Pin-Up Girl

 

Just finished my latest millinery project!: a 1940s-inspired feathered felt tilt hat with a Burlesque flair! Hopefully will match my fabulous red & white striped "circus" dress from the lovely FabGabs!

If the hat design looks familiar - sans feather - it's because I made a similar one in brown felt several months ago.  Both hats were made using my amazing husband's handmade hat block!

Not "Just Another Monday" Breakfast!

Today's Breakfast: fresh sourdough rolls hot out of the oven, with choice of butter, blackberry-basil, peach-rosemary, or strawberry-tarragon jam (made with locally grown ingredients!); Healthy Citrus-Blueberry Breakfast Muffins topped with Apricot Jam; Lemony Quinoa (made using our own apple cider!) with Maple-Cinnamon-Sauteed Apples!

Sunday Breakfast

Today's Breakfast: fresh sourdough rolls hot out of the oven, with choice of butter, blackberry-basil, peach-rosemary, or strawberry-tarragon jam (made with locally grown ingredients!); farm fresh scrambled eggs with brown butter-fried sage & chives; maple-ginger waffles with yellow dock seed flour, & topped with fresh blackberries (picked by yours truly!).

Definitely our best batch of waffles yet!: Maple-Ginger Waffles made with our own wild yellow dock seed flour (sustainably harvested from our own pastures, and painstakingly-cleaned by yours truly) and apple cider from our own trees! To top everything off, we poured a generous handful of freshly-picked local blackberries to add a hint of sweetness to balance out and compliment the buckwheat flavor of the yellow dock. Finally, the waffles are decorated with a fig off our one of our trees, quartered, and crowned with an evening primrose blossom!

2 Months & A Date

Even though we had B&B guests staying here, Ryan and I decided that we needed to go out for a night of wine, fine dining, and cigars over at Porter's in Medford.  I had never been to Porter's before, and really enjoyed my evening there!  It's the old train depot, and they have kept many of the original features of the building.  We got a private booth, and had a wonderful romantic evening!

In any event, it was nice to get dressed up and go out with my husband.  We haven't been out to dinner since our anniversary two months ago!  YIKES!  I wore a chocolate brown R&K Original 1950s wiggle dress that I snagged for $20 on Etsy recently.  I paired this with brown 1960s mary jane heels, a chunky necklace (that I made myself) of polished blue chrysocolla beads, and finally my breathtakingly lovely couture-label Lilly Dache hat.  I am not normally a fan of the cocktail-style of hats, but this Dache hat is quickly becoming my new favorite!  In any event, people were coming up to me on the street to compliment my hat!  Normally, I just get weird looks from women in tight pants, tunic shirts, and boots - something akin to, "Wow, what a FREAK!"  This time, however, the Dache hat was an enormous hit!  

Maybe it's a magical hat?

(Almost) As Good As New!

I should be cleaning B&B guest rooms, but repairing my $25 double-faux-birdie 1940s tilt hat sounded like SO much more fun! ;) 

This poor hat was in desperate need of some TLC when I found it: the original veil was torn, the birds (what was left!) were practically disintegrated, and the hat was dirty and needed to spend a week in an airtight container with a handful of moth balls. After its period in quarantine, I removed the torn veil and got to work on the birds. A good portion of the tail feathers were delicate but still intact. I re-glued what tail feathers I could, and the other feathers (which had fallen out and were so delicate that a mere touch made them fall apart) I salvaged and used to cover the bald foam heads of the birdies (therefore eliminating the need to spend hours trying to search out new matching feathers). 

 I always save my veils from old hats, so I went through my collection and found another vintage brown veil to use on this hat. Originally, the old veil had actually been attached to the tilt band that went around the back of the head, but I didn't like the way that looked, so I attached the new veil around the (inside) sides of the crown. 

The poor hat definitely needs a veil! - Due to how beat up it still is (some moth chews, etc.), it needs the distraction that a veil provides for the eyes. Also, I thought a veil might help protect the remaining delicate tail feathers from being blown around too much and further damaged.   Voila!

 

For comparison, here is a picture of the hat when I first purchased it.

Another Smoky Day in the Applegate...

Another smoky day in the Applegate...many thank you's the to brave folks out there fighting those wildfires!

For those who don't know: there are three wildfires (started from lightning strikes earlier this month) currently burning in Northern California, right near the Oregon border.  The fires are being collectively referred to as the "Fort Complex Fires."  Two of those three, the Lick and Hello fires, are burning just south of Applegate Lake - a bit too close for comfort!  Thankfully, it appears that they are slowly being contained, but the smoke in the mean time has been terrible!  It doesn't help that we are currently experiencing a record heat wave: 100+ degrees every day this week, with no relief in sight until at least Saturday.  Now they are saying that there is a chance of more lightning storms Friday Saturday...scary...

Wednesday Breakfast

 

Today's Breakfast: fresh sourdough rolls hot out of the oven, with choice of butter, blackberry-basil, peach-rosemary, or strawberry-tarragon jam (made with locally grown ingredients!); individual peach "boats" filled with fresh blueberries & topped off with our homemade blueberry-lavender-lemon-verbena syrup, and garnished with evening primrose blossoms and quartered figs; finally, healthy blueberry breakfast muffins topped with apricot jam!

Well I'll Be A Monkey's Uncle...

After a veritable drought of vintage finds lately, last Friday I finally struck gold!  At an estate sale near my house, I discovered a pristine vintage 1930s/1940s Colobus monkey fur coat!  It made my jaw drop!  

 

 

I have never, ever, seen a vintage monkey fur coat in person before (only pictures of very expensive ones on the internet).  It was just amazing - seriously, there are no words.  Monkey fur coats are rare and expensive.  Back in the 1930s and 1940s, when this coat was made, monkey fur was something only the very rich could afford.  That's why skunk fur (dyed all black) was often called the "poor woman's monkey."

I didn't even think - I grabbed that coat and purchased it right then and there!  The asking price wasn't even a tenth of its retail value, so I decided it was a good buy.  Sadly, when I tried the coat on after getting home, it was far too big for me.  Now, I realize that bulky coats were the style of that era, but the coat was so big that I felt rather like a little girl playing dress-up in her mother's clothing!  All I needed were the too-big shoes and string of pearls...

 

Plus, even though I have no problems with vintage fur, I don't think I would have the balls to wear an actual monkey fur coat out in public.  So, I decided I needed to sell it.  One of the problems with selling such a valuable piece is that it is difficult to "move" the item quickly - there just aren't many people out there willing to drop a grand on a coat instantaneously.  I knew the coat would eventually sell, but I just don't have the storage facilities for such a valuable piece.  I contacted a vintage clothing seller I knew up in Portland with some questions about the coat, and before I knew it, we were talking about a part cash part trade deal!  She has been looking for a monkey fur coat for ages in her size, but couldn't afford to pay full price in cash.  I wanted someone who would love and appreciate the coat, due to its AMAZING history (more on that in a minute!), and was definitely on-board with the idea of a large shopping spree at one of my favorite stores!  Still working on negotiations, but it looks like I may be taking a weekend trip to Portland next month.  Fun!

Now, about the history of the coat, and why I think it is so amazing (and why it breaks my heart to part with it): when I inspected the coat, the only issues with it were superficial (and easy to repair with some handstitching).  The biggest issue was that the stitching had come loose along the hemline, separating the lining from the pelts at the bottom of the coat.  When I looked closer, I found a handwritten ownership tag underneath the lining, which read: "This coat belongs to Ann Konar, 43482 Merril, Utica, Mich."  I had purchased the coat from the estate of the late Mrs. Likely.  Further research revealed that the mysterious Ann(a) Konar was Mrs. Likely's mother!!!  Anna was born Anna Blondel in 1910 in Yugoslavia.  I'm not sure when she emigrated to America, but she married her husband, Otto Konar, in Detroit, Michigan, in 1934.  Sometime after that, they moved to Utica.  Otto died in the 1960s, and in 1973 or 1974, Mrs. Likely moved to Oregon with her husband, and Anna came with them.  Anna and her daughter were apparently very close, and both loved gardening.  Anna passed away in 2001, at the age of 91.  Clearly, both mother and daughter treasured the coat - you can tell because it is in absolutely incredible condition for its age.  It's SO rare to find out the history of a vintage piece, let alone be able to trace its history back two generations!  For that reason alone I would keep it, but it doesn't seem fair to keep it simply to stare at it adoringly as it hangs in my closet.  It deserves to go to a loving home where it will be worn and adored.  This is why I agreed to do a trade, because I know this woman will absolutely cherish the coat.

Sometimes you find the darnedest things...

Tuesday Breakfast

Ryan made his fresh sourdough rolls (from his 250+ year-old starter), and there was a choice of butter, strawberry-tarragon or blackberry-basil jams.  I was told this morning that my strawberry-tarragon jam tastes like rose petals, and while I had never thought of it before, now that you mention it, it does a little!...Yum!

The first course was farm fresh eggs (courtesy of Rosie and the gang!) scrambled in brown butter with sage and chives.  I decorated the plate with chives, and a fig (from our tree!) quartered and decorated with an evening primrose flower.

The second course was lemony quinoa (flavored with our own lemon verbena and apple cider) with maple-sauteed apples (our own).

"A Little Birdie told me..."

FINALLY getting around to posting pictures of my latest vintage hat!  I adore it, even though the poor thing was a little worse for wear (aren't we all at that age?).  Surprisingly, the feathers were actually all intact, but the bird needed reattaching, and the veil was completely shot.  I had to remove it, with the exception of a tiny portion by the top middle of the bird, where the felt had actually been slit and the veil threaded through.  This I left, fearing to tear the felt if I removed any of the veil around it.  Plus, I'm not big on wearing veils (with the exception of a few choice hats).  It always leads to extra special questions such as, "Can you actually see through that?!"

The hat is constructed of brown felt, with a tall, forward-tilting, flat-topped crown, and a band of felt to hold it onto the back of the head.

The hat also came with an insanely large hat pin in it!

The hat's full label reads: "An Original Studio Styles by Warner Bros. Designing Staff Hollywood"

I feel that I should name it after some cartoon character or something?  Any ideas?

Too Hot To Handle

So, as much as I absolutely adore my brown 1940s one-piece dress/suit that Ryan picked out to match my latest amazing "Art Bern Hats by Frank Palma" vintage hat, it's a wee bit...WARM...for summer.  After much searching online and in the local antique stores, I finally found this fabulous chocolate brown 1940s two-piece suit - full skirt, butterfly sleeves, red plastic buttons down the front!  I think it goes even better with Frankie than the other outfit!  And now I have no excuse not to take my man out (Frankie, not Ryan...well, Ryan too, I guess!)!

Strike a pose!

Apple Cider Time!

We spent most of today pressing, processing, and fermenting apple cider.  The entire family was involved!: Gramps fed the apples into the hopper, I turned the hand crank on the grinder, Ryan pressed, and Grandma collected apples off of the tree.

  

We used about 95% Lodi apples, and 5% Cox's Orange Pippin.  The fresh cider was absolutely delicious, and I can't wait for the other apple trees to ripen so that we can press some more cider (especially the Winesap and Arkansas Black)!  We did not harvest all of the apples off of our standard-size Lodi tree, but we did press about 7 gallons of cider.  

We have begun the fermentation process for hard cider on about 6 gallons, and we drank and pressure canned the remaining gallon.  

I never knew that fresh, unpasteurized cider - straight out of the press's bucket - could taste SO amazing!  And whenever you got thirsty from the hard work of pressing, you dipped a cup into the cider bucket and had yourself a drink!

An Actual Date!

Well, for the first time in...I can't even remember when!...my husband and I decided to go out on a date!  We left the house around 9 am, and went to all of the antique stores we could find, had a delicious sushi lunch, got some supplies for making hard cider (we're pressing apples tomorrow), and now we are home for a brief rest before heading back out to go wine tasting later!  What a wonderful day, and what a much-needed bit of relaxing!  The 21-day stretch of B&B bookings was rough on me, and the resulting extreme stress and lack of sleep was causing me terrible headaches - it felt as though someone was driving a giant nail into my skull every day.  My body was telling me that I needed rest and I needed to unwind, and I think today went a long way toward accomplishing both.  In honor of our date, I wore my Birthday 2011 vintage faux birdie hat!

I also scored (at only $4!) a lovely little reprint of all of the Sears catalogs put out in the 1930s - I'm LOVING looking through it and seeing how prices and fashion changed throughout that decade...