Kindle for Mac/iPhone

Oh my gosh, I think I'm going to be really really happy this summer. Not only have I ordered the next book club book and that dragon tattoo girl book. Sorry the title escapes me and I'm too lazy to google right now. I found Kindle for iPhone and Mac. I heard so many talk about the Kindle and I assumed it was only the device. Little did I know that it was available for Mac and iPhone. I have been a downloading maven today.

I downloaded the Heaven devotional and several books for F°R°E°E°, people!!!

I found a very very cool site called Survive France.

What I need now is a great guide on exploring Paris on foot.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/06/09/article-0-09F6EF96000005DC-590_306x423.jpg

Is this the world's oldest shoe? 5,000-year-old leather-laced size 4 found in cave in Armenia

By David Derbyshire
Last updated at 10:09 AM on 10th June 2010


Created more than 5,500 years ago at the dawn of civilisation this perfectly preserved brown leather lace-up is the oldest shoe in the world
For lovers of fashion, it's the ultimate vintage shoe.

Created more than 5,500 years ago at the dawn of civilisation this perfectly preserved brown leather lace-up is the oldest shoe in the world.

It was created from a piece of cow hide 1,000 years before the Great Pyramid of Giza and stitched together with leather thread.

The size 4 shoe - discovered buried in a cave in Armenia - is so well preserved that its lace is still intact.

Archaeologists say it probably belonged to a woman who deliberately buried it in the cave during a mysterious ritual. The cave also contained three pots, each containing a child's skull, along with containers of barley, wheat and apricot.

For Dr Ron Pinhasi, University College Cork, the shoe is a discovery of a lifetime.

'We thought initially that the shoe and other objects were about 600-700 years old because they were in such good condition,' said Dr Pinhasi.

'When we discovered that the shoe dated back to 3,500 BC and that it was the oldest leather shoe, we were very excited.'

The shoe was worn by an early farmer living in the mountains of Vayotz Dzor province of Armenia close to the border of modern-day Turkey and Iran.

The region was on the edge of the Fertile Crescent - the great sweep of land that gave birth to the first towns, cities and farms.

It was made from a single piece of leather, tanned using vegetable oil, and shaped to fit the wearer's foot. It contained grass, although archaeologists are unsure whether this was to keep out the cold, or maintain the shape of the shoe .


The shoe was made from a single piece of leather, tanned using vegetable oil, and shaped to fit the wearer's foot

This is the cave pit where the shoe was found. It is believed to have been worn by a farmer living in the mountains of Vayotz Dzor province of Armenia close to the border of modern-day Turkey and Iran
It was laced using a strip of leather threatened through slits. At some point in its life, one of the slits tore - forcing the wearer to make repairs by recutting another gash for the lace.

'It is not known whether the shoe belonged to a man or a woman,' said Dr Pinhasi, who reports the findings in the journal PLoS One.

However, the small size makes it most likely that it belonged to a woman, he added.

The cool and dry conditions in the cave helped preserve the shoe which appears to have been buried in the ground on its own. The floor was covered with a thick layer of sheep dung which helped conserve the shoe and other finds.

Three samples of the shoe were carefully radiocarbon-dated at laboratories at Oxford University and the University of California, Irvine.

The shoe was discovered by Armenian PhD student, Diana Zardaryan, of the Institute of Archaeology, Armenia, in a pit that also included a broken pot and sheep's horns.

Researcher Dr Gregory Areshian, of the University of California, Los Angeles, said: 'We couldn't believe the discovery. The crusts had sealed the artefacts and archaeological deposits and artefacts remained fresh dried, just like they were put in a can.'


The top and bottom close-up images show in detail how the shoe was laced together with a strip of leather. The image on the right shows its smooth sole

The entrance to an Armenian cave, marked with blue plastic in the centre of the picture where the shoe was found
The previous oldest known footwear were sandals made from plants found in a cave in Missouri. They were made and worn a few hundred years after the Armenian shoe.

The design is similar to the 'pampooties' worn on the Aran Islands in the West of Ireland up to the 1950s.

'We do not know yet what the shoe or other objects were doing in the cave or what the purpose of the cave was,' said Dr Pinhasi.

'We know that there are children's graves at the back of the cave but so little is known about this period that we cannot say with any certainty why all these different objects were found together.'

Armenia's climate 5,500 years ago was similar to today's - hot in the summer, snowy in winter. The owner of the shoe would have worn wool and leather clothes, and relied on the shoes for protection as she walked around the rocky terrain.

The shoe may have been made locally, or traded with the more sophisticated towns and villages in the heart of Mesopotamia, Dr Pinhasi added.


The spot in Armenia, marked with a red square, where the ancient shoe was discovered in the old 'fertile belt' of Fertile Crescent


Comments (32)

Parisii

I have finally made the decision and (acted upon it) to officially close Parisii. It was a hard decision. I loved it. I loved my customers. It comes to no surprise to some of you that I'd close sometime soon.

I have some jewelry left if anyone was to buy some at lower prices.

I also have jewelry hardware that I'd be happy to sell all in a lump. Let me know if you'd be interested.

Catcher in the Rye

I'm reading "Catcher in the Rye" for book club. It has to be the most depressing thing I've ever read. Does the end get better?

Purple passion

I'm not a cleaning maven but I did get a neato Mother's Day gift.  It's the Rubba Sweepa from Flylady. Not only does it sweep really well, I used it today to get dust off the ceiling and mouldings!

Here's the link!

Just Venting

Why do people make simple things like answering phone messages a matter of stress and anxiety? 

We have quite the technology nowadays ya know.  A simple text message is a wonderful way to let people know that you hear their messages and will get back to them soon.  BUT NO.  Not even with email possibilities, certain people just leave you hanging after multiples messages and texts.

I think there should be telephone policemen to hunt down the people who don't call back after a certain number of messages.  

Book question

Well actually two. What are you reading right now?

Has anyone read The Lovely Bones?

Please vote for Thaé!

Martin enrolled Thaé is scoobydor.fr in the 'most courageous' category. You can vote for him here

http://www.scoobydor.fr/note.php?id=4575

It would be fun for Martin if he wins!

The forecast for this week

Not looking too hopeful.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

I am enjoying a quiet Sunday afternoon.  We'd had special meetings all week long, I didn't get to all of them because of work.  But I'm glad to have hubby doing up fries for supper. Pink Panther is on tv and up cuddled up with our little Miss.

I've found an awesome application for notes called Evernote. It's handy because I can use it on my iPhone and it syncs automatically. I'm trying to eliminate all my post its.

Thaé is doing so much better but with feeling better comes the desire to rip off his bandage. I've rebandaged him 3 times today.  I'm going to the vet tomorrow and get the dreaded cone to put around his neck.

I have the itch to sew.  I have to admit I haven't sewn much in the last few years. My super fabric guy that used to come to our Friday market doesn't come anymore so I don't have any close fabric stores that I like. I need to make business casual type outfits so I can wear them for conferences and presentations. Since I'm more mature now-ahem-I was thinking of abandoning black and red and going with grey instead. I can't abandon red.  That would be scandalous.

Nice day out even though not nearly sunny enough for me.


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Location:St Mandé

The Nose

I have this crazy lab that has the most sensitive nose. Here it is at work as you see from my new title!

2010 Sunday, April 25 I'm enjoying 5 minutes of quiet to write, which will end quickly because I just heard the car pull up. Just a few notes to jot down. I'm really enjoying my new MacBook. It's easy to use and now I have the mini DV to hook it up to the video projector for Reliv presentations. With the new computer and the prompting of my daughter Lydia, I installed Gotomeeting to facilitate presentations. I'm amazed I can so easily use this program. I'm still on the trial usage, so when payment time rolls around, we'll probably split it down the middle between us. It's a practical way to share my screen with up to 16 people. Working at home has it's perks now that I have a notebook. I'm usually comfortably installed on the couch now, rather at a desk. Thaé is my contant companion. We had a bit of a scare with him recently. He had a sort of growth on the side of his abdomen. The vet operated and found a huge tumor. I'm playing doggie nurse now, checking his drain and popping horse pills in his mouth twice a day. He's a very good patient. Just wondering if anyone has read, "Organizing for Your Brain Type",

In my crockpot

I was planning to be out tonight so I cut up leftover potatoes with onion, browned ground beef and I stirred up some eggs. All in the crock with salt and pepper. I'll serve a salad on the side. Easy and yummy, breakfast at night!!

Come join me!

Hey I'm sharing my health and business story on a phone call at 8:30 pm England time that's 3:30 pm NY time. Message/email me at macmom6@yahoo.com if you want to listen!! This is an honor for me and I wanted to share it with you!