Ms. Arteest

Sunset from Kitchen Window

We have been having the most beautiful fall sunsets I have ever seen. Simply amazing. The one the other day was breathtaking--the one with the rays of sun shining down on the landscape. My oh my.

I have been unmotivated blogwise recently, and I can't quite put my finger on it other than I have a lot on my mind right now. I've been doing a lot of ATCs and other goodies. I've sent two packages to my Secret Faery in London and had fun putting both together. I'm quite intimidated by her, a REAL arteest and a LONDONITE, to boot! How green with envy can I be? hehe. I'm sure she thinks I'm a total loon. I've been all Halloweeny in her goodies. I spent Halloween in London and the outskirts several years ago. We had friends there and the kids were going to The American School not too far outside London. The kid and I took the train out to meet up with them and ended up at the school doing a "Trunk & Treat." All the cars were decorated and the children went from car to car Trick or Treating. It was a total blast, but most of all, it was wonderful to see my friend "Leenda." The English celebrate Guy Fawkes/Bonfire Night on November 5. Just a tad different that our unusual Halloween. At any rate, I thought my Faery might like some American goodies that we use to celebrate Halloween. You know how crazy we are here. Gee, I think Halloween is almost as big as Christmas! Whaa? I'm dying to get my pumpkins and gourds and mums and corn stalks and everything else loony that I do; but with us leaving next week for a bit, I'll put that off 'til our return. (I can't wait to tell you the trip that's brewing . . . get it . . . brewing??? ha)

Sweet Beth invited me to become a member of an ATC group. How fun. Now, I really need to start working on these suckers! I did six today. I went out this morning to get some supplies and got home and had lost my Kate Spade glasses. These are my {fairly} NEW, prescription, BIFOCAL, KATE SPADE glasses! Now how I lost them, I have no idea. I went to two art stores. I think I was wearing them for the first stop. Then I think I switched over to my old glasses that I have clip on sunglasses with, once I got back in the car. Then off to the second store. I always throw them on the passenger seat when I switch, but they are nowhere. Very strange. If I didn't know better, I would say crazy woman was back in town! I'm also missing my chapstick that I JUST put by the computer! Very strange, indeed. (She would take my things and mail them to various people.) What wonderful memories (NOT) that brings back from last year this time. Geesh. How naive I was.

Speaking of which (or witch), a couple of weeks ago when I went to Target, I saw her daughter. And you know what that means? They are still here. I heard, from sources up North and a copy of the Washington Post, that the son was arrested (down here and then extradited back to VA) because he had bought minors liquor and a teenage girl had died in a car accident because of it. Lord have mercy. After I heard that, I felt reassured that they had all gone back to Virginia. But, of course, not. The daughter is here, apparently. My saving grace is that crazy woman can hardly stand her. So, listen to this. I walk into Target and I'm pushing a buggy. I looked straight ahead only to see her coming my direction to a check out lane--her three daughters (by three different men . . . heh hum--no wonder crazy woman can't stand her!) I just about fainted. I think I lost all color in my face. I stared at her but kept walking. She had a grin on her face, but she never met my eyes; so I don't know if she saw me or not. From the grin, I think she did, but I don't know--probably paranoia on my part. Ok, so I go about my biz. I was in there probably about 15 more minutes and then checked out. I got to my car, I looked it over as I wouldn't put anything by that trash. I got in and pulled out. Damned if I didn't pull right behind HER truck! And damned if it didn't have a TN license plate from JULY! I know her brother was arrested in June. I followed her all the way to the interstate and I made sure to write her liscense plate number down in case of any disturbance. God wanted me to be behind her for some reason, I'm sure. Maybe she saw me, maybe she didn't. But in any case, I now have her number if anything strange comes up. Isn't it a shame I have to think like this? I never, in my entire life, had to fear anyone. Not since crazy woman attacked me with a hunting knife November 15, 2005 in my own house. Now, everything has changed. Perhaps all this is why I've been in a funk. Good reason, huh. Maybe now that it's in writing, I can let it go and move on. Let's hope.

We just had a wonderful thunder storm. At first, I thought someone was taking a pic outside. Nope, lightening! Funny for fall. Guess we are in the "Souf." Gotta go check on the babies--probably wet from head to tail by now! Have a glorious Sunday! The hub leaves tomorrow for London (boohiss). Of course, I gave him an item to get from Harvey Nichols that you can't get here. They had the best hair comb that fits my thick hair just right! Poor guy. "Excuse me, where are your Cherry Chau hairpins?" hehe The things he does for me. sigh.

Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da

An Autumn Sunset

Life goes on. I started this post yesterday afternoon. I was feeling a little "verklempt." You know, kinda emotional, anxious, for no real reason. Guess that black cow was passing overhead. Sure glad he just passed by quite quickly. I wrote the title and then moved away from the computer and started doing some artwork. I guess I didn't want to express into words my frame of mind at that moment. I'm glad I didn't because I did some pretty fun ATCs for Halloween. I always get like this before I do any overseas travel. I just have a few moments of anxiousness of what "could" happen. It doesn't last long; and of course, once I hit the day of travel, there is not a moment of fear.

This is the highlight of Abby's day yesterday. "A fly went by." She could have caught it at any given moment but instead waited for it to fly so she could leap up and try to catch it.





You try and figure out why cats do what they do. Go ahead, try.

The teenager comes home the other night and I notice his sweatpants are turned inside out. I ask "Is this some kind of gangwear?" He proceeds to tell us that they have been playing tricks on the Freshman. Since his sweatpants have his old football number on them, he decided to turn them inside out (so not to give his identity away) and I was told that they all masked their faces. Lovely. Our teenager, the thug. It's homecoming week; and all the kids have been making their floats--Freshman, Sophomores, etc. Of course, the Juniors and Seniors have been playing tricks on the Freshman all week--in school and out. Poor guys. The teenager has been having "night maneuvers" every night this week. They (the juniors and seniors) have been bombarding the float makers with water balloons each night. I would have thought by now, the Freshmen would have caught on and found out who was doing the bombardments. I tell you, I would have been laying low in some car parked on the street just waiting to see where the water balloons were originating. Ya betta believe it, I would!

Today, my sister-in-law, Ellen, was in town (the food-snob's wife) for business, so her, my mom and I went and had lunch at the little lady (as I call it) establishment The Puffy Muffin. She has business meetings through tomorrow, so I probably won't see her again until they all come down for a week at Thanksgiving. It's always nice to see family.

When I returned home, I found more love letters in the box. First, I opened a little envelope from our fellow blogger and my localite Beth. We had set up an ATC swap. My first one!! How fun. Not only did she send her three swaps but added a lagniappe. Look at the little extras she threw in. How sweet is that? Very sweet! Thank you Beth! Look at how wonderful her ATCs are. Our theme was "children." I especially fell in love with the
one on the right. There is a familiarity in her sweet little face. I forgot, of course, to take pictures of the ones I sent her. Duh. I always get so excited about getting things into the mail, I forget to take pictures of the things I make. Oh well. I was able to fill a page with her three. The other six I had purchased off Ebay.

Then there was another little Love Letter from my Matchbox Scene Swap from Swap-Bot. My "partner" never sent mine (pout), so one of the other partners made an extra one and sent it to me. Look at this tiny little Eden scene! Isn't it the cutest! I'm going to have to send her a little something special too. How nice was that? Pretty nice.

Okay, it has taken two days to post this post. Gee. My mind in is a million different places recently. Oh well. Press Publish Post NOW!!

Five Things to Eat Before I Die (Five Favorite Foods)

I was tagged by Rosa over at Rosa's Yummy Yums. (I do love that name.) This is a very interesting meme. Melissa from The Traveler's Lunchbox put this one together. I admit I have seen her blog mentioned around but I don't believe I have ever visited until now. Rosa was tagged by an old favorite, Ruth from Once Upon a Feast. I had the pleasure of "testing" two of her mother's recipes for her upcoming cookbook, "Every Kitchen Tells Its Stories, see this and that.

I pulled this from Melissa's post so you can get the gest:

". . . {I have} create{d} a list of food bloggers' top picks for things you've eaten and think that everyone should eat at least once before they die. Think of it as kind of a global food guide, which can enrich and inform our travels and perhaps even clue us into things closer to home that we've somehow overlooked. And although it will probably be too long for any one person to dream of completing, I hope it will give us all some small inkling of how many more edible treasures there still are out there, and how much there still is to experience.

Here are my general guidelines. I'm restricting contributions to five items per blogger, which is hard, I know! But this will keep the list semi-manageable in length and will force you to really think hard about what your absolute top picks would be. You're welcome to be as general or as pin-sharp as you like, referring to specific dishes, restaurants, ingredients, products or preparations (although I think entire cuisines are a bit too general...), but they should definitely be things you know and love and couldn't imagine not having tasted. A sentence or two about your history with this food and why it means so much to you would also be great, and an item or two that is local to you, your cuisine or a place you have lived will help maintain a nice geographical diversity. Oh, and although I really welcome contributions from bloggers all over the world, I'm asking for all contributions to be in English to keep the list coherent. I'm envisioning the contribution process to be passed along like a normal meme, which is why I'm tagging five people to start, but feel free to participate even if you haven't yet been tagged. And if you want to participate but don't feel like devoting an entire post to it, you're welcome to do that too - just whatever you do, drop me an email (my address is in the 'about' section in the sidebar) or a comment on this post with your five foods or your permalink and I'll add your choices to a (hopefully) ever-growing list as they come in. I've also added a link to this post in the top right-hand corner, so you can easily come back and check on new additions!"

This is harder than you think. I thought it would be a breeze until I actually sat down and tried to list only five things that I crave at any given moment. There are so many favorites in my smorgasborg of good eats, I don't even know where to begin. But I will, and, as usual, they are in no particular order . . .

• A piece of chocolate (creme--any flavor) from Wittamer's in Brussels, Belgium.

The hub had a lot of business in Brussels for while back in the late 90s while we were still living in Northern Virginia. He would always bring a box of chocolates back for the family to enjoy. Once I caught on the the joy they brought to everyone who had a piece, he was under strict orders to bring back at least three boxes--one for us, one for my brother Jim (the food snob) and one for the school office I was working at. One time, the school was having their annual auction. The hub saved the day when he brought back this gorgeous hat box straight from Wittimers. It truly was one of the highlights of the night. It's not too often one can get a fresh box of Belgian chocolates flown in for an occasion such as this. You know at first sight when you see their lovely fuchsia box, or other beautiful wrapping depending on the season, you are in for a delight. I always preferred the hub to travel there in the colder months because it was then that he could bring home the chocolate cremes that are my all-time favorites. They won't last more than a week under cold conditions, so they would never allow him to purchase them in the warm months to bring home. So, if you are ever in Belgium, please look up Wittamer's chocolate. You are in for a real flavor. Each piece is a work of art in itself which will bring satisfaction to the eye, to your taste buds and to the soul. One piece will satisfy your chocolate passion like no other.

• A Masala Dosa. This is an Indian crepe, so to speak, filled with potatoes and onions and served with chutneys to dip with. The dosa is made from ground lentils which make it soft yet crispy cooked on a griddle.

Growing up in Arlington, Virginia had its advantages. Being a stone's throw from Washington, DC and all it's embassies, we had quite an ethnic pool. My friends were from all around the world. Sometimes they would only live there for a year or so and others were there for the long haul. One of my best friend's family was from Trinidad. Nadia was my best friend all through elementary school. I even dated her older brother and he was my first true love. (awww) Since I was always at their house after school, I was introduced to their wonderfully different foods. (Remember, my parents were from Georgia and Texas, so I was used to Southern US foods.) I especially liked their roti (cooked on a griddle) and samosas (fried), which are basically dumplings stuffed with either curried potatoes or curried chicken. Both were equally delicious dunked in different types of chutneys.

Later on in my years, our next door neighbors were from Pakistan. They were so delighted that I loved their food, they would bring plates of it over whenever they had a family gathering. I especially loved their basmati rice. I could smell them cooking and would just hope they would bring me a plate later!

In high school, my then boyfriend introduced me to Indian foods, particularly vegetarian dishes. There was a wonderful little mom-and-pop carry out on R Street in DC that had the best Masala Dosas on earth. We would normally order a masala dosa, an aloo paratha (a wheat flour flat bread filled with potatoes), a side of dahl (a lentil soup) and eat to our heart's content.

To this day, when I find an Indian restaurant with masala dosas on the menu, I am the happiest person around. I have found that the vegetarian restaurants serve better ones for some reason.

• Crepes Suzette ala Raphael

Raphael is our friend from France. He first came to us through an exchange student program while we were still in Virginia ten years ago. He visits us whenever he can; and when he does, he makes us crepes! His family recipe is so delicious, I can't even begin to describe it. But, it's a secret, and I have taken an oath of silence; I'm terribly sorry. This year, he made Crepes Suzette for us. It was such a wonderful flavor, the orange with the warm crepes, oh my.

• Peking Duck. A roasted duck sliced at your table and served with pancakes, onions and hoison sauce.

I admit, I have only had it at one restaurant in Virginia, but it is so good, I will try it anywhere I see it. The Peking Gourmet Inn in Falls Church, VA, is an awesome restaurant. I have been having Peking Duck there for over 20 years.

Hmmmm, ok, I'm beginning to see a pattern here because my last entry is . . . .

• Dim Sum. "Little token," small dumplings, usually steamed, and filled with all types of meats. Basically, it's a Chinese smorgasborg brought to your table by steaming carts.

Again, being in Northern Virginia and DC, we had our share of first-class Chinese restaurants. It was the hub who introduced me to dim sum in the 80s after one of his trips back from China. It is as much fun as it is good. Ladies come around with steaming carts, lifting lids and asking if you like. It all comes very fast and you can fill the table quite quickly with little round tins full of dumplings of all sorts. Don't forget to order the sticky rice (in a leaf of some sort) and the sliced pork! If you see a line out the door waiting on Sunday to get into a restaurant that serves Dim Sum, you know you are in for a treat.

Now, phew, glad that's over! I will now tag:

Mr. English (of course!) -- aka Mark of Gullible's Travels (England)

Suanne & Ben over at Chow Times (Canada)

Ann from Warm Butter Review (I'm trying to gently coax her out of blog retirement.) (NYC)

Tara of Paris Parfait (Paris, but of course.)

Robyn who is Driving Miss Robyn (Australia)

Up to you if you want to play. No pressure, of course.

Teenagers

The teenager and I are at each other's throats again. One day, we're good, the next, we're ready to choke each other.

He's actually been pretty good since he bought his car. Been pretty responsible. You know, the usual learning curves that I've told you about; but overall, pretty good.

Until this week. The kids have Fall Break coming up. I haven't said anything, but the hub, kid and I are heading back to Europe. I'll tell you more later on that little tidbit. The teenager is staying here with my mom. We've been having the discussion on the rules while we are gone.

Tonight he comes home and says that he has told his work that he can't work the entire break. Excuse me? Where did this come from? (I actually said that to him.) At which time he proceeds to tell me that I told him to take off. Excuse me? I would never have told him that or even imply that he take off. I would much rather him be working than running around. He starts yelling at me. He keeps yelling at me after I tell him to march his butt right back in and get some hours in while we're gone. Of course, as he continues yelling at me, I proceed to ground him on weekend evenings. He's not to go out at night on the weekends. Done. Guess that was coming. Probably a good thing he was yelling at me because I needed an excuse to keep him in anyway. (He's so easy.) The rate we've been battling over the last few days, he'll be lucky if he sees anyone while we're gone. Little brat.

We had a really good fight Saturday night. Remember, it was raining here and storming; and we have some pretty remote roads out where we live. The teenager calls after he leaves work (about 9:30 p.m.) and says he's going to a friend's house "for a minute." Well, No. 1, if you go to a friend's house for a minute, it's a minute of no good. (Hey, I was young, once.) No. 2, the roads were bad and he's still new to driving in the rain, so I told him to come home. Boy, was he P.O'd. He did though. He was home within five minutes--stereo cranked up so it would get me mad, slamming his door so it would get me mad. Then, you wanna know how he "tries" to get back at me? He comes in and starts cooking pasta--red sauce and pasta--at 10:00 at night. He knows I hate the smell of it cooking that late, but I just ignored him. I was up anyway--no worries. Not a prob. I was doing some artwork and I just hummed along like there wasn't a care in the world. I know it just burned him up. I could tell, he was just trying to think of something to get at me. He goes over and turns on some "gang" TV show to try and urk me. To no avail. I just keep on humming along my merry little way. Brat.

He had to work on Sunday. Still mad. Around 2 p.m. I get a phone call. It's the father of the kid who was having a party last night. The PARTY that the teenager was on his way to. The father proceeds to tell me that I had made the right decision by not allowing him to go. For once, I made the right decision. Do you know how good that feels as a parent? We don't' always make the right decision; so when we do, it's sweet! OH yea. The father tells me there was drinking and other stuff going on and that it was unsupervised. Of course it was. Now get this. Not ten minutes later, the teenager comes in for his lunch break. Big grin. "Did anyone call you?" hehe. He proceeds to tell me that the father called every parent of kids that had attended the "party." The teenager had apparently called the kid who had the party (to see how it went, I'm sure) and the father, on the sly, answered his son's cell phone! Too funny! The teenager hung up. But the father called him back. He then asked for our phone number probably not believing that the teenager wasn't there. This is what the teenager is telling me. Then he reaches over and kisses me on the cheek. "Thanks mom." You could have scraped me up off the floor. It's not very often you get a thank you from him. Brat.

But, now we're back at duking it out. Tomorrow is another day, right? Let's see who wins the next round. Ding ding ding!

Chocolate Chocolate Everywhere!

Today my swap arrived from dear Maggii over at Itchin' to Stitch. What a delightful package it was!! Thank you so very much Maggii.

Look at all the goodies she sent me. The kid and I have already broken into it (wanted to make sure nothing had melted, of course!). Not only did she send some delightful chocolates, but Maggii also included a lovely tea towel, a hot pad and some wonderful Autumn coasters. Hey, I always need more coasters. Don't think the boys have figured out just what they're supposed to be used for! Look at the chocolate covered blueberries! How decadent is that? And all kinds of chocolate sprinkles for whatever I choose to sprinkle.

There were these little delicious crisp of cookies. Oh my. I think I tested just about one of each and everything is A-ok! hehe. It's all very good. I think the kid was excited as I was. He asked "Am I allowed to have any?" Of course!! Gee, if I ate all this (0ther than being in heaven), I'd have to commit myself!



Thank you Maggii so much. It's all so "gud!" Can you tell I like it all?

Tagged, I'm It!

I've been tagged by Kansas Rose of Prairie Farmeress. So here goes! (This is a tough one.)

RULES:

• List 5 weird things about yourself or your pets. (Easy enough!)
• Answer the Meme.
  
• Tag 5 friends and list them.
• Then these people need to write on their blogs about 5 weird things, state the rules, and tag 5 more people.
• Don't forget to let the people you tag know by commenting on their blog!
  

Questions:

1. Which famous person would you most like to learn that you're descended from?

George Washington. For some reason, I feel a special bond with the man. Not only was I born in his old stomping ground (Olde Towne Alexandria), but I feel at peace whenever I visit Mt. Vernon. Yes, I can see myself keeping an eye on the old family residence (hehe).

2. Which famous person would you hate to learn you're descended from?

Hitler. Ew. Doesn't even warrant a photo.

3. If you could be an ancestor to any famous living person who would it be and why?
Paul McCartney. Hey, if I can't marry the guy, I may as well be related so I can still be close to him! (And I would love to have known Linda personally.)

(Ok, I admit I misinterpreted the question -- "ANCESTOR, a person, typically one more remote than a grandparent, from whom one is descended" but I still like my answer, hehe.)

Now to answer it CORRECTLY:
Mahatma Ghandi, the goodness had to originate somewhere, right?

OK OK , LIGHT'S ON, NO ONE HOME!! LIVING -- as in NOW ALIVE! hehe. I never thought this would be so hard!! LOL! Let me think for a moment longer please.


Alright, I think I have it this time 'round. I would like to be an ANCESTOR to Paloma Picasso. I would hope to instill in my relatives the love of FAMILY and how to treat women with respect. hehe. There, how's that?

4. If you could go back in time and meet any known ancestors of yours, who would it be and why?

My grandmother Jimmie (my mom's mother). She was from the Iroquois tribe; and I would LOVE to learn of my family heritage there! Unfortunately she died when my mom was born and there is only one photo of her (which I can't seem to find, right now).

5. Five weird Things about Me:

1. I sneeze when I pluck my eyebrows.
2. I can't sleep unless I have three pillows. I sleep as follows: One king sized for my head, one king size as my "shield" between me and the hub (can't stand to have anything near my back since I've had three epidurals) and one standard to hug (have always hugged a pillow since my grandma made me a little travel pillow when I was little). If I stay at a hotel, I have to call room service for extra pillows.

3. More than occasionally, street lamps go out when I drive by them at which time I say "Light's Out."

4. I get really bad headaches when a storm is approaching.


5. I can barely stand wearing anything other than jeans. I feel totally out of sorts when I do. (Yes, I found some, finally!)

Now it's Tammy's (when she feels up to it), Robyn's, Shelley's, Sue's, and Beth's turn. Tag, you're it!!

Storms-r-Brewing Saturday

They're calling for storms today, thunder storms, that is. Hey, isn't this the first day of Autumn? Whaaaaaaa.

Preparing to sit down to go through my papers, my mail and my mags for the week. I don't know where the week went. Hmmmm. I found my double clotted cream last week. Sometimes my grocer carries it, sometimes they don't. I was lucky. My thighs and chin(s)will thank me later!

I need some help. I'm thinking of switching over to Blogger Beta (or whatever it's called). Heck, I may already have it. Duh. I just don't know. But, I want to begin categorizing my posts to make it easier to look one up when I need to. My library is getting quite full and when I go to find a link-back-to, it takes me for-ever. So I looked into it and found out that I have to have the new Beta thingy. I'm reluctant to change over until I hear some feedback. So, if you have any, let me know--good or bad.

Before doing anything, I just backed up my blog. If you don't or haven't, please do. I have heard horror stories of losing all your writings. I print mine out (and I am quite behind in that department), but I still want a backup. I found the "Blogcollector" which seems to do the trick. Check it out Aspise.

So, please let me know if you've heard anything about the new Blogger Beta! Thanks. Hope your neck of the woods is cool and fallish. (Hot and humid here----grrrrrrr.) A strange day. As soon as the sun comes out, it starts raining. We're going to be under a tornado watch this evening. Joy.


Here's Miss Bev doing her yoga, as the kid calls it. Look at her poor little chin, all scratched up. I'm going to look into some herbs to give her. She's already on Bach's Rescue Remedy for calming. Poor little boo.

Friday's Favorite Corner (Spot)

I had to share with you Mother Earth's new residence in our home. She is smack-dab in the middle of our family room. It is here that she can see all that goes on in the household with a good view of the back yard to make sure all is well outside. I doubt she would be happy without a good view of her splendid land. (She needs to be a little higher, but this is as far as I could reach on a step ladder--grin.)

I found these vintage bird nest prints and had them matted and framed. I love the robin-egg (or Tiffany) blue. I then added some nests on top of each sconce to pull it all together. I love the red, blue and green all mixed together. (Guess that's why I liked the Red & Aqua swap, duh; it just dawned on me!) I've always (since I moved into

my first apartment) had a red accent wall with a teal or sagey green wall elsewhere. (The wall behind my bookshelves are now painted a deep, deep red.) Since this house had a more traditional-style plan, I went with the sagey green walls in the dining room and family room. I have yet to paint the foyer and kitchen. Well, actually, parts of the kitchen are painted a butter cream yellow--definitely a work in progress.

Each year at the TACA Fair, my first stop is at Asia Mathis' booth. She does the most extraordinary clay sculptures. This is the little one I purchased at the spring fair. While MJ was here, I saw this beautifully colored hare that I knew would go somewhere in my house (hehe). Is it not a perfect match? I absolutely adore how Asia writes little words on the houses.

This one was purchased several years ago. It's still my favorite. "Take me and that oak and a house you will see."

This original deco phone was purchased when the hub and I were still dating. We'd always hit all the Art Deco shows in DC. The receiver weighs about four pounds, so it's not one that we use too often. It was refurbished with an easy plug in; but I don't have it plugged in. The ring is unbelievably LOUD! Just like they used to be. It has a beautiful tone, but if you're sitting right next to it, it scares the bajeebies out of you!


This is one of the most precious items that I own. It belonged to my great grandfather, my mother's grandfather Bailey. It is told that after he served in the Civil War, he was "shell shocked." Guess that was the term back then. He made everyone keep this clock covered. "I don't like those two old women looking at me." You can see the carvings on each side at the top. Poor old guy. I lovingly call this piece "grampa," as do the kids. Now, grampa is quite particular about where he sits, when you wind him, how you wind him etc. He worked perfectly in the first house the hub and I rented. When we moved to Falls Church and purchased our first home, grampa became a tad grumpy. Sometimes he worked, sometimes he didn't. When we moved to Leesburg, VA, he became even grumpier. He worked off and on the five years we were there. Now that we're in Tennessee, I think he has worked all of about a week. He's getting grumpier and grumpier as the years go by. I have tried everything--leveling him every which way, etc, but nothing works. Guess he's just tired. That's ok. He can rest for a couple of years. When I was in high school, I had it cleaned up and all the works replaced. Apparently, my mom let my brother Johnny PLAY with it, and he took all the works out! Gee whiz mom. Anyway, the clock maker who refurbished it said it was very old, the giveaway was it was so tall. You can see the gold etched glass only comes part way to the bottom. Isn't that fascinating!

And now, here she is, the Grande Dame Mother Earth. Thank you again Lisa for putting her into Peggy and Ms. Robyn's auction. She is just the most lovely in the land. I am getting so much joy from her, as is my family.