Frogs, Toads, and Pool Covers

I like frogs and toads. I like the sounds they make. I like the way they look when they "talk". I like to find toads in my garden. They are fun surprises  to suddenly spy when they hop out from under a bushy flower clump or when they think they are hiding away well enough out of sight by a damp shady corner of the foundation after the rain. 

Yes, I have even been known to talk to toads who decide to join me and keep me company for a few minutes in my weed pulling tasks, before they grow quite bored of my philosophical conversation topic and hop away. I haven't seen near as many frogs in the neighborhood as there once were, at least since the creek in the woods was diverted to storm water drainage culverts (I like nature and natural, and drainage tiles installed by humans is not the same as a fun creek winding through the shade of the tree canopies and mossy paths of the shadowy woods!)

I admit I like the way frogs and toads feel when I pick them up and gently hold them for a bit and look at them as they look back at me. I guess I never grew up in a lot of aspects when it comes to nature and its creatures since I still get a little giddy and giggly when I touch and hold some of nature's population. It is a sensory thing to interact with fuzzy brown and black caterpillars, ladybugs, earthworms, fireflies, even daddy long leg spiders. Yep, even those. I was a big hit being with my 6 nephews as an aunt and a mom to 3 since I wasn't/am not squeamish!!

Once, a long time ago, there was a huge bullfrog from the woods creek who stopped by after a thunderstorm for a visit, appearing in the driveway, he just wanted to say "Hello!". He let me pick him up and and then I set him back down to leap away, off to adventures and new places to explore, better places than the driveway. He was so big he looked like a misplaced toy sitting in the driveway.

The frogs still make their harmonious songs at night in the pool covers of the neighborhood in the late springtime each year as they tend to their pool cover nursery of tadpoles. I love that sound! Tadpoles are like magic to watch the way they transform so quickly from wiggly little specks... to swift swimming morphing beings of both tails and legs... to land and water dwellers with little strong arms and legs, in short order nearly in the blink of an eye. Thus a new season's batch of nature friends leaves the pool covers before they are drained of the murky water and leaves and removed for the human swimming season to commence.

Then we hope the toads and frogs don't jump in the pools only to find they cant get back out.

I remember specific little things certain teachers in elementary school taught me that are still retained inside my memory. Things like the difference between desert and dessert. "Dessert has more of the letter 's' than desert because everyone wants more sweet treats than hot sand!" ...and "All toads are frogs but not all frogs are toads." 

I liked learning that and let it absorb into my brain for a few minutes when she said it the day we had the overhead projector shining the images of amphibians against the wall of the darkened classroom. (It was so cool to be chosen by the teacher to be the one to pull the cord to either make the long span of heavy window drapes close or open to darken and brighten the classroom. Simple pleasures! Even more of an honor than to be chosen to flip off or flip back on the ceiling lights with all the light switches located between the wall mounted pencil sharpener and the classroom doorway.) No computers in those days. We had the very high tech forerunner of an educational website --the overhead projector, the one that probably blinds you like looking at an eclipsed sun if you look into the light bulb compartment and burns your hand as fast as Grandma's hot clothes iron if you get too close!

I have been having fun listing interesting things I am decluttering to offer to other owners through the Etsy shop. I sometimes will key in a word to the search box in my shop and see what comes up as a theme since not all items of one theme are always found inside of one specific shop section category shown as a table of contents for my shop. This time, tonight, I typed in "frog" and was amazed I had this much variety in the frog theme spanning different categories. I was spurred on to recall memories and to reminisce. Frogs and toads and pool covers (and school rooms, too!)

Etsy link is in the right margin of my blog page.

(Shown: rubber stamps, quilt pattern/instructions, 3-D stickers, cellphone case/tiny wristlet purse sewing pattern, cut/sew/stuff cloth frog toy)

Paper Posies

I have been listening to documentaries and minimalist organization inspiration videos on the internet. Yep, I am filling my ears with knowledge on a variety of subjects (because we are to never stop learning!) and motivation (through other people with a whole lot of great ideas and even more energy levels!) as I sort through in effort of downsizing my craft supplies that I will never live long enough to use. Anyone planning to live 110 years like me to get everything done? On the list: letting my craft containers breath a little more with more empty space, which involves weeding out my one of a kind Paper Posie creations. 

 I admit I have also done some watching (or listening mostly)  of favorite Twilight Zone episodes and other things that make you fall down the rabbit hole of TV nostalgia on the Nflix arena.

The cheery flowers are in the Etsy shop (click over in the side margin where you see them to get to the listings). I have so many to group into fun lots and then photograph their unique character close up, and write listings so that they can go to nice new lovely owners! Each flower reveals its one of a kind traits. They bloom into my hands and no two repeat exactly, just like when nature blooms the color and shape into a garden.

Girl Scouts of the mid century

What a fun time Girl Scout meetings were in the 1970s, at least for me. I liked feeling official in my green dress and sash and wool beret. Over the years my lovingly saved beret has been found by moths, since it didn't get stored in the cedar chest or in those horrible stinky mothballs. I remember excitedly going to JC Penney's to have mom buy my latest earned merit badge to be lovingly sewn to the growing collection on my sash. 

I felt very grown up when I attended one awards ceremony when instead of knee socks to wear that evening, Mom had bought for me and presented to me a pair of suntan color pantyhose. Pantyhose!! I was very grown up, so I thought. And suntan color too, even better and more grown up! I actually thought for some reason that I would look grown up like Marsha (on that show with 3 sisters and 3 brothers, you know the one). What? What a silly me.  Now thinking back, I don't remember seeing her in a Girl Scout uniform on the show. Maybe a legal issue with the name so they had a different generic name when she was part of a club in that script. Nonetheless, in my preteen brain, I was grown up like Marsha because she wore pantyhose with her short 1970s dresses and she had long straight hair like mine, so....I could pretend, right? 

 I was never an excelling Scout at cookie selling however. I was a bit introverted when it came to door to door salesmanship, and even at a young age I guess I picked up on that I did not want to be known as "that" relative at family gatherings begging to make cookie sales from aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents. On the other hand, if people came to me for their favorite cookie purchase once a year, that was fine by me.

 I learned a lot of new things in Girl Scouts. One of the best memories was when a mom of a girl in our troop volunteered to come to one of our meetings and taught us how to do basic crochet. I was hooked (haha, bad pun) from the very start. I was crocheting my heart out and was so thrilled with the yarn possibilities of things to make that were absolutely necessary to basic life. A bright red pouch for Mom to put her keys into inside her purse. Huh?, doesn't every mom need one? Many different colored Barbie doll blankets. Because Barbies get cold you know! Scarves for myself with squiggled uneven edges that I wore proudly whether or not the color coordinated with my coat or not. I was a fashion plate for sure!! Over the years I have made better quality, more useful items from yarn and a crochet hook. I even believe I have invented a lot of the crochet stitches as I have experimented with creativity, but maybe not. Maybe I unwittingly have stumbled upon real ways of doing crochet and told myself I have been the first to do it. Oh well, the thrill is still there when I hold a crochet hook in my hand, and reminisce preteen days.

I came across this vintage Girl Scouts crest needlepoint kit that was unopened and figured someone would have great memories attached to the image of this design. The design was retired or discontinued in 1976 according to the all-knowing internet. This kit will bring to someone a happy bit of nostalgia. Maybe they were the top cookie seller, maybe they grew up to be a sweater designer with crochet, maybe they kept their wool beret safe from the hungry moths over many decades of storage. Maybe they just like to have fun retro needlepoint projects to undertake.

Find my Etsy shop by clicking in over in the right hand margin of the blog page for a look around at all sorts of curiosities. You will find fun things in the sewing/craft patterns and kits section in the shop. Or just click HERE to go directly to this item. Update: This fun item has sold. Thank you!

Vintage photos are intriguing

Do you have a fascination with photos from times long gone by, before everything was instant gratification when it comes to a camera? I do. I study old photographs with the intensity of a chemist who seeks the answer to an elusive formula, like a botanist who located the rare flora surrounding him that no one knew grew where he now stood. You get the picture, yep, pun intended!!

 I have marveled over the faces of people never met. Often hundreds of years separate their life from my own. I wish their images could speak to me and tell the story of their name, what they did for happiness, where they lived and worked, their talents and interests, things they survived when they felt fearful, and all their successes. What is unknown to us today behind their moment in time that the camera shutter captured their life so that it could be a time-stand-still-for-eternity treasure.
Old photos are artifacts of society. Proof of existing. Endless fascination for me.

 I have been a seamstress since a young age, thanks to my grandma on my mom's side of the family tree teaching me and inspiring the fabric bug to spread its wings inside of my curiosity. She was the queen of mend and make do and save everything that can upcycle into new greater items. She was a creative homemaker before her time and would have been a social media sensation with her reinventing one ready to toss thing into another far better keeper, had she not lived in an orphanage as a child and on a farm as an adult and learned her ways and skills from the trenches of the depression era.

My other grandmother was from more privilege and opportunity and was busy from college age thru retirement birthing babies as a nurse, hundreds of them. She had two of her very own, one of them turned out to be my dad. She did some sewing in her busy life. In fact, I own a childhood photo of my dad and his older brother wearing corduroy fabric suits with knicker pants or knee britches (like what the mystery boy in the pictures below is wearing) and matching jackets. It must have been expensive fabric for the era and I am sure they were not allowed to play and be rough and tumble in the outfits. I am also sure by looking at the photo that the fabric was not easy to sew upon.

 When I look at these photos on this post I study the clothing and the people. I know what it took to make the design details on the dresses. Many of today's fashions have retained the same elements and we incorporate them into our modern day attire. Some sewing techniques are ageless. I find the patches on the girl's dress skirt to be interesting since they look to be not of the mended type patches, but instead a true accent which is unusual for the time period. The footwear, especially high button style shoes, are a source of interest to me as well but I would not want to be struggling in a hurry to get them on to be out the door for an appointment time deadline or other schedule necessity...yes, modern day friends, flip-flops are a person's salvation when in a hurry to 'hit the road'. I doubt people were in such a rush a hundred years ago to join the hamster wheel non-stop days' schedule like we have. Though, life of factory working before child labor laws and working a family farm for your livelihood came with its own pressures and deadlines.

 I'll bet this family was well to do as their clothing seems to give clue. Don't you often think about body language as well, with studying old photos? I do. This woman and young man seem to hold themselves with an air of confidence. The studio photographer was skilled at posing people but the people in front of the camera lens still give us clues as to how they felt being put into poses. Some people seem at ease and others seem out of their element and extremely uncomfortable. That comes through with body language and expressions on faces, whether photo developing was done in black and white, sepia, or color, regardless of the time period from which we observe the people.

 This vintage photo below is very tiny (as the wooden ruler shows for a comparison) and has foreign writing stamped on the backside. I believe it is German, though the writing is cut off a bit. I am not sure what their clothing indicates. Is it a religious order, a regional or cultural standard of dress, teachers, nurses? I am sure the standard uniform type repetition means something, without any doubt.

I continue to find photos that peak my curiosity and make me ponder many aspects of my own life and of theirs in comparing so much about the world and how each of us make a mark upon those around us. I wonder how this digital, password protected era will affect generations ahead of us when it comes to moments of ordinary days in pictures kept and pictures lost.

All of these photos are listed in my Etsy shop and you can visit them by clicking the photo Etsy area in the right margin of this blog.

Full bloom

The summer time heat is in full swing. The humidity is thick. The rain has been plentiful. We have not used the hose so far this season for anything growing related. No need. 

The vegetables are thriving. Baby sized tomatoes, green peppers, and zucchini on the vine so far.  The gourds and the watermelon doing their thing and loving the rainy weather. The weeds are doing their best to show their motivation for growth also. 

The flowers are making the hummingbirds, dragonflies, bees, and butterflies very happy. So fun to see them visit daily. Marigolds, purple Cone Flower, Tickseed, and wild orange Tiger Lilies are in full bloom. The Bleeding Hearts are still blooming though they are usually done by this far into the summertime. Their plants have become as big as bushes, I have not ever seen them be so exuberant in their size. The blooms were amazing and the abundant quantity of beautiful delicate little hearts were memorable for about 8 weeks' time span.

                                                            (Simple bright cheerfulness)

 This is an item I painted for relaxation therapy and have enjoyed owning, but I need to move things out to someone else to enjoy. I am downsizing a lot of my vintage treasures and things I have painted over the years. The paint brush has returned to my hand and the art supplies have come out of hiding. Far too long without doing fun creative things for relaxing me time, that have long been ideas tumbling through my brain. If you are an artist of any sort you will know this hurdle- that ideas are only half of the urge and to make them come to life is the other half. Inspiration cannot be forced, it has to just flow. Starting out with one or two projects and following them through to completion is like oiling the far too long resting Tin Man. It feels good! It feels alive and new.

                                                         inspiring vintage botanical book pages 

I have found some really great things to let go of in the downsizing quest. So much variety. Living in a three generational home there is always more to let go of to allow it to find a new loving home!! Great vintage stationery, unused vintage greeting cards and used vintage greeting cards so very beautiful and whimsical for display or as creative supplies, unique old postage stamps, crafting and art supplies, vintage book page papers to frame, sewing and yarn work patterns, some vintage decor pretties.  I am filling the photography store also. So much fun to offer both original photos and vintage photography too to go from my home to yours and let my foundation lift a bit from decluttering the treasures.



What have I been up to?
1. Being creative every chance I can.
2. Being motivated to not just start but to finish.
3. Enjoying the air-conditioning whenever I can!

What do I want to do?
1. Go on a day trip as an escape.
2. Explore a place that is all new to me.
3. Discover wonderful places far enough away from the same old pot hole roads I encounter each day!

What do I need to do?
1. This week's knee surgery so both knees are healthier for adventures.
2. Clean the three seasons room. Where does that stuff come from that everyone sets down in there?
3. Drop off the box of donation items, and then start filling another box.

altered vintage book pages

I have a love affair with vintage books and if they are falling apart I still love them. What to do with a great book that is not whole anymore? Alter the pages! This page is from a vintage French book and it needed a smashing fashion image print to make it live on, reinvented, to be loved for years to come. What caught my eye was how she is clutching her gloves. I always clutch my fashion gloves like that when I am rushing into the grocery for a gallon of milk--- well, don't you?



These next few pages are from a vintage Honey Bunch book. Have you ever read Honey Bunch? The covers of these books usually are simply adorable themselves. The text on this page is about how Honey Bunch is in a department store with her mother and aunt where there are beautiful fur scarves and muffs. The print turned out better than I expected as the word muff is just under the image of the muff. So cool.


This book page talks about a sweet little dress and describes it in detail. This dress print is not identical to the one described but is sweet none the less, yes?

This page talks about a rag doll...thus I used a Raggedy Andy print. These altered book pages were so fun to make and they are one of a kind due to the fact that they are the original book pages and not copies. I had them in frames displayed and now it is time to change things out from my own decor and pass them on in my effort to downsize the household.

On the page below, the story tells about snow and a snow plow "running up and down the trolley tracks". A very precious red snow suit fits this page well. Don't you love the bonnet style hat and the spats style leggings?

Here we have a story line about a baby carriage and it matched an image with that theme in my ephemera scraps.

Then I got this idea to print some of my original colored pencil bird art on some vintage French grammaire book pages. They are actually antique pages as they are 100 years old! So fun to have these displayed in frames at my place, enjoying them for years, but alas they will be happy finding new homes where they will be loved.

These are avaiable in my Etsy and you can enter though my right sidebar link to the shop. Happy Browsing!

January Rain Day

     Today started out foggy and wet. For nearly an hour there was unusual January thunder and lightning. I happened to be inside a tall building with big windows during that time and was treated to a wonderful view of the lightning show against the late morning storm-darkened sky. A lightning show is fabulous to watch as long as you are safely inside. Being dry instead of rain-soaked is also a nice feature, and today that was a challenge! The rain poured for hours and even blew sideways a bit. I couldn't help dreaming of some fun pink puddle duck boots and a cute pink paisley umbrella.  I managed to accomplish all my errands and attend all appointments for the day, then the rain stopped after I was done.

     Tomorrow A. has her 21st birthday. She has no classes but is on the schedule at work. I will assemble a decorated birthday table for her to come home to. Instead of a cake, this year the sweet treat will include her favorite tiramisu and cannoli desserts.

What have I done?

• The 2 Etsy shops are filling back up with curiosities, and lots more on stand-by to be listed soon. Stop in and peek around a bit. You can find the links in the right margin.
• Managed to shred lots of computer desk/file cabinet paperwork for January clean-out. Feels freeing!
• My fingers and toes are nicely polished red. Would be nice to have a sports car that same shade of red!

What do I need to do?

• Do some last minute birthday prep and wrapping.
• Continue purging unnecessary paperwork.
• Tackle my closet and organize it the way I have it in my mind.

What do I want to do?

• Have my camera in my hand more frequently so I can capture more every day magic.
• Play among the fabric in my sewing room.
• Frame some favorite family snapshots.

Count down

 I am counting down the days till a birthday. I have found the months leading up to this event have brought many deep thoughts on life, analyzing what things mean the most to me. I mentally inventory things I have done and yet wish to accomplish and enjoy. It is the stuff that I thought I would have had opportunity to do thus far but not yet had the chance or time to that seem to most of all dominate my thoughts. I hope I can still do many of those things.

 I find I am a young-thinking person, I am younger in my imagination than the mirror shows me (although, many people swear I don't look my age. I thank them for the compliment... or the good talent of being a great liar!).

I was shopping the other day, with my daughter. I love to have one-on-one time with each of my 3 kids. She reminds me a lot of myself in many circumstances. And I swear it was just only yesterday I was her age at her same school. Really! I was on the hunt for new work shoes for me (boring, ugly ones- darn it!).  In one store we found a great dress for her. I like that she enjoys pretty clothes and pretty shoes, in addition to her fun casual wardrobe.

We also included a visit into a rather off-beat store that sells everything from pin-back buttons to novelty t-shirts to dresses to funky jewelry. It was at my request. I love almost every item in there and told her if I were 20 years younger I would buy nearly one of everything!!.... and she said "Wow Mom!, I would never guess you like the stuff in this store!" She did not say it in a way that she was shocked, but rather that she was happy I liked it!

She bought a dress, very unique and perfect for her.  I bought a dress for myself (which I wore already last night for a birthday dinner out) that is basic, pretty, and age appropriate in style for any young-thinking girl. I think dresses are a super wonderful part of a closet collection, especially when they can be worn for varied occasions. I love empire waist, hemline above the knee-styles.

 I ended up finding some (ugly) perfect for work shoes-- non-slip bottoms, comfortable to wear 9 hrs-on your feet, moving constantly --kind of a deal. My new job of about 6 wks' time has been a learning experience and fun too. I am back to full time work after not having that since last June. What an ordeal that was to live through. Finding you are wa-a-a-y older than your co-workers, and even your bosses too, is a sobering revelation. Middle age has its advantages. I have discovered many. What I have decided is this-- having accumulated more life experience helps me more greatly understand responsibility, prioritizing, and understand what is important and what really isn't, whether on the job or in every day life.

The resume/job search world has changed since my first days in the workforce. The days of face to face meetings and firm handshakes and a well appointed paper resume offered in person seem only an event that occurred in past history, now frequently replaced with fill in their online formatted one size fits all resume and see if a computer program decides to let you be worthy of further consideration or be dumped in the "sorry, no go" bin. My opinion is that many programs of weeding out inappropriate candidates only prove to weed out a certain amount of very worthy ones as well. Real life setting problem solving, strategizing, organizing, and budgeting is acquired through years of first hand experiences. That degree comes only with age, and some failure, and learning day by day to be better, and learn from mistakes. Some online resume applications do not lend themselves to showing complete attributes of one's skills and talents.

My blog used to be a place to sort out my thoughts and review my dreams for days and years ahead. I fell away from that for a time, many times over the years, since my blog started. Maybe this week I will (try to) get back to that, as I do my count down.

I found these ads for products I've used and loved at one time or another. I am a scent-driven person, and I can recall in my memory the way these items all fed that sense. The F.O. shampoo/conditioner was one of my all-time favorites and I used it on my long blonde hair until the product could no longer be found on store shelves. Wish it could come back like some of the retro soda pop brands that have made their returns for nostalgia. I would love that, I would buy a case worth!!

time to pull the batteries

What do you do with your time? Do you fill time with a balance of work and fun, needed activities and wanted activities? Do you live by your watch on your wrist, clock on your phone, clock in the car, or on the kitchen wall? I live by all of these... and the calendar on my phone and the calendar as big as my whole freezer door in the kitchen!!
Sometimes I watch little kids play and think about how time is nowhere on their minds. That is bliss. Why is it that when we are young we can't wait to be grown up? When we are grown up we find we are missing lots of what we left behind .... things we did not realize we had so nice!
I have a list on my refrigerator that reminds me of things I want to do.
One thing is --do watercolors. Painting.
That wish has sat on that list in just alphabet letters for far too long... time to take the batteries out of the clocks and fill the tabletop with paper and paints and water and brushes and pull up a chair!!

What have I done?

• recycled old book illustrations into craft projects
• disposed of (donated, gave away to friends) more magazines than I cared to count...only kept a stack of torn out interesting pages equal to about an inch, instead of piles and piles of mags!
• took down some collectible plates from the front hall, washed up in prep for selling
•  continue to look around at things in the house with new eyes, deciding what can go

What do I need to do?

• tackle my closet mess
• take more deep breaths and loosen my shoulders when I find myself tensing up
• make more Sunday meals that last as left overs throughout the week
• take longer walks and be more patient about waiting to ride my bike when the windchill won't freeze off my face

What do I want to do?

• watercolor
• purge more from my file cabinets
• decide on a color for my kitchen cabinets
• find out that the interview I have coming up is for full time work

on to new partying

The new year is here and the celebrating is done for the holidays... but at our house the partying continues with A.'s birthday. She will be 17. I wish I could have stayed eternally age 17.

I love this image above. It speaks to me somehow. I enjoy vintage images-- and black and white is special in photos like it was in television. I think kids now miss out a lot on using imagination. They don't need to. They don't have time to.

Watch an old movie or TV show on DVD and see how your brain turns the images into color without even trying.... that's why we were so good at using imagination. We also played outside EVERY day-- it was not an event, it was life. Playing outside meant using your imagination. The things we did and played with rarely used batteries, and never used electricity. It was all powered by imagination, an endless power supply!!

What have I finished?

• sorted more books(fiction and non-fiction) and magazines to send other places to live
• moved the TV to a new location within the family room-- it seems to be a hit with everyone
• reorganizing the pantry, and finding I am shopping even more carefully than ever before

What do I need to do?

• find the top of my desk, it is suffocating under paperwork
• use the ham bone for a batch of homemade bean soup-- I never know how to make just a small pot of soup
• make some apple crisp to use up the apples before they go bad

What do I want to do?

• paint my lamps in my bedroom to be gloss black, the lampshades will be perfect
• have lunch with a friend I have not seen in 10 years or more, it may be soon if we can mesh schedules
• hang a big mirror in a spot I have been plotting out