Friday, May 31, 2013

The Daisy Pin

My new background by shabby blogs.com is cute and hip. I love the daisy on it. It is sooo familiar as daisies go, and I just remembered why. In the late 1960's I had a daisy pin which was exactly this daisy. I remember exactly the way it looked and this is it. So I looked up daisy pin on Google Images and found it. It is the same!


Eventually I had a daisy ring that was the exact same design only smaller, though I doubt that I wore it much. They matched my yellow raincoat and my daisy covered pillbox hat. Of course I wore white gloves with the hat...




My first home-made dress was a sky-blue shift with daisies all over it. I was 11 and Mom was teaching me to sew. She said that she'd show me how to put the zipper in after she got groceries, but when she got back I had done it and done it right. I made all my clothes for about 20 years.


When did it get to be so cheap to buy clothes and so expensive to sew? When all the sewing went overseas! Don't get me started on that--It's just criminal how those garment workers are treated!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/36515399/vintage-singer-sewing-machine?utm_source=google&utm_medium=product_listing_promoted&utm_campaign=
I always kept a sewing machine and in later years I mostly used it to recover pillows or zip up some easy curtains or lavender sachets. I haven't used a pattern in years, and frankly, making my own clothes seems silly now. All my clothes are sporty these days. Pants and shirts, always knit and no ironing. Expandable and shrinkable at will. Dressing up is easy--Dressier knit pants and nice tops. Change out the denim bag for the pewter leather...

google images
I've always been a shape-shifter. I've gained and lost tons of weight over the last decades. Knits won't shrink much if you line dry them, but if you get smaller, just throw them in the dryer. I'm no style horse like I used to be, but I do pretty well with my knits! Every year I update my basic pants and buy a few newer shirts, as knits do show wear. Sometimes I even splurge and get a nice one at Macy's or Lands End!

Me at 18
All this thinking of sewing reminds me of my teen years. How I poured over Seventeen magazine! I was pretty sure I looked like the model Jean Shrimpton. I would experiment with hair and makeup in my 3-way mirror. I was pretty, but not quite Jean. I had hair and lips like hers, but she was chiseled where I was round and smooth. She had lots of contour makeup and heavy false eyelashes. She had "the glamour", as my sister-in-law says. I went for the more natural look.


A bit tinier than me?!
Back then I used to LUV my Polaroid Swinger camera. I still have piles of those small black and white pictures in my files. I found it in G. Images and it took me back in time! I could buy one for old time's sake, but you can't get film now. I even found the link for the commercial featuring Ali McGraw- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9lvcFlUBxM -the jingle was so much in my head looking at those pictures. I think I was developing my "good eye" for photography back then.


Gotta run. A busy weekend is coming up and I'm spending tooo much time on my computer!

Have a great weekend, Y'all!

Hugs,
Sherry

Friday, May 24, 2013

I'm Still Here...or A Rainy Day In May

Yes, I'm still in Heaven taking care of the dogs.

Lovely old stone walls snake through the woods
It's been rainy and thunder-stormy, and they get weird in the stormy weather. I was able to calm Brio by crating him, then Zoe, the sweet female jumped into bed with me at 2AM on Tuesday night. It took 2 hours of trying to calm her before I finally threw her out and shut the door. After a few minutes she stopped panting and whimpering and went to sleep. Lucky Zoe, I was up for another hour trying to relax my chattering mind.

After the first day of showers
Tomorrow I move back home. It's been almost 3 weeks away, and my house is seeming more and more like a comfort. I will need to clean cat fur off of every soft surface, but Snuggles will be like velcro for a while, till she gets used to having me home.

After the second day of storms
Meanwhile, in my daily commutes, I can't resist taking pictures of this little waterfall and other special fairy-woods vignettes. Hope you enjoy them.




I'm pretty sure fairies live here!

Have a great holiday weekend!

Hugs,
Sherry

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Having a CUTE Day in Heaven!


I'm in Heaven!   
   

That is, I'm house and dog sitting at the most fabulous place. It's about 25 minutes from my house and the last 3-4 miles are a lonesome dirt road and a long driveway. The dogs are two Australian Shepherds-we love each other!

Zoe
Brio
The grounds overlook layers of Southern Berkshire mountains. Flowers have popped open this past week, and the yard abounds with hyacinth, daffodils, tulips, and beautiful flowering trees of many colors. The garden is already feeding me with fresh asparagus and lettuce. I love staying here!

Supper with feta cheese
Sitting here at the dining room table, the only place my computer wants to work, I look out on a small flowering tree beside several bird feeders. Yesterday I spotted bluejays, mourning doves, goldfinches, a nuthatch, rose breasted grosbeaks, and a Baltimore oriole-all coming and going at the same time. I watched them through dinner and into the evening. What a wonder to see them all together~I don't see that at my house! I even spotted a bluebird the day before.

Cute fern fiddleheads
It rained last night, and the forest is especially lush and green. Cute little plants are uncurling and blooming everywhere: violets, trillium, cowslip, vinca, fiddlehead ferns. Fresh little leaves unfurling, uncurling, poking through the carpet of last year's droppings.

Acres of vinca
So cute!
We used to call them cowslips
Trilium
Violets in clover
Cute little waterfalls in the ditches and chattering squirrels in the trees. Peepers jingling a chorus in the swamps and ponds. A hawk makes a game of flying with me as I drive down the last stretch of road.  Like I said, Heaven!



Worlds tiniest waterfall

Coming home this evening, the sky was wonderful! Big bunchy gray clouds making fluff over all. Sun peeking through the holes and lining the edges. I love this time of day, when photos can't do the lighting justice, but I just have to take pictures anyway.
 



I'm here for 2 more weeks. I wonder what will unfold by then? Birds nesting and leaves maturing, fawns born. Maybe the 17-year cicadas will be out by then~we're expecting gazillions of them in the Eastern states.


My camera is taking a beating. I dropped it today onto the stone-floor of the mud-room and now the battery pack won't close completely. It still seems to work okay, these digitals are amazing. I am hoping to have a new crop of greeting cards  and photo prints ready for my summer art show in July.



I hope you find your own spot of Heaven on Earth this spring!

Hugs,
Sherry