100th Post Party

We're having a little party here Amongst The Oaks today. It's my 100th post and as a "Thank you" to all my loyal readers I'm throwing a party. I want you all to come visit and sit down and get acquainted and have tea and biscuits and play a little party game. You know the type; like where you can't say "baby" at someone's baby shower and if you do one of the other ladies takes your diaper pin and then the lady with the most diaper pins at the end wins. Or everyone guesses how many squares of toilet paper it will take to go around the expectant mother's belly. So here's the plan: I want you all to guess how many squares of toilet paper it will take to go around my belly.

No, that's not really the game. Here it is: I want you all to guess how many tassels I have in my house. This means actual fabric tassels hanging on the window shades, curtains, door knobs, pillows, lamps, chairs, table runners, keys, etc. Like this....

And this.....


And this......

But we won't count these little trim type tassels on pillows and curtain edges like this.....

And I will give you a clue. It's between twenty and one hundred. And to help you out, I'm going to tell you a little about my house. It's got three bedrooms, two baths, living room, dining room, library, kitchen, and laundry room. We have six doors to the outside, twelve windows, eight interior doors, over fifty cabinet doors, and one pull-down stair to the attic (loft). We have sixteen lamps, way too many dishes and a pet rat, but she never wears tassels. And not all of the lamps have tassles on them. And not all of the doors either. But lots of the chairs have tassels. In fact one of the chairs has 15 tassels (I showed it to you last October) and one of the lamps has 16! (This is like a trick math problem, isn't it?)

If, after all that useless information, you actually make an accurate guess, you may win one of these prizes.......

This made-by-me glitter letter thing....

Or this Paris glitter letter thing.....

I'll give you three days to make your guesses and tell which prize you would prefer. (That will also give me three days to count, count, and recount the tassels.) So on Saturday February 16, the party will be over, I'll announce the two closest guesses, clean up the tea things, sweep up the biscuit crumbs and get back to work creating those scintillating blogs that brought you all here in the first place. *snort* *guffaw*

And might I say, "Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for being such good friends and coming all the way to California to get together and have some fun here Amongst The Oaks."

Traveler Magazine

I get this magazine National Geographic Traveler. It's full of great articles on the classic destinations; where to stay, what to do, best deals, etc. But it also has off-the-beaten-path destinations too.

Like this article about fly-fishing at Haddon Hall on the River Wye. Wouldn't it be fabulous to do that? I don't know the first thing about fly-fishing, but the whole experience of staying at Haddon Hall, taking the "history-soaked" tour, and maybe meeting Lord Edward Manners himself, well, that would be worth mucking about in cold water for hours! Sign me up!

And look at this dreamy photo of the gear room. Fishing rods, thermoses full of tea, wool caps, wellies, oriental rugs. Who cares if you even catch a fish as long as you're surrounded by this. And even if Lord Edward fails to show, I'd still be in heaven with this room and my Lord of the Manor.

For information: http://www.thepeacockatrowsley.com/

Sending you a Valentine

I went all the way to Oakdale the other day just to get you this gift. There is a cute shop there called the Empty Nest. It has charming little things; some old, some new, and all fun. I couldn't resist this LOVE banner. Please consider it my valentine to you. Because, my dear readers, I really do love each and every one of you. Hugs, Laura

P.S. The Lord of the Manor's shoulder surgery is scheduled for next Wednesday the 20th. It is an outpatient procedure, so I will be his nurse afterwards. But he is a good patient, not demanding. Mainly he just needs a little pillow fluffing and a meal now and then.

Splish Splash

Just a quick peek at some birds.

The robins seem to do everything as a group. They even bathe together.

"Ok, everyone in the puddle."

"Now, one, two, three, splash!"

These charming little finches were also bathing this afternoon. Everything was fine until...

Mr. Pushy came along and scared them all away.

Ancestors

I was looking at some old family photos today. These old photos are a great things to have. I feel like we know our ancestors a little better after studying them. Here are some of the Lord of the Manor's ancestors enjoying their first ice cream cone around 1900.

And here are my grand parents back in 1919. Look how tiny she was.

Here is another grandfather outside his log cabin with his prized possession.

I find genealogy very interesting and have created a few pages myself. The excellent parish records in Scotland make LOM's pretty easy to do. Mine is more difficult because my immigrant ancestors moved around a lot. But it's been years since I worked on it, so maybe with the increase of information on the internet, I should get back to it.

My dad recently gave me a family tree that my cousin has been working on. It says I'm related to English royalty. Yep, Catherine Howard, who lost her head at the Tower of London, was a distant cousin. Well, that's what it claims anyway. Ok, so maybe there are these two HUGE gaps. Like there is no real proof that the Matthew Arundel Howard that immigrated to Maryland in 1626 was actually the child of John Howard and Elizabeth Locke and born in Wardour Castle.

And further back, nobody REALLY knows if Lord Thomas Howard and Lady Margaret Douglas had any children together. See, she was the Henry VIII's granddaughter, and apparently the king didn't like Thomas and got a little miffed when he started wooing her. And so, like so many Howards before him, he lost his head at the White Tower. But I suppose Maggie COULD have been pregnant, and COULD have had a child, and COULD have secreted him away, and he COULD have grown up to be Sir Robert Howard of Brockdish.

Well, it's all very fascinating, but I don't think I'd better ring up the Queen for a cousinly chat just yet.

What does it really matter if your ancestors had titles? Does it make a difference now? I mean who really cares if we had Lords and Ladies and Knights and Dukes and Duchesses in our past. All I know is, I'm happy that I married the Lord of this Manor.

Souvenirs

Remember how I collect things? Like dishes, pillows, and cute old stuff? Well, we all collect things, don't we, but I remembered another catagory and thought I'd share it with you. I've always been interested in architecture and it seemed only natural to me to pick up tiny buildings as souvenirs.

Here is a tiny replica of Neuschwanstein. Except this is in the summer with green grass and I saw it all covered in snow. It was Disney's inspiration for Disneyland's castle.

Added later: I'm sorry about those links. I've checked and rechecked them and they seem correct, but for some reason blogger won't show them.

The next one is from Lucca, Italy. If I look real close I think I can find our hotel. Ok, maybe not, but look, there's Torre Guinini. It's that tall one with the tree growing on top.

And here is Torre Guinini in terra cotta. We climbed all 12 million steps up to the top of it.

And here is another tower. We didn't take the stairs here. We took the elevator. All the way to the top. And then Teen1 took a nap on a bench underneath it.

And here is St. Michael's Mount in Cornwall, England. We had a nice day out there.

And here is a perfect example of a house in Venice. Terra cotta roof, arched windows, varigated pinky-orange color, air of decay - I love this one.

And another tower with too many steps. Not only were there lots of steps, but since the tower leans, as you ascend it the wall angle is constantly changing. First it leans away from you, then it's normal, then it leans towards you forcing you to the left side of the steps, then it straightens out again, then it leans away again. Up and up you go, getting more and more disoriented as you go, until finally you make it to the top dizzy and almost sea sick. And if the ascent didn't make you weak in the knees, the view will. Awesome.

Here is the church in Siena. We had a view of this out our hotel room window. It's made of alternating rows of black and white marble. Very striking.

This cute little English cottage was actually a gift from our friends who live in Manchester. When we visited them we went to the Lake District and visited Beatrix Potter's home too. Which reminds me - I should show you my all little mice sometime.

Winter Visitors

We've had a break in the nasty weather here Amongst The Oaks. It's been clear for a few days now, but cold. Yesterday when I left for work I noticed the bird bath was frozen, but the ice was starting to melt, so the birds would be able to use it later.

When I got home from work, there were dozens of these robins in the trees in the back garden. They are a year round visitor, but in the winter they gather in large groups every evening and sleep together in the trees. Then in the morning, just as the sun is rising, they all swoop down to the lawn and have breakfast together. Then off they go to some other attraction during the day. It reminds me of some group tours I've been on.

A few days ago I heard this hawk up in the oak tree. He sat still for quite a while and allowed me to take his photo. Usually they fly away when I get close. They are a constant resident here in our little oak forest, but much easier to see in the winter when the leaves are off the trees.

And here is another regular in the cast. It amazes me that this tiny little creature can survive out there. Where does it sleep? How does it stay warm? I'm trying to help with this feeder, but what does it eat?

Thank you pretty birds, for brightening our days. Just keep coming and stay in the trees because this guy is down on the ground, just waiting for a snack!

Signs as Art

My good friend Larry, with whom I discuss all things sign-like, told me of a show he saw recently about Ian Hamilton Finlay and his garden, Little Sparta. I googled Little Sparta and found this site about it. What an amazing man Finlay was. Not only is his garden beautiful and thought provoking, but it's filled with signs! And not these tacky modern things like we create (we don't really make tacky signs, but his stuff is CLASSIC), but gorgeous carved stone ones. I heartily recommend checking out his garden. UK readers might be able to make a day out of it. It's not far from Bigger off the A702 near Dunsyre.

Larry also brings me comics like this one. We sign writer type people really appreciate this, because we know letterstyles inside and out. Before computers, we actually laid them out from memory, then painted them by hand. We were intimately aware of the shape of Palatino's serifs, Microgramma's width, and yes, Helvetica's straightforwardness. But now, everyone knows letterstyles or fonts because they have about 200 of them on their computer. I don't know that this a good thing. Sometimes I get customers who've printed something out at home and want it on their sign. Unfortunately they have picked an inappropriate font. See, fonts have personalities just like the cartoon says; some are fancy and silly, others are bold and strong, others are just the regular workers that you hardly notice, others truly shout at you. And that's why you let professionals guide you to the correct font. So you don't shout when you should be simply stating. So you don't look silly when you should look elegant. So you don't look grouchy when you should look kind. So you don't send the wrong message.

Ok, I got a little carried away there, but what I'm trying to say is: Select your fonts carefully. Because Vivaldi just doesn't look right on a tow truck. Oh, and the letterstyle at the top of the page is just about the most beautiful letterstyle ever. You can find it at the forum in Rome or on your computer as Trajan.

Out to lunch

We went out to lunch with our gourmande club yesterday. We drove 2 hours in the rain to get to the beautiful Napa Valley where we had reservations here:

First we ordered temptations. I could make a meal of these bites. They are sooooo good.

I always go for the soup first. It was cold and wet outside and this cream of cauliflower soup was nice and warm.

Then we tasted this mushroom pate on corn chips. Just your basic Super Bowl snack. Riiiiight.

These beef short ribs were prepared to melt-in-your-mouth perfection

I love calamari. This had a spicy sauce. Although it looks like it, I'm pretty sure it wasn't Velveeta.

This is endive with a dab of catfish/potato souffle topped with caviar. Oh my, scrummy!

Then we moved on to the starters.

The Lord of the Manor ordered this starter. I think this was the only disappointing dish. It was French Onion Soup topped with a Gruyere cheese souffle. I think we prefer the simpler version without the souffle topping.

I had the butternut squash soup with pumpkin seed and roasted poblano salsa. I think this was the best starter on the table although Kim's organic apple salad was pretty good too. (We always share tastes.)

Here's my entree; Caraway Crusted Pork Shank with sauerkraut and sage spatzle. It was quite good, but LOM says his hanger steak was better.

And then we moved on to the best part: dessert. This is poached pear with madeleine and creme fraiche sorbet. Notice all the forks trying to get in there?

And this is molten lava cake with vanilla bean ice cream. I could have eaten that all by myself. Heaven on a plate!

We also had the classic creme brulee. One can never go wrong ordering this. What a sweet ending to a perfect meal.

Latest Acquisitions

I somehow managed to find my way into a few antique shops lately. I found this cute little rosey platter. Now why did I buy this? It doesn't match anything I have, but it could be the start of a collection, couldn't it? (Typical dishaholic logic!)

I got this cute plate the other day. It has acorns all around the edge. It fits in well with my oak and acorn theme. My sister has one and I thought it was so nice I just had to find one too.

I also found one of these vintage glitter houses. It needs a little repair, but it gives me the inspiration to make my own for next Christmas. Maybe an entire village of little houses and a church and some shops. Oh, I can just see it.

Teen2 also acquired something this week. An award for drafting. Four months ago when she was put in this class she was mighty upset, but she stuck with it and look at her now! Good job Teen2.