The Scots Rock!

How the Scots Invented the Modern World:The True Story
of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World and Everything in It 
by Arthur Herman                My rating: 5 of 5 stars




I am amazed by the things we enjoy or take for granted in our everyday life that can be traced to the direct influence of the Scots. The thread running through this book: Scots did not necessarily originate the idea. However, because of their ability to read and write, work ethic and single-mindedness to prevail in their goals, they took the ideas and developed them into practical applications that have been passed to us in the 21st Century.


I really want to outline the whole book. I want to get a feel for the events that have led us to the World as we know it in 2011. However, I could not wait to recommend this book to you. It takes a while to read. It's well worth the time..time spent to digest it. It may take a second and even third reading to do so.


Some of the historical Scot figures involved are: Thomas Aidenhead, Frances Hutcheson, Lord Kames, George Buchanan, James I, Henry Home, John Millar, Robert and James Adams, Adam Smith, David Hume, Adam Ferguson, Colin MacLaurin, James McHenry, Francis Scott Key, John Paul Jones, Sir Walter Scott, James Watt, John McAdam, Robert Louis Stevenson, David Livingston, Samuel Morse, Alexander Graham Bell, Andrew Carnegie, Ian Fleming/James Bond.


Concepts/Ideas/Products/Philosophies: school system: K-Adv.Degree, liberal arts colleges, literate society, civilized society, political system, human nature, Enclopaedia Britannica, libraries, capitalism, urban planning, civilian militia, Scotch whiskey, Princeton, West Point, Ft. McHenry, Star Spangled Banner, common sense, work ethic, e, historical novel, tartan/insignia/modern day image of the Scots, steam engine, doctors, dentists, delivery of babies, cure for scurvy, macadamized road, Morse code, telephone, Supreme Court, time zones, battleships, railroad/steam engine, cable cars, OSHA, Listerine, gas street lighting, self-help.


Some of the names are obscure to you as is the disbelief in the impact they have had on our modern culture. I challenge you to read and believe.
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Snowed In....

From my door
Winter Snow 2011

I love to be snowed in...  

Down the hill...Winter 2000

We live on a "big" hill and I don't have an "essential" job that requires me to be at work! 








I have no excuses...except, plain procrastination:)  I will tend to "house" things that have been put on the back burner because the weather was too nice to be indoors! ....like working on my Blogs...oops how did that get on the list?  


I am focusing on my New Year's resolutions today:

1. Another item to throw out
I added No. 9 yesterday...eliminated 3 plastic bins of Christmas Decorations...donated two to Goodwill and one to my branch library to decorate the tree next year.

 2. Working on my "20-year" Quilt...
I'll work on this one while we watch a movie this afternoon.  I checked out "Hairspray" from the library last week when I heard the "snow" forecast.


and 
3. Actively Blog on my two other Blogs:
Tips 'n Good Stuff and Eating In and Out and About.


The good news---Chuck is painting the ceiling of a bedroom while I am "playing"!  Hooray for me!

The King's Speech

We went a movie yesterday...
The King's Speech
...not really knowing what to expect.  We thought we might be bored.  We were wrong.  It is a wonderful movie.  

Colin Firth, as Albert/
King George VI

and Geoffrey Rush, as Lionel Logue his speech therapist, gave outstanding performances.  After all, they are on the short list for an Academy Award. 

 I recognized Claire Bloom as Queen Mary, "The King's" mother, did you?

George VI

The movie was not only entertaining, but it was nostalgic for us.  

Wallis Simpson and
the Duke of Windsor

Albert was crowned King George VI in 1936 after his brother, David/Edward VIII abdicated the throne to marry Wallis Simpson. 

The film takes us to 1939, the year we were born, when Britain declared war against Germany.  George VI reigned as King until his death in 1952.  We were thirteen, too young to be interested in what was occurring in  Britain.  



Elizabeth, his oldest daughter, who was a child of ten in the film, succeeded to the throne upon her father's death.  Her coronation was the first to be televised in June, 1953.  




The rest is our living history.  It is now more clear after seeing The King's Speech.


Highly Recommended!!!  

There Comes a Time...

The Time is Now! --- 


Time to resolve for 2011! --- jumping in "feet first"! 


 Here goes...

No. 1  Actively Blog on my "Tips 'n Good Stuff" Blog...and certainly continue my other two Blogs:
PLAID Pages, a journal and Eating In and Out and About.  I know all my friends label me "Over Achiever".  So, I love to Blog why not do what I love doing?

Work in Progress
for 20 years-2010

Walling Hanging
Vintage Fabrics and
Embellishments
Started 2010

No. 2  Finish my Quilts that are "almost" there and start on some more that are in the drawer waiting for their turn...know in the Quilt World as "UFOs".

See My Post
9-25-10

No. 3  Continue to downsize...My inspiration is "Throw Out Fifty Things" ...In 2010 I got to No. 8.  I am aiming for 17 more in 2011.  That will put me half-way through.  I am adding No. 9 today:  Delivered unused Christmas Decorations to Goodwill and the Library...reducing my 10 boxes to 5.

A Valentine Book
for Chuck...all the Valentines
he sent me over 30 years
into a blank book from
sale table at
Barnes and Noble

No. 4  Arts and Crafts will always be on my list.  I discovered I have done something "crafty" all of my life so why stop now.  I have a list of albums to make using old coffee table books and blank journals instead of "bought" picture albums or scrapbooks.  In the list for 2011 is:  Arizona, California, San Francisco, "Grant" a tribute to my Dad and one for my Mom....and the list goes on and on.  I will do them as I am inspired. 

Love Lost and Found

 I also love altering 
old "paint-by-number" 
pictures picked up over 
the years from flea markets 
and thrift stores.




No. 5  Start an "Art Journal".  For some reason I woke up on New Year's Day 2011 thinking I wanted to see if I could draw.  I like Calligraphy so I want to draw with pen and ink using watercolor wash as a background.  My daughter sent me the perfect book for my Journal...maybe that's what triggered this urge?


No. 6 Lose 10 pounds-always resolved to keep me on the straight and narrow.  I weigh and measure at the beginning of every month and use a combination of "calorie counting" and "limiting my carbohydrates" to maintain and hopefully to lose... admittedly not always successful but maintaining ...like 2010.  Also, Chuck and I swim, do weights, walk on the track or treadmill, and take a Yoga class as least one time a week at the Jim Dailey Fitness Center.


Six is Enough, don't ya think?---

In the words of Porky Pig---


 "Th-th-th-that's all folks!"

Stayed Tuned for Updates

Miss Read Books

The Caxley Chronicles: 
"The Market Square", 
"The Howards of Caxley"
by Miss Read

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I like the series! For those readers who like to read a series in order this is the book to read first! 


I wish I had figured it out before I read The Howards of Caxley  (see my Review on Goodreads) or started the Fairacres series.   I read Market Square and then I had to skim through "The Howards..." to refresh my memory.  Everything fell into place once I had the history. 

Village School by Miss Read
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Fairacre Series is related to the Caxley books only because it is a few miles from Caxley.  The residents of Fairacre visit there to shop and go to the movies. They also have friends and family in Caxley.


My review of Village School
The first thought that comes to mind...this was a very sweet book full of sweet stories about a small English school and the village it served. The book was written in 1955 and I was in elementary school in the States. The Fifties was a great time to be a child. I enjoyed the book and intend to read all books in the series from time to time.

Miss Read has a special talent for presenting a lot of detail in a way that keeps you moving through the book. You are not bored and start skipping over parts to get to the meat of the story. You will laugh and cry right along with her characters. I recommend her books!

Aloha! Hawaii...No. 38*

No, I am not in Hawaii

...don't I wish!   

Yes...me in 1975

I went to Honolulu in 1975.
We stayed at 

View of Diamond Head 
from the
Sheraton..
the Royal Hawaiian
in the foreground

the Sheraton next to the Royal Hawaiian.  

and the days of "big"
and brown hair

and bell-bottom pants

In 1975 these two hotels were among the few on Waikiki Beach...
ah, for the good old days.  

View of Waikiki Beach from
the Hawaiian Hilton in 1999

1999 at the
Hawaiian Hilton Village

Sunset on Maui

In 1999 we island- hopped from Oahu

to Maui. 

Marriot

In 2008 we traveled to Kauai... 

our favorite.  

We were awakened every morning by the rooster residents of the island.

 I went on a helicopter ride over the Napali Coast which is only accessible by hiking.  

When we go back, we'll head to Kauai ... 

Yes, Kauai is on our "go back to" list...
and a 1st time trip to Hawaii, the Big Island.

*For "new to my blog" people...on May 17, 2010, I visited Wisconsin.

 I can now say that I have been in, to or through all 50 United States.

 I am committed to make an Artist Trading Card "ATC" for each of

 the 50 States. Hence, the label, 50 States.

Happy New Year!

CHEERS!

Time for an accounting!  
January, 2010 I was actually brave enough to Blog my New Year's Resolutions.  Thinking that being accountable to the Blogging World would motivate me to actually keep them.   



Now the moment has come for me 
to step up to the plate and see how I did!

Quarterly Publication from
Somerset Studio

No. 1:  Blog...Done!  I didn't blog daily, but I give it a thumbs up.  Wow, how can you ask for a better validation than to be named a "Blogger of Note" for my first effort...September 7 I was so honored.  As a result, a large group of followers found my Blog worthy of their friendship.  

No. 2: Update and my website through Homestead/Intuit-Not Done!  I use this site mainly for family and it serves tochronicle and archive our family pictures.  I just didn't seem to make the time.

No. 3: Finish my Double Wedding Rings quilt: Almost doesn't get it!  I am just a few hours away.  As my husband so thoughtfully said: "This was a self-imposed deadline."   I do have a choice.  Indeed, he is right!  It's just that I am not proud of my choice.

I did start 
and almost finish
 and almost finish

 a Wall Hanging Quilt 
using vintage fabrics 

and embellishments.

Both will go on next year's list....

No. 4: Lose 10 pounds-Darn!  All I can say is that I maintained. "Does that count?" (Does everyone put dieting* on their annual list?) *I prefer to say I am changing my eating habits.  Ha!  No matter what I want to call it-I did not lost 10 pounds! ARGGGG! I feel like I am carrying around a 10 pound bowling ball...there's always next year :)

Display cabinet at Library

No. 5: Collage photo albums: Done!  I have to admit I chose different ones that the ones listed, but I finished my projects...resulting in a much complimented six-week display in the foyer of my branch library.

Album of all Valentine's my husband
has given me over the last 30 years!

No. 6: Add watercolor and calligraphy to my collage work:  Not Done!  No excuses...just didn't seem to be inspired for my projects.

I "heart" you all!

I will let this settle for a few days.
Then, I will be brave again and post my Resolutions for 2011. . .
"Your opinion counts."  You keep me focused.  I appreciate your comments and the time you take to tell a fellow Blogger what you like and sometimes what you don't.  I speak for myself, but I suspect for all Bloggers, a thoughtful comment is a special reward and  keeps us posting again and again...and besides I just love it!


"Thank you" doesn't seem to say enough, but "Thank You"!