Kate Middleton: Vintage or Fashion Forward?

The other day I had the TV on and a newscast came on about how Kate Middleton (does she still go by that name?) wore this dress on her fist outing without 'her prince'.

 I gasped! I fell in love! I wanted the dress!

 This is a very old look and I applaud her for going with it. She looks stunning. It even has pockets! What do you think? Yes or No!

I searched vintage patterns for something similar and came up with these.

Wash day Wednesday

I have not been home much lately as I have been living with my mother and helping her with the care of my dad, but I did get home this weekend and on Monday I made my second batch of laundry detergent. Recently Pabu has been very itchy. He has been waking us up and gnawing at his hind quarters. Poor little man. I bathed him yesterday and gave him a big trim and while I was combing him out (gasp) I saw a flea. I have not seen fleas in years and was totally aghast! I quickly picked it off of him and killed the damn thing. He has white hair so it is very easy to see a flea and I found one other and killed that little bugger too. I did not find anymore, but where there is one flea, there are others.

I could not imagine how he had gotten fleas and with much thinking I am certain they have come from the Coyotes that are in our back yard every night. We have had no snow to speak of since October and the grass is a perfect place for the fleas to hide and then jump onto a host like Pabu. I ran, did I say I ran, to the vets and got Frontline for all three pets (I hate putting those chemicals on the animals but there was not good  other choice)...and then I did wash.

I washed everything in the whole damn house that I could. Bedding, dog beds, dog coats, sofa throws and on and on. I must have gone up and down the stairs 50 or more times as my washer and dryer are in the basement. 

Hopefully I have won the first round with these pesky creatures and my home made laundry detergent did the trick. There are tons of recipes all over the internet for both dry and liquid detergent so I won't bore you with that. The only three ingredients are below and fairly cheap and make many batches of detergent.

I had this wonderful glass container that was housing some split peas and thought it would 

make a perfect container for my creation.

You can hand grate the soap, but frankly with a Cuisinart why would I do that? And my Cuisinart is so old it is practically vintage in its own right. With the shredder attachment it took all of 30 seconds to make mincemeat of the soap.

Add the washing soda and Borax and VOILA!!

The Lennon Sisters Georgy Girl

Today is my dad's 85th birthday and we will be moving him from the hospital to a nursing home very, very close to where he lives. It is such a blessing that we were able to get him to this specific care facility. My mom can visit him all the time and not worry about driving on a highway or after dark. It is literally a few hundred yards down the street.


We don't know what the future holds, and every day we are blessed to still have him with us. My dad loved the Lawrence Welk Show and even took his mom and sister to see him once. He also enjoyed the Lennon Sisters. I found this quite amusing and just realized the name of the song is "Georgy Girl". I don't know who there stylist was but......she must have been fired after this. What is with those hats? Are they supposed to look 'groovy'? What is your favorite Lennon Sisters song?


Here's to you Georgy....with all my love on your birthday

Que Sera Sera

So much for the simple life I envisioned for myself at the beginning of the year. The first few weeks of 2012 have been anything but simple. On January 3rd and 4th I began the process of making a sourdough starter...poor little thing has been in and out of the fridge so many times its head is spinning. I am hoping one day I will be able to bring it to its full level of sparkle and use it to make bread, but it needs consistent feeding and I have not been around to do it. Feeding and caring for my dad is ten thousand times more important than bread.

In the past two and a half weeks my dad has been moved to four different hospitals/facilities and we are about to move him again. I have been there to make the decisions with my mom and siblings and paperwork etc. My dad has advanced prostate cancer that has gone to his bones along with pretty severe aortic stenosis. All of this recent 'stuff' resulted from an infection that went undetected and sent him into delirium. We treated the delirium and then he got all messed up from the drugs. Oy vey!!!

The good news is that he is on the mend and a hundred percent better than he was just a week ago. He is one of the kindest, gentlest most wonderful dad's EVER.

Here he is as a toddler. He grew up during the depression and
they did not have much money. 

Dad lied about his age and joined the navy when he was 17.
He then found out he got seasick and held a job on land until the end of the war.

Home on leave with his sister Hermaline (quite a name).
We just found out after all these years that he called her
Eme (long e sound on both)
and she called him Daudy (like the word dog minus the g and add the dy).
My Auntie Herm is still alive and doing well at 87.

Here he is with his mom who lived to be 91. This is the dining room of my childhood home.
Love the bottle of Lancers on the table.

This is his sister Ruth who was quite an athlete and LOVED basketball.
Soon after this photo she joined the convent. She taught school and remained in the convent for 25 years.

Aunt Ruth and my grandpa on the day of her invocation to the convent. She is quite a beauty.

Here she is as a nun. That is our country squire and my little sister Patti. To the right of Aunt Ruth is my cousin Ruthie who is Hermaline's daughter. Sadly we lost her last year at the age of 56 from brain cancer.
Aunt Ruth passed away 3 years ago at the age of 85. She was driving to a vacation home with her 'boyfriend' and crossed the center line and hit a school bus. 

Mom and dad newly engaged. She is 19 and he is 24.

Dancing with me at my wedding in 1979.

My dad's short term memory has really been affected by all he has gone through in recent years. But his long term memory is sharp as a whip. He remembers everything! And it is fun to gather with my siblings and reminisce with him. Some days it is the only thing to take his mind off the pain and confusion and bring him around again. He still has his great sense of humor and is even smiling again. Last week we could not even get a smile out of him. His favorite sayings were "This is a real ball buster" and "What am I/we going to do".

Last night he said, "Que sera sera" and how he loves that song. So I dedicate this to him and to the hopes and prayers that he is on his way to feeling better.

Georgie Porgie

Georgie Porgie, Puddin' and Pie, 

Kissed the girls and made them cry, 

When the boys came out to play Georgie Porgie ran away

Been living with my mom for the past 12 days and driving her back and forth to the hospital. It has been a tough few weeks for us. My dad is being moved to a new hospital today that will more specifically deal with all that is going on with him. Prayers are asked for and most appreciated. I don't know when I will get back to regular blogging but hoping we can stabilize dad and get him home again soon.

Knitting and Underwear 1947

I am at my mom's helping with my dad. I have so much to share but it will have to wait. I thought you might enjoy these photos.

Abigail Wilson age 92

A little blurry, but you get the idea. How cute are these ladies?

Undies 1947

Can you say wedgie?

The Scandal of it All

Imagine going down the hallway of a hotel or apartment building and seeing THIS guy with THIS contraption peering into the room. The women in the background is his wife keeping watch for any interlopers, although I guess you could call Mr. I Spy the biggest interloper on the scene.

Remember this picture was in Life Magazine.
I have to think that if I knew this women I might recognize her even with her face erased out. Change the color of her hair and it could be my mother. Oy!

From 5th Avenue to the bedroom, this particular edition of Life Magazine seems to have really torn at the hearts of its readers. I googled Mr. Graham Moulton and found this  response in the Oct. 13, 1947 issue. No one was thinking very highly of his profession.

This still happens. Right? I certainly know sleeping around happens, but are there private detectives taking pictures? On this account I am completely naive. Scandalous!!!!