In 2008, I wrote a blog entry about the hand-made ceramic Win Ng Chicken cooker my mother gave me. This year, she gave me the Win Ng ceramic cube that used to grace her back deck in San Francisco. This is a handsome and exceptionally sturdy sculpture, used as a favorite family seat since I was a child. It continues in this beloved and useful role in my San Jose living room.
 |
. |  |
Images Copyright 2011 by Katy Dickinson
Filed under Home & Family, News & Reviews
About two years ago, I took a liking to a large old brass pot in a local shop here in Willow Glen (San Jose, California). 2′ tall, with three feet ending in big claws, and two faces with rings in their mouths for handles, it had charm. I started negotiating. Having successfully purchased items in the souq in my travels in the Middle East, I enjoyed the slow negotiation here at home.
The store owner said that the pot was a genuine antique, valued at $5,000 but it had been in the store for a long time, so she was willing to part with it for $2,000. I was not interested and left that day. A few months later, I was back in the store admiring the pot again. The owner said she might come down a bit from her original price: was I interested in paying $1,500? Nope – I left that day too. The next year I went back and asked if the pot (which was not by the front display case any more) had sold? No – it was now in the basement, marked down to $1,000. Still I was not interested.
Then, a few months ago, I saw that the store was moving. I went in to ask about the pot. The owner’s brother was in charge. He said the price was now $500 because they needed to clear out the store quickly. I was interested but not willing to pay that much. I offered $200. We settled on $250. I am now the owner of an old brass pot, provenance unknown, value unknown, original purpose unknown, but an enjoyable new feature of my living room nonetheless.
Please leave a comment if you think know anything about my old brass pot: Where did it come from? What was its intended purpose? Who made it? The stamped mark on the bottom (pictured below) has 3 intertwined initials with an ampersand: SW&S or S&WS or S&SW or W&SS ? (hard to read).
 |
. |  |
Images Copyright 2011 by Katy Dickinson
Filed under Home & Family, News & Reviews
Judgement Day and Rapture billboards have been pervasive here in the San Francisco Bay Area, saying that the world will end on 21 May at 6 pm Pacific Time. Didn’t happen – yesterday was refreshingly normal. The picture below (left) is what I saw at 6 pm California time yesterday. We were driving Highway 280 from San Jose to San Francisco to have dinner with my parents. In curiosity, our family listened to the 610 AM radio program which had been announcing the Rapture but the station only offered choral hymns at the critical time.
Today was the annual visit of Bishop Mary Gray-Reeves to Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Saratoga CA (pictured below, right) . Bishop Mary started her sermon with “Still here…” and then spoke about Rapture frenzy being in a context of fear and punishment, not the love and cherishing that she felt from her relationship with Jesus. During his life, Jesus took care of the needy, he did not abandon them.
Listening to the news this week, I was reminded of a cartoon which came out during the Y2K frenzy at the end of December 1999, before the Millenium New Year. It showed two couples awkwardly looking at each other: one pair in a bunker with food and weapons and the other dressed up for a great party, saying “In the morning, one of us is going to be very embarrassed.” I am still tempted to get a Rapture bumper sticker. I particularly like the one which says: “In case of Rapture, can I have your stuff?”
 |
. |  |
Images by Katy Dickinson 2011 Copyright
Filed under Church, News & Reviews
Update: The San Francisco Bay Area CBS News affiliate ran a version of this story called ConsumerWatch: Storm Brewing Over New Flood Maps on 8 June 2011.
 |
. |  |
I was recently interviewed in San Jose California for a CBS news story that ran today in Cleveland Ohio about getting a refund for FEMA flood insurance last year. It seems that very few homeowners have been able to actually get a refund for wrongly-required home insurance. Here is the interesting video story by reporter Danielle Serino (CBS 19):
Danielle’s Doghouse: FEMA
With all the flooding we’ve seen there are probably a lot of people thankful they have flood insurance. But what if you know you don’t need it, but have to buy it anyway? It’s happening thanks to FEMA, that’s why the agency is in Danielle’s Doghouse.
Last Modified: // May 20, 2011 8:16 PM
Images Copyright 2011 by Katy Dickinson and John Plocher
Filed under Home & Family, News & Reviews
Over a year ago, my husband John and I donated a brunch in WP668, our backyard caboose, to the SAMA auction, to benefit the medical charity of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church (Saratoga, California). Today, we fed six guests who left very happy with their meal aboard our historic railroad car. The menu included:
The dogs were happy to play with new friends in their yard and were sure that the whole event had been planned for doggy entertainment.
 |
 |
Images Copyright 2011 by Katy Dickinson
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
We had more than a dozen kids – aged 3 to 21 – plus their parents over for our annual Easter Egg Hunt last week here in San Jose, California. There were about 400 plastic eggs filled with candy, plus one gold and one silver egg to find in our backyard. We followed the same rules as last year with a few additions.
Last summer, one of our experienced egg hunters arrived with bags of empty plastic eggs for us. When she saw the eggs at a garage sale, Galena bought them to help support her favorite springtime activity. Following up on Galena’s inspiration, this Easter we said that kids could take home their baskets and plastic eggs if they wanted to but they could also leave them with us for next year. The parents thought this was great idea! I insisted that any eggs left with us had to be empty and whole – with tops and bottoms matched up (no leaving half eggs). We ended up with several cubic feet of empty eggs, plus 8 empty baskets.
This year I again provided “advisors” in the form of ceramic bunnies of different sizes and styles. Each child can pick any basket and advisor they want before the hunt starts. The advisors support the young hunters so that their parents are not tempted to help. I buy bunnies and baskets at garage sales and second hand stores all year so that the children have a wide selection to choose from.
Several of our Huawei co-workers came with their kids. I don’t think they hold Easter Egg Hunts in China so this was a novel treat. They had fun playing in WP668, our backyard caboose. The potluck lunch included a wide variety of dishes which everyone enjoyed eating.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Images by Katy Dickinson and John Plocher, Copyright 2011
Last week, childrens’ book author Sue Fliess came by Santa Maria Urban Ministry (SMUM) in San Jose to drop off a donation. She stayed to read her new book Shoes for Me to the Studio after-school program kids. She described to the children how a book got made. The kids were fascinated while Sue Fliess was there and took turns reading the new book after she left. Then, they went outside to play.
 |
 |
Images Copyright 2011 by Katy Dickinson and John Plocher
Filed under Church, News & Reviews
KatysBlog 