Businesses every day are struggling and quickly adapting their operations to survive in the Coronavirus pandemic. If you’re not an essential worker, you are probably quarantining yourself and loved ones at home. You might be online and worried about your favorite business or organization making the cut with tough times. Wondering how you can help them. Turns out employers and employees are finding creative ways to support themselves and YOU can make a difference. Virtual shopping can be both a lifesaver and fun. Creekwater Alpaca Farm in Snellville, Georgia One of our favorite places to visit is Creekwater Alpaca Farm located right outside Atlanta. It’s a fantastic place with alpacas, pigs, rabbits, a LOUD rooster, quinea fowl, goats, and the caretakers who love it. They were really hit hard and facing an animal food shortage so they started a GoFundMe campaign. Then, they began to offer Zoom barn tours. We…
Happy 168th Birthday to Alice Liddell – the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland! Interesting that the story’s image of Alice is a matter of dispute. Obviously, it is not the illustration of the original Alice. Carroll sent a photograph of another child friend, Mary Hilton Badcock to the book’s illustrator, but whether or not the artist actually used it is cloudy. A letter Carroll wrote suggests the illustrator did not. Either way Alice Liddell had a life of adventure and helped to establish stories we know and love. You can read more about her life here and the illustration of the story in this article. Alice Liddell (right) with her sisters circa 1859, photographed by Lewis Carroll Liddell aged 7, photographed by Lewis Carroll in 1860
We are going through a dark, world-wide pandemic with COVID19. It isn’t the first one the world has been through one, and unfortunately, it won’t be the last. According to the CDC, the Spanish Flu of 1918 was the most devastating. It is estimated that about 500 million people or one-third of the world’s population became infected with this virus. The number of deaths was estimated to be at least 50 million worldwide with about 675,000 occurring in the United States. Source: CDC People in 1918 looked for solutions to the prevention of spreading the illness and germs too. They got creative based on what they believed. We’re seeing a similar pattern 102 years later. Atlas Obscura and the Daily Mail both feature an article on this reoccurence. We’re posting the one from Atlas Obscura in a follow-up to our earlier one about their new WFH series. Parents Put Masks…
I DWELL in a lonely house I knowThat vanished many a summer ago,And left no trace but the cellar walls,And a cellar in which the daylight falls,And the purple-stemmed wild raspberries grow. O’er ruined fences the grape-vines shieldThe woods come back to the mowing field;The orchard tree has grown one copseOf new wood and old where the woodpecker chops;The footpath down to the well is healed. I dwell with a strangely aching heartIn that vanished abode there far apartOn that disused and forgotten roadThat has no dust-bath now for the toad.Night comes; the black bats tumble and dart; The whippoorwill is coming to shoutAnd hush and cluck and flutter about:I hear him begin far enough awayFull many a time to say his sayBefore he arrives to say it out. It is under the small, dim, summer star.I know not who these mute folk areWho share the unlit place with me–Those…
Need a new binge series on Netflix? Check out Locke and Key which debuted in early February. My 12 year old and I really enjoyed it. Based on the graphic novel series (2008 – 2013) by Joe Hill and illustrator Gabriel Rodriquez. The written series is darker and more ghoulish and not surprising since the writer is related to none other then Stephen King. Yes, his son – Joseph Hillström King – writes under “Joe Hill”. Rodriquez is a Chilean artist who started out with an architectural degree. The tv series is a lighter version of their novels. A supernatural one my tween can watch. https://youtu.be/_EonRi0yQOE The show’s synopsis reads: “After their father is murdered under mysterious circumstances, the three Locke siblings and their mother move into their ancestral home, Keyhouse, which they discover is full of magical keys that may be connected to their father’s death. As the Locke children explore the different keys…
If you’ve ever visited the Poe Museum in Richmond, then you’ve walked up to the bust of Poe featured in their brick pergola. Located in the Enchanted Garden. But, did you know it’s not the original bust and the statue went for a stroll in 1987, aptly in the month of October? Chris Semtner, the museum’s curator, tells the tale below. The images (2018) are ones I took of the actual gifted bust to the museum which they now safely keep inside. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf5DoYUozeQ Video credit: The Poe Museum Photo Credit: Jennifer Graham Photo Credit: Jennifer Graham
BBC News April 18, 2020 A 99-year-old war veteran has been left “speechless” after raising more than £23m for the NHS. Capt Tom Moore originally aimed to raise just £1,000 for NHS Charities Together by completing 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday. The Duke of Cambridge hailed him as a “one-man fundraising machine”. His daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore said: “There are no words left to say. We cannot believe people’s generosity and he’s just floored by it.” https://youtu.be/VI312DX1Zrk ‘A-list celebrity’ Ms Ingram-Moore continued: “We’re all speechless. It’s not even two weeks since this started. We’re just working our socks off supporting him and this phenomenon. “Yesterday we did 35 interviews and another 17 today but the Yorkshireman takes it all in his stride. “He’s become an A-list celebrity. I’m just the sidekick.” More than a million people have now made donations to his JustGiving page. And more than…
A wonderful virtual travel experience from Atlas Obscura.
I ADORE this cat. If you need a little happiness in these dark days or any days, check out this fabulous cat – Rover the Cat – and his adventures. His people are very talented at capturing his essence. Something I could never repeat with my 2 rescues who have no interest in costumes or walking to a beat. So, I get to visit Rover’s world and that’s happiness in itself for me! https://www.instagram.com/p/B-r9nhTp1X4/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link Reposted from Rover_thecat on InstagramRover is also on Facebook as Rover the Cat Music credit: Brian Friedman
Pounce Cat Cafe was started by 2 best friends who wanted to save cats from the streets and do it in style as a place for both cats and humans to mingle and fall in love. Pounce Cat Cafe + Wine Bar is a great place to visit with 2 locations: Charleston and Savannah. Rescue cats live at their locations and you can visit and enjoy a beverage while picking out a new bestie or simply socialize and have fun. The boys and I had a really nice time last year on spring break at their Charleston spot. They are struggling like all small businesses. One of the ways you can support them is to order merchandise, if not for you, for your kiddos or to cheer someone up during these dark days. Personally, I like the wine coffee mug, cat ears, and sweet beanie. I just wish it got…