Snoopy on Grand

Being a Minnesota newbie imagine my delight when I kept seeing big Snoopy statues around St. Paul--each a little different in artist's style and theme, one from another. Turns out, since Charles Schultz was born in St. Paul, he produced 101 different statues in 2000 as part of Snoopy on Parade. This decidedly 'red' version of Snoopy atop his dog house sits on Grand Avenue in St. Paul and honors the late hometown U of M Coach Herb Brooks and his 1980 United States Men's Olympic Hockey Team. Remember, they won the Olympic gold in Lake Placid by first beating the Soviet Union team 4-3 & then Finland. It has become a tradition for us to watch Miracle, Disney's film about the event at least once a year so Dave can relive watching the final game on television.

Both sides of the doghouse lists names of the entire winning team.And then there's that whole Zamboni thing. . . More fun red at Mary's Meme, Ruby Tuesday.

Love *story* Thursday

Let us hope we are preceded in this world by a

love story.

from Of Time & Memory & Sweet Land-the movie

I spent a good part of the past winter haunting antique stores collecting vintage buttons to make magnets like these. Then I spent hours with many buttons spread out on the kitchen table, sorting, cataloging, ogling and then petting my cat, Bean, who had to lay herself in the middle of the whole thing. Each magnet was built with the giftee in mind, also time consuming. Love is like that. . .it takes time but is worth every minute.

See more stories of love at Shutter Sisters here as part of Love Thursday.

I get by

with a little help from my friends.
My new agenda I follow to ward off the long winter syndrome most days, after the usual duties, includes a couple more simple and very satisfying endeavors: a little baking, a little knitting and some movie watching.

First the baking: this is Inland Empire Girl's yummy recipe for spicey Pumpkin-Chip Bread. Hers includes chocolate chips and walnuts, is moist and keeps well. Seemed to make the holiday season stick around awhile longer. I loved grating the whole nutmeg for this too.

I'm embarrassed to admit how long it has taken me to finish this dear little 'Cupcake' hat I first heard about from my friend, the other Marianne, who's just Knotminding. She got it from her friend Norma at Now Norma Knits. Let's just say it has been a challenge that involved not reading the instructions carefully or completely. Does the word 'chopsticks' make you think of anything besides Chinese food? In the spirit of all things snowman I must say that the cupcake was delicious!

The indie film Once is one I can't quit recommending to everyone, even if they don't like movies involving music, because it is somehow unforgettable. A Sundance winner it has a simple plot about two musicians in Ireland--he plays on the street and works in his dad's vacuum cleaner repair shop. She is a Czech immigrant who drops a dime in his open guitar case on the ground while he plays one evening. The soundtrack is amazingly original and haunting. My advice: run out and rent it, stay with it until the end and remember the piano.

Here's what Steven Spielberg said about it:
'A little movie called Once gave me enough inspiration to last the rest of the year.'
I agree with Schpiel, as I like to call him, and I say, "Raise your hopeful voice."