This and That: A Blog

 I went to a yard sale last month that had not only dog figurines, but ephemera, including postcards!  Lots of dogs... The marked ones were made in Japan, and most of the unmarked probably were as well.  Perhaps not the carved wood ones though.  That's more of a US folk art thing. Here are two wooden ones.  The black one is pretty big, and was only 25¢.  The sitting schnauzer was $2.  The little Scottish terrier is celluloid, c.1930s to early 1950s.  He was $2 as well.  My favorite is probably the sitting chalkware dachshund that dates to the same period as the Scottie, 30s-early 50s.  Chalkware (chalkware is the collectibles name for plaster of Paris) was a popular material for carnival prizes.  $1.  The black Scottie was 50¢ and the redware boxer/bully, $1, both from the 1950s. The little spotted dog, the setter, and what looks to me to be an American Eskimo dog, were $1 each.  The shepherd type was 50¢. Salt and pepper ...

 Geology is the theme this week for Sunday Stamps . Soviet Union 1968 Soviet Geology series  Mineral Wealth - the material basis for the development of heavy industry of the USSR Prospector Geologist  Oil Derreck at Survey Camp  Seismic Surveying  Vacation Destinations is up next week.

Link for Shadow Shot Sunday  Linking to The Weekend in Black and White What was I Reading in the Car?   Burning Wyclif by Thom Satterlee  The shadow is the steering wheel.

 Those who participate, or have participated in the past, in the April Blogging from A to Z Challenge know that the team picked several bloggers to write a guest post.  I was one of them, and my post is now live on the A to Z site!  I wrote about Blog Hops and how they keep our blogging momentum going after April.   How Blog Hops Keep the A-Z Spirit Alive Year-Round Today's other post, Thursday Postcard Hunt , is one blog hop I participate in.  If you find yourself wanting to post more often to your blog (or start blogging), you may find blog hops an easy way to get started.  The ideas are already there to get you up and running  writing!  

 This week for Thursday Postcard Hunt 's Travelling theme is Animals. It's not just people that can travel by animal, these postcards show not only people, but gold prospecting equipment, wine, water, and milk "traveling" by animal!  Dog-Cart Ride  And sometimes we'll stop by the road side, where the little brook babbles along, And there from your lips love's nectar I'll sip, as it sings us its  evening song. c.1900-1910 A dog-cart is a small two-wheeled horse-drawn (sometimes dog-drawn) carriage. Gold Fever Early Days in the Black Hills, 1940s  Carro da Vino (Wine Cart) in Italy, c.1905 A Mexican Water Carrier c.1910-1920 Milk Vendors with a dog-drawn dog-cart in Belgium  Postmark 1908 Next week finishes up the Travelling theme with Buses and/or Cars.

 I was early to an appointment so stopped in a the Goodwill at the other end of town.  Finally, some artwork worth buying!  Finally, anything worth buying.  It's been pretty dismal at the Goodwill stores for a few months. This was an instant " Yes !" as ravens are a member of my favorite bird family,  Corvidae. " That's So Raven ," a silkscreen numbered (4/10) print by local artist Kassia Zegzdryn (Jackaloop Design).  $4.40  It's pretty big, and the colors brighter than this looks.  Postcards From the Edge I  (The Leaning Tower of Pisa) and Postcards From the Edge II ( Cathedral Santa Maria de Fiore, Florence) , paper collages by Melissa Markell .  Titles, dates, and signature of the artist are on the backs.  Of course these caught my eye with the word " Postcard ."  The artist uses vintage ephemera and her own handmade paper in her works, which sell for more than I expected.  Only one had a price sticker, and I suggested...

 Once again, an assortment of things.  Golden King of Siberia , but the ants got into it, so all I got was a bite in the garden before I threw it out.  It was yellower than this photo looks.  There are more to ripen, just not so big.  I am getting Sungold  cherry tomatoes, and a few small  Pantano Romanesco , with larger ones growing. This small praying mantis ended up on me when I was picking bush beans.  A few days later a smaller brown one did too.  But, I didn't notice until I started to come in and wondered what sort of leaf I had stuck on my shoulder (I could see it out of the corner of my eye!).  I thought it fell off in the house, but it had moved to my other shoulder.  So, I went back outside and had the wise idea to shake out my hair!  If fell off my head and was fine. I like them, they are very beneficial, but not on my head!   At the park I saw these empty bird's nest fungus "nests." And these fungus....