10.31.2010

More skeletons!



I love Louis Armstrong.
(From the always excellent even*cleveland)

Le Squelette Joyeux


(Via Alison at TeenAngster)
Happy Halloween!

10.29.2010

More coffee

Bicerin: layers of thick, not-too-sweet hot chocolate, espresso, and cool cream.
(via here and here).

And I can't resist adding in an excerpt from Bach's Coffee Contata here:

10.28.2010

Le Cafe

As the days get longer and darker and rainier here in the Pacific NW, almost everyone starts drinking more and more coffee. It's beginning already.


10.24.2010

Big Bird has something to say.

I'm sorry, this just makes me laugh.

10.22.2010

Parisian Ghosts

This story has been making the rounds on the blogs, but since I first read about it in the London Telegraph I can't get it out of my head.

A woman abandoned her Parisian apartment at the beginning of World War II, leaving for the south of France. She never returned, but continued to pay the rent until she died recently at the age of 91.

Entering the untouched, cobweb-filled flat in Paris' 9th arrondissement, one expert said it was like stumbling into the castle of Sleeping Beauty, where time had stood still since 1900.
"There was a smell of old dust," said Olivier Choppin-Janvry, who made the discovery. Walking under high wooden ceilings, past an old wood stove and stone sink in the kitchen, he spotted a stuffed ostrich and a Mickey Mouse toy dating from before the war, as well as an exquisite dressing table.
 
A very valuable Boldoni painting was among the discoveries, but that is less interesting to me than the apartment itself. And why did she never return?

10.18.2010

How to Have Hummingbirds Feeding Out of Your Hand...


This is amazing. Apparently, hummingbirds will feed together when they are migrating (usually they are very territorial and will engage in aerial combat before they'll share a feeder).
Abigail Alfano of Pine, Louisiana trained these beauties in September 2006. More here.


And, thanks to Zoe Ann Hinds, here are Abigail's instructions on how to do it:

1.The hummingbirds must become used to your yard and the best way to achieve this is to offer them multiple sugar-water feeders.
2.As the number of hummingbirds visiting your feeders increases, you must start spending time outside in order to get the birds used to your presence. This will take some time and in the beginning presence may drive the birds away. You must be patient and persistent. Eventually, the birds will come back.
3.Once the birds are used to your presence there, you can hold a sugar-water feeder in your hand. Over time, the birds should eventually begin feeding from the feeder you are holding.
4.On a day where you have a great deal of hummingbirds visiting your feeders, you will want to remove all but one of your hummingbird feeders. Next, you will want to place a small container filled with sugar-water in the palm of your hand. For example, when Abigail did this she used an old milk jug lid.
5.Now comes the hard part, you must sit outside and wait. This takes time and patience. You will want to choose a day when you have a large number of hummingbirds visiting your yard and you will want to remove all other food sources, because this will improve your chances of success.

10.17.2010

Etsy Finds

Haven't done one of these in a while!

Beautiful soft olive green wrap from aykelila.

Made to order silk dress from artlab.



Grey Spy bag from fluxproduction.



"She Does the Seemingly Impossible". I love Lisa Kaser's prints, all of them!





And who couldn't use a lightning rod? From Hindsvik.


10.12.2010

10 Human Needs

As defined by Chilean economist Manfred Max-Neef:


10 Human Needs
affection
creation
freedom
identity
idleness
participation
protection
subsistence
transcendence
understanding

(via Abbey)

Lead Belly and his wife Martha (via teenangster).

10.10.2010

Powers of Ten

The perfect day for this:

10.02.2010

An appreciation of Orb Weavers

I don't mind spiders, but I tend to enjoy them more from a distance. This fall, the Orb Weavers have built webs all around our house. They're everywhere! So I've decided to think of them as protectors and guardians, and appreciate their beautiful webs and insect diet (they rarely, if ever, come indoors, and they aren't venomous). Plus they make awesome natural Halloween decorations.



(Random orb weaver images from google)

10.01.2010

Bohemian Rhapsody on Slide Whistle

Okay, then.



Thanks, BoingBoing!

Hey, never you mind how my "focus" project is going. harumph.