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By admin, on February 26th, 2010
Gryphon and I are still more tired than we’d like, but we’re getting better. Yesterday almost felt like normal. I made soup in the crockpot, Gryphon made a fresh loaf of bread in the bread machine. We timed them so we could have both for dinner.
The soup was my own, made-up recipe. This one happened to come out well enough that I wrote it down, though, along with some variations I’ve done in the past.
Enjoy!
Chicken Fiesta Soup
1 med onion, diced fine
1 med pepper, diced fine
1-2 T olive oil
1 bag Rancho Fiesta frozen beans and vegetables mix*
1 ½ – 2 cups shredded cooked chicken**
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
6 cups chicken broth
1 ½ – 2 cups cooked rice
salt and pepper to taste
Sauté onion and pepper in pan with oil, until soft, translucent, and slightly browned. Add to crockpot.
Add remaining ingredients except for rice, salt and pepper. Stir well. Set crockpot for high, and cook about 3 hours.
Add rice. Taste broth and season with salt and pepper. Cover, and continue on high for ½ to 1 hour.
Variations:
Beef Fiesta Soup – Substitute 1 lb. Ground beef, crumbled, cooked, and drained, for the chicken. Use beef broth instead of chicken broth.
Beef and Bacon Soup – For an extra flavor note, consider beginning with four slices of bacon, cut in 1-inch pieces, cooked, and removed from pan, then sautéing the onion and pepper in the bacon fat left behind. Add bacon to crockpot with other ingredients.
Vegetarian Fiesta Soup – Omit meat. Use water or vegetable broth instead of chicken or beef broth. If using water, add 1-2 tablespoons of soy sauce or oyster sauce for an umami flavor note (adjust to taste). Add 1 cup frozen corn kernels to Rancho Fiesta frozen mix.
* About Rancho Fiesta frozen beans and vegetables: This is a house-brand mix of kidney and northern beans, broccoli, carrots, and some other vegetables I can’t remember. In my area, Shaw’s and Stop & Shop carry this mix under their own labels. Other supermarket chains may also carry it. You can always substitute a mix of about 1-lb. of vegetables and beans of your choice.
** Our local Market Basket supermarket sells hot, fresh roasted chickens in their take-away food section. They frequently overstock, and the leftovers are sold cold the next day at a nice discount. We buy the cold ones and shred them up for use in soups, chicken salad, fried rice, and more. It doesn’t matter if they’re BBQ flavored or anything like that, the flavors mostly stay with the skin.
By admin, on February 20th, 2010
The contest is closed, I’ve visited the Random Integer Generator, and the winner is…
#3, Acadia!
Acadia has two Maine Coon Cats, Mamie and Maizie, and will be receiving a can of Clean + Green Carpet & Upholstery for Cats. Congratulations, Acadia! I’ll be contacting you shortly for your shipping information.
Thanks to everyone for playing, and I hope you’re having a lovely weekend!
By admin, on February 12th, 2010
It’s been a while since I reviewed any products or books here. A few weeks ago, I was contacted by the folks at Sea-Yu Enterprises, asking if I’d like to receive one of their all-natural pet deodorizer products to review for the blog.
I popped over to their website to check them out, and was intrigued by what I saw. If their claims held up, we could certainly use what they make! So I said, sure, please send me a can of the Small Animal All Purpose version of the product.
 A week or two later, a box arrived. It contained a can of their Clean + Green Small Animal All Purpose Cleaner, Odor Eliminator and Stain Remover. For the purposes of this review, I’m just going to call it their Small Animal All Purpose product.
In a completely unrelated event, Gryphon and I both became ill over the next few weeks. The poor, patient folks at Sea-Yu had to wait and wait until we could give our proper attention to trying out their Small Animal spray. My thanks to them for waiting us out with grace!
The Clean + Green product line is about pet odor, pet stains, and cleaning floors, furniture, and cages from pet urine and other deposits. Unlike other products that work by masking the odors, Clean + Green claims to encapsulate the odors, then cause them to rapidly biodegrade, eliminating the source of the odor or stain altogether.
Sounds good. But does it work?
The product we received, the Small Animal All Purpose spray, states it can be used for:
- Airborne odors
- Cage cleaning (odor and stain removal)
- and directly on your Small Pets fur.
We – well, actually, Gryphon, since he does the majority of our cleaning – tried out the first two uses. We haven’t actually sprayed any on either KoKo or Chanel, because they’re just not all that stinky most of the time.
Our first test was as an airborne odor spray. As sick as we’ve been, the cage cleaning has suffered a little, and when you walked in the living room, you knew it. Gryphon stood in the center of the room and sprayed a full circle around him, about a 2 to 3 second burst. When he came back in five minutes later, he couldn’t smell any residual odor. The cage itself still smelled a bit, but he hadn’t directly treated it.
After that, we used the Small Animal All Purpose for a couple of situations where we had an odor we wanted to eliminate – not necessarily a pet odor, but such items as bed linens that smelled stale from storage. A light spraying, and the odor was gone. There appears to be no noticeable residue left behind, either, at least not that we could find.
Finally, we used it in a full cage cleaning. Any of you with small pets knows how grungy and sticky the wires and surfaces can get, and how hard to clean they are.
After clearing out dirty bedding and such, Gryphon started by using soap and water to wipe down the vinyl tiles and wire floors and ramps in the cage, as usual. Our “soap” is a mix of castille soap, washing soda, and borax, used diluted.
When finished with our soap solution, Gryphon then sprayed the same surfaces with Small Animal All Purpose. Though the product says you don’t need any soaking time, he let it sit a moment, then wiped it off.
It was impressive how much more grunge came off the surfaces! We were left with an odor-free cage as well.
Clean + Green Small Animal All Purpose worked well in all our tests – airborne odor, surface odor, and cage cleaning. While it will not substitute for the complete scrubbing down that all cages need a couple times a year, it was more effective than our soap and water wipe downs have been, leaving the cage cleaner and better smelling. It will probably make those deep cleanings easier to do as well. If you have small, caged pets, I highly recommend it.
We are very picky about the products we use in our home. In addition to general concerns about environmental issues, we have our own respiratory ailments and sensitivities that force us to choose carefully. Clean + Green Small Animal has made our cut, and we’re very happy to have it.
Other products in the Sea-Yu Enterprises Clean + Green line provide cleaning and odor elimination solutions for owners of dogs, cats, and birds, as well as a spray specifically designed for cleaning ferret and small animal cages.
You can order directly from the Sea-Yu Enterprises website. They offer free shipping for orders of $30 or more. They also provide a search for stores that may carry their product, and links to online retailers.
But YOU might get to try it free!
Sea-Yu Enterprises has generously offered one free can of any of their products for just ONE of my readers! Here’s how the giveaway will work:
- Visit the Sea-Yu Enterprises website here: http://www.sea-yu.com.
- Study their selection of products, and choose one you’d like to try.
- Come back to this post, and leave a comment saying which product you’d like to try, and why.
- Do this before 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday, February 19.
- Each comment that meets these requirements will earn you one entry.
- Additional entries can be earned by linking to this post in either a Tweet, a post on your own blog, or an entry on your Facebook wall. Just leave me a comment telling me you’ve done so.
- My apologies to my Canadian and overseas friends, but due to shipping restrictions, the contest is only open to US residents. Prize can also not be shipped to PO Boxes.
On Saturday, February 20th, I’ll compile all the entries and do a random drawing to find ONE winner. I’ll then e-mail that person and request their shipping address.
Good luck to everyone, and I hope you enjoyed learning about Sea-Yu Enterprises and Clean + Green products!
By admin, on February 9th, 2010
Gryphon and I had a bit of found money recently. This is a very rare occurrence for us these days. After being sure that we didn’t legitimately need the funds for anything else, we decided to take an opportunity to upgrade our lives a little, while we can.
Gryphon broached the idea of upgrading our desktop computers, so we can play EQ2 with the widescreen LCD monitors and better graphics. He’s ordered himself something from Dell to accomplish that for his computer.
I thought real hard about it and decided that, while the computer upgrade would be nice, I didn’t have a problem continuing to play EQ2 on my laptop. What would I much rather have?
A nice, big, KnitPicks order!
The Box
It arrived today. Twenty-Four pounds in all. Basically, I’d gone and put almost everything in my KP wish list into the shopping cart. The only thing that I left there were the interlocking blocking mats, which didn’t seem to allow the 2-day shipping upgrade.
The Contents
You can click through for a bigger image, but I think you get the impression. For a sense of scale, this photo was taken on our couch. At the center front, you can see a set of Harmony 4” DPNs standing up in their case.
There are five books; seven kits; lace yarn for two shawls (one Alpaca Cloud, one Shimmer, six skeins each); Imagination sock yarn sufficient for four pairs or more (four colors, three skeins each – I can mix and match the extras for more socks); and a few assorted accessories and needles.
I’m rather in heaven at the moment. It’s really nice to be able to treat yourself to a little abundance now and then.
But Wait, There’s More
Still to come is a modest order from Webs. I bought a number of skeins of cotton-blend sock yarn (for the queen-size entrelac blanket project), and an 8 oz. bag of fiber for spinning. The spinning fiber is called Karaoke, and it’s a 50/50 blend of soy silk and merino wool.
I’m hoping to jump start my spinning again with the new fiber. I’ve come to realize that so far, I’ve mostly spun wools I bought in my needlefelting days. While they’re good for practice, I’m not hugely excited by the yarn they produce.
At some point soon, I’ll be sorting through my spinning fibers, and pulling out the ones I don’t feel eager to spin. Maybe there will be a giveaway here on the blog, maybe I’ll find someone nearby who could use them. I’ll let you know!
Ravelympics
Casting on for the Ravelympics comes this Friday evening – 9 p.m. Eastern time. I am really excited to get to work. I’ve got my yarns ready, and yesterday I spent a little time swatching, as well as trying a new technique I want to use for the cast on. No pictures yet, sorry, but I’ll be sure to get some as I get started on my two projects!
Gratuitous Rattie Pics
KoKo
Chanel
My, how they’ve grown! Both are pictured on the back of our couch, in front of sunny windows, but Picasa was able to add fill light so you can see their pretty faces.
It turns out KoKo and Chanel are rather camera-shy, too. They don’t like either the appearance of the camera, or the sound as you take a picture. I had already learned a while ago not to subject them to the flash!
What they do like is simple. Me, and Gryphon. After the short photo session, I took them in my arms and sat with them, spreading a sweater over them for comfort.
They both settled in to relax and recover from the photo shoot stress, and just stayed like that for a fair while, huddled against my chest. Teeth were bruxing, eyes were boggling, whiskers wiggled, and all was right with the world, from the rattie perspective.
Illness Update
We continue to improve! What Gryphon and I have been suffering through has been confirmed as bronchitis. We had chest x-rays on Friday which ruled out pneumonia, thank goodness! While we are still both exhausted, at least we can see ourselves getting past this now.
By admin, on February 3rd, 2010
A true Transmogrifier has a nearly unflaggable need to participate in her craft. There are very few things that can sway me from doing something creative with my hands.
This past week I have been under the grips of one of those things. I’ve got the latest version of “what’s going around”, and this time it’s a nasty one. I’ve been in bed more than out of it since Friday last, and have only mustered the focus to knit for about an hour on one of those days.
It’s clear that my illness is progressing, and I do seem to be on the downhill side of it now. The next task is to rebuild my strength so I can return to normal functioning.
I have lots of reasons for wanting that to happen quickly:
February 12, the Ravelympics begin. I am knitting two pairs of socks, for two teams. And I’ll want to have all my energy available to get them done.
February 14, of course, is Valentine’s Day.
February 16, we should have our copies of the new EQII expansion, Sentinel’s Fate, and it will be open for play online.
February 20 is our 17th wedding anniversary.
Somewhere in there, I’m hoping to be well enough for a make-up lunch date with a friend. I had to cancel on her yesterday, on what would have been our first chance to get together in a few months.
In Other News…
My reading glasses were recently damaged by an accident involving Superglue. As in, a line of it drizzled across the lens. Gryphon spent a lot of time polishing out the damaged area, but it was still a slightly visible blur. So I went back to EyeBuyDirect, and placed an order for a new pair.
A little over a week later, these arrived in the mail:
They fit perfectly, and I think the shape works well on my face. The frames are metal with a pinkish-gray enamel to them.
The best part? As single-vision glasses, total cost for frames, lenses, and shipping was under $13, once I figured in the 15% you can get by linking to them through the GlassyEyes blog.
The important part? They work great for both reading and for working on my laptop.
Anyone can cash in on that 15% discount, btw. Just follow the link to GlassyEyes , and click on the badge for EyeBuyDirect on the left sidebar.
Promises, Promises
I think that’s all I’m going to try for today. I need to take a break and eat my yogurt, then rest more. Gryphon just got home a little while ago with the refill of my cough medicine, too, which will make a big difference.
I’ve got upcoming plans for blogging, though. I’ll post about my Ravelympic knitting. I’ve got a review coming soon for a pet odor elimination product, and there will be a giveaway with that, too, that you won’t want to miss. And there are a couple of new releases of knitting books making there way to me to tell you about as well.
For now, I’m going to continue resting, so that I’ll be able to tackle all these plans!
By admin, on January 20th, 2010
I’m still struggling with getting the digital camera ready to use. I seem to have a problem with one set of the rechargeable batteries, again. The camera still works fine, but I’ve had trouble finding a rechargeable battery system that’s actually easy to use, and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. Most of the little ones these days only do two AA batteries, and the camera takes four. Foo.
I’ve been taking some photos with my phone, but the cable for that is still in the other room. I am both too lazy to get up and get it when I think about it (like now), and too forgetful to remember to grab it when I’m in the room for anything else. *sigh*
So, now that I’ve gotten the apologies for no photos out of the way, I’m going to go ahead and tell you about what there would be pictures of if I had them handy.
Knitting
I’ve been working on the Chinook Shawl from KnitPicks. It’s getting bigger all the time, and I’m still loving it. I’ve made many mistakes throughout, mostly in not doing the YO’s or the K2Togs correctly, but because that throws off the count on the next row, I usually find it quickly and can kludge a fix.
There have been a couple where I didn’t find what actually went wrong, and really kludged my fixes – such as throwing in a KFB to add a stitch – but I seem to have done them in a way no one will notice. Probably. For myself, I just have to find a way to forget that they’re there.
I’m going to participate in this year’s Ravelympics. For those who don’t know, this is a massive “knit along to the Olympics” event held by the Ravelry community. The concept is pretty simple – pick a project that will be a challenge for you. Cast on during the Opening Ceremonies of this year’s Winter Olympics. Complete the project by the Closing Ceremonies.
No one “wins”, at least in the sense of out-knitting others. Everyone is competing against themselves, and completing your project qualifies you for a “medal”.
People self-organize into teams. Many correspond to a group on Ravelry. Others may be geographically linked. Some teams define the type of project you’ll knit, or yarn you’ll knit with. For example, there are teams for Christmas gift-knitting, sock knitting, knitting with yarn from a specific company. Others are simply people who gather together in a Ravelry group for some other reason, who want to knit along with each other.
I have decided that my goal is to work with some of the special sock yarn I have in stash. The Olympics are a little over two weeks long. A single pair of socks wouldn’t be much of a challenge. Two pairs would. So I’m going to knit two pairs of socks.
Any project can be knit for any team that it’s suitable for, but you can join more than one team, and no project can be knit for more than one team.
There is only one significant sock event – the Sock Hockey. This involves knitting a pair of socks. I decided to knit two pairs of socks. Rather than enter the event twice for one team, I chose to join two teams, and knit one pair for each.
Team Hermit
The first team is Team Hermit. The affiliated Ravelry group is The Cave, made up of knitters (and crocheters) who prefer a hermit-like existence. (Yes, we’re an organized group of people who’d rather not be with other people any more than necessary!)
Team Hermit has no project requirements or limitations. I’ve chosen to use the skein of Holiday Yarns Flock Sock Sock Yarn that I purchased in Syracuse at Thanksgiving. It’s a handdyed yarn, in the colors of pansies or blue irises – light blue, dusky purple, and a little bright yellow. The name for this colorway is, cryptically, “For George”. Must have been a request from a friend or special customer!
(Insert picture of twisted hank of Holiday Sock yarn here.)
The pattern I’ll be using is the same I always knit socks to – my own. I’ve taken to calling it my 2×2 Toe-ups, since I use a K2P2 rib and, well, knit from the toe up.
Team Blue Moon
As in Blue Moon Fiber Arts. Their group on Ravelry has a team for the Ravelympics, all knitting with Blue Moon yarn for their events. The other skein of yarn I want to work with is my only skein of Blue Moon Socks That Rock, in the Scottish Highland colorway.
(Picture of twisted hank of Blue Moon STR, in shades of mossy green, grey, yellow, and burgundy)
These will also be my 2×2 Toe-ups. Boring, repetitive, yeah. But it is easy to knit, and doesn’t fight with the colors in the multi-color sock yarns I fancy.
Training and Preparation
I don’t know that I need to practice my knitting. Not anymore than I do naturally, at least. But I wanted to make sure I had the best tools for the job. So a Knit Picks order was placed!
I knit socks on DPNs. I’ve tried all the other ways, and can do them if needed, but DPNs just flow better for me. (YMMV, of course!) I love my Knit Picks Harmony 6” DPNs, but I have always preferred the length of my 5” Brittany Birch DPNS.
I made sure to give Knit Picks that feedback, and hoped. They’re generally good about listening to their customers. When they came out, instead, with four-inch DPNs, I assumed that would probably kill the chances for my wish.
I considered getting the four-inch ones anyway, but decided against it. Socks for both me and Gryphon are about 10 – 10.25 inches around. Even divided amongst four needles, that’s still a little over 2 inches of stiches per needle. Four inch needles sounded dangerously short to contain that much.
I was absolutely thrilled when Knit Picks, just in time for my Olympic preparations, announced a five-inch version of their Harmony wood DPNs. Hoorah! I talked it over with Gryphon, and came up just enough of an order to get some sock-knitting equipment, and qualify for free shipping – the 5-inch DPNs, a pair of the large Sock Blockers, and a packet of the Stikki-Clips that will be so handy for holding my notes for the socks up nearby while I work.
(Photo of small pile of Knit Picks goodies)
Waiting
It’s all over but the waiting now. I’ve rolled the skeins of yarn into cakes and/or balls. The Socks That Rock is divided into two, one per sock. The Holiday Socks yarn is a single ball, waiting to be divided.
It’s hard, now that I’ve planned this much, not to just cast on. That would instantly dis-qualify the project for the Ravelympics, though, so I have to stay strong.
I’m trying to distract myself with the Chinook Shawl until February 12th – the night the Winter Olympics open. It’s even possible I might finish the shawl by then, and be able to wear it as my Team Uniform(s)
Wish me luck!
By admin, on January 12th, 2010
I think this just might be, as news goes. Had my regular checkup with the doctor today, and my glucose numbers are trending good enough to reduce the dosage on one of my meds. Plus my blood pressure has been in completely normal ranges for quite some time now.
KoKo is getting more outgoing, which means that after she huddles under a blanket on my lap for a while, she’ll start poking her head out wondering where treats are. Sometimes she even moves to another spot on my lap, and pokes her head out there.
Chanel learned how to climb from my chair to the couch on her own. Then we went and changed my chair, and now they’re not close enough for her to do that. That’s okay, though – she knows how arm bridges work!
I’m going to be participating in the Ravelympics. They haven’t settled on the events yet, but I have decided to pull some idle sock yarn from my stash, and knit two pairs of socks. It’ll fit somewhere, I just don’t know for sure where yet. Ooh…maybe I can join a second team (I’m currently on Team Hermit), and knit one pair for each team. That would work!
Gryphon and I have started playing EverQuest 2 even more. We’ve begun having my characters run with his. Paired up like that, we can take on tougher quests than we might otherwise, and so we level faster.
My main character, Boris, has become Ginjhur. She’s still a Ratonga Monk, it’s just that she’s a SHE now. Boris was never meant to be a main character, he just wound up with the job after I did a massive purge of excess characters.
Ginjhur is getting along famously. She’s up to level 47 now, which is 23 levels higher than I ever got a character to in the original EverQuest, and about 12 levels above the best I had previously done in EQ2.
I still working on other knitting. Pictures to come some day. The issue with photos now is that I have to charge the batteries. I know, it’s always something! At least the better camera is now in the living room, where I do most of the knitting.
Beyond all this, no news is good news. We’re enjoying our days as well as we can, we have enough to eat, and we’re warm and dry so long as we stay inside. Not bad, I say!
By admin, on December 24th, 2009
My computer is a laptop. I have two digital cameras, one SLR and one in my phone, each of which connects to my computer in a different way. I have two reasonably photogenic rats.
Can I ever manage to have the best camera for the job available when they do something cute, and then also get it to the laptop along with the proper connection method?
Apparently not.
So you’ll have to take my word for it that KoKo and Chanel are coming along famously. This morning, they both climbed willingly into a bonding pouch so they could come out for snuggle time with me.
KoKo still prefers just hanging out in the pouch or on my shoulder, preferably under a warm sweater or shawl, and getting skritched. There’s a particular spot on her cheek and along the jawbone that is her favorite. Start rubbing gently there, and she lays her head to one side, closes her eyes, and starts working her mouth and flicking her tongue in and out as she melts with pleasure.
Chanel sits for a little skritching now and then, but mostly wants to run around, exploring under the shawl, over the shawl, on the back of the chair, inside your ear, on top of your head, down in the corner of the seat by your hip, etc. Every now and then she goes back to her sister to make sure she’s not getting any special treats or treatment that Chanel is missing out on.
Chanel has learned the concept of the “arm bridge”. An arm bridge is when you hold your arm out, and the rat runs across it to reach another location. Our current version of the arm bridge has me extending my arm towards the couch, and Gryphon reaching towards me to make a double-long span. As soon as she sees the bridge, Chanel goes running across to play with Daddy.
Earlier this evening, I was passing the cage, and saw both girls hanging out in the tubular hammock. I reached in to offer my hand for skritching and sniffing. Imagine my delight when KoKo sniffed my fingers, then laid her chin down on their tips, closed her eyes, and began chirping in contentment! If it weren’t for the fact I was standing in a semi-crouched position for the event, I would have stayed there for her much longer. As much as I enjoyed the moment, I had to decide in favor of not crippling myself.
We bought the girls three weeks ago Christmas night, as an early, mutual Christmas present. By Christmas, their gift has truly blossomed – they are well socialized to us, and appreciate our presence in their lives for more than just food and water.
In case you couldn’t tell, Gryphon and I are having a Merry Christmas. How about you?
Merry Christmas, one and all!
from
The Transmogrifier, Gryphon, KoKo, and Chanel
By admin, on December 16th, 2009
Many thanks to all who have commented, either by posting here, or by friending me on Facebook!
I’ve been using and posting to Facebook for a few days now, and find I rather enjoy it. I have even chatted with a friend through the interface they provide, and become addicted to one of the games available. (The Sable Star Sanctuary is small, but thriving, in the Facebook game “My Zoo”.)
For those who don’t feel compelled to join Facebook, that’s quite all right. Like Twitter, and blogging, and so many of the other “social” opportunities online, it’s not for everyone.
Rest assured that I will not abandon the blog altogether. The Transmogrifier’s Tale will stay here for those times I want to post a photo essay, or a longer, more detailed description of some event.
It just might be that these longer posts happen less often than before. It takes time to write them, and the truth is, I am having so much fun doing all the things I’m doing. I find myself reluctant to set these activities that I’m enjoying to spend the time a fully detailed post takes.
I’m sure there will be more tutorials, more rattie stories, more of my thoughts about knitting, transmogrification, and all the other –ifications and –osises and such.
Please, always feel free to drop me an e-mail or comment. Tell me you miss me, ask me a question, nudge me, nag me, pester me to post rattie pictures or knitting pictures or tell you about the latest adventure of my EverQuest I & II characters. I don’t want to lose touch, and I will welcome the reminders.
Digging Up the Past
Another activity I’ve added to my days is digging into my family history over at Ancestry.com. Now there’s a time sink for you! For some years now, my father has been using offline research to create a tree for his side of the family. My plan is to help him with the online research I can do, and also to work on my mother’s side of the family.
A specific project on my mother’s side of the family is to prove where a certain connection to someone famous is – if, as family lore tells us, it’s there. The story is that my maternal grandmother is a cousin by marriage of Greta Garbo. Supposedly, my grandmother’s aunt was married to Greta’s uncle.
Family lore doesn’t tell us which aunt, or which uncle. I decided that I wanted to know. Or to prove that it’s a myth. Either way, I intend to find out.
I began by doing some research into Greta’s biography. She’s five years older than my grandmother, but I found a very interesting parallel in their lives. They both, as young women, worked as models at Stockholm department stores.
Greta was at the PUB, aka Bergström’s. She so quickly moved into modeling for the store, then appearing in short film ads, and finally to leaving the store for real film acting, that I doubt she would have crossed paths with my grandmother, 5 years younger.
I don’t know which department store my grandmother worked at. The other one that would have been known at the time is NK, or Nordiska Kompaniet (literally The Nordic Company). Either way, while she wouldn’t have been there at the same time as Greta, when she chose the job she may have been inspired by Greta’s quick rise to fame from the ranks of the store’s models.
I have something special to share with you – pictures of my grandmother, clipped from the department store’s catalog. My mother, my aunt, and I found them in her apartment after she moved into a nursing home. They were tucked into a very old, folded envelope, with some writing in Swedish on the outside. I was very honored to have them pass into my custody for safekeeping.
I scanned them into my computer once for a project, all on one sheet. Be sure to click on the image below to see a larger version.
The names below the individual images are the styles of dress, coat, or hat she is wearing. It’s pretty clear that this was in the Twenties. Sadly, no other identifying information from the catalog was included – just the raw clippings of my grandmother herself.
I showed the text on the envelope once to a woman I met who spoke Norwegian – a related language, but not quite the same. Still, she was able to give me the gist of what it says. “Here are some pictures of some woman I thought were funny.” It sounds like a friend or relative of Grandma’s had cut them out for her, and passed them on to the model.
That may have been around 1930, when the ship’s passenger list that I found through Ancestry.com shows that my grandmother arrived at the port of New York on Dec. 31, 1930. I can imagine someone, having clipped the photos for their own keepsake, handing them to her as she left her homeland, to come to America.
I recently saw some clippings of Greta Garbo modeling hats for her department store’s catalog. The styles were clearly from, oh, about 5 years or so earlier than my grandmother’s outfits. You can see the photos here, at the Garbo Forever website: http://www.garboforever.com/Greta_at_PUB-2.htm
I get an eerie feeling as I look at them. The photographic style is a little different from my grandmother’s pictures. But again, there’s that sense of a parallel life, something so similar to what I see from my grandmother in the images above. Although, I will confess that I think my grandmother’s style of pose and expression is much warmer than Greta’s famous chilled distance.
My grandmother has always been a slightly mysterious figure to me. By the time she entered the nursing home, she had deteriorated mentally, so I was never able to ask her about her life before I knew her.
This research is a chance to redress that oversight, to help fill in the gaps. Both for my own better understanding of my family history, and for the benefit of other family members. There’s quite a story here in my grandmother, and I want to know more.
Final notes
For whatever it may be worth, my grandmother’s maiden name was Astrid Bjurman. She was born on November 18, 1910, in Stockholm, Sweden. She came to America at the end of 1930, and worked as a housemaid before marrying my grandfather, Gus Frodin, also a Swedish immigrant. On the off chance that anyone who finds this post can help with information about Astrid and her family, please contact me! My e-mail address can be found at the top of the left sidebar.
By admin, on December 14th, 2009
Clearly, regular blogging is not as high a priority for me as it used to be. I have a profile at facebook – would you be interested in following me there? Here’s the link to my profile: Jen Kubeck on Facebook
This isn’t a definitive statement that I’m quitting the blog or anything. I just think it might be easier for me to keep in touch with all of you if I can do it in smaller bites. Let me know what you think!
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