Pinwale -- get it?

 

Whales are everywhere here -- whale watching excursions, whale murals on buildings, actual whales out in the ocean. So, naturally, I wanted a stuffed whale. Enter this hot little number here:
 

Humpback Whale

There's still a few kinks to work out with the pattern (mostly tail-related), but I'm kind of in love with him.

And I found the Olivebunny buttons (I wasn't exactly sure where they'd ended up after the move). They're back in the shop, shiny as ever.

Buttons

Grocery pretties

Sometimes -- okay, all the time -- I love food labels a little too much.

IT'S-IT

Cafe Du Monde

Bonnet-y thrifting and haircuts

So several things have happened lately - I went out and had my very long (for me) hair abruptly chopped off into what could be accurately described as a Dickensian urchin shag, but which I had hoped would be a pixie.



I printed out and lovingly x-acto knifed Patricia Zapata's 2009 wall calendar. It is still January, but I took the picture of the March page, because it has my favorite backing paper. Since I was holding the camera, it was my call.
This was a pleasant task of exactly the kind of piddly, time-consuming paper-cutting that I love.



I finally got around to making a bonnet from my Amy Karol King Pod pattern that I've only had sitting around for months, waiting for some attention.
I made this bonnet out of a really nice gray light weight wool with an almost comically oversize chartreuse ribbon. It's great, I look like I'm going out to tend to my flock of imaginary sheep with it on, but that's kind of the idea, I think.



My thrifted sideboard is spread out and primered smack in the middle of the house so you have to navigate the workspace everytime you want, say, a glass of milk from the fridge. I maintain that this piece of furniture has a lot of "potential" and is going to be nifty as can be with a little more paint ( a lot more paint?)

albu-quirk-ee

I'm home!

Everything was beautiful, the buildings and freeways were shades of pink and brown, and all the plants looked prickly.

one lump or two?

I noticed recently that I have enough supplies to hold several concurrent tea parties and not have to do any dishes. This somehow happens, that I collect things without a clear plan until one day I open the cupboard and say to myself, "Self, how did we come to have so many turquoise ceramic gravy boats?"

I seem to have a particular fondness for cream and sugar sets - apparently if it features both a handle and a spout, I'm interested. Standing in the thrift store, I must tell myself that it is a good, sound, practical purchase (like a deviled egg plate or a potato ricer) - as though I have so many appointments for high tea that it would actually matter whether the sugar lumps were served from persimmon fiestaware or chartreuse melmac.

All this, and I still drink my tea straight up out of a large milk glass.














edited to add: after I posted this I opened a cabinet and found another, undocumented, cream & sugar set. Will it never end?

ponies

For the record, this is possibly the cutest beer ever.

etsy favorites for september

a little belated,


This fine china rendition of a disposable pie plate from lorena barrezueta.



The barnacle whale gocco print from The Argyle Whale.



This stunning set of eight nesting lotus bowls from Whitney Smith Pottery. Rest assured, if I had $325 burning a whole in my pocket, these would already be sitting on my dining room table.

potential

The stripping of the barn wardrobe continues in earnest. This is the finish that has to be removed, but the end is in sight, I think. More on this story as it develops.

whiskey tango foxtrot

An Open Letter to the Proprietor of the "Estate" Sale I Attended Earlier Today

Dear sir,

I can only assume that it was you who placed the "Estate Sale - Victorian house and contents" ad in the classified section of our local paper, allowing me to foolishly draw the conclusion that you were holding an estate sale this weekend. After arriving and politely ignoring your stacks of pornography in the corner and the pervasive mildew smell emanating from the many questionable boxes and plastic bags piled all over the house, you can imagine my surprise when you were reluctant, some would say completely unwilling, to sell many of the items included in your sale. This is a curious new tactic in sales that I was not previously familiar with. In retrospect, I think you may also be the same gentleman I encountered at a community yard sale earlier this summer who tried to convince me that a strange off-brand mixing bowl was "practically the same thing" as Texas Ware and thus warranted the hefty $20 price tag that you had affixed to it. In the future, I think it would be best if you and I are never in the same place again. So, thanks for the seedy morning and I think I'll go wash my hands.

Sincerely,

Jennie Lynn

Hi-Yo Silver

Lately, we've been on a mission to sort and neatly arrange Joshua's family photos. Right now they are spread out several inches deep on our dining room table as we diligently stack them into related piles. It's been a good project, I think, because I now know that I've married someone who as a child ran around in white underpants and a lone ranger mask.

found ladies

This picture was lodged into a book I brought home from a library sale. they look like pretty tough ladies to me. i like 'em.