Julia Ward Howe's Mother's Day Proclamation - 1870

"Arise then...women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts!
Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
"We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country,
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

From the bosom of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says: "Disarm! Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe out dishonor,
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil
At the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace...
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God -

In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality,
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace."

Tell it Sister!

Imagine... this amazing "Pro Life" piece was written in 1870. That's one hundred and thirty-nine years ago.

Knitting for the Children of the World, and for Peace

What's happening on Mother's Day at the White House Fence??

I know, I know, a lot of talking heads and other fat slimy Jaba the Huts dissed this group with major tongue lashings, as if these ladies were all in some Ubber PETA group, and trying to keep us from owning cats and dogs.

Well, CODEPINK is having a Radical Act of Knitting to honor the children in the war zones.

I'm making my bits and pieces tomorrow to get them off in time for the effort. I'm not particularly happy about President Obama's timetables in reining in the dogs of war, or tipping the war machine on it's side, so I'll contribute this way to an in his face demonstration of how much those campaign promises meant to those of us who trusted them.

Code Pink: A Radical Act of Knitting

Read about it, and if you are so inclined, mail some squares.

I'd like to thank my DD for forwarding this to me.

Let's remind someone....

Of what he Said

Beautiful Video to relax your mind..Turn on the Sound...

Drift away and be at Peace.....

a quote about AIG from DemocracyNow! interview

If this thing is true, we are really in deep, DEEP kimshi m'friends...

"In a new article in Rolling Stone Magazine, journalist Matt Taibbi takes an in-depth look at the story behind AIG. "The reality is that the worldwide economic meltdown and the bailout that followed were together a kind of revolution, a coup d'état," writes Taibbi. "They cemented and formalized a political trend that has been snowballing for decades: the gradual takeover of the government by a small class of connected insiders, who used money to control elections, buy influence and systematically weaken financial regulations."

LINK TO THE ARTICLE in Rolling Stone.

Can you imagine the ramifications of this sort of a take over? I think we have to quickly establish ourselves back on Main Street. We need to start buying locally. Small,local business and human-sized agriculture will be the only things that would keep us out of this thresher.

Sadly, our own government has been forcing other smaller countries like Jamaica and Haiti- to name only two- into really poor conditions while all this consolidation occurred. This is really a little like chickens coming home to roost on a house (most of us) that was full of hostages rather than on the right ones.

Here they come! The Tiny Tulips....

I was surprised this afternoon by these brave little guys who have bloomed every year for at least 12 years. As was mentioned last year, they were a free gift with other bulbs and only were supposed to bloom one year. I think they love the pot they are in and their garden spot.

 

 

Justine Masika Bihamba

The page I am linking is an Amnesty International page, and it is about what has been going on for the women of the Congo. It is similar to the horror that women are facing now in Zimbabwe.

This woman, Justine Masika Bihamba, has so much courage. HERE is her story.

I have made and am sending a card to her, to show her that she is not alone. That women everywhere hear her voice and believe in the cause she struggles for everyday.

I encourage others to blog about Justine and the women who work with her, and to send cards of solidarity to her and to Synergie, their group.

The address is:

Synergie des Femmes pour les Victimes des Violences Sexuelles
B.P.227
Gisenyi
Rwanda

Yes, we can, my sisters. We can DO this!

LIttle Snowman

 

he's finished, finally. And he's home. This is DH's first project in painting on the engobes. He is color blind to greens and reds but the two greens are my fault! I'm thinking I would not let a child of mine wear those two greens together.

What a Wonderful World

This is beautiful. Thank you Pogonip, for this...



The fawn's face looks like my little poodle, since he now has no teeth and hardly any hair.

Do you Twitter, Facebook, Stand in the middle of the information Highway with a megaphone?

Then this is for you....



This is why I will never get a facebook account. At least Blogger hasn't gone that insane, Yet... My niece has a facebook. Several friends have facebook. They also get a half dozen emails a day from FACEBOOK admins alone! That's not counting all the other facebook related stuff that pops up in their real "face" everyday. I don't Twitter, either.

Your computer can quickly become a giant SINKHOLE that your whole life tumbles into. You will still be loved and a worthy person if you don't have either one of those hyper intrusive things in your life. This is why I love to read blogs. Blogs don't send you nagging emails. They just sit there and wait for you to log onto their particular address and catch up with friends who share your interests.

Have a happy day!

One down and one to go

 

This is a heavier than WW and lighter than bulky. Very beautiful yarn but a little hard to predict any outcome. These were supposed to be short fingered gloves but about midway, they were showing that they wouldn't work out well as short fingered ones. It would make the fingers rub together and cause some problems, I reckoned. I love the feel of the mitt on the whole and love the yarn, Classic Elite's "Water Lily". B, I think you will like these very much.

Entertaining your brain...

Two lovely finds at the booksale in the last few months. If you love mysteries, and humorous writings, these two books will help you stay sane and avoid a major breakdown. The one on the left is a collaporative effort of the several authors listed on the side bar beside the darling cottage. The one on the right is a collection of short stories from both Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine.

PS. The Murder at Teatime book has a little message in gold under the title that is unreadable .. It says: "Mysteries in the Classic Cozy Tradition". Gosh they are fun.

Enjoy yourself while reaching escape velocity!

Retro Apron Pattern. Yay!

 

Isn't it great? The one I want to make is the one on the right. It seems just perfect for cookie and bread baking.

Something fun - a RetroHairdo meme

 

I kind of got the idea from a very modern hairdo on Cinderellen's blog.

I'm starting it, and if you wanna join in feel free. Mine is from a picture taken in the mid 60's at my SILs house. Remember the Bubble? Hahahaha!

A Tribute to the "Cook" & a Rant Caution

 

DH just about stands on his head to get our little wort of a doggie to eat, so this is for you, Sweetie!

Today is a dentist day-another blasted filling replacement, so AR and PJ, today I am not going to get to sew at all. I did knit this am before breakfast, snugged up in bed with a cuppa and the wee doggie across my knees.

I used to love to sew but somehow it just became scary how far I'd go to avoid doing any at all. I would pin my dresses together where a seam failed, or even tape up a sagging hem rather than mend any favorite old piece of clothing. I was really OFF sewing. It's starting to come back, but it's slow. I waited nearly all my adult life for a room dedicated to sewing, now I can't stand to be in there! *rolls eyes* The sewing machine is on the dining room table in all it's messy glory.

RANT WARNING!

We watched the film, "In the Valley of Elah", again last night. If you read the post about a San Diego Marine on The San Diego Peace Guy's blog, you will understand just how gut wrenching that movie is. There is a report that a controlled drug, Ecstacy, has had trials for use on PTSD and worked wonders for the men involved. But, dayammit, I just don't know which way to jump on that one. The problems are huge but, another drug? My heart does these little jumping around things when I think of the whole PTSD issue and all that some heartless wretches have asked of our soldiers. I could go on and on but I won't. Nuff said. Anyway, IF any soldier is reading this, please know that a LOT of Americans think about you every single day, and some practically every minute, as we go about our daily life.

Scarlet Pimpernel

 

Harbinger of the weed season and full on Spring season in California.. The flower is no more than a quarter of an inch across.

Proof of Actual Sewing Activity! Yay me!

 

The Three New Knitting Projects...

 

 

 

This should be the top.. Serendipity Fingerless Mitts
And in the middle should be.. Jane's Hedgerows Socks
And the bottom, if I did this right... Spring Forward Socks

This, along with the Manly/Beastly Drops aran, and the two short fingered gloves should keep me busy and out of mischief until well past summer. And, I am sewing again. One button loop, but Hey, it is sewing!

For all the horse lovers

This is a YouTube video of Monty Roberts taking a horse who was hard to load into a trailer and training him in just a few minutes to go into the trailer, eventually without a lead. Brilliant technique! So gentle!



I've adored this fellow and his gentle training techniques since reading his first book in 96. His wish to leave this world a better place, for horses and for humans, just as he says on his web page HERE will come to pass. I think he's a Hero For the Planet, myself.

Yarnovers on the Purl side

Wanting to show this as clearly as I can, thus the large needles. I purl a stitch and then go into the yarn over. With the working yarn in the front I go over the top of the right needle once and bring the working yarn back into position to purl off the two next stitches.. the decrease part of the yarn over. If I wrapped twice, all that would happen in my case would be a giganic loopy yarn over.

 

Every once in awhile we get confirmation of Truths

My daughter sent this to me. I couldn't let it just sit, propped up against the back wall like a forgotten protest placard.

In 1964, when I was expecting my first child, I was invited by the neighbors to go to a revival meeting at a big church. The neighbor was an evangelical pastor. Pat Buchanan was the speaker who ranted and raved on the stage about how the message didn't need to be changed, the people needed to be changed. I was so sickened by what I heard that I excused myself, saying I was feeling faint and needed some air, and went out and looked up at the stars and into the eternal universe. You could see this thing coming down on us like a freight train, unless you were swept up in the evangelical zeal.

I'm glad they are getting scrutinized, Dear God at Last! After all, since any American who wants to get a tax break can start a church, why should we carry them on our backs while they are getting supported by this HUGE tax perk and trying to grab off the government?




Yes, L, and the truth will set us free.....

How Much is that Degas in the Window?

 

Color play on a sketch by Degas. This was in a local ballet studios window. I love Degas. I actually own one. LOL A copy of one. That's my budget, sow's ear but silk purse dreams. Actually I could copy it myself but I'm not quite into forgery yet. hehe. I could do a postcard in fabric,eh?

Long long day.. I must get to bed because the doggie has growled. I'm going to miss that silly, little, bossy dog telling me when he thinks it's time for me, the alpha female, to come to bed. He is nearly 77 years old (in human years) and demands respect. We give it to him! I just found out that his mother is no longer in this world. Sad. She was a lovely little dog after our friend's daughter rescued her from a puppy mill. Ah well, if you can't do everything, do something! Thank you, Judy, for what you did on that day so long ago. Saved a lovely little poodle from a bad place and gave her your heart.

Ceramics Thursday

 

The little snowman is clear glazed and Ghosty looking. Next week he will be out of the kiln and ready to come home with me. The snowshmoo to the right is going into a bisque firing sometime soon, and then will be glazed. I just have to add red glazes and the clear glaze over it. Yay!

Two new things are on the needles and will get photog'd after dinner. I guess you just can't have too many hobbies....

Carmelite Nunnery

 

Sometimes, just knowing these gentle folk are there is enough to calm jangled nerves. Taken from the freeway bridges.. *sighs*

Giant Bearded Iris blooming

 

The stalk is about five feet tall but i got it to snake around on top of the geranium by fooling it. You can do that pretty easily because the flower heads follow the sun. They are such beautiful flowers I had to share them again this year. Enjoy them. Soon the flowers all over the gardens of America will be blooming. I don't know why I try to post this late at night, with the dog growling at me to come to bed and disturbing my concentration and spelling mojo. So, off to bed!

Peace and Love to you all!

The Serenipity mitt is progressing and tomorrow there will be thumbage!

Microwave Marmalade

 

Yesterday I had some fun in the kitchen. This is a recipe from the web. Although it tastes absolutely delicious, the next time I make it I'll use the grating blade on the food processor, and only cook it 5 to 6 minutes. I had to rescue it from turning into Turkish Delight with the timely addition of some water. The orange it was made from is a Navel orange just about the same size as the one sitting next to the jar.

Here's the URL for the recipe but there are others. Be aware that if you have a "hot" microwave, you will want to cook it a shorter period of time.

All the comments from the last post have poofed.

I'm trying to find Rho's and Fuzzarelly's comments after posting answers with a couple of web page links in them to the artisan bread in five minutes video and Angelnina's blog.

I'm sorry this happened. I'll figure it out somehow.

Here is the old post, in it's entirety:

Pita Bread Recipe


Ok, I can only show you the recipe from the web because the Syrian Cook Book has gone missing.

But the only difference in these is in the method of baking them. The breads can be baked right on the shelf of the oven, if it's less modern, i.e., the wires are closer together.

The glass baking pan is something I wouldn't try, because pyrex has it's limits in temperature and I'm afraid of having something explode in the oven. So, I would use a metal baking sheet, flipped over and heated in the glass pan's place. Even an iron pancake griddle.

Here are the links, and this bread is so fresh and lovely and smells so good.

The recipe from About.com

And,

The video from About.com

You'll like it. It's easy peasey, and unless you've been able to buy this bread in the early morning from a Middle Eastern store, you will never find a fresh enough Pita Bread. Fresh, it's absolutely gorgeous.

This is an original fiveminute recipe site as well....

Angelnina's blog site for the recipe

And this is pita bread made from the dough:

Artisanbreadinfive's Pita recipe

Thanks Rho!

Fuzzarelly, you said:

"Will have to try the pita receipt, thanks for posting it. I am proud to have accomplished a sour dough starter and several loaves to date. Somehow or other, I have become a happy homemaker.

No snow here but a cold wind from the north- northeast. Brrr. Warmer weather by Wednesday."

I wondered whether you could make sour dough pita bread. And yes, stay warm! I hope you have warmer weather by Wednesday and the little outside bunnies all stay warm enough. How on earth do they do this living through winter outside thing? Dig warrens, I bet. Tell about your sour dough started soon please, as bread helps the transformation to happy, so it does.

Rho said:

"I did the Artisan Bread pita recipe and it was pretty good also - I may try it at 450 or 475 next time I don't think my oven likes 500 degrees the fan kept coming on ;)

that recipe looks pretty easy too and yummy

there is nothing like the smell of fresh bread products of any kind is there. "


No, Rho, there sure isn't is there? Bread is the most lovely thing besides apple pie, that you can bake and stay high on the smell all day.. lol

475 should get your pita bread done up nicely. That's plenty hot! I did like the use of a baking stone for the breads but the cast iron long griddle is what I'm going to try...

Good night ladies.. I've done the last change on this here post that's gonna happen! Happy baking on some darn cold, snowy days! We had +80 again today.