Warming trend

We have, at long last, fired up the woodstove.

The cats approve.

Last of the season

We've had a hard frost or two in the fields below our place, but up here, we're in a bit of a hollow, and just a little more sheltered - which might explain the praying mantis the spouse found sitting on the tractor today. Managed to get a few shots before we relocated her to someplace a little more suitable...

Decisions, decisions...

The favorite flea market shuts down in about a month, and as the season draws to a close, the vendors tend to get more generous, largely because they don't want to have to store that stuff during the off season. So this week, along with a nice little batch of patterns, a sweet (and very Deco) Glasbake loaf pan, and a postcard, Sewing Machine Dude (his name's actually Dave, but it took me years to learn that, so i still tend to think of him as Sewing Machine Dude) threw in a length of fabric as a bonus.

This is the one that caught my eye, just because i thought the pattern and colors were fun, but it turns out it's rather more vintage than i thought at first glance, to judge from the tags i found when i went to unfold it to see how much yardage i had to work with... when was the last time Penney's had a fabric department, anyway?

Now i've got to decide whether to sell it or use it - at four yards, it's enough to contemplate dresses, though not really extravagant ones. (Haven't checked the exact width, but it's probably a little narrower than 45")

Coming attractions (PressingNeeds edition)

I've just added batches of my reindeer cards to the shop - these are the ones i designed to send to friends and family last year. They're printed on wonderful recycled cards (100% post-consumer waste and process chlorine free, for those of you who are keeping score); i was really pleased with the cardstock when i got it last year, so now i've got more and a larger (5"x7") size, too.

Which prints would you like to see reproduced on cards?

Winston Stout

All cardboard boxes must be investigated. Period.

Dentzel

I went down to Glen Echo yesterday, to dance at Contrastock - three bands, friends onstage and off, lots of exercise, and fabulous tunes - and i planned to come back with lots of brilliant photos of the dancing. Turns out, i still haven't got the knack of shooting high-energy dancing in the odd lighting of the Spanish Ballroom, and the photos were pretty uniformly dreadful.

So instead, you get to see the photos i took of the 1921 Dentzel Carousel at the park. This is a swell carousel in its own right, but gets a few bonus points from me because it reminds me just a little of my favorite carousel in the world, the (even bigger and more grandiose) 1910 Dentzel at Seaside Heights.

I confess, i've ridden the Glen Echo carousel in full formal dress - at least once, at the expense of a snagged stocking - they will sometimes open it for special events like the springtime Strauss Ball. It's a little less of a challenge when i make it out there for one of the regular Sunday afternoon waltzes, but that's (alas!) a pretty rare occurrence these days.

A satisfying cup of coffee

Transferware meets vintage restaurant china: this cup makes me absurdly happy. (But then, so do several of my other mugs, most of which are odd vintage ones... maybe i should do a little series just to show off the more interesting ones.)

What's your favorite container for your essential-morning-beverage-of-choice?