Furry

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Some Furry eye-candy.

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Buttons

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I bought this group of buttons solely because I loved the copper theme.

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Necklaces

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An old picture of a jumble of necklaces in my jewelry box.

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Beaded Lion

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Back in 2008 I took this picture of a shop window in Vineyard Haven, because this lion made out of beads was just too, too cool…

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Oh, Deer

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Glasses

Glasses

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Sold

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Its official as of yesterday. Our old house is officially no longer our house. We are glad not to be responsible for the house any more but it’s still kind of sad. We hope the new family is as happy there as we were.

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Summer’s Coming

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Chappy just wants to remind you that, no matter how cold it might be where you are, Summer is coming … if you like that kind of thing!

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Merry

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Penny for Your Thoughts

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Isn’t this an adorable ring? And what could be more perfect for a writer, than a ring made out of money that says “Penny for your thoughts.” And from my birth-year, too! (From Nina Gibson Designs on Etsy.)

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Snow Day

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I took these last weekend on our morning walk … oddly, there were no kids playing on the swing set!

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Type

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Still Life

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My niece was working on setting up a still life yesterday, and while she was working on it, I took some pictures of my own. I like the reflection of the brandy bottle in the silver tray.

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Libby

Remember when I showed you our old front hall a couple weeks ago? See the panther stalking under the table?

Well, the panther is gone, baby, and replaced by this oh-so-perfect replacement.

Libby.

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Libby is our Boykin Spaniel sculpture from Stephen Huneck. She used to hang out in the corner of the dining room, but, naturally, we don’t have a dining room anymore. Mom was wandering around, trying to decide where to put her … and … it’s perfect. Almost as if she was meant to be there in one of Huneck’s own tables.

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Of course, she has her buddy, the ’round-the-corner dachshund to keep her company. (Not to mention a couple of Chappy’s toys nearby, in case they get bored.) (The dachshund’s name is Em, for Martha’s Vineyard where we got her … back when Stephen Huneck had a gallery there.)

And, why is her name Libby? Back before Chappy was born, but when I knew I was going to get a puppy from his litter, I planned on getting a girl. Since the due date was right about the fourth of July, I thought I’d name her Liberty and call her Libby for short. I even bought a red, white, and blue puppy collar for her … and then the litter was born, and there was only one girl who was already spoken for, and I got My Boy instead. No regrets at all! But when I got this Boykin Spaniel sculpture for my birthday that year, well … the name and collar fit perfectly.

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Flash Photography

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Dad found these in his dresser when he was cleaning it out. Not only is it an interesting little bit of photographic archaeology. (Who else remembers flashbulbs? And look at the price! Only $1.29 for the box.)

But the really surprising part? My Dad does NOT take pictures. Except for one, brief Polaroid camera aberration, he basically hasn’t voluntarily taken a picture since childhood, when he used to develop his own film. He’ll take pictures when you ask him to, you understand, and he’ll do a perfectly fine job. But … to have flash bulbs in his dresser?

Well, really, it tells you how long it’s been since he’s HAD a camera, huh?

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November

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I’ve had this little porcelain angel for as long as I can remember, though she didn’t survive the move.

Still … since today is my birthday, it seemed like the perfect Eye Candy Friday photo–both celebratory and memorial.

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Hallway

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It was a pretty front hallway while it lasted!

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The mirrors on the stair risers are a particularly nice touch, don’t you think? (Good idea, Mom!)

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Library

Because every library–even a personal one–deserves its own check-out system:

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The only problem, really, is that there are only about 25-50 pockets for the check-out cards, and even with the recent Book Purge, I’ve still got over 2000 books!

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OGB

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Two tie pins, a pair of cufflinks, and a pin–all belonging to my grandfather, Otto Georg Boyken. They’re not expensive pieces of jewelry, or particularly valuable, but they are some of the only things we have in the family that belonged to my father’s father, who died in 1967.

Which, really, makes them awfully valuable to me.

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Bridal

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I told you that Monday was my parents’ anniversary, and Mom just recently came across her wedding dress. It’s a little faded, not quite so white (and we didn’t have a chance to button it up properly), but still … The fact that Mom was wearing this dress when she and Dad officially started their life together can only make me happy!

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Afghan

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This is a wool afghan my grandmother (Mom’s Mom) made back when my mother was little. I know for sure it’s wool because at some point, when I was around 10-15, Mom washed and felted the poor thing, making it smaller and stiffer than it was.

Not that that matters. This is the blanket my sister and I slept under when we were sick. It’s the blanket that made up Jilly’s bed for many years. And, you know, my grandmother made it.

And, just for a lesson on the importance of dyelots? Note the square where the shade of green suddenly changes.

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How she’d feel about Chappy’s using it as a toy? I’m not really sure, but I like to think it would make her smile.

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God’s Eye

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Something else Dad found in his dresser … one of my very first yarny creations. At least, I’m pretty sure it’s mine. He doesn’t remember if it was from me or my sister, but I remember that skein of variegated, green, acrylic yarn. It lasted me forever!

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Pet

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Remember

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September 11, 2001
Never Forget.

It’s hard to believe it’s been eight years.

Where were you on September 11, 2001? Sadly, it’s one of “those” days–the kind that you forever more remember where you were, what you were doing, when you  heard the news.

  • I remember what an incredibly gorgeous day it was. Perfect temperature, perfectly blue sky. Just a stunning, almost-autumn day.
  • I remember one of my co-workers running up the hallway. “A plane hit the World Trade Center!”
  • I remember thinking that she must mean one of those little, commuter planes, and wondering how that could happen on such a clear day when you could see for miles.
  • I remember the total disbelief when I heard there were TWO. And another one at the Pentagon. And in the fields of Pennsylvania.
  • I remember calling my parents. “Do you have the television on?”
  • I remember not being able to do anything at work, because not a single one of us could concentrate on anything, and with an office television, we spent the day sharing news gleaned from various radios.
  • I remember having the hardest time getting through to my mother on the phone.
  • I remember being on the phone with her, listening to her tell me the first tower had fallen. “What do you mean, fell? The whole thing?” “YES, it’s GONE.” And then hearing her when the second tower came down.
  • I remember driving home at lunch and looking at everything with extra clarity–if anything, it was clearer and more stunning a day than it had been.
  • I remember that there were suddenly American flags everywhere.
  • I remember walking up the road with my mom and my baby-puppy Chappy to see where the towers used to be–about 35 miles from here–because I couldn’t believe they were gone until I saw it myself.
  • I remember the size of the plume of smoke, which spread halfway across the horizon.
  • I remember thinking that life was about to change.

For so many reasons, it’s important that it DOES change. We cannot let that day be forgotten. Not just for the horror, and for all the pointless loss of life … and we should never, ever forget the loss of life (both that day, and from soldiers in war, and civilians to health complications since).

But we also need to remember that that was a day when we all stood together. United, one nation under God. Knowing that we had to show a united front, that incidental political and social differences were insignificant compared to what had just happened.

Remember how good that felt? Knowing that we could depend on each other? That we had friends all over the world who were on our side? That feeling that, with that kind of moral support, that kind of stand-together strength, there was nothing we could not do?

Always, always remember.

Photo from here and just too, eerily perfect, since it looks like the sun is shining straight through.

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Comb

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Wool comb, that is.

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