Under a Blue Moon

Photos

One of my favorite things to find in an antique store is a stack of old candid photos. I love looking at all the details and trying to figure out what year the picture was taken, what was going on in the lives of the people in the photos.

I stumbled across the best website called Square America and it is a collection of old photos – exactly the kind I love best. The photos are sorted into different galleries that you can view as a slide show.

I have no idea how I managed to find this site – it was one of those down the rabbit hole type of searches.

Take the photo above – there is so much going on. It makes me very uneasy, looking at this picture. First of all that man in the background is so menacing. What is he lunging at? The poor kid next to him is just cringing. And the baby yowling in the woman's arms. That woman looks like she would like nothing better than to put that baby down and spend the afternoon at a day spa, being fussed and preened over.

Of course the man might just be tossing a stick for the dog to fetch and there isn't anything menacing at all.

What do you think? First day of school? Getting ready for church? I love their identical shoes and their identical postures. Do you think the one second from the left is unhappy because he got stuck with long sleeves and everyone else has short?

At first I though this next one was taken on a cold snowy day but then realized they aren't really dressed for snow. They must be standing on a sand dune. I bet they were on a road trip and stopped for the photo opportunity. Go check out the site – you will be entertained for hours.

English Peas

A week or so ago I was lamenting the lack of fresh peas in our area. I can remember, as a child, shelling them for my mother. Sitting at the kitchen table, bemoaning my fate that not only did I have to eat the disgusting things but I also had to shell them. Kind of like having to make the rope you are going to be hung with.

But in those days vegetables were boiled to within an inch of their lives so they ended up a mushy, tasteless mash. Then we were invited to a genuine British meal cooked by some genuine British colleagues of my Father's. One of the dishes was freshly shelled peas that were just lightly steamed. What an amazing difference.

So back to now where here in Northern California they just aren't common. You surely don't see them in the chain grocery stores – but even our more gourmet, smaller grocers don't seem to ever have them. So when I saw them today I pounced.

The sad thing is they are rather high in carbs so I'll only be able to partake in a few of them. I just have to figure out how long I should steam them.

Please excuse my son's dirty fingernails in the picture below. I made him come in for the money shot and he was in the middle of potting a stone cactus. I should encourage him to grow peas instead.

Sweet Six Studio

I signed up for a month long online art retreat. Sweet Six Studio, where I'll get to do a dozen different crafty projects. From the website:

We are happy to invite you right into our Studio and look forward to sharing some of our favorite projects with you in a month-long series of workshops designed to walk you through the creative process in a step-by-step fashion that is easy and fun to follow. Inspirational photos, shopping “supply” lists and careful instructions will help you to make 12 delightful, DOABLE creations right along with us!

I have been so busy with work it's been hard to quiet my brain enough to concentrate on any type of fun project so I'm really looking forward to this. My project at work is winding down so I'm hoping to have my brain and my free time back.

I have this tendency to just jump and try to recreate things that I see so it will be especially nice to have the steps to do these projects – rather than just fumbling along by myself.

Happy Monday

I might be being a bit optimistic about Monday being happy but it's best to walk on the sunny side of the street, right?

I had a lovely, busy weekend. We had seven women as house guests. On Friday my sister Nicole, my cousin Claudia and her daughter Stephanie drove up. Then on Saturday my sisters Kate and Trish and their daughters Maddi and Camille came up.

We used to do Ladies' Weekend regularly, when my Mom was alive and we just dropped the tradition. It was nice to pick it up again, with a few new Ladies joining us. And one cooperative and accommodating man since Rick was there. He got a rare, inside look at a time honored tradition of women gathering.

The weather cooperated spectacularly and it wasn't too hot. We sat outside on the deck until the wee hours, drinking wine and laughing.

Saturday we spent the day lunching and shopping. Shoes may have been purchased.

It's hard to get back to earth and face Monday, happy or otherwise.

Well is this not the perfect skull or what?

It's from Pottery Barn and it's COVERED in German glass glitter! My kind of skull.

I've been in a Halloween preparation mood. It started out with this rubber stamp from Tim Holz – It's going to be incorporated into the Halloween Party invitation (hey family – is it okay that I have completely taken over the whole invitation business? It's not like we discussed it or anything). I'm going for a Victorian/Goth/Haunted Mansion kind of feel:

I'm trying to find a ghostly image to put behind it.

The mornings are getting cooler – when I wake up in the morning I can hear the wind in the trees and the wind chimes gently tinkling. Even though we will have a good month or two of hot weather during the days I can definitely feel Fall trying to make a presence. That's probably what is making me think of Halloween.

Speaking of chandeliers I think this would make a great Halloween Party decoration:

We always have the party outside and have a big long buffet table under the eaves. I think this would be great hanging over that table. It's a bit pricy for Halloween decoration but so in line with my Haunted Mansion theme. It's from Gumps. Who knew they were getting into the Halloween business?

Speaking of packages

How come my UPS man isn't this cute??

Reader Maiz, who was the recipient of my two year giveaway, sent me this picture of her delivery man, delivering said package.

I tried to get her to ship me her son and in return I would send her Delilah the Goat, whom she expressed an interest in, a very avid one I might add, but so far she hasn't taken me up on the offer.

Seriously – Delilah will cut your lawn for you – can your delivery man do that?

I can send him back when he is 14 and starting to eat a lot. You can even keep the goat.

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