Will Scotland Secede from the UK?

I took this photo today with my iPhone. I was working on an ebay listing of an apron from Scotland for holding clothes pins or pegs as they say across the pond. I found a thistle in bloom to put in the tiny embroidered pocket.

Will Scotland go Independent? The vote is coming up on September 18th so we don't have long to wait and find out. I am obsessed with Scotland since I started watching Outlander on Starz. The costumes and sets are wonderful. I haven't read the book but I'm enjoying the series.

There is an article from NPR and a podcast too in case you want to know more about why Scotland would want to break away from the United Kingdom and become an independent country. I got the cupcakes photo there too. Click here to read and or listen.

I hope you had a nice Labor Day. xo

The story of The Migrant Mother

“Migrant Mother” was one of thousands of pictures Dorothea Lange took on assignment for the federal government, documenting the poverty of the Dust Bowl. Before it had that iconic title, the 1936 photo was captioned “Destitute peapickers in California.” But this was the one that stuck, coming to symbolize all those suffering in the Great Depression. Later, Lange would rage, “People think I haven’t made anything else!”

As you all know, I am a huge fan of NPR and rarely listen to anything else on my radio. I watch a little morning tv while I'm having coffee and then it's NPR all day until the evening news and the tv goes on again. I listened to the story behind this iconic photograph this morning on Studio 360 and then listened to the podcast again on my laptop while I was unloading the dishwasher. It's very interesting in case you want to tune in when you have 9 minutes to spare -- or you can just read the article. Podcast and article at Studio360.org. There is also a slideshow with 5 more views of this migrant worker's camp featuring Florence Thompson and her family.
This photo never fails to move me. It has become the symbol of hard times but has been exploited by the advertising industry to sell products from perfume to luggage. That should make you want to listen and I hope you will.

Jane Austen's 'Pride And Prejudice' At 200

Today is the 200th anniversary of the publication of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. I learned this by listening to Fresh Air on NPR.

You can read the article and/or listen to the six-minute podcast here. I would choose listen if I were you. It's a very interesting book review of The Real Jane Austen A life in Small Things by Paula Byrne. I love having articles read to me. You can listen while doing other things. I'm listening again as I write this blog post. You can also read an excerpt of the above-pictured book.

Didn't you love the part about the 200 pound orangutan at a zoo in Poland who refuses to go to sleep at night unless his keeper reads aloud 50 pages of Pride and Prejudice?!!!

Happy 200th Book Birthday P and P.