SPEND LESS and GIVE MORE this holiday season . . .

This is a screen shot from my computer. You can enlarge the picture but it is not a live link. Please watch the YouTube video below and learn about Toms Shoes plan to give away 30,000 pairs of shoes to children in Ethiopia in just 30 days. For each pair you buy, Tom's gives away a free pair to these needy children. Open up your hearts. This is a win/win for everyone. You get a pair of shoes with free shipping for yourself or someone on your gift list and an Ethiopian child gets a pair too. So you get and give at the same time!

Please watch!

UPDATE...GOAL REACHED...37,000 pairs sold!

Please post about this wonderful humanitarian endeavor on your blog and choose one of their many banners to display in your sidebar. Mine is at the top and will stay there for the whole month of December.

This holiday season, SPEND LESS AND GIVE MORE!
Visit Toms Shoes today.

UPDATE ~ Other bloggers who are posting about this worthy cause.

Sabina at Barefoot in the Orchard

Tina at Gal Friday is displaying a banner in her sidebar.

Let me know how you are participating and I will add your name to the list.

Friends of TOMS is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to mobilizing, connecting, and empowering individuals who want to give further aid to communities served by the TOMS One for One mission.

If you would like to donate to their movement to eradicate Podoconiosis in Ethiopia, you can send your donations to:

Friends of TOMS
3025 Olympic Blvd.
Studio C
Santa Monica, CA 90404

Such a beautiful place to work . . .

I love this private library/writing studio in the treetops.


Private Library from A Space In Time on Vimeo.

Andrew Berman, Architect

Christie's September 25, 2008 Americana Sale . . .

Rare Monhegan Island-style red-breasted merganser drake carved by Augustus Aaron Wilson (1864-1950) of South Portland, Maine, circa 1900, with carved crest and eyes, relief-carved wings, and a slightly turned head, 16½" long (pre-auction estimate $100,000/150,000). One of three known from the same rig, it was purchased from a fish shack in Cape Porpoise, Maine, in the early 1980’s. Bidding opened at $55,000, and Christie's auctioneer John Hays knocked it down for $124,900 to a New York collector in the salesroom. The underbidder was on the phone.

Allegory of the Masonic Virtue of Wisdom, oil on canvas, 40¼" x 48", signed and dated “S. Jones 1836” and inscribed with the words “Wisdom” and “Strength.” Estimated at $20,000/30,000, it sold to New York collectors in the salesroom for $56,250, underbid on the phone.

Estimated at $20,000/40,000, this small folk art chest sold for $23,750 to a dealer in the salesroom.

Description: Grain-painted seed box, attributed to John Palm Boyer (1833-1901) of Brickerville, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 1870- 1900. It has its original white porcelain pulls, and each drawer is inscribed with the name of a seed. The high bracket feet, scalloped skirt, porcelain drawer pulls, and slanted lid are typical of Boyer’s work. Made of recycled wood, this one incorporated a shipping box for Johnson & Son, a wood finish company, as the baseboard. Three rows of six drawers are unusual; most have three rows of an odd number of drawers and a fourth row of smaller drawers. For more information on seed chests, see John Long and John Boyer: 19th-Century Craftsmen in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania by Donald Herr, published by the Heritage Center of Lancaster County in 2006.

I think it pays to be in the audience if you really want something.

Take care of your antiques and they will take care of you.

The Chestnut Tree | Award-winning short film . . .

In this beautiful, hand-drawn animation, director Hyun-Min Lee explores childhood memories of life with her mother in Korea. A heartwarming, autobiographical tribute, "The Chestnut Tree" was nominated for the 2008 Annie Award for Best Short Subject.



Sit back, relax and watch "THE CHESTNUT TREE" in widescreen.

Amazing Amusing Animals to brighten your day . . .

Some recent saves to my computer. Enjoy your weekend.
via pixdaus

Google Reader enables easy translation . . .

This is a screen shot from my computer. I was so happy when I read about a new feature on my Google Reader today. I subscribe to several feeds in foreign languages and can never understand what the blog authors are saying. I just try to "picture read" which is not always accurate.

You can enlarge the photo above and/or go to this link to read all about it. This is so wonderful. Now my readers in other countries who subscribe to my feeds can read my posts in their native language. It is win, win all around the globe. Hooray!

Rare 1612 Champlain Map of Canada sells for $232,101 . . .

Photo: Sotheby's...can be enlarged.
LONDON.- On November 13, 2008 Sotheby’s London auctioned a large, finely-engraved antiquarian map of the northeast part of America, drawn by “The Father of New France”, Samuel de Champlain (est. £30,000-40,000). Champlain’s very rare map of 1612 is considered the most important single map in the history of Canada, and can be regarded as a foundation document for Canada. This map sold for £157,250 GBP which is approximately $232,101. in US dollars.

The map was the highlight of Sotheby’s sale of Natural History, Travel, Atlases and Maps. It was drawn from Champlain's personal observations in over twenty voyages to Canada and New England. It is also the first printed map to allude to the St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes system based on factual (rather than hearsay or imaginary) evidence.

Champlain has been described as “The driving force behind the initial success of French attempts at gaining a foothold in America”. The map accompanied the publication of Les Voyages du Sieur de Champlain, which included large-scale plans for potential harbours, with an important description and promotional account of Canada.

Take care of your antiques and they will take care of you.

Wishing You an Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving . . .

Norman Rockwell "Freedom from Want" Saturday Evening Post cover March 6, 1943