Mr. Prof designer home

West Dave is a maker of Nixie Tube Clocks. What's a Nixie Tube, you might ask?

Wikipedia, as always, gives up their secrets: Introduced by Burroughs in 1954, Nixies were used as numeric displays in early digital voltmeters, multimeters, frequency counters and many other types of technical equipment. They also appeared in costly digital time displays used in research and military establishments, and in many early electronic desktop calculators. Nixie was derived by Burroughs from "NIX I", an abbreviation of "Numeric Indicator eXperimental No. 1".



Above: LEDs indicate the hour around the perimeter of the clock, with Nixie tubes indicating the minute and second. Below: An Art Deco clock case refitted with Nixie tube numbers.



The clocks shown here are all by West Dave, but you can easily find Nixie Tube Clock kits online and on eBay to make your own.

Our family lives in Turkey, where five times a day, we either barely hear or are audibly assaulted by a man's voice singing the call to prayer (depending on how close we are to the nearest mosque). Last night, as the Arabic sounds came dancing into our open windows, I began thinking about what the "call to prayer" would look like in Christian homes.

Of course, our first reaction may be that we don't want to be legalistic or formulaic in our prayers and addresses with God, and that is true to a point. And yet the Old Testament is full of examples of external "reminders" of God's faithfulness for God's people. (Think of the altars built to recall a certain event, and the unflinching regularity of sacrificial offerings.) The church as a whole, particularly the American church, could do with a little discipline. Regularity and a consistent commitment in our walks with God would be a refreshing change from the have-it-your-way brand of casual, comfortable, and convenient faith of so many that call themselves "Christians".

Anyway, last night as the call to prayer rang out, I began asking myself, and I want to pose the question to you as well:

What things regularly happen in your home to remind you and your children to praise God and take your requests to Him throughout each day?

• Regular times of prayer together (mealtimes, bedtime)?
• Daily time spent reading Scripture?
  
• Wall hangings/decor?
• Praise & Worship music, audio Bibles, and Bible stories playing throughout the day?
• Other?

I've shared some things about our home before (here and here)... but I'd like to hear from you and possibly get some fresh ideas for all of us to consider as we strive to raise our children to love God and take their burdens to Him, and as we strive to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. So tell me, what does the "call to prayer" sound like or look like in your home?

Okay I can't put if off any longer... Here is the official notice that on May 24th I will cease to be a brick and mortar shop owner. Yes, I am closing the door on my little shop to seek out new adventures and fresh new ways to do business. Of course I will continue to do shows like Marburger Farms in Texas, and plan to add more shows to my schedule as well. I am also going to have garden sales at my home in between traveling and will do by appt as well. Who knows, a web business may be in my future at some point.

I will also continue my blog and will post pics of sales and also the phenomenal garden cottage Mr. Sweet Pea built for me. I am truly excited to get back to the garden style that I was known for at my first location. I think you will be too once you see it. So keep checking for new pics and feel free to email me if you are interested in anything you see.

Finally, I am having a great sale from now til the 24th on everything in the shop. I hope you'll stop by and see what treasures you can find at awesome prices!

Blessings,

Shelley

Art Donovan is at it again.

I get the impression Art indulges his love of steampunk after he finishes his more mainstream work he says of this one: "I did it one night last month right after the "Pod"" This one has a colonial feel to it -- I'm thinking Salem witch trials or The Legend of Sleep Hollow -- does that make it too early to be a steampunk proper piece?

I've never been one to stay in the same place too long. Sometimes it's a change of location, sometimes it's just rearranging the living room. Us creative types have to twirl it around every once in awhile. I've noticed that the shop has been taking on an obvious French twist this year and I really like the direction I'm going. A customer commented the other day "You've changed!". I simply replied "Always!". I have no idea what she meant or even if it was a compliment, but I'm taking it as one. So I wanted to share some recent photos of the shop and some of the "Frenchier" stuff. Enjoy!


Fabulous old yardlong on top of a great peely cubby. Don't you love the tin letters spelling "roses"?


Great old plaster sconce.


Old church pew with fab burlap pillows and picture frames above mixed with architectural fragments.


Old french collars mixed with vintage bottles and more tin letters in a rusty wheelbarrow.


Old battery jar filled with vintage flash cards next to cute tin shoes that can also hang.


Great zinc mirror with a fab reflection.


An old chicken feeder rests against a box with tin back. Inside are a great old picture and a mercury glass vase. More tin letters finish off the vignette.


The coveted brown and white transferware on an old farm table. More flash cards for a twist.

In my house, there has been discussion -- quickly squashed by the linguistically inclined -- as to the plural of the word octopus. Although other pluralizations are common, we think "octopodes" is a pretty great word.

How, you may ask, do octopodes related to steampunk? I can think of two steampunk references to octopodes. The first, Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the second the Air Kracken -- monsters of the sky, celebrated on March 17th. I'm sure you could come up with more, right?


Reader Caitlyn recently sent me a link to this lovely octopus lamp, and since I missed Air Kracken day a couple months back, I took that as enough excuse for this post.

Here's the trick with octopodes in the home: there's lots of them out there, but very few have that steampunk flair. You may be able to get away with some of the brighter colors in a bathroom or a kid's room, but I'm not sure I'd put a bright purple or orange octopus in my public rooms. (Unless you really, really, liked it.) Nothing too cute, and the scarier the better.


Or perhaps just a foot and a half long giant squid or a 7 inch octopus?

I was listening to some Mark Driscoll sermons not too long ago, and thought his commentary on these verses was helpful.

"Because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband." - 1 Cor. 7:2

"If you have strong biological desires for intimacy, if you're a lady, you need a husband; if you're a gentleman, you need a wife. And in marriage, you don't deny one another; you have a lot of fun. It doesn't feel like one is winning and one is losing. You're both satisfied; you take care of one another. God's answer for your desires is marriage." - Driscoll

"The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does." - 1 Cor. 7:3-4

"Once you get married, you take care of one another. She wants to snuggle? You're snuggling. He wants to be together? You're gonna be together. That's biblical." -Driscoll

"Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by mutual agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of a lack of self control." - 1 Cor. 7:5

"If one person in the marriage always feels like they're on offense, and the other's always on defense, and one always has desires, and is always getting declined, Satan is going to destroy the marriage with bitterness and temptation. You should take care of each other in every way, including the physical." - Driscoll


(All quotes taken from Mark Driscoll, "Dating", from the Religion Saves and 9 Other Misconceptions sermon series.)


Definitely simple and to the point. But I thought it was worth highlighting. Any thoughts?