Time for Random Dozen, hosted by Lid at 2nd Cup of Coffee!

1. Which Wizard of Oz character are you most like? The Wizard of Oz -  I really did think this one through.  Now there’s Dorothy and her little dog, everyone wants to be innocent and sweet Dorothy but that’s not me.  Well not the sweet part!   Then of course the witch sisters.  Some would argue I should pick one of them.  Some, meaning my little brother who is the soft hearted lion.  Then there’s Tin Man and Scarecrow and while I’m definitely full of it and a bit rusty at times I decided to go with Oz.  A mean ol cuss with a loud bark who really just wants to be liked.

2. When you’re deciding what you’re going to wear each morning, which item do you select first? Why? Underwear, they go on first. If you mean which item do I put the most thought into that would have to be jeans!  I love jeans and if I’m wearing the wrong pair it can ruin a perfectly good day.  Usually the “wrong jeans” are 6″ too long and that’s just a tragedy.  As short as I am it’s a miracle to find good jeans that actually fit.

3. What kind of animal do you think the world could live without? Big Foot, I mean he’se never around when you need him.

4. How many Christmas trees are in your home? One.  My husband was so proud.  He cut it off our property to thin a stand of fir and he claims it was a BRANCH not a true tree but it looked so perfect he had to bring it “home”.  Someday I’d like to have two trees.  The kid tree and the “mature” tree.  Can’t imagine what I’d hang on that one but I’ll come up with something.  Now don’t go getting your mind in the gutter!

5. Would you prefer to be emotionless if it mean you didn’t have to feel a heartbreak? Ooo good question.  I have often thought I would but then there would be no reason for fun meme’s would there?  Humor evokes emotion too.

6. Do you ever experience holiday let-down or depression? Yes, right after everyone goes home.  Actually up North the days are so short that I think the holiday blues are due more to lack of sunlight and a sense of feeling cooped up than anything else.

7. Do you like Michael Jackson’s music? I’m bad, I’m bad, you know it. So just beat it!  Can’t you feel a brand new day?

8. Why is it that we never judge people who have their teeth fixed for cosmetic reasons, but every other cosmetic procedure has a stigma?  What’s that mae? I can’t hear ya, let me get my hearing aid.  Oh you can’t hear me now?  Let me get my teeth!  Oh yes, I’m all natural!  I plead the fifth.

9. Enjoy horseback riding? My favorite thing in the world!  This summer I went close to three times a week.  I came face to face with a huge Bull MOOSE!  He looked me in the eye from about 30 feet away.  I traveled to the top of a local peak and saw the WORLD!   LOVE IT!  Want a virtual tour?  See THIS post.

10. Shoes–practical or stylish? It’s hard to horseback ride in stilletto heels.

11. What was the name of your first pet? Feel free to post a pic. Minnie a black and while MALE cat.  Remember the Mickey Mouse Club?  I was a girlie girl in my “younger days”.  At five, Minnie Mouse was my favorite.

12. What percentage of your Christmas shopping is done?  You mean presents? What presents? This question cracks me up, here’s why!  I wrote this short post when it snowed here in October and for weeks the frequent search terms people used to find my blog were; bah humbug, humbug, humbug blog and bah! 

I’m all done shopping but am working furiously to finish a couple of Amigurumi dolls requested by my boys.  A robot and a cool animal.  Check back soon  for picture updates.

This blog post is my submission to Smile for the Camera, 19th Edition. The word prompt is “Gift.”

In going through my old Christmas photos, I came across a shot of one year’s Christmas tree with a gift underneath that I remember very fondly — my first suitcase. You know you’re growing up when your pjs and toys deserve their own luggage. My first suitcase featured Snoopy in his “Flying Ace” finest.

The suitcase accompanied me across the Atlantic shortly thereafter, when I traveled to England and Ireland with my parents.

About to depart for Dublin, at age 4.

Posts here were inconsistent the first two months of the school year. And I completely lost track of the Carnival of Mathematics and Math Teachers at Play. Both were published over the last few weeks, and I’d like to point you towards them.

The Carnival of Mathematics #59 was out longer. Very nice edition. And hosted at The Number Warrior, who does an excellent job.

Math Teachers at Play has scaled back slightly, and the upshot was a nice jump in overall feel. Even though I haven’t been contributing, they included me, which I appreciate (that sum of consecutive integers problem was a good one). And there really is a nice range, and lots of good stuff. If you haven’t visited Math Teachers at Play #20 go take a look now.

Notice, it is “math teachers” but it has not become just elementary, or just high school, or just anything. MTaP has kept some good breadth. And it is lively, and well-illustrated. MTaP is more than the sum of its links: it is a good read in its own right.

Since this month’s RPG Blog Carnival topic happens to be about community, it seems appropriate that I report back on the most recent developments in the Durban, South Africa, gaming scene.

In June, I wrote a post entitled “The Worst Gamer City in the World“. In the post, I discussed the dismal state of the Durban gaming community, my intention to do something about it and a list of potential problems and barriers. Today, I aim to discuss what’s happened since that post and what’s in the pipeline for early 2010.

• Firstly, I’ve managed to organise and run several small-scale game days at Destiny Bookstore, Windermere Centre. These game days have proven more successful than I originally anticipated, averaging about 10 players per event. Recently, however, we’ve been having trouble with numbers (too many people!) and an emergent group of Yu-Gi-Oh players taking up space in the store. So, we’ve resorted to low-effort, low-committment games like the shorter board/card games to compensate for the lack of space. However, I think we may be losing the RPG crowd because of this. First challenge for 2010 – managing space and the growing number of attendees:
  • Destiny doesn’t charge us anything for using their venue (good, because I don’t want to charge anything), but the gamers I’ve been attracting tend not to spend as much cash as the Yu-Gi-Oh players do. So, if the venue is double-booked, the YGO group gets preference. Second challenge for 2010 – Growing support for our local retailer so that they offer more support to us.
• Secondly, PB and I have managed to join a small private group. Though the group tends to be very kick-in-the-door-and-smite-everything, it’s good to have a regular group again.
• Thirdly, I tend to give out a few business cards at every game day (especially to the curious walk-in traffic), with my non-work contact details hastily scrawled on the card. Perhaps I should take the jump away from wordpress.com to .com and make little 10letter business cards. At the very least, I need to clean up this site (like add all the promised links, proper navigation and so on). One person at an event complained that they thoroughly trawled the net looking for some sort of gaming activity in Durban and came up empty. Third challenge for 2010 – fortifying net presence.
• Fourthly, don’t ask about a con yet. I know you were thinking about asking.

- jatori

I was going to write a post about ‘How a Heart Defect Affects my Life’, to participate in Steve’s Blog Carnival, but, unfortunately, I didn’t leave myself enough time to get it done – the deadline is today. I might write it anyway, though, but probably not until the weekend.

I made salmon curry last night, for the first time. I used this recipe, but I didn’t have any coriander, mushrooms, fish sauce or asparagus and I added a yellow and a red pepper towards the end of the cooking time, so I supposed it didn’t end up bearing much resemblance to the original recipe! Anyway, it was very nice, if I do say so myself.  Mind you, I’m the only person who’s eaten any of it so far (Mr C was out last night), so others may disagree.

I have now realised that I had mushrooms in the fridge all along. Never mind, it’s too late now.

Thanksgiving week 2009 – let’s see…

Jill Roman Lord is our guest blogger. Hop on over to our blog, Fire It Up! to see how God spoke through a squirrel!

 We’ve added this info (critiques) and this info (hotels). We will be adding more speakers this weekend, too. I can’t reveal the latest yet…so check back next Wednesday!

 Recently, Write2Ignite was listed on the Books & Such Carnival blog!  We are listed closer to the end of the post with the corrected address. If you have time, check out all the great blogs listed, too.

 If you are interested in following Write2Ignite on Twitter, you can do so here!

Hey, this is really fun, my publicist, Kimberly Hartke is doing a blog carnival about Natural Cures on her blog, Hartke Is Online.  A blog carnival is a way for other people to share information on a blog, and get links back to their blog or website.

It builds traffic to your blog, is a great way to learn new things, and meet and make new cyberspace friends!

On March 31, the theme is exercise, see her post today about it, called Exercise at Your Own Risk.  It has a hilarious video cartoon of a bear on a treadmill.  I fell off my chair laughing!

Her blog carnival on the 7th of April is Diet, so get on the Liberation Diet and then go enter your story in the carnival!  What a great way to spread the word.

These are the instructions about how to participate: Natural Cures Blog Carnival

Go for it!

Kev

SERIOUSLY why didn’t anyone tell me I spelled DOZEN wrong!?  I guess if you read my answers first you’d be afraid to bring it up.  ACK  I’m going to leave it and say TYPO but you probably won’t believe me.   ENJOY

Linda at 2nd Cup of Coffee comes up most of the questions for the Random Dozen meme which is usually done Wednesdays each week.  This week due to Thanksgiving she is bumping the meme up to Tuesday!  Check out her blog by clicking the picture below and write your own Random Dozen post answering the following prompt questions.

1. Are you sticking to traditional Thanksgiving foods this year, or are you being culinarily adventurous?  I’m so on top of it I didn’t even realize Thanksgiving is this week I thought I had one more weekend.  Since I just got my hog meat back I’m betting I’ll do a pork roast which is not normal for us.

2. Tell me something concrete that you’re thankful for. (Something you can literally touch, see, etc., not a concept like “hope.”) A laptop and highspeed internet. Is that vain?  I know its hillbilly but we went three years without high speed internet two of which I didn’t have any internet at all.  It is fun to keep in touch, research and blog!

3. You knew the flip side was coming: Share about something intangible that you’re thankful for.  Oh right! Now I’m stuck.  World Peace, oh wait do we have that?  Ok for real I’m thankful that God is teaching me compassion.

4. Share one vivid Thanksgiving memory. It doesn’t have to be deep or meaningful, just something that remains etched in your memory. Last year my boys and I made a craft where each family members face was made into a pilgrim.  But… I had a picture of my grandma from her 80th with a cigar in her mouth.  Naturally she got to be the Indian.  It was great fun.

5. What is one thing that you know beyond a shadow of a doubt is going to happen this Thanksgiving because it always does, year after year?  SNOW

6. Do your pets get any left-overs? I’m hard nosed I guess, I rarely feed table scraps to the animals (uness its pigs) but my hubby will cave and sneak the dogs some I’m sure of it.

7. Does your family pray before the big meal? If so, do you join hands while seated, stand, repeat a formal prayer or offer a spontaneous prayer? Who does the praying?  Yes we pray, usually holding hand, standing or sitting whatever suits our fancy and one of the dad’s generally thanks God for the food. 

8. Will you be watching football in the afternoon? If not, what will you be doing?  No remember the hillbillies?  We don’t have a converter box so its almost painful to watch all the fuzz on the one channel we get.  Definitely no football here.

9. There are two distinct camps of people on this issue: How do you feel about oysters in the dressing/stuffing?  OYSTERS!!  What are Oysters Mae?  Um NO NO NO!

10. Do you consider yourself informed about the first Thanksgiving? Well didn’t Charlie brown learn about thankfulness and serve his friends popcorn at the first Thanksgiving? Or was it Pocohontas who served popcorn?  Yeah I think I know about the first Thanksgiving.

11. Which variety of pie will you be enjoying? Humble pie.  Pie pie, glorious pie. Unless I get cracking and make gluten free crusts we’ll be having apple cobbler or pie filling for desert.

12. Do you feel for the turkey?? (This is a humorous throw back question related to the 12th question in another Random Dozen!)  What do you think?  See THIS post.

Thanks again guys I’ve enjoyed participating in yet another Random Dozen, have a Happy Thanksgiving!

The long anticipated 31st edition of the Book Review Blog Carnival is up and running at Linus’s Blanket.

Passengers line up at airports for their Thanksgiving holiday flights.

Welcome to the last day of Marie De Fête! First, let me thank all my guests for preparing and showing off their work and making Marie De Fête a great four-day event! Many thanks to everyone who participated either visiting, leaving comments or sending emails.

Today is the day! One of you had won a Marie De Fête Globe… Let me announce the  giveaway winner…it is…Celestina Marie from Celestina Marie Designs! Congratulations!

And for those who didn’t win I have great news… get your Marie De Fête Globes right here.

Thanks so much for participating, have a great Sunday!

Subscribe to Gabriela Delworth’s Blog by Email

Marie Antoinette had a great sense of fashion and loved jewelry, fine jewelry. She loved wearing pearls, diamonds…among others…Her jewels and also portrait paintings have inspired many like my artist friend Joy Jones who designed these fabulous pieces below. Let’s find out what exactly inspired her in her own words…

Joy says:

Marie Antoinette

Barely a year ago, had I known very little about the life of Marie Antoinette.  However, after noticing creative art, blogs and even whole websites devoted to her, I was inspired to pick up a biography and learn about her life.  And now, many biographies later, I am a devoted fan of all things Marie Antoinette. With jewelry as my chosen craft, I was inspired to create charms that would celebrate her life.  I did some research on the actual jewels Marie owned and I even tracked down a copy of the official Revolutionary Inventory of her jewelry.  My favorite charms are the ones with her portraits layered over images of the inventory sheets and I was thrilled when these pieces were published in several Stampington magazines this year, including the spectacular Marie issue.

The more I learned about her life, the more I wanted to spread the word about what her life was really like.  What we were taught in school does not even begin to touch the depth of her character.  I have come to admire her so much in regards to the strength and courage she demonstrated as her life came to such a tragic end.   I really hope that in some small way, wearing my Marie Antoinette jewelry will be seen as a way to celebrate the extraordinary life of the last Queen of France, Marie Antoinette.

~ Joy Jones ~

Joy writes an inspirational blog called Cupids Charms where she shares her creative life experiences, and also you can find her fabulous pieces right here.

And by popular demand she had started teaching fabulous “Soldered Charm Workshops”!  All classes are taught at Grand Central Stained Glass & Graphics i n St. Petersburg, Florida. Joy has three workshops coming up in December right on time for the Holidays.

Remember to return later today for another post on a new Marie inspired surprise…Marie De Fête Day Four. The Surprise Giveaway will be announced at anytime…

If you missed the prior post, it’s right here.

Subscribe to Gabriela Delworth’s Blog by Email

Women have always infatuated with shoes…Queen Marie Antoinette had the most beautiful shoes and have always been admired by many…They were unique pieces of art shown on many of her paintings. But could shoes be made out of paper? My friend artist friend Nancy Burns makes the most amazing paper shoes. The colour hue, embellishments and details are just spectacular! She made these Marie shoes just for Marie De fête…They should appear in a movie…just saying…I always love to know what inspires artist to design their pieces…what really triggered their passion. Let’s Nancy tell us all about it with her own words…

Nancy says:

Who was Marie Antoinette really? This question has intrigued me for years. Was she truly evil? Or was she merely a young girl who was completely unprepared to be queen of one of the world’s most powerful nations? The idea for my shoes was born out of these questions. Add the fact that I love ballet, and voila! The perfect pairing. A white swan shoe with delicate snowy feathers for the innocent Marie, and a black swan shoe of midnight ebony for the naughty Marie. Whatever the truth may be, her coronation attire was undeniably one of the most extravagant ever worn by a monarch. I chose to create a shoe befitting the occasion: the Coronation Slipper, dusted in gold glass glitter, and accompanied by vintage French lace paper. The perfect shoe for the timeless Queen of France.

Nancy Burns, Cobbler to the Queen

Fete et Fleur Designs

Nancy has been busy teaching “Shoe Making Workshops” at Castle In The Air, in fabulous San Francisco {one of my most favorite cities!}. She writes a blog “Fete et Fleur” where she shares her creative dreams, designs and her passion for beautiful things. And you can find her shoes at her boutique right here.

Because some Nancy’s Marie shoes were designed inspired by her wedding attire I thought about leaving you today with a documentary I found that talks about it…Enjoy!

Remember to return later today for another post on a new Marie inspired surprise…Marie De Fête Day Four. The Surprise Giveaway will be announced at anytime…

If you missed the prior post, it’s right here.

Subscribe to Gabriela Delworth’s Blog by Email

Howdy all.  I just wanted to pass along a quick little note to everyone about a regular occurrence among skeptical blogs on the Internet – the Skeptics’ Circle, which is a biweekly blog carnival hosted at Circular Reasoning. Once every couple of weeks or so, a skeptical blog will host a variety of posts about various topics at their site as a way of connecting & sharing info with the wider skeptic community.  The latest edition of the Skeptics’ Circle is at Beyond the Short Coat, a blog about “medicine, skepticism, and other cool stuff as needed”

Anyhow, read on for some good stuff in this latest edition… The 124th Meeting Of The Skeptics’ Circle

While making my Marie De Fête Globes I have placed Marie Antoinette at her favorite places such as the Hameau, The Petit Trianon, Le petit Théâtre de Marie-Antoinette to name a few. I decorated the mini-scenes with ribbons, flowers, millinery flowers and trims. She loved gardening…Marie’s gown and pouf are embellished with glitter and rhinestones for an extra glamorous look.

This is a new tradition of celebrating the Queen… Marie Antoinette during the Holidays or anytime of the year…I will be announcing

The Surprise Giveaway will be announced right now! One of you will be the winner of a Marie De Fête Globes! All you need to do is visit all my guest artists and leave a comment on each post. Let them know how much you are enjoying this Holiday event and their fabulous work. I will pick a name at random and will announce it on Sunday. Good luck everyone!

And for those who didn’t win and want to display my Marie De Fête Globes on their Christmas trees or year-round at home… contact me here before only a few go on my Etsy.

Remember to return tomorrow for another post on a new Marie inspired surprise…Marie De Fête Day Four.

If you missed the prior post, it’s right here.

Subscribe to Gabriela Delworth’s Blog by Email

Welcome to Marie De Fête day four! When I announced this event, I emphasized that it was a Holiday event. Well…have you ever wondered what Marie Antoinette did during Christmas time? She was from Austria…and one of the things she introduced in France was the a sleigh. But I am going to let my very well-known writer friend Chaterine Delors, the author of  Mistress of the Revolution, to tell you in her own words the whole story…She contributed with the fabulous image above.

Catherine says:

Christmas in the 18^th century was not the holiday we know these days. Of course, the religious celebration of the holiday of the Nativity  of Christ was the same, but gifts, know as étrennes, were not exchanged until the 1^st of January. It remains that people liked to take advantage of the pleasures of the season. Marie-Antoinette, then a young woman of twenty, took this opportunity to enjoy the sleigh rides she had known as a child in Vienna. I propose we go back to the Memoirs of her First Chambermaid, Madame Campan on the topic.

The winter following the confinement of the Comtesse d’Artois [1775-76] was very severe; the recollections of the pleasure which sleighing-parties had given the Queen in her childhood made her wish to introduce similar ones in France.

This amusement had already been known in that Court, as was proven by sleighs found in the stables, which had been used by the Dauphin, the father of Louis XVI. Some were made for the Queen in a more modern style. The Princes also ordered several; and in a few days there was a fair number of these vehicles around. They were driven by the princes and noblemen of the Court. The noise of the bells and pompoms with which the horses’ harnesses were decorated, the elegance and whiteness of their plumes, the varied shapes of the carriages, the gold with which they were all trimmed, made these parties a delight for the eye. The winter was very favorable to them, the snow remaining on the ground nearly six weeks; the drives in the park afforded a pleasure shared by the spectators.

No one imagined that any blame could attach to so innocent an amusement. But the party was tempted to extend its drives as far as the Champs-Elysées; a few sleighs even crossed the boulevards; the ladies being masked, the Queen’s enemies took the opportunity of saying that she had traveled through the streets of Paris in a sleigh.

This became a momentous issue. The public discovered in it a predilection for the habits of Vienna; but all that Marie Antoinette did was criticized. Sleigh-driving, smacking of the Northern Courts, found no favor among the Parisians. The Queen was informed of this; and although all the sleighs were kept, and several subsequent winters lent themselves to the amusement, she would not resume it.

It was at the time of the sleighing-parties that the Queen became intimately acquainted with the Princesse de Lamballe, who made her appearance in them wrapped in fur, with all the brilliancy and freshness of the age of twenty, the image of spring, peeping from under sable and ermine.

Catherine Delors

Catherine Delors has a new book coming out in the Summer of 2010 called “For the King”. I want you to read all about it on her website right here. She also writes a great blog called “Versailles and more”, here …there is so much to read …amazing stories…

Remember to return later today for another post on a new Marie inspired surprise…Marie De Fête Day Three. The Surprise Giveaway will be announced at anytime…

If you missed the prior post, it’s right here.

Subscribe to Gabriela Delworth’s Blog by Email

Welcome to Marie De Fête, Day Two. This post is dedicated to the famous Macaron…This traditional French pastry dates back to the 1800’s. Its origins are still debated…some say they came from the city of Nancy in France, others say that Maria De Medici introduced them from Italy…some say that two Carmelite nouns sold them during the French Revolution…to support themselves. It is also said that King Louis XIV from France served macarons at his wedding. But it wasn’t until 1862, when baker extraordinaire Louis-Ernest Laduree turned the little cake into a cookie sandwich!

Macaron description:

Macarons were traditionally made of egg whites, almond powder, icing sugar and sugar. They are sandwich-like pastries made with two meringue-like domes with a flat base. They have cream or ganache in between. In the old times they were served with the addition of jams, liqueurs, and spices. Nowadays they come in a wide variety of flavors.

Let’s get right into the amazing macarons you saw on the above photos now. Today I am introducing you to Kelly Lee from the Lemon Tree Patisserie here in Toronto. As I mentioned earlier on another post, I met this amazing patissiere at the St. Lawrence Market where she has a booth. But let’s allow Kelly introduce herself to all of you…

Kelly says:

“My attraction to beautiful desserts used to take second place to my studies in fine art and, later, a career in interior design. Finally, the allure of travel and the discovery of worlds of exquisite food demanded my full attention. Today, preparing desserts satisfies my creative ambitions and I find great contentment in designing a beautiful piece of art that tastes even better than it looks.

My first taste of a macaron was an authentic Laduree creation; a delicious Caramel a la Fleur de Sel macaron. Back then I tasted, but I was not knowledgeable in the world of macarons. Nevertheless, I savoured the deliciousness of the beautiful confection. You need not “know” macarons to indulge in their luxuriousness.

Now these traditional French pastries are the feature dessert of my bakery, Lemon Tree Patisserie. The beauty is not only in the finished product, however; it is the infinite possibilities of flavours that compel me. Macarons are limited only by the baker’s daring and creativity. A holiday or special occasion is to a baker of macarons what a blank canvas is to any artist.

With my bakery in its infant stages, I have only touched upon the numerous macaron flavours that inspire me. For Lemon Tree’s first Christmas season I’ve indulged in sentimentality and gathered together some flavours that have always cued the Christmas spirit in my family. These flavours include, but are not limited to, white chocolate and peppermint candy cane, chocolate kirsch, ginger spice, pistachio, dark chocolate peppermint, and Grand Marnier macarons.

As the cold weather in Toronto approaches and all our thoughts begin to turn to gift giving, entertaining, and cozying up to warm fires, I’m convinced there is no better way to adorn each of these occasions than with a beautiful box of macarons. So enjoy the season and all the flavours it brings”.

Kelly writes a blog where she shares the latest news about her products and events right here.

Remember to return tomorrow for another post on a new Marie inspired surprise…Marie De Fête Day Three. The Surprise Giveaway will be announced at anytime…

If you missed the prior post, it’s right here.

Subscribe to Gabriela Delworth’s Blog by Email

Much is been said about Marie Antoinette lavish spending…but little is known about her generosity…This post is dedicated to the Queen’s Christmas Charities. I have invited someone very special to tell us all about this subject…my friend and historical writer Maria Elena Vidal. She is the author of two fabulous books: Trianon and Madame Royal. Let’s read what she wrote about Marie for us…

The Christmas Charities of Marie-Antoinette

While surfing the internet, it is all too common to see Marie-Antoinette characterized as someone who ignored the plight of the poor. Nothing could be further from the truth. Her charities were quite extensive and a matter of public record. She also took great care to instill a love of the needy in her children. At Christmastime, during a particularly brutal winter, the queen had them renounce their Christmas gifts in order to buy food and blankets for the destitute.

As Maxime de La Rocheterie relates:

One year, on the approach of the 1st of January, she had the most beautiful playthings brought from Paris to Versailles; she showed them to her children, and when they had looked at them and admired them, said to them that they were without doubt very beautiful, but that it was still more beautiful to distribute alms; and the price of these presents was sent to the poor.

(The Life of Marie Antoinette by Maxime de La Rocheterie, 1893)  Another biographer Charles Duke Yonge discusses how the queen’s generosity was well-known by her contemporaries, in spite of her efforts to be discreet, and the efforts of her enemies to portray her as a decadent spendthrift.

By the beginning of December the Seine was frozen over, and the whole adjacent country was buried in deep snow. Wolves from the neighboring forests, desperate with hunger, were said to have made their way into the suburbs, and to have attacked people in the streets. Food of every kind became scarce, and of the poorer classes many were believed to have died of actual starvation….

Not only were Louis and Marie Antoinette conspicuous for the unstinting liberality with which they devoted their own funds to to supply of the necessities of the destitute, but the queen, in many cases of unusual or pressing suffering that were reported to her in Versailles and the neighboring villages, sent trustworthy persons to investigate them, and in numerous instances went herself to the cottages, making personal inquiries into the condition of the occupants, and showing not only a feeling heart, but a considerate and active kindness, which doubled the value of her benefactions by the gracious, thoughtful manner in which they were bestowed.

She would willingly have done the good she did in secret, partly from her constant feeling that charity was not charity if it were boasted of, partly from a fear that those ready to misconstrue all her acts would find pretexts for evil and calumny even in her bounty.

One of her good deeds struck Necker as of so remarkable a character that he pressed her to allow him to make it known. “Be sure, on the contrary,” she replied, “that you never mention it. What good could it do? they would not believe you;” but in this she was mistaken. Her charities were too widely spread to escape the knowledge even of those who did not profit by them; and they had their reward, though it was but a short-lived one.

Though the majority of her acts of personal kindness were performed in Versailles rather than in Paris, the Parisians were as vehement in their gratitude as the Versaillese; and it found a somewhat fantastic vent in the erection of pyramids and obelisks of snow in different quarters of the city, all bearing inscriptions testifying the citizens’ sense of her benevolence. One, which far exceeded all its fellows in size–the chief beauty of works of that sort–since it was fifteen feet high, and each of the four faces was twelve feet wide at the base, was decorated with a medallion of the royal pair, and bore a poetical inscription commemorating the cause of its erection:

“Reine, dont la beaute surpasse les appas

Pres d’un roi bienfaisant occupe ici la place.

Si ce monument frele est de neige et de glace,

Nos coeurs pour toi ne le sont pas.

De ce monument sans exemple,

Couple auguste, l’aspect bien doux pur votre coeur

Sans doute vous plaira plus qu’un palais, qu’un temple

Que vous eleverait un peuple adulateur.“

(Life of Marie-Antoinette by Charles Duke Yonge, 1876)

Maria Elena Vidal writes a fantastic blog called “Tea at Trianon” where you can read great stories…Her latest book has just been released and it’s called “The Night’s Dark Shade” – A Novel of the Cathars.

This what Maria Elena tell us about her book:

Remember to return later today for another post on a new Marie inspired surprise…Marie De Fête Day Three. The Surprise Giveaway will be announced at anytime…

If you missed the prior post, it’s right here.

Subscribe to Gabriela Delworth’s Blog by Email

Rachel Zurakowski, an Assistant Literary Agent at Books & Such, invited bloggers who focus on writing-related or publishing topics to share their site links in a blog Carnival. She’s posted the links today, and suggests that people visit these blogs as a way of getting to know others who share our interest in writing.

I’ve visited a couple of the blogs already, and plan to take a look at all of them within the next day or so. This is a great opportunity for writers to network with each other, so those of you who have writing blogs may want to check out the Carnival at: http://www.booksandsuch.biz/blog/welcome-to-the-blog-carnival/#more-5101

According to their website, Books & Such works with a wide range of publishers (many of them Christian), and are interested in “women’s fiction, general fiction, nonfiction, gift books, children’s picture books, easy readers, and chapter books.” Rachel Zurakowski is particularly interested in books by and for the twenty to thirty-something age group.

My blog is one of those listed, so if you’re a Carnival visitor, or not, thanks for stopping by.