One in spirit. One in death.

Herself drew Miss Eagle's attention to this news item about a couple who died, after 55 years of marriage, on the same night. It is a heart-warming story though sad for those left behind. Miss Eagle thought of the way Jesus said that, in marriage, the two shall become one. (Mark 10:8). It seems to Miss Eagle that this couple had truly become one - so much so that when one departed, the other had to go too. We don't know who went first but Miss Eagle has in her mind, her imagination that whichever one went first came, in spirit, for the other.

Announcement: Jane Brocket revealed

Miss Eagle has, like all of us, her favourite blogs. Some of these are simple blogger blogs. Others have wonderful titles and fonts and layouts. Miss E's FeedDemon has umpteen categories - but the really beautiful ones are put in two categories: Charmers and Charmers - Aussies.

The two Charmer categories are totally inhabited by women: women who love beauty, women who are creative. And to keep and be categorised here, only the best will do.

And the very, very, very best in Miss Eagle's view (apologies to all my blogging friends) is yarnstorm. The person behind yarnstorm is Jane Brocket.

The layout of yarnstorm is simple and elegant. Jane writes about books, the family baking, the family crafts and creativity, and - needless to say - knitting. We know that Jane is well-educated and it is clear from the way she writes and what she chooses to write about. And she does write well - so well, in fact, that this year she has a book contract with Hodder & Stoughton.

But it not just Jane's writing that makes the blog, it is her wonderful photos. They are brilliant. They cover flowers - we all know how dotty she is about tulips; the biscuits and rock buns and cake decoration of family baking; and, of course, the knitting - and the patchwork and quilting. All done with superb style. Miss Eagle thinks that it is highly probable that Style is Jane's middle name.

Through all this, we have had no idea of what Jane looked like. We have seen her nail varnished toes and, perhaps, other bits and pieces of her. But never HER - not enough to see what she might really look like. Until to-day!

Today, Jane Brocket is revealed. The big reveal. We can see the woman behind the blog and the yet to be published book. And the blogosphere is thrilled, Miss Eagle can report!

Lemon Blossom

The lemon blossom is flaunting itself.
Making itself attractive to bees/
But the bees wouldn't hang around while Miss Eagle focussed
And, dear Reader, as you can see the beauty bears fruit.

Lemons.

Public people pleasing art!

This picture was published on page 2 of the mX yesterday. The following text was published below the picture:

It was Lego a-go-go at Victoria Park station today when a giant sculpture greeted morning commuters. The climbing crate men were snapped by mX reader Cornelius Brown, who was impressed by the mystery artist's work. "I've heard of these artists before." he said. "They did a similar thing in Richmond a while ago, but this is just amazing."

Isn't it imaginatively and creatively marvellous!

Beads and a can

This week's Photo Friday challenge/theme is Amber. Miss Eagle's contribution is a pair of amber bead necklaces surrounding a Susie Cooper coffee can and saucer with an amber interior. These beautiful things have come to me from other women who love/d beautiful things.

The beads were given to me by my former boss, Margo, who remains a good friend. The Black Fruits coffee can and saucer are part of a set of six from my late aunt, playwright Kathleen Carroll.

Living at Brighton? A Melbourne Riviera?

Yesterday, Herself and Miss Eagle celebrated Mother's Day at North Point Cafe at Brighton as described here and here. As we walked up North Road, we daydreamed about the beautiful homes there in this old, close to the city, suburb.

Herself declared that this was for her. Very French Riviera, very Cote d'Azur.

Herself pointed to how savvy the owners were about gardens.

But, for Miss Eagle, she has always daydreamed of a unit here - perhaps this unit.

It is right across North Road from the Cote d'Azur model - so with Miss E here and H. there...well, it would be convenient, wouldn't it?

But we both love cottages...

and Herself thought Hansel and Gretel with this one while Miss E thought Arts & Crafts.

And then there was this place. And here is the reason...

...a Pussy Cat and a Geranium

Portfolio Optimization: Garage Sale 2

Portfolio Optimization is on again at The Trad Pad.

Two single women with too much stuff.

Two households and the remains of two shops are - after two and a half years - still being divested and blended as mother and daughter live together.

We are garage sale-ing this weekend.

For more information, email Miss Eagle off the side bar.

Here are some of the things:

A providential name?

Among Miss Eagle's weekly dose of spam (sounds like an STD - perhaps a spam transmitted disease?), was the wonderful name of Providencia Sims.

Providencia....what a wonderful name, Miss E thought. So distinguished. Rolls off the tongue. And a virtue - like Faith, Hope, Charity, Felicity. Brings back memories of Evelyn Waugh's Bright Young Things. Miss Eagle mentioned it to Herself who wondered about the possibility of a sibling named Prudentia.

Of course, Miss E had to Google these wonderfully creative names didn't she. The balloon of presitigious nomenclature was thoroughly punctured.

Providencia is the name of a bacterium (how appropriate for a spammer). As for Prudentia, this is a favourite of the disciples of Mammon - investment banks and others of this genre.

Cath Kidston hits the shelves in Target

It is not only Stella McCartney who has invaded Target.

Herself and Miss Eagle were in Target for some winter clothing shopping. Of course, we had a browse. Herself and Miss E would have you know, dear Reader, that we have great admiration for the eye and the skills of the person who does the homeware and manchester purchasing for Target. Good stuff priced well! Then, in our browsing, you could have knocked each of us over with a feather!

There before our eyes was the magical name of Cath Kidston!

Now, dear Reader, if you have done any exploring you will know that Cath's wares have a certain cachet and are not available just anywhere and everywhere. In Melbourne, the very few number of stores who stock Cath's fabrics are only to be found in the "better" suburbs. So, to find her famous name even on toiletries was a surprise. So we spent the princely sum of A$7.99 to get our souvenir - a hatbox will have to wait until later!

Glass and style

You will recall, dear Reader, the recent opp shop expedition with Gina and Sharon?

Herself, ever the stylist, took the small selection of glassware that Miss Eagle made that day, put it together with some from a previous solo expedition and added it all to our existing collection and this is how it all looked.

Shopping: therapy, festival, compulsion, illness, manipulation

Ramada - Mall of America

Shopping is better than sex.
If you're not satisfied after shopping you can make an exchange for something you really like.

Adrienne Gusoff

Shop Til You Drop Magazine

What is it about shopping? What is it about shopping and the female of the species? Can we live with it? Can we live without it?

We talk about retail therapy. There seems to be a word for shopping til you drop: oniomania. Melbourne - which has more than its fair share of bread and circuses - is contemplating, as Miss Eagle has mentioned before, a shopping festival. Dubai actually has one and so has Hong Kong.

It is lovely to walk through beautiful shops selling beautiful things - even if one doesn't spend. Miss Eagle can still dream about Prada and Bulgari even if she can't afford it. This is why, even though she has not spent a cent there, Miss E was thrilled by the refurbishment of the Ground Floor at David Jones' Burke Street Mall store.

Could there possibly be a down side?

There is the illness. The cultural distortion which sees Hot Cross Buns - an Easter tradition - on sale before Epiphany. Advertising manipulating our children. The sexualization of our children. And for more information on how, when we consume, we are consumed go here.

Then there is the economic impact. Some see the globalization of retail and commodities which it sells as a positive thing. This article - brief as it is - comes out on the positive size while mentioning social disruption and the loss of jobs in some sectors of the economy.

We need to remember that when we purchase all that stuff from China and India it is great for their economies. And they really do need jobs. But when we lose jobs in this nation, we also lose skills - skills that are not always readily replaced with new ones. We can also lose access to jobs and personal economic development for women and young people.

So what is the solution? Miss E has none except the caveat emptor (buyer beware) provisions. Be aware! Demand accountability - not just from individuals but from governments and corporations.

If we become aware and demand accountability, we will become smart, ethical shoppers.

And for increasing numbers of us, we will go this way to the opp shop.

Miss E's unique eaglet name

Gina, did this quiz. Pop over and check her result. Gina seems to think she will be able to do a little bit of blame shifting. No such luck for Miss Eagle, dear Reader. As you and I always knew, Miss Eagle is quite unique - well, almost! The site claims that there are 301,758,144 people in the U.S. Wow! And only one has my name! Miss Eagle tried out her maiden name, the name she had as a young eaglet! And guess what - there is no one in the whole USA - no one person in all those 301, 758, 144 people - with my name. Wow! When you google my eaglet name, I am the only one who comes up - with the except of someone who was married in 1896. Howzat! How ever with the name Miss Eagle got from the dear departed Dearly Beloved, a lot of google space is devoted to an actor whose work Miss E has never seen.

So, dear Reader, should Miss Eagle - in this age of identity fraud - resort to her rather unique eaglet name? What do you think? Please let me know

HowManyOfMe.com

There is 1 person with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

A jug or three...

This is The Trad Pad's Jug collection - not counting a few enamel ones.

Favourite Fan

This is my favourite purchase from the PWP Opp Shop at Upper Ferntree Gully.

It is made out of card which appears to have been glued together and shaped and cut with pinking shears.

It is held together with a split pin of the sort used to hold documents together and a pretty pink ribbon is inserted in the hole.

However, the gluing (if it is two cards glued together) is so well done that it cannot be detected. The other thing is that the card seems to be uniformly of a high quality - not, methinks, as thin as most cards.

It folds up, needless to say, which makes it easily portable - but as you can see, dear Reader, looks beautiful standing up and spread.

Never mind the weather...a sunshine-y opp shop day

What a lovely day was Sunday. The weather was overcast and rainy making for very damp conditions. But Gina of Patra's Other Place and associated blogs and Sharon of Beyond the Blank Page and Miss Eagle met in Upper Gully for a day together and everything was sunshine-y bright. Lee-Ann from Pear Tree Cottage! had hoped to join us, but this was not possible.

The day started with a visit to Craft Fair on Burwood Highway at Ferntree Gully. They have a lovely coffee shop so after a long and thoughtful browse we indulged and refreshed ourselves as this photo of Sharon and Miss Eagle taken by Gina shows.

So after that, it was off to the Market at Upper Gully.

Stalls were somewhat depleted because of the weather but we saw what there was to see.
It was then only a hop, step, and a little jump to walk across to the PWP Opp Shop down behind the Royal Hotel. Miss Eagle has posted previously on the wonderful art on the facade of this opp shop. See here, here, and here.

So we followed the Paws into the shop.

Miss Eagle discovered that the art work does not stop at the front door. The dressing room is a delight with this wonderful work on one corrugated iron wall.

Gina left no item unturned...
...while Sharon searched the racks.

We looked at the ties to make a selection for Woof Nanny. Miss Eagle tried to convince Gina that you need an AFL tie, Barb. Miss E knew you wouldn't have one of these from the Australain Football League. But do you think Miss E could convince Gina....!

So here, Barb, is the selection!
Here is some of Miss Eagle's treasure. This was $3 worth including a facewasher (unpictured).

A stencil set for $3 was also purchased.

Optimizing towards simplicity...and a wild mushroom

The optimization of the domestic portfolio has been deemed a success. Quite a lot of stuff marched out the back gate yesterday. One couple took quite a bit of our good stuff and left quite a few hundred bucks behind. Some stuff we let go for nothing. Other stuff went dirt cheap to a good home.

Our thirteen year old miniature fox terrier, FootFoot, enjoyed himself immensely. Some of his friends - who lavish pats upon him as they walk past - dropped by. He made some new friends. One woman, in particular, he seemed to be falling in love with. Turned out she was a dog trainer!

The result is that cupboard space has been freed up. A little less to dust and maintain and store. But oh, dear Reader, with what is left over plus the stuff we just didn't get a chance to put out because we were so busy, there is enough to do it again another day. Divest, divest, divest is the motto. The aim - simplicity, simplicity, simplicity.

And, our neighbour Betty came over with these....

...wild mushrooms.

A friend, she told us, had given them to her. He picks them wild in his paddock. She had a warning though. They had to be eaten to-day. If they couldn't all be eaten, then throw the rest away because on no account were they to be eaten the next day.

So lunch was funghi on lovely Italian bread, toasted, which Miss E purchased in North Carlton ten days ago and which is still wonderfully fresh. Scrumptious, simple and just the thing after a busy morning running a garage sale.

Portfolio optimization

The domestic porfolio is being optimized. There has been some downsizing since Herself and Miss Eagle took up housekeeping together two and a half years ago but there is still far too much so further divestment is to take place next Saturday, April 28, at a garage sale. Don't wish to publish address details but if you are to be in the vicinity of Ferntree Gully next Saturday between 9am and 1pm email Miss E ahead of time for the details at miss.eagle@yahoodotcomdotau.

Portfolio contents include:

• Leadlight kitchen cabinet
• Art - original art including Aboriginal Art - and Pictures
• Couches
• China
• Furniture
• Children's stuff including a lovel set of four old nursery rhyme pictures - just dreamy in the shabby chic nursery and wooden toys
• Leaf blower/vaccuum
• Garden pots and planters
• Matchbox (and other brands) cars

This list is open-ended and there will be all sorts of interesting stuff.

The new spatula is put to use...

Come in. Pull up a chair. Let's have a cup of tea. Coffee if you like. To celebrate having a spatula once more (see here), Miss Eagle made this traditional sponge cake. Would you like a piece? If you would like the recipe, click over to Food from Oz.

Anzac Day 2007

To-day is Anzac Day.

This is a significant day in Australian life.

All around Australia from the Australian War Memorial (below) to every tiny country community, Australian and New Zealand war dead will be remembered.

All around the world, Australians and New Zealanders will gather.

They gather for the Dawn Service in Gallipoli in Turkey.

They gather in Flanders Fields.

The troops in Iraq and every place on earth where there are Australian and New Zealand military personnel, there will be solemnity and memorial.

After the solemnity, there will be the traditional two-up game

"Two up" game in progress troops returning from service H.M.A.T. MAHIA

Museum Victoria Collection

When Australians remember those who died in the service of their nation, on Anzac Day, at the going down of the sun in RSL Clubs across Australia, the verse below is said as a sort of prayer, a testimony of sacred intent:

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)