Happy National Dog Day!

A few quotes for National Dog Day...

“Happiness is a warm puppy.” 

~ Charles M. Schulz 

  

It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog.

~Mark Twain

A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than you love yourself.

~Josh Billings

"A dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance, and to turn around three times before lying down."

~Robert Benchley 

“The world would be a nicer place if everyone had the ability to love 

as unconditionally as a dog.”

~M.K. Clinton

“The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs.”

~Charles de Gaulle

 

"Anybody who doesn't know what soap tastes like never washed a dog."

~Franklin P. Jones 

"Don't accept your dog's admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful."

~Ann Landers 

Dog charms and bracelet can be found here.

Real dogs can be found at the pound.  Go find yourself a forever friend!

The Story of the First Thanksgiving, as Told by the Residents of the Land of BrightandShinyThings

The year 1620 the Pilgrims came over



The good ship Mayflower brought them 'cross the sea.

They landed at Plymouth Rock,



Then built up their houses.

At harvest time they started our Thanksgiving Day.

Okay.  I admit it's not the whole story, and the illustrations are whimsical, but I learned the song in first grade and it's been stuck in my head ever since.

Thanksgiving BrightandShinyThings here.

Poppies for Vets

Poppies for Veteran's Day

100% of the sale price for these charms goes to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans. The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV) — a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization governed by a 17-member board of directors — is the resource and technical assistance center for a national network of community-based service providers and local, state and federal agencies that provide emergency and supportive housing, food, health services, job training and placement assistance, legal aid and case management support for hundreds of thousands of homeless veterans each year 

Story of the Poppies

In the World War I battlefields of Belgium, poppies grew wild amid the war-torn landscape. How could such a pretty flower grow wild while surrounded by death and destruction? The overturned soils of battle enabled the poppy seeds to be covered, thus allowing them to grow and to forever serve as a reminder of the bloodshed during that and future wars.

The poppy movement was inspired by the poem "In Flanders Fields" written by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae of the Canadian forces in 1915 before the United States entered World War I. Selling replicas of the original Flanders' poppy originated in some of the allied countries immediately after the Armistice.

   

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Poppies on etsy

Remember.

The Sad Tale of the Mindless Mice

Nine Mice

by Jack Prelutsky

Nine Mice on tiny tricycles 

went riding on the ice, 

they rode in spite of warning signs, 

they rode despite advice

The signs were right, the ice was thin, 

in half a trice, the mice fell in, 

and from their chin down to their toes 

those mice entirely froze.

Nine mindless mice, who paid the price, 

are thawing slowly by the ice 

still sitting on their tricycles 

…nine white and shiny micicles

etsy icicle micicles

Courtesy of Siddhant

Cats Sleep Anywhere

Cats

Eleanor Farjeon (1881-1965)

Cats sleep, anywhere,

Any table, any chair

Top of piano, window-ledge,

In the middle, on the edge,

Open drawer, empty shoe,

Anybody's lap will do,

Fitted in a cardboard box,

In the cupboard, with your frocks-
Anywhere! They don't care!

Cats sleep anywhere.

 Cornerstoregoddess cat charms on etsy and eBay.

Attack of the Cutesy Kittens

No Thank You

by Shel Silverstein

No I do not want a kitten,

No cute, cuddly kitty-poo,

No more long hair in my cornflakes,

No more midnight meowing mews.

 

No more scratchin’, snarlin’, spitters,

No more sofas clawed to shreds,

No more smell of kitty litter,

No more mousies in my bed.

No I will not take that kitten—

I’ve had lice and I’ve had fleas,

I’ve been scratched and sprayed and bitten,

I’ve developed allergies.

If you’ve got an ape, I’ll take him,

If you have a lion, that’s fine,

If you brought some walking bacon,

Leave him here, I’ll treat him kind.

I have room for mice and gerbils,

I have beds for boars and bats,

But please, please take away that kitten—

Quick—‘fore it becomes a cat.

Well…it is kind of cute at that.

Cornerstoregoddess charms available on eBay and etsy

~Shel Silverstein

The Three Vegetarian Witches

Once upon a time, there were three witches: Ursula...

Glenda...

... and Medea.

They lived together in a cottage in the woods where they mixed their potions by day and flew reconnaissance missions at night.  Their familiars ~ an owl, three black cats, spiders, a few bats ~ kept them company.  It was a good life.

But there were problems, as there always are.  

The local markets carried limp produce, brown at the edges, unappealing and bland.  There were no local farmer's markets and the ones that could be reached by broomstick had some anti-broomstick ordinances in place.

So Glenda, Medea, and Ursula started to grow their own produce.

They grew herbs for their potions and vegetables for their table.  They grew greens and tomatoes and eggplants and pumpkins and giant zucchini.  Ursula even rigged a particularly large zucchini to fly like her broom.

And life was good.

But there were problems, as there always are.    Ursula became uncomfortable with the notion of using animal parts in their brews.  Not only was it disgusting.  Have you ever tried to remove the eye from a newt?  

But it was cruel, and Ursula sat down by the cauldron with Medea and Glenda and told them her thoughts.  It turned out that Medea and Glenda has similar reservations.  They no sooner wanted to dice the tongue of a frog than sit through a Justin Bieber concert.

But witches throughout history had used these ingredients.  They were in all the spell books.  There was no Nouvelle Spell Cuisine from which to draw.


How could they make powerful potions without animal parts?

Still, the witches resolved that they would harm no more animals making their brews.  They used their organic herbs and vegetables, and the potions were  cruelty-free.  Unfortunately, they weren't especially potent.

So again they sat down to think while the cauldron simmered and bubbled.

Medea started to pace.  She walked the paths around the cottage, and as she paced, she noticed the various stones around her.  They were ordinary stones.  Some were volcanic, some sedimentary, some metamorphic.  But each was different and unique.  This gave Medea and idea.

She hurried back to the cauldron, rocks in both hands, passing some toads who fled at her approach.

"My dears," she exclaimed.  "Look at these rocks!"

Glenda and Ursula stared, not sure what Medea's point could be.

"Think about it," she said.  "Each rock is different and unique.  Each, it might be said, has a unique power."

Glenda and Ursula had to agree.  They had several volumes about rocks in their library.  "Suppose," Medea continued, "we could obtain the same powers from rocks that we obtain from caterpillar knees.  Suppose certain rocks could grant the same serenity we create with terrapin tonsils.  Would that not be a wonderful advance?"

And so Medea and Ursula and Glenda went to their books.  They read and researched and studied by night.  By day they collected stones and rocks and amulets.  They traded pattypan squash for quartz and rutabagas for aventurine and radishes for jasper.

Finally they were ready to begin their experiments.  They mixed herbs and vegetables and served them in goblets carved of gemstones.  Little by little, day by day, their potions became more powerful, more specific.

Each day was filled with new discoveries.  Each night was filled with new recipes.  Soon other witches flocked to the cottage to learn the mysteries Glenda, Medea, and Ursula had unveiled.  They started to blog about their recipes, and even began writing a cookbook.

Their goal: vegetarian witches with potent organic brews.  They would appreciate it if you would become a follower of their blog.  And maybe put in an advance order on  Amazon for the cookbook.  They'd also appreciate it if you took the pledge: I will not make potions with toad tongue.

Glenda, Ursula, and Medea thank you for your support.

Ursula, btw, is pursuing her own interests, making better flying zero-emissions zucchini to replace brooms.  She tried working with pattypan squash for a while, but found the aerodynamics challenging.

A bracelet with all their endeavors (except the zucchini) can be found here.