Summer Days

This month I've been enjoying the pleasures and delights of summer, and had put sewing on hold for a good week.
Earlier this week I was able to enjoy the first tomato from our garden. This year we have Roma, Celebrity, and Better Boy growing. Normally you would find Super Fantastic and Heirloom varieties in our garden also.

The other day my mother, older sister, and I tasted the delights of Celestial Seasonings tea. We sampled dozens between all of us, both cold and hot, and went on a free tour to see where they make the tea.

We of course took advantage of their tea shop in the adjoining building.

Reading back issues of Victoria magazines is also another favorite pastime on the porch...

...or reading any other book for that matter. Last week I received a book from amazon (and got it for free, thanks to swagbucks!) and read it in less than 24 hours.

Of course, I must not forget to mention the brown paper package tied up with string that arrived on my doorstep this morning, thanks to Lanier's new bookshop. Yay for another antiquarian book!

And on some very hot days, sometimes I wish I could curl up in a chilled sink like Charity so easily does.

How have you been enjoying your summer?

Zucchini Pie

Tonight we made a new recipe. Mom asked what we should make for supper, and I replied, "Let's do something fun!" We pulled out a cookbook, Farmhouse Cooking, given to use by some Mennonites, grabbed some zucchini out of the freezer, and made Zucchini Pie. It is deeeeelicious! Even our picky younger brothers gobbled it within minutes! If you have a large family, or hungry brothers, you'll want to make two of these.

•Zucchini Pie•

3 c. shredded zucchini
1 small onion, diced
1 c. Bisquik
1/2 c. oil
1/4 c. parmesan cheese
4 eggs
1/4 t. salt
1 tsp. parsley

Mix all but the last ingredient together and pour into greased 9" pie pan. Shake pepper (opt.) and parsley on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. May fry a little bacon and crumble in batter (I poured in about 1/4 c. bacon bits, as we don't have any of the real stuff right now), or dice in a little ham before baking.

Purple Roses

THE ROSE
by Ronsard, 1550.

See, Mignonne, hath not the Rose,
That this morning did unclose
Her purple mantle to the light,
Lost, before the day be dead,
The glory of her raiment red,
Her colour, bright as yours is bright?

Ah, Mignonne, in how few hours,
The petals of her purple flowers
All have faded, fallen, died;
Sad Nature, mother ruinous,
That seest thy fair child perish thus
'Twixt matin song and even tide.

Hear me, my darling, speaking sooth,
Gather the fleet flower of your youth,
Take ye your pleasure at the best;
Be merry ere your beauty flit,
For length of days will tarnish it
Like roses that were loveliest.

But look! In an apron, your purple roses won't fade away for a great length of time!

A Time to Breathe, a Time to Relax

Mother is home. She and my older sister went out east for nearly two weeks, and I while she was gone, I got to fill in the role of "mom" which is partly why I did that series of button-showcasing. With doing meals, laundry, cleaning, errands, appointments, church picnics ... there just wasn't anytime to sew!

Now that she is home, I should have some more time to catch up on some reading (if you love antiquarian books as much as I do, be sure to visit Lanier's new bookshop! Oh to have money to spend on books!!!) and of course, turn my sewing machine back on. Believe it or not, I have nearly a dozen aprons cut out and ready to sew from just about all of my apron patterns so keep your eyes peeled on the shop this month as I seek to fill it up.

Should get back to my garden. For weeks (months?) I've barely been out there, and just this morning I was able to get a good half of it done. Believe me it was no small chore, yet in a way, being out there is relaxation too. Oh yes, there were bugs in there too that I've only seen in Science books from when I was in school, and my garden has always been for the most part bug and creepy-crawly free. ::ahem:: Yes, it was that bad my dears!

The Button Collection: Metals

This is probably my favorite group out of all of them. There is something unique about silver and gold buttons.
I wonder where these buttons would have come from. I'd like to imagine that they came off of an old uniform of some kind.

These rhinestone buttons sparkle and dazzle in the light!

The Button Collection: Pearly Whites

This is probably the largest group out of all of them. Sometimes it is hard to distinguish the ivory pearls from the whites and creams, so all of them are in this collection. As you can see the smallest ones didn't get organized. It was late at night and my eyes were playing tricks on me. =) Like most of the pictures I post, all of them are clickable.

And last but not least, the metal collection will be up on Monday. Have a lovely and restful weekend!

The Button Collection: Black

Contrary to what you might think, black buttons can be very nice. In fact some, quite classy indeed!

Tomorrows featured collection will be the white, ivory, and cream bunch.

The Button Collection: Interesting Ones

Actually, they are the group of yellows, tans, browns, and tortoiseshell, but there ARE some interesting ones. As before, all of the pictures are clickable!

WHO would use those ugly snake ones?!

Stay tuned tomorrow for the black ones!

The Button Collection: Red, Pink, & Purple

This is my smallest group. It shows that I don't sew much with these colors. I'm not sure why, because I do like these colors!

Up Next: some interesting ones

The Button Collection: Gray & Green

Some bright green, some dark, some army greens that turned into gray as I was sorting them out, so both colors are showcased together:

Up next tomorrow: red tones

The Button Collection

Surely this seamstress isn't the only one who collects buttons! Over several years I've seemed to accumulate buttons from my own sewing, and every now and then I've picked up buttons at antique shops, flea markets, and thrift stores.

This week I've decided to showcase the ones I've collected for anyone who likes buttons. Last week I was sorting them out by color and took pictures of each "group." Today's featured color is blue. All pictures are clickable.

Enjoy!

Stay tuned tomorrow for the green ones!

P.S. There is a 10% off sale going on in the shop this week! Prices reflect the discount.

Just like Grandma Brown

If you're like our family, you know what I mean by "adopted" grandpa's, grandma's, aunts and uncles. Well, many summers ago we were on "Grandma" Brown's farmhouse porch where she served vanilla ice cream and blueberries after a good old fashioned hymnsing. We never forgot that.

Tonight I served everyone ice cream, blueberries, but with a good spoonful of freshly whipped cream in between. Brings back happy memories.

Ethel

I stole away the afternoon in my sewing room trying to get "Ethel" done. Many thanks to those who gave name suggestions! The name "Ethel" is a lovely one, and I do believe it suits her well.

Honestly though, I had no idea that bounding an entire apron in rick rack would mean large quantities of it! I mean l.o.t.s. of it!!! Because rick rack is more expensive than bias tape, I probably won't be making this style all of the time.

But oh yes, the end result is so worth it. Check "Ethel" out for yourself!

Charlotte

Let me introduce to you yet another apron! =) I picked up "Charlotte" last summer at an antique store and right away snatched it as my own. Not only was it full of charm, but as a musician, I l.o.v.e.d. the musical notes on it. The largest notehead being a pocket. Now you understand why I had to have it! ::nodds::

Over the course of two weeks, I was able to make a pattern off of it, and go through my stash of fabrics to see what would suit this pattern, and what notions would fit a normal pocket. Not everyone is a musician, you know.
I just finished the very first this afternoon, and it is up in the SHOP for your viewing!

An afternoon with Laura

Two years ago I met Laura. That is, in real life. For a couple years prior to that we "met" on Sense and Sensibility's online sewing forum, and we both read each other's blogs. But it was alot fun to actually meet her (and also her husband, Douglas, though at the time, her fiance) in person at Starbucks and Denver Fabrics a couple years ago.

And this afternoon I had the pleasure of seeing her again. We had to make our visit short due to a dinner engagement that my sister and I were apart of, but we made the most of it by going antique shopping. I think if Laura and I lived closer, we'd be pretty good friends as we have alot of similar interests. =) I was also glad to have met her adorable young chap of 7 months, Edmund.

If you don't already read Laura's blog, it is a delightful one to follow that full of beautiful things and thoughts. Might as well visit her sewing gallery, too. Talk about inspiration!

Thankyou, Laura, for a fun but short afternoon! =)

Oh dear, oh dear: it's another apron!

Look what I found!

I know one should stay away from addictions, but I just can't help myself with vintage aprons! This one fits beautifully too. Looking at the way it was constucted, my guessimate would put this apron in 30s. It has a darling little pocket on the right side (can't see it in this photo) and an "H" style back like the Ginnie and Gracie, and two interesting skirt pieces in the back that makes the skirt fuller which rounds at the hemline. And would you take a look at all that rick rack?! It's a winner for sure.

Would anyone be interested in seeing this style apron in the etsy shop? If so, you all will have to help me name her. Pulling names from "Lantern Hill," a 1930s film by Kevin Sullivan (the same producer as Anne of Green Gables, Road to Avonlea, etc.) I'm thinking of names like: Victoria, Jane, Robin, Agnes, Jodi...

Any more ideas?

summer cherries anyone?

At long last, a newly-sewn apron is in the SHOP this morning!

Summer Offerings

...or less romantically entitled, "Flowers in a Vintage Mason Jar."

Hopefully it won't be to long before I can add some "offerings" to the shops soon! If your summer is anything like mine, it is rather busy!

Independence Day Celebrations

As promised, I have pictures to share with you of our Old Fashioned Sunday that we had. Many, many thanks to my wonderful sister who took all of these for me. If you haven't checked out her online shoppe, please do!

The cherry pie I made:
The lemon bars that were a hit (thanks to this recipe that was super easy for a gal who has never made lemon bars before!)

My brother and I dressed up in retro fashion. With a shortage of income, I just made do with whatever was in my closet, which was all from the thrift store: the blue shirt, a black 100% wool skirt: a-line, flared at the hem, and mid calf in length, by Ralph Lauren, and also my never-worn black heels (brand: MUDD) that were thrifted too.

I never did find a hat I liked. Some people just can't pull off looking decently in a hat, however I did like a cloche style hat at Target, but there was no way I was going to pay full price for something that I would only wear on rare occasions. The silver purse was found at an antique store (only $2.50! The lady at the checkout said I got "a screaming deal on this.") It is lined with silk, and has a tag saying that it was made in Germany.

To compliment the silver purse, I worn my vintage rhinestone earrings.

It was lots of fun to dress up, and though my younger brothers (also dressed up like their older brother) lamented that the whole church wasn't dressed up, I encouraged them that someone has to be the first one to step out and do it. And too, what boy wouldn't want a hat like theirs?!

The picnic afterwards was lots of fun. Wonderful food and desserts, lots of fun, old fashioned games, but perhaps my favorite part was the message that our pastor brought out of what Godly men our early Presidents and founding fathers were, and what they stood for. He brought out many quotes and challenges from the words of these men, very much like the quotes in our Hobby Lobby newspaper page which I have written out below.

"It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor." --George Washington

"We have no government armed with power capable to contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." --John Adams

"And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever." --Thomas Jefferson

"I've lived, sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: That God governs in the affairs of men. If a sparrow falls to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We've been assured in the sacred writings that unless the Lord builds a house, they labor in vain who build it." --Benjamin Franklin

"America needs God more than God needs America. If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a Nation gone under." --Ronald Reagan