Yes, an early 19th century Kashmir Moon Shawl, setting a record for this type of textile. And guess where the seller found it -- not at the bottom of a trunk of textiles collected by her incredibly erudite grandmother. No, she bought it at a garage sale some thirty years ago because she liked the pattern --
and thought it would make a pretty pillow.
Thank God she didn't cut it up. The beautifully handmade shawl just sold for $50,000 and change. (More than $59,000, including the buyer's premium.)
Read all about it at the Skinner Auctions site. Photos of the shawl, shown below, are from the Skinner site. Wow.
Kashmir Moon Shawl -- full shawl (above) plus detail (below)
Whoo hoo...one of my entries, on how much you should save for retirement, got picked up by the Carnival of Retirement! Take a look here; there are a number of interesting posts, including one on money hoarding.
It's a gray day. The clouds are glowering over the mountains, wrapping them up in a thick batt. Snow? Maybe. Or just gray skies...unusual for us here in Colorado. I'm used to blue skies and sunshine pouring through the window. No matter. I've got things to do. So do you. Let's get on with the Interesting Stuff:
*Ruth Madoff's been spotted in New York. Those Who Know think she's probably staying at son Andrew's place. (I couldn't find any direct links on this, only comments from people who had spotted her there.) Ruth was living in Florida for a while...but not at her palatial residence, shared with husband Bernie. That's been sold, to try to pay off some of the billions of dollars owed to people he flimflammed.
I've been researching Bernie Madoff and his scam for a post I'm writing for my other job, at TightFisted Miser. Publicly, he's been repentant (sort of); privately, he's bragging about billions of dollars he hid away before getting busted. And his best friends are Jonathan Pollard, a convicted spy, and a Mafia don. Go figure.
The saddest item in this whole sordid story is not Bernie and his family -- but the many people, more than 13,000 of them, whose life savings he stole. Some of those victims are writers...and their books are the subject of my upcoming post. One person's take on the subject is here. After two-plus years, the victims are finally getting paid a little of what they invested...but attorneys' fees and Bernie made most of it disappear.
*An interesting new frugal blog. Preserving Pennies covers everything from mortgages to saving on baby food, and does it in an interesting "friend, I'm telling you about this" manner. Well worth reading.
*The Piano Man -- our friend Mark, a bass player, raves about Victor Wainwright's Youtube videos. The filming is crappy, but the music is incredible, especially if you like jazz and the blues. Here's Victor's take on Half-Ton Boogie Woogie:
I haven't stopped thinking about Valentine possibilities yet, and today's post on Get Rich Slowly fanned the flames a bit.
The Brick suggested going out to eat. But every single time we've hit a restaurant on Valentine's Day, we've had to beat off the crowds. And the Mama will be with us -- not exactly a romantic occasion. So it's back to planning dinner by the fireplace: lobster ($4.85/pound, stashed in the freezer), jumbo shrimp ($6.99/pound, also on sale), wild rice and veggies, and the deepest, chocolaty-est tart I can make.
Plus a goofy, lacy heart full of chocolates.
Besides, the Denver, CO area has this incredible promotion on 'Restaurant Week' (Feb. 25-March 9): $52.80 for a multi-course meal for two, at any number of gourmet places that normally go for much, more more than that. Hmmm. A romantic meal for less? That hits the spot.
It's the loveliest, sunshiny-est day, and would make you think spring's coming -- except there's a thick blanket of snow still piled up, and storm clouds are hanging over the mountains. They're supposed to make their debut tonight or tomorrow -- what a way to start the weekend!
I've mentioned before that I regularly write posts for Andy Hough, whose websites include Tight Fisted Miser.com, InvestorzBlog, and My Retirement Blog. Today, you'll find me suggesting elegant (but frugal) ways to say you care on TFM, and advocating investing in silver on the Investorz Blog. The silver post will be part of an ongoing series called "Investing On A Shoestring." I plan to mention lots of ways to increase your investments, including books, art...even textiles! Keep an eye out at Andy's site for upcoming posts, as well as his -- he's got some good advice.
Meanwhile, I've been brainstorming for something special for the Brick who, Lord love him, stashes an engineer's heart right behind his pen-in-the-shirt- pocket. (If he wears a sweatshirt or t-shirt, it's clipped to the collar.) You can take the man out of engineering (he's currently a trainer for schoolbus drivers), but you can't take the engineering out of the man. He's a wonderful guy, and a terrific husband, but most of my attempts at Romantic Gestures have been greeted with a snort and a raised eyebrow.
Nonetheless, I make the effort -- supper on the coffee table by the fire, a mushy movie (I cry, he isn't sure what to do). And sometimes I even buy him flowers. What, surprisingly, is hardest for me? To put my feelings into words on paper. I make much of my living by writing...but somehow, it's difficult for me to write my deepest feelings down. Doesn't make sense.
So here, David, this is for you: a bouquet of love and soft kisses for my dearest Valentine. Now, come collect!
It's going to be a beautiful day around here, with a few days respite before the next snow. I plan to spend it getting some restoration jobs done, and maybe cleaning up a pile or two. (The stairs are getting mighty crowded with boxes to go down in the basement.) Maybe I can actually cross some items off the to-do list!
Meantime, here are three odd things to consider:
*A Florida woman is currently suing her lender, JPMorgan Chase, after the bank mistakenly declared her deceased in 2010, which she claimed ruined her credit score.(Guess the whole dead thing didn't bother her as much as her credit.)
