Fox and Crow

The Fox and the Crow (Aesop)

A Fox once saw a Crow fly off with a piece of cheese in its beak and settle on a branch of a tree. 

“That’s for me, as I am a Fox,” said Master Reynard, and he walked up to the foot of the tree.

 “Good-day, Mistress Crow,” he cried. “How well you are looking to-day: how glossy your feathers; how bright your eye. I feel sure your voice must surpass that of other birds, just as your figure does; let me hear but one song from you that I may greet you as the Queen of Birds.” 

The Crow lifted up her head and began to caw her best, but the moment she opened her mouth the piece of cheese fell to the ground, only to be snapped up by Master Fox. “That will do,” said he.

 “That was all I wanted. In exchange for your cheese I will give you a piece of advice for the future.

“Do not trust flatterers.”

In remembrance of  a recently departed, dear button club member whose name is a variant of Crow. 

The fox and crow picture button of brass and riveted cut steel, which is just 1/2 inch across,
is from her collection.

She was a very clever woman who never would have fallen for M. Reynaud's transparent trickery.

Sewing Susan - Always in Vogue

Susan and pals looking stylish in the '40s.

And in the '60s.

How many differences can you spot?

Just a Thought

Ruffles and Rickrack

We did some sewing for a girl!

It was pretty fun.

Chippewa County Critters 911

Something odd was going on in the animal kingdom the first week of February.

We are used to this kind of report. 

This is Wisconsin. We have cows. One occasionally gets out and stupidly stands in the road. 

Someone has to tell them to move along or they will hang around all day enjoying the scenery.

This kind of call to the authorities is a little less common, but again, this is Wisconsin, 

we have raccoons, and they sometimes wander where they are not welcome, 

but we have to wonder...if there is a raccoon in a nursing home is the descriptor "stray" really necessary? 

A stray dog in your yard, yes. It is not your dog. It is has strayed from its own yard. 

But unless the nursing home has a pet raccoon and then discovers another raccoon has entered the building pretty much any raccoon on the premises is stray and does not need to be identified as such.

Here's a head-scratcher. 

So many questions occur that we don't even know which one to pose first,

but we are dying to know how it all turned out. 

And of course we are hoping upon hope that the animal three-feet long turned out to be a mongoose.

Rest of the story anyone?

What's That?

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Could You Bee Mine?

Please honey.

Would You Be Mine?

Could you be mine?

I'd like to be yours!

Sow in Love

No eyelash batting or soppy poetry here. 

Just the straight-as-a-furrow facts.

The Road to Bliss

 As long as they don't get lost and have to ask for directions.

Super and Slinky

Do you have a valentine gift for your special guy or gal yet?

Check out this possibility found on the Etsy Blog.

 Etsy seller and creative spirit Virginie Rouffignac has the right idea with her

 Liberating and very fun lingerie.

Sweethearts Forever

We've come into another large stash of vintage valentines apparently saved by one recipient 

over many years and for many years. 

And we are again surprised that the one holding onto these precious sentiments is male. 

In this case it was a young man from Bloomer who cherished these sweet scraps from Emma, Lucille, Kenneth, Verona, Ila, and others enough to keep them around for, by our estimate, up to 70 years.

Do you still have your schooldays valentines? Sadly, ours are long gone.

Video Valentine

We aren't really up on the current music scene, but with the help of others we sometimes happen upon little ditties that capture our fancy. Found at magpie & cake this version of You and I by the New Zealand folk rock band Avalanche City is a pretty much perfect audiovisual valentine with a crafty element to boot.



The lyrics are so sweet. Each stanza could be a valentine in itself.

But as the women at magpie & cake point out, the highlighted sentiment in the fourth stanza
would win the heart of any fabriholic. It did ours.

If you had an empty suitcase

I'd help you to pack it tight
And if you were afraid of darkness
Well I would stay till it was light

If you were a super model
I would help you lift your bags
I'd push those paparazzi over
So you could get inside your cab

If you found your toothpaste empty
I would squeeze out just a little more
If you had the sweetest victory
I'd high five you till our hands were sore

If you were scared and worried
I would keep you safe and sound
If you were addicted to fabric
You could fill a whole room in our house

If we climbed the highest tree top
And you said you couldn't climb back down
I would build the finest tree house
For our new life above the ground

And when you smile at me so sweetly
I love what happens in your eyes
When they open up to me my darling
Its all I need and its so right

Oh I have got a thousand reasons
For you to come away with me
The more I look the better you seem
And I hope that in your heart you see

Cause I believe that you are all I want
Cause I believe that you and I belong
 and, I belong. 

Be Very Careful

Most people would not consider Valentine's Day a dangerous holiday, 

but someone we know would say it is the most dangerous of all.

Peril #1 - forgetting it.

Peril #2 - remembering, but failing to act.

Peril # 3 - contradictory messages sent by the retail industry and sometimes the valentine recipient. 

Big boxes of chocolate and small pieces of lingerie seem like an ill-fated combo. 

And we all know what's really at stake now don't we?

So, we will do our part to keep you out of danger by reminding you daily of the approaching day for hearts and flowers, but really other than that you're on your own.

Be careful, very careful.

Legend or Just a Yarn?

Our first dog, Bezoar, who was aptly named even before the quality of her adult coat was apparent, was so fluffy - How fluffy was she? - that we saved her fur after brushing and had a friend spin some yarn for us.

Here is what is leftover from knitting two stocking hats of the wonderfully soft fiber 25 years ago. 

While knitting with this sumptuous yarn more than one person thought we were working with angora.

The hats were good-looking and whether it was true or not we always joked that if worn in the rain,
the wearer was taking the risk of smelling like a wet dog.

Paintbrush to Pastrybrush

They Draw and Cook is fun, fun, fun. At this wonderful website illustrators use their unique styles to give recipes visual flair alongside, swirling around, or in place of the instructions. The site is great for grownup cooks, but if we had little ones around we would be printing these colorful pages off all the time for 

kitchen capers with the kiddos. 

Searching the recipe collection by ingredient we found 59 different beautiful and tasty choices for beans.

 Here are just a few to show you the variety of illustration and cooking that you may find 

at They Draw and Cook:

Rootin' Tootin' Beans by Pierre Lamielle



No-meatballs by Jennifer Bell



Kick Start Calico Bean Salad by Anne Mitchell



Israeli Thick Lentil Soup by Karl Fekete



Seven Layer Dip by Adrienne Saldivar



Butter Beans with Mint by Salli Swindell

The creative brother-sister team of Nate and Salli host They Draw and Cook and are the figureheads of 

the Dial-a-Dinner option. Go ahead. Give it a spin!

Check out the beverages too. Its clever illustration may tempt you to try this one.