Le Petit Poulailler

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Year End Meme

... and we carry on.

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions & will you make more for 2009?
  I resolved long ago not to make resolutions.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

4. Did anyone close to you die?

5. What countries did you visit?

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory & why?

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

9. What was your biggest failure? 

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

11. What was the best thing you bought?

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? 

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? 

14. Where did most of your money go?

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? 

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: (a) happier or sadder? (b) thinner or fatter? (c) richer or poorer?

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
  Worrying

20. How did you spend Christmas?

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?
  More & more & more, every day.

22. What was your favorite TV program?
Project Runway.  O! the drama & intrigue. 

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
  No.  But then, I didn't hate anyone this time last year, either.

24. What was the best book you read?

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

26. What did you want & get?

27. What did you want & not get?

28. What was your favorite film of this year?

29. What did you do on your birthday & how old were you?
  I turned 55.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
  Embracing my Inner Old Lady

32. What kept you sane?
  Joe.  Always Joe.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
  I'm going to stay away from the political questions in my blog, I think.

35. Who did you miss?
  My mother ... today & every day

36. Who was the best new person you met?

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
  "When you get to the end of all the light you know & it's time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen:  either you will be given something solid to stand on or you will be taught how to fly." ~ Edward Teller

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

The *Real* Cost of Holiday Cheer

Here is a little seasonal tidbit underlining a very practical reason for making this holiday season (& every gifting occasion, for that matter) a "Handmade Affair".

Thank you to The Press-Enterprise , a California based online newspaper, for the following vital information.

 The Real Cost of Cheer For The 12 Days of Christmas     

The holiday song "The Twelve Days of Christmas" presents a daunting shopping list for a "true love" trying to impress the object of his or her affection ... to deliver the cavalcade of gifts, the rock-bottom price would be about $9,800 (taxes not included).  And for someone who really wants to make an impression (perhaps by providing a pond to accommodate those 7 swans a-swimming), the cost can soar to more than $27,000.

 

Here is an itemized list of the gifts described in the song, complete with prices

1. A Partridge In A Pear Tree costs $62.99 - $104.99, depending on the tree size. A pear tree from Parkview Nursery in Riverside, CA costs $27.99 for a 5-gallon container or $69.99 for a 15-gallon container. Christie Price, manager of Magnolia Bird Farm in Riverside, CA says a partridge will cost you $35.

2. Two turtle doves, also available at Magnolia Bird Farm, will cost you $20 for a pair.

3. There are several kinds of French hens, but Marans hens run about $40 each at Ham & Eggs Ranch in Norco, CA, according to owner Celeste Tittle. For 3 French Hens, figure $120.

4. "Calling birds" actually began as "colly" or "collie" birds, meaning blackbirds. More specifically, "colly" refers to black as coal. The song refers to the European blackbird. Frank Miser, owner of Magnolia Bird Farm, said the closest bird he'd have to the blackbird would be the European gold finch, which runs $40-$50 each. For 4 Calling Birds, a minimum of $160.

5. One golden ring will run you about $70, according to Larry Zeidel, owner of Canyon Crest Jewelers in Riverside, CA. But he'd cut you a break if you wanted to follow the song. "If you got 5 of them, then I would give you a discount," Zeidel said, citing the possible new price as $55 per ring. So 5 Golden Rings would cost at least $275.

6. Six Geese A-Laying - on a plate, that is - will run about $4.99 a pound at Jensen's Fine Foods locations, said Mike Clayton, the meat & seafood manager at the Jensen's in Palm Springs, CA. A majority of ready-to-cook geese weigh between 10 - 14 pounds, according to RoastGoose.com, so 6 geese would cost between $299.40 - $419.16.

7. Seven Swans A-Swimming cost $2,800 shipped by Knox Swan & Dog of Illinois. Owner Bob Knox says 1-year-old mute swans need a 20-ft-diameter pond. Don't have one? Waterscape Garden Designs of Temecula, CA can build it for $15,000-$17,000, according to owner Gloria Gaut.

8. Should eight maids decide to become dairy workers & do some milking, their salaries would average $2,100 each per month, according to the CA Department of Food & Agriculture Dairy Marketing Branch in Sacramento. That works out to about $840 for 8 Maids A-Milking for a day.

9. For 9 Ladies Dancing, you can book 9 of the California Riverside Ballet's top dancers for $45 per hour, according to past president & board member Kathie Westly. So for $405 per hour, your 12 days of Christmas will have nine of the best dancers California has to offer.

10. Apparently, 10 Lords A-Leapin' refers to the 10 Commandments. You can't put a price on that, but we've done the next best thing. A trip to Lakers-Suns game in Los Angeles to see 10 big men shooting & leaping on the basketball court will cost a minimum of $327.80 for a family of four.

11. Wayne Hinton, executive director of the Riverside County Philharmonic, says professional orchestra musicians usually get paid $150 each for a 2½-hour private engagement. So 11 Pipers Piping will set you back $1,650.

12. Dream of the islands on Christmas morning with 12 Drummers Drumming on steel drums. A three-hour performance by AND Productions, based in Los Angeles, will run $2,850.

The Hallowe'en Model

  Merck Family's Old World Christmas is just a fabulous company.  Their ornaments are detailed & bright,  all glittery & joyous.  When I had my general store, I couldn't order too many &, without fail, every single ornament went out the door with very happy customers.  Sometimes 20-30 at one clip.  One of the best memories I have of the store was day, every  March, when my MASSIVE first order of the year would arrive & there would be boxes, floor to ceiling, in my office.  Glitter, everywhere.  The kids who worked for (with) me would all make their way into the office over the next few days while we checked stock, pulled one or two of each different ornament display ... and, of course, do a little shopping, pre-season.

But as wonderful as the ornaments were (and *still are*, I'm quite sure), their cards were simply spectacular.  Laced with glitter.   I'm sure you've seen the Christmas ones.  Those classic vintage illustrations for the season.  I see those images in Etsy shops every day, incorporated by collage & altered art artists into their pieces in the most clever & beautiful ways.  Around the Christmas holiday, they appear with almost every Etsy Seach I run.

They are classic.  They are beautiful.  And, whether or not they depict a Christmas that ever was, they surely present a vision of Christmas that our hearts remember.

As much as I enjoyed the Christmas ornaments & cards (and sold the bejeebies out of, I have to say), it was really the *other* holiday ornaments & cards that I loved.  Easter, St. Pat's, Mother's Day, 4th of July, Thanksgiving ... and Hallowe'en.  Especially Hallowe'en.  Wonderful, wonderful Hallowe'en.

My favorite ornaments are & will always be the painted macaroni & glued cotton ball & paper chain ornaments from my daughters.  My favorite cards? ... their ornate construction paper & glittered paper doily creations.   Of course.  Every mother will say this.  And not just as a nod to sentimentality.  We say it because it is true.

But, after finding the Merck Family's Hallowe'en card above, how could I not melt into a puddle of motherly sentiment?  This is my youngest daughter, aged 3, riding a merry-go-round for the very first time at our county fair.   She could have been the model for that 100 year old illustration.

And, to this day, now 16 years later, I cannot see anything Old World Christmas without getting a tremendous pang of nostalgia ~ for holidays before, for my general store & those glittering  March days &  ~ most of all ~ for my daughter's sweet toddlerhood.

Art & Such ... Treasuries & Beads

Pretty, no?

You can tell people are longing for spring as the colors in Etsy Treasuries are turning more and more to those vivid pure colors ... and with a great deal of green.

jelvehdesigns included a bamboo handled tote of mine ... this one in a windowpane plaid done up in pinks, creams & grass greens & aptly named "So Ready For Spring".

Whenever I'm included in a Treasury, I love checking out the curator's shop ~ it's almost always a guarantee that I'll find new & great stuff. 

And this time was no exception ~ what a great shop Jelvehdesigns has.  She is a glass artist ~ creating one of a kind beads that are simply exquisite.

I'm not a jeweler, nor do I know or understand the work of a glass artist ... but these are simply pure beauty.  I'd love to have a dozen of her gourd beads and wear them, one at a time, on a simple cord ~ they are just that stunning.  Just look!

Gourd Atisheh  SP2068 by jelvehdesign

Autumn Gourd Red SP2067 by jelvehdesign

from her 'gourd series' by  jelvehdesigns

Joe and Handkerchiefs

Joe likes handkerchiefs.  He uses them for everything but what is normally assumed.  Dusting off seats at the ballgame (for me ~ he's very gallant).  Wiping his brow.  Dusting off his shoes.  You get the idea.  And I like them for a man, too.  There is something tremendously masculine about a man (Joe) having one in his coat or pant pocket.  Well, actually, it's more that I love watching a man (Joe) reach into his pocket to retrieve one.  And it cannot be a tissue.  That just doesn't cut it.  And it has to be of a good size.  The handkerchief, that it.  Well ... yeah, we're still talking handkerchiefs. 

Definitely not of the pop-up-tissss-ewww variety.

So.  I've made some for him ~ he seems to go through about 6-8 each year.  The ones below are of a batch I'll be adding to my Etsy shop in the next day or so.  They're all about 11" square & very very soft cotton & most are 'go-with-everything' neutrals.  And, as long as the handkerchiefs aren't his *main* present for the occasion, he is always pleased to receive them.  I hope they do well in the shop, too.  You'll find that there is just *nothing* like watching a man reach into his pocket, even if that man isn't my Joe.