Earth Day 2009 . . .

"Take care of the earth
and she will take care of you."
Author Unknown

"Don't blow it - good planets are hard to find."
Quoted in Time Magazine

Soup Kitchens for Pets . . .

Pet soup kitchens are becoming more popular, as more people -- and welfare organizations -- seek to establish a cheap, community-based means of supporting pet owners in need.

To learn more about pet food pantries, please watch video story here.

Pets are people too. My own dog endorses all projects that provide for animals.

Thanks for stopping by the cottage today. ♥Rosemary and Webster

Photo Courtesy of Best Friends Animal Society

GREY GARDENS before and after with slide show + video + footage from the original documentary film

Many of you are watching GREY GARDENS on HBO. I wonder how many of you saw the original documentary film that was made 34 years ago by Albert Maysles and his brother. I found it at my local library years ago and found it very difficult to watch.

Thirty-four years after a documentary film introduced the world to Grey Gardens and its eccentric occupants, a new movie on HBO is again casting light on the legend of this East Hampton property. In 1979, when the last photo was taken, Sally Quinn, the writer and Washington hostess, and her husband Benjamin Bradlee, former editor of The Washington Post, purchased the property, which had fallen into complete disarray, and set out to restore it to its earlier splendor.

View the slide show with 12 photos via The New York Times.

Albert Maysles visited Grey Gardens to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his film several years ago after the house and gardens were restored. This 10-minute film from YouTube shows Maysles' reaction with footage from the original documentary. This will give you a glimpse into the "real Grey Gardens" and the two Edies. Don't say I didn't warn you about how shocking it was while the two eccentrics were in residence.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today for a visit. I hope you found this post to be informative and entertaining. I don't have HBO, do you? Should I get it? Are you enjoying Grey Gardens? Let me know. ♥Rosemary

Life's Little Instruction Book, pages 72 + 73 . . .

...To be continued...

Insomnia (If You Are Sleepless) . . .

This seemed like a pleasant thing to post at the end of this lovely day. Hopefully you will sleep like a log and not need these instructions. Pleasant dreams when you tuck in.

"The best cure for insomnia is Monday morning."

Hallmark Hall of Fame ~ "must-see" TV tonight . . .

More still photos and full article about the program.

I am looking forward to seeing Anna Paquin on Hallmark Hall of Fame tonight at 9pm on CBS. “The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler” is based upon the true story a Polish Catholic social worker in the early 1940s who is credited with saving the lives of 2,500 Jewish children during World War II.

Check the local listings for your area. This is on the CBS network, not the Hallmark Channel.

You've got to AC-CENT-CHU-ATE THE POSITIVE (Bing Crosby) + Video . . .

You've got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between
Song lyrics here.

Bing Crosby

This YouTube video is from The Singing Detective with Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters singing in the background. I am going to see if this old BBC series is available at my local library. It looks great. There was a 2003 (American) movie too but the English TV series looks way better.

I hope this brightens your Sunday morning and inspires you to accentuate the positive all day long!

Life's Little Instruction Book, pages 70 + 71 . . .

...To be continued...

"The bluebird carries the sky on his back." Henry David Thoreau quote . . .

I have bluebirds on my property and it never fails to thrill me each time I see one.

Happy Friday everyone! The weatherman has promised me a 70 degree day. I think I should try to organize my gardening tools and get ready to play outside later.

Enjoy your upcoming weekend. ♥Rosemary

Mahatma Gandhi Objects Top $2 Million at auction . . .

Mahatma Gandhi's circa 1920 pocket watch, Gandhi's sandals, bowl, plate, glasses, and images of Gandhi with letters of authenticity realized $2,096,000 in New York City at Antiquorum Auctioneers' sale of important collectors' wristwatches, pocket watches and clocks on March 4 and 5, 2009.

The auction room was unusually overflowing with collectors, enthusiasts of horology and members of the press — curious to see the outcome of the bidding on Mahatma Gandhi's pocket watch and personal belongings.

Even if you sing poorly, sing. . .

Susan Boyle from Britain's Got Talent is my hero . . .

Susan Boyle. Not pretty, not slim, not young (48 years old), unmarried, never had a date, never been kissed, unemployed, an object of small-town ridicule (Scotland), and dressed like a frump. The entire audience was ready to boo her off the stage in a British talent search before she even started.
She lives with her cat Pebbles and is the youngest of 9 children in a musical family. Her mom died 2 years ago. What a pity...she would have been so proud!

Britain’s Got Talent rising star Susan Boyle has revealed to The Mirror that she hated how she looked on Saturday night’s show. Susan, 48 told the newspaper: “They say that television makes you look fat and it certainly did. “I looked like a garage. It was mortifying to see and a bit of a shock. I didn’t realise I could reduce people to tears and I hope it wasn’t because of that.” (She's funny too!)

Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent

The amazing Susan Boyle was such a huge hit on Saturday night’s Britain’s Got Talent show that she is said to have offers of work pouring in already.

Susan shocked the nation when she ambled onto stage and belted out ‘I Dream A Dream’ from Les Miserables. The video of her performance has racked up more than seven million views on YouTube and The Sun reports that Simon Cowell will now offer her a record deal whether she wins the show or not.

Piers Morgan told the newspaper: “As I watched Susan’s performance back, I texted Simon in Hollywood: ‘My god, she was even better than I remembered — she’s unbelievable’.

WAY TO GO, SUSAN! Everybody loves an underdog and we certainly love you!

Life's Little Instruction Book, pages 68 + 69 . . .

...To be continued...

One year in 40 seconds [video] from snow to summer and back . . .

One year in 40 seconds from Eirik Solheim on Vimeo.

Images from the same spot through one entire year. Audio captured at the same place.
His last video was entitled: One year in 2 minutes.
Was it too long...getting too few viewers?
Was the same thing accomplished in 40 seconds?
Methinks more people would watch the 40-second one. A sign of the times?

Oranges are so interesting . . .

• In Afghanistan, oranges are customarily used as a seasoning at the dinner table; oranges are squeezed over the food to help cut grease.


• In Jamaica, people clean their floors with an orange cut in half; mechanics there use oranges to clean away grease and oil.


• Spain has over 35,000,000 orange trees.


• In Switzerland, oranges are sometimes served smothered with sugar and whipped cream.


• Europeans sometimes eat oranges with knives and forks.


• It wasn’t until after the Second World War that commercial orange-juice concentrate became available in America.


• The taste and aroma of oranges differ by season, county, state, and country, and even in the position in which it grew on the tree.


• The outside color of an orange has no absolute correlation with the maturity of the fruit and juice inside.


• Oranges were used in cosmetics by ladies of the French court in the 17th-century.


• The navel orange is one of the oldest varieties of oranges.


• About 25 billion oranges are typically grown in the United States each year.


• Many orange varieties float when placed in water; very sweet varieties, however, sink to the bottom.


• In the 19th-century orange blossoms were regularly shipped to Paris in salted barrels, because no French bride wanted to be married without wearing or holding them.


• Lightning kills as many orange trees as any disease.


• 17th-century Frenchmen liked to pour orange juice over their roasted chestnuts.

Orange you glad I'm finished? More facts about oranges.

Photo: Bowl of oranges in an antique Georgian glass bowl in my kitchen.