Snow has finally arrived!

Well, winter is finally here with the snow! It has been so unusual this year that this is the first time the grandkids have been able to go sledding in the ditch!

Since it has been so mild, I am surprised that they were able to come up with any warm gear! Perhaps I'd better start gathering up more. Lots of great buys on OLA.com!

I love these fun, fancy PINK FASHION FANCY FUN FUR FLUFFY HAT & SCARF from Uneekbouteek! She has other beautiful colors and ships them free!!

Here are some nice, warm Hot Tips Winter Sport Gloves Ladies M Thinsulate Ski Board Sled from Curiocache!

These are the cutest! AWESOME HANDMADE FLEECE JESTER HAT & GLOVES

  from Plusizeglamor!

This Heather Isle Tartan Lambswool Fringed Scarf is just one of the very special lambswool scarves offered by For Everything Genealogy! Many other beautiful colors to choose from!

Ash-Lee-Varieties has this LOT OF "12" SCULL/WINTER HATS "NEW" which will give a lot to choose from and many more winter items besides!!

So, if you're still looking for those nice warm accessories, check out OLA.com! Winter isn't done yet by any means!

And please check out our store, KornKountryTreasures! We'd be delighted to have you stop in!

Thank you!

The Earth Box

I have noticed several people posting about gardens so I thought I would let you in on something I have been using since 1998 when I still lived in Florida. I lived in Bradenton and the person who invented it lived in the next town over which is Palmetto.

I am speaking of the earth box. Having a Garden is fine for most however it was just hubby and I so I did not want to dig up the yard for just the two of us. I went to Palmetto and spoke with the gentleman who invented the earth box.

Since there are so many critters there he told me I could grow all I wanted or needed in the screened room that was already up for the pool. I had a hard time with believing him. I wanted cukes, tomatos, scallions, radishes and more. When I told him how many I was growing for and what I wanted to grow he told me I only needed two boxes.

He showed me around at what he was growing and I was totally amazed. He had cabbage (2 to a box) and they were so hugh they actually hid the box they were grown in. He grew corn in them and he told me if it will grow in the earth box it will grow in his boxes. I was so impressed I got two of them. That year I had all the veggies we could eat and I use these same boxes still today.

I hope this link takes you to their site. If it does not just google earth box, Palmetto, FL

http://www.earthbox.com/

These boxes are amazing. When you purchase them you are given any extra's you may need. I never used the plastic covers but you get them, soil treatment products, instructions and all you need to get started. Here is how they work.

When you decide what you are going to grow you can actually start them earlier than usually inside and them move them to your porch or yard where they get sun. The concept is to water from the bottom and only mist from time to time on the leaves. there is a tube that goes down one side where you water it as the roots go after the water and it is always there if you check the box daily. When you put the hose in the tube to fill the bottom with water, you cannot over water as there is a whole in it that lets you know you have enough water in it. I had the best crop of all my years living in FL and it is amazing that I am still using them here in NC with the same results. 

Last year was not a good year for veggie gardens here and mine was not the greatest as it has been at other times but it was better than hubbies who insist in tilling, working the soil and all that comes with that. I do let him eat some of mine LOL.

Awesome Tomatos

Now I am going to attermp to put a couple of pictures off the net to show you what I mean and if that does not work you will see them when you check out that site.

One head of cabbage grown in an earth box

You can actually see where this young man is putting the water.

 The object is to water from the bottom at the root system and you cannot over water them.  There is a platform that goes in before you put the soil and seeds in and that allows for the roots to be free to go for the water. I firmly believe in them and when I went back to FL for a visit I bought 2 more. Which now have been leant to friends and they swear by them. They do not want to give them back but I give them the phone number and they will ship them right to your house no matter where you live. We surrprised hubbies dad one year with having 2 shipped to him. The older he got the harder it was for him to garden so we set these up on cinder blocks for him and he was so proud he was still growing things.

Garlic was his love and he has been deceased since 2009 and we still have fresh garlic he made and bottled himself.  He also loved putting fresh cut tomatos he grew on the table when we visited.

Thank you for reading my blog and I hope you got something from it. Comments are appreciated. And when you are done here why not come on over to my favorite selling place at OLA.COM and look me up at chateycathey  to see what I have now and listings I am still putting up for my 50% off sale ending February 8th at midnight, just in time to get it to you before Valentines day.

Be safe, be healthy and be happy

REMEMBER YOUR CHILDHOOD (2)

REMEMBER YOUR CHILDHOOD (2).

Please click here to buy all issues in .pdf format.

The Oracle of the City of San Francisco, also known as the San Francisco Oracle, was an underground newspaper published in 12 issues from September 20, 1966, to February 1968 in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of that city. Allen Cohen (1940–2004), the editor during the paper's most vibrant period, and Michael Bowen, the art director, were among the founders of the publication. The Oracle was an early member of the Underground Press Syndicate.

The Oracle combined poetry, spirituality, and multicultural interests with psychedelic design, reflecting and shaping the countercultural community as it developed in the Haight-Ashbury. It was arguably the outstanding example of psychedelia within the countercultural "underground" press, noted for experimental multicolored design. Oracle contributors included many significant San Francisco–area artists of the time, including Bruce Conner and Rick Griffin. It featured such beat writers as Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Michael McClure.

The initial impetus for the paper came from Allen Cohen and head shop owners Ron and Jay Thelin, who offered to put up the seed money to found an underground paper. In the summer of 1966 a number of meetings were held in the Haight-Ashbury district to discuss the idea of starting a paper, attracting a varied group of interested people. The result of these meetings was a paper called P.O. Frisco which lasted for a single 12-page tabloid issue dated September 2, 1966, under the editorship of Dan Elliot and Richard Sassoon (a 31-year-old Yale-educated poet who had once been Sylvia Plath's boyfriend), operating out of a storefront on Frederick Street in cooperation with members of the radical Progressive Labor Party. "P.O." stood for "Psychedelphic Oracle", a title suggested by Bruce Conner. P.O. Frisco was a compromise between the various factions involved in founding the paper which wound up satisfying no one, and the Thelin brothers threatened to cut off their financial support if the paper wasn't completely rebooted from scratch.

A second attempt was launched out of new offices behind the Print Mint on Haight Street, under new editors George Tsongas and John Bronson. The new paper was retitled The San Francisco Oracle with issue numbering restarted with a new #1. This paper did not yet have the dense verbose and graphically rich psychedelic design the Oracle later became famous for, but it was a first step in that direction. Bronson and Tsongas edited the first two issues of the new Oracle and then left after a fight with Cohen and Gabe Katz, who became the paper's new art editor starting with issue #3 while Cohen took over as editor, a role he maintained until the end.

One week after the redesigned Oracle #3 hit the streets around November 8, 1966, editor Cohen was busted in the Thelins' Psychedelic Shop for selling a police vice squad officer a copy of Lenore Kandel's book of verse, The Love Book. This case became a free speech cause célèbre around the country.The Oracle quickly developed a stable core group of staffers which included, among many others, Michael Bowen, Stephen Levine, Travis Rivers (a Texan friend of Janis Joplin, he was at that time the manager of the Haight Street branch of the Print Mint), George Tsongas, who had returned to the paper, staff artists Dangerfield Ashton, Ami McGill, and Hetti McGee, poet Harry Monroe, Gene Grimm, and Steve Lieper.After issue #5 the paper moved into the premises formerly occupied by Michael Bowen on Haight near Masonic. The new offices were open 24 hours a day.

Starting with issue #6 the paper switched printers from Waller Press (which later served as the printers for the San Francisco Express Times) to Howard Quinn Printers. At the Howard Quinn shop the paper's artists were allowed to come in on Sundays when the paper was being printed and experiment with the presses, and it was at this time that the revolutionary split-fountain rainbow inking effect was perfected. This involved placing makeshift wooden dams in the ink fountain and using them to feed different colored inks simultaneously into the fountain, which produced a rainbow effect which was a bit difficult to read but visually arresting.

The more colorful Oracle was an instant success and the paper had to go back to press on successive Sundays to run off more copies. The paper's circulation, which had started with a modest 3,000 copies and gradually grew to about 15,000 copies by issue #4 and 50,000 copies by #5, ran off 60-75,000 copies of #6 and even more of #7. Starting with #6 every issue went back to press for at least a second printing, sometimes with changes in content.At its peak, the publication's print run was about 125,000, but its editors estimated that ample pass-around readership brought their circulation above half a million.

The influential sprawling thematic pieces that ran in the Oracle include the astrologers' symposium on the Age of Aquarius in issue #6, with Ambrose Hollingworth, Gayla (Rosalind Sharpe Wall, an associate of John Starr Cooke), and Gavin Arthur; and the "Houseboat Summit" in issue #7 which brought together Alan Watts, Allen Ginsberg, Timothy Leary, and Gary Snyder for a long, free-ranging discussion on the houseboat owned by Watts and Jean Varda. It began with Watts posing the question "Whether to drop out or take over?" Issue #5, the "Human Be-In" issue, was the launching pad for the Gathering of the Tribes held in Golden Gate Park on January 14, 1967. Issue #12, which was to be the last, featured an uncut transcript of a symposium at Masonic Auditorium entitled "2000 A.D." with Alan Watts, Herman Kahn and Carl Rogers.

REMEMBER YOUR CHILDHOOD

Remember your childhood. ...

Meccano Magazine was an English monthly hobby magazine published by Meccano Ltd between 1916 and 1963, and by other publishers between 1963 and 1981. The magazine was initially created for Meccano builders, but it soon became a general hobby magazine aimed at "boys of all ages". It remained in circulation for over sixty years.

CLICK HERE TO BUY A HUGE AMOUNT OF MAGS IN .PDF FORMAT.

The magazine was launched by Frank Hornby, the inventor of Meccano, as a bi-monthly publication in 1916 in the United States as "Meccano Engineer", and was a month ahead of the UK issue. The first copies were given away free but in 1918 readers had to pay two pence for postage for four issues. In 1917 and again in 1932, Hornby published a history of Meccano, its manufacture and marketing in the magazine. In 1919 it doubled its size to eight pages and now cost one penny. New Meccano parts were advertised for the first time in 1920 and in 1922 the magazine became a monthly publication. From the May 1924 issue, the magazine had full-colour covers, and the December 1924 issue was 96 pages, costing six pence. By the 1930s Meccano Magazine had a circulation of 70,000.During the Second World War the content and quality of the magazine was reduced greatly, and the size decreased from approximately A4 to A5. The A5 pocket-size format remained until 1961 when it was increased again to A4.In 1963 the magazine started reporting a loss and Meccano Ltd handed its publishing over to its printers, Thomas Skinner. In August 1967 Thomas Skinner terminated production of the magazine and passed the magazine on to Model & Allied Publications (MAP) of Hemel Hempstead in 1968. At the end of 1972 publication stopped due to a decline in popularity.In April 1973 it was resurrected again, this time as a quarterly magazine, and from 1977 it incorporated Meccano Engineer and the Meccanoman's Journal. Meccano Magazine's last issue was Spring 1981.

Meccano Magazine was originally aimed at Meccano builders and featured articles on Meccano construction and new Meccano developments. When Frank Hornby launched the Meccano Guild in 1919, the magazine carried regular Guild news to keep Meccano clubs informed of each others activities. But over time Meccano Magazine became a general hobby magazine aimed at "boys of all ages". Aside from Meccano related articles, it also featured Hornby trains, Dinky Toys and other products of Meccano Ltd, plus a wide variety of general interest articles, including, engineering, aircraft, trains, modelling, camping, photography and philately. Commonwealth countries always featured strongly in articles as Meccano Ltd exported its products to these countries.The magazines today are an excellent source of historic information and an invaluable aid to collectors of toys from those years. They have also become collector's items and there is a healthy trade in them at auctions.

The Law Of The Wild

This was sent to me via email and it was so amazing, I had to share!

The Law Of The Wild says kill only when you are hungry.

Photographer Michel Denis-Huot, who captured these amazing pictures on safari in Kenya 's Masai Mara in October last year, said he was astounded by what he saw:

"These three brothers (cheetahs) have been living together since they left their mother at about 18 months old,' he said. 'On the morning we saw them, they seemed not to be hungry, walking quickly but stopping sometimes to play together. At one point, they met a group of impala who ran away. But one youngster was not quick enough and the brothers caught it easily."

These extraordinary scenes followed.

And then they just walked away without hurting him...........

Life is short....forgive quickly, love truly, laugh uncontrollably...

and never regret anything that made you smile.

Never look down on anybody

unless

you're helping them up.

I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did! Share it! It is quite extraodinary!!

And for other extraordinary things, check out OLA.com! Great seller, great prices, great deals!! 

Thank you from our store, KornKountryTreasures!!

Tea

Camellia sinensis, the tea plant, is actually an evergreen plant that normally grows in tropical and sub-tropical climates. There are some varieties that can grow in marine climates and are grown as far as Pembrokeshire in the British mainland and Washington state in the United States.

The tea plant is native to East and South Asia. The first recorded consumption of tea as a beverage was in China dating back to the 10th century BC. It became very popular during the Qin Dynasty, 3rd century BC, and spread to Korea and Japan during the Tang Dynasty. The 16th century saw the importation of tea to Europe and in the 19th century, the Chinese began trading tea with the Western world, spreading tea and the tea plant to locations around the world.

It is the leaves that are the product that we purchase for our consumption. After picking, the leaves begin to wilt and oxidize unless they are dried. Without going into a lot of detail, depending on when the leaves are dried determines the type of tea:

White tea - wilted and unoxidized

Yellow tea - unwilted and unoxidized, but allowed to yellow

Green tea - unwilted and unoxidized

Oolong - wilted, bruised, and partially oxidized

Black tea - wilted, sometimes crushed, and fully oxidized

Post-fermented tea: Green tea that has been allowed to ferment/compost

The white, green and black teas are the more popular teas, here in the states and some are blended with various flavors for a more enjoyable beverage. The white and green have more antioxidants than that of the black tea due to the processing of the leaves.

Myself, I love a good white tea. This is enjoyable anytime of day and is very refreshing. Try to avoid the off brand names unless you have prior experience with it or someone you know has personally recommended it. White teas are a little more expensive but well worth it.

For summertime drinks, nothing tastes as good as a cold glass of iced tea. I like sun tea. Take a few orange pekoe (used in the Western region to describe a genre of black teas) tea bags and plop them in a gallon jar with cold water, stick on the lid and set it out in the sun for an hour or so. Add ice, lemon, a little sugar for the sweet tooth, maybe a sprig of mint and voilà!! Refreshment!!

Well, I started all this because I love old teapots! I have several Hall teapots, one that was my mothers, a beautiful blue moriage teapot, a couple of little individual teapots and one from Currier & Ives. All are special because they were given to me by my family and I would have many more if I had the room. In fact, I was drooling when I was browsing through the ads!! Just take a look!!

Tea Pot made in England Vintage English Metal from BasicnOrdinary! What a find!!

Brass Decorative Tea Pot Nic Nac Knick Knack from Vermonter53! This is cute!!

VINTAGE HALL ALADDIN YELLOW TEAPOT A1724~free shipping from PWittsStuff! I love Hall teapots!!

Vintage PURINTON Teapot 4 cup IVY & RED BLOSSOM from MoreRivetHead84! Resembles my cookie jar, just a little different!!

Brown & Gold Teapot - Gibsons England - 4 cup - Tea Pot from PiasRotty! Gorgeous!

Brass/Silverplated Teapot or Coffee Urn Decorative Etching from DebandRicksStore! This is so cool!!

Vintage Antique Blue Staffordshire Country Scene Teapot from Tarasevich5gsh! OOOOH! Blue!!

Vintage Shawnee Pottery Teapot With Purple Flowers from RoundPrairie2! I think this matches my cookie jar and pitcher!!

Moriage Teapot Individual Occupied Japan from KornKountryTreasures!

So, if you're looking for a nice, old teapot to serve that tea, or even a new one, check out OLA.com! Great prices, great deals, great sellers! You won't be disappointed!!

Thank you!

Veggie planting part 2..

Sowing seeds directly in your garden

"Unless you live in an area where summers are really short, you're better off sowing some types of vegetables directly in a garden. Large-seeded, fast-growing vegetables, such as corn, melons, squash, beans, and peas, usually languish if they're grown in containers for even a day or two too long.

Before direct seeding, make sure that the soil has dried out sufficiently before you work it, and be sure that the soil is warm enough for the seeds that you want to plant. Pea seeds, for example, germinate in soil as cool as 40°F (4°C), and you can plant them as soon as you can work the soil in spring. Squash seeds, on the other hand, need warmth. If your soil temperature is much below 65°F (18°C), the seeds are likely to rot in the ground before they sprout. The best way to determine the temperature of your soil is to use a soil thermometer, which you can buy at a garden store.

You can plant seeds in a variety of patterns. The method that you choose depends on your climate, your tools, and your taste:

• Row planting: Mark the placement of a row within your garden, and then make a furrow at the correct depth along the row. Some seeds may not sprout, so sow seeds more thickly than you want the final spacing of the crops to be. Thinning rows is less of a chore if you space seeds as evenly as possible. Cover the seeds with fine soil and then firm them in with the back of a hoe to make sure that all the seeds are in contact with the soil. Water gently. If you plan to use furrow irrigation, fill the furrows with water first and then push the large seeds into the top of raised beds.

• Wide row planting: This method allows you to plant more seeds in less space by concentrating watering, weeding, and fertilizing in a smaller area. Rows are generally 10 to 16 inches (25 to 41 cm) wide. Sprinkle seeds over the entire row — with most crops, try to land the seeds about 1/2 to 1 inch (1 to 2 cm) apart. For peas and beans, space them 1-1/2 to 2 inches (4 to 5 cm). Cover small seeds with a thin layer of potting soil. Lightly pat the potting soil down again to bring the added soil into firm contact with the seeds.

• Bed planting: Planting in beds is essentially the same as planting wide rows.

• Hill planting: Plant seeds for vining crops that spread out, such as squash, melons, or cucumbers, in hills or circular groups. Loosen the soil in a 1-foot-diameter (30 cm) area, level the area, and then plant five to six seeds close together. Thin out all but the two strongest seedlings.

If your soil is heavy, you may want to plant in a raised hill, or mound. The raised soil warms up more quickly than the surrounding soil and drains better. Just don't let the mound dry out!

Soon after seedlings grow their second set of true leaves, you need to thin them out to avoid overcrowding. (The first set of leaves that a seedling produces are called seed leaves or cotyledon,which are followed by the true leaves.) When you thin plants, either discard the extra seedlings or move them to another part of your garden.

Newly transplanted seedlings need extra attention until they get established. Shade them from the hot sun for a day or two and be sure to keep them well watered."

I think my problem the most last year was the soil temp. Of the many seeds we planted, very few sprouted..and it was quite cold and damp during the spring and early summer.. Gotta get them started early this year!

Here's a few more interesting things I've found at onlineauction.com!

From bizebee this great dehydrator! 

Make money from your gardening! Awesome Salad Bar from  nyminuteman

Yummy glass fruit from curiocache!