Xmas 1905

A small hard covered book addressed to my grandmother

"Edna Burrows Xmas 1905"

A sweet little family heirloom book

The illustrations are by Gordon Browne

No edition, date of publication or printing information except

Philadelphia

Henry Altemus Company

"PREFETORY NOTE.

________________________

The famous story of the Rip Van Winke first appeared in 1818, and was republished in London the following year as one of a series of papers which had the collective titles of The Sketch-book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent"., this being a pseudonym which Washington Irving attached to several of his works. The author, born in New York in 1783 of a Scottish father and English mother was residing in England when the Sketch-book appeared. He had already become known to the reading world of Britain by his humorous and fictitious History of the New York, by Deidrich Knickerbocker. It is to the same mythical American Dutchman that he ascribed the admirable tale here presented, as the reader will learn from the statement prefixed to it, professedly proceeding from the pen of Geoffery Crayon, Irving lived for a number of years in England, and was on intimate terms with Moore, Campbell, Sir Walter Scott, and other distinguished men of the time. His later years were spent on Wolfert’s Roost (or Sunnyside). His retreat as the River Hudson, and here he died in 1859.

The specialty of this edition consists in the illustrations by Gordon Browne, and these speak for themselves. The Text is divided into pages of various sizes in order that the passage illustrated may come directly opposite the respective illustrations."

Update: and I just love the way Christmas greetings in languages from around the world are displayed on
 Cick here to view "Garvinweasel" Blog


This post was submitted to "Show and Tell" hosted by Cindy at

My Romantic Home

MERRY CHRISTMAS

&

SEASONS GREETINGS

TO EVERYONE

One of our family's traditions on Christmas morning is to listen to The Queen's Christmas message

 Click here to view: BBC's link to The Queen's Christmas message

Though we are wine country here in the Okanagan Valley, most years we experience a brief bitter cold-snap, generally mid January. This was taken a few years ago during one such snap when the temperature plummeted to -27° C (-16.6° F).  Steam rose from the lake ... connecting with low laying clouds, making ribbons of cold lace. Though beautiful, defiantly a time to be staying indoors rather than wandering around outdoors looking for things to photograph.

Arriving back home I felt I had earned, and fixed my warmer-upper hot chocolate with a splash of Grand Marnier.

just playing around ...

photographer Klaas Tuinman

Here is my grandfather wearing his recital robe seated at his desk in his study in the lower house at "Abbey Dawn".

From the day he left the business-world and became fully focused on being a poet writer and bird protector, he vowed to never-again wear a tie; the trillium collar was one of his trademarks and was his formal wear. My grandmother made and hand-sewed each one of the collars on his shirts. There is a funny story which I will later share about Gramp refusing to wear a tie, but for now I am staying to this story.

Do you remember the movie "Miracle on 34th Street"? Well, you see for years Gramp used a walking stick. He didn’t have to, it was for show. It was not a cane per se, but instead was a well-worn-smooth straight walking stick with a metal wrapped foot, and today it is leaning up in the corner of my vestibule. Every year, around this time, I look down and see it there, smile and remember.

Gramp used to use that walking stick to get visitors, at the museum up in the ridge, to focus. When he noticed that for what ever reason visitors were not fully attentive or if the children were becoming cranky or such, he would slowly walk to the door way of the building, stand in the center and while he was still talking, the walking stick would start to swing, wider and higher, widerer and higher.

For some, it took longer than others, to notice what was happening- Gramp and that swinging walking stick. Then all of a sudden, he would slightly toss it up in the air and catch it on his chin. Moving back and forth keeping it in balance he would by now have most but not all peoples attention. Then, the walking stick, would seemingly all by itself, jump to his tongue as he was still balancing it, and then back to his chin. This dance would happend several times and now everyone in the crowd was mesmerized.

Watching him intently the crown was usually hushed, but broke out into clapping and Bravos’ when the walking stick seemingly leapt down into his hand once again as he continued talking; he then would gently bow to his audience with his pious smile and that devilish twinkle in his eye he had, and would proceed to direct them inside the museum.

He was a great showman and grandfather, and a man of the people. He loved his birds, Native Indian history, integrity, was moved to write, and, he was emotional, which in his own words was out of character for his Anglo-Saxon background.

With his white whiskers, goatee, long white hair, trillium collar, passionate personality and ice-blue eyes,  he was a compelling character. His command of oration was nothing short of gripping, his gestures drawing and entertaining, and his passion unmistakable! He truely savoured life.

The living at Abbey Dawn was not high-style to say the least, he left that lifestyle behind when he left Montreal and the business, to persue his writing and passions.

He was a controversial person many times; other than the Shriner's, he purposefully gave-up all affiliations (excepting family), leaving him beholdin’ to no-one or group. He was defiantly a free agent onto himself.

Over the years he would publicly take to task Government, organizations groups and/or individuals when he deemed it needed to be done. He was well known in the region (and in the Kingston Whig Standard) to be an avid unrelenting defender and one who would bring to task (and publically if need be) others who no-one else would dare to.

So, like Kris Kringle in the movie "Miracle on 34th Street", Gramp stood his ground, held his stance, won … and left his walking stick behind as a reminder …

And oh ... how that old walking stick is treasured!

This post has been submitted to "Show and Tell" hosted by Cindy at My Romantic Home

Christmas time reminiscings ...

Do you remember when:

just playing around this evening ...

me bungee-bounding a few years ago ...

 

a little bottle collar I just made ...

and last but not least ...

orginal source of image unknown, altered with photoshop by myself

Displays of ...

As I travel through the years, more and more, I am seeing festive-competitiveness with the main purpose being to-impress. More, bigger, better (supposedly), prettier, most, shiniest, and on-and-on the superlatives roll.

And, in my wanderings, I observe and wonder ...

Many times, displays, reveal much more than they are ment to show.

Sugar Plums - "the quintessential Christmas sweet"

Towards the end of September of this year, when my neighbour got a lot of special Italian plums, I took to looking-up how to make real "sugar plums” as in the Sugar Plum Fairy and I located on the internet "The Historical Cookery Page" at http://www.godecookery.com/friends/frec74.htm by Sharon Cohen, where she describes how sugar plums historically were made, and I passed the link along to Barb.

Well low and behold she tried the old recipe and, sorry to say I didn't take a picture of them but, I can report that they were absolutely FANTASTIC!

She said they were easy to make, not complicated that is, just time consuming, and at the end I put some in the dehydrator to spead the process along and they turned out wonderfully.

Three important notes:

• she used the Italian plums
• you need to be very very carefully follow the instruction or you’ll end up with a pot full of goo instead of sugar plums; when it says turn gently them certainly mean GENTLY, but oh the effort is so worth it,
• Barb did  use a heavy bottomed enamel pan and said it was great as she did not have to transfer the plums.

We found that ¼ on one at a time suffices they are so rich …

The video of Walt Disney’s “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8At8zfh_o3E from the up-dated version of Fantasia is all I have to offer visually, but, I highly recommend making the sugar plums next year and saving them for a very special treat indeed for Christmas next.

They are truly stupendous!

With history forgotten, how ever can today be fully appreciated?

I bring your attention an on-line audio slideshow click here to access article by BBC. It is about four diaries written by Cecil Sharp, England's most prolific folk music and dance collector

• (with permission) Link to Cecil Sharp's Appalachian Diaries 1915 -- 1918 http://library.efdss.org/exhibitions/sharpdiaries/  that as stated in the text in the link "offer a new and very important resource -- online access to Cecil Sharp's only surviving personal diaries, in which he describes his collecting experiences in the Appalachian Mountains of North America." and, I've been informed they have more diaries to appear over the new few months.

Christmas Greetings from Abbey Dawn

This year, my Christmas decorations are going to be of Chistmasses of past. One such display is going to be my grandparents Christmas Greetings.

I do not know how far back the tradition went, but I have Christmas Greetings from my grandparants as far back as 1940 and I am sure there were others from earlier years, but so far I have not found any.

These Greetings personally designed by my grandfather Wallace Havelock Robb at Abbey Dawn, were sent out, yearly, to family friends and prominents alike.

Each year prior to the Christmas Season, he would set to task designing and having these specially printed.

A signal that Christmas was soon approaching was the day early in December my grandparents would take a special trip into town, together, to the main Post Office in Kingston, to mail out their Christmas Greetings.

The card-basket, that evening would be placed in it's place in the living room at Abbey Dawn. I remember each year during this festive season, that basket on the floor between Gramp's and Gran's chairs, across from the large fieldstone fireplace.

As the days peeled-away nearing to Christmas the pile of Christmas Greetings would mound-up to even overflowing and spill over. Gramp would sit with his wife, my grandmother, to his right, both holding hands as they always did while they were sitting in those chairs; she in her especially small high-back rocker intently listening, as any who where there also did, as Gramp read aloud the greetings received that day, from whom and what part of this world the Greeting came from.

HRH Prince of Wales Edward VIII was the Patron of Abbey Dawn (more on the history of Abbey Dawn and my grandfather in future posts) and the very special Greetings would be given their own deserving prominent place on the wonderfully substantial wood mantel that surrounded the deep and wide, floor ceiling, hand built fireplace, with it's tall andirons standing guard in front. Ahhh yes ... I remember it well, and very fondly indeed.

The following are scanned images of the actual cards, the first (1940) is one sided, the second (1957) is folded, showing  both sides, the third is not a card style with a flold, but still is two sided, showing both sides.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The spelling of "Christmasse"  is an Old English spelling going back to at least the reign of Richard I in 1190.

To read about it click Here

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This post was submitted to the "Show and Tell" hosted by Cindy at My Romantic Home

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Over the next days weeks and months I will be writing my accountings of times at Abbey Dawn, and my writings about articles and photographs I possess today and the stories behind them. These, I will be posting in this blog;  about  my grandfather, his poetry and books, family history, and documented articles I will post in my blog at  "Abbey Dawn"

This, was found amongst the family papers from Abbey Dawn

Splayed out were teetering piles of papers and old photographs on the living room floor - I came across the following, on a aged and fragile sheet, crediting "Author unknown"

The Patter Of The Shingle

When the angery passions gathering
In my mother's face I see,
And she leads me to the bedroom,
Gently lays me on her knee,

Then I know I will catch it,
And my flesh in fancy itchings,
As I listen for the patter
Of the shingle on my britches.

Every tingle of the shingle
has an echo and a sting,
And a thousand burning fancies
Into active being spring;

And a thousand bees and hornets
Neath my coat-tail seem to sworm,
As I listen for the patter
Of the shingle, oh, so warm.

At a sudden intermission,
Which appears my only chance,
I say, "Strick gently, mother,
or you'll split my Sunday pants!"

She stops a moment, draws her breath,
The shingle holds aloft,
Then says, "I had not thought of that ---
My son, just take them off!"

Holy Moses and the angles,
Cast thy pitying glances down!
And thou, oh, family doctor,
Put a good, soft po(u)ltice on!

And may I with fools and dunces,
Everlasting mingle,
If I ever say another word,
When mother wields the shingle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Recently I’ve embarked on the journey of going through (as I refer to it) “the family stuff” and what a journey it promises to be; you are welcomed to follow along ...

Chick on you can click on Abbey Dawn  or go to http://elegancereclaimed-abbeydawn.blogspot.com/

Sound of time ...

As I went about my weekly Sunday duty of winding the clock I fondly remembered the sounds of time from my childhood. Of lying in the old high iron framed bed after my grandmother had tucked me in for the night, the sound from across the hall rocked me to sleep. It was the tidy rhythmic ticking of my grandparents bedside table wind-up clock … tick tick tich tick

Unlike modern clocks it had a low steady ticking tone, it did not have glowing hands or a fancy case but instead was a turquoise painted metal case scratched and hurt, with a wide gold-coloured face rim and a  turn-key at the back which was large and stuck-out. It was not all sleek nor stylish, but instead  it was “reliable”, and at night as my granparents turned-in, Gramp could be heard winging that clock.

Downstairs during the day there were several sounding time pieces. High on the kitchen wall hung the yellow and ivory striped pendulum clock, and in the living room the largest of three graduated French regulator (pedulum) mantel clocks. In the same room also was the wonderful grandmother's clock that was so special. It, stood only about 4 feet high and looked just like a big grandfather’s clock but was smaller and daintier. It’s chime was sweet sounding but was special as in addition to sounding the hour and half hour it also rang-out 4-2-3-1 notes on the quarter. So at 15 minutes past it would end with a space after the 4-2-3-1 notes with a single chime, then on the half hour it would chime twice and at a quarter-to it would ring  three chimes, so ... all day long every day … we heard a virtual chorus of chimes notifying all within ear's distance the time.

Do you remember the one sound we all knew growing up? It was the sound of our watches ticking. Mostly, we would ignore it, but, every once in awhile, sometimes for no particular reason other then to just listen, we would hold our wrist up to your ear, go quiet, and listen. tick-tick-tick-tick ... listening to the sound of time passing.

Do you remember having to wind your watch? Ever forget and have it stop?

The middle-sized of the graduating mantel clocks, to this day still chimes-out to me the time, through electrical storms and in the middle of the night while I sleep it tells my ears the time. No power needed, just the turning of the two keys once every week.

Through all the early years my Uncle Joe would clean the clocks. It was a ritual for him. Each clock had it’s certain day and when that day came he would clear off the long, worn, old kitchen table and set the clock at the head. Then, while sitting in my grandfather's old captain’s chair, Uncle Joe would go to task dismantling the clock piece-by-piece.

I was permitted to “quietly” watch this ritual, and while his hands were busy, he would recount the story of the time early-on he learned just why he had to concentrate and be so careful to place each piece, each cog and each screw, in order. As the ritual continued, so did the story. Then, he would show me how he cleaned each part ever-so-carefully. When all had had their yearly cleaning and been inspection, Uncle Joe would methodically reverse-order work his way along, piece by piece, putting the clock back to whole.

Though Uncle Joe is now gone I carry with me the memories and times we shared in those magical years. The clock-cleaning tradition continues though other’s hands now clean it, and what was once Gramps's job every Sunday morning, the turning of the clock's keys, is now done by my hand..

And, I am comforted that through all my lived-out years I still hear the same ... sound of time.

S.S. Abyssinia Souvenier Autographed Hand Fan, Dated 1870

For

Show and Tell Friday

Hosted at

My Romantic Home

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is an antique hand fan which is just one of the many fans in my late mother's hand fan collection. She collected them over many years and gave talks and showings at local schools, groups and Fairs in the several locations she lived in Ontario and British Columbia.

This fan is my favorite; it is not fancy nor frilly, but it is to me

never the less ... a real true gem .

An antique wooden autograph souvenir hand fan. The autographs are from 1870 done by passengers traveling on the S.S. Abyssinia during late October and early November 1870.

The writing was mostly with pen, but one or two were with pencil; some are bible verses other are poems, some just comments of the voyage underway. I had to use a loupe to read some of them, as over time they have faded and to, the writing was so fine so as to fit it all in, in the limited space.

The paddles are adorned with a lovely deep purple silk ribbon which is woven through the top part of the paddles keeping them together, alas though, over time, the silk ribbon has been damaged, but ... thankfully it at least it still remains.

The end paddles are plain, but the inner paddles, written on, have a carved/whittled design. In all my years of antiquing I have never seen another quite like this.

It has been great fun researcing this, and I hope you find the links below interesting reads ...

Taken from Wikipedia, to view Click HERE  "The S.S.Abyssinia (1870) was a British mail liner originally operated by the Cunard Line on the Liverpool -New York route. It carried 200 first class passengers and 1050 stearage.

According to the Mersysidehe Marine Musum at the Liverpool Museums  'Abyssinia' and her sister, 'Algeria' were both built for Cunard by J and G Thomson of Glasgow. They were the first Cunard liners to have straight, slightly raking stems or bows, as opposed to the clipper bows of their predecessors. They were also the first to have bathrooms, one on each side." to view  Click HERE

A great read is at the Gjenvick-Gjønvik Archives where the Cunard ships are mentioned in this marvalous detail article "The Ocean Steamer" Crossing the Atlantic in Early Steamships - 1870 taken from Harper's New Monthly Magazine, August, 1870. Volume XLI. Number 242 Pages 185 - 198. 14 pages along with 11 exquisite engravings all of which you can view Click Here

I hope you enjoyed this post; until next time ... I wish you good health and happiness.

Memories that warm ...

Today I happened upon one of my mother's coat corsages and it got me remembering ...

Some fond memories from my childhood during the Christmas season are:
• The custom of wearing those lovely Christmas corsages on our coats
• My mother wearing tinkling real little bells as earrings
• Christmas aprons
• Handmade stockings
• Making Spritz cookies with the hand-crank Spritz maker
• Orange rind bits in the fireplace scenting the room
• Carolers coming to the door
• The smell of real mulled wine to warm the carolers for on their way to the next house to sing at
• Salvation Army singers singing under the nearby corner street light
• Having everyone know where our house was, as we were the last in the neighbourhood to have a bin of ashes (from our coal furnace) outside and the curb for people who got stuck in the snow
• My sister and I hand-painting reverse murals on the inside of our front windows as decoration
• Going house to house in the neighbourhood the week before Christmas hand delivering handmade cards to their door
• Real homemade eggnog

And my all time favorite memory and custon, which I still do to this day, is frying almonds. I truely LOVE the aroma as it wafts through my home, and the devine taste ... I just can-not-resist!

To make, take whole blanched almonds, and in a large frying pan melt a generous supply of about ¼" deep of butter, in a pan, add almonds and over medium-high heat stirring them constantly so they don't burn, fry them until they are golden to dark-golden brown, quickly turn them out, and salt to taste. When they have cooled just enough, devour them. The aroma from them is (I find) complety intoxicating.

You are invited to share some of your fond memories in comments ...

Antique and Vintage Linens ...

Best invention for a romantic decor since furniture was inventerd ...

    First I would like to thank Cindy for hosting the ‘Show and Tell’ this week at http://romantichome.blogspot.com/2009/11/show-tell-friday_26.html and also to all who've contributed. Reading all of your posts has become one of my favorite times of the week, Thank You.

    And now, I would like to apologize to you all for the lack of quality for my pictures this week, the batteries were low and I was in a hurry.

    Flickering candles (I think) are the easiest way to creat a romantic atmosphere in a space, and after being so close to the big fire of 2003 here in the Okanagan, I staved-off lighting any candles for awhile, then I learned of the fabulous candles that are no fire hazard.

    Well to say the least I purchased a set of three and loved them so much so that over time I’ve acquired over thirty of them, they are the one treat I have allowed myself to buy new. I have them scattered all over my home. I my opinion they are the best invention for decorating since furniture was invented. They are made by Candle Impressions and I so highly recommend them that I think home should have them. They are safe oh so beautiful economical as I now mostly only use one electric light in my home.

    When I first put batteries in them, because I have so many, I line them all up on the kitchen counter upside. I pop in the batteries close the covers ad test to make sure they work, and then I leave them off. At the time of my choice starting at one end, I switch the first candle timer switch to timer followed by doing the same action to each candle along the line. Once they are all on and flickering I turn then all upright making sure not to rearrang them, then starting with the first in the line I then place them around my home in the areas I want but so that they turn on in a wave …

   Because they are battery operated, they can be placed in areas where you would never have a lit flame like on top of the china cabinet and very close to the ceiling (even inside the cabinet), or as bookends in a bookshelf. I keep one in the bathroom and one on a floor pedestal candle holder in the front foyer. I have one on my journal table and one beside my white whicker lounge, on the side table (no flame they are wind resistanct), out in the sunroom where I relax and read, and listen to the creek-water go singing by.

    Now the piece-de-resistant’s in exactly 5 hours Tinkerbelle quietly flies around and very considerately turns them all off in a wave. And then returns th following day at the very same starting time and relights them all. So each night I get an ever-so-romantic wave of candles lighting, flickering and they turning off. Safe beautiful energy smart (as each candle lasts for about 700 hours, and they are fabulous during a winter storm when all the electricity is down and I still have my home all lit) and though I live alone now a romantic home and atmosphere is something that I treasure greatly.

 I have looked and checked-out other brands but Candle Impressions is the one one’s I have as I have found they are the best …

    Because they are battery operated, they emit no heat so I can use them all year round depending on the life in your batteries and upon starting to use them I find they last about four to five months.

    Honestly I am not getting anything for promoting these … I just LOVE them so much, they are the one thing that I have allowed myself to buy that is ‘new’ in the past year or so.

    I have some short pillars (these do not have timers), but mostly I have the 8” pillars (all with the convent timers) (which are a mix of the plain and the scrolled ones. Oh and I forgot to mention that these candles also have a very faint pleasant vanilla scent also ;-)

    The company has many different kinds and models, but here is the link to the ones I have http://www.candleimpressions.net/website/images/products/pillars/tall/index_products_pillars_tall.html

    And for those who have asked, ther is a place on he manufactures lik that you cn find the nearest store that carries then near you, or ... I purchased mine though QVC; here is the link to QVC and I just input " candle Impressions timer" in their search engine, to get a selection of all their timer candles

http://www.qvc.com/qic/qvcapp.aspx/view.2/app.detail/params.item.H02139.desc.CandleImpressions-S3-Embossed-ScentedFlamelessCandles-wTimer

    If this link does not work, just copy it and then past it into your http:// (address) window which should be near the top of your screen.

P.S. I now see that there is also now available a graduated-hight set, which I did not know about, so now ... I have to treat myself again, and get a few more for the coffee table and hall way, scapes. And maybe one for the patio table also.

Oh dear me, here I go again ... as Wilma and Betty used to loudly proclaim "CHARGE IT"

Until next time

.....Lynda

My Friendship Shamrock

First I want to thank Cindy for hosting the 'Show and Tell' at http://romantichome.blogspot.com/2009/11/show-tell-friday.html

This week I am featuring

My Friendship Shamrock

    A few years ago a friend insisted on stopping by for a visit on her and her husband’s way to Nevada for their winter stay-over. They had to come way out of their way. I was wondering why they where coming and I was soon to find out.

    As she walked up my front pathway from the gate I could see she had something behind her back which she soon revealed. Around came her hand holding a potted shamrock.

     “Do you remember this Lynda?” she asked.

“You gave this to me 31 years ago.”

I was shocked warmed, then tickled ...

    Yes ...she was correct, I had given her a section of my shamrock that I had in my living room, back then. I broke off a section, potted it and gave it to her as a friendship plant. And, through all the years she had kept it alive and took it when ever they moved.

    Now, she and her husband Bruce travel to Nevada every year, and the previous year they had tried to take it across the border where upon the border guard would not let the shamrock cross, so to keep it safe she asked if she may go and have someone take care of it, until they returned. She somehow found someone. If memory serves me correctly, kind strangers (I think); they just stopping at a house along the roadside and after telling them the history of the plant asked if they could leave it in their care until they returned in the spring.

    Spring arrived, Kathy and Bruce crossed the border back into Canada, returned to the kind peoples home, and retrieved the shamrock on their way back to Alberta..

    Well … that fall she wanted to make sure of shamrock’s care so she brought it back to me. Over the years, she told me, it had had many many babies given away to friends and relatives, but she assured me that the main plant that I had given her was somewhere in the middle still, it had remained, just like our friendship had through all the years …

    So, to this very day, now, my table is graced with a beautiful display our wonderful friendship, sweet little white flowers with broad emerald three petal leaves that open every day and close up at night.

    Things are not really possession, but instead, (the way I see it as) we are stewards of them, and among all the things I have stewardship over, this is one of my fondest …

Thank you Kathy and Bruce for being my friends,

I love you.

"Who's that old lady in the mirror?"

I do not know the date of the original publication of this, but a copy of the following was send to me a while back; I loved it so much I framed it and it is hanging on my bedroom wall:


Dear Readers: My cousin Ruth Davidson sent this to me. I have no idea who wrote it, but I laughed a lot.

     Senior Sentiments

A very weird thing has happened. A strange old lady had moved into my house. I have no idea who she is, where she came from of how she got in. All I know is that one day, she wasn’t there, and the next day, she was.

She manages to keep out of sight for most part, but whenever I pass a mirror, I catch a glimpse of her. And whenever I look in the mirror to check my appearance, there she is, completely obliterating my gorgeous face and body.

I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but I thick she is stealing money from me. I go to the ATM and withdraw $100.00 and a few days later it’s all gone. I certainly don’t spend money that fast.

Food also seems to disappear at an alarming rate — especially in the good stuff like ice cream, cookies and candy. She must have a real sweet tooth, but she better watch it, because she is really packing on the pounds. To make herself feel better, she is tampering with my scales to make me think I am putting on weight, too.

For an old lady, she is quite childish. She likes to play nasty games, like going into my closet when I’m not home and altering my clothes so they don’t fit. And she messes with my files and papers so I can’t find anything. She also fiddles with my VCR so it doesn’t record what I’ve programmed.

She gets into my mail, newspapers and magazines before I do, and blurs the print so I can’t read it. And she has done something really sinister to the volume controls on my TV, radio and telephone. Now all I hear are mumbles and whispers.

She has done other things — like make my stairs steeper, my vacuum cleaner heavier and all my knobs and faucets harder to turn. She even made my bed higher so that getting into and out of it is a real challenge. Lately, she had been fooling with my groceries before I put them away, applying glue to the lids, making it almost imposable for me to open the jars.

She has taken the fun out of shopping for clothes. When I try something on, she stands in front of the dressing room mirror and monopolizes it. She looks totally ridiculous in so of those outfits, plus she keeps me from seeing how great they look on me.

Just when I though she couldn’t get any meaner, she proved me wrong. She came along when I went to get my picture taken for my driver’s license and just as the camera shutter clicked, she jumped in front of me. No one is going to believe that the picture of that old lady is me.
----------------------------------------------

Ann Landers’ column appears in the Life section Monday through Saturday and in the At Home section on

Sundays.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~end of copy.
 For more information on Ann Landers'  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Landers
or Google her name http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=Ann+Landers&meta=&aq=f&oq=

An important history lesson !!!

I received this as a forwarded email today (original email authour unknown).

An important history lesson!

This is the story of women who were ground-breakers. These brave women from the early 1900s made all the difference in the lives we live today.

Remember, it was not until 1920 that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote.

The women were innocent and defenseless, but when, in North America, women picketed in front of

the White House, carrying signs asking for the vote, they were jailed.

And by the end of the first night in jail, those women were barely alive.

Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's blessing

went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of

'obstructing sidewalk traffic.'

(Lucy Burns)

They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above

her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping

for air.

(Dora Lewis)

They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her

head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cellmate,

Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack.

Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging,

beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.

Thus unfolded the 'Night of Terror' on Nov. 15, 1917,

when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his

guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because

they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right

to vote.

For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their

food--all of it colorless slop--was infested with worms.

(Alice Paul)

When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a

chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited.

She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press.

All women who have ever voted, have ever owned property, have ever enjoyed equal rights need to remember that women’s rights had to be fought for in Canada as well. Do our daughters and our sisters know the price that was paid to earn rights for women here, in North America?

2009 is the 80th Anniversary of the Persons Case in Canada,

which finally declared women in Canada to be Persons!

Please, if you are so inclined, pass this on to all the women you know, so that we remember to celebrate the rights we enjoy.

“Knowledge is Freedom: hide it, and it withers; share it, and it blooms” (P. Hill)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I honour the hight price others paid so we can live the life we now enjoy ... LMM
There is a movie about this, the title is "Iron Jawed Angels" an HBO movie, but I watched it on YouTube ...