2. The Woman and The Seed Tour, The Met

Bound slave, possibly the way Joseph was bound during imprisonment in Egypt.

 

Headrest because of its supportive nature, the headrest was associated with the solar cult. It held the head, which like the sun, was lowered in the evening and rose again in the morning. A headrest from the tomb of Tutankhamen illustrates this imagery. On the base are the two lions of the horizon and the god of the air Shu upholds the cup for the head. A painting in the Book of the Dead owned by the scribe Ani portrays the solar barque on a stand. The shape of the stand and the bottom of the boat form the shape of hieroglyphic headrest.

Christy

1. The Woman and The Seed Tour at the Met, Genesis 3:15

The Woman and The Seed tour at the Met is a must for anyone who is interested in archeology and the Bible.

The first prophecy in the Bible Genesis 3:15.  Jehovah said a seed would crush Satan.  Did anyone know who the seed would be at that time?  No, it was a sacred secret.  Still Satan sets up false women and false seeds to take attention away from the true seed.

The pyramid represents the trinity.  The trinity of gods in Egypt was Isis/Horus/Osiris.

Christy

Flu and Fluff

I am home with flu achy and feeling pretty bad.  It started Monday night with coughing, then coughing all day at work on Tuesday, home and straight to bed with a hot water bottle.  Mr. B.  served me soup and toast, what else, and of course a cup of tea. Today well Mr. B. lit the fire so I decided to come down instead of spending the day in bed, sometimes you feel worse doing that.  So I can just about lift my fingers to the keyboard girls.

The Boy got off to College, today he can use my car instead of catching the bus.  Mum can I borrow an apron for Pottery?  Yes. take the one in the kitchen, it's pretty old and will look even worse after Pottery class.  I'm so glad he got a scholarship, because I would wonder why I was spending my hard earned money on Pottery classes.  Not that I'm against the arts because I am not, in fact we saw some wonderful pieces at the Met, so inspiring.  In this world of money and commercialism I think that the arts are even more important, it's what feeds our inner soul.  Who's going to go to the Met and look at anything Bernard Madoff aspired to, not one.

Here are a few odd bods over the past month that I've never got to show you.  I could not resist the above items in the clearance section at T.J. Maxx.  Real English Toffee with a little hammer no less.  Does anyone remember the old sweet shops of one's childhood, circa 1950?  Where they actually put the toffee out on a marble slab and smashed a piece off for you.

I am calling this my Medici Necklace,  I don't think the Medici's were too nice a family, I think they poisoned a lot of people,  but somehow the name appealed to what I think is the Italian Renaissance aesthetic in this necklace. I made this up last week from some old beads I had. The coloured beads remind me of marbleized end papers in old leather books sitting in the archives of Florence, and the black reminds me of the legs of old Italian tables inlaid with Marble.  The other name I thought of was Florentian, but that's maybe a little long winded.

The Eiffel Tower scissors I saw in someones photo on Blogland and looked on Ebay for a pair.  I will enjoy them sitting in my needlework basket.

I have long been looking at this book in Joann Fabrics and eventually having a good coupon, decided to get it. This book is by the talented Bag Maker Lisa of U Handbag  her website is great with many tutorials.

Probably the one bag design and pattern I love the most is the school satchel, made in fabric, even butting the edges to look like the thickness of ones old leather school bag.

This backpack/rucksack would be great for a trip.  The Boy is looking to buy a backpack for school.  He just missed an English Chapman rucksack on Ebay, just this morning, outbid by one dollar.  Still he is looking on Etsy and has his sights on a couple of bags there.  He has used the messenger bag we bought in Spain, all this while, that has to be six or seven years, throughout High School and College.

I like the way that the pages are edged in the same pattern as the fabric on the bags, I didn't notice that until I went to take photos.

My talented friend Candyce made these beautiful cards for me.  Card making is a talent, I have tried and do not have it, Candyce does, here she is on Pinterest.  Also some little gifts were this stack of books, one is The Squire by Enid Bagnold and the other is Lucy Carmichael; which I plan to start on today.  See here Fleur's review

Last but not least a little American 1950s yarn holder, I love the little kittens on top.

The yarn threads out of the top or the side.

So that's my day Flu and Fluff, I keep typing Flu and Flugg, "Flugg"  should be a new word, because that is how I feel.

Take care hope all are well.

Christy

Snow Storm, Felt Necklace and Another Scarf

Guess what it's snowing again, they say eight to twelve inches.  Out of work at 1:00PM today but it did take me over twice as long to get home.  So I went up to the Boy's room to take a snow photo this evening and this is as much as I got.  "What are you doing mum, this room's cold enough already."  I was trying to open the window.  The abuse mother's take.

So a good opportunity to get started on my needle felting.  I think I'm doing it right, maybe not so right, I stabbed my finger twice once drawing blood, one must pay attention. I wasn't quite happy with the finish, so decided to finish them off with soap and water felting.

The red rose on the left was a gift from Mereknits, the heart on the right is one I needle felted and then wet felted, the other shapes I have not wet felted yet, but I think it will make them look better.

I have had this chain for a while and thought I would like to add the felted pieces to it.  I had the idea of embroidering them, I have some lovely pure silk embroidery thread in cream, but less might be more, to wear over a jumper or something.  Lots of ideas, but until you put it together you can never tell.

I have started on the Peacock scarf and decided to knit this one a little wider with ten stitches instead of six.

We will see what tomorrow holds.  It just may be a by the fire day.

Christy

Today was a day of work MLK Day, so it was great to have my friend Candyce over, I meant to take pics on our walk at the park, but forgot to take the camera.  We stopped off at Joanne Fabrics and Candyce chose some yarn for one of the frilly scarfs I make, it is in a lovely Peacock blue colour with a little bling in sequins, will match the coat she has.

It has been a dull day, but not too cold, snow tomorrow they say.  When we got out of the car it was quite windy across the open fields near the old dairy, where they now have the park offices.  The old cow milking shed is just empty, a long building, which they put all new windows in.  I think it would make a great hall for receptions and things like that, lovely views down across the fields.

We walked down to the wooded area which runs along the creek, gradually sloping down to the creek.  At this time of year you can see the creek clearly from high up, because there is no foliage.

We came back for lunch Mexican meal of chicken, green olives, raisins, and almonds wrapped up in a tortilla, you cover the tortilla in an egg, water and cinnamon mixture and fry it in the pan with olive oil.  You top all of this with a cooked mixture of tomatoes, peppers, onions and cumin, I also added a little courgettes.  This recipe is taken of an old calendar from Sainsbury's that my mum sent to me in 1985.  Always a good favourite.

I have some lovely old books to read, one being Lucy Carmichael by Margaret Kennedy who also wrote in 1926 The Constant Nymph, which she adapted into a highly successful West End play that opened at the New Theatre, with Noël Coward and Edna Best in September 1926.  Also a book of short stories one being The Squire by Enid Bagnold who also wrote National Velvet.

Some lovely cards which Candyce makes and has a true talent for because my attempts at card making never look as good. Plus some other boxes of cards, one reminds me of Florida, the day we visited the Orchid house, and the other set are very Waverly.  So lots of fun exchanging gifts, drinking tea and Mr. B's famous Choc Chip Cookies. along with lots of chatting.

I never did show you my Blurb book.  I was going to have this as my 2014 Diary, but decided against it, as somehow I made the book on the wrong size template, I had really wanted to use a smaller one, and by the time I realized my mistake, I was not about to do it all over again.  I will use it for my 2014 note taking. It has some of our Florida Trip photos from last summer.

The Boy and I have decided that Mr. B. is never happier than pottering around in the wood pile, he can spend hours out there.  Chopping wood, gathering kindling which falls regularly out of the oak tree there, putting it into boxes and taking it down to the basement, along with some medium size pieces to keep dry for snowy days.  Unfortunately our wood piles do not sit under cover, so it is better the logs have a day or so to dry off in the house.

We probably should have ordered another cord of wood this winter, our pile is getting low, so hopefully spring is early this year. 

Well will get back to knitting and watching that old 1980s series which is on Netflix, The Winds of War.

Take care,
Christy

Day At The Met

The Boy and I out for a day at the Met, the Metropolitan Museum, NYC.  The Met is located on Central Park, which you can see part of in the background.  This is prime real estate, we passed one window on the coach and sitting there were some teddy bears, so some little child lives with a view of Central Park.

Neither of us have been to the Met before, so it was great to visit.  We went for a special tour, then had time to spend on our own looking around.  We met the coach at 8:00 AM it was a dull rainy day which ran into snow near NYC.  It took us about two hours to get up there on Saturday, being dropped off right at the Met, then meeting up with our tour guide.

One of the things the Boy wanted to see was modern photography.

Here we are over looking over The Great Hall.

Here I am wearing my altered couture Oilily.

The Met is so huge, will post more about our special tour.

We sat in front of the Tiffany stained glass windows for a little rest, when an elderly gentlemen started talking to Rob, we got into a long conversation then his wife came and joined us, such a nice couple, who live up in the Finger Lake area on a farm, near to Port Byron.  Earlier in the day Rob said I like to take photos of old men they have interesting faces, he didn't mention old women, but he did take a photo of this older gentlemen Ted, such an interesting couple.

Good job we packed sandwiches, although we left them on the coach, as you are not allowed to take food into the Met, the reason being of course that they want you to buy theirs, but at $5.50 per one cupcake it goes against my grain to pay ridiculously inflated prices to eat out, so we sprang for one coffee and tucked into our sandwiches on the way home. 

Christy

Oilily Altered Couture

At the Thrift I found on Oilily Jumper/Sweater , for a good price.  Oilily is quite expensive to buy.  But unfortunately it was not my size.  So I had this idea of buying it and cutting it up, using it for something else, then I thought why not undo the side seams all the way up and under the arm and crochet a gusset in to make it larger, and that is what I have done.

I used an American single crochet stitch.  I blanket stitched the edges and then used that edge to crochet off.

After the gussets were in, then I did a slip stitch around the sleeves and the bottom then crocheted an edging, to pull it all together and cover over the edges.  I think it turned out pretty good.

In these two photos I have not quite finished crocheting the bottom edging.

Now it needs an iron.  Will take pics wearing it but will wait until weather is better.

Sorry for dreadful pics, these were taken at night with a flash.

Christy

Jotul Stove New Fan

We have waited two months for a part to our sitting room stove.  The fan was missing some pieces and there fore, although it worked it was lopsided when it turned, causing the whole stove to vibrate, which was most annoying as we could only keep the fan on low and never turn it to high.

We have lived with this like that for several winters, not wanting to spend the money on a new fan.  But it was just getting worse so this winter we ordered it.  It only took two months and then it was the wrong one and then voila! in two days thay have ordered and received in the correct one.  Now one does have to wonder why did the first one take two months.

Last night Mr. B. installed the new fan, cleaning all the ash out that had got down there and my goodness does it blow out the heat.  Now we realize how inefficient it had become.  Now it will definitely keep things warmer and I will be able to hear myself think.

Christy

Needle Felting Gift

Mr. B. phones me at work and says are you expecting a package from Florida, I said yes!  So exciting so this is the gift that I won with Meredith at Mereknits

I have always wanted to try needle felting and now that I've received this generous gift from Meredith, my mind is racing with all sorts of ideas.

First of all just the fun of opening a package, pretty tissue paper.

Card with a felted heart, so sweet.

Darling little cutter shapes to use.

Soft wool to felt, wonderful colours.

And a special card.  So do visit her Blog Mereknits here

A big thank you.

Christy

P.S.  I am still coveting your shawl loom

Crochet and China

As you know from earlier posts my neighbour George died a while ago and as the house was cleared out certain things were just tossed, including these crochet pieces, which I rescued and have just got around to washing.  The piece on the top rack is in perfect condition and the one one the bottom rack needs some loving care.  The tea coloured piece is half a table cloth.  It must have been just cut across the center one time and used for something else.  I just have to rescue things like this.

I do miss George.  The house sits empty, I have not seen a for sale sign up and do not know what the family is going to do with the house.  It is so cute, needs some work, but then who's house doesn't.  It has very Dickensian Olde Curiosity Shoppe type windows that George had custom made.  Two, one in the sitting room and one in the dining room.  Wonderful arched front door.

When I got married several of my friends from England sent me over pieces of this set as wedding gifts.  I have a large desert serving bowl with the matching smaller bowls.  I also have a set of six mugs, plus various odd dishes I've collected over the years, but nothing that you would call a whole set.  The way I got around that was by buying a plain white dinner service with a gold edge and interspersing these pieces in.

Well the other day in the Thrift I ran across this, at a good price with my coupon applied, it is such a time honored design, probably not as popular now as it has been, but still so traditional.

Oh dear!  The boy caught his backpack strap on this as he swung his bag up on his shoulder and this my grandmother's serving dish took a tumble.  He had gathered all the pieces together and was in some trepidation of telling his mum about it.  But as I get older I take things pretty stoically now, what's done is done.

I think I will take all the pieces and set them around a plant in a blue pot and put it out in the garden, is that a crazy idea or what?

The days seem to be dull, wet and water logged.

Christy

51 Million

Today it has been raining cats and dogs and everything is totally saturated and water logged after all that snow and rain.  The whole weekend is to be a wet one, but temperatures have shot up and the temperature is 59 f.  Zero to fifty nine Fahrenheit in one week.

Last night was a company party in New York City, we reached the allusive 50 Million and actually reached 51 million.  We almost reached this before the economic downturn of the housing market debacle, where we just held our own.  The company I work for is very small approx 130 employees. 

 
Some co workers above, Sue from the NY office and Tom and Jen from my PA office.

Was a nice evening, lots of good food, I especially like the pumpkin filled ravioli in a cheese sauce with Parmesan sprinkled on top.

Delicious deserts, a cheesecake pop covered in chocolate, on a stick and a lovely little coffee mouse type desert, among many, and a must have with cake in my book, good coffee.

The venue was held at the Bryant Park Grill obviously by the name on Bryant Park.  It was a misty drizzly evening, that I thought lent itself to some great photos which reminded me of those paintings you see of Paris at night time with all the reflections in the rain, such as the artist Edouard Leon Cortes.

Views of the park looking out from the restaurant.

 
These are my two favourite shots I like them both with and without the man, it just catches the rainy evening feel to the park and NYC.  It makes me feel that I want to paint it.

On the drive to Trenton train station we went over the Delaware River and there were huge ice chunks floating under the bridge.  The train from Trenton is so slow, so all in all it takes us about three hours to get up to New York, but with a faster train only two.

I almost forgot, I won two prizes for my submission of Blog Ideas to the company Blog, my choice either a Roku or an Apple TV I think I'm going with the Apple and a massage.  The odds of winning were great because hardly anyone in the company submitted ideas and you could submit one idea per week, which I mostly did.  Hence my cheese of the month club gift, the bean bag seat and now two other prizes.  Unfortunately all good things come to an end, and the idea submissions page has been closed up.  Oh well!  Good while it lasted and I've enjoyed participating.

Christy