled in the beautiful, historic Washington County hill country near Greenwich, New York in the charming outbuildings of an old poultry farm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5VUmQnHUDaA/Ti24K1klNkI/AAAAAAAACcA/IP08acevIaE/s1600/010+%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5VUmQnHUDaA/Ti24K1klNkI/AAAAAAAACcA/IP08acevIaE/s400/010+%25284%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Although the drive to The Owl Pen can be somewhat daunting (signs are small and few and directions are confusing); yet the scenery<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- verdant farmlands:</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jgEeXEBVCPk/Ti24aP_HFzI/AAAAAAAACcE/B9LI_YSgXE0/s1600/008+%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jgEeXEBVCPk/Ti24aP_HFzI/AAAAAAAACcE/B9LI_YSgXE0/s400/008+%25284%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">grazing Holsteins; old shuttered New England farm houses with their red barns; not too distant views of the Green Mountains of Vermont:</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MvimPUFKwOg/Ti24n8yMC8I/AAAAAAAACcI/CcAPaJHmEFk/s1600/021+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MvimPUFKwOg/Ti24n8yMC8I/AAAAAAAACcI/CcAPaJHmEFk/s400/021+%25283%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">and the tree shaded, stone fence-lined, dirt Riddle Road which gives one the feeling of going back in time – makes the trip a delight.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yoF_aCyKQS8/Ti24y2sBs2I/AAAAAAAACcM/0tmO7sc4xkk/s1600/018+%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yoF_aCyKQS8/Ti24y2sBs2I/AAAAAAAACcM/0tmO7sc4xkk/s400/018+%25284%2529.JPG" width="306" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">And, to a collector of late 19<sup>th</sup> and early 20<sup>th</sup> century decorative publishers’ bindings, The Owl Pen is a mother lode!</span> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C7-NdgywSJA/Ti252Z4cL3I/AAAAAAAACcc/n0dG7iXM-6o/s1600/014+%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C7-NdgywSJA/Ti252Z4cL3I/AAAAAAAACcc/n0dG7iXM-6o/s400/014+%25284%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QT09OgVxBdk/Ti26BWO1RkI/AAAAAAAACcg/4KIYAroVIt0/s1600/015+%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QT09OgVxBdk/Ti26BWO1RkI/AAAAAAAACcg/4KIYAroVIt0/s400/015+%25284%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">This tucked-in-the-woods 51-year-old bookshop, which currently stocks about 80,000 books, is charming in its simplicity and hodgepodge organization.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0Cae1zSpmak/Ti25OK_UKUI/AAAAAAAACcU/Zr7Z3_D2J2Y/s1600/017+%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0Cae1zSpmak/Ti25OK_UKUI/AAAAAAAACcU/Zr7Z3_D2J2Y/s400/017+%25284%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">Edie Brown, co-owner of the shop, is most accommodating and helpful in locating her customers’ requests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Edie located for me to peruse her copy of Richard Minsky’s </span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1351357732"><span style="color: black;">“</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.minsky.com/orderform-subscription1.htm#order"><span style="color: black;">The Art of American Book Covers: 1875-1930"</span></a><span style="color: black;"> (which I have since ordered via her instructions) and pointed me in the direction of many wonderful finds – some rare initialed and un-initialed Margaret Armstrong covers, a couple of old James Fenimore Cooper titles, and several beautiful nature titles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was even able to locate a late 19<sup>th</sup> century Sarah Wyman Whitman-designed John Burroughs title for my sister’s collection and a small leather devotional which I gifted to a friend.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9vKz40ogph8/Ti25nQxwQmI/AAAAAAAACcY/7V50-WOzryk/s1600/Minsky+Book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9vKz40ogph8/Ti25nQxwQmI/AAAAAAAACcY/7V50-WOzryk/s400/Minsky+Book.jpg" width="292" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><br />
</div><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The grounds and views from The Owl Pen are lovely and browsers are invited by the owners to bring a picnic lunch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Located at 166 Riddle Road, about 7 miles from Greenwich, New York, it is best to call ahead for directions at 518-692-7039. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">This well-hidden gem of a book shop is well worth a visit on Wednesday through Sunday during its May through October season (noon to six) </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">and by appointment in the winter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I can hardly <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">wait</i> to go back during the majestic fall foliage!</span></span></span>About Cassandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09620554663275474210noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639402087733112100.post-41530841953173465302011-07-07T12:50:00.006-04:002011-07-07T21:09:31.808-04:00Sweet Summer Strawberries<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mqAW-B3CtZI/ThXfrzKN4dI/AAAAAAAACbM/T2IRfWpeHo8/s1600/Strawberry+Harvest.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mqAW-B3CtZI/ThXfrzKN4dI/AAAAAAAACbM/T2IRfWpeHo8/s400/Strawberry+Harvest.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family: "Goudy Old Style","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Goudy Old Style","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">And then the fruit! the glowing fruit, how sweet the scent it breathes!<br />
I love to see its crimson cheek rest on the bright green leaves!<br />
Summer's own gift of luxury, in which the poor may share,<br />
The wild-wood fruit my eager eye is seeking everywhere.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black;">~ Mary Howett<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="color: black; font-family: "Goudy Old Style","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">As the much anticipated, yet short lived, strawberry season comes to a close in upstate New York, I have happy memories of picking quarts and quarts of the perfect, brilliant red berries at a pick-your-own establishment near our farmhouse and, later, enjoying my harvest with ice cream and with angel food cake. I also happily and easily transformed 4 quarts of my harvest into strawberry freezer jam, filling 12 sparkling Ball jars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What a joy it has been to share these little jars of concentrated happiness with family and friends!</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-36uSE4m__HU/ThXf4RQpFgI/AAAAAAAACbQ/vig0g5bMR6U/s400/Vintage+Strawberry+Towels.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="300" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cassandra's Collection of Vintage Strawberry Dishtowels</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Goudy Old Style","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">I use the </span><a href="http://www.freshpreserving.com/home.aspx"><span style="color: blue;">Ball</span></a><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: orange;"> </span>version of the recipe since it has much less sugar (my fresh picked strawberries were sweet enough!) and does not require any cooking.</span></span><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Goudy Old Style","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">1 package Ball No Cook Freezer Jam Pectin</span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Goudy Old Style","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">1-1/2 cups sugar</span></span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Goudy Old Style","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">4 cups crushed strawberries (about 4 lbs or 2 quarts)</span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o13SSNhj3aQ/ThXiXhFhJTI/AAAAAAAACbY/3GBgqnZjhxE/s400/The+Finished+Product.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The finished product!</td></tr>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Goudy Old Style","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Ladle the jam into six clean 8 ounce jars leaving about a ½ inch at the top of the jar so that the jam has room to expand as it freezes.</span><span style="color: black;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0V8yjdlZ7hw/ThXin7QWlII/AAAAAAAACbc/B5LvI4B1G3w/s400/Time+to+Eat.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="300" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Time to enjoy fresh strawberries!</td></tr>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Goudy Old Style","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">To find locations near your home for pick-your-own fruits and veggies and for canning resources, including free printable labels, go to <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.pickyourown.org/index.htm"><span style="background-color: white; color: blue;">PickYourOwn.org</span></a><span style="color: black;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YSUUoP0dKzo/ThXiwI6MFXI/AAAAAAAACbg/cLvVhfOp0CY/s1600/Bread+and+Jam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="332" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YSUUoP0dKzo/ThXiwI6MFXI/AAAAAAAACbg/cLvVhfOp0CY/s400/Bread+and+Jam.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>About Cassandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09620554663275474210noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639402087733112100.post-73994307507212381082011-06-07T12:42:00.007-04:002011-06-07T17:04:15.198-04:00A Very Special Carousel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AuQBjiII2-Y/Te5OXfUZMXI/AAAAAAAACa0/HY0kHuYTu0U/s1600/Horses+%2526+Tiger+on+Left.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AuQBjiII2-Y/Te5OXfUZMXI/AAAAAAAACa0/HY0kHuYTu0U/s400/Horses+%2526+Tiger+on+Left.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></span></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">This past weekend, while attending an annual folk music festival, I photographed a local treasure situated near my home just outside Washington, DC: the beautiful, almost antique, Glen Echo Carousel. The carousel is entering its 91st May through September season of delighting young and old at Glen Echo Park.</span></span></span></strong></div><div align="center"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CUTPAF8eJgk/Te5O9iWOncI/AAAAAAAACa4/_hv0fPuq3CE/s1600/Glen+Echo+Carousel+Enclosure.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CUTPAF8eJgk/Te5O9iWOncI/AAAAAAAACa4/_hv0fPuq3CE/s400/Glen+Echo+Carousel+Enclosure.gif" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Glen Echo Carousel Building</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p>This "menagerie carousel" was created in 1921 by the Dentzel Carousel Company of Germantown, Pennsylvania. The 28 jumping horses, 12 standing horses, 12 menagerie animals (1 giraffe, 1 lion, 4 ostriches, 4 rabbits, 1 tiger & 1 deer) and 2 chariots - as well as the canopy - in this large three row carousel were hand wood-carved and painted. Still in its original location, the carousel is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and received the National Carousel Association's Historical Carousel Award in 2005.</o:p></span></span></strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jhRV0o69I-I/Te5PcT4SASI/AAAAAAAACa8/7B4JwHFgMgk/s1600/Carousel+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jhRV0o69I-I/Te5PcT4SASI/AAAAAAAACa8/7B4JwHFgMgk/s400/Carousel+1.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black;">A carousel restoration and fairground art specialist, Rosa Ragan, completely restored the aging carousel and its wonderful Wurlitzer 165 band organ to their original beauty and splendor over a 20 year period ending in 2006.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ragan developed a new process of uncovering the original paint, recording the colors and design, and then covering the original paint with a reversible varnish before giving each animal a white base coat and repainting it in the original colors. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She left a small "window to the past" of the original 1921 paint on the inward-facing side of each animal for riders to find.</span> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VjaL3XKWClo/Te5PrZj3jiI/AAAAAAAACbA/TqMocH3GJ6s/s1600/Giraffe+%2526+Ostrich.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VjaL3XKWClo/Te5PrZj3jiI/AAAAAAAACbA/TqMocH3GJ6s/s400/Giraffe+%2526+Ostrich.JPG" width="283" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GB6ybly0Sjs/Te5QJctSa-I/AAAAAAAACbI/itfVlYDbmMY/s1600/Rabbits.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="365" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GB6ybly0Sjs/Te5QJctSa-I/AAAAAAAACbI/itfVlYDbmMY/s400/Rabbits.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cassandra's Favorites!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Mv0qXNApDtk/Te5P9nX5vpI/AAAAAAAACbE/QxMWmvJXMJM/s1600/Carousel+Detail.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Mv0qXNApDtk/Te5P9nX5vpI/AAAAAAAACbE/QxMWmvJXMJM/s400/Carousel+Detail.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Canopy</td></tr>
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<iframe width="445" height="365" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/QI_VtA79shM?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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<iframe width="445" height="365" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/QtFMieTbdmo?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>About Cassandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09620554663275474210noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639402087733112100.post-57363507118689283532011-06-01T06:27:00.002-04:002011-06-08T19:18:19.997-04:00A Book<div style="text-align: center;"><em>There is no frigate like a book</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>To take us lands away,</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>Nor any coursers like a page</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>Of prancing poetry.</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>This traverse may the poorest take</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>Without oppress or toil;</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>How frugal is the chariot</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>That bears a human soul!</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">~ Emily Dickinson</div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ACDy2fcRQDA/TeYTfhSSA1I/AAAAAAAACas/cxO-kAULLJ4/s1600/027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ACDy2fcRQDA/TeYTfhSSA1I/AAAAAAAACas/cxO-kAULLJ4/s400/027.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A selection of Cassandra's antique books with decorative publishers' bindings<br />
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</tbody></table>About Cassandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09620554663275474210noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639402087733112100.post-91426596075640609682011-05-15T20:37:00.004-04:002011-05-16T07:00:28.466-04:00It’s Time to Welcome Hummingbirds!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2r4Ze55Iz1M/TdBwhcbyPrI/AAAAAAAACaQ/QTwNElB0T7w/s1600/hummer+print.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="311" j8="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2r4Ze55Iz1M/TdBwhcbyPrI/AAAAAAAACaQ/QTwNElB0T7w/s400/hummer+print.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><em></em><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>Above the flower bed. Over the lawn ...</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>A flashing dip and it is gone.</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>And all it lends to the eye is this --</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>A sunbeam giving the air a kiss.</em></div><div style="text-align: center;">From: “The Hummingbird” ~ Harry Kemp</div><br />
Today I spied the first Ruby-throated Hummingbird of 2011 at my feeder. About a month ago, I had placed a red flowering plant in a hanging pot near my feeder and had filled the feeder with my homemade nectar (see below). <br />
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The migratory Ruby-throated Hummingbird breeds in continental North America east of the Mississippi River and Great Lakes. They first start to appear at my home near Washington, D.C. in late March. A fascinating Spring 2011 migratory map can be found at: <a href="http://www.hummingbirds.net/map.html">http://www.hummingbirds.net/map.html</a> <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-twFWpnLtbEU/TdBxTo5GaCI/AAAAAAAACag/wg1Soh4NGrs/s1600/hummingbird.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" j8="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-twFWpnLtbEU/TdBxTo5GaCI/AAAAAAAACag/wg1Soh4NGrs/s400/hummingbird.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
In the fall, most hummingbirds of the U.S. and Canada migrate south - even before the flowers and insects start to wane - to spend the winter in northern Mexico or Central America. Males generally migrate several weeks ahead of new hatchlings and females. Migration is done according to changing day length or photoperiod.<br />
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Hummingbirds are found only in the earth’s western hemisphere, so they are absent from the traditional European and African fairy tales, legends, and myths. When European settlers first saw hummingbirds they considered them a cross between an insect and a bird. They wondered how so much life could be bound up in these buzzing little bundles of extravagantly-colored feathers with their whirring wings.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zyVQZCHeAkU/TdBw6MRSUYI/AAAAAAAACaY/VX8wWE7IHo4/s1600/RubyThroated+Hummingbird.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="312" j8="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zyVQZCHeAkU/TdBw6MRSUYI/AAAAAAAACaY/VX8wWE7IHo4/s320/RubyThroated+Hummingbird.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Yet, there is a very rich supply of stories and myths about and decorative and ceremonial uses for these beautiful birds in Native American cultures. It has been written that the Pilgrims met American Indian ambassadors with hummingbird earrings; and soldiers and missionaries in Mexico met Aztec kings who wore cloaks made entirely of hummingbird skins. Stuffed hummingbirds were worn as lucky charms to bring success in matters of the heart. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-guybXOWC9lo/TdBxCowAjKI/AAAAAAAACac/dGGfbVz3uVg/s1600/hummingbird4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" j8="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-guybXOWC9lo/TdBxCowAjKI/AAAAAAAACac/dGGfbVz3uVg/s400/hummingbird4.jpg" width="218" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">In southern Peru, ancient artists carved out an image of a hummingbird so large that it can only be recognized at about 1,000 feet in the air. This massive image may not be far from the place where, in primordial times, the first hummingbird appeared. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div>In Peru and other South American countries, at or near the equator, there are, even today, an amazing 300 varieties of hummingbirds. In today’s Mexico, there is a common folk belief that hummingbirds bring love and romance, and dead hummingbirds are sold as amulets.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sPqiD3Dv6TI/TdBwu9AZ_dI/AAAAAAAACaU/E4t5MoB2_a8/s1600/hummingbird2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" j8="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sPqiD3Dv6TI/TdBwu9AZ_dI/AAAAAAAACaU/E4t5MoB2_a8/s320/hummingbird2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
To attract these tiny avian jewels, you can place a red table cloth or towel in your yard or garden a few weeks before migration is expected. Those who have a red car or truck in the driveway are especially able to attract hummers! My next project is to add some plants to my garden which attract hummingbirds – a list of these can be found at: <a href="http://www.hummingbirds.net/attract.html">http://www.hummingbirds.net/attract.html</a> <br />
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Preparing your own nectar is preferable to purchasing the expensive and less nutritious nectars sold commercially.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Cassandra’s Hummingbird Nectar Recipe</strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Add ¼ cup white granulated sugar to 1 cup boiling (to deter growth of bacteria in nectar) water<br />
Cool and fill your red hummingbird feeder.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Any extra nectar can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Note: Never use honey, artificial sweeteners, or red food coloring as these are harmful to hummingbirds. </div><div style="text-align: center;">To prevent mold, your feeder must be cleaned and nectar changed every 3-4 days -- more often in hot weather.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yUVJg8pZimI/TdBxcVSd1bI/AAAAAAAACak/V8bscSvuhZM/s1600/2+hummingbirds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" j8="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yUVJg8pZimI/TdBxcVSd1bI/AAAAAAAACak/V8bscSvuhZM/s400/2+hummingbirds.jpg" width="272" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Within My Garden, Rides a Bird</strong></div><div style="text-align: center;">by Emily Dickinson</div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>Within my Garden, rides a Bird<br />
Upon a single Wheel --</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>Whose spokes a dizzy Music make</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>As 'twere a travelling Mill --</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em><br />
</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>He never stops, but slackens</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>Above the Ripest Rose --</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>Partakes without alighting<br />
And praises as he goes,</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em><br />
</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>Till every spice is tasted --</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>And then his Fairy Gig</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>Reels in remoter atmospheres --</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>And I rejoin my Dog,</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em><br />
</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>And He and I, perplex us,</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>If positive, 'twere we --</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>Or bore the Garden in the Brain</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>This Curiosity --</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em><br />
</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>But He, the best Logician,</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>Refers my clumsy eye --</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>To just vibrating Blossoms!</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>An Exquisite Reply!</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-upe6Xyaq2Xg/TdBxm_9vcsI/AAAAAAAACao/3Jqvk66R-6M/s1600/Hummers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" j8="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-upe6Xyaq2Xg/TdBxm_9vcsI/AAAAAAAACao/3Jqvk66R-6M/s400/Hummers.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">To see some lovely hummingbird engravings from the 1832 book,<em> Les Trochilidées ou les colibris et les oiseaux-mouches suivis d'un index général dans lequel sont décrites et classées méthodiquement toutes les races et espèces du genre Trochilus, Vol. II, by</em> René Primevère Lesson, go to: <a href="http://bibliodyssey.blogspot.com/2011/05/hummingbirds.html">http://bibliodyssey.blogspot.com/2011/05/hummingbirds.html</a></div>About Cassandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09620554663275474210noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639402087733112100.post-29602571987572396682011-05-08T11:38:00.004-04:002011-05-08T12:11:57.261-04:00It’s Lilac Time!<div align="center"><em>I am thinking of the lilac-trees,</em><br />
<em>That shook their purple plumes,</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>And when the sash was open,</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>Shed fragrance through the room.</em></div><div style="text-align: center;">~ Anna S. Stephens</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5a1Pw04KpHc/Tca0OPzf5aI/AAAAAAAACZs/7SXPZY8BcGo/s1600/Lilac+Corner.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="390" j8="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5a1Pw04KpHc/Tca0OPzf5aI/AAAAAAAACZs/7SXPZY8BcGo/s400/Lilac+Corner.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A lilac-themed corner in Cassandra's farmhouse parlor</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<div style="text-align: center;">I recently learned, via a gardening article in our local newspaper, why lilac blossoms are not as profuse in our Nation’s Capital region as at our upstate New York farm. Lilacs do not flower well in the Agriculture Department’s Zone 7 and in warmer hardiness zones. These zones also provide perfect conditions for powdery mildew to develop due to the oppressive heat of the summer months. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TcuLFYamOBE/Tcazg2O6ppI/AAAAAAAACZk/mUGl3oKEcGs/s1600/lilacs4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" j8="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TcuLFYamOBE/Tcazg2O6ppI/AAAAAAAACZk/mUGl3oKEcGs/s400/lilacs4.jpg" width="313" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><em>When lilacs last in the door-yard bloom’d,</em></div><em></em><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><em>And the great star early droop’d in the western sky in the night,</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>I mourn’d—and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring.</em></div><div style="text-align: center;">~ Walt Whitman—When Lilacs Last in the Door-Yard Bloom’d. I. <em>Leaves of Grass.</em> 5<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Lilacs must be planted to receive full sun, cold winter weather, and mild weather with good air circulation in spring and summer. No wonder our New York lilacs are so beautiful – they were planted years ago in the perfect conditions! How I love gathering huge bouquets of the sweetly fragrant blossoms...</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x9iFMo3rZx4/Tcazsd2nw_I/AAAAAAAACZo/eGhPWm-1Jxk/s1600/Tissot%2527s+Lilacs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" j8="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x9iFMo3rZx4/Tcazsd2nw_I/AAAAAAAACZo/eGhPWm-1Jxk/s400/Tissot%2527s+Lilacs.jpg" width="302" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Lilacs characteristically develop a mass of roots. Lilac cuttings easily root if taken in mid-June. The cuttings should be 8 to 10 inches long, dipped in a rooting hormone, and placed in a sand medium under mist. Since lilac blooms occur on stems that formed last year, branches should only be pruned in late spring as flowers fade from these stems. I don’t believe our New York lilacs have been pruned for years, but I look forward to wielding my pruning shears next month!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>With every leaf a miracle … and from this bush in the door-yard,</em><br />
<em>With delicate-colour’d blossoms, and heart-shaped leaves of rich green</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>A sprig, with its flower, I break.</em></div><div style="text-align: center;">Walt Whitman—When Lilacs Last in the Door-Yard Bloom’d. III. <em>Leaves of Grass</em>. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vasmtRN53Ko/Tca0XaGuYUI/AAAAAAAACZw/bIQkHXvDPWA/s1600/Lilacs+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="348" j8="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vasmtRN53Ko/Tca0XaGuYUI/AAAAAAAACZw/bIQkHXvDPWA/s400/Lilacs+3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Two of Cassandra's Lilac-themed Decorative Bookcovers:</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SJrKnAadzyM/Tca0gdh5dqI/AAAAAAAACZ0/OUeNIvzyIBE/s1600/Under+the+Lilacs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" j8="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SJrKnAadzyM/Tca0gdh5dqI/AAAAAAAACZ0/OUeNIvzyIBE/s400/Under+the+Lilacs.jpg" width="267" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xPoipYVQEFI/Tca0pAcFXPI/AAAAAAAACZ4/3s-sbbIyzUA/s1600/The+Ideas+of+a+Plain+Country+Woman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" j8="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xPoipYVQEFI/Tca0pAcFXPI/AAAAAAAACZ4/3s-sbbIyzUA/s400/The+Ideas+of+a+Plain+Country+Woman.jpg" width="261" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><em>The lilac spread<br />
Odorous essence.</em></div><div style="text-align: center;">~ Jean Ingelow—Laurance. Pt. III.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rldnDuJ78TE/Tca1nEvetkI/AAAAAAAACZ8/54r2ZR37Pt8/s1600/lilacs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" j8="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rldnDuJ78TE/Tca1nEvetkI/AAAAAAAACZ8/54r2ZR37Pt8/s400/lilacs.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>About Cassandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09620554663275474210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639402087733112100.post-11620216814637354892011-05-06T10:54:00.003-04:002011-05-06T16:35:53.136-04:00Happy Mother’s Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-s_-CvWV4syU/TcQLlrv-GiI/AAAAAAAACYs/Vu8lcIUaKLk/s1600/Mother%2527s+Day+Postcard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" j8="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-s_-CvWV4syU/TcQLlrv-GiI/AAAAAAAACYs/Vu8lcIUaKLk/s400/Mother%2527s+Day+Postcard.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us;</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>when adversity takes the place of prosperity;</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us;</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.</em></div><div style="text-align: center;">~Washington Irving</div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k9l-OdaiiPc/TcQMVB164eI/AAAAAAAACYw/6gl4csczcHI/s1600/mosaiccc9a0b429b33a7649005bd593033e70c9f77c005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" j8="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k9l-OdaiiPc/TcQMVB164eI/AAAAAAAACYw/6gl4csczcHI/s400/mosaiccc9a0b429b33a7649005bd593033e70c9f77c005.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>About Cassandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09620554663275474210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639402087733112100.post-23284734105407368352011-03-23T09:32:00.001-04:002011-03-23T14:23:13.933-04:00A New & Joyful Season<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-91eqIeHvSjc/TYn0SWFb-KI/AAAAAAAACW8/-cu3-ZjrEoA/s1600/Grandmother.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" r6="true" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-91eqIeHvSjc/TYn0SWFb-KI/AAAAAAAACW8/-cu3-ZjrEoA/s400/Grandmother.jpg" width="316" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>Grandchildren are a grandparent's link to the future,</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>and grandparents are the child's link to the past. </em></div><div style="text-align: center;">~ Author Unknown</div><br />
Something wonderful – transformational, in fact – is happening soon: I am becoming a grandmother! Our first grandchild, a granddaughter, is due in mid-May. <br />
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Despite the fact that some friends and acquaintances have hinted that perhaps I should feel wistful or even sad that I will now be fully considered an “older woman,” I have NO ill-feelings whatsoever about this next stage in my life. To me, this is a totally joyful and long-welcomed event – a great blessing and gift bestowed upon our family. <br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>Grandchildren are God's way of compensating us for growing old.</em></div><div style="text-align: center;">~ Mary H. Waldrip</div><br />
I consider our granddaughter’s birth as the advent of a new generation of our family – connecting all of our families’ past and future generations across time. I look forward to sharing with our son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter gifts of time, patience, love, laughter, wisdom, experience, and memories; developing and growing with them all; and walking along side with them in whatever ways I can be of service.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><em>Everyone needs to have access both to grandparents and grandchildren</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>in order to be a full human being.</em></div><div style="text-align: center;">~ Margaret Mead</div><br />
Interestingly, I have discovered, I am considered an older grandmother; since I am nearly 14 years older than the current average grandmother age of 47! It is amazing to me to realize that when I was born, my own two wonderful grandmas were 3 and 7 years younger than my current age. <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><em>A childhood filled with wonderful memories of time spent with grandma </em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>is a better inheritance than a bank account.</em></div><div style="text-align: center;">~ Adair Lara</div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Qh2dL4rhHyw/TYn0kkA71-I/AAAAAAAACXA/4hLSop-iurM/s1600/Grandma+Sweezy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Qh2dL4rhHyw/TYn0kkA71-I/AAAAAAAACXA/4hLSop-iurM/s320/Grandma+Sweezy.jpg" width="217" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cassandra's Maternal Grandma</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-EPea1L4bUz8/TYn0zUZJnaI/AAAAAAAACXE/9mMLr8SH-4k/s1600/Cassandra+%2526+Grandmother+Lavenua.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="317" r6="true" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-EPea1L4bUz8/TYn0zUZJnaI/AAAAAAAACXE/9mMLr8SH-4k/s320/Cassandra+%2526+Grandmother+Lavenua.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cassandra with her Paternal Grandma</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Yet, this ”boomer’ grandma will NOT be, as Adair Lara in <em><a href="http://www.chroniclebooks.com/index/main,book-info/store,books/products_id,7108/title,The-Granny-Diaries/">The Granny Diaries</a></em> defines, “the stereotype…of a comforting human antique trailing a faint smell of lavender and strewn with cookie crumbs”! I have every intention of following in the footsteps of my dear friends and youngest sister who are savvy, strong, healthy, active, involved and well-loved Nanas, Granbies, Nonnies, Namas, Mamaws, and Grandmas and to whom I have been listening intently! I realize that I have <em>lots</em> to learn; so, my dear readers, please feel free to dispense your sage grandparenting advice to this eager new Grandma…<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><em>[She] is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season.</em></div><div style="text-align: center;">Psalm 1:3</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-X0K3ANeRcoE/TYn1ZY4ypYI/AAAAAAAACXI/md5gtKtQpQk/s1600/garden+photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-X0K3ANeRcoE/TYn1ZY4ypYI/AAAAAAAACXI/md5gtKtQpQk/s320/garden+photo.jpg" width="264" /></a></div><br />
Marty Norman, in her book, <em><a href="http://www.martynorman.com/">Generation G</a></em>, has inspired me by aptly comparing this season in life’s cycle to autumn:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><em>“Fall is a good time.</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em><br />
</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>I like to think that, like the fall season, I dance with light, that I reflect and radiate that which I have come to be and believe. I want to be a crisp breath of fresh air to those who are weary from the heat of summer…I pray that as my sun sets, I reflect the clouds about me and shine with all the colors of the rainbow. I like to think that although my leaves are falling, I am dealing with their loss with grace and integrity. I pray my hopes and dreams will germinate and fertilize next year’s growth.</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em><br />
</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>I like that I am fall. I want to take advantage of the opportunity placed before me to prepare for winter, but I also desire to breathe life upon the coming spring. I look forward to time with my grandchildren…whispering with them quietly in the night…telling stories…building make-believe houses…listening laughing and sharing as only a grandmother can do.”</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-lNp5YMR2QXA/TYn1luBd_EI/AAAAAAAACXM/jiFKaopT_Is/s1600/grandmother+and+grandchildren.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="348" r6="true" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-lNp5YMR2QXA/TYn1luBd_EI/AAAAAAAACXM/jiFKaopT_Is/s400/grandmother+and+grandchildren.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><em>Being a grandmother is the best. </em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>I believe it is the only thing in life that is not overrated.</em></div><div style="text-align: center;">~ Marty Norman</div>About Cassandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09620554663275474210noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639402087733112100.post-49814393353974390912011-02-16T15:18:00.001-05:002011-02-16T15:22:52.016-05:00Fabulous Flamingos!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5eCVlQNKTN0/TVwrrd_6udI/AAAAAAAACWI/znnkJYCC8ts/s1600/DSCN3957.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" j6="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5eCVlQNKTN0/TVwrrd_6udI/AAAAAAAACWI/znnkJYCC8ts/s400/DSCN3957.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
How I have enjoyed the amazing tropical birds here in Florida this winter! Last weekend, while visiting the <a href="http://www.sarasotajunglegardens.com/jungle/index.php">Sarasota Jungle Gardens</a> with my family, we enjoyed a show featuring exotic birds – Macaws and Cockatoos; encountered a white peacock (see below the close-up shot of his lacy tail feathers); and delighted in photographing at very close range the <em>lovely</em> flamingos - talk about “…things bright and beautiful”!!! <br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I-kEgZDPsbw/TVwsis0DSxI/AAAAAAAACWM/CaGBnsV9uVk/s1600/DSCN3991.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" j6="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I-kEgZDPsbw/TVwsis0DSxI/AAAAAAAACWM/CaGBnsV9uVk/s320/DSCN3991.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div>Interesting flamingo facts:<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">♥ Flamingos are generally placed in their own order – <em>Phoenicopteriformes</em> – and recent molecular and anatomical studies have suggested they are related to grebes. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B37y1KB00sQ/TVwtT5Qw4WI/AAAAAAAACWQ/oxL03tIByWw/s1600/DSCN3973.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" j6="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B37y1KB00sQ/TVwtT5Qw4WI/AAAAAAAACWQ/oxL03tIByWw/s320/DSCN3973.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">♥ The coloration of flamingo adults ranges from light pink to bright red due to aqueous bacteria and beta carotene obtained from their food supply. A well-fed, healthy flamingo is more vibrantly colored and thus a more desirable mate. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6oQN9mjiqDc/TVwuGDZt_II/AAAAAAAACWU/8Sr6H7N9jZo/s1600/DSCN3949.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" j6="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6oQN9mjiqDc/TVwuGDZt_II/AAAAAAAACWU/8Sr6H7N9jZo/s320/DSCN3949.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">♥ Flamingos “filter-feed” on brine shrimp and blue-green algae. Their oddly shaped beaks are specially adapted to separate mud and silt from the shrimp and algae, and are uniquely utilized upside-down. The filtering of food items is assisted by hairy structures called lamellae which line the mandibles, and </div><div style="text-align: center;">the large rough-surfaced tongue. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JDpUfvGwzSE/TVwudsKWOUI/AAAAAAAACWY/jtpw5Ilogn4/s1600/DSCN3950.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" j6="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JDpUfvGwzSE/TVwudsKWOUI/AAAAAAAACWY/jtpw5Ilogn4/s320/DSCN3950.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">♥ Flamingos often stand on one leg, the other tucked beneath the body, which recent research has indicated may allow the birds to conserve more body heat, given that they spend a significant amount of time wading </div><div style="text-align: center;">in cold water. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lB5q0Seobxg/TVwu-Cuh5bI/AAAAAAAACWc/J7P9euEnYK4/s1600/DSCN3952.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" j6="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lB5q0Seobxg/TVwu-Cuh5bI/AAAAAAAACWc/J7P9euEnYK4/s320/DSCN3952.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">♥ Flamingos, in glands lining the whole of the upper digestive tract, produce what is known as “crop milk;” and both parents nurse their chicks for about two months until the chicks’ bills are developed enough </div><div style="text-align: center;">to filter feed.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gvemIhFdUKg/TVww1iSryWI/AAAAAAAACWo/SZkuK4aLdsw/s1600/DSCN3976.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" j6="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gvemIhFdUKg/TVww1iSryWI/AAAAAAAACWo/SZkuK4aLdsw/s320/DSCN3976.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">♥ Flamingo tongues were considered a delicacy in Ancient Rome, and ancient Egyptians believed flamingos to be the living representation of the god, Ra. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B25zPx9nRlE/TVwvP_XIh2I/AAAAAAAACWg/XLMmdSlfMzM/s1600/DSCN3954.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" j6="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B25zPx9nRlE/TVwvP_XIh2I/AAAAAAAACWg/XLMmdSlfMzM/s320/DSCN3954.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">For more fascinating facts, consult the <a href="http://www.flamingoresources.org/basics.html">Flamingo Resources</a> website. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XHS-vefjWWc/TVwwK-ZeDTI/AAAAAAAACWk/T56fqIeWuvs/s1600/DSCN3979.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" j6="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XHS-vefjWWc/TVwwK-ZeDTI/AAAAAAAACWk/T56fqIeWuvs/s400/DSCN3979.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>About Cassandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09620554663275474210noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639402087733112100.post-46122267299843717622011-02-02T14:44:00.001-05:002011-02-02T14:51:38.027-05:00Antique Decorative Publishers' Valentine's Bindings...from Cassandra's collection...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUmx4eYblZI/AAAAAAAACVI/aoIV37JAuOk/s1600/The+Day+of+the+Dog+-+Green.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" s5="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUmx4eYblZI/AAAAAAAACVI/aoIV37JAuOk/s400/The+Day+of+the+Dog+-+Green.jpg" width="276" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A <a href="http://cassandraconsiders.blogspot.com/2010/03/who-is-margaret-armstrong.html">Margaret Armstrong</a> binding</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUmyAmlwhkI/AAAAAAAACVM/T4FwEW48Kn0/s1600/Sweethearts+Always.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" s5="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUmyAmlwhkI/AAAAAAAACVM/T4FwEW48Kn0/s400/Sweethearts+Always.jpg" width="283" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUmyIUJrpPI/AAAAAAAACVQ/Iqx7WKk7azE/s1600/A+Page+from+Sweethearts+Always.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" s5="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUmyIUJrpPI/AAAAAAAACVQ/Iqx7WKk7azE/s400/A+Page+from+Sweethearts+Always.jpg" width="285" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A page from "Sweethearts Always"</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUmyjpCJBQI/AAAAAAAACVY/Xa3TCxTJvcU/s1600/A+Warning+to+Lovers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" s5="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUmyjpCJBQI/AAAAAAAACVY/Xa3TCxTJvcU/s400/A+Warning+to+Lovers.jpg" width="263" /></a></div><div align="center"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUmyqaXwwcI/AAAAAAAACVc/kQIA8wJawz4/s1600/Because+I+Love+You.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" s5="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUmyqaXwwcI/AAAAAAAACVc/kQIA8wJawz4/s400/Because+I+Love+You.jpg" width="260" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUmzHJDsuMI/AAAAAAAACVk/SLC7sSiRcrY/s1600/Hearts+Courageous.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" s5="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUmzHJDsuMI/AAAAAAAACVk/SLC7sSiRcrY/s400/Hearts+Courageous.jpg" width="268" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUmzPaLi6HI/AAAAAAAACVo/xnp00TTUlWM/s1600/Love+Letters+of+a+Musician.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" s5="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUmzPaLi6HI/AAAAAAAACVo/xnp00TTUlWM/s400/Love+Letters+of+a+Musician.jpg" width="296" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A <a href="http://cassandraconsiders.blogspot.com/2010/03/who-is-margaret-armstrong.html">Margaret Armstrong</a> binding</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUmzjNwZJ3I/AAAAAAAACVw/IZCwm3Un5rE/s1600/The+Day+of+the+Dog+-+Red.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" s5="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUmzjNwZJ3I/AAAAAAAACVw/IZCwm3Un5rE/s400/The+Day+of+the+Dog+-+Red.jpg" width="301" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A <a href="http://cassandraconsiders.blogspot.com/2010/03/who-is-margaret-armstrong.html">Margaret Armstrong</a> binding</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><em><strong>Happy Valentine's Day!</strong></em></div>About Cassandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09620554663275474210noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639402087733112100.post-75659802273552088212011-02-01T09:16:00.000-05:002011-02-01T09:16:56.519-05:00Valentines: A Brief History & a Sampling from Cassandra’s Antique Collection<div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUgR0vjl-8I/AAAAAAAACUQ/QlYrLGy6DHA/s1600/scan0003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" s5="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUgR0vjl-8I/AAAAAAAACUQ/QlYrLGy6DHA/s400/scan0003.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.</em></div><div style="text-align: center;">~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning</div><br />
February has been a month of romance since ages past. St. Valentine’s Day originated from Christian and Roman traditions - the Roman Catholic Church recognizes three martyred saints named Valentine or Valentinus. During the Middle Ages in France and England it was believed that February 14 was the beginning of birds' mating season, thus began the practice of celebrating Valentine's Day as a day for romance in the middle of February. <br />
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The oldest known valentine still in existence today is considered to be a poem written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. Several years later, King Henry V hired a writer, John Lydgate, to compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois.<br />
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During the 1600s, the holiday began to be popularly celebrated in Great Britain; and, by the mid -1700s, it was common for friends and lovers of all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes. Due to improvements in the technology of printing in the late 1700s, printed cards began to replace written letters. The manufactured cards made it easier for people to express their emotions in a time when direct expression of one's feelings was discouraged. Less expensive postage rates also contributed to an increase in the popularity of posting valentines. <br />
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In the 1840s in Worcester, Massachusetts, a young woman named Esther A. Howland, inspired by the fancy lace-covered English valentines that her father sold in his Worcester stationery store, began to create and sell the first mass-produced valentines in the U.S. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUgQtDz7ZoI/AAAAAAAACUE/okwoBtrQCwQ/s1600/Esther+Howland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" s5="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUgQtDz7ZoI/AAAAAAAACUE/okwoBtrQCwQ/s320/Esther+Howland.jpg" width="272" /></a></div><br />
Esther initially created several sample valentines and persuaded one of her brothers skilled in penmanship to inscribe sentiments in the cards. The valentines proved extremely popular - despite their high cost – many sold for $5 to $10 each, and very extravagant ones, bedecked with ribbons, satin, and silk, cost up to $30. <br />
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Esther’s business boomed, and she recruited four friends to help her fulfill the orders and created an innovative assembly-line approach in making the cards. Seated at a long table, one worker cut out small colored lithographs of sentimental subjects, the next laid them on brilliantly glazed paper backgrounds, a third assembled the layers of lace paper that framed the central design, and the fourth pasted down a printed sentiment, typically inside the card or under a flap where only the recipient could see it. In 1881, Esther sold her business to the George C. Whitney Company. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUgRIlOUiJI/AAAAAAAACUI/WYXe1adj74U/s1600/Valentine+Assembly+Line.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" s5="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUgRIlOUiJI/AAAAAAAACUI/WYXe1adj74U/s400/Valentine+Assembly+Line.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
While other manufacturers of valentines competed for the affection of the public, none could compete with the quality, taste, and style of Esther Howland. She is credited with having popularized the lace Valentine, and propelling it into a major industry and came to be known as "The Mother of the American Valentine".. <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><em>My bounty is as boundless as the sea, </em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>My love as deep; the more I give to thee, </em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>The more I have, for both are infinite.</em></div><div style="text-align: center;">~ William Shakespeare, <em>Romeo and Juliet</em></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUgSDrl03nI/AAAAAAAACUU/CKtijRlRU1c/s1600/cards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="251" s5="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUgSDrl03nI/AAAAAAAACUU/CKtijRlRU1c/s400/cards.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUgRql8-E3I/AAAAAAAACUM/PtdcGtu6QYs/s1600/scan0004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" s5="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUgRql8-E3I/AAAAAAAACUM/PtdcGtu6QYs/s400/scan0004.jpg" width="272" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
<em>A life without love is like a year without summer.</em></div><div style="text-align: center;">~ Swedish quote</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUgSUjz6ooI/AAAAAAAACUY/qobT6vKIxPw/s1600/Postcards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" s5="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUgSUjz6ooI/AAAAAAAACUY/qobT6vKIxPw/s400/Postcards.jpg" width="263" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUgU_QRe5zI/AAAAAAAACU8/wpWKC8SYlWM/s1600/scan0008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" s5="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUgU_QRe5zI/AAAAAAAACU8/wpWKC8SYlWM/s400/scan0008.jpg" width="283" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.</em></div><div style="text-align: center;">~ Lao Tzu</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUgSm87aR_I/AAAAAAAACUc/Vrgk8CUniGU/s1600/scan0007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" s5="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUgSm87aR_I/AAAAAAAACUc/Vrgk8CUniGU/s400/scan0007.jpg" width="278" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUgVLiQDoeI/AAAAAAAACVA/dwweKsZvVBo/s1600/scan0012+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" s5="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUgVLiQDoeI/AAAAAAAACVA/dwweKsZvVBo/s320/scan0012+%25282%2529.jpg" width="230" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>To love is to receive a glimpse of heaven.</em></div><div style="text-align: center;">~ Karen Sunde</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUgSzb4fuGI/AAAAAAAACUg/mxIFRhJla0I/s1600/Postcards+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" s5="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUgSzb4fuGI/AAAAAAAACUg/mxIFRhJla0I/s400/Postcards+%25282%2529.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUgS7BYQJMI/AAAAAAAACUk/g9YMeqY0A0Q/s1600/scan0010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" s5="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUgS7BYQJMI/AAAAAAAACUk/g9YMeqY0A0Q/s320/scan0010.jpg" width="301" /></a></div><div align="center"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>Love is the only gold.</em></div><div style="text-align: center;">~ Alfred, Lord Tennyson</div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUgVgtUbwpI/AAAAAAAACVE/TJ7T8yz4iwU/s1600/Valentine+Collection.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" s5="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUgVgtUbwpI/AAAAAAAACVE/TJ7T8yz4iwU/s400/Valentine+Collection.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>All thoughts, all passions, all delights,</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>Whatever stirs this mortal frame,</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>All are but ministers of love,</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>And feed his sacred flame.</em></div><div style="text-align: center;">~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUgTcoNSU_I/AAAAAAAACUs/1xA36SiKI6M/s1600/scan0013+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="290" s5="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUgTcoNSU_I/AAAAAAAACUs/1xA36SiKI6M/s320/scan0013+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><em>I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.</em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">~ Mother Teresa</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUgUbj8tjmI/AAAAAAAACU0/AuF4C5Pa2Vk/s1600/scan0015+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="230" s5="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUgUbj8tjmI/AAAAAAAACU0/AuF4C5Pa2Vk/s400/scan0015+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUgUkiMNp7I/AAAAAAAACU4/2g6rVW2IbN0/s1600/scan0016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" s5="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUgUkiMNp7I/AAAAAAAACU4/2g6rVW2IbN0/s320/scan0016.jpg" width="282" /></a></div>About Cassandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09620554663275474210noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2639402087733112100.post-83435259450538038922011-01-26T16:17:00.002-05:002011-01-26T18:02:35.877-05:00Margaret Hill McCarter, American Author (1860-1938)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUCMgNNQIHI/AAAAAAAACTU/Z4ri_p1Trdo/s1600/McCarter_caesar_front_w_photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" s5="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUCMgNNQIHI/AAAAAAAACTU/Z4ri_p1Trdo/s200/McCarter_caesar_front_w_photo.jpg" width="143" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>"She dignifies and makes holy the tilling of the soil while not glossing over the hardships of life. It is drudgery, </em><em>but she makes it a blessed drudgery, glorified by the loves of life, brightened by the higher vision </em><em>- a drudgery which brings its own reward."</em></div><div style="text-align: center;">~ William E. Connelley, from A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans, 1918</div><br />
A Hoosier-born author, brought up on a farm, located between Carthage and Charlottesville in Rush County, Indiana, Margaret “Maggie” Hill was the sixth of seven children of tenth generation Quakers. Her pioneer parents arrived in Indiana in 1858 from Randolph County, North Carolina. Raised in a home that stressed reading and education, Maggie, as a child, was considered shy, retiring and somewhat slow – a dreamer. <br />
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She certainly bloomed! After attending the Quaker Earlham College for 2 years, Margaret completed four years of coursework in two years to graduate with a degree in education from the State Normal School in Terre Haute. She began her professional career as an educator in Indiana public schools - near her family home, as an elementary “schoolteacher,"starting at the age of sixteen in 1876; in Rensselaer, as a high school principal; and in Goshen, as head of the English department. In 1888, at the age of 28, Margaret accepted a position as head of the English department at Topeka High School in Kansas, which she continued to fill until 1894. <br />
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Kansas became Margaret’s true and beloved home, where she married Topeka dentist, Dr. William Arthur McCarter, also Hoosier-born of pioneer parents, in 1890; raised 2 daughters and a son; and in 1901 began her long career as a prolific author. She edited, with biographical and bibliographical notes, several titles in the Crane Classics series, including: Hawthorne's <em>Great Stone Face</em>; and <em>Miraculous Pitcher</em>; Holmes' <em>Grandmother's Story of Bunker Hill</em>, Longfellow's <em>Song of Hiawatha</em>; Lowell's <em>Vision of Sir Launfal</em>; Shakespeare's <em>King Lear</em> and <em>Merchant of Venice</em>, and Whittier's <em>Snowbound</em>. She contributed poetry and short stories to various newspapers and magazines and authored many famous, well-loved books: <em>A Bunch of Things Tied Up with Strings</em>, 1901; <em>Cuddy, and Other Stories</em>, 1902; <em>The Cottonwood's Story</em>, 1903; <em>Overflowing Waters,</em> 1903; <em>Christmas Eve in the Day Coach</em>, 1905; <em>Cuddy's Baby: A Story of the Kansas Folks</em>; 1907; <em>In Old Quivira</em>, 1908; <em>The Price of the Prairie: A Story of Kansas</em>, 1910; <em>The Peace of the Solomon Valley</em>, 1911; <em>A Wall of Men</em>, 1912; <em>A Master's Degree</em>, 1913; <em>Winning of the Wilderness</em>, 1914; <em>The Corner Stone</em>, 1915; <em>Vanguards of The Plains, A Romance of the Santa Fe Trail</em>, 1917; <em>Paying Mother: The Tribute Beautiful</em>, 1920; <em>The Reclaimers</em>, 1918; <em>Homeland: A Present Day Love Story</em>, 1922; <em>Widening Waters</em>, 1924; and <em>The Candle in the Window</em>, 1925. Margaret Hill McCarter is considered to be Kansas’ first popular female author for her many novels set against the Kansas prairie and for memorializing the early days of the state; and she remains, today, Kansas’ bestselling female author. <br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>“No one has succeeded so well in translating the atmosphere of Kansas prairies and the experiences and ideals of Kansas men and women as has Margaret Hill McCarter, author of Middle West fiction. It has been her task to search out and clothe with fitting words the simplicity and the real grandeur of the people who made Kansas and are still its breath and life.”</em></div><div style="text-align: center;">~ William E. Connelley </div><br />
Margaret was also very active in the founding and work of several women’s and literary clubs, historical societies, and civic organizations in both Indiana and Kansas and was well-known as an orator at civic and women’s groups and on the Chautauqua circuit. Her lecture on Abraham Lincoln was said to be one of the “most thrilling and comprehensive that has ever been delivered on this subject.” <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUCPLXMhC4I/AAAAAAAACTg/pWSB9D-S6So/s1600/The+Peace+of+the+Solomon+Valley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" s5="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8hjlkQFhfQk/TUCPLXMhC4I/AAAAAAAACTg/pWSB9D-S6So/s400/The+Peace+of+the+Solomon+Valley.jpg" width="191" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Margaret’s participation in state and national Republican Party politics resulted in an invitation to address the 1920 convention, making her the first woman to speak to the national gathering. She was awarded three honorary degrees: a Master’s from Baker University and Doctorates from both Washburn and Emporia universities. <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><em>"From the shy child on the Indiana farm to the busy woman who has earned for herself both gold and fame is a far cry - and yet not so far. She began life as a dreamer…'Is your castle in the air?' asks Thoreau, 'Good, that is where it should be. Now put a foundation under it.' And the foundation which Margaret Hill McCarter has put under her air castles is builded on the solid rock.”</em></div><div style="text-align: center;">~ William E. Connelley</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Goudy Old Style", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">To view more of Margaret’s book covers and other memorabilia, click </span><a href="http://www.washburn.edu/reference/cks/mapping/mccarter/"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>About Cassandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09620554663275474210noreply@blogger.com0