Thinking poem, Mollie makes, and antique Sajou patterns....

I wanted to share with my readers a  wonderful little poem,  which I firmly believe everyone should take the time to commit to memory !

 Thinking

If you think you are beaten, you are

If you think you dare not, you don't,

If you like to win, but you think you can't

It is almost certain you won't.

If you think you'll lose, you've lost

For out of the world we find,

Success begins with a fellow's will

It's all in the state of mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are

You've got to think high to rise,

You've got to be sure of yourself before

You can ever win a prize.

Life's battles don't always go

To the stronger or faster man,

But soon or late the man who wins

Is the man WHO THINKS HE CAN!

Walter D. Wintle

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Sail boat

Sajou dog

   Here are some photos of two antique Sajou patterns I recently re-charted. The patterns are monochrome, and would have been used to make filet crochet, or lacis squares. The squares could then be stitched together to make a bedspread, cushion cover, or  as an insert for other household or decorative linens. 

   Monochrome patterns can also be used with Hama beads, petit seed beads, miniatures,  cross stitch, tapestry, knitting, and any other form of counted embroidery or craft project.

   I would love to see someone re-create antique embroidery patterns with legos...

   The re-charted patterns are available here, along with other antique monochrome charts:

 https://www.etsy.com/shop/rolanddesigns?section_id=7763681&ref=shopsection_leftnav_5

 

Most Sajou patterns have an impressive collection of award stamps.

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     I came home from work one afternoon to find that my 9 years old daughter- Emilie, had ripped open the package of my Mollie Makes magazine, and tore through the paper envelope of the accompanying free gift.

     She likes to do arts-and-crafts, and declared that she was simply looking for good ideas...As would be expected, in her eagerness she must have dropped everything on the floor so some items went missing... namely the gaudy blue plastic button that was meant to adorn the brooch kit.

     In a way it worked out well, as the blue button was rather ugly and when I made up the little floral cloth brooch I used an old button from my stash ( which I hide from my daughters... for good reasons ! ).

Mollie Makes issue 39

Little floral brooch that took no more than 10 mns to make

The little felt bit, covers nicely the loose threads and holds everything in place.

Crochet Easter eggs, spring and a little progress.....

     Spring is here, and this year it came a little earlier than usual for Norway. But we shan't complain, the winter is over and the spring bulbs are growing. Every spring I tip-top around the garden checking all the places where I hid bulbs the autumn before, hoping to see little green shoots....

IN THE BREAST OF A BULB

IS THE PROMISE OF SPRING;

IN THE LITTLE BLUE EGG

IS A BIRD THAT WILL SING;

IN THE SOUL OF A SEED

IS THE HOPE OF THE SOD;

IN THE HEART OF A CHILD

IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD.

                                                        WILLIAM L. STIDGER 

The first flowers of the year, some yellow crocuses.

    With Easter around the corner, I wanted to do a simple project, something that could use up some of my leftover yarn. I started by knitting a little Easter egg, but I felt it just looked  somewhat ' odd', so I decided to try some amigurumi eggs instead - crochet being so much more versatile for 3d objects.

    So here are my Easter eggs, they were so simple and took only about 10 minutes to crochet, and 5 more minutes to attach the ribbon and tuck in the threads.

   For those who are interested the pattern I used is here :  http://thecraftfrog.com/2010/06/28/eggs/

Amigurumi Easter eggs

A few twigs from the garden

   For those who love cross stitch, here is a photo of the progress made on ' Berlin posy'. I was missing some of the colors, and had to order threads so it is taking a little longer than planned to finish.

Berlin posy

Winter snow...

     After a most abnormally warm December, the snow did make its appearance, and this time with a revenge..... snow, snow, snow... now that I think about it, between the endless December rain and the January snow we have seen very little of the sun !

Waiting for the spring

    But, despite the cold and snow, I have a window ledge filled with pretty Kalanchoe in bloom. Those little plants are so neat, you just nip off a leave, place it in damp earth and it grows roots.

Red Kalanchoe

A yellow kalanchoe blooms in the middle of winter

And in pink....

Such lovely little blooms

A little poem about the winter... wasn't able to find the name of the author though.

A snow cave in the garden.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014

 HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014 !

 

I was thinking recently about my New Year's blog post.

Should I write down my goals, dreams, or wishes for 2014 ?

Should I brag about my successes, and  progresses accomplished  in 2013?

Should I bemoan my regrets and failures the past year ?

No, not this time ! I keep my blog updated, and my 2014 resolutions are all too familiarly the same as last years…. Must I bore my readers with more weight loss related goals ?

A few days ago I was going through a rather over filled drawer in my vanity table, I don’t actually keep any make-up or cosmetics on it as the light is dim in my room and I do prefer using the bathroom mirror. I just use the table as a place to write my diary, and use the drawers for magazines, books, and a very large collection of pens….

I had to make place for my 2014 diary, and in the process of rearranging the drawer to accommodate it I found my old poetry book, the one I use to write all my favorites proses and rhymes in. I hadn’t opened it in over a year, and chuckled a bit at my selection. Then this little poem caught my eyes, and as if to confirm its importance an old acquaintance posted it on facebook the same day.

So here is to success in the coming year ! 

 

What is success ?

To laugh often and much: To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, 
to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; 
to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, 
to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;
to know even one life has breathed easier because you lived. 
This is to have succeeded.

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

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On another note, this has been a rather ' warm, and peculiarly rainy' December month for Norway, and look what I found blooming in my flower  bed – some hyacinths !

The rose damask......

Here is another lovely poem from H.M. Ruffs album

Penned in beautiful calligraphy, here is a beautiful poem from a time period when the ideal young woman was represented as demure, and modest.

A quick search through the internet to see if I could find more information about this poem, or who wrote it showed a lot of similar ‘ damask rose’ quotes, poems and such but none similar to this one. 

Perhaps it has been forgotten with the passage of time…..

Rose damask

The rose damask, or the lilies white,

Whose charms beam forth unsullied to the sight,

More lovely and enchanting cannot be

Than is the blush of female modesty.

Have you not marked the pearly drop of dew

Reposing on the leaf when morn is new,

In varied hues reflecting back the ray

That streamed resplendent from the king of day.

Thus, with modesty endued, the female min

( Still more when in a beauteous form enshrined )

Reflect with added lustre virtues rays,

And brings to female worth renewed praise.

The mountain flower breath not a pure air,

Than ever dwells around the modest fair;

The rolling sun a lovelier scene never views

Than beauty’s cheeks  when touched with blushing hues.

Signed Stranger, and a date at the bottom written in a different handwriting :

Basso Sept 17 th, 1833

Beautiful penmanship, there are a few spelling mistakes, but maybe they spelled English a little differently back then ?

Signed Stranger twice - ?

.

A Victorian notebook

Victorian noteb   

     I recently purchased a little notebook which the seller said she found in an old box full of late 1800’s books. I acquired it at a real bargain price as it was scuffed, did not have a date and I would dare say half the content is written in a nearly un-readable hand….. but that is always how you find treasures.

    What attracted me to it was that it contained poems, and now I will ask my gentle readers if they have read any of them before….. 

The first one which is very long starts with :

It was in a country hospital

One …..?... winter day

A decent women asked to see

Young ….?...Gray.

    The writing is really hard to read, so I will try to take some time to decipher it. There are several other poems, also in terrible handwriting. 

    But here is one that is written in a nicer script :

It was a wig

Our Grandpapa.

Was very fond

Of sleeping in his chair,

He’d take it in

The garden, when

The day was bright and fair.

One sunny day

He fell asleep,

The sun shone on his hair;

Some naughty boys

Caught sight of him,

As he lay sleeping there.

Said they ‘ What fun

‘t would be to tie

His hair fast to the chair !’

And so they got

A piece of string

And fastened Grandpapa  there !

They hid behind

The trees close by,

Waiting to see the fun.

And ready, when

They saw him wake,

Quick down the lane to run.

A fly jumped on

Poor Grandpapa’s nose !

He got up with a bound !

And when those bad.

Boys peeped, they saw

His hair upon the ground !

They ran away

In dreadful fright,

They thought that he was dead,

They didn’t know

That Grandpapa wore

A wig upon his head !

There is one full address :

Charles Elwef Fulwood

Potteric Carr, Loversall. Doncaster

    I found the address, it is a natural reserve, and there is a Charles E. Fulwood  in the 1901 census who was born in 1866.

    There is another address for a Miss Brown, who lived in Yorkshire.

On the front cover there is a name :

Mary ….?... Fulwood ….?...

Title Young …?...Gray.

    It is in the same rough hand writing of the first poem which runs over 14 pages, but a look online gave me 100’s of Mary Fulwood.

    Can I make my conclusion that this might be an original poem by a lady called Mary Fulwood, written sometime during the Victorian era ?

Mary ? Fulwood

' It was in a country hospital.....'

It was  a wig

Parlour game scores ?