I’m a Vintage girl at heart

Many of my blog friends have often participated in Blue Monday, and after I wrote this post I thought…maybe I could, too! I have some blue thrown in here! So, Ms. Smiling Sally and friends, I hope this qualifies, and welcome if you have never been here before!

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I’ve you’ve ever had the chore pleasure of cleaning out the house of a 91 year old sweetheart (who is still doing very well in her new home, by the way), you probably know that it’s a tremendous job. A tremendous job, with a few amazing moments thrown in for good measure! For every 10 bags of old newspapers and receipts from the 1960’s, something lovely is waiting underneath the next pile.

Although Ms. M’s house is decorated right out of the 1970s, she very wonderfully held on to some home decor from an earlier age. An earlier age that I am in love with. While the Man of the House tends to a more traditional, classic style of home decor, I’m a sucker for vintage/retro/bright/graphic. So while I want to make my hubby happy, and will, here and there I’m going to throw in a few good punches of “me”.

I’ve always loved old tablecloths, and was dancing a jig once I found these:

iron that baby and it'll be good as new!

close up

Here is another...

I love the blue!

Doesn't even appear it was ever used...

And this hand towel (?) is most assuredly going to become a pillow:

one end

the other end!

Ms. M was a full time teacher back in the early 50’s, and then substitute taught clear in to her 70’s (or was it 80’s? I think it was 80’s!). I’ve uncovered a hoard of school supplies from her full time teaching days, which is a goldmine since I plan on homeschooling the kids! She taught early elementary, so I have plenty to use. I found a box full of vintage school posters which I will share soon-most of them are “drink your milk!” posters, and there are a few good nursery rhyme ones in there too. Her husband was the manager of the local A&P grocery store, so I’m assuming the following poster came from him. I don’t know, but I love it, and it’s going in the boy’s room. No question!

Everyready Flashlights and Batteries Ad

Isn’t that the sweetest thing?

Well, since we are talking vintage, I’ll go ahead and post more Nora. Actually, she’s definitely more of an antique by now! (For the previous letters, click on the Nora category to the right)

Letter Number 4

Those poor Eyetalians and Poluticians…

Thanks for visiting today!

The House

Here are the “Befores”…someday we’ll get to the afters. *Someday*. Right now I’m content enough to live within the 1970’s decor; Ms. M moved in in 1976, immediately decorated, and never changed a thing. Pictures from that move-in year are exactly the same as what the house is now; she was *huge* on seasonal decorating; we are even talking St. Patrick’s Day, but other than the trinkets she would set up for the seasons, not a darn thing ever changed. Oh, to be so completely content with your decor, for so long to boot! While I’m not so hip to the 1970’s style, the fact that I am living in a decorated house, instead of a construction zone, makes my heart glad enough to let things be for the time. But boy, do I have plans!

I love this “find”…it was drawn by the daughter of the owners who had the house before Ms. M and her hubby.

Isn’t that a great drawing? It’s framed, so I’ll find a place for it somewhere. The tree is no longer there, and the bushes and shrubbery are also gone. (However, we do have other bushes to whack down before the snow flies.) My “plan” is to eventually have a colorful cottage garden in front of the porch and on the side of the house.

Here is a larger picture of the inside of the porch. I’m envisioning a porch swing, a day bed of some sort, and a table for evening meals. The porch seems a bit “squeezed” in this picture-it’s quite a bit wider than it appears here.

I’m torn about the red curtains. I actually do love them; there is a red door, too…but when you are inside the porch, it’s actually difficult to see outside. And I want to watch the world go by! So I might exchange them for sheers at some point, if the community doesn’t suffer from shock. Red curtains up since ‘76…to take those down might be the talk of the town!

My parents live 2 houses down; our “signal” to each other that we are up and about in the morning is to close our porch curtains at night and open them up in the morning. They have a porch, too…so it works out great! It’s wonderful to be so nearby Papa and Nonnie. One thing I learned quick though…the boys are very brave. A few days back I was gathering their clothes so we could venture over to their house. I came out of their bedroom to discover that they had taken it upon themselves to trot over there on their own. And bear in mind…Jack had no clothes on, and Ry in just a t-shirt and his undies. They were PRACTICALLY NAKED! I was horrified! And Papa and Nonnie were a bit taken a back to have two little naked boys walk into their house with no mom behind them! We could hardly contain our laughter though. The boys were so proud of themselves. But they know not to do it again.

This is a favorite feature of mine. It’s the door that leads from the porch to the entryway:

Here it is in detail:

Isn’t that letter slot fantastic?

From the entryway to the living room; again, the living room is actually wider than it appears here:

That’s a pretty cluttered picture, taken before we moved in. My dilemma now is trying to figure out a good way to set the living room up. I want the fireplace to be front and center…I’m not quite sure how to do it all. I figure living here for awhile I’ll find out what the right thing will be.

I’m going to redo that lamp. I think it’s great. I also love the pillows! Ms. M’s mom made them; they were big in the 1950’s. The colors make me happy…and the boys get a kick out of tossing them around and rolling them across the floor. They are pretty indestructible for being 60 years old!

I’ll get to some other house pictures in another post; right now I’ll leave you with one of my all-time favorite finds. I adore old fans. ADORE them! When I uncovered this in the basement, I almost fell down in shock. It doesn’t work, which is GOOD, because I could see a child losing a hand in it in no time at all! But it will absolutely become a part of my decor. I think it’s such beautiful art…I love all things retro.

To give you an idea of the size…I asked my sillies to model for you:

If you like fans, too…you’ll have to check out what my friend Laura came across at a yard sale. Be still my heart!

Well, time to get some work done. Mom invited us over this morning for some raspberry pecan muffins…as long as I could bring an egg to round out the ingredients. I tell you what-this is so convenient. But I’m absolutely positive that passers-by must think I’m a looney toon. At other times you’ll have seen me walking down the street with a pizza, fresh from the oven, in the pouring rain; once a package of bacon. Sometimes a bag of laundry (our dryer is busted), once a bottle of ketchup and mustard. LOL. Anyway, after those muffins mom volunteered to watch the boys so I could get a blog in and some housework done. I’m lovin’ it!

Great Chair

Another lovely from the DIY newsletter.  I’ve gotta find this chair, and this poster!

(decoupage project)

Mmmmm

plop me right here, i won’t ask for anything else. can’t tell from this picture, but there is an ocean out that window…

Southern Living Idea House

Inspiration

Is this great or what?!  Snagged it from the DIY Newsletter.  Lovin’ it.

All over the place

This blog will definitely be here and there…I’ve much saved up to say!

First off all, we have spent the last few days in bed, feeling pretty cruddy.  Jack wanted to me to mark the occasion-silly picture but goes to show what we’ve been up to!

I can only pray we are turning a corner for the better, though…because the sun came out today and it’s been BEAUTIFUL!  We actually put regular clothes on and walked to the mailbox; it was so pretty that it’s hours later and the boys are still outside.  They were eager to bust their summertime toys out of the garage.

Yep, snow is still on the ground, but can you see the green grass below?  I love how on the east coast, green grass is there to greet you as the snow melts away!

(And yes, those are our leaves; we didn’t do a thing with the yard last year, so are seriously going to reap the consequences this spring…)

Anyway, it’s so pretty out there that I have the windows open in the kitchen, and Erick is staining the treads for our staircase outside.   Soon as this blog is done I’m out there until dusk!

*****

Off the subject, but I just adore Candice Olsen.  Had to throw that out there.  I wish she would come decorate my house, top to bottom, for free…  I don’t know if you have seen her “kitchen for moms and tots” episode, but I love it.  I can’t get any great “after” pictures online, which is a shame.

This doesn’t even begin to show the beauty.  She had some amazing built in seating and lovely windows installed…oh it was gorgeous.  The thing I love about Divine Design is that even if I wouldn’t go for the style, I always appreciate the artistry.  She’s one talented lady!

*****

Onto another subject; did I mention that Jack seemed to be the news-maker lately?  Well, Ryan made tears well up in his parents’ eyes the other night.  He has a special blue blanket that he has had since birth; he doesn’t need it all the time, but he loves to sleep with it, and if I put it in the laundry then surprise him with it when it’s clean, there are great “There you are, my blue blanket!” exclamations to be heard.  Jack knows that it is off limits for him, and he is really good about it.

Then an evening or two ago, while we were all in the living room together, Ryan just pops out with “So Jack can sleep better, he can borrow my blue blanket tonight!”  Shocker, ya’ll.  Shocker. He gladly gave it up at bedtime. Sob!

*****

One more thing, I promise!  I feel silly asking for prayer for this,  but I also believe that God desires for us to go to Him for every little thing.  It’s about the teenager in the family.  Her name is Camry (of the Toyota breed), and she was born in 1996.  She’s given us 208,000 good miles, but she’s been quite a rebel lately, and I think she would like to retire.  (Her cousin, my parent’s Camry, is pushing 310,000!)  Lately, she has decided to play tricks on us like cutting off at stop signs, or traffic lights, or just plain right after we’ve turned her on.  We’ve put alot of love (and money) into her in recent years, and desperately want to hold on to her, because we can’t afford another car.  We are a one vehicle family, not necessarily by choice, but because of the ol’ budget!  And we certainly can’t go out and make another purchase anytime soon.  So if ya’ll could just keep us in mind-we really need Ms. Camry to either last until a sizeable chunk of money or an extraordinarily affordable vehicle pops on the scene. 

I’ll never forget a couple I once knew; when they were poor newlyweds, the block in their engine cracked and they had no other recourse, so they prayed, and prayed hard.  One day that truck started right up, and guess what?  No more crack!  I know God doesn’t always work in that particular way, but it sure would be a miracle if we could coax another year or so out of our car.

*****

Well, outside I go.  Gotta soak up that warm weather.  Thanks for stickin’ in till the end!

Great Music, Great Food, Great Art, Great Cause

I’m suffering from time poverty today!   As soon as I wrap this up I’m off to scrape wallpaper in the boys’ room.  But I do have some good stuff for you today…

This video is a must see, people.  It’ll knock your socks off.  IL Divo’s rendition of Amazing  Grace at, of all places, the Colosseum in Rome.  WOW!!!!  I promise you that it is worth watching; it gets better as you go.

Tell me that didn’t start your Friday off well!

Mom and I made a visit to  Simply Divine Brownies in Freeport this week.

If you live in Maine, hello…make a trip!  If not, they mail, and they certainly are divine.  It’s a new favorite stop.

While we were in Freeport, we stopped at our second home, LL Bean.  And I discovered a new-to-me photographer, Ron Schmidt, owner of  Loose Leashes.  Even if you aren’t a dog lover, these will no doubt make you smile.  Go visit his site to see more!

Adorable!  What a talent!  And speaking of art, I had my second landscape painting class last night, which I am loving.  Yesterday I had my art supplies in the car, and Jack, my little artist, was determined to paint.  He would not stop saying “I be a painter!  I want to paint!”  On and on he goes while we are toodling around Bangor, browsing through shops.  Finally out of frustration, he tells my mom “I just can’t handle it.  I  have to paint.” Ha!

Alright, to wrap up, I believe the last number I heard was that over 1.6 million dollars was raised during Global Food Crises Day sponsored by  Compassion International on the 11th.  Wow!  On that note, I found another cause that is very worthy; click on the picture to learn more.

Living Water International canvases the globe, supplying wells for clean drinking water to those who don’t have it.  I can’t imagine being there to see the joy that clean water would bring.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Kudos Country Home

I don’t know, but I’m thinking Country Home went out with a bang; their last issue was probably one of my all time favorites.  And this little house had a lot to do with it!  You’ll have to excuse the pictures; I couldn’t find them online and I don’t have a scanner, so I had to snap the shots with my camera.  This little 545 sq. foot “Tree House” was my favorite!!

I adore the whitewashed walls and all of the color thrown in with the furniture and accessories.   It’s exactly what I’ve always wanted;  my husband would just die though, I’m sure.  But he is right in that if you go all white on the walls, it’s good to have some nice architectural elements in there (beams, beadboard, paneling, etc) to make it a little more interesting.  Most of which this house does not have.  ANYway, maybe someday I can build myself a little getaway like this.   Isn’t it adorable?

Yesterday was a really productive day in getting some accessories added to my house; I’ll share with you what I did tomorrow!

Portsmouth Pictures

I love the detail and color in this town, and the history.  The houses near Strawberry Banke are incredible; tucked in so very close together but very well kept and cheerful.  I had hoped to re-take some photos last Saturday, but we were dealing with mounds of snow compared to rain last time!  The photos aren’t super, because many of them were taken in the car while driving through the rain.  But it gives you an idea of some of what makes my heart sing!

There you have it!  Funny thing; I used to think my parents were a little unusual in that they would snap pictures of random houses that they liked.  Oh boy, I didn’t include a good 3/4 of the pictures that I snapped.  Looks like I inherited the gene!

Cowboy Genes

Even though I’m now a Mainer at heart, you still have roots.  I’m crazy about this wallpaper.  (Yes, I said crazy about wallpaper!  Even after swearing it off for all time after scraping the layers off our walls!)

Look more closely…

(Cowboys, oil rigs, football)

I like it in this color, actually…

I love pops of red…  Heck, I’d settle with a small framed print of this stuff.

(Designed by Paul Loebach, from Studio Printworks).