Scavenger Hunt Sunday 16 Mar 2014

"Before beginning a hunt, it is wise to ask someone what you are looking for before you begin looking for it." -Winnie the Pooh

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY


We're looking for, doorway, candid, open, look up and stuffed.


My hunt opens with.......

1.  DOORWAY

2.  CANDID -  Emotion

CANDID - Elation

3.  OPEN

4.  LOOK UP

5.  STUFFED

Somebody stuffed my tummy!

Sepia Saturday - 15 Mar 2014

Wendy Mathias has once again graced us with our photo theme this week of, domes and such, see here.


SEPIA SATURDAY



I'm stretching Wendy's theme of domes to, well a glass container of sorts, which in truth, actually encompasses my subject with,

A Witch in a Bottle. 

 

Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England.  Here's one interesting link to follow this thought.

Dunstable

The English Collections at the Pitt River Museum contain the following listed 41 objects from Dunstable in Bedfordshire here.

You'll see, canoes, monkey skulls as well as, the Witch in a Bottle, all just a meager few of the many items on view in Pitt Rivers Museum.

South Parks Road, Oxford, England

Tripadvisor link to Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford

During my last visit to England, I have no idea how we missed this place,

Pitt Rivers Museum, it's surely on my list for our next visit to England.

The Witch in a Bottle

It's a small glass flask of bilobed shape and silvered over the inside and stoppered.

Legend says, there's a witch in it, and according to the late owner living near Hove, Sussex the story is this

"They do say there be a witch in it, and if you let 'un out there'll be a 'peck o'trouble."

Reportedly, Margaret also donated a witch's broom to a major university museum as well.

The museum officials believe Margaret obtained the bottle first hand (from an old lady of Sussex) and to this day the bottle has remained sealed and no trouble has been seen.

We can thank Margaret Murray for donating this witch's bottle of slivered glass in 1915.

Famous Witches A guide to the misunderstood and the maligned link here.

13 July 1863- 13 November 1963

Margaret Murray

Who was Margaret Murray?

  Wikipedia link here, detailing her life and works. I find her life's work incredibly interesting and assuredly beyond her time.  I'd enjoy adding Margaret to my list of interesting folks to share conversations over coffee, if only she were still alive.

She's known as an Egyptologist or anthropologist and Egyptology was the core of her academic career.

During her presidency with the Folklore Society, she said,

"We are too near to events which will become history to realize what folklore underlines them.  But folklore is a living thing, it is always with us, and therefore may have effect on even the greatest events of history."

Althea a Review Image archive

The story of Margaret and the mummy here.

Lastly, just another piece of history, I'll close her story with a remarkable structure.

Osirion at Abydos

by 

 Margaret Alice Murray and her friend

Sir William Flinders Petrie 

Six Word Saturday - 15 March 2014

Sure it's currently 19 degrees and they're speaking of measurable snow on Tuesday.  BUT, lately we've been throwing off our coats and roaming about in our shirt sleeves, dodging ice patches and skipping around gigantic snow puddles, and I'm singing, Good morning spring.


SIX WORD SATURDAY


So Cate, from Show my face blog, here's what I'm thinking.

GET YOUR MORNING FIX BY BIKE
and
A COMMUNITY OF BEES ON BIKES?

What better way to start today?

On your own wheels or delivered.

Either way it calls for bicycle riding.

A Peace Coffee Cyclist delivers coffee

Peace Coffee

Wonderland Park Coffee Shop

check it out.

3262 Minnehaha Avenue South

Also, for your sweet delight 

get your very own honey fix.
By bike delivery as well.

Read it at Northeast Rides, a community of bees on bikes, explained here.

Morning screams for honey.  Yummy honey, that can be delivered to you by bike, see here.

I wonder once I've filled my thirst with a delicious cup of Joe and be honey sweetened

what will be my next springy adventure for the day?

The Mag - Mister Hawkshaw

THE MAG

Lee Plaza Hotel, Detroit, Photo by Bonnie Beechler

The tale of Mister Hawkshaw's discovery of motive, method and murder-madness.

GUMSHOE HOW DO YOU DO?

Snoopily well indeed.

Just another dead-body bagged and tagged.

One loose hair stealthily recovered-

Wait!  What's that smell?

Has my hungry, growling tummy uncovered

 delicious banana bread callously baked?

Yes indeed.

Thematic Photographic - Look way up

Keep looking up that's the secret of life.  - Snoopy


THEMATIC PHOTOGRAPHIC

I'm thinking Carmi may have decided look way up, was a necessary theme for those of us shuffling through snow, and keeping an eye on icy walks all winter long.  After all, why look down when there's so much more to see looking up.

Look way up, what do you see?

The humble cumulus humilis - never hurt a soul.
Gavin Pretor -Pinney

"Look! I'm way up." said one of the Wacky Chickens at the Minnesota Rennfest!

Nothing but blue skies

and

Cotton candy clouds 

do I see.

What, you mean to say you've never seen a canoe

way up high before?

Keep your feet on the ground and your thoughts at lofty heights  -  Peace Pilgrim

Have you captured any views looking way up?  Why not bring them here for all of us to see.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday - 9 Mar 2014

Let the hunt begin.  

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY

This week Ashley has us searching for, mini, shoes, mirror, mirror, shopping, and just because.

1.  Mini

Mini-little clown on a mini-little swing, all part of a mini-little circus.

2.  Shoes 

Snowshoes of course, for easier walking!

3.  Mirror-Mirror

Mirror, mirror, on the wall who is the cutest of them all?

(The magic mirror will never tell.)

4.  Shopping

Shopping for wine!

Shopping for books with children.

5.  Just Because

It's pretty.

  

Just because it's mine.

Give it to me!

Check out other finds at Ashley's blog here.

Sepia Saturday - 8 March 2014

Laurium, Michigan

Good fences make, entertaining moments over any fence.



SEPIA SATURDAY



Thank you Wendy Mathias, for bringing us backyard fences, or the Bubonic Plague of 1900 in Sydney for our theme.  


Curiously enough, I'm going for fences!

Let's travel about eight miles east from my own backyard, and in case anyone is worried about high fevers, or any other ailments, there won't be any.  But, I'm not promising that there won't be any broken hearts, lost dreams, or possibly a shady deal disclosed.

Reaching Farmington, Minnesota, about 1880
based on a true story.



My first known name was, The Exchange Building.  Sometime in 1880 you would have seen me sharing my urban quaintness, along with a sturdy group of my friends.  We were content to innocently erupt smoke from our chimney pipes in our town composed of weather beaten buildings, even though we were being replaced one by one.  We were quickly being strung together with less wooden structures than years before.

 My roots reach back to, Claus Dittmann and his discovery of  Augustus Gauger (a bit unknown) and his commission for my design as the new bank in downtown Farmington, Minnesota.   Dittmann and Gauger were both German immigrants so it stands to reason through the common thread of language and culture why my stature is of such fine character. 

Augustus Gauger, was a young architect when he began his career and I'm still very proud to say that my building is of his sound design and unlike the shoddy buildings from our day.

Gauger's knowledge of carpentry and architectural engineering was his asset and for the city of St. Paul, Minnesota as well, where he served as the city's building inspector from 1884 to 1885.  Gauger was also responsible for some of the finest work on Summit Avenue, in St. Paul.  

432 Summit Avenue St. Paul, Mn  

295 Summit Avenue Built in 1885  at a cost of S13,000, by Albert H. Lindeke and designed by, A.F. Gauger.

It was quite common to discover that a house or place of business constructed during the city's building boom was often not structurally sound.   A great number of walls collapsed or toppled on new owners or construction workers.


People described me as, a magnificent example of 19th Century Italianate architecture.  Not so much today, and I'd really rather not express what they say about me now.


Did you know the wooden, contraption before me did not survive the great fire on November 22, 1879 (Flames over Farmington here) when most of downtown was destroyed?  

So many of my good neighbors suffered greatly from that fire in 1879.  The photo below is of 

C.R. Griebie's building (burning in 1972) that was originally built in 1880 to replace the building that burned to the ground in the Great 1879 fire.

December 1, 1972 brought another wicked fire to Farmington.  This is C. R. Griebie, home to hotels and lodge rooms.



HAVE WE A FIRE-BUG AMONG US?  Yes, sadly it was true, the fires of 1879 and after, were arson related.



But seriously, I'm still a handsome structure even if it's just me saying so. 

Sure there are parts of me that are, slightly weathered.  Seriously, I am 134 years old.


Yet, my glorious, Grand Hall with maple hardwood floors and a high tin ceiling makes it painfully obvious, just how stunning I can be.

My Grand Hall

Of course, like any old crone, I've had my share of attacks throughout the years.  Like the time a car ran into me.  

Ouch!  

Sometime after that, the Browns (my current owners) removed brick walls and did extensive updating to my woodwork and other restorations necessary.

But between you and me, and the evening news on occasion, the Browns, (a father and son team) aren't on most folks happy list these days.

I mean who in the world ever had the idea of selling me, this decorated mass of stunning, Italianate design to them for one dollar!  

Sure it was in the hopes and legal documents, that they were to have me brought back to my original condition.

Ha! Ha! HA!

Farmington, Minnesota - 1910

This photo is part of the Lakes and Woods Postcard Collection, and can be viewed here, along with other postcards.


So here I sit, empty and all by myself, and still very curious why the city of Farmington had to sell me for one measly dollar?  Especially, during (a still prosperous) late 1990's in the hopes that my historical body would be put back to life once again.

Yep, this is me yesterday, on a very grey March day in March 2014.

The Exchange Building built 1880

Six Word Saturday Happy 8 Mar 2014

If We, could stop the hands of time, would you?



So, it's time again, for Cate's, Six words about what's happening.

SIX WORD SATURDAY

DON'T SPEND TIME 

BEATING THE WALL

I haven't read, heard a word, or even seen one daylight savings quote across the waves of blogger yet this week.  So, let's expose this weekend for what it really is!  

The time of year we Gain more daylight!

DON'T SPEND TIME BEATING ON A WALL- hoping to transform it into a door. - Coco Chanel

Rather focus on

One day spent with someone you love can change everything.

Mitch Albom

Tell somebody

I love you always, no matter what time it is.

Happy daylight savings weekend everyone!

I plan on making good use of this, one more step closer to spring!

How about you?

Thematic Photographic - 284 Lying Down on the Job

Okay, I'm wondering will anyone be brave enough to post a photo where you, are "lying down on the job?"

Well, that's what Carmi has laid out for our theme, Lying down on the job.

I'll never be able to top his photo, but we can all have fun trying.


THEMATIC PHOTOGRAPHIC

Any guess as to what is "lying down on the job" here?  It's very important to me.

Okay, here's a better hint in the photo below.  See if you can locate what is, lying down on the job, in the next photos.

Photo hint.

See it?

I'm sure you could spot it.  It actually has a very important full time job, because my phone is never without it, except during a snapshot.   Ironically, it has accidentally appeared in many photos, but I usually delete them, or remove it before shooting.  

So, that's my laying down on the job story for today, and I'm sticking to it.  What have you uncovered, lying down on the job?  Bring it here.

The Mag

"If you remove these lines in the painting, the colors are no longer effective." - Henri Rousseau



THE MAG

The Sleeping Gypsy 1897 by Henri Rousseau

DESERT TANGO

Sleeping on the edge of dreams

riding fumes of fantasy

woven freely in a sea of

dusty sheets,

she dozes.

As this cagey, lazy lion 

trails waves of harpy eagles

 and howler monkeys

over desert floors

shining like a pearly cloud 

of departed spirits
 he continues,

lying and bragging 

 infused in restless curiosity

as she sleeps.

Thank you Tess Kincaid, for another tasty magpie tale.

If you wish for other magpie tales go here.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday - 2 March 2014

Where or where shall our hunt begin today?

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY

Marching into our hunt for today with-

Unusual crop, details, on the ground, blooper (or shot that didn't go as planned) and color!

1.  UNUSUAL CROP

And 

2.  DETAILS

Details are always, in the first bite.
You try it first!

3.  ON THE GROUND

A Scavenger WORD hunt!

4.  BLOOPER (a shot where things didn't go as planned)

And

             Photobomb by Misty

             Do I smell chocolate?

5.  COLOR

Color me a blue Snowman, without you.

Do you feel like joining our hunt too, or just want to view more finds?  Then just head over to Ashley Sisk's blog at Ramblings and Photos and check out her hunt here.