Yeah! The hummingbirds are back!

I put out a feeder about 2 weeks ago, and I've been waiting and watching the sky for their return from Winter vacation, and Tuesday night they were spotted! I enjoyed watching them so much last year, and I've missed them over the Winter. They are so spunky for such little birds! They are very territorial and we have a battle going on right now between two Ruby Throats over who is the boss of the other feeders that I put out after first spotting them. We've gone from the 2 feeders that we had last year to 9 feeders now, and I put 2 of those out front to try to cut down on the fighting. But these 2 little guys (or gals) are only interested in the ones in the back yard so far.
I don't know if they come back to the same spot every year, but one that we've seen this year is just like the one from last year that sat up in the same tree all day watching the feeders. Then whenever another hummingbird comes by, this 1st one swoops down and chases the others away! Now there are more feeders, but he still doesn't want to share, he's chasing the others away from all of the feeders out back!
I went outside to pick up a feeder that one of the squirrels knocked over and I could hear the hummingbirds chirping at each other and they kept buzzing by my head. They like a pretty blue glass ball feeder that we have hanging in one tree, and they come up to the feeder that hangs directly onto our window. So you can set on the couch inside and see them right up close. I tried to get some photos of them at the window, but only got 2 good ones out of about 30. They turned out dark because I'm inside and I didn't want a flash to scare them or reflect on the window. But here are two fairly good shots.

Friday morning update!! What an exciting week it has been here in the woods. Tuesday night the hummingbirds returned (they are still fighting over the feeders) Wednesday night we saw the 2 deer again! Every night we put corn out and every morning it's gone, so we know someone is out there eating it. So we finally saw them when it was getting dark. Then on Thursday night, just before dark, we saw a raccoon out there, and he was eating up the corn too. Then, as we were watching him, the two deer came into the yard and they were eating with the raccoon! I watched them for as long as I could, but finally it was getting too dark to see them. I probably won't be able to get photos of them because of the darkness and because I don't want to scare them.

Bye for now, Carol

A little vintage everyday

I try to wear something vintage everyday, it's my job, so what better way to promote it. Usually the vintage piece is a purse. This week on a trip to the post office, bank and foodstore (the only places that usually ever go) I wore these navy strappy wedge heels and carried this cute straw purse with bamboo handles and little raffia flowers on it. It was a nice day and I was feeling kind of Summery. It's hard to show off the vintage wardrobe in the Winter, because I'm bundled up. That's another reason why I look forward to Spring so much!
This was actually the 2nd photo that I took of these items. In the first photo, the shoe was on my foot, and then I thought I'd better do a footless photo, since some people don't like to see feet. So I spared you a view of my foot!

It has been raining here in Jersey for the past 3 days, and I think it's going to rain again today. Rain makes me headachey and then I don't get much typing work done because it's hard to concentrate. I feel ok for an hour or so, then I start to feel fuzzy. I was felling better, but now dealing with this blog that is not saving correctly is starting to bug me!!



OK, I am back after a short food break to finish this blog post!

To keep or to sell? This dress was in the lot of vintage that I bought last week (30 some dresses, 30 some pieces of lingerie, pre-1930s stuff and some other odds and ends) Lightweight cotton in pink and brown with cute shoulder details and a tie on the front of the neckline. The dress really looks like it would fit me, and it's been calling me! But I'm being strong, not trying it on, not adding it to my wardrobe. But then again, I did buy a dress specifically for myself on ebay recently that is a little too snug for me. Maybe I could sell that dress and keep this one? Huh? Sounds like a fair trade!

Vintage aprons, I love them. They are so cute and I love the 1940-50s cotton prints that they are made from. How could one wear an apron as everyday wear, without looking like you are actually wearing an apron? Without people stopping to stare at you in the foodstore or wondering why you are wearing an apron into the post office?
I've seen them previously in fashion mags worn over jeans, and they just looked like an apron worn over jeans. I'm also not into a long item, like and apron or dress, being worn over jeans because I am short and that look just wouldn't work for me.
I guess the thing to do would be to get a plain solid color sleeveless dress that is the same length as the apron. Then maybe the apron would look more like it was part of the dress, or would it still stand out as an apron?
Help me style queens!


Hummingbird watch - I haven't seen any yet. They are suppose to start returning to this area in April, and I put a feeder out, waiting, watching the sky for their return!

OK, that's it for now. Enjoy the 25% off sale. I'm off to work on cleaning and prepping the new load of vintage for future updates!

Carol

Vintage clothing themed Altered Book

Hi!
If you're paying attention, you might remember that I am involved with a group that is working on a vintage clothing themed Altered Book Round Robin. The theme for the book that I worked on this month was 'The Flapper Age 1920-30s' So the theme that I chose for my two page spread in the book was 'Flappers & Cars' since I love flappers and I love cars!

First image shows a view of the two page spread. The other two photos are closers views. Click images for closer views.

For the background, I glued down a piece of old black fabric that has a sheer woven design through it. The border is some fuschia velvet ribbon and black silk ribbon is around each photo. The pink feathered piece was off of a shreaded veil hat, and I added a few flowers, beads and rhinestones here and there.

The theme for next month's book is 'Fantastical Frocks' - I have no idea what I'll be doing for that yet. What would you consider a fantastical frock?


Here are a few shots of the garage/room addition to our house. A front view, then a side view. It's a garage with a large room popped up on the top.




Then a view from the back.




Bye for now, Carol

What's on the back of your toilet?

Just about every free surface in my place is used to display some pretty little things that I've collected over the years. The back of my toilet just couldn't be ignored, I had to display some stuff there too! (click images for larger views) The close up below shows the top of the toilet covered with a pretty green and black lace head scarf. My repro mannequin head displays one of my favorite green hats and there is a pink satin glove box with gloves and hankies hanging out the side. On top of the pink box is a pretty new mermaid given to me by my Nan. There are also a few compacts.

Below is a closer view of the meriad and glove box, and a close view of one of the compacts. This one has 'I Love You' etched in different languages.

The previous owners of our house left behind this kind of country-ish towel rack/shelf hanging over the toilet. At first I didn't like it much, and I thought of taking it down. But it ended up looking pretty good once I loaded it up with my stuff. On the towel bar I hung a linen piece that has an embroidered 1920s gal on it, and a few pairs of lacey gloves. On the top shelf I have a few compacts, some pretty hankies, a perfume bottle, a cute little talc powder container and two old foundation boxes.

Here is a closer view of some of the little pretties - a hankie with crochet lady on the corner, a fancy pillbox and change holder. Talc powder with a pretty lady on it and compact with a lady on it too. The vile is an old perfume 'Evening in Paris' To the right is a close up of this great perfume bottle that is shaped like a torso with a corset on it. I have no idea how old it is or who the maker is.

Lastly are two pretty make-up boxes with cake foundation powder still in them.

The Lone Fashionista . . .

Check out this mention of my site from May's issue of UK magazine New Woman! 'The Lone Fashionista' makes me sound mysterious and glamorous, trust me, I'm not!

(scan courtesy of Alison from Vintage Wardrobe )