My Dad's car in Rolls and Pleats Magazine

My Dad's 1932 Ford 3 window coupe was one of the cars showcased in issue #34 of Rolls and Pleats Magazine . The photo was taken last Fall when he was invited to display his car indoors at the Jalopyrama  show in Maryland. Only select, very special cars are invited to show indoors and my dad was very honored to be invited.

The vintage swimsuit related display that I did at the Strathmere Library

This morning I set up a display in the Strathmere Library Mini Museum. I worked a few pieces of vintage into the display by using 3 vintage swimsuits, a head scarf and a beach hat, along with vintage photos of girls in swimsuits on the beach in Strathmere and our treasured Strathmere felt pennant.

The house looks pretty

The house in Strathmere is looking so nice. Only the hydrangeas are blooming right now, but that's enough for me. The photos just can't capture how pretty they are.

Some recent vintage dress purchases for me!

Here are 5 dresses that I recently added to my Summer wardrobe, all bought on ebay - there are still good buys to be had on ebay.
If you follow me on Facebook, you've already seen a few of these.
*First, the plaid, awesome! Chartruese, red, grey and orange. I've already worn that dress and I loved wearing it! Lots of fun.
*Next is a very bright yellow dress with pleated bust and buttons all the way down the front. It's very fitted through the waist so I'm waiting for a skinny day to wear it, so that it doesn't feel snug. It's a really bright color for me to get used to wearing.
*Next is a gingham dress that is very similar to a dress that I listed for sale on the website. It's exactly the same actually, except this one has tiny pink flowers in the gingham.
*The blue striped one just came in the mail Wednesday and I'll probably wear it on Sunday. Very cool dress.
*The red sundress came in the mail on Monday, I washed it and hung it out to dry that night. Tuesday morning I hemmed it and wore it to my part time job at 9AM! That was another fun dress to wear and another different color for me, I don't wear much red.

These dresses make it look like it's going to be a great Summer!

Everything Austen Challenge II

It's so nice to know that I'm not the only one obsessed with all things Jane Austen. I've read the books several times, seen most of the movies (except for Emma with Paltrow, because I can't ignore that snotty smirk that she usually has on her face) and last year I even started reading the 'sequels' and other books inspired by Jane Austen.
So obsessive am I, I am going to sign up for Everything Austen II

So you are thinking 'What  is that? You Jane Austen geek'
'The details! The Everything Austen Challenge will run for six months (July 1, 2010 – January 1, 2011)! All you need to do is pick out six Austen-themed things you want to finish to complete the challenge. You have until Thursday, July 15th 2010 to officially sign up.'

So I can either read books, see movies or create an Austen inspired item to participate. Easy! Especially since it is Summer and I already have some Jane Austen set aside for reading while laying in the sun.

I'm not going to pick all 6 of my items right now, because they might change or I might find something else in the next 6 months.
1. 'Mansfield Park' - I just started re-reading this
2. 'Jane Austen's Sewing Box: Craft Projects and Stories from Jane Austen's Novels' - I just purchased this and I'm hoping to be inspired to do at least one of the craft/sewing projects in it.
3. 'Jane Austen's Letters'
4. 'Becoming Jane' - I've already started reading this one too.
5. 'Mr. Knightley's Diary' - I just picked this up at the Strathmere Library today 6/19
6.

I've got to add some movies to that list too.

What should I call my fruity drink?

I'm not a drinker. I don't go out anywhere to drink, but given the opportunity, which is very, very rare, I will have a drink. I like it. I've gotten a few bottles of wine as gifts over the years and we do have a bottle of whiskey that's been sitting around for years that I have a shot of in my tea once in a while, usually during the Winter. .You will be amazed to find out that this is the first bottle of booze that I have ever bought. I'm 43 years old.

Last year some friends went on vacation and as gifts, they brought back mini samplers of fruit flavored Bacardi Rums (I think they toured the place where it was made) So last Summer, in the cottage, I had fun making up drinks with my tiny bottles of rum. Most were misses, a few were good. The watermelon rum was very good. So much so, that this Summer I went out (I got my dad to take me to the liquor store because I've never shopped in one before and I don't like going to places that I'm unfamiliar with - right about now you are realizing what a wacko I am, right?) and I bought a whole bottle of the Watermelon Bacardi Rum.

So here is the winning drink that I made up, the one that is going to turn me into a Summertime lush.

Fill a glass with watermelon, strawberries and bananas. Give it a shot of Bacardi Watermelon Rum, and fill the rest with 7-Up. Yummy. Spiked fruit salad really. Drink it and eat it with a spoon. Very refreshing on a hot day.

This is the hummingbird feeder that is on the window, just above my computer. I love watching them drink, and fight. This clip is of 3 females fighting for their place at the feeder. Hummingbirds are vert territorial and they do not like to share. They each pick their favorite feeder and fight any others that come near it.

Hydrangeas and used books

You know that I love my hydrangeas, and they are starting to bloom this week. Here are two bunches that I cut for the cottage. So pretty. They make me happy.



Last week the Strathmere Library had their book sale. I didn't get there until the last day of the sale,  so everything was kinda picked over, but they were clearing out what was left for $2.00 a bag. I only got 5 books to buy including Eve Arden's autobiography (love her) an Ellery Queen mystery book from the 1940s, a collection of mysteries, 'A Play of Lords' is also a mystery. Plus one of the ladies knows that I love Jane Austen, so she set aside a Jane Austen related book for me 'The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen', plus I checked out 'Mr. Darcy's Daughters' which one of the other ladies pulled for me too.
I just finished Darcy's Daughters, it was a good read, predictable, 'borrowed' story lines from real Jane Austen books - except they didn't mention 'sodomites' and foot fetishes in real Austen books! It was a good  casual Summer read though.

It's Harlow's 2nd birthday! This photo was taken when she was just 2 days old!

Some decorative vintage refurbs

I bought this 1980s lamp at the Cowtown flea market, about 10 years ago. I got a pair of them actually, this is just 2 photos of one of them. Got both for $10. They were super shiny tacky 1980s brass, but I love calla lillies, so I couldn't pass them up. I went to the craft store and bought a little bottle of paint that can be used on metal. Then I painted over that tacky brass with a light sage green. It's one of those touch on and off lights and it still works even with a coat of paint on it. Pretty.

I bought this small old wicker couch along with two chairs at a local antique shop for $80.00. I gave them all a fresh coat of white paint and covered the cushion on the couch with a sheet.
I used a chaise lounge cushion and kind of wrapped and folded it around the back of the couch for padding. Then I threw a Bates blanket over both of the cushions, tucking it in here and there - topped the couch with some pretty pillows. Voila - Pretty.

 

Next, I've shown this table in the blog before, but I think it's worth showing off again. I got a set of 3 wrought iron nesting tables with glass tops for free from a friend who was cleaning out a house that she just bought. This one got some fresh paint. Then I cut a piece of cardboard the size of the top, and wrapped a vintage Vogart embroidery around the cardboard. Then I put the embroidery under the glass top - and now I have a pretty table top.

Memorial Day weekend

Such a nice weekend. Usually the weather is crappy on Memorial Day but the weather this year was very nice. I went to the Shore Friday afternoon with Boris and Harlow. They stayed with me until Sunday morning. They love their walks! Then Sunday and Monday were all to myself! 

Here are a few photos that I snapped this weekend -

The cottage at night.

The porch on the big house. I bought new cushions this year - what a pain. Kmart was out of stock, so I ordered them online, then two of the styles that I ordered online were out of stock, but they charged me anyway and I'm still waiting for a credit. Then I had to reorder the cushions in a different thickness. Anyway, they finally all arrived, all matching and they look great.

Harlow in the cottage, moondog eyes and then barely able to stay awake.





Some pretty flowers in my windowbox -




And I can't wait for my hydrangeas to bloom, the bushes are huge this year, and full of alot of blooms -