Happy Engineers Day!

 I'm a few days late... it was on September 15. But I want to commemorate MY favorite engineer:

The Brick.

Happy Engineer's Day!

Monday Stuff On the Way to Other Stuff: Fall Is Creeping In

 Lovely cooler temperatures -- and a lot of wind -- are wafting over our house. The Brick knows that very well; he's been uptop replacing and tightening down screws that hold our metal roof in place. He won't let me up there. (My balance has not always been very good lately.) But I made him promise to take his phone, and I listen VERY carefully for footsteps and thumps. 

What else can you do. 

Otherwise, life goes on. I'll make up the last of the peaches into pie, and keep working on more reports. Gradually starting to catch up, which is wonderful. 

Meanwhile:

Another assassination attempt on Trump -- thank God, this one was also a failure. (This is all I knew as of Sunday night.) NOW WHAT?!?

Seventeen of the most amazing metal detector finds, including the largest nugget found (so far, at least) in the U.S.:  the Mojave Nugget. 156 ounces!

Don't get discouraged... here's a list of valuable vintage and antique Christmas ornaments. Including this 19th century skater:

One year after surgery: the recipient of the world's first eye and partial face implant.

Dozens of interesting crochet projects. Including this one -- a dissected rat. (No, I am not making this up.)

Wonderful secondhand finds.

A wonderful visit to the Cotswolds; I needed this mental break!  (Thanks, Mavis at One Hundred Dollars A Month)

Very funny e-mails. 

'IQ' moments -- hundreds of them. These are very clever.

In the interest of fairness -- the fact-checks VP Harris should have had during the debate -- and didn't. Not including another 'oops' -- turns out the Goldman Sachs report she cited during the debate has slightly different conclusions than what she stated. Oops.

A hobby horseriding championship?  Only in Deutschland...

Oh, and Michigan (28-18 -- against Arkansas State) and the University of Colorado (28-9 -- against CSU!) both won their games. But both teams-- the Wolverines and the Buffs -- need some work. 

Have a great week.

Listen to the FULL INTERVIEW...

 J.D. Vance is interviewed by CNN's Dana Bash on State of the Union:

"My constituents tell me..." said at least three times. (I lost count after that.) 

   Remember: he's a senator from Ohio.

I don't care if you're a Democrat or a Republican -- Don't let ANY headlines tell you what to think.

Make up your own mind.

Scotland The Brave!

 Just last month...

Scotland the Brave | 2024 The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo March Out

Just makes your Scottish blood quiver... 

    (And yes, I am a Scot. Partly, anyways.)

Handmade = Great!

 

Hand-embroidered and beaded parrot bag

More wonderful handmade things here, thanks to Bored Panda.

Add the Election Debate Into the Mix...

 

We'll deal with it together. (Love you, Brick.)

A Bright Idea

 

(No) Closing Call...

 

Monday Stuff on the Way to Other Stuff: Up and On

      I would love to tell you we're doing wonderful things...well, maybe fixing the sink leak, picking up a heavy box of roof screws (to fasten down the roof) and printing out reports is exciting. The Brick took Friday and Saturday off to go play mandolin with a good friend in the Springs; I stayed home to type. (And meet a couple of good friends who came to visit, while scouting for the upcoming hunting season.)

     Making progress, albeit not as quickly as we hoped, is still progress.

      It's still hot during the day, but cools down to chillness at night. We got some rain, but Daughter #2 and Son #1 had snow falling in Nederland. (So did a bunch of ski areas!) Fall is definitely starting to creep in. 

Meanwhile:

Texas beat Michigan 31-12 on Saturday.  I don't want to talk about it. Colorado's Buffs didn't do much better. 

Thousands of Christians are being attacked in Nigeria -- simply because of their faith. Did you know this??

Colorized photos of the Titanic and its passengers.

Turns out that six 'right-wing influencers' were actually working for a Russian company promoting disinformation. Oh boy.

The world's oldest existing gardens. 

The best of Mrs. ah-Wiggins and Mr. Tudball:

Inmates training dogs?  This program seems like a real winner.

Silver Roman coins -- 27 of them -- discovered on an Italian island after a heavy rain.

And in Scotland, a 1000-year-old Pictish era ring is discovered at the site of an old fort. Cool!

Now we know what Anna Delvey's up to -- she's Dancing With the Stars. I hope she gets booted out pronto. Apparently I'm not the only one who wonders why .

Starliner made it back to Earth -- seemingly flawlessly. But it might have cooked the astronauts inside, if they'd taken it. 

The final days of the submarine USS Thresher.

WWII legends that drove the Nazis crazy. 

20 Depression Era dishes:

More wartime recipes to try.  (Thanks, My Vintage Lifestyle)

G-Dragon is selling a bunch of his personal stuff. Including this coat, which he wore on tour. (Pharrell's auction company is helping.)

Sort of a Crazy-quilted look here...except it's fur.

Did CNN always support Kamala Harris as a presidential candidate? The answer is NO. And some of the same problems they mentioned back in 2019, when she was running for president back then (remember??),  are still issues you must consider today.

      Again, please note:  This clip is a CNN report from 2019. Sound familiar?

A trip on the Orient Express -- at $32,000 a night. Was it worth it?

How to make your own liquid 'dry magic eraser.'

A Van Dyck Rubens portrait resurfaces -- 45 years after it was stolen!

Where is Octomom now?  I've been wondering...

He disappeared during a snowstorm in Texas -- and was found in Massachusetts two years later. How did this cat make the trip?

Animals' surprising responses:

A Continental dollar coin -- found in the bottom of a toffee tin in England!

And finally -- Jennifer Garner's reading nook in her 'farmhouse'-type home. I love, love, love this spot.

Have a good week.

"Americans are fighters. We’re tough, resourceful and creative, and if we have the chance to fight on a level playing field, where everyone pays a fair share and everyone has a real shot, then no one – no one can stop us."

                         --Elizabeth Warren

Bigfoot on Colorado's Longs Peak?

 This just in -- from a pair of tourists who photographed their climb on August 24:

They didn't notice anything until looking over their photos weeks later -- what do you think?

If it is, it's a mighty skinny one...with no visible hair. Hmmm... I dunno. It gets cold, this time of year. Mr. S. should have been growing more hair, not shedding it!

We've climbed Longs Peak -- it's an odd place, to begin with. But interesting.

Fame and Fortune

     “Don’t cling to fame. You’re just borrowing it. The thing’s like money. You’re going to die, and somebody else is going to get it.”

                                                          -- Sonny Bono, on politicians

Donald Trump, Kamala Harris and a host of others:  

                                          Are you listening?

Fearless

 

"I Made A Fool of Myself Over John Foster Dulles"

 Did you know how Carol Burnett first became famous? 

She was starting out in New York City, at the same time John Foster Dulles was Secretary of State for the Eisenhower administration. Dulles was considered serious...and frankly, a little boring. So Burnett had a great idea: she'd make a song about how she was madly in love with this matter-of-fact politician!

It worked.

 People thought she was hilarious. She was invited to shows, got her name out there...

     And the rest -- well, you already know about that, including the long-running Carol Burnett Show.

Tim Conway's elephant story is pretty funny, too. 

So what Dulles think about this?

According to one blog:

“Dulles was famous for being dour, grim, and humorless. So when Carol Burnett sang a song about a crazed fan’s obsession with Dulles, it brought the house down. Her singing that song on the Ed Sullivan Show was her big break.

“To add to the delicious humor of this story, Carol Burnett told Diane Rehm that shortly after her performance, she saw Dulles giving an interview on Meet the Press. This is what Burnett said happened at the end of the interview:

“‘And so it was, you know, all the serious talk about what the Secretaries of State talk about. And then at the very last part of the show, the moderator said, well, all right, we’re going to leave now,
but, Mr. Dulles, just tell us what is this about you and that young girl that sings that love song about you. And I looked — oh, I got real close to the television set.
And he got a twinkle in his eye and he said,
“I make it a matter never to talk about love in public.”‘*

“Even the most staid Cold Warrior had a sense of humor!”

*Another source:  When asked about the song on Meet the Press, Dulles responded with good humor: "I never discuss matters of the heart in public."

The Railroad's A-Comin'!

Just on a whim, I checked Ebay today. And there it was... 

                             a railroad jacquard-woven coverlet.

You very rarely see these pieces -- let alone have the chance to bid on them. I didn't exactly grab it -- I had to negotiate some. (And yes, Gentle Readers, I used 'Best Offer.') 

But it's paid for, and headed to Fort Garland! 

Here's the scoop from the American History Museum's site. (They have one, too.)

An unidentified weaver wove this blue and white, Figured and Fancy, double cloth coverlet. The centerfield design features oak leaf and flower, sprig and floral, foliate swag, and leaf carpet medallions. All four of the borders depict the No. 240 engine and coal car being operated by the engineer. The cornerblocks depict four profile portraits of M. T. McKennon, the first president of the railroad. He is surrounded by the woven inscription, “Hemfield Railroad.” The Hempfield Railroad was began in 1851 and designed to connect Wheeling, Virginia (current West Virginia) to Washington, Pennsylvania. Construction was not complete until 1857 and the railroad operated until 1871 when it was sold to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. It is not clear if these coverlets were used on the passenger cars or sold to subscribers. The railroad was initially funded through subscription, and it is possible that these coverlets were made to help facilitate that process or just to commemorate the arrival of the railroad. The coverlet was likely made c. 1851 either in Wheeling or Western Pennsylvania. The railroad operated three locomotive engines, six freight and passenger cars, and eleven coal cars.

Here's theirs, also in indigo and white -- looks like mine is in better shape.

This was woven in wool & cotton...and in red/white/blue, as well.

Update: There's a reason theirs looks more worn -- it's older.  I went back to reread the listing, and the words "licensed reproduction" leaped out at me. This coverlet, according to the seller, is also bigger than the c.1850 version, though she calls it a wool blend. (I just discovered that this style was reproduced -- I didn't know that at all. But the link I found said it was cotton. ) At any rate, it's still a good buy -- just not a 'fall down and wave my legs in the air ecstatically' bargain. Oopsies. 

I have been looking for both a railroad coverlet, as well as a steamboat coverlet, for DECADES.  I found the steamboat one a few years ago, also just by accident, on Ebay. (Yes, it's authentic, from the period.)

It and the railroad coverlet will keep each other company during my lectures. I think I'm going to add a new one: "What's Real...And What's Repro?" with old/newer examples, and a lot of textile history thrown in between. Whoo hoo!

Here's the steamboat piece -- 1845, vs the railroad piece's 1850/51 date

A New Approach...

 

(Thanks, Bored Panda, for the suggestion.)

I'd Go To This Hotel!

 What a thoughtful thing to do.

Or this one...if they'd do this with my stuffed companion.

(Not Ruby, though.)

Monday Stuff On the Way to Other Stuff: Labor Day...And Labor

     Blessedly cooling off around here. Whew. We're not going anywhere for Labor Day -- just venturing out in the stream of RVs, campers and gawking tourists along Highway 160 is bad enough. 

     We both have things to do, anyways...the Brick has been repairing a leak in the master bathroom sinks, and just ordered $260 of screws for the roof. (Turns out the roof metal panels have been lifting up -- and lifting the screws with them. They need to be replaced before snow falls.) 

     I am starting to make progress with reports, but have a lot to go. 

Happy Labor Day!

Meanwhile:

A proper Sunday High Tea -- at least what James Herriot's housekeeper thought was...

How to stay in a 'broke' mindset -- and save.  (From the Financial Samurai)

'Ancient Marvels' that people still haven't figured out. (Many of these are rarely mentioned -- but amazing.)

Who likes/hates/is indifferent to who in the Democratic Party? What a mess...

Amazing scams people actually got away with.  (Please -- stop and think before you respond to a 'too good to be true' or 'your grandson is in jail' phone call!)

A look at 'marked' women -- and their kid(s).  A classic from yours truly.

Sorry, people -- you're going to have to pay your own student loans.   (We did.)

'Rich and famous people' who know what it's like to be homeless.  (These may surprise you.)

Siberian meat dumplings -- and here's a way to see how they're done:

(Splendid Table's salmon cakes look pretty good, too.)

A Silver goddess figure - Corum Province Turkey - thousands of years old with gold highlights.

I asked the Brick what he thought of, looking at this figure: he said the aliens from Independence Day.  But here's what I thought of first:

A boy accidentally smashes a 3500-year-old jar at Israel's Hecht Museum -- and is invited back to see it repaired. (Very kind of them, quite frankly.)

"A 'genie' seal is discovered in Israel -- that mentions two names in the Bible.

A 12-year-old finds an ancient Roman bracelet -- while walking his dog in Sussex, England.

Really Nice animal family pics. Including this one:

Awwwww.....

Tarra Patel, a Texas lawmaker, fights against several hateful troll accounts and insults...but it turns out HE was the one making them!

Kamala Harris DID live in Berkeley...

'Rich and famous people' who know what it's like to be homeless.  (These may surprise you.)

The American flag was banned in Oklahoma classrooms -- so some students fought back. 

Have a good week.