Monday Mug Shots

Valerie (AcornMoon) and Pat (Weaver of Grass) are hosting "Mug

Monday", a fun posting of our favorite mugs. So, without further ado,

here are a few of mine. The one pictured above is a vintage blue

transferware commemoritive mug in honor of Willow Manor's home

state.

.

.
Here's my favorite Nicholas Mosse Irish mug with a pup that looks a
lot like our dear departed Ralphy.

.
This one's another vintage fave, transferware, as well. Across the
top it says: See all, hear all, say nowt, a Yorkshireman's advice to
his son. And across the bottom: Eat all, drink all, pay nowt...and if
ever tha does out for nowt, allus do it for thisen. (whatever that's
supposed to mean)
.


Another transferware (I love this stuff) commemorative of Queen
Victoria's Silver Jubilee. She doesn't look too happy about it, though,
does she?

And here's her great-grandson, King George VI and family, looking a

bit more pleasant.

For tea at Willow Manor you have a choice of Crabtree & Evelyn

annual mugs (I've been collecting these since they first came out in

the '80s)...

or my personal tea drinking favorites, the cheery Polish Boleslawiec.

So, there you have it. A few mug shots of my favorites. Happy Mug

Monday, dear bloggy friends!

Ten Favorite Movie Characters

Joan Webster

Can't I?

.

Megan over at All I Need is Everything posted this fun meme last

week. It's the "Ten Favorite Movie Character's Meme". Okay, I

cheated, and did and even dozen. There are SO many characters I

absolutely adore; these are just the first ones that popped into my

head, in no particular order, rhyme or reason. Feel free to pinch this

fun meme, if you're so inclined. I had fun.

Jean Brodie

Safety does not come first.

Goodness, truth, and beauty come first.

Hamlet

There are more things in heaven and earth,

than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

Mammy

Savannah would be better for ya.

You'd just get in trouble in Atlanta.

Norma Desmond

I AM big.

It's the PICTURES that got small.

Major Calloway

You were born to be murdered.

Maria

Silver white winters that melt into springs.

Atticus Finch

Well, I reckon because mockingbirds

don't do anything but make music for us to enjoy.

They don't eat people's gardens,

don't nest in the corncrib,

they don't do one thing but just sing their hearts out for us.

Mrs. Danvers

Go ahead. Jump. He never loved you, so why go on living?

Jump and it will all be over...

Mary Kate Danaher

Come a-runnin'?

I'm no woman to be honked at and come a-runnin'!

Queen Victoria

No one should think themselves wiser than me!

.

Viktor Komarovsky

Yuri Andreiivich, you've changed.

Larisa - remarkably the same.

A Weekend Meme

I was tagged this morning from the lovely Elizabeth Wix. If you
aren't familiar with this special lady, pop on over to her blog,
About New York. She is a wonderful photographer, as well as a
published author, and best of all, nice. So stop by and say "hello".

What are your current obsessions?

Besides blogging? Wasa crispbreads with fig preserves. Ruby

nail polish.

Which item from your closet are you wearing most often?

My red woollies.

What's for dinner?

Mushroom cheddar omelette with red onion and a ripe pear.

Last thing you bought?

A vintage 1940's high school sports trophy at Scott's Antique Fair.
The winner of the weekend Scrabble game gets to keep in on their

desk all week. It's currently on mine.

What are you listening to?

I usually have WOSU classical radio and NPR news on, but this

morning I'm listening to my favorite Essential Bach album.

.

Say something to the person who tagged you.

Elizabeth, I want to visit you in NYC for some of that lovely cake

and culture!

Favorite vacation spots.

The back patio at Willow Manor.

Vacation spots I must visit before I die.

The Cinque Terre and the Highlands of Scotland.

Reading right now?

Towards Another Summer by Janet Frame and The Poems of

Marianne Moore.

Four words to describe yourself.

Placid, bookish, silly, and a tad on the lazy side.

Guilty pleasure?

Fresh flowers.

First spring thing?

Putter outside with my garden gloves and hat.

Best thing you ate or drank lately?

Homemade french fries with a huge puddle of ketchup.

What spring flower are you most anxious to see?

Lilacs and pale pink peonies at the manor.

Care to share some wisdom?

Life is too short, so Carpe Diem! Cherish your loved ones. Shower

them with unconditional love!

Rules of the meme: Respond and rework.

Answer questions on your own blog.

Replace one question. Add one question.

You are supposed to tag eight bloggers, but I'm going to

leave this one open to anyone who would like to participate.

Come on! It's fun!

Random Album

While I'm working on the Purgapalooza, here's a bit of fun. This little
meme is from Coffee Messiah. It's random, fun, easy and entertaining.
(Hey, I am SO easily entertained.)

1. BAND NAME: Go to "wikipedia." Hit "random article" or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2. ALBUM TITLE: Go to "Random quotations"or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the
title of your first album.

3. COVER ART: Go to flickr and click on "explore the last seven
days"or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

So, there you have it, my bloggy friends. Go ahead! Give it a whirl
and see what you come up with. It's fun!

Wiki + Quotations + Flickr = Album

Mega Random

I have been tagged several times recently for the "25 random things

about myself" meme and didn't post because I thought it was a bit

overboard on the randomness. But my new bloggy friend, Denese ,

finally coaxed me into it. So, for your complete reading pleasure, here

are 25 totally random things, in no particular order, rhyme or reason.

And since there are so many, I'll try to keep each one short and sweet.

.

1. I adore winter, snow and cold weather. If I had a choice, I would

move even farther north.

.

2. I have a favorite pair of bright red woolly slippers with a delightful

circular design stitched into the tops of each. I wear them every day.

.

3. On my desk is a 1937 British Royalty coronation commemorative

beaker filled with freshly sharpened pencils.

.

4. I like my things to be mellow and a little bit worn.

.

5. I like orderliness, but must have a certain amount of clutter

about me, like a nest. I collect things like a magpie.

.

6. I am drawn to heads. I have busts, masks, and wig forms

(random heads) around the manor. Some of them wear quirky hats,

since I adore hats, as well.

.

7. My uncle calls me Duchess, Duch for short.

.

8. I have an old hotel desk bell on my desk and like to ring it

when a great idea comes to mind. ((ding)) It rings a nice clear "a

major". I have perfect pitch, by the way. I can hear a note, tell you

what it is, but can't, for the life of me, make my voice sing it.

.

9. My computer desk is an old oak drafting table from a pre-war

school in Kansas City.

.

10. My feet are always perfectly groomed with red nail polish, but

I pick my fingernails.

.

11. I was once a licensed sign language interpreter for the deaf.

.

12. I love foreign film and like to practice my phrases out loud as I

watch.

.

13. Even though I am not of the Catholic faith, I collect religious

icons. I love their artistic beauty, history and symbolism. I would

say that I am not a religious person, but a very spiritual one.

.

14. My current favorite dinner plates are vintage Mason's ironstone,

Bow Bells pattern.

.

15. I majored in fine art in college; minor was psychology.

.

16. One of my favorite pieces of jewelry is a vintage gold St. Francis

of Assisi medal, which I wear on a chain.

.

17. Did you know my daughter is an opera singer?

.

18. My Collected Poems of Edna St. Vincent Millay is always with me.

.

19. I like to sleep in one hundred percent cotton men's pajamas.

.

20. My eight years of piano lessons didn't "take", but in my dreams

I can play like Van Cliburn.

.

21. I am an avid genealogy buff and have spent the last five years

researching and logging stats for over 6000 ancestors into my file.

My Scotch Irish paternal sixth great grandfather had a close and

enduring friendship with Thomas Jefferson and my maternal

second great grandmother was full-blooded Cherokee.

.

22. Recently, I've had to give up my beloved ultra strong coffee and

replaced it with decaf tea. Tea is fine, but I sure do miss my cuppa.

.

23. I have a shoe thing. A whole wall in my closet is devoted to

shoes. But the older I get, my feet have become so sensitive, I end

up wearing only a few of my favorite standbys; especially my soft,

camel colored suede, pointy toed mules.

.

24. I always keep a vase of fresh flowers nearby. I consider it an

investment in loveliness.

.

25. I've been to Japan, England, Poland, Germany and Canada, but

I'm not really much of a traveler. I like it once I arrive, but then

I'm ready to return after several days. For me, there's no place

like home.

.

So, there you have it, bloggy friends, I'm sure you are completely

randomed out now! I'm not going to tag anyone in particular, but

please feel free to post your own 25 randoms!

.

Oh, and by the way, David over at Authorblog has written one of

his delightfully fun little ditties in his regular "Verse and Worse" posts

about Willow Manor today! Go over and check it out!

The Letter E

Cait O'Connor wrote a lovely post this week on the letter "p". And

Elizabeth posted a great photo shot post on the letter "a". She then,

in turn, gave me the letter "e", which I found to be much more

challenging than the friendly "a" or perky little "p".

.

E is the fifth letter in the Latin alphabet. Its name in English is

spelled e (pronounced /iː/), plural ees (pronounced /iːz/)(rare).

The letter "e" is the most commonly used letter in the Czech, Danish,

Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Latin, Norwegian,

Spanish, and Swedish languages.

.

E is derived from the Greek letter epsilon which is much the same in

appearance (Ε, ε) and function. In etymology, the Semitic hê first

represented a praying or calling human figure, hillul jubilation,

based on a similar Egyptian hieroglyph that was pronounced and

used quite differently. In Semitic, the letter represented h and

e in foreign words, in Greek hê became Εψιλον (Epsilon) with the

value e. Etruscans and Romans followed this usage.

.

The letter "e" is the most common or highest frequency letter in the

English language. This makes it a difficult and popular letter to use

when writing lipograms. Ernest Vincent Wright's Gadsby, 1939, is

considered a dreadful novel, and that at least part of Wright's
narrative difficulties were caused by language restrictions imposed

by the lack of E. Both Georges Perec's novel A Void, La Disparition,

1969, and its English translation by Gilbert Adair omit the letter "e"

and are considered better works.

.

I guess you could say this this little "e" poem is the opposite of a

lipogram.

Enchanted by eidolon

engines, I easily escape

on the evening express,

embarking Europe,

an ebullient excursion.

Estonia and east to Essen,

Epernay, eating elysian

eggplant and escargot.

Emerita or eluding empress

in ecru ermine and earrings,

I execute excellent,

elegant erg.

Entirely in element,

educing this ethereal emprise.

Eyre, by willow

favorite e's:
edelweiss, Edna St. Vincent Millay, ebullient, equality, ewes, exits,
eyes, Elspeth, evening, England, ebony, elevators, elegies, east,
eleven, Empire State Building, El Decor, eggs, Eiffel Tower, eight,
Elizabeth I, epiphanies, escutcheons, ephemera, emeralds, envelopes

not so great e's:
exile, envy, eels, evil, empty, embarrass, enrage, ether, excuses,
exploitation, earwax

(If you would like a letter, just ask for one in the comments.)

photos from Flickr, info from Wikipedia