I listed the *crown jewel* of my rare & out-of-print book collection today. It is a copy of the very, very (2 verys) rare An Illustrated History of Needlework Tools by Gay Ann Rogers.

I was not even aware this book existed. I know the name Gay Ann Rogers, knew her to be an interesting writer on Needlepoint and Needlepoint Design. She has several books adapting Oriental or Tribal designs for needlepoint. Good Stuff.

I found this book while doing a blind search for other obscure books.

A blind search is where I have no real focus or target, I just go wallowing around the listings, to see what I can see.

I found this book. It is really rare (that word again).

It was also very expensive, the copy I bought was one of 3 offered for sale. The other 2 were triple and more than triple the price of the one I did buy.

This was described as being in “Very Good Condition” but as you can imagine, that made me nervous since a book filled with mold or a book covered with paint splatters were also described that way.

The book came and it really is in very good condition.

This is a book for collectors or anyone who is interested in these interesting and often lovely objects. Just while listing it, I found that I was turning pages to see more.

The book is filled with pictures, every page has at least 1, many have 2 or 3.

An Illustrated History of Needlwork Tools has hints for collectors, what to look for and when to avoid buying.

There are lots of tools here, from Britian, Europe, America & Asia with an emphasis on Victorian and early 20th Century periods.
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Then going in a completely different direction, I listed the Mighty Bright L.E.D. Floor Lamp & Magnifier.

I have always used the Ott lights but my wholesaler told me about these, he said they were great and at a very reasonable price.

I ordered one, looked at it and read all about it, all over the place. I am impressed with the engineering, the thought that went into this design.

The lamp does seem to have it all. It has 12 LED lights surrounding the good size 2X magnifier. There is also a 5X BiFocal magnifier strip.

The lamp can be used as a bright magnifier or as just a super bright stitching light. The flexible neck lets you position it anyway you like, pretty much.

And here’s the kicker. It does work with an AC plug, that comes with it but it will also work on 3 “D” size batteries.

It was much less than my Ott Light Floor lamps were, I think this may be a fabulous light.

As I said, I just bought 1, we shall see if NewNeedlepoint.com has a market for it.

I finished Persuasion, there were not many surprises until the end but there the movie clearly veered far from the book.

Mrs. Smith, Anne Elliot’s crippled old school friend has a much larger part to play than in the movie.

The movie has Mrs. Smith broke and living in Bath on the *remnants* of her dead husbands fortune. Her Nurse also takes care of Mrs. Wallis, the wife of Mr Elliot’s good friend Captain Wallis.

Captain Wallis plays a bigger part in the book then in the movie.

In the movie Mrs Wallis tells Nurse Rook that Mr Elliot is now after Anne and the Baronetcy because he is now broke, and to stop Sir Walter from popping out another kid, maybe a son, with the “designing” Mrs. Clay. She is not without her *arts* ( I love this stuff).

In the book, Mrs Smith, when told in no uncertain terms that Anne will not ever marry Mr Elliot, reveals the true history of Mr Elliot.

Mrs Smith used to know him well, he was very close friends with her husband, and upon their marriage, her as well.

She feels that Mr Elliot had a hand in her husband’s going broke. He was encouraged to live beyond his means, pushed down “that road* by Mr Elliot who had unlimited money and no real concern for his friend’s welfare.

Since her husbands death, Mrs. Smith has repeatedly asked Mr Elliot to help her claim what remains of her husband’s estate, which is on one of the Caribbean Islands (I forget which one already).

He has ignored her, blew her off. Now Mrs. Smith has learned from Nurse Rook (remember Mrs Wallis?) that Mr Elliot, while he is still rich, wants the title and dignity of the Baronetcy that he earlier scorned when he was given the chance to be accepted by Sir Walter and perhaps marry Miss Elliot (Elizabeth).

The oldest daughter is always Miss _ _ _ _, younger daughters are styled as Miss Anne Elliot, Miss Mary Elliot and so on.

Plus he wants to separate Sir Walter from the said Mrs. Clay but he goes about that in a 2 sided attack, very sneaky.

So, Anne is warned and no longer feels any obligation towards Mr Elliot at the same time as Captain Wentworth stops being a resentful jerk and lets himself be in love with her again.

I have to tell you, if some man treated me the way Captain Wentworth treated Anne Elliot I would not just take it. He was mean & cold when he became re-aquainted with her 8 years after she refused his proposal of marriage (for pretty good reasons too). I would not be so fast to be madly in love with him again.

Jealous men with resentful tempers, not a day at the beach, are they?

Anyway, I am now reading this absolute bon bon of a book. It is called a “Pride & Prejudice What if” novel and is sure is.

The book is *The Darcy’s Give a Ball* by Elizabeth Newark. I don’t want to give any of this charming story away.

It was recommended to me by Janet Perry and I am grateful to her for it.

I saw the oddest movie the other night. It was on my “recommended” list on NetFlix. I sometimes wonder what criteria they use. So many of their recommendations are so far off *the mark* for me.

This was called The Advocate with Colin Firth. He plays a medieval lawyer or as they were called then, An Advocate.

Now these were the dark ages, and outside Paris things were still very Dark, if you know what I mean. The inquisition was still around and the Lord of each area had total and unquestioned power.

The movie is, over all, pretty funny but so very odd.

Did you know that back then animals & people were equal under the law. An animal could be charged for a crime, just as a person was. Held for trial and then punished (executed) exactly like a person would be.

This was news to me, and it is funny but the movie is not all comedy, there are some strange sub-plots like the nobleman who hunts children for sport when he runs out of game to hunt. (see, not totally funny at all).

This is one of the oddest movies I have seen in quite a while and that is saying something, since I often watch odd movies.

See, I knew I would rattle on for a while, even if I did not intend to.