I am on a mission to complete two different aspects of downsizing. The first is to clear some books off our shelves. The second is to clean out some of my stamping stuff.
To accomplish the first item, my job has been to read, read and read. After The King's Thane I picked up The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone (James Cross Giblin, Harper Trophy, 1990), a book I had purchased for homeschooling. That was a quick little read over a few nights when I could not sleep. I will pass it on to the girls. It gave me some background on ancient Egypt and on Napoleon, both subjects I knew little about. The Rosetta stone is an arifact which Napoleon's army discovered in 1799 when tearing down an old fort. The stone contained a decree writtin in three languages, Greek, Egyptian and Demotic. Over the next 40 years it took several scholars to unlock the "riddle" of how to read the Egyptian and Demotic writing. The rest, as they say, is history. Opening the door to history, that is.
My next foray into the bookshelf was a book I am only half way through, The Evolution Hoax Exposed (A.N. Field, Tan, 1971, reprint of Why Colleges Breed Communists, Christian Book Club of America, 1941). I chose this book because I had done an independent study of Evolution in college, but I had not put much effort into the class. I had purchased this book many years ago to fill in some details that I had not studied. When I first started reading the book my impression was that the author's belittling comments on college and university students would not win anyone over to his side. As I pursue reading, however, I find the book very enlightening. Evolution in some form or another is taken for granted these days. I hear both Fr. Richard Simon and Patrick Madrid speak of it on Relevant Radio. But Mr. Field digs into the scientific and news communities at the time of Darwin's publication of The Origin of a Species, and demonstrates that right from the beginning there were those who did not believe Darwin credible. Two big hurdle were the absence of fossils and the inability of species to breed and produce fertile offspring. Those hurdles still exist. Darwin's claims were mostly assertions, not verifiable facts. But the most important part for me has been reading about the silencing and censorship of those who did not accept Darwin. What happened from 1859 to 1941 when this book was written seems exactly like today, when people are being censored for disagreeing with climate change, COVID, and transgenderism. Scientific facts are being replaced with name calling. Those who disagree with the politically correct position (The book deals with the influcence of the theory of evolution on politics, sociology and philosophy in the section I have not yet read.) are denied grants and advancement opportunities in their fields of study. Deja vu.
As for stamping, I have made a concerted effort to depleat my scrap box. The picture shows more than 30 of the card bases which I have put together so far. I am enjoying some of the mixtures of old and new designer series papers that I was able to combine. When my box is cleaned out I will go back to stamping for the tops. Most of the completed cards will go to Sleepy Eye for the Schoenstatt gift shop, and to our St. Marcellus Mission Group Craft Sale in November. I have dug deeply into my stamps as well, and have used some of the previously unused stamps that I had purchased from JLN Connections in Wisconsin. Good to make use of all of the supplies I have spent money on over the years. But using up the scraps has not come without a price. I have gone through several rolls of adhesive tape. I am out of Old Olive paper, one of my favorites. And I had to purchase another packet each of Whisper White and Very Vanilla paper. But it is exciting to get things done. Wahoo!
The top two are some of my favorites.
