Fishin' in York Park ~ The Grand

Signs of Spring ~

Whatnot ~ watnot "Is that what it is called?"

1. (usu. preceded by and) other similar items (a drawer full of paper, pens and whatnot) 
2. an unspecified or trivial thing.
3. a stand with shelves used for keeping or displaying small objects

~ Canadian Oxford Dictionary

With generations, come word changes.  The whatnot is one of those words.  The American Oxford Thesaurus perhaps has the only relevant word:  what-d'you-call-it, or whatchamacalitit ~! (a contraption; gadget; gimmick; thing or instrument.)

Smile For Today ~

From The Country Diary Company:  A Recipe For Potpourri

For the best, most fragrant potpourri, pick well-scented flowers fresh, in the morning after the dew has dried.  Remove all the petals and spread them in a thin layer cheesecloth.  When the petals are dry and flexible like soft glove leather, put them on a sheet of newspaper to complete their drying.  Mix the petals and add a scent fixative such as a little fruit peel or some herbs or spices.  Sweet basil, mint, bay, lemon balm and marjoram are particularly good herbs for potpourri.  Store the mixture in glass jars for several months, and shake the jars occasionally.  The longer they remain in jars, the stronger their fragrance will become.  When matured, potpourri can be used in organdy or taffeta sachets, or kept in a potpourri jar which as a special pierced lid.

Ouse St & Talbot

A Dream World for Little Boys (& Big) Who Love Heavy Equipment.

Wind in the Willows ~ The Grand

"The mole had been working very hard all the morning, spring-cleaning his little home.  First with brooms, then with dusters; then on ladders and steps and chairs, with a brush and a pail of whitewash; till he had dust in his throat and eyes, and splashes of whitewash all over his black fur, and an aching back and weary arms.  Spring was moving in the air above and in the earth below and around him, penetrating even his dark and lowly little house with its spirit of divine discontent and longing.  It was small wonder, then, that he suddenly flung down his brush on the floor, said 'Bother!' and 'O blow!' and also 'Hang spring-cleaning!' and bolted out of the house without even waiting to put on his coat...his snout came out into the sunlight, and he found himself rolling in the warm grass of a great meadow."

~ from one of the best-loved children's classics, The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908.
[Photo:  Spring 2013 lbw]

A firm knock at the door;  "Is Jeff Deck here?"  A tall, muscular fellow squeezed into a tan uniform handed over some photocopied documents, "This is about a sign you vandalized at the Grand Canyon."
Appalled by the man's characterization of the act, Benjamin replied,"We corrected it."
"It was a hundred years old," the ranger said.
"Oh." Benjamin signed that he'd officially received the document.

The National Park Service was not grateful for the correction.The federal government advised that Jeff and Benjamin had "first conspired to vandalize and then vandalized a precious national historic treasure" and very much desired that they return to Arizona to appear in court.

Suddenly the saga of TEAL, the Typo Eradication Advancement League had taken a "bleak twist."  One bad correction had the power to negate hundreds of good ones.  Jeff took down his blog, the website; spoke with several lawyers and deleted the Grand Canyon entry.  They were guilty by their own blogged admission.
Banned from National Park territory, assigned a probation officer and left to pay expenses incurred (including $3,035 in restitution) Benjamin returned to his bookshop job;  Jeff was ordered to post public statements regarding the dangers of correcting typos.  He administers a website www.greattypohunt.com

~ THE GREAT TYPO HUNT / TWO FRIENDS CHANGING THE WORLD ONE CORRECTION AT A TIME.  Crown Publishers, 2010.  Jeff Deck and Benjamin D. Herson.

www.greattypohunt.com  includes typos sent in by readers.