Things That Go Boomp

This mantis is praying before his meal. Mantis's, Mantii? I don't know the plural. These insects kind of creep me out; I am sure they can rotate their head more than 180 degrees while their body remains perfectly still. In fact, the only time you see them move is when they are spinning their head or slowly climbing. They don't scare easily, but they can sure fly (as long as it's not at me). Kind of pretty. Reminds me of the old Irish ditty or blessing.

From the gillies and the ghosties,

to the long-legged beasties,

and things that go bump in the night...

A Prayer For Maria

One of my blogging friends, Maria Xi, is a teacher who lives in Santiago, Chile. She was supposed to go into the hospital today, the day of the earthquake, to deliver her first baby, Ines. She was going to be induced. Let's all ask that she and her baby girl and family will be safe and comforted.

Spring, Sprang, Sprung

There is one thing I do with my eggs - egg vases. These are last years wild jonquils which are now up but have yet to open. You can also use them for seedling starters. Just rinse and fill with peat moss and seeds and keep wet till they sprout. Also, prick a hole in the bottom of the egg so you won't get dampening off (the sprouts will shrivel up and die from too much water). Leave them sitting in the carton for easier handling. Carefully crush shell for planting; good source of calcium for the plant.

Mmmmm Snails

Just pretend there is a snail pie in there somewhere. In jolly old England, the hodmandod was a shell snail: I guess as opposed to a slug. Popular with aristocrats and paupers alike, the snail in a shell was a popular foodstuff. In Cornwall, there was a popular dance called the Snail's Creep and Cornish miners considered snails lucky - wished upon them. Recipes included "ragout of fatted snail" and I guess it tastes like chicken since one was called "chickens not two hours from the shell." Here is one recipe from the 1600's:

With our sharp weapons we shal thee fray
And take the castill that thou liest in;
And in a dish, with onyons and peper,
We shall thee dresse with strong vynegars.

P S ~ I'm sure I would love them if I had eaten them growing up. I do love seafood even though reared a landlubber, but I won't be eating any sea urchin eggs, or whale or dolphin, or swordfish, nor sharkfin soup.....Just don't want to insult any of my dear tens of followers. The part I love the best is the olde recipe which actually sounds like a snail salad. Crrrunch!

EGGS

The incredible, edible egg. A report this week called them wonder food for our aging bodies. Though snow is still aground in the shadows and the goldfish pond is covered in ice, I gather more eggs than I know what to do with. If I bake, I want to eat it all. I did sell a few dozen, but they are not organic. The feed the chickens eat has to be organic and that would cost a fortune. The yolks are a deep orange though and I like to think they are healthier than the pale lemony yellow ones from the store. Always buy cage free or free range. The others are cruelly raised.

A River Runs Through It Redux

I forgot to include this Woolybooger in my previous post. This is an old fly fishing lure I have and it's a woolybooger. Made from red hairs underneath a deer tail, my guess is that is resembles a bug of some sort. This girl grew up catching fish at the lake or the ocean. I have never fly fished. It looks like too much work and too cold. I'd rather play around in the water and watch my cork. I do love to fish though. Following is the Wordsworth piece I loved so much from Ode: Intimations on Immortality.

What though the radiance which was once so bright, be taken now forever from our sight.
Though nothing can bring back the hour of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower,
we will grieve not, rather find strength in what remains behind;
In the primal sympathy
What having been must ever be;
In the soothing thoughts that spring out of human suffering;
In the faith that looks through death and in the years that bring the philosophic mind.
Thanks to the human heart by which we live, thanks to its tenderness, its joy, and fears.
To me the meanest (smallest) flower that blows can give thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.

A River Runs Through It

I was blown away by this movie for some reason. This scene in particular moved me beyond words. Brad Pitt is my favorite actor and did not disappoint in this movie. And yet, this is the scene I remember to this day. The quoting of Wordsworth's Ode: Intimations on Immortality (Don't quote me on the title, I can't find my notes) between father and son just blew me away. Subsequently, I memorized Wordworth's ODE and it was the first time I realized how old I had gotten. In earlier times I could memorize anything; I've even been asked if I have a photographic memory (no). It took me a long time to memorize this work, I shall not say more. Since then, I have memorized more works. The Road Not Taken by Frost, more Wordsworth, C.S. Lewis... Anyway, this movie is worth a watch again if you haven't seen it in a while.

NATIVE AMERICAN COLLECTIBLES

As I told you, I have always kept my Native Americana in as much as I would sell anything else for the right price. This possible bag is Plains Indian, probably southern, and I think Apache. The bead work is lightening and a raincloud. This is just what I remember from researching, but it has been so long ago, I'd love to hear from someone elses' knowledge about it.

A few beaded items. Notice the watch fob with the red, white and blue flag. Also, necklaces, most of it plains and done for the tourist trade after relocation.

Whoops, I'm not sure how this happened.

These are interesting in that I haven't seen them before. They are probably Muscogee Creek nation and I don't know the name of them, but they were made from clay and decorated by each owner. That is how they told their thingamajigs apart. They were placed over a long piece of wood and rubbed up and down to shape their arrows.

This is a teeny hand sewn doll about an inch in length.

The three dolls on the left are plains and the one on the right is southwest, probably Navajo for the tourist trade. The bone on the left has been broken off something. There is wood in the middle of it. I think it is a game piece of some kind. Notice the white plains doll with beaded necklace and belt and the Navajo doll's squash blossom necklace. The plains doll on the left has horse hair, the white one has some kind of heavy thread and the Navajo has real hair. I'll show you some Native American jewelry in another post.