Happy Birthday, Mr. Jackson, Sir

General Stonewall Jackson was born on January 21, 1824. Born Thomas J. Jackson, he got the nickname "Stonewall" at the first battle of Bull Run. He was sitting calmly astride his horse when confederate General Bee shouted "Look men! There is Jackson standing like a stonewall! Let us determine to die here and we will conquer!"

Little Sorrel, his horse, was stuffed after his death and is on display at the VMI in Lexington, Virginia.

One of my favorite quotes is,"You may be whatever you resolve to be" (From Jackson's Personal Journal)

A Snowman's Folly

The Bitter End
by Daniel Anderson

Summoned from a fresh page
Of winter, and finished with a stovepipe hat,
The snowman started life in middle age,
Bald and running to fat.

In a corner of the yard
Beneath an ice-encrusted pine tree tassel,
Honor-bound and dauntless, he stood guard
Over the frozen castle

Built also by a child
On the unshovelled morning after the storm.
He lingers there, content to wait, in a mild
And vaguely human form,

Dissolving into the mud.
He's shed his scarf and dropped his walking cane,
Endured the soft and intermittent thud
Of January rain,

And still maintains his grinning
While comprehending nothing of his demise,
Not the dangling corncob nor the thinning
Sockets of his eyes.

He makes the slow return
From gutter stream through glittering brook to sea
With relatively small or no concern
For his own misery;

He's never been known to grouse
About warm weather or his loosening bones,
And all day long he's faced this lonely house
Cracking his smile of stones.

"The Bitter End" by Daniel Anderson, from January Rain.

Think Spring

Wouldn't you just love one of these perched on your windowsill or tabletop? Oh, how I love flowers! Terrain is one of my very favorite places to visit for inspiration and beautiful things. And, for some reason, I am really drawn to terrariums right now. I guess I'm just a Victorian girl caught in modern times.....I would be happy ditching a car for my horse, living in a home with a turret or two and one little terrarium. Just one would make me happy!

Here's another site that makes me smile....Twig Terrariums. These folks have a great sense of humor! Love it!Tiny little worlds that are sometimes better defined with a magnifying glass.




Enjoy!

Victorian Hair Art

On display at the Historic Fairfield Inn, Fairfield, PA

Popular in the U.S. between 1770 and 1900, the white middle class used the hair of a loved one, dead or alive, to create jewelry, wall decorations and keepsakes.
Hair art was used for a variety of functions from recording family history to tokens of affection exchanged between lovers. Naturally, hair art also became a popular means to memorialize loved ones who had passed on. Mourning jewelry created with hair was intensely popular because it did not violate the strict code of conduct Victorian society imposed upon the conduct and dress of grieving persons. In this capacity hair art is best remembered. The hair of individuals and sometimes entire families can still be found intricately crafted and solemnly tucked behind glass frames or behind jeweler's cases at antique stores.

"I have a piece of thee here, not unworthy of thy being now."

The Godey's Lady's Book of May 1855