And now! q.D. paToOtieS, the designer of the pattern, has featured the Amazing Love Monkey on her blog! Hooray! Thanks q.D.!
ALM and his jaunty hot rod reside in my husband's studio. Hopefully his head won't get swelled by the attention.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
My heart is racing!
* Once upon a time, I met a man on the internet. Last February, I decided to show him how I felt by making him a very special stuffed monkey. He loved it, and the rest is history.
And now! q.D. paToOtieS, the designer of the pattern, has featured the Amazing Love Monkey on her blog! Hooray! Thanks q.D.!
ALM and his jaunty hot rod reside in my husband's studio. Hopefully his head won't get swelled by the attention.
And now! q.D. paToOtieS, the designer of the pattern, has featured the Amazing Love Monkey on her blog! Hooray! Thanks q.D.!
ALM and his jaunty hot rod reside in my husband's studio. Hopefully his head won't get swelled by the attention.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
thrift stores galore
* I've been having sooo much fun up here visiting thrift stores, flea markets, yard sales and used book stores. There's a pile o' printed goodness on my desk just waiting to be scanned!
First up, Modern Needlecraft magazine, Fall Winter 1963. A thrift store up-island had tons of this magazine, but since I can neither crochet or knit I only bought one (the purple-and-black color scheme on the cover played no part in the decision ;) I kinda like the sweater on the cover, but as a busty gal it would NOT work on me at all.
There aren't many scan-worthy ads, but the Lane Bryant one is a keeper. IF you're STOUT? How kind of them to notice! And look at the teeny waist on her, with her gloves and pumps.
How about some thrills ... fun ... earn? "If you seek increased independence, greater happiness, and a worth-while hobby, and you feel you have artistic talent, write for this FREE booklet." I have never heard of this hobby before.
The ladies seem to be all a-flutter about Cardigan Cal. And he knows it!
Mr. Dobbs, is that you?
A yarn ad on the back. The woman at the top looks suspiciously like Julie Newmar.
First up, Modern Needlecraft magazine, Fall Winter 1963. A thrift store up-island had tons of this magazine, but since I can neither crochet or knit I only bought one (the purple-and-black color scheme on the cover played no part in the decision ;) I kinda like the sweater on the cover, but as a busty gal it would NOT work on me at all.
There aren't many scan-worthy ads, but the Lane Bryant one is a keeper. IF you're STOUT? How kind of them to notice! And look at the teeny waist on her, with her gloves and pumps.
How about some thrills ... fun ... earn? "If you seek increased independence, greater happiness, and a worth-while hobby, and you feel you have artistic talent, write for this FREE booklet." I have never heard of this hobby before.
The ladies seem to be all a-flutter about Cardigan Cal. And he knows it!
Mr. Dobbs, is that you?
A yarn ad on the back. The woman at the top looks suspiciously like Julie Newmar.* Thanks to those who let me know I'm not the only one having blogger issues! As you can see I changed some things around, and although Preview still doesn't match, the Compose part is fairly close to the final result.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
blogger issues
hmmm. The Preview doesn't match what shows up on my blog. I think somehow the text box has shrunk in width. Must do research!
Saturday, July 3, 2010
FarmVille is a vampire
That "one post a week" idea? yeah. Blame FarmVille.
* In other news, Canada is cold! Well, much cooler than Florida and (according to Glen) cooler than normal for this area as well. Last weekend we used a free hotel room and spent the weekend at Parksville. Fantastic view of the beach from our balcony - too bad we needed sweaters to walk on it! We also had fun watching the bald eagles fly back and forth taking twigs to their nest. Rathtrevor Beach was amazing; the tide goes out for 1 km! I'm sure not used to walking for 20 min just to reach the water ;)
Life here has been quite active so far: trip up-island to see Coombs Market; Lauren's star turn as a wise-guy March Hair in Alice in Wonderland Jr.; watching the amazing Snowbirds and ships from around the world at the International Fleet Review; Buccaneer Days in Esquimalt; Celtic Festival and Highland Games; and Eddie Izzard LIVE!!!!! (I bought a bag that says "Cake or Death" :) I'm enjoying every minute.
* But I did take the time to upload some more goodies to Flickr! The story: way back in March, us newlyweds and 
my parents took a drive up to Tennessee to visit relatives. While there, we visited a Saturday flea market. Not a whole lot to look at, but a shoebox of sewing patterns caught my eye. How much? $2 for the box. Sold! And voila, 30 patterns, 25 from the 1950s. swoon! I only wish I were a 50s size 12 and my life would be a technicolor dream. I can just see myself flitting around the garden party in that floral number on the left. (I wouldn't trust Red over on the right to get anywhere near my beau, though.)
my parents took a drive up to Tennessee to visit relatives. While there, we visited a Saturday flea market. Not a whole lot to look at, but a shoebox of sewing patterns caught my eye. How much? $2 for the box. Sold! And voila, 30 patterns, 25 from the 1950s. swoon! I only wish I were a 50s size 12 and my life would be a technicolor dream. I can just see myself flitting around the garden party in that floral number on the left. (I wouldn't trust Red over on the right to get anywhere near my beau, though.)* In other news, Canada is cold! Well, much cooler than Florida and (according to Glen) cooler than normal for this area as well. Last weekend we used a free hotel room and spent the weekend at Parksville. Fantastic view of the beach from our balcony - too bad we needed sweaters to walk on it! We also had fun watching the bald eagles fly back and forth taking twigs to their nest. Rathtrevor Beach was amazing; the tide goes out for 1 km! I'm sure not used to walking for 20 min just to reach the water ;)
Life here has been quite active so far: trip up-island to see Coombs Market; Lauren's star turn as a wise-guy March Hair in Alice in Wonderland Jr.; watching the amazing Snowbirds and ships from around the world at the International Fleet Review; Buccaneer Days in Esquimalt; Celtic Festival and Highland Games; and Eddie Izzard LIVE!!!!! (I bought a bag that says "Cake or Death" :) I'm enjoying every minute.
Friday, May 28, 2010
spooky time in San Jose!
Considering I’m not working right now, you’d think I’d update this thing more often! I should set some kind of goal, like 1 update a week.
Enough of that – on to the amazing, wonderful, bizarre Winchester Mystery House! I’ve wanted to see this house since it was featured on That’s Incredible in 1980. It’s an oddly designed house that might have ghosts, woo hoo!Last year my friend Michelle took a trip to California and returned with a postcard and stories of how cool the house was. When Glen and I began our cross-country trip, and decided on what stops to make, this was at the top of my list. You wouldn’t know it was there based on the view from the street, but there were signs guiding visitors on the highway.
It was $28 for the mansion tour but only $5 more for that and the behind-the-scenes tour so we went for it. I took tons of photos, but none inside ‘cause they aren’t allowed. Since the house gets their only money from tickets and gift shop (no govt money), it wouldn’t feel right.The background of the house: designed by Sarah Winchester, widow of the Winchester who made the rifles. Both her baby daughter and her husband died, so Sarah went to a psychic to find out why her family was cursed. The psychic told her that the spirits of the people killed by Winchester rifles were angry. So Sarah decided to outsmart them by building a confusing house so they wouldn’t be able to find her – she lived to be 88 so I guess it worked. That’s Incredible had really played up this story, but our tour guide made it sound more like Sarah was just headstrong and couldn’t decide how to finish the house. Sarah was into spiritualism and was fascinated by the number 13 (13 hooks in a closet, 13 steps on a staircase).
The house itself is GREAT, kinda Victorian and gingerbready. They have a room filled with all the supplies she had purchased but were never used, like beautiful stained glass windows and deeply textured wallpaper. There are rooms that were never finished, so there’s only studs. Some rooms were damaged in an earthquake in 1906; she just left them and moved into another room. Other rooms are beautifully made up and fancy. There are 160 rooms total. None of the furniture in the house is hers, she had it all sold at auction after she died per her will.There’s a staircase where each step is only 2 inches higher than the previous one, so it goes back and forth on itself and only goes up a couple of feet. Another staircase goes up to the ceiling and ends. She had windows everywhere – the house has more windows than the Empire State Building!
There are windows in floors, windows that look into other rooms, stained glass windows she designed herself, spiderweb windows …she even had a window that overlooked the kitchen so she could make sure the servants were working. There’s a door on the second floor that goes to nothing. She built a gorgeous ballroom with an antique organ, but she never had any dances or parties. On one part of the outside of the house, you can see where she decided to add on and simply covered up what was already there, shingles and all. That’s how they were able to recreate the color of the house.The garden is really cool as well, even though most of the plants aren’t original. She imported plants from all over the world, they know because of some paper records, but since the house was neglected for a long time most of the original plants died. Now they just use educated guesses, based on what plants they know were available in her time. The front courtyard has several statues and fountains, and the original entrance to the estate.
During the Behind-the-Scenes tour we got to see the coal-fired furnace, the water pump that worked the elevator, the batteries for the communication system she used to call servants and some more of the unfinished parts of the building.All in all very cool and worth the 30-year wait ;) I do wish the gift shop had been better; only a few items were about the house itself (books, videos, pencils, postcards and a couple of tee shirts), but it had lots of generic knick-knacks of sun catchers, plant stands, stuffed animals for kids, bottle openers with flowers, etc. I was tempted by wine bottled especially for Winchester House, but couldn’t justify the price. Now if the grapes had been grown on the property, that would have been another matter entirely.
It was $28 for the mansion tour but only $5 more for that and the behind-the-scenes tour so we went for it. I took tons of photos, but none inside ‘cause they aren’t allowed. Since the house gets their only money from tickets and gift shop (no govt money), it wouldn’t feel right.The background of the house: designed by Sarah Winchester, widow of the Winchester who made the rifles. Both her baby daughter and her husband died, so Sarah went to a psychic to find out why her family was cursed. The psychic told her that the spirits of the people killed by Winchester rifles were angry. So Sarah decided to outsmart them by building a confusing house so they wouldn’t be able to find her – she lived to be 88 so I guess it worked. That’s Incredible had really played up this story, but our tour guide made it sound more like Sarah was just headstrong and couldn’t decide how to finish the house. Sarah was into spiritualism and was fascinated by the number 13 (13 hooks in a closet, 13 steps on a staircase).
The house itself is GREAT, kinda Victorian and gingerbready. They have a room filled with all the supplies she had purchased but were never used, like beautiful stained glass windows and deeply textured wallpaper. There are rooms that were never finished, so there’s only studs. Some rooms were damaged in an earthquake in 1906; she just left them and moved into another room. Other rooms are beautifully made up and fancy. There are 160 rooms total. None of the furniture in the house is hers, she had it all sold at auction after she died per her will.There’s a staircase where each step is only 2 inches higher than the previous one, so it goes back and forth on itself and only goes up a couple of feet. Another staircase goes up to the ceiling and ends. She had windows everywhere – the house has more windows than the Empire State Building!
There are windows in floors, windows that look into other rooms, stained glass windows she designed herself, spiderweb windows …she even had a window that overlooked the kitchen so she could make sure the servants were working. There’s a door on the second floor that goes to nothing. She built a gorgeous ballroom with an antique organ, but she never had any dances or parties. On one part of the outside of the house, you can see where she decided to add on and simply covered up what was already there, shingles and all. That’s how they were able to recreate the color of the house.The garden is really cool as well, even though most of the plants aren’t original. She imported plants from all over the world, they know because of some paper records, but since the house was neglected for a long time most of the original plants died. Now they just use educated guesses, based on what plants they know were available in her time. The front courtyard has several statues and fountains, and the original entrance to the estate.
During the Behind-the-Scenes tour we got to see the coal-fired furnace, the water pump that worked the elevator, the batteries for the communication system she used to call servants and some more of the unfinished parts of the building.All in all very cool and worth the 30-year wait ;) I do wish the gift shop had been better; only a few items were about the house itself (books, videos, pencils, postcards and a couple of tee shirts), but it had lots of generic knick-knacks of sun catchers, plant stands, stuffed animals for kids, bottle openers with flowers, etc. I was tempted by wine bottled especially for Winchester House, but couldn’t justify the price. Now if the grapes had been grown on the property, that would have been another matter entirely.Sunday, May 9, 2010
don't shoot, you dummy!
* I have been busy scanning in pulp novel covers to post on Flickr (g'wan, have a peek). I've only read the Perry Mason ones so far, but look forward to reading the rest, even if the stories don't live up to the covers. For example, the one above. Did he steal that sexy mannequin and the rightful owner is gonna get it back with a gun?After our honeymoon in Feb, the hubs and I, along with my parents, drove up to Tennessee to show him off to my American relatives. On the way back, we stopped at a flea market somewhere to look around (my poor dad was outvoted). One little old lady had 2 booths full of paperbacks, mostly Harlequin, Tom Clancy, John Grisham and the like. But there, in the corner, in 5 boxes, were mystery and detective books from the '50s. I scooped up the ones in good condition, for 25¢ apiece. Holy smokes! I can find more up here - Vancouver Island is used book heaven - but doubt I'll ever see that price again.
* We organized our storage room today. Whee fun! We had been just piling up boxes in the room, but it's difficult to get to what you want that way. Costco had some great and cheap storage shelves last week so we splurged, and now we have a room we can use! Amazing how much stuff the 2 of us have. I have 3 boxes of Halloween decorations and 1 box of Christmas decor :snicker:
Of course the year-round spooky stuff is in my craft room. 
Last week I picked up some cheap apothecary jars, just right to fill with tiny skulls or plastic spiders ;) Great Cthulhu surveys all from the top of the shelving unit, the 3-headed Boney candleholder grins next to a black tealight lantern from Target, and the hubs gave me a classic Haunted Mansion game for a backdrop. How had I not seen this before?!? It's missing some pieces sadly, and the box is a tad water-damaged, but squee! We visited the Disney World mansion twice during our honeymoon. I can't wait to see the Disney Land one :D
Last week I picked up some cheap apothecary jars, just right to fill with tiny skulls or plastic spiders ;) Great Cthulhu surveys all from the top of the shelving unit, the 3-headed Boney candleholder grins next to a black tealight lantern from Target, and the hubs gave me a classic Haunted Mansion game for a backdrop. How had I not seen this before?!? It's missing some pieces sadly, and the box is a tad water-damaged, but squee! We visited the Disney World mansion twice during our honeymoon. I can't wait to see the Disney Land one :D* I'm outta steam. Tune in next time for ... the Winchester Mystery House! ooooEEEEoooo.
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