I’m incorporating historical quilts into Zazzle products for a store, quilts_etc, to go with Karen’s blog: Quilts…etc.  These are the first ones.

Harriet Powers – Pictorial Quilt 1898

Harriet Powers (October 29, 1837 – January 1, 1910) was an African-American slave, folk artist and quilt maker from rural Georgia. She used traditional appliqué techniques to record local legends, Bible stories, and astronomical events on her quilts. Only two of her quilts have survived: Bible Quilt 1886 and Pictorial Quilt 1898. (Wikipedia)

• Museum of Fine Arts, Boston;
• Cotton plain weave, pieced, appliqued, embroidered, and quilted
• Height: 1,750 mm (68.9 in). Width: 2,667 mm (105 in).

House Medallion with Multiple Borders

Los Angeles County Museum of Art image

• United States, circa 1880
• Textiles; quilts
• Pieced and quilted cotton
• 78 1/2 x 78 1/2 in. (199.4 x 199.4 cm.)
• American Quilt Research Center Acquisition Fund

Presentation Quilt, ‘Oak Leaf and Reel’

Los Angeles County Museum of Art image

• United States, Pennsylvania, Bucks County, 1845-1850
• Textiles; quilts
• Pieced and appliquéd cotton plain weave, with ink inscriptions
• 103 1/2 x 102 3/4 in. (262.9 x 260.98 cm)
• Gift of The Betty Horton Collection

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While doing some research on trailer sway, I came across this video.  Something bad happens.

By MARTIN BUNN (Popular Science, December 1936)

THAT’S one fad that won’t last long!” Nate Pendleton remarked derisively, as his eyes followed a trim, streamline motor trailer skimming smoothly down the road behind a smart new sedan.

Gus Wilson, half owner of the Model Garage, hung up the gas hose and replaced the filler cap on Pendleton’s car. He smiled slowly. “Maybe so, Nate, maybe so,” he observed, watching the trailer outfit disappear around a bend in the road. “But you’ve got to remember that it’s a fad that has been popular, in one form or another, for a long time now. If it weren’t for the fact that lots of our ancestors had a mighty strong urge to go places and do things, we wouldn’t be here today. Touring in an automobile is just a modem form of that instinct, I guess.”front yard.”  (Read entire article here)

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I know our winter hasn’t been as harsh as what many have experienced this year, but I’m tired of it.  I’m not complaining.  It is what it is.  But I’m tired of it.

We usually get some cold weather and, most years, a bit of snow and ice, but we also usually have some pretty nice weather on a lot of Arkansas winter days.  Most years, in fact, a lot of the grassy vegetation actually stays green and it’s warm enough that our electricity usage doesn’t rise too much above that of rest of the year.

Not this year, though.

It got cold in late November and has pretty much stayed cold ever since, cold enough that almost all of the vegetation is now brown. We really haven’t gotten any more snow and ice than normal.  In fact, it’s been pretty dry this year and, with the dry vegetation, there have been more winter wildfires than normal.

We did have one ice storm in early December that resulted in extensive power outages in our area, including us.  Fortunately, we had plenty of  advanced warning and had the house connected to the camper generator so that we could power lights in a couple of rooms and a few electrical outlets.  Power was out for us for about 10 hours or so.  Some people on the local rural electric coop didn’t get power back for nearly a week.

And the heat pump seems to be on constantly.  I know it cycles on and off, but it certainly has been getting a workout this year and seems to be more on than off.

We don’t use or fireplace much, even though it has an insert with a blower.  It’s a backup heat source for us, in case we lose power or a problem with the heat pump.  What firewood we have is reserved for those kind of emergencies.

Some people say that this winter is the way winter used to be.  If so, winter used to really suck.

I hope this isn’t the so-called “new normal” for winter weather.

3 pieces from the Bill Murray Movie plus a Cartoon.

Groundhog Day – Alarm Clock scenes

Groundhog Day – “I’m a god” scene

Groundhog Day: the Ned scenes

Woody Woodpecker: Pantry Panic (1941) [HD]:

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