Warning! Labels!

This bag's warning symbols are at once horrifying and hilarious.Kind of like when Sarah Palin danced along to Amy Poehler's rap on SNL.You see it, and you sort of laugh, but then you sort of go, "Oh my GOD."And then you blog.(More on this below.)The really sad thing about my last post is that the blocks from my apartment to Whole Foods and TJ Maxx are all numbered and on a grid.Versus traveling in the other direction from my apartment, which involves some really tricky stuff. Like, there's a highway underpass where roads go from being on a grid to being in something of a really off-centered and broken clover, with one-way roads becoming two-way roads and two-way roads becoming one-way roads and, MY FAVORITE, one-way roads that just end. So you're driving down the one-way street thinking you're going the most direct way ever, except then all of a sudden it becomes one-way in the OTHER direction, and you have to turn off it and go some totally wrong direction and next thing you know? You're miles from where you intended to be.I have to navigate this maze anytime I want to go to the nearby shopping center, which is what I was doing yesterday to go to Office Max. Except I maybe got a little confused and ended up driving directly to Office Depot in an entirely different shopping center. Potato, po-depot.I was on a quest to get an all-in-one printer/scanner, since the one I have is old and clunky, and all its cables are missing. I popped in, looked for about 5 minutes, found a good one for a good price based on all of extensive research (extensive research = "I should get a new printer/scanner!"), and left happy.Until I got home and spent a good two hours doing the install.I eventually had to call for help with the install, which I hate doing because 9 times out of 10, the customer service person thinks you're an idiot. (Or maybe that's just me.) The guy I talked to yesterday was professional, but could not completely disguise the contempt in his voice for having to walk another dingbat through an install process. And so with this guy, as with ALL the customer service guys I end up on the phone with, I try to focus on NOT sounding like a dingbat. Because hey -- I DO know what I'm doing, I'm NOT technically disabled, and the customer service guy will soon be realizing that the fault is HIS and NOT MINE and I will be vindicated. Save your contempt for an actual dingbat, buddy.But of course yesterday, with the snottiest man EVER on the phone, the problem WAS mine. And not a big, thorny, justifiable problem, either. My entire issue was that the USB cord wasn't plugged securely enough into the printer. So my install failed -- TWICE -- because I didn't push the cord in hard enough.Anyway.Aside from having the ability to print wirelessly in my own home (which, I will not lie, makes me feel like I live in the future), I now have the ability to scan again. And as I've been saying, I have alllllll kinds of goodies to start sharing with you.This morning, I decided to grab a box I have full of "random" pictures, to see what would inspire me. I sat down with it, opened the lid, and was utterly confused. These aren't my pictures, I thought. What the -- oh ACK! And GAH! And...ACK!Of all the decorative shoe-like boxes in the entire world, we happen to have TWO of the exact same ones in this house. One is full of my old photos. The other is full of love letters between Ish and his ex from I don't even know when.And while this isn't the point of this post at all, I will say this: I think it's sweet that Ish has kept these. In fact, despite an incredibly painful and unpleasant ending, Ish has never been anything but respectful of his relationship with his ex. I appreciate that and think it says a lot about his character.That doesn't mean that accidentally opening the wrong box filled me with glee. No, it was a little more "throw up in my mouth a little, close the lid, return box whence it came." Bah.And ALL THIS is to say that I have not scanned anything new yet, but at least owning a (working) printer/scanner is one step closer.In the meantime, I will show you the most frightening images ever, that came on the plastic bag the printer was wrapped in.The first one is telling me, I think, not to let my child go crawling around with a plastic bag on its head. Except that's not what I see.Image AIf your Tylenol Gel Cap suddenly sprouts appendages,do not try to balance an old-fashioned television set on it!The second image is probably telling me not to put the bag on my head. But again, how can one be sure?Image B:If you are using your giant hand to secure a water bottleover your head, DO NOT sing opera!Want to join in the fun?What would your captions be for these horrifying, hilarious warnings?

Tuesday Tidbits - GFCF Thanksgiving Links

Welcome to Tuesday Tidbits!This edition is devoted solely to a look at what other GF and GFCF bloggers are posting about the Thanksgiving holiday. So please visit these people and try some of their recipes, or some of their special tips to make this the best GFCF Thanksgiving ever.The wonderful Gluten Free Goddess, Karina Allrich, has posted a lot of tips to make for a great GFCF Thanksgiving, including what to use to thicken the gravy, using coconut milk for your pumpkin pie, and many more, plus links to many of her suitable for Thanksgiving recipes.The Gluten Free Mommy (Happy Birthday Natalie!!) is being sneaky - she posted a recipe for Bean and Canadian Bacon Soup!! But hidden in this post are links to a lot of Natalie's favorite Thanksgiving recipes. And anyone who has tried one of Natalie's recipes knows they will be putting something delicious on the table!Shauna and the chef are thankful for a lot of things this year, especially for their precious Little Bean. The Gluten Free Girl has posted what she is thankful for, as well as some of her favorite Thanksgiving recipes.Dear Carrie, the Ginger Lemon Girl, has reposted her Thanksgiving menu guide from last year. Not only does she provide recipes, she also has a shopping list and a timetable for a great Thanksgiving feast!Gluten Free Bay not only has posted her own gluten free menu, but she also has links to some other great menus as well!I also need to give a shout out to the folks at 5 Minutes for Special Needs who also posted links to some of the Thanksgiving menu ideas listed above.For some great GF vegan Thanksgiving ideas, check out Sea's menu planner at the Book of Yum.Rachel at The Crispy Cook also has lots of vegetarian Thanksgiving ideas (and some for the carnivores too!). I'm with you on that canned cranberry sauce Rachel!Even more vegan Thanksgiving options, courtesy of I Am Gluten Free.Twitter friend Bonnie Sayers, editor of the ASD site at BellaOnline, has compiled a lot of GF and GFCF recipes for Thanksgiving, as well as other Thanksgiving ASD resources, which you an find here. She even include some from me! Thanks Bonnie!Another Twitter friend, the Hello Kitty Mama, has also posted a nice set of Thanksgiving recipe links, and included one of mine too. Thanks!!Okay, let's get on to some specific recipes:I will have to admit I am not a big fan of green bean casserole, mainly because of the french fried onions that top it. But I am a big fan of Michelle, the Minivan Driving Soccer Mom, and her recipe for GF french fried onions may make may try that casserole after all! Note: just use your favorite CF milk in place of the milk she uses to coat the onions.Okay, I may get to liking this green bean casserole idea after all. Gluten Free Mommy Natalie has her own version, with a recipe for homemade cream of mushroom soup! Again, use CF milk in place of the milk for GFCF.The one thing I did not put on my GFCF Thanksgiving menu planner yesterday was cranberries. I was planning on making just a boring old cranberry sauce until I saw the Ginger Lemon Girl's repost of her Thanksgiving Cranberry Cobbler. I can't wait to make it!An aside here. Sea at the Book of Yum had put the Adopt a GF blogger event on hiatus, but has brought it back with a special Thanksgiving edition. And yes, the entry deadline was November 24, but she is gladly taking late entries. You must post by December 1, and, not only do you have to let Sea know who you are adopting, but you also need to let her know which recipe you will try! Why am I saying this here? Because, for the second time, I am adopting Carrie and will be posting this weekend about her cranberry cobbler. So stay tuned!Okay, let's finish this off with some desserts:Staying with the cranberries (Do you have to let it linger...oops, sorry) Sea has posted great recipes for Cranberry Muffins and Cranberry Pecan Coffee Cake. I think Yum is definitely the word here!How about cranberries mixed with apples? Karina has the recipe for you- the Gluten Free Goddesses Apple Cake with Cranberries.We have yet to talk pumpkin! So how about we do so now:Dear friend Katherine gave me a shout out, so I am more than happy to return the favor! The GFCF Mommy has reposted two of her favorite pumpkin recipes, for GFCF pumpkin pie and for the GFCF marbled pumpkin cheesecake I talked about yesterday.And then back to Carrie, who is full of wonderful recipes for this holiday! Here is her recipe for Pecan Pumpkin Pie bars.I realize I have just hit the tip of the iceberg here - there are lots of great Thanksgiving tips and recipes out there for you to enjoy. I encourage you to check out the blogroll I have on the right sideboard for other great bloggers with Thanksgiving on their mind.And, finally, the disclaimer. Many of the recipes I have listed here are GFCF, but there are some that may only be GF, and there are some blogs I link to in the sideboard that are not GFCF at all. Make sure you read the recipe carefully, and make any substitutions that you need to make your recipe GFCF. For GF, usually that means just using your favorite GF flour blend and baking ingredients. For CF, you can check out my CF baking and cooking substitution list here (or on my menu bar).I will be back with a post on Thanksgiving, but in the meantime, thanks for reading, and please travel safely this holiday.

Drinking With The Girls showing on BBC 3 by DigiGuide Staff

Drinking With The GirlsDrinking With The Girls, showing Tuesday April 21st on BBC 3 at 9:00pmDocumentary in which Cherry Chadwyck-Healey explores women's attitudes to alcohol and finds out exactly why women use and, in some cases, abuse the bottle in Britain. Statistics show that women in England and Ireland are reported to be the biggest drinkers in the world, drinking up to 11 times more than their German or Italian sisters. In this documentary, Cherry goes on seven nights out with seven women who embody the seven ages of drinking. Cherry joins these women at seven very different stages of life, drinks their tipple of choice in their environment, and looks behind the statistics to understand their reasons for drinking large amounts.The seven stages identified in are: Underagers; Student Boozers; 20s Pullers; 30s celebrations; the 40 something Mums; Midlifers; and Grannies. What factors are at play in each of these seven stages? Is it the traditional British reserve, a chance to pull, peer pressure, more responsibility, more disposable income, more excuses for celebrations, an escape from the stresses of life, a confidence boost or a break from the boredom of life? View the full reviewGet a reminder when Drinking With The Girls starts...

nungryscpro on 'Userscripts.org in 2008' @ Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:43:45 +0000

--Under the old system there were 0 cookie grabbing scripts for keyword "neopets". How many scripts were there for neopets? There were 0 cookie grabbing scripts out of around 90. As of right now, there are 18 out of 123. A little less than half of the scripts since the unlisted feature was removed have been cookie grabbers. Hell 3 out of my 16 scripts use it. You should try using GM_setValue and GM_getValue instead. If you're worried about making the scripts work in browsers besides Firefox, greasekit emulates GM functions and there is Opera Userscript for Opera users. Highlighting is done on the client-side. Checking for document.cookie would have to be done on the server-side. Of course. If that can be written to work client side, think of all you can do server side. As far as manually approving unlisted scripts... whatever happened to the idea of having a real community Reviews Discussion. There's a help file for unlisted scripts unlisted scripts. It says there to email admin. There are a lot of people that care about us.o and are willing to help with the workload. There are currently 405 pages of harmful/spam scripts. How many will still be there next week?

Big Mouth

Tickle me Eno

In My Free Time

If I were truly a woman of leisure, I like to think that I would do a lot more visual art. While I was never brilliant at it, I liked drawing as a young person and am a nonstop doodler. I spent a summer playing around with oil paints and would like to do so again. I think printmaking is a beautiful art and have some ideas for what I would like to make -- if, you know, I knew how to make prints. I bought a sketchbook and some pencils on a whim a couple weeks ago. It's probably the just the weather, but I've been feeling like a creative change is on its way, and I've been trying to pay more attention to any spark of an idea I've had lately. It's been six months since I resigned, and I've had a little more time to stop and pay attention when that creative subconscious waves its little hand and then looks away, whistling innocently.I'm one of those people who, when doing a new thing or working on a project, feels like she really can't get started on something special unless everything else that should be done is done. I feel guilty putting up a Christmas tree when the laundry isn't folded. I hesitate to work on my writing-for-pleasure if I've got editing-for-pay I could be doing. And it's not from a sense of duty -- far from it. It's more a feeling of ritual, of making something special in its own space, instead of going with a creative flow when I feel it -- or at least trying to find a balance between the two.So in light of that, the other day, when I felt like playing with the pencils and sketchbook for the first time and I had some time to kill, I decided that I would just sit right down and draw what was in front of me. No arranging, no looking for something easy or interesting -- just draw what was there, if only to get a feel for the pencils and paper. And what was in front of me? A battered, 35-year-old tacklebox, which used to belong to Matt's grandpa and is now Maia's. And of course, it was at a crazy angle to my line of sight -- it was pointing directly away from me, so it was hard to show its third side. In any case, this is what I came up with: Yesterday our power went out in the late afternoon because of an ice storm. No power also means no water and no heat. We went into town for a fast-food supper (and bathrooms), swung by the grocery store for s'more fixins, then settled in at home in the living room with books, sleeping bags and candles in front of the fire. Maia conked out pretty quickly, and John sat up reading Harry Potter by candlelight. I had plenty of work I could be doing online, but instead was brought into the quiet of the evening, the rain outside and the soft talk of the fire inside. I made an old-fashioned blog:That one looked a lot better by candlelight. But, you know, it's a start.

Time for a bruiser

The churchs new English head is a tougher customer than his predecessor NOT everyone speaks warmly of Archbishop Vincent Nichols, the new head of the Catholic church in England and Wales. That, in fact, may bode well for his ability to fight its corner in the hard discussions about religion and society that loom. For the relative liberals who form the majority among Englands Catholic bishops, their new leader is a bit too conservative (that is, too close to Pope Benedict XVI); some would call him a deserter from liberal causes that he once embraced, such as racial and social equality. And for the clever advocates of old-time religion (many of them young) who abound in cyberspace, the new archbishop of Westminster isnt far enough to the right.

Are you Diligent or Lazy?

I become sort of lazy these days. I play cards, hang out, go to the movies with someone else. All in all, I am capable of committing every kind of lazy "crimes", wasting so much precious time. Where is the hard-working me anyway? Someone told me that you could sort of enjoy the idle life. To be honest, I don't like it and I don't mean to be lazy!Let me adjust this sloth attitude and hit my head with a hammer now.

Two Cornell '09-'10 Opponents in the National Top 3!

ESPN's Dick Vitale projects Kansas as No. 1 and Syracuse as No. 3 in his 2009-2010 preseason rankings. As we previously published, Cornell is expected to face both teams. Vitale writes:Now that the season is over and North Carolina cut down the nets at Ford Field it is time to go to the VBDI (Vitale Bald Dome Index) to look at the future.It is difficult to predict next season until we know which players opt for the NBA draft and see if other decide to transfer. For now I will give my early top five for the 2009-10 season:1. Kansas. Believing Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich will be back next season. Rock chalk Jayhawk fans should be thrilled. Bill Self has a couple of recruits coming in plus transfer Jeff Withey will help. The Morris twins will get better and better.2. Duke. Mike Krzyzewski's squad will be solid especially if Gerald Henderson decides to return to Cameron Indoor Stadium. Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer will have big seasons. 3. Syracuse. Jim Boeheim will have an exciting team. I love Jonny Flynn's enthusiasm and energy. The addition of Wesley Johnson, a very capable scorer who transferred from Iowa State, will be a factor.4. Purdue. Having JaJuan Johnson, Robbie Hummel, Etwaun Moore and company back makes the Boilermakers a dangerous squad.5. Michigan State. Let's stay in the Big Ten. Tom Izzo has Big Ten Player of the Year Kalin Lucas leading the way. Raymar Morgan, Draymond Green, Delvon Roe, Durrell Summers and Korie Lucious form a talented nucleus.Wow, we have to wait until April 2010 in Indianapolis to see which team cuts down the nets.

FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope

I admit to reading this one because Obama was reading it and because so many pundits have been citing similarities between the Depression in the 30ies and Roosevelt’s first 100 days of New Deal legislation and the situation currently faced by our new president. I ended up seeing more differences than similarities between the two presidents and between the two situations—which doesn’t mean the book isn’t not only interesting but timely. By the way, I agree with the author that this time around 100 days won’t do it. And even with Roosevelt, as Alter says, his most significant legislation, Social Security, passed later in his Presidency.While the book tends to zero in on the 100 days, the author obviously found that, writing to a general audience, he had to give considerable background on Roosevelt—which he does in a series of short chapters which I found fun to read even though I’m fairly well read on Roosevelt the person and the president and have recently read a good complete biography (Edwards, FDR). In most chapters there was an anecdote or fact that I’d not heard before so I couldn’t accuse Alter of just regurgitating what other writers have written.Alter makes much of the comment by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes that Roosevelt’s primary asset was not his mind but his “first class temperament”—that the title of the first book I read about Roosevelt (by Geoffrey Ward). However, Alter does honor the suggestion, made by Edwards among others, that it’s not clear whether Justice Holmes was talking about FDR or about Teddy Roosevelt. But temperament is an important issue in the book and timely because so many have noted that one of Obama’s greatest assets is what most call, these days, his “unflappability”. In temperament they may not be all that similar, but for both Obama and Roosevelt, likability is an important part of the appeal and the ability to talk to “the people” (not just the politicians) in a way that clarifies complex issues and involves the listener in solutions is of critical importance.Alter gives considerable space to Eleanor in this book too: her despair at giving up her privacy to become first lady, her discovery of a new and historically significant role for the first lady, and her function in keeping FDR in touch. Because of his paralysis, the extent of which the American people did not know, Roosevelt was more vulnerable to what we now call the “bubble” the President exists in. In the 30ies Eleanor began traveling the country and the world, going down in coal mines—and eventually into war zones—to talk to “ordinary Americans” and bringing her insights back to the President. From the first, Roosevelt recognized the danger that the President grow “out of touch”, reminding us that Obama’s fight to keep his Blackberry isn’t just his technology fix, but his recognition that Presidents can easily become bubble-dwellers.

Let's Cool It!

Ahhh.... the long, hazy, hot, humid days of summer..... they're officially here :) This is the time of year when most of our outdoor activities are done early in the morning and afternoons are reserved for swimming and relaxing. For the last week, however, all we can manage to do is avoid the numerous thunderstorms that darken nearly every day. This week, Emma, Claire, and I wanted to share a bright and cheerful recipe for some wonderful Strawberry Lemonade. It is very easy for the little ones to help out with...and they love eating as many of the strawberries as possible, so you have to work fast! This is the perfect drink for relaxing in the shade after a nice long swim or for sitting inside in awe of the thunder, lightning, and rain...as is the case for us ;) Strawberry Lemonade 5 lemons about 1 1/3 cups for the lemonade and 1 lemon sliced in rings to add to the cups and the pitcher 1 pint fresh strawberries, diced, chopped, sliced, or pureed...it's your choice 8-10 cups water 1 cup sugar Wash each lemon and strawberry very well. You will need the juice of about 4 lemons if you are using an electric juicer. If you are using good old muscle power and a hand juicer, you may need 5 lemons or so. Add the juice to the pitcher along with the sugar and stir. Add the water and strawberries. You may prepare your strawberries in a variety of ways, you can dice them, slice them, puree them, mash them, freeze the slices....whatever you prefer. For ours, we diced them, then mashed them just a bit to release the juices. Stir the strawberry lemonade mixture and add the lemon slices for garnish. Sip slowly and Enjoy! **Hi, I'm Sandra! I have been married to my wonderful husband for 12 years and I am a homeschooling mom to four blessings. You can learn more about me here. I would love for you to stop by and visit with me at my blog, My Inspired Heart, and see what creative adventures my family and I are up to!

the. killer. business!

I’ve figured out what to do with the more than 6 billion people who will need to be buried after they’ve passed-on. And how to make a handsome profit on the whole operation, too. That’s right: subscription burials! Good morning, and welcome to DeathEx, your friendly, local, death experts. We provide a full-service, personalized, and streamlined funeral experience. For the low price of $19.95 per month*, your loved ones can be interred in our state-of-the-art burial vaults. Our staff of morticians, burial consultants, and grief guides are here to help you in your time of loss. For the complete duration of your loved ones’ interment, you can contact our staff at any time with questions, to schedule a visit, or to upgrade burial facilities. Our mourning chambers allow you the privacy you need when grieving over family and friends. We provide flexibility in supporting multiple group sizes, from 1 to hundreds. Whether you come alone, or are a part of the funeral crowd, DeathEx will ensure your complete comfort throughout the process. For more information, please call us at 800 DEATHEX, or feel free to peruse our website: http://deathex.com. PS. Don’t miss our bereavement buffet where you can partake in a remembrance meal for your departed friends and family.^ *Some additional terms and conditions may apply. $19.95 service is representative only. Other service levels are available. Please see your certified burial subscription consultant for further details. ^Buffet costs and contents subject to change.

Why not use Blackberry PIN

Tom Watson has come out today on a Birmingham Website, The Stirrer, to say he feels smeared by events of the last 48 hours. He then adds this: "Because I'm a blogger and a I've got a big engagement with digital technology they are trying to nail me" Watson said. "But it's precisely because I'm engaged in that world and I know what I'm doing, I wouldn't send this kind of material by email." Watson says he was misquoted and The Stirrer will be amended shortly. The editor of Stirrer agrees it was a misquote.pLink to new post when it comes. Interestingly, The Tories have already stopped using texts for super-secret communications. I know of at least two shadow Cabinet departments which now communicate by Blackberry PIN - of which no record is ever kept. If you ever want to send RedBox confidential tips by PIN, my number is 2555BAAA Fascinatingly, Unseen writes in the comments In any case, PIN-to-PIN messages are transmitted unencrypted, via Blackberry's servers, and there have been several court cases (finance fraud, mainly), where these messages have been used in evidence. So perhaps they aren't as anonymous as people think. Someone ought to tell the Tories.

Rare Nineteenth Century Quilt

National Gallery Victoria hangs beautiful and rare early nineteenth century quiltLate in 2007 the National Gallery Victoria (NGV) acquired, through generous donation, a rare and valuable ‘frame’ quilt about which very little was known. The quilt was given to the donor two decades earlier by someone who had, in turn, been given it by relatives who were also unacquainted with the original maker.Quilting was a common pastime of genteel and middle-class women in colonial Australia, yet there are only a few extant examples of these quilts in Australian collections. Quilts of this type were particularly popular in the first half of the 19th century, with examples using similar fabrics and designs found in England (and subsequently Australia) from between 1800 and 1860.A large medallion-style, pieced patchwork, the quilt comprises many graduating, linear borders around a central panel. The particularly impressive central design consists of appliquéd cotton chintz partridge and flower motifs executed in the broderie perse technique (a technique used to appliqué small flowers and leaves using a tiny chain stitch). While on the reverse, embroidered in black cotton cross stitch is the enigmatic dedication: E. Dickins / The Gift of Her Mother / Finished When 60 Years / Of Age.Sadly for us, no date accompanies this dedication, although it has been suggested that the embroidered ‘signature’ may mean that the quilt was sent to an early Australian settler as a gift – a practice that has been previously documented.When the quilt first arrived at the NGV it was in a fragile condition. Damp storage had caused mould and mildew to develop while the presence of iron in dye mordants had corroded fibres, resulting in areas of discoloration and loss over time. The surface of the quilt was badly soiled and despite initial cleaning with a low-suction vacuum, it still appeared grimy.On the recommendation of our Textile Conservator a wet-cleaning treatment in de-ionised water was undertaken (to remove degradation products and to minimise their effect on the quilt in the future). The challenge, however, was the quilt’s large size. A tank was custom-built by NGV’s Conservation Art Technician, which enabled the quilt to be completely submerged. At times this required the assistance of nearly all the conservation staff! Yet the result has left the quilt in a much-improved state both visually and structurally.Through the process of acquisition and a combination of expert opinion and curatorial knowledge, the NGV has also endeavoured to recover some of this quilt’s lost history.A quilt is usually dated from the most recent fabrics used in it. In this case, we discovered that many of the printed cotton fabrics along the outer patchwork bands were similar to those seen in 1840s dresses from the NGV Fashion & Textiles Collection. The floral chintz was also found to resemble fabrics from the 1830s. The most exciting revelation, however, was that the central bird chintz fabric could be identified as an English furnishing chintz called Partridge and May Tree printed circa 1815, making our quilt a valuable piece of textile history.While the name of the maker and the actual date of the quilt’s completion may never be known, it remains a rare surviving example of textile endeavour and a significant example of early domestic skilled handicraft.The quilt has just been hung on the 2nd floor of National Gallery Victoria at Federation Square, Melbourne and will be on display until March 2009. Entry is FREE.National Gallery of Victoria 180 St Kilda Road Melbourne Vic 3004 AustraliaTelephone: +61 3 8620 2345 Mobile: 0438 582 727Fax: +61 3 8620 2555ngv.vic.gov.auKeep informed of the latest NGV exhibitions, special events and programs atThe Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia and NGV International by subscribing to NGV@RT, the NGV's free e-newsletter.Annette Gero helps NGV to aquire their new wonderful old quilt & identifies the central 1815 fabric, "Partridge & May Tree" This quilt has an interesting story. It turned up some time ago at the Victorian Quilters, annual Quilt Show and was shown to Mary Hitchens, the President of Vic Quilters. It was obviously special, so the owner was advised to donate it to a museum or institution. The owner tried four times and each time the quilt came back with words like "doesn't fit into our collection? or "it is the wrong time period?!Meantime, Annette Gero was researching the early fabrics in several other wonderful early 19th century quilts for inclusion in her new book "The Fabric of Society, Australia's Quilt Heritage from Convict Times to 1960, (See http://www.annettegero.com/ for information about the book, The Fabric of Society). As soon as Annette heard about this new quilt she was keen to include it in her book and the delighted owner gave her permission. Research into the fabrics of the quilt by Annettte revealed that "The bird chinz fabric in the centre of the quilt was an English furnishing chinz called Partridge & May Tree printed c1815. It is block printed in madder colours with pencilled blue on a tea ground. The birds and trees appeared in many fabric variations between 1814 and 1816 *This Partridge & May Tree fabric is in the Victoria & Albert Museum's Textile collection, however there are also reproductions and Annette found a roll of it in the USA. She was able to send the NGV some of this reproduction fabric so it can be exhibited with the quilt when it is on show. In addition Annette found that "The floral chintz within some of the outer borders is unknown but has been dated against similar fabrics from c.1830. The flowers along the border are very similar to those in the centre of a chintz quilt brought to Australia from England by the LLoyd family in 1833 (also in her book) and the fabrics here date from c1825-30.* Several months after undertaking her research into the quilt Annette was contacted by the textile curator at NGV to say they had been offered an old quilt and could she give them an opinion as to whether this was an important quilt! The curator obviously knew this was a wonderful example of an early 19th century quilt but the acquisition committee needed an outside opinion. Annette's research on the fabrics was invaluable in providing this proof. There are about 10 such quilts in Australia of similar age and quality of early fabrics. These quilts are probably equal to any other quilts of their period found in the world. We are extremely fortunate to have them in this country as part of our quilt heritage.