Friday, January 30, 2009

Shadow Shot Sunday...I'll git the chair...



Shall we git started...
I'll git the chair Ma
you git the pan
you know
the one with the lil' hole in the bottom...
these peas sure grew good this year
s' cause we planted early
and they got that late snow
remember...
think the onions 'll do good this year...
don't know, but they sho was good last year
only got two more quarts of tomaters
better plant another row of them bigguns...
they sho was good last year...
hope we get the heat of an evenin'
nuttin'l grow if we don't.
sho is nice sittin' in the shade...
I got a hankerin' to sit here a spell
hear the cicadas
that meadowlark's back in the walnut grove agin...
don't think I'll mow the ditch this year...
heard the bobwhites a workin out yonder
I'm gonna git that mole this year ya know...
Shall we have chicken n dumplins fer supper...
I'll git the chair Ma...
you git the pan...

you know, the one with the lil' hole...



Try not to be confused, it's Sunday in Australia...but I wanna play now, which means it's Saturday in my part of the world. You can play too, just contact Hey, Harriet...she'll show ya the way...

Other loves...my world...


Little homes of my youth...The red house was the house I spent most of my youth, where my Father lives now. It had two homes on one lot. The little gray house was where I lived as a toddler, right next door to Grammy...paradise!
Then my folks bought the little gray cottage fixer-upper, they needed way more space with a growing family, as the little house only had one bedroom, but cute as a button.

That's when my parents bought this lil' charmer.

Mind you , back in the 50's, this place was a shambles, but the price was right $5000.00. It had huge Elm trees growing all over the yard and one right up next to the house, which was soon removed. Then as time passed the dreaded Elm disease took the rest, but the little 100 plus year old cottage was paradise to me and my brother.


The back yard was pasture for the neighbors horses, though we weren't allowed to ramble that far, who knew that it would foster my love of sanctuary away from people to the country. But it was wonderfully HUGE for two wondering babes.


My Grandparents had the idea of buying up small fixer-uppers so us kids would have homes paid for to live in as adults if need be, in the meantime they would be rented. We eventually moved to my Grandparents home place, the red shingled house, when they made the move to Florida. That place was to be my home until I eventually moved out.


So you can see my love of little cottages runs deep. When I moved back from Colorado, this little cottage was home till I married and moved away to the real country where I lived married for 20 years. But this little home will be willed to me some day and I'll treasure it as my own, like my lil' pink chateau. But it'll remain a rental until such a time that I need to be in the city(old age)...but the little pink shack is my world...for now...

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Blo...blo...blog...

Can we talk...


Should I cut it, should I keep it...those are the questions I ask you , my Sisters of the blog...
You are with me in the She-cave where all the magic happens...you identify with the choas that surrounds a woman, a Mother, a partner, an artist...we are all individual fruitloops in that big bowl of cereal we call blog.

You understand TOTALLY my love of the lil' pink shack...er Chateau...and the simple beauty that surrounds my humble life, my two loves...home and...

the HEATHEN...'No Scratchy'...it's not that Scratchy is so bad, it's just that she's a terrier, but she is well worth her salt, as my yard becomes a mass grave of mouse carcass in the winter...17 and counting so far...'Good Scratchy'...not to mention that she is a constant companion and never fails to make me smile! (most of the time)

But my love of Iowa...the lost continent, is quite apparent, as her beauty shines often in my posts, as simple life happenings enshroud my world...the flowers, the snows, the gentle summer breeze, the sound of the cicada, winds howling as sky's darken threatening doom, as a summer storm approaches, the Weather Channel warns to stay home as an ice storm is on the horizon. Yes, my Iowa, home of my birth and the memories of childhood. The Tomboy, her love of horses, climbing trees, collecting snakes and throwing apples at my lil' Brother from my tree-top fort...all great fun as a child moves forward...

and my beautiful daughter turns forty and needs her first pair of glasses, how 'bout this pair Mom, whatta ya think...yeah, they're my favorites too...yes my daughter turned forty this past summer, you were there, as you were when my Grandson turned 21...(argh)...my faithful friends of the blog...


Some five plus years ago my Brother was still trying to talk me into getting a computer...I balked right, knowing it would take up so much of my time...well, I had no clue...but it was well worth every second of those precious minutes. The friends I have made is worth every measure of time expended sitting in the dark in the wee hours typing out bits and pieces of me and mine.


Ya'll are my life now...you have expanded my horizons, encouraged me to move on, to reach for the heights. Never expecting perfection, only seeing the beauty within. Ya'll are the bomb!


Having the opportunity to actually finally meet some of you is WAY cool and we don't even have to get to know each other, we are already BFF! You know who you are, your names are all over my sidebar and beyond, my YaYas, my Sisters of the Soul...you are there in the click of a button.
Just one thing I want to say...YOU DA MAN!!!

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

My Florida

My sweet lil' retro trailer...isn't it quaint...
Wetlands across from my house that I walked to many times to visit the Sandhill cranes.
Vero beach after hurricane Charlie...
The beautiful Cypress forests that harbor many a creature you have no business befriending...
And the colorful sunsets that gave me cause to dream...

When I first moved to Florida five years ago, it was a dream come true. I just rented my house, packed my bags and headed South...easy right...

On an earlier visit to my Mother's place in Lake Placid, it awoke in me the love of Florida I had as a child, spending summers with my Grandparents in Daytona Beach. Oh, the smells of Florida...I can smell it the minute I drive over the state line. The warm salt airs of the sea...as the memories of childhood come flooding back, the drive to the center of the state seems a lifetime, but the rows of orange trees and smells of the blossoms in the spring, remind me of why I'm here.


My Grandfather loved the ocean and the warmth of the state, I guess I inherited it from him, but the flora and fauna of this Southernmost state was so exotic compared to the seasonal flux of the Midwest, it was like vacation every day...


But as my son-in-laws brain cancer progressed, it was decided I should move back and help with her candle biz, as he would no longer be able to be there.


So now back in Iowa...I dream of my love...my Florida...and the magic of this beautiful state. The intricate, delicate beauty crammed with people in the winter...but devoid of people in the heat of the summer, my favorite time in Florida...the sunshine state.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

An era of decadence....

I forgot to take a picture of these two lamps yesterday, they were part of my junkin' foray the other day. One is alabaster and the other marble, but what a statement with a beautiful shade crowning it's glory.
And just look how a setting is created with the feminine grace of the fringed shade. I did many with matching drapery fabric for customers.

Fun settings of an era long past, but never forgotten, a time when electricity was just coming into fashion and the wonderful, flamboyant Victorians were filling their homes with decadent splashes of color. The thing is, when you see these vintage shades for sale in antique shops, they are all faded tans and browns, when in actuality, they were robins egg blue, fuchsia pink and many other brilliant colors, to brighten many otherwise dull living spaces. All faded into memory until you start tearing them apart and see the remnants of their colorful past lives.



Fifteen years ago I started a hobby sewing Victorian lampshades...mind you, I hate to sew, it's just one of those things that wasn't instant gratification to me, so I never liked it, however sewing these shades was something I rather enjoyed. Not an easy feat by any means, but what a product to add to your home when you are truly addicted to the past.


Many a shade passed through my shop/home back in those days and like everything else, every other entrepreneur started making shades in my lil' burg. But everyone has their own style, like my friend Cathie, whose shades I adore. Cathie has a flamboyant style all her own and they are perfectly fitting for her darling turn of the century cottage she and her partner Bill share.
Cathie and I met on one of her junking forays to Muscatine. When she saw my shades in my shop, she introduced herself and said she made shades too...a solid friendship formed with this Sister of the soul. Maybe after reading this, Cathie will do a post on some of her wonderful shades...hint...hint...love ya girl!

Monday, January 26, 2009

Cabin Fever can be fun...

I love the portrait of a little girl with the hen and chicks...so very Iowa, two wonderful matching chairs and a bridge lamp to die for, with original shade to boot...you know me and lamps...
Also a pair of matching desk lamps that were just too cute to pass up and a sweet lil' ironstone pitcher. Most like the plain white, but I have a thang for the ones with delicate faded flowers, being the Nature lover I am...

Never pass up a frame with a battered patina...or a baby doll head with no eyes...he'll be part of a special project in later posts, but the pitcher, even with chipped spout, will hold a bouquet just perfectly and the big ironstone vessel, missing it's lid, but making a grand statement with it's pale blue flowers, just needed a home(with me). The Flow Blue covered dish is terribly stained on it's bottom, but the top is perfect...too bad the top isn't stained as well, then it would be perfectly 'grunged'! Also, a sweet set, a cup and a little vase with turn of the century charm and of course bearing the flowers I love so much. An item I don't find much, a set of 6 silver Deco knife rests...way cool...and wonderful oval frame.

One of the advantages of cabin fever is the remote chance that one gets to escape the dilemma if one is quick in between snowfalls. First you turn on the Weather Channel, then you load up the heathen, fire up the steed...and point 'er in the right direction!
Although I'd rather be antiquing with the gals down in Texas doing all the open houses in warmer weather...but alas...Iowa needs me here...right?!
I'd like to tell ya where I went...but then I'd have ta kill ya...right Barb!

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Shadow Shot Sunday-Shall We Dance...

Exotic dancers
lithe forms
sway to the
rhythm of the frosts
cold is your tender heart
white turbaned buds
seek songs of the desert
your crisp footing
laughs at the old man
frigid age'd sultan
his frozen image
a mere echo in time
how soon he flees
this sweet sensuous
lady
warm breath
cocooning
stroking
emerging
you sway
dancing delicate
siren
take my hand
lead us to the elements
of our desire
fragile
hopeful
frail beauties
warmed hearts
to shadow lands
and sultry starlit nights
to dream
to float
above petaled veils
soft silken hair
drifting
light
perfumed
through currents of time
drifting
entwining
in love
with the moment
with the dance



Head on over to the siren of shadow...Tracy at Hey, Harriet check out the shadows and join us if you are in for a little adventure in the exotic faraway land of Australia, where it's now Sunday.
We're having lots of fun, won't you join in...

Friday, January 23, 2009

Let's Nest, shall we...Sister's Garden


Fresh woodland scents offer a hint of Spring to come, as we all are still nestled into our favorite easy chairs, anxiously awaiting the first hints...spring...
Warm golden hues heat our weary hearts, as we walk the path of Winter, knowing that in just a very short time, the thaw will begin...

Bright thoughts of Summer and porches fill our imagination with new ideas to refresh our space...


Summer...as we look for thinks to harbor our plants...simple things that make the heart remember the memories from back in the day...

Bright white furniture to carry the light of summer into our souls and pink sundries to scent the airs and freshen the cold of the season past...


We nest...we imagine...what would please me in this season of blooms, fresh paint perhaps...a new cupboard to transport our china and ironstone into that new realm of French country calm...


White columns and reflections to pull in the past and reflect the sun...

Tropical dreams fill our frozen thoughts as we await the warmth of the season to come...






Head on over to Sister's blog, she's posted new arrivals too...neat stuff...

Thursday, January 22, 2009

I have a dream...

The shop of my dreams...well sorta...those that know me well, know that my far-fetched ideals are simple and ol'-timey. I see beauty in rust...now what does that tell ya...
This thing they call retirement is so far away from my eye, that fulfilling my dreams is an every day occurrence. My dream is to build a shop/shed/garage near my lil' pink shack...er Chateau this summer. Since I have started my dog grooming biz(Doggy Style)up again, I'm home every day but the day I deliver to Sister's Garden...so why not have a shop filled with soaps and some candles.


A shop bearing my sign Sweet Repose...I have vowed never to do a shop again in the city, unfortunate as it is, because there are so many wonderful buildings down there, but the city continues to neglect parking issues.


But the shed will hold soaps that are destined for Sisters', but will need storage until the time of delivery...right...

It will also hold the furniture destined for Sisters' and The Candle Shed (daughter's shop).






But, in the winter months, the 'shed' will also house my faithful steed, as we all know the tales of living in the Nor'lunds, where no one is to be seen January, February and March...then will be the Spring of yard sales, where my little sign will beckon a weary traveler to explore...

I have a dream...would y'all stop by...come on...I'll show ya the way...follow me...

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

On the Horizon...

Gateway to my village...from the great State of Illinois...


Panoramic view of the city of my birth...

View from the backyard of a mansion on the bluff overlooking the Mighty Mississippi River...

View of a farmstead in the great state of Iowa, full of hope and dreams...


View out my back door of my American dream, a symbol of FREEDOM raised proudly by the many who have fought bravely and died defending it's honor. A young country filled with dreams of freedom and hopes of some meager means of prosperity.
This day after a most memorable event in our history...we still hold these truths ...FREEDOM for all...and God Bless America, my home sweet home!