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pretty

I love thrift shopping. Its like treasure hunting. You never know what you are going to find, and there is always a surprise. I feel like I've done a lot of thrifting lately; I did a ton the week my mother-in-law was visiting because she likes it too. Anyhow, I've got a lot of cool stuff that I've been meaning to post about, but other things keep getting in the way, and I keep forgetting. But I've gone back over my pictures, (because I document a lot of my thrifting. Because I'm an art school nerd. whatever) and instead of trying to do one huge post, I thought I'd break it down into categories. So today I bring you dishes. Dishware. Plates. I'm not sure exactly what to call it. I'll just call it pretty. You know that fabric is my greatest thrift shop love, but in another life I'd have a really, really kick-ass collection of dishes. 

And so I bring you, some things that are pretty.      I KNOW! Isn't that the most gorgeous little cup and saucer you've ever seen! 

Yep, still pretty from this angle. I never used to be that into things that were shiny, or had metalic accents, but lately I'm all over this sort of gold embellished thing. Especially when it has this sort of 30's Eastern European vibe. Did you see that little square handle? So bauhaus. (Actually I just looked it up online, and from the makers mark on the bottom this would have been made between 1936 and 1948 in England. So I'm not that far off)

I'm really into platters lately. And its hard to find nice big serving platters that don't cost you and arm and a leg. This one is from the V.V. of course, so it wasn't too expensive. (Though their prices are going up. And they no longer include dishware in their 50% off days. Bastards) There was a slightly smaller one as well, but I'd already spent my budget so I only got the big One I hope I don't regret it. 

Its really lovely, and in great condition. Its from the 1060's (thank you internet). I like to use my platters for serving a nice chunky salad on, but this one is also the perfect size for a chicken. 

I went to the Goodwill the other day, which is not on my usual rounds of the thrifts. But I happened to be in the neighborhood. I must say, their prices are much better than the V.V. but the selection and layout sucks. But as luck would have it, it was Friday and apparently every Friday is 50% off day. Awesome. The place was mobbed and they had one cashier and I had a toddler it tow, but it was worth it. They had the most amazing shoes, little suede ones all made in France, and probably all from the same closet, about 8 pairs in the most awesome colours and with stripes and such and they were all a half size too small for me. It was so tragic. I almost bought them all to resell, but really, when am I going to find the time for that. Anyways, I bought this set of four plates, (that's one of them in the photo above) and I could tell just from the feel of them in my hands that they were bone chine and not just stoneware. And sure enough, I turned them over and they are Wedgewood. They are in pretty rough shape, lots of wear and quite old, but I think we'll just use them for every day. They probably have no resale value since they are not in great condition, but they are the perfect size, not too big, not too small, but big enough to fit a sandwich and some salad. So we'll just use them for our dinners till they get broken one day. 

This is just a little side plate, but isn't it just gorgeous? I'm going to hang it on the wall where I can see it every day. So pretty. 

I'll hang this one with it. I'm sensing a theme. 

Ah, Pyex. You never disappoint me. This is a mid-sized mixing bowl. But I love it because its the same pattern my mom had (and still has) when I was growing up. Love that little farming couple. 

And this will be our new fruit bowl. That way we'll be able to see when the apples at the bottom have gone all mouldy. I appologize for the dirt and hairs in the photos (did you see the hair? go back and see if you can find it. Its driving me nuts, but I haven't got the time to take a new photo. And apparently, I'm tired enough to let it go), but that's one of the perks of my fancy new camera. It literally makes visible dirt that I did not notice in real life. 

mimic

I wish I had pictures for this post, but I don't. I try to plan a post as the day goes by, and then find a moment to take pictures that will show you what I'm talking about, but it just didn't work out today. It was a busy one, and most of what I want to tell you about is aural not visual. Also, this is one of those "it's late at night and I just want to remember what the baby did today" posts. I'll have pictures tomorrow, I promise. 

But I just want to tell you how cute the baby is lately. How he is really trying to communicate these days, and has become such a little mimic. We'd noticed awhile ago that often as you make a particular high-pitched noise he will try to do the same. You've probably noticed in your own interactions with babies that adults instinctually pitch their voices up as they talk to little ones. Apparently this is important (and not just an annoying affectation) as babies respond really well to high sing-songy sounds. I should at this point cite a study that I read to this affect, and I did, in the book Nurtureshock, but it was a library book and I can't remember exactly why it works, nor do I have a copy just now in order to reference it. Just believe me that it does. Anyhow, a couple of times as we were saying "yeah" to him, but in a really high to low sliding singing way, he will do it back to us, almost at the exact same pitch. He loves to babble, and as soon as I've finished feeding him in the morning he looks up at me and 'talks' to me, and sometimes quiet loudly. So I often say to him 'sshhhh' and try to quiet him so as to not wake up the Little Dude in the room next door. And the other day as I was shushing he very deliberately responded with his own little hissing, whispery shush noise. SO CUTE! Hubs turned to me and said "oh look, he speaks parseltongue."

Also, he'll put his hands on his head if you put your hands on your head. And the other day he waved bye-bye for the first time. That sweet little hand opening and closing way that little babies do. So lovely. 

Oh, and he says 'mum'. I don't know if he means me, or if he's just making a noise, but its still very sweet. And he's so funny, all of his onomatopoeic sounds, sound just like the onomatopoeic words for them. By which I mean when he cries, he actually sounds a lot like he's saying 'boo hoo hoo', and when he laughs really hard, you hear a definite 'hyuk, hyuk, hyuk'. Its like there are Archie comic speech bubbles over his head anytime he laughs or cries.  

why the 70's were awesome

Because they made stuff like this: Wow. Just amazing. I totally want this dress. Look at the pleats! The sleeves! The cuffs! But mostly, look at that fabric. Theoretically I could almost have this dress because its in this magazine.
It comes with a big ole' pattern sheet, and while I've not examined it too closely, chances are that dress is in there. Also, lucky for me, it comes with the English supplement. Phew. Cause my German is nicht zo gut. See what I mean. But the problem is where, or where would I ever find that fabric. Because you know that fabric is the clincher for me.

Also, I'd like to make this. Again with the sleeves! Ack, the awesomeness is killing me!

I'll go with the one on the right. But I like the necklace on die Frau on the left. 

And if I had a little girl you can bet I'd be sewing her something like this. Such stripe-y fun with the mitered corner collar. Brilliant. 

I will NOT however, be sewing any of this for my boys. Because I love them too much to subject them to pants like this. I like stripes and pockets as much as the next lady, but you've got to know when to step away. from. the. sewing machine. 

And then of course, my favourite thing about old magazines is always the adds. Look at this lovely lingerie. 
No really, I'm not being sarcastic. I think when you look back over the recent decades the 70's were probably the best decade for boobs. The 50's is of course known for trussing up the poor girls into turbo shaped cones, and the ever since the implant culture hit in the 90's we now safeguard our breasts behind a layer of foam padding so that no one should every again know about the existence of nipples, and the whole world can pretend that boobs are round. (for real, so not round)

But look at that; breasts that, more or less look like breasts, and not like stripper breasts. Seriously, try and find a bra that does not have the slightly padded cup these days. You certainly won't find one at La Senza or Victoria's Secret. If I can find myself a time machine I'm going to go back and buy some of that nice fabric and pick myself up a half dozen bras. Yep, the 70's was a good time to be a woman.

Oh wait. Never mind. 

set-up help

I was out running errands yesterday while hubs was home with the boys doing the post lunchtime clean-up. He was around the corner in the kitchen washing dishes when he heard a bit of a commotion from around the corner where the boys were playing. The Baby was fussing and also, he heard sort of a furniture being dragged around noise. So he poked his head around the corner and saw this.

The Little Dude was setting up and 'entertainment centre' for the Baby. Apparently, the little vintage Fisher Price music box/tv was playing on the ground, and the Baby had been craneing his little neck trying to see it from his exersaucer.    So the Little Dude dragged over his step stool, stacked a storage cube on top of that and perched the music box atop the whole pile.

Then he gave it a quick wind up...

...and left the happy and no longer fussing baby to his listening and viewing pleasure. I cannot tell you how it thrills me that they are starting to amuse and care for each other, no matter how simple the effort. 

another finished star wars quilt

Alright, thats two down, and lots more sewing to go. I was commisioned to do two Star Wars quilts by Christmas, and I posted about the last one awhile ago. Well, here's the second one. Done and done.  The last one was very structured/geometric, whereas I let this one be a little looser and more rhythmic. 

This was really a lot of fun to do. I used a no measure, no ruler approach to cutting it, and just went though my Star Wars stash, looking for the interesting bits, and the cutting them out freehand in slices. 

I still wanted nice vignettes, but without the overly 'framed' feeling that often occurs when you fussy cut a quilt.

And even though I was not too precious with the cutting, I think there are still a lot of nice pictorial moments. As you can see, I backed it with another vintage bedsheet. I think its a really nice counterpoint to the images on the front. Also, I like for the back to be exciting too. 

And as far as the quilting goes, I pretty much just stitched it in the ditch from top to bottom along the edge of the patterned pieces. When I do a quilt where the fabric is the main event, I don't like to over quilt it. 

Construction-wise, its made up of four strips that are themselves made of multiple little strips. And I really like that shot of red in there. Also, it refers to light sabres (though I probably don't even need to spell that out for you. It's pretty obvious). And as you can see, I had some 'help' with documenting this. I was doing it during the most inconvenient interval of the parenting day, that is, about and hour and a half before dinner. Just when everyone starts to get crazy. So The Baby was imprisoned in his 'circle of neglect' aka the exersaucer, and was NOT happy about it, but he was only at a low lever natter, not crying, so I figured I had about 10 minutes to get these shots. The Little Dude was loose, and in fine form, vacillating between helpful miniature studio assistant.....

...oblivious cat-child...

...and full-blown "I'm going to ignore you while you tell me not to do this, and then I'm going to do it some more while laughing maniacally" three year old. Yep. That was the end of the photo shoot. There were babies to be soothed, snacks to administer, stories to be read and dinner to be made. But I got the photos done. And then made soup. All in a days work around here. 

firsts and other craziness

Each of the boys had their own 'first' today. For the Little Dude it was a first real haircut at a real salon (instead of the trauma and marital discord inducing daddy done cut that you may recall).

It was starting to look very, very shaggy indeed, verging on Mountain Man, and so long in the back that it was losing its curl, and causing a disconcertingly mullet-like bi-level effect. So off we went to see nice Cindy at the local hairdressers. 

I prepared him this morning by telling him we were going to get a haircut. Right off the bat he said "I don't want to go!" with a hint of panic in his voice. When I asked why not he said, "Not right now! I'm not done playin'!" Well, of course not now, much later on, after nap time. Then he calmed down. He hates being interrupted if he's got some good playin' going on. Sounds like someone else I know (both Hubs and I are like that).

After a few more minutes of resumed play he turned to me and said "Who's goin' to cut my hair? What her name?" And I told him it'd be Cindy. He thought for a few more minutes and said "Will she use a saw?" I assured him no saws would be used, just some nice scissors. That seemed to resolve the issue.  So, after nap we packed up some books and headed off to our appointment. This looks exactly like me at the hairdresser, except its usually a People magazine that I'm reading, not a Robert Munsch book. I'm really glad we had the books along though. After a moment of apprehension to start with (not sure about getting in the chair) all was well, and he sat nicely still, so long as I kept the stories coming. 

Et voila, all done! Not a drastic cut, just cleaned up around the neck and ears, and he's still his lovely curly self, just not so mop toppy. 

And we'd only gotten partialy through our last book when the haircut finished and he really wanted to hear the end of it (it was one of my 'new to us' second-hand book stash, kept in the cupboard for times such as these, so he'd never heard it before) and so we sat in the waiting area and finished reading it together. Over all it was a good experience. 

And now on to the The Baby's first. He is a very, very energetic active little baby these days. Really, he's pretty non-stop and must explore everything he can lay his hands (or mouth) on. And strong! That kid is strong like bull. Hubs was upstairs hanging out with the two boys as I was getting dinner on, and suddenly called for me to come and see what he was doing.  Trying with all his (considerable) baby might to pull himself up to the hearth.

And quite successfully getting up onto his knees all by himself! (Hubs is just spotting him under the belly in case he decided to go face first onto the hearth stones) He was really, really trying to climb up onto the hearth itself. He was making a concerted effort to get his feet under him too. So far he's only been doing a tummy based slither/army crawl, and not a proper up-on-his-knees-crawl so this is definitely progress. Its only a matter of time before he's pulling himself to standing. Yikes!

And speaking of kids and the potential for injury, here is one sport I will NEVER be enrolling my kids in: mutton busting. You must watch the video. It has to be seen to be believed. Or disbelieved if you know what I mean. Heck, I'm all for letting your child experience their own limits and not being over-protective, but I'm pretty sure that plonking you hockey-helmeted 5 year old on a freaking-out sheep and then letting them ride it like a bucking bronco until they fall off, is bit much. It takes all kinds, as my mama would say. Yep, that's where I should leave it.  

 

 

I think I have a problem

Its hard to know when your interests cross the line into being obsessions and when those obsessions take the leap to becoming addictions. Don't you find? Who knows, maybe you're the kind of even keeled individual who knows how to draw boundaries and set limits and is gifted with well developed will power and therefore you're not quite sure what I'm talking about. Or maybe you are up at 2:00 am reading blogs (gotcha). In which case you know what I mean. 

Anyways, if you've been reading here for awhile, you know I have a soft spot for vintage bed linens. I tend to collect/buy/use bright, high contrast florals from the 60's and 70's as well as the subtler but no less enjoyable patterns from the 50's. Also, I love striped anything from any time. But my greatest weakness comes in the form of vintage star wars bedsheets. 

(just in case you are not sure what I'm talking about, this picture is of a baby blanket that I made with the vintage Star Wars sheets.)

I'm not entirely sure even where this particular interest comes from. I didn't see the Star Wars movies as a kid. In fact, I was practically and adult and confined to bed with a rotten case of mono when I finally got around to watching them. (the original trilogy, I mean) They were good. I enjoyed them, but I was by no means obsessed.  (another quilt made of and backed with more vintage Star Wars sheets)

Then in late high school, I had a boyfriend who had a set of vintage Star Wars sheets on the pull out couch in his basement. That made an impression, but I didn't start looking for vintage sheets right then and there. 

I dunno, at some point I bought a set from a Value Village no doubt, and I just really loved the way the looked. The style of the illustration was just so painterly, and though the faces were kind of crude, the stary galaxy background was just so perfect. And then I started buying them whenever I saw them. And then I started making things out of them. And now I'm at the point where I have a very, very hard time throwing even the smallest scrap of them away. 

Case in point, look how I spent a little time the other night. I was watching a movie with Hubs and I hate to just sit and watch TV without doing a little something with my hands (actually, I think that last statement is the opening line of the Type A national anthem) and quite appropriately the movie we were watching was a documentary called The People vs George Lucas. It was very funny, and quite good. If you are at all interested in Star Wars, the phenomenon of Star Wars fan culture, or popular culture of the 70's and 80's in general its totally worth a watch. The footage they include of fan remakes of the original trilogy alone is worth it. Dogs dressed at Jabba the Hut? Badly drawn amateur animation? Lego minifig stop motion? Yep, I'm in. 

Anyhow, I spent that watching it cutting my 'too small to be made into anything else' Star Wars scrap into 1.5 inch squares so I can make a postage stamp quilt out of them.

See, how cute is that gonna be? Very. I just love the splotchy stars and planets. And when they are cut down to this miniscule level you loose the narrative illustration quality and are just left with the formal aspects of the colour, line and shape. 

Plus also, they're purdy. But I may have a problem.

(ps: if you are a friend of mine who reads this blog and you happen to be doing a little thrifting and you come across some Star Wars bed sheets or pillowcases, please do pick them up for me, and I would be glad to pay you back for them. They are getting harder and harder to come by these days and my supply is getting dangerously low.)

daylight savings time sucks

I want to find the person who invented daylight savings time and punch him in the throat. Whoever he was, I'm sure he didn't have kids. I remember daylight savings time before we had kids.  I mostly did not think about it much beyond the fact that it was kind of nice when you'd gain an extra hour. But now, now that I have kids I dread it. Because you can't explain to your three year old that they have to sty in bed a little longer. Let alone you 8 month old. There they are, up an hour earlier than they are supposed to be. And they are hungry (and therefore cranky) an hour before its lunch time. And all the nap times are messed up. And the whole day is full of sad tired hungry little people, and I have a headache from being up early. And my three year old reacts to being tired by having a) a short fuse and b) being giddy and loud. Key word loud. Seriously, he was just making this repeated loud noise that sounded like a dememted car alarm. It was so very, very unpleasant. 

Luckily they did both go for naps, and reasonably longish ones too, as they were both pooped by the time we got to what was supposed to be nap time. Still, to sum up, daylight saving's time SUCKS and I am more tired than usual.

And now that I'm done venting, we move on the more important things.

Clothes.

I don't post about fashion here that often. I'm not sure why. I really like clothes, especially vintage ones and I have lots of opinions on designers etc. But the kids are always saying and doing such awesome things that it kind of takes up all my blog space, if you know what I mean. Maybe someday when they outgrow that 'saying cute stuff' phase, I'll do more blogging about fashion.

Anyways, I bought a new shirt the other day and it makes me really happy.

You probably know by now that I love pattern. Especially high contrast pattern, so this shirt was right up my alley. Its not high fashion or anything, just a little cheapie from Old Navy. But so very comfortable, light enough to layer, and very forgiving. Also, it reminded me of my favourite shirt ever, a little vintage number that I've had for years.

See what I mean? High contrast pattern, butterflies, smock-y-ness. Not quite twins separated at birth but definitely long lost cousins. I can't even remember where I got this shirt (which is surprising for me, as I can often remember where I bought most of my vintage stuff and in oddly vivid detail), but it is a long time favourite, even though hubs is not crazy about it. But I adore the pattern, the silly little pockets with the ruffles and the piping, the fact that the strings that tie at the neck are different lengths (it was home made for sure). And its very comfortable too. 

So now I hang these two little cuties next to each other in my closet and it looks like they have both found a friend. 

Speaking of cuties, look who came to interrupt my photo shoot. Just a quick hug/wrestle and he was in and out like lightening. 

This little one hung out for a bit longer. Oh how I love those two boys, even when they (and I) are tired and cranky. 

snaggletooth

When I was a new parent, I asked for advice on Facebook, from all my friends who already had kids. I know, how very 2010 of me. But you know, you find community and support where you can, and I did get some good advice. (facebook; its not just for stalking your exes anymore) One that I'll always remember was from Winston, a friend from my undergraduate days. He said, and I paraphrase, that parents should try not to just document the first times that kids do things (first steps, first words, etc) but instead to try and capture some of the 'lasts' as well. For example, that cute baby talk that they won't always be doing. Or that funny in between scootching that they do right before they crawl. Things like that. It really made me think, because its those weird little incremental shifts that often occur right before the big 'first' moments that are hard to remember and yet so worth documenting. And it is in that spirit that I bring you today, the last pictures of The Baby with three teeth.

He is SO CLOSE to cutting that fourth tooth. That's why he didn't nap yesterday. And he's been drooling up a storm and his rashy cheeks have gotten worse. Also, he has a cold so the drooling and the mucus mean he practically leaves a shiny little trail like a congested baby snail. 

Also, please note that I am fully aware that the shirt he is wearing the the above photo is really, really ugly. That's because its one of his eating shirts, that we use in place of a bib (because there is no bib with large enough clothing coverage for this kid. I know, I've tried). Anyhow, he's not at his most stylish, but he was in one of the rare smiley moods of the day, due to his teething pain and congestion. So I just grabbed the nearest camera and snapped away, hoping to get a good shot of the elusive snaggletooth. 

I had much better opportunities later in the day when Hubs came home, because he could do his patented tummy chomping move that is pretty much guaranteed to elicit the head thrown back, mouth wide open belly laugh that showcases The Baby's three little chompers so beautifully. 

You can see that the other top tooth is almost visible too. It hasn't quite pushed through, but you can see that its right on the cusp. Literally. Oh little three-tooth smile, we'll miss you. 

The Little Dude had to have his turn at a belly laugh too. See that? That's multitasking at its best. 

jerusalem artichokes

My parents have a friend who is a bit of a forager. Good at finding mushrooms and things, and the other day he came over to their house with a whole bag of oddly shaped roots. They looked like a cross between a potato and a ginger root. Jerusalem Artichokes are what they were. Apparently they grow wild in our area. Who knew. He said he roasts them alongside a chicken, as you would a potato. My mom asked if I'd like some too (they had a rather large bag full) and I said sure. Hubs is always a fan of obscure vegetable. Maybe he'd have an idea of what to do with them. 

Boy, was that an understatement. He was wild with excitement. (which for my rather quiet husband means that he said "cool" and then went and looked up recipes on the internet. That's his version of jumping up and down and shouting hallelujah) In any case, over the last couple of days (as he's compiled his research) he's been peppering me with Jerusalem Artichoke facts. They are not really artichokes, but actually a tuber. They are also called a Sunchoke or Suntuber her in North America. They can be considered 'low carb' as only 50% of their carbohydrates are nutritionally available. They grow quite easily and can be planted in the same manner as potatos, but you must be careful where you plant them because they are nearly impossible to get rid of once planted. I'm glad he found out that last bit, because he has big plans to plant them and I'd rather not be over run.

Anyhow, today he decided to cook them. Which I was thrilled about because we had a terrible day with the baby, who decided he no longer naps (?!?!) and the last thing I was interested in doing at 5:00 was cooking. So Hubs decided to whip this up.

Its a Jamie Oliver reicipe (can't go wrong with a little Jamie) for Sautéed Jerusalem Artichokes with garlic and bay leaves and I must say, it was really, really good. Jerusalem Artichokes are sort of a flavour cross between a chestnut and a potato, with a little bit of parnip-y-ness thrown in there too. The texture is delightful.  

He'd also roasted some pumpkin seeds, which were a nice accompaniment. Also, the Little Dude loved them. He was not interested in the Jerusalem Artichokes though. Oh well.

So if you should happen to see Jerusalem Artichokes in a market someday, go right ahead and buy some. They are really worth trying. Also, they taste best if you can get your husband to cook them for you. Just a suggestion.