Sneak peek of useful things new for spring, from that green and pleasant land across the pond:
Riddle: traditional handcrafted English beechwood garden sieve/soil sifter, made by the last riddle maker in Britain …
Tin of Twine: Nutscene’s ‘Greentwist’ for the garden & Natural too, manufactured in Scotland since 1922, a supply of twine is indispensable …
Coming soon …!
‘The Falling Star’, by James Hamilton Hay, 1909, found via Crashingly Beautiful
For most of Canada, winter as we know/knew it has been cancelled, or at best is a half-hearted, wishy-washy impersonation of winter … early Spring indeed, so say Wiarton Willie & Shubenacadie Sam …!
Fact: Meteorologists say typical signs of winter have been wiped out by an “arctic oscillation,” a phenomenon that’s seen the constantly moving jet stream remain relatively stationary and keep winter conditions at bay …
Midwinter sale continues in the {new & improved!} shop … Out with the old, in with the new {some sneak peeks soon} …!
Lovely ‘wintery’ stuff ON SALE, including limited edition handcrafted Red Hotties & Red Blooded goodies for your Valentine …!
+ Just a few limited edition ‘icy white’ Northerlies Field Notes in the shop {sold out at FN HQ!} … Perfect for those spicy Chili recipes, recording ingenious Inuit words for ‘snow’, snowmobile routes, shinny schedules, ice fishing spots, not to mention all those resolutions, broken or otherwise …!
‘Indian Trapper on Snowshoes’, by Canadian painter Cornelius Krieghoff c1849, via AGO
Detail of artwork featuring a quote from a letter written by Robbie Burns, exhibition imagery & illustrations from the Robert Burns Cottage Museum in Alloway, Scotland, by British artist Inkymole …
Slainte!
The ‘Scar Dragon Plaque’, made of whalebone and probably used for weaving/smoothing linen, was discovered in the fantastic 9thC Viking boat burial on the Orkney Isles, Scotland, 1991
Happy Year of the {Water} Dragon, smooth sailing, folks!
The great Philip Tanner singing the traditional Gower Wassail Song, 1937
The Northern Lights reach a zenith in 2012, as we enter this latest, and unusually strong, astronomical era of Solar Maximum. So, Aurora Borealis will be more brilliant and intense, more frequent, more vibrant and dramatic than any time in the last decade -— maybe even the last century … NASA scientists have predicted that this current Solar Maximum in 2012 will be the greatest since 1958, where the aurora stunned the people of Mexico by making an appearance on three occasions.
*Yellowknife, NWT, is a hotspot at 62 degrees latitude, since 62 degrees just happens to be directly under a dominant magnetic line of the earth’s magnetic field. Plus, Yellowknife’s night skies are usually clear, with no clouds impeding the spectacular view.
By all accounts, keep your eyes peeled on clear nights no matter the latitude, especially those farther south, for this may be your lucky year!
*UPDATE: Everybody can see the magnificent Aurora Borealis live from Yellowknife {after dusk local time} via this CSA page!
Photo, info courtesy of the Canadian Tourism Commission.
Aretha Franklin & Billy Preston, fantastic blues/gospel rendition, c1987 Detroit, USA
Happy New Year!
Jimi Hendrix as Old Saint Nick, circa 1967, via here & here
Happy holidays folks!
Useful medieval gadget for calculating the winter solstice, dated 1396; ‘Brought to Light Having Spent Over 20 Years in a Shed in Queensland, Australia’… Went to auction last week, ‘Extraordinarily Rare 14th Century Time-Telling Instrument, Marked with Badge of Richard II, to Sell at Bonhams’… actually, no deal on the rare 14thC timepiece, so save your pennies for next time …!
Astrolabe quadrants are amongst the most sophisticated instruments ever made before the invention of the modern computer. They combine the mathematical and astronomical features of an astrolabe with a much smaller size.
Found at Sydney Morning Herald via here
The de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver is considered by aviation historians to be the classic Canadian bush plane, “the airplane that opened the North,”. “To this day, many of these legendary planes can still be seen in remote skies around the world,”. The Canadian Engineering Centennial Board named the DHC-2 one of the Top 10 Canadian engineering achievements of the 20th century. In all, 1,657 Beavers were built by the time de Havilland ended production in 1967 — a record for a plane manufactured in Canada. Please visit and support this original historic site, the de Havilland Canadian Air & Space Museum, before it’s too late!
Photo and intriguing article via CBC: A de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver, most likely the original CF-FHB, on skis in the snow of Ootsa Lake, B.C., in the winter of 1951-52. The three men on the left are unidentified. The fourth man on the right is Frederic Rowland. (Rowland family photo)
*21 DEC: Tinder’s last shipping date for Xmas, in Canada, via Xpresspost {a new option via our upgraded webshop}! Orders must be in by 12 noon!*
Thanks for visiting Tinder & Seasons Greetings all …!
‘Deep Woods’ inspired goods in the {new} shop!
Handmade ‘Pine Pitch Wilderness Remedy’ by Damn Yak & Limited Edition ‘Balsam Fir’ Field Notes !
Get your woodsy goods in the shop!
Field Notes Brand: The Northerly Edition, coming soon!
New Tinder website upgrade & update TODAY 3-4pm EST! Apologies for any order disruption – please let us know if so!
Thanks for visiting!
‘The Jack Pine’, Tom Thomson c1916, via the UK’s Dulwich Picture Gallery’s exhibition celebrating Canada’s greatest artists, which have not been shown in this country since 1925 … ‘the work of Canada’s Group of Seven proves a revelation’…’kings of the wild frontier’…
Then, and now.
Photo, above: Completion of 1,000th de Havilland Mosquito aircraft at Downsview hangar, Toronto, via an interesting article just prior to recent eviction, ie, ‘aerospace campus’ …
Photo, below: Philip Gray, WWII veteran RAF Lancaster pilot in front of FM104 at CASM Remembrance Day ceremony 11.11.11, at de Havilland hangar, Toronto, via …
See more about Retired Flt.Lt. Philip Gray here …
To pay your respects to the folks who built Canada’s incredible air & space legacy before it’s lost, please visit here & here …
Saddleback Tea House, 7,000 feet above sea level, Lake Louise AB, c1928, from the NY Times archives {via}
‘Yellow Sunset’, c1916, Tom Thomson {via}
‘…in lustreless November
enter the year’s night…’
‘what the small day cannot hold
must spill into eternity.’
… excerpts from ‘All Souls’ Day’, poem by Frances Bellerby, via the Guardian’s Poem of the week
‘Raccoon Costume’, photograph by Corey Arnold, found via Svpply …
Trick or treat …!
‘Queen’, chess piece of the enigmatic Lewis Chessmen, c.12th C., carved from walrus ivory, likely Norse in origin & found in the dunes of Uig beach, Isle of Lewis, Scotland c.1800s … photo & superb review too, via diggingthedirt …
That said, take note North American folks! A substantial hoard of these chessmen will be visiting the Met NY from this fall ’til next spring 2012, ‘the first time such a large ensemble of the chessmen has traveled outside the United Kingdom’, so take advantage if you can!
… A few other diversionary notes … about time we mention Tinder’s Tweets via TinderShop & Tumblr, aka Whiskey Robber {after ‘The Ballad of the Whiskey Robber’} … a bit of this, that & the other, feel free to visit …
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