Summer Reading

You hear a lot about summer reading lists and having more time in the summer to read and all that. I love to read and am not sure if I do more of it in the summer, but there certainly is something nice about reading on a summer day with a warm breeze blowing! Sometimes it is also a survival technique on those hot scorching days.

Lately, I have been on a Mary Stewart kick. I have read most of her books several times, but they are always good for a re-read! Mary Stewart is an amazing storyteller, one can feel the sun, see the birds swirling overhead and feel the peace of the country side.

This Rough Magic is one of my favorites to read in the summer.

"When Lucy Waring came to Corfu to visit her sister Phyllida Forli, she was elated to discover that the castello above their villa had been rented to Sir Julian Gale.
A very minor cog in the London theatre, Lucy not unnaturally felt something close to reverence for Sir Julian, one of the brilliant lights of England's theatrical world. But any hope of meeting him was quickly dashed by Phyl, who indicated, with uncharacteristic vagueness, that not all was well with the great man and that his composer son, Max, discouraged visitors, particularly strangers . . .
Lucy encounted Max Gale the first morning of her arrival—and a tempestuous meeting it was. For Lucy had made friends with an enchanting dolphin by whom she had first been thoroughly frightened then completely captivated. It was when she was sunning on the rocks above the cove that the shots came, and the only person in view was Max Gale . . .
Thus begins a series of mystifying and thoroughly frightening events which tinge the otherwise sparkling setting of Corfu with the dark hues of violence. In every way This Rough Magic measures up to its predecessors—in spirited characterization, vivid description, glowing romance and unrelenting excitement. This is storytelling at its best."
—jacket William Morrow edition, 1964
Mary Stewart is probably best know for The Moon Spinners, which Walt Disney adapted into a movie. You can see a complete listing of her books on this fansite.

Do you find more time to read in the summer? Or do you have year round "reading lists"?

There's a Blue Bird on My Windowsill

 This song is my new favorite! It has been stuck in my head the past week.

The view from my room.

Wood Floors

We spent a lot of time on the floors in my house; carpet removal, staple pulling, washing, paint scratching and sanding, more mopping, staining and finally shellacking, but it was worth it!! I love love love wood floors. I love the timeless look of them. The ease of cleaning and the peace of mind, knowing that whatever dirt we track in is not going to be with us for years to come. (Sorry the floors aren't too clean, a little construction dust still.)

This is the living room and dining room floors. I didn't get a chance to take pictures before the furniture was moved in as they were done just in the nick of time. I worried for days while the stain dried and then worried again while the shellac dried. But everything came out beautifully in the end!

 The floors upstairs are pine.

Oak in the living and dinning room.....

And maple in the downstairs bedrooms. 

It is very typical in old houses for the living room and dinning rooms to be oak or pine, the bedrooms to be pine and the kitchen to be maple. We aren't sure why there is maple in the bedrooms, very unusual. It certainly was fun to work on all the different woods!

We are hoping this week to get the quarter round (the small round piece of trim next to the floor) back on in the living/dining rooms and the bedrooms. When we refinished the floors it all had to come up, as the sander can't get that close. And of course 90 year old trim does not come up very well! Not to mention there was holes drilled in it and cracks and gouges. So all new has to be put back in.

What you think of wood floors? Do you love the look but not the housework? Or are you all for it?

Upstairs Bedroom-Before Pictures

Look at that carpet! Yikes! It was quite old and full of sand and pet hair. Ugh. One of the first things I did was get rid of it. I am happy to say my house is now carpet free!

 The landing. Did you notice the door? We flipped it to open into the bedroom instead of out, giving more room to the landing. That is quite the story!

 Window in the lading.

 Bedroom.

Bedroom looking the other way.

I know seeing all the woodwork I painted is making some of you gasp. It was a tough decision for me too. But the trim is nothing fancy, just flat boards and not even a nice wood, just pine. There were portions of it already painted, but painted a brown to match the unpainted part(?!?). And the other reason, my bedroom furniture is wood, so to keep the room from looking to dark or rustic I decided paint it!!

Looking into the closet.



House Update: Upstairs Bedroom

Mom likes to say I get the whole second floor of my house for myself. People always go "Oh!", very impressed. I roll my eyes and then explain, the upstairs consists of a landing, bedroom and a closet half the size of my room. I call it my Nest!

 In the entry next to the front door is a little door leading upstairs! Isn't everything so fresh looking?!

I absolutely love my twisty stairs! They turned out so pretty. And once one gets use to the wedge shaped stairs, they aren't to bad.

I love how light filled the stairway is. No skimping on windows here!

This is the little landing, which we hope one day to turn into a book-nook! It is always so bright and sunny. Too bright to take good photos.

And my bedroom! Which is so cozy it is hard to get good pictures of. As you can see the ceiling is very sloped, but that just makes it feel like you are tucked into the rafters.

The other side of the room going into the closet. There are still a few more things to do, like put in outlets and light fixtures.

Looking into the closet from the bedroom. Yes! It is huge! And also has a window. So nice for sewing!

Looking from the closet into the bedroom. On the right is the door to the attic (still needs another couple coats of paint) and the door that is open on the left is the bedroom door going back onto the landing. I love the contrast of the white walls with the darker floors.

The stairs with a fresh coat of shellac on them.

Now that we have seen the fresh, clean and pretty, are you ready to see the before? Up next is a before look at the upstairs with all it's nasty green carpet! 

Where did June go?!?

My goodness! Where did June go?!? The last update I gave you, we were packing and moving out of the lower part of the big house. All while furiously working on my house. Well, plan A didn't work out to, so we moved on to plan B. We moved upstairs in the little four room apartment. It has certainly been an adventure! We don't have a stove up there and the refrigerator is a temporary small one. All our cooking is in the microwave or an electric fry pan. As Dad says, we are camping in!

The brothers hard at work in the bathroom.

 So, progress in the past month? (I am not even sure I remember where I left off! But here is the latest accomplishments.) The bathroom has plumbing and the bathtub is framed in. Unfortunately the plumbing doesn't function yet, but it is progress! The plumbing hasn't gone as fast as I hoped, as brother Phil (plumber extraordinaire) has been crazy busy with other jobs this year. There is also a new window installed in the bathroom with rain glass. I have finished painting the baseboards in the living and dining rooms. My bedroom upstairs is almost done, just a bit more trim painting and then on to shellacking  the floors.

Mandy and I primed the kitchen last night. It was speed painting as we only had an hour, but we got it done! The cupboards are all painted (makes such a difference, doesn't it?) and ready to go back in. And then the kitchen plumbing can be installed. We have kitchen appliances on order, so should be getting them some time next week. I am hoping to get my room done this weekend. There might be a possibility the bathroom will get dry walled next week, if the electrical gets finished up this weekend.

 

 I was really only planning on taking a week or so off of blogging until things settled a bit more... But then allergy season hit and the month was away before I knew it! Now that all of that is behind me I am looking forward to showing you what has been happening around here! As soon as I take a few pictures I will be back with more updates!

I hope you all are having a wonderful summer! Here in Wisconsin it is a typical summer. The weather is bouncing around like a Ping-Pong ball. A bit of rain, a few hot days and then back to perfect weather. I going to try not to miss it all!

 

 

Esther Williams- Thrill of a Romance

I was so sad to hear today the 1940's movie star Esther Williams had died. To tell you the truth, I was also surprised she had made it to 91!

 I always love her characters in her movies. So Cheerful, Spunky and fresh Girl-Next-Door. My favorite movie of hers is "Thrill of a Romance". Though I know I haven't seen all her movies, they can be hard to find! It is pretty much a typical 40s musical; cheerful dresses, pretty girls, a lonely solider, and a love story that is a bit far fetched. Don't you love them, though? But this one stands out because of Esther's swimming and Lauritz Melchior singing. Melchior was a Metropolitan Opera singer before he signed on with MGM. He adds a delightful twist to the movie.

Esther Williams has certainly left an amazing legacy behind.

House Update- Painting and Floors



Painting.........painting and more painting! I think we are finally on the last leg, my bedroom upstairs. We have gone through so much paint it is unbelievable! Four gallons of primer, three gallons ceiling paint, eight gallons wall paint and two gallons trim paint. The poor walls hadn't been painted in so long, it just soaked right in and disappeared.

The huge monster sander to sand the floors down. My ever so nice, up for anything brother-in-law manned the sander. What a long job, but so worth it! Can't wait to see how they turn out!

Doesn't it look huge without all the construction clutter?! Amazingly, we didn't get rid of all that stuff, it is just stashed in different locations. And take note of the walls, fresh paint!

Today we are waiting for the stain to dry on the floors............ Which is the hardest part! We have been working non-stop for three weeks, it feels a little strange to come to a halt.

 

Tile Floors

 Aren't they pretty? I absolutely love how they turned out!!

 I wanted the floor to have a warm-old-fashioned-sort-of-flagstone-English-cottage-look.

 I think it certainly give the room a bit of that feel. (Don't look at those walls around the floor. We haven't had a chance to prime in here yet!)

The view of  the "construction zone"!



After Pictures!

 The bedrooms face East and are so nice and sunny. This is the front bedroom. We also lightly sanded the maple floors and put three coats of shellac on them.

 This room is a tan/terracotta color.

 The back bedroom. Maple floors in here also. I love how shiny they came out!

 Walls are a light silvery green.

House Update- Moving In

I had all these nice little post planned out, pictures to take and things to share. All that has gone out the window! We are scheduled to move into my house before June 1st!! Wait, you say, last update you still had a long way to go? That is true. And we still do! But the house we are currently in we have rented. A family we know sold their house faster then expected and were looking for a place to stay for a few months, we decided this was the perfect chance to get into gear and be a blessing to them. Though we might have bit off more then we can chew.....

 Currently, the two downstairs bedrooms are almost done. We started on them first so we could move a few things over. My sister Becky, the painter extraordinaire, has been working non-stop for the last week. You would not believe how thirsty these walls were, they must not have seen paint in thirty years!

Everything in this bedroom was Pink! Now I love pink, but I also like definition and contrast. It is amazing how much better white trim and doors make the room look.

I have also been working on the kitchen floors. So excited how it turned out! I keep thinking I will take pictures...... but that is low priority on the list right now.

Well friends, just wanted to give you an update. I will see you in June!

Edit: These are "Before" pictures, hope to get "After" pictures soon!

May Flowers

 All those April Showers certainly brought the May Flowers! I can't believe how fast we went from no leaves on the trees, to not only buds but baby leaves and blossoms!

 

Now that the weather is warm and the days are longer I am trying to get moving on getting my house done. Stay tuned for an update soon!

Reproduction Apron Patterns on Etsy

Vintage Flapper Era Apron Pattern

Isn't this a charming apron? I was so excited to happen upon the Etsy shop Indie Sommer which sells reproduction 1930s and 1920s apron patterns. I have not ordered any of the patterns (Yet!) so I can not recommend how the patterns is. But if any of you seamstresses have been looking for lovely vintage apron patterns, here you are!

Vintage Pellon Apron Pattern

I like how she shows not only the vintage illustration but also pictures of the apron made up. This pattern looks so simple to put together, I doubt it would take more then an hour.

1930's Flounce Apron Pattern

For more information and details visit Indie Sommer.



Family Photos

 

Recently a cousin found this photos among family papers. As they all came in doubles, she gladly passed copies on to us. This is my Grandpa with his mother Great-Grandma Anna. We did a bit of thinking and figuring and think these were taken just before he was drafted in 1941.

 Isn't Grandpa natty in his winter coat and fedora? This must have been a special occasion. He even has a white scarf tucked around his neck!

Here he is a few months later with one of his brothers. We think this was probably taken when he was on leave before being shipped over seas.

After serving in the Army, being wounded several times, Grandpa became a carpenter and settled in Chicago to raise a family. Even though he was not the easiest person to always get along with, like his mother Anna, he had a deep sense of family duty. Not just duty, but clannish-ness, a stick-together-through-thick-and-thin-always-there-for-each-other-ness. The highest praise his sisters could give was"he was the best brother". I am glad to say, it is becoming a family trait, passing down through the generations.

Decorating with White

With the current trend of all white rooms, I have been giving a lot of thought to White as a color. I am even thinking about painting my new bedroom white! My blogging friend Dru decorates so beautifully with white and small pops of color. I really love the look, but can't imagine it in everyday life. But White is so crisp and clean and goes with pink perfectly! My sister refuses to wear white, she hates the stress of thinking she is going to stain it. And the other sister considers it a non color, only suitable for accents.
Besides contemplating white for my bedroom, I also have been thinking about it in the bathroom. I love the clean look of all that sparkly white! For some people I know that is a bit too much, but I like to SEE that my bathroom is clean! My current bathroom, before I re-did it never felt clean. It probably had something to do with the carpet on the floor. Yick!

My new bathroom still looks like this. Not much progress lately. Though we did get the cement board laid. But that is not stopping me! I am busily dreaming what it will look like when finished. Want a peek at my inspiration?

 

Traditional Bathroom by Glenside Design-build Whitefield & Co, LLC

This is what I am envisioning my new bath to look like, minus the wall tile. I have a rounded pedestal sink picked out and a wonderful old wood medicine cabinet bought from craig's list. I will even probably paint the walls a light blue/gray. The floors will be slightly different, similar white hexagon tile but with black tiles in the centers.

Traditional Floor Tiles by Other Metro Home Depot

I already had bought my tiles, then I went to a discount home supply store...... and fell in love with these little hexagon tiles!

 In person they are so much cuter! I can't wait to see how they look. In the mean time, the first tiles are going back to the store......

Traditional Bathroom by Coldspring Tile Stone And Countertop Haleigh Stallworth

 

So what is White to you?

A fresh color?...... Something to avoid?............Only for accents? 

 

 

 

This post is part of the Country Whites Weekend!

 

 

Most Marvelous Meals with Minute Tapioca

 I had forgotten about this little gem until the other night when I made tapioca pudding. Good thing I wasn't really planning on sharing pictures, it was a flop! I ran out of tapioca and it didn't firm up right. The cover is what caught my eye, isn't it pretty? Her expression makes me laugh. Judging from her ensemble this little booklet is from the late 1930s.

 There are recipes for everything with tapioca! Meatloaf, gravy, ham loaf, potpie, soups, souffle, puddings, pies and ice cream. They were very inventive.

 Such a colorful picture. I love how simple ingredients like fruit and nuts are used to add a special touch to pudding.

I have always wanted to make a souffle, haven't you? From watching Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina to often. Such an old fashioned dish. I haven't gotten up the courage yet.

April Showers.......

Don't you love how well my umbrella and boots match?

Hopefully all these April showers will bring May flowers! It has been raining for almost a week straight here. There isn't much one can do when it is so gloomy and wet,

except Sing in the Rain!!

 

Spring comes very slowly here in southeastern Wisconsin. The days start to get longer, one might see a robin or hear a cardinal singing and the air feels spring like. The snow melts, brave daffodils start popping up, then all of the sudden the grass is green, the forsythia, daffodils and tulips are blooming! And even though we still have to wear hat, mittens and coats we know Spring has sprung!

 At the moment we are still at the snow-is-gone-and-the-daffodils-are-poking-up-stage, but any day now and the flowers should all be bursting open!

We get a little antsy for Spring. If it is too slow, we have to help it along by celebrating with out it! Like painting one's nails or buying bright new wellies or picking up a pot of daffodils in bloom at the garden center or knitting the brightest colored sweater possible.

What do you do to celebrate Spring? With or without it!

A New Apron Pattern

This really isn't my new pattern, but my sister's. I talked her into letting my borrow it to share here. I love version A. Can't you envision it in a colorful floral? Or even a gingham?

I had to share the envelope back too. Some of the details are hard to catch. Did you notice the straps button on top of the shoulder?

Copyright 1971. McCall's is always so helpful about putting the copyright on their patterns.

I can't wait to try this pattern out! But I don't know when it will happen....... I have a one track mind right now..........House!!

 

P.S. I apologize for last week's lack of posts, very busy week at work.