Consider it Research

We've (that's royal) come to like Prince Albert slippers a lot, so while planning holiday festivities it became obvious we needed another pair, but from where?

Several obstacles leapt to mind.

Now that I'm part Scot the $400+ Shipton and Heneage's were out of the picture*.

I like my Del Toro's, but maybe there is something else to try.

Finally, there is the problem of getting the size right, especially when buying blind.

I ordered a pair of blue embroidered Albert's from Broadland Slippers in the UK, for 2 reasons.

They were priced right, GBP 115 less Vat* to the US

I liked they way they did business.

After placing my order I received an email questionnaire asking the usual questions, what size shoe did I wear, which brand did I prefer, sox, no sox, etc.

The kicker came next. Their follow up email was a series of photos, and directions. "Take a tape measure, measure your right foot like this, here then here. Now do the left. What are the numbers"

Since the slippers were made to order, instead of shoehorning their customers into an indeterminate size, they make slippers to fit their clients feet. If you are hard to fit, this is a great option. Along with the numbers I included photos showing the tape around my feet, to minimize misunderstanding.

The results: outstanding.

Yes, of course women's sizes and other styles are available.



* I know that several styles of S&H are the same price as Broadland and may try a pair in my clan tartan.

For now I'm very satisfied, with the slippers, the service and recommend Broadland highly.

Toad

Maybe help is on its way

Mayberry is a river town that turned its back on the river in its earliest days. What is now the town evolved from a Spanish land grant in 1797. The founding family were farmers and ardent abolitionists. When Missouri was admitted to the United States in 1821 the family sold their land and moved to Illinois, a free state. Soon after a community was formed. The first settlement and subsequent settlements were on the high ground above the flood plain. Locals have rarely seen the river since.

They've miss a lot.

The river bottom offers miles and miles of human free, byways for migrating wild life. Seasonally bald eagles winter near here, ducks and geese are abundant, white tailed deer, by number, are the kings of the forest.

If you live near deer, you've learned several things. They'll nibble on or eat anything that grows. Gardens are defenseless when deer are near. Their only predator is an automobile, they're not bright, and years of living with humans have made them fearless. Mayberry locals may hunt deer on their property, and it's as difficult as shooting fish in a barrel.

This week the price of deer poker went up. A nearby resident took this photo of a mountain lion in his back yard.

If he'd stick around, maybe invite some friends and family, the deer wouldn't, which would make a lot of gardeners very happy.

Alas, by now he's probably back on the river road.

Toad

photo credit: The Saint Louis Post Dispatch

Anna and Katrina's Grocery Bag

I have no truck with Oprah Winfrey. Her daily program, and now her network are a constant background noise in our house. I suspect she'd be hell to work for, but if you succeeded, life would be golden.

In searching for my lost wife, I followed Oprah's noise only to encounter the funniest cooking show ever, Anna and Katrina's Grocery Bag.

The conceit of the program is that Anna and Katrina,pick up a well known cook book for each show, pull out several recipes that sounds doable and make them. How well they did is judged by a local chef who bravely tries their dishes and offers a peek behind the curtains telling what the cookbook left out.

A&K seemingly other than cooking for their families, may or may not have any kitchen skills. Much of the program's humor comes in watching the 2 "real people with completely different styles" cook from real cookbooks. They rarely succeed.

The 2 Fat Lady's this is not.

I found it on Oppies OWN. It may be somewhere else at your house.

Toad

Snow lions

Hopefully, you're somewhere else because the midwestern US is cold, and snowy. How cold, how snowy you ask? Enough that..



if it wasn't shoveled the Lion Dogs wouldn't go there.

Please have fun, yet still be careful. I promise this is the last of the dog stories for a while.

Toad

Gravity

This is the view from my chamber this morning.

I share it, because the view will become part of a very irregular series entitled "Gravity". An effort to determine whether gravity still works.

Observe the 3 trees more or less dead center. All lean precipitously downhill.

Our quest will be to see how long it takes them to tumble. Odds are a combo of wet spring, full leaf and a windy day, and they're gone. I'd wager the first will be gone by Beltane, the Celtic Maypole festival on May 1.

Each of the trees is special. The one on the left houses several families of woodpeckers, the right has an owl's nest. A pile of firewood is nowhere as majestic as these 3 standing tall. They'll be replaced by non-deer munching rhododendrons and azaleas.

Toad

Whose Dog?

For those new to the story, Charlie (left) was a Christmas present to Mrs. T from her children in 2009. A rule was soon established stating that if it were dark, cold, inclement or inconvenient,I was allowed active participation in outdoor puppy training. I spent a lot of time outside that winter, and for my effort Mrs. T's dog Charlie is now my shadow.

Pooh (right) was an old woman's dog, accustomed to the pace and activity of an older woman's household. Not for a minute do I place Mrs. T in that category, but she is recuperating, and to the untrained unfair comparisons may be made. Pooh hasn't yet left her side.

Currently, it's snowing hard and the ancient incantation is already stirring, "if it's dark, cold, inclement...."

Just wondering, can a man/does a man need 2 four legged shadows?

Toad

Maybe- Maybe Not, a most irregular series

12 ounce cans of Scotch,for those times when a flask is too precious.



Undoubtedly soon to be available in Tall Boys, 30's.... The Scotch Whisky folks are not amused

From Gawker

Toad

In remembrance of friends passed

A dear friend passed recently. While in declining health she asked, when the time came, that we take care of her much loved, constant companion, Pooh. Today became that day, and we are honored to do so.

This is Pooh, a 5 year old Shih Tzu, an absolute sweet heart who has had a hard couple of weeks. After a bath, a bone, a brushing and quiet time she will be fit right in.



As much as one Shih Tzu made me laugh, two are going to keep me in constant hysterics.

Toad

Giselle

Doing anything Wednesday afternoon? Let your culture vulture side take over, and watch one of the world's great ballet companies, the Royal Ballet of London's production of Giselle, live, without the hassle of travel. So what if you're not in London.

Emerging Pictures, in cooperation with the Royal Opera House and movie theaters around the globe, is broadcasting Tuesday evening's performance at a big screen near you. Giselle begins at 7:30 PM London time, 2:30 PM NY...

No squinting, no evening dress, just beautiful music, luscious bodies, beautiful dance. Ballet with popcorn and soda. You'll be home before the kids.

Tuesday's performance features Marianela Nunez as Giselle, and Rupert Pennefather as Albrecht.


If The Black Swan has re-awoken your love of dance,this is an opportunity to see the world's greatest dancers in action. Or stay for a showing of Black Swan following the performance.


Theater locations are here.

Toad

from stephen colbert

From Dangerous Minds

From Amazon

Have a bare space on the wall crying out for a couple of books? Try this.

The Penguin Classics Library Complete Collection: More than 1000 of the Greatest Classics [Paperback]
Various (Author)

Price: $13,413.30

Sounds pricey.

Toad

Mrs T's anniversary

My blogger profile describes me as the happiest married man ever. It's true. More so everyday. I'm blessed beyond imagining.

My greatest blessing is my bride, and today is her wedding anniversary.

She is not my best friend, she is not my soul mate, she doesn't complete me. She makes us "we" and together we are indomitable. I love her madly.

Every year on this date she asks if I'd reup for another year. I'm now up to 2536 AD with no end in sight.

My adored I love you mostest. Thank you for a wonderful life.

Wikipedia

Of all the posts lately of the "can you believe its been that long ago" sort, this takes my cake.

Tomorrow is Wikipedia's 10th birthday.

I'm uncertain how to take that. Wiki seems to have been around forever, yet it sprung up overnight.

As will the "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy", Wiki has "supplanted all comers as the standard repository of all knowledge and wisdom, for though it has many ommissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least widely inaccurate" it is easy to use, albeit without a Don't Panic notice.

Like Google, Wiki usually has an answer to any querry. Unlike Google, it's generally best taken with a grain of salt.

Happy birthday Wiki, may you improve with age.

Toad

Happy Birthday also, to Lou of The Archers at The Larches.

Credit to The Epic

It's minus 12C as I write this but I'm thinking Spring.


Remember the orange jacket fiasco?

During the dog days, based upon the Sartorialist's photo of this dapper gent in his linen jacket, I had an attack of "I need a orange jacket too itis". I was saved only by the photo below of George Schultz looking like the Great Pumpkin. Not having attended Princeton, Auburn, New Jersey State or any other Orange suited university, my need for orange quickly evaporated.



Into a crowded bar steps M. Lane of The Epic with his 2 cents worth. "What about J. Peterman's Amalfi sport blazer?, he says. Comes in yellow and blue too!"



At the time it was getting late in the season and frankly, they wouldn't fit. Now perhaps, 'cept they may be a bit loud for January.

Nearing the end of my capacity to shop my closets, and at less than $50 each, I purchased 2, expecting 1 or both would likely be returned.



I found them surprisingly well made & needing minimal alteration, so I'm keeping both. Even the fire truck red. Many thanks to The Epic. I second his recommendation.



Since I don't know what to wear with screaming yellow, I envision mellowing them a bit. Maybe if they spent the winter outside...

Let the spring catalog shopping commence.

Toad

Travelogues of Burton Holmes

There is many an armchair traveler amongst you. I admit to it. I rather travel by comfy chair than most any other way, and cold winter days are heaven sent for exploring the world.

Born in 1870, Mr. Burton Holmes was the greatest traveler of his time. A Chicago lad, Burton caught the travel bug at 13 joining his parents on a trip to Europe. The bug never left. He dropped out of school at 16 intent on making travel his life's work.

In 1883 he purchased his first camera, learning how to develop his own glass plates. In 1886 his grandmother included him on a mini grand tour through England, Scotland, France and Germany. Four years later he returned with his Kodak knowing he had discovered his life's work.

To finance his trips he gave travel lectures anywhere that would have him. He would show slides of his travels and along with stories and tales of the backstory behind each photo. It took a while, but he eventually became quiet successful in his venture, continuing until the early 1950's.


His travels led him to all corners. In many places, if he was not the first white man who wasn't a missionary, he was the first to show up with a camera. His timing was impeccable. He was everywhere, at the right time. Holmes's early photography, later news reels and film before the ravages of the Great War, again before WW2 showed the beginning and end of eras.

As a pup I began collecting the printed travelogues of Burton Holmes. First published in 1910 the photos are small and black and white. I'm still missing several volumes, but I enjoy the hunt.


Later he had many of the glass plates colored for his lectures. The prints are exquisite.

WW1 era France

Paris 1927

Delhi 1912

If you are traveler, an armchair traveler, a historian, or just a fan of old photos check your local library, Alibris, EBAY or favorite second hand book store for a copy of a recent reprint, Burton Holmes Travelogues, edited by Genoa Caldwell, published by Taschen, which include many of the hand tinted plates.



You'll be glad you did.

Toad

Thank you Oprah

I've lost my wife.

No, not in the mall. She's locked in her office with her new best friend, the Oprah Winfrey Network, promising/threatening to never reappear.

Mrs. T relaxes after the gym by catching up with Oprah. Skipping over the commercials frees 40 minutes or so of my day. Time I often spend with you. Now, the Oprah Network exists,and it's all Oprah and her minions 24/7.

Which answers the age old question, "Can you ever get too much Opie?" Apparently, not.

Toad

Stuck in the snow?

Spamalot

You may recall Mrs. T was, at best, a reluctant traveler to Spamalot, her mood not helped by having scratched her eye Saturday afternoon.

"Tell me again what this is about," she asked. Since I could see, and read in the dim light I read from the Playbill:



Followed by parts of the Who's Who, earning the evil eye.



Probably 40% of the audience hadn't a clue what they had walked into, most wondering what was with the hats.



Ten minutes in, the cast had them eating out of their hands. It was a marvelously enchanted evening. Mrs. T came around quickly, laughing at all the right parts, genuinely enjoying herself. Still she was hesitant when I suggested watching the last half of the movie when we got home. Many more thanks to daughter Katy and her hubby.



Black velvet works perfectly in drafty theaters.

Toad
Happy Birthday Mrs. Bagwell

Separated at birth? An irregular series

Lauren Graham

of

Gillmore Girls fame

Nigella Lawson Saatchi

of

Kitchen fame

Just wondering.

Toad

scary

Sauce Magazine is a local monthly dedicated to food lore and related stuff. Their web site is my go to when searching for a restaurant, and blog I read just for fun. On Friday they publish their favorite tweets of the week.

This tweet caught my eye:

iTapBeerTender
Had a 21 yr old celebrating their birthday in iTap last night. They were born in 1990… #mademefeelold

Hard to disagree.

Toad

David Bowie - cool guy

He's led the parade at the beat of his own drum for almost 45 years. Married to Iman almost 20. Devilishly handsome. Turns 64 today.





Happy birthday, Ziggy, you have made us happy for a very long time.

Toad

fun facts

Ok, so this isn't exactly gospel truth, but it is a great story. Enjoy it anyway.

Toad

title unknown)

from Blog of a Bookslut by Jessa Crispin

100+ people liked this

From my weekend reading:

Dante was standing near the Ponte Vecchio, a bridge that crosses the Arno River in Florence. It was just before 1300... Dante saw Beatrice standing on the bridge. He was a young man, she even younger, and that vision contained the whole of eternity for him.

Dante did not speak to her. He saw her very little. And then Beatrice died, carried off by plague. Dante was stricken with the loss of his vision. She was the intermediary between his soul and Heaven itself.

Six hundred fifty years later, during World War II, the Americans were chasing the German army up the Italian "boot." The Germans were blowing up everything of aid to the progression of the American army, including the bridges across the Arno River. But no one wanted to blow up the Ponte Vecchio, because Beatrice had stood on it and Dante had written about her. So the German army made radio contact with the Americans and, in plain language, said they would leave the Ponte Vecchio intact if the Americans would promise not to use it. The promise was held. The bridge was not blown up, and not one American soldier or piece of equipment went across it. We're such hard bitten people that we need hard bitten proof of things, and this is the most hard bitten fact I know to present to you. The bridge was spared, in a modern, ruthless war, because Beatrice had stood upon it.

-- Robert Johnson
"The Figure of Beatrice in Dante's Divine Comedy"

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Memories- August 1970

Seems like yesterday, doesn't it?


Photo liberated from Paris Hotel Boutique Journal

In the mean time, news from Sri Lanka

Toad

I swear this is true

Pinky swear. Honest to god, swear. It's a girl thing.

Along with the gift of land my daughter and her husband gave Mrs. T and I tickets to Spamalot.

This morning my bride asked what Spamalot was about.

I told her it was a takeoff of Monty Python and the Holy Grail,

and was met with a vacant stare.

I began at first principles. What Monty Python was. The search. Why the coconuts...

I then set her down with the video, which she claims to have never seen.

I have no idea what planet she was raised on. A friend told me it's the same at his house.

Gents, this is what happens when you marry a child bride.

Toad

The wrong trousers

Shopping in my closet has been working out well, until I consider my options for dress pants. I've got play clothes, I've work clothes, I can even don a suit if the occasion calls. Slacks to dress the odd jacket are scarce.



I saw the problem coming as I planned for the holidays. The cherished gray flannels would need periodic airing, so alternatives were sought.

Too much time spent in front of Black Watch Everything simplified my decision. After nominal consideration, and a free shipping offer I ordered a pair of black watch flannels. In plenty of time for holiday frolics, no less.

I am happy to announce they arrived...Tuesday. Just in time for Bobby Burns Day.

I'll not mention the culprits, as the pants shall be returned.
Toad

Toad and the Turtle

I like turtlenecks. Especially black ones, so when Number 1 son asked what I wanted for Christmas I said a black turtleneck. Unless you are a Steve (Jobs or McQueen) every man needs at least one in his closet.

Black turtlenecks exude a certain debonair insolence to mere mortals, an undeserved sophistication. A way with words, and silences.



What I really meant, and I knew it when I told him was, I like the idea of turtlenecks more than the execution. As much as I like the look, even on me, the neck always gags, and before long I've stretched it until I look even more like a potato sack.

So I give them up. So much for the slimming power of black.

Several years on I'm certain I need a black turtleneck, and the cycle renews.




Except this time the shirt fit. First time, out of the box, brand new. Still I look like a svelte sack of spuds, but now I don't care. One of Ralph's better numbers. I feel sophisticated. Adult.

Many thanks to #1 and family, you've hit a home run.

Toad

back to it

Our B&BLD [bed&breakfast,lunch and dinner] has shut for the season, now the house feels disturbingly empty. Even the dogs notice. They go to bed earlier, wake later, their routine has been shaken, they've trouble finding their equilibrium. So do I.

I'm selfish enough to long for a heavy snow. Locked inside for a time. Allowed to sit by the fire, nap, catch up with friends old and new, play with my toys, read a book, plan a trip. Celebrations with the masses are over, time for we time.


I'm not glum, I like this time of year. Traditionally, I say this without benefit of an almanac, these next 2 weeks are the coldest of our year. Dark, gray, bitter January. Perfect for hunkering down. This week not so much...

Instead, it's nose to the grindstone. Resolute in our resolutions. Racing towards the new.

This week, take a breath, remember to honor your past, and while enjoying your winter seed catalogs, seek scented plants. They speak of the promise of warmer days to come.

Toad
all portraits by the incomparable, talented, cherished Inga Moore

Rule Number 1

NMP too hard to consider? Try this simpler variation on a theme. In our home we call it Rule Number 1.

Rule Number 1 states: "you are not allowed to care more about someone else's problem than the participants."

If you're not paying the price, don't think about it twice.

Toad

End of the sermonizing

Not my problem

This is another annual tradition in these parts. I'm going to keep posting it, until more begin doing it. 100,00 wishes to you for a happy 2011.



I like you just the way you are.

However, if you are hell bent on making New Years resolutions, have the decency and courtesy to avoid those self esteem destroying, I'm gonna lose 25 pounds by swim suit season, types. I'm all for self improvement, but self delusion goes a long way. And keep 'em to yourself.

Allow me to recommend the hardest resolution you will ever encounter. It is mind numbingly easy if you simply change your entire world view. You will find if you utilize its simple principle, it will improve every aspect of your life. Did I mention its free?

With heartfelt thanks to my old boss, Hap Lignoul, and author Douglas Adams I call it NMP. NMP, as in Not My Problem.

Do you worry that your doofus high schooler forgot his homework, or scheduled 3 calendar conflicts? Don't stew about it, remember NMP. You're not paying the price, so do not give it another thought.

Is your neighbor off her diet? NMP

Did Karen order the office supplies? NMP

Do you suspect someone needs your unsolicited advice? Don't.

Not for the world, would I suggest you give up your kind, generous, thoughtful manner. What I am suggesting is, that if everyone tidied their own small piece of the world, and kept their nose out of everyone else's business, the world would be a much healthier and better place. Your stress level falls. Your blood pressure falls. You live a longer and healthier life. Your children learn the value of price paying, and responsibility, once they see you love them enough to let them fail, HARD. Focus on those things you are responsible for, and leave the rest.

Try it, I dare ya.

Toad