Hee hee hah hee. MTO wins the prize for number 2. It's my hair. But I think the program was more complimentary yesterday. The first time I checked out my golden locks things like copper, golden light, and yellow gold were mentioned. But today in the kitchen I was "rock" and "rodeo dust" and "crater brown". It's kind of cool that this little thing makes it clear that the organic world (including hair) has way more color variation in it than things that are manufactured. When I checked out the bricks on the east side of my house this morning it repeated color names multiple times. Item 1 and item 2 (my hair) pretty much said something different every few seconds as I moved the camera, repeating the same color only rarely. Don't know why but I just love pointing this thing up at the sky. All the blues it comes up with on a sunny day; all the shades of grey for clouds. There is another ap that reduces the colors to a more manaegeable number. Maybe that one will help me find my purple socks.

Here's an update from me! 1.Bulbous Bonanza Iris-Candy Apple and Daylily Avis Jean - JAYEANNE - shipped today 2. Naturally Native - Spicebush, Black Cohosh and Virgin's Bower seedlings - PEGGY - waiting for cooler temps 3. 6 issues of Better Homes and Gardens magazine - VINA - shipped today Shirley, I think your bird is a Yellowlegs, and I lean towards the Lesser Yellowlegs. Love the photo of your daughters, Heidi! Shirley, I received your magazines today! Yay!! I did not receive your email. BOO!!! I am jealous of the Giant Swallowtails gracing the gardens of Shirley and Ruth! That's so exciting.

The reason I looked to the dates I chose: You can purchase all of those tacks today on the internet. But you would not likely see the ones on the wings on older furnishings (too modern for a 20's piece). The variety is lovely, but more recent than the early part of the century. Secondly, the velvet. It is likely professional felted velvet, which starts out basically worn (it has less nub than real velvet you'd find on clothing). Clothing velvet is too slippery for the base of a piece of art. Felted velvet is very very thin and wears quickly because of that if it's seen any time). But let's just play that it's real velvet of the period (which would have been silk velvet most likely if we're talking early 1900's). I have a couple silk velvet gowns from the 30's hanging in the closet. I wear them to formal events and have owned many. They all have different stages of wear on them, but if I'm going to wear them in person, they look basically new. So you can't say that because it's X years old it has to look like Y. Use determines the wear most often as well as conditions (ie sliding over a counter or shelf off and on will wear more than a dress that's danced in). But still being a basically unknown artists piece, you don't know where that velvet came from. It could be a scrap from my 1920's velvet dress, reused from grandma's sewing basket (but unlikely again because it wouldn't be stiff enough for a base) or it could be some old piece they picked up at a garage sale, or most likely, given that the piece is an obvious planned piece, it's felted velvet specifically used for the base of a sculpture or lamp. That stuff shows wear day one. Turn over a lamp and see what you see. I could turn over a couple of lamps I have from 10 years ago and show you wear. But the big issue is the takcs. Those wing tacks just aren't that old. Too shiney, too big, too not early 1900's :) But still, and I'll say it again LOL Still beautiful. I hope you are able to find out more, but I'd guess you won't be. It's a cool art piece and should be enjoyed as such. I would even go so far as to say it has a decent value, but you need the right person to set that price (a specialist in folk art etc). I know I'd buy it LOL

I have (had) some Tahini Paste (sesame seed paste) in my pantry. I actually made so Hummus and it was really good. Here's the recipe: 1 can (15ozs) chickpeas 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice 1/2 cup tahini 1/4 cup chopped yellow onion 3 cloves garlic, chopped 2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil 2 tsp ground cumin 1/8 tsp ground red pepper 1/2 tsp salt Chopped fresh parsley Drain the chickpeas, reserving 1/4 -1/2 cup of the liquid Combine the chickpeas, lemon juice, tahini, onion, garlic, oil, cumin, parsley, pepper and salt in a blender or food processor. Puree until smooth, adding the chickpea liquid if needed to thin the puree. Refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours before serving to blend the flavors. Serve with veggies. Linda