Beauty in the Laundry Room

Padded hangers:


Ironing board with a vintage linen cover:


Cosy couch:


School space:


Laundry detergent in a vintage bowl:

"Vagabonding"

The mythical Mildred sets a high standard for the weekend road trip . . .

"She wouldn't think of starting, even on a dog day, without throwing a couple of coats into the rumble. She also takes a handy little clean-up kit which holds soap, wash cloth, cleansing cream, tissues, eye cup and lotion. Speaking of eyes they have sun glasses which were fitted, and which they never leave behind! The rest of the luggage is light and compact. A small overnight bag holds toilet articles, slippers, robe and nightgown. 'I try to choose a wrinkle-resistant material for my motoring costumes,' Mildred confided. 'Something that can stand sitting down!' She prefers a lightweight dress with matching jacket. simple enough for a sandwich at a lunch wagon, sophisticated enough to dine at a smart road side inn.

As head of the commissary department Mildred also sees to it that there is some food in the car, even if it's only a few chocolate bars. She stocks up on cigarettes and matches, and usually takes along a thermos full of something to drink . . ."

"Vagabonding", Friday to Monday, Irene Parrott (1941)

Summer House Dress: Vintage Simplicity 1778

I have done one more version of this favorite: a house dress in crisp aqua cotton with purple flowers and purple piping.



I love these unusual color combinations!

What is a house dress? A comfortable cotton dress that's easy to put on and take off, roomy enough to work in, pretty enough to hang out at home in. Not street wear, for me.



Love the wrap tie--and couldn't help but notice this *exact* style dress, in a solid linen, for sale in the Garnet Hill catalog this month!

Color in the Kitchen Window

Today was cold and gloomy and I didn't even poke my nose out the door, but I did find a little bright color in the kitchen window--some grocery store tomatoes and a Gerber daisy plant past its prime florally but still energetically green.

My Usual Plan

1. Check the Filofax before bed and again first thing in the morning. If I have court, I want to know about it. The Filofax (mine's red) goes out and about with me and no appointment or hearing gets scheduled without its knowledge and consent.

2. The list--everything that needs to be accomplished in the day gets written down in a spiral notebook that sits on my little table in the kitchen. School, music practices, cleaning plans, exercise, phone calls, sewing goals, dinner menus.

3. Get going. We eat breakfast, clean it up, do our cleaning chores, and start school around 9:00. While the four school children do their work, I check, advise, answer questions, and do my house projects for the day. Always laundry, prep cooking, baking, work phone calls, tidying. Cannot concentrate during these hours, so nothing involved. We try to finish school by lunch, but Giles, who is completely independent, often has hours more of work.

4. Children are cruelly forced after lunch to practice their instruments and expose themselves to fresh air. I clean up the kitchen, start dinner if possible, and then go for a walk. Children are often also cruelly forced to babysit Daisy during this half hour.

5. Usually by 3:30 or 4:00 the list is almost accomplished. This means that I can often sit down for half an hour or an hour and sew, embroider, or (rarely) read.

6. I start cooking dinner around 5:00. That snowballs into our meal together, then we mess around til Daisy's bed and bath. She's usually down by 8:00. I do my law practice paperwork (please! no more than an hour!), then sew, or read if I'm wiped out.

7. I usually have court one, two, or three mornings a week. If I do, the kids do their schoolwork while I'm gone, with supervision from their father. Chores get pushed to the afternoon, and the day at home rolls on as usual.

Spotting Herons

Felix has discovered a pair of nesting yellow-crowned night-herons. They live in a tree in a swamp near the trail where the Composer runs several times a week. Just keeping an eye on them here.

Easter

"If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most to be pitied. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep." (I Cor. 15:19-20)


Dawn--




Music--


Dinner and dessert--


Blood orange garnish on orange marmalade cake--


Pale eggs--


Clara and Daisy--


Giles and Felix--


" . . .And just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." (I Cor. 15:49)

Orange Marmalade Cake

When my children were all little the day before Easter was always exhausting. Cooking, dyeing eggs, cleaning the house--by the end of the day I would be wiped out.

With an eye on sanity I began some of my cooking for Easter today. I made an Orange Marmalade Cake so that I would have time to enjoy the complicated process, and because the cake is *much* tastier when it's had a day or two to sit in the fridge.

We sifted, zested . . .


creamed, and fresh-squeezed.


I still need to frost and drizzle, but it's a good start.

Embroidered Napkins

I've been working on this set of embroidered napkins to give as a wedding gift in a couple of weeks. I bid (ebay) on ten plain linen napkins to use, then did the iron-on transfers in different fruits.


The pear:


Watermelon slice and a bunch of cherries:


Grapes with a tendril:



Just two more to go! I've run out of different fruit designs so I'm going to use the lemon again as a lime, and the pear again done in pear green. Such fun!

Coconut-Pecan Filling

Clara and I have been on a kick making German chocolate cakes--adapted to be dairy-free, of course. She does the layers with her favorite chocolate cake recipe, and I have come up with this filling of which I am very proud. You'd never guess it has no dairy!

*Coconut-Pecan Filling*

In saucepan mix:

1 c. sugar
1/2 c. margarine
1 c. rice milk
2 t. cornstarch
3 egg yolks

Cook over medium heat, whisking frequently. When thickened, stir in:

1 t. vanilla
1 1/3 c. coconut
1 c. chopped pecans or walnuts

and beat until thickened even more.

We like to put a third of this in between our chocolate cake layers, leave the sides bare, and then spread the rest on top. To help hold the cake together, I make a "girdle" out of folded foil, and cinch it around my cake. Assemble layers and filling, then refrigerate with foil intact around sides. Take off the foil to cut and serve; it will hold together nicely.

Felix Reading

Vintage 50's Dress: Advance 9060

This simple dress came together very nicely. The bodice is shaped by tucks front and back, and the skirt is gored smoothly into the waist. My favorite detail is the neckband which is faced and then topstitched over the bodice--very tidy!

It would lend itself perfectly to some embroidery next time on a solid pale fabric, perhaps?



For this version, I trimmed the milk-chocolate-colored polka dot pique in a brown grosgrain bow.

Laundry Day Vignettes

Hobbes knows I need to step here carrying a laundry basket so does his best to lay across the whole stone:


Giles airs his duvet at his open window:


The kitchen linens are hung out to dry:


View of my potting bench from the clothesline--most inspiring:

Thrifted Goodies

Oh my. My best catch ever yesterday! I frequently stop in at the thrift store on Friday if I have a few extra minutes in town, and I'm so glad I did. See my fabulous mid-century turquoise ice bucket in perfect pristine condition? Fifty cents.

Flawless organdy aprons (red and white) crying out for embroidery. A length of dainty pink fabric with rosebuds. A Five Little Peppers book for $1.50. Two charming saucers with cornflowers on them for the top of Bella's dresser. My other crown jewel, Friday to Monday, by Irene Parrott (1941), an amazing book with line drawings--a guide to entertaining your city friends at your country home ("Be it Castle, Cottage, or Camp")--another $1.50 find. LOVE the chapter on "Number One Guest."

"Are you a week-end hostess to your husband? Tricks that make his short holiday seem more leisurely! The whole idea of going slow, making the week-end last, can commence the minute you meet the train--or even before. Of course you have arrived early enough to get a good parking place. And since you haven't asked John to act as personal shopper and express man combined, he won't be burdened with bundles. Neither will you have to stop in the village to do any last minute shopping on the way home . . ."

What a slice of retro life!

Arbors

This is the week for the garden arbors to take center stage. Wisteria in the front garden:



Lady Banks' Rose in the back courtyard:



I do love to effortlessly enjoy the fruits of previous labors--not like in the vegetable garden where I am starting from not zero every year but way *below* zero as I confront the annual invasion of Bermuda and Johnson grasses. I have been spading out my planting beds all week and it's a lot of work!

Detail of an Embroidered Dress

I made this dress for Clara last year as one of my first embroidery projects. I freehandedly stitched some sunflowers and leaves around the front neckline of the dress, and I love how it turned out.

It has re-surfaced this year passed down to Bella, on whom it looks even better!

"A Sort of Magistrate"

"The French mother is often the source of everything that informs the French girl: a sense of the feminine, of social conduct, poise, etiquette and, of course, cooking. She's an arbiter of continuity and tradition, a sort of magistrate who oversees the smooth functioning of family life--managing conflict, diffusing resentments, letting go of grudges in an elegant and seemingly transparent way. Through her all things eventually pass--the family's history as living memory as well as the future."

--Debra Ollivier, Entre Nous, (2003)

Bella Takes a Trip

The Composer and I just returned from a wonderful little trip with Bella and Daisy--the spring shopping and restaurant trip that Bella received for Christmas and has waited patiently for.



Bella had gift cash in her purse, and I was enchanted to watch her browse carefully through shop after shop, considering all the merchandise, only to hold on to her money til the very end, when she bought the fanciest, prettiest, girliest doll on record. And some Little Women paper dolls.



This is the purse in question--she always get complimented on its crazy fluffiness (her grandmother crocheted it and lined it in black and white polka dots. Bella found her shoes herself--her first thrift shop triumph).




She indulged me by requesting a stop at this antique store--known to us previously for its vast selection of affordable goodies. I may have picked up a few vintage linens and a large enamel bowl for soaking stained laundry in, and FIVE dead stock vintage cotton sheets still in their wrappers. Maybe.



A beautiful view to enjoy before playing a rousing game of "Mother May I?" on the green hillside.



A streetside bubble machine: always fun!





Cartoons at the hotel, desserts at dinnertime, and a new bathroom to take an extra shower or two in--what could be better? The Composer thought we got our money's worth in hot water.



Just a little more shopping: sour cherry preserves, cheerful dishtowels, rubber gloves with polka-dotted cuffs, and a fig-scented candle . . .



Treats!

Vintage Forties Housecoat: Simplicity 1778

Remember this fabulous pattern? I made it up in the winter in flannel and have loved it.



But it's time to put the flannel away and get out something a little lighter. I made it up again in a crisp cotton print. I think it is my favorite garment I have ever made! This is a five-star pattern for sure--flattering, stylish, goes together well.



I love this fabric--an unlikely but very successful combination of lavender and bright orange, with some leaf green thrown in for good measure. I punched up the orange with rickrack used as scallops, and a vintage button. And of course, my facings are finished with orange binding!