Have a Happy Halloween!

May your day be SCARY and bright.
And may All Hallow's Eve be a FRIGHT!!!

We don't get many trick-or-treaters where we live, but this is what I'll be wearing at home tonight - my Bewitched t-shirt. The front:
..and the back:

I loved Bewitched.
Click here to go see my favorite ghosts singing their theme song.
P.S. "Don't eat too much candy!", she said, more speaking to herself than her readers.

A Wonderful Birthday Weekend

Oh, I had such a wonderful birthday weekend! It started the day before my birthday, when a friend I hadn't seen for almost a year called and said she had the day off the next day, and asked if we could get together - so we spent the day going to yard sales and thrift stores! That was fun - and it was so great to see and spend time with her.

The deer at left, above was a gift from Lori, and I loved the sweet vintage card Tina gave me!
And below - as promised - a picture of my birthday cake!!

Look at this beautiful watercolor - now I have one of her "originals"! Painted by Tina:
It was a Ransburg weekend! Tina gave me the waxed-paper dispenser; Lori gave me the yellow canister, and I found the white set at a thrift store on my way home!

Lori gave me the gorgeous rose platter, and I found the doll at another thrift store. Her dress is rather tattered, but I believe that she was quite the lady in her day:

I found this sweater at a thrift store on my birthday, and the next day my friend Marcia gave me this gorgeous scarf! Would you just look at how perfect they are together!?

Thank you everyone! All of you made my birthday weekend very special, indeed.

Then And Now #52 Planters Nuts

Planters Nuts, and good old Mr. Peanut - who could forget him?
The earliest advertisement I could find in my collection is this one from 1954:
Surely, you must serve some Planter's Nuts if you are going to "Have A Party!" From 1967:
Looks like another party, here, from 1973 - they seem to have plenty!
And here, lots of Mr. Peanut things to send for. This ad is from a 1974 Seventeen magazine:

And "Now" - they even make Planter's Nuts with sea salt!

What will they think of next?
We almost always have some in the house. The picture below shows what we have "Now":
I rarely ever touch them (I'm a candy/sweets person, remember?), but my husband likes to snack on them.

Cheshire Cat

Good morning. Gold Country Sister Tina here. I am sharing some of my favorite photos of my cat Chessie this morning. His full name is Cheshire Cat, mostly because I have always loved the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland, and always wanted a kitty with that name. Chessie is 8 years old. He was born in a Jeep at my son's home in Diamond Springs, and came to live with us in Kelsey after a wild ride in a cardboard box on Highway 193, during which he managed to soil himself from both ends so the first thing he got was a nice warm bath in the kitchen sink. It was quite an exciting way to start his new life at the young age of 8 weeks.

The photo above is Chessie during a crisp fall day while I was planting daffodil bulbs. He was wild and crazy that day, and only about 6 months old.

Chessie loves to "lay down and cuddle" which is about the only command he will do upon request. Here he is enjoying one of my vintage chenille bedspreads.

Above he is lazing on some of my barkcloth coverlets, with a bit of my Auntie Lyn's afghan showing behind him.

This is Cheshire Cat in one of his favorite windows. It looks out to the hillside on the west of our home, and the wild birds like to sit in the tree outside because there is a bird feeder right below it with sunflower seeds in it, so of course it is a great view for the cats. I often sit on the bed at the window and read or watch TV, and sometimes Chessie snuggles with me on the bed.

Chessie is an indoor-outdoor cat and enjoys all the lizards and warm rocks and other amenities the foothills have to offer him.

Chessie often tries to strike various attractive poses at different parts of our home to aid in my photographic ventures.

Sometimes I think he is telling me "enough, already!" but I think he secretly likes it.

Cheshire Cat has a sister named Luna who is 5 years old and wants a post of her own someday.

Halloween Decor

Halloween at our house- some things are looking verrrry scarrry! Like this creepy old mirror that was left behind when our neighbors moved out:
Not everything is as frightful:
A vintage mask from the 50's:
And another mask - close up on one of the eyes I affixed inside this one - they look better in "person". The orange eyes were from a great cat card my friend Faith gave me years ago for Halloween:
My wire trees aren't scary- just cute:
And, even Penny is dressed for the occasion!

What's Penny Wearing? #17

Penny has on a pretty vintage dress today:
The skirt and sleeves are a cotton gauze-like fabric, and it has a lovely embroidered bodice and cuffs. I think it could be worn as a costume, perhaps:
I could imagine it as maybe a Juliet dress?
Kind of?
Or, just wear it to a Renaissance Faire or something.
It's unique - I like unique. How about you?

Colorful Kitchens

A bunch of colorful kitchens today. This one cracks me up. An ad for Ruffles trash bags from 1993 , this gal has her all pink kitchen - with some pretty cool vintage stuff in it!

Another advertisement, this one for Kitchen Design Center: colorful, yes - but all kinds of wrong! Funny, though.
Bright and colorful,with floral wallpaper again from 1974 - not QUITE as bad!

This one has a great yellow stove - and some red Marlite (?) panels on the walls. Not as interesting:

Now, these next two have LOTS of color. The same kitchen; in the first picture when it belonged to Darwin Otto and Brent Heeb, co-owner with Gayle Tweed of the Stars Antique Malls in Portland, Oregon ( from Country Home Magazine, April 1996). I wrote about those fabulous barkcloth covered chairs in a previous post

And then, sometime later ( and I've forgotten which magazine this was in!), when the same home was lived in by Shannon Quimby ,who has since moved into a new house:

I love all the colorful collections and decor in that kitchen!

Movies From Thrift Stores

I have had the best luck lately finding movies I wanted at thrift stores! I will think of a movie that I'd like to own, and then I'll look for it on eBay, Amazon (used or new), and maybe even put it on my Watch List, or in my Shopping Cart. But I'm always hoping for the best deal. So when I find one for $1.00 at a thrift shop, I'm thrilled. I was SO happy to find "The Goodbye Girl"! I love that film, and I hadn't seen it for years. And I've only watched "Return To Me" once when it was on TV. LOVED it, and wanted my own copy.
I've never seen "The Natural", and I searched for it for months. Finally found it last week! And I wanted a copy of "You've Got Mail", too - another favorite:
And no, I do not care that they are VHS. I still use my VCR's daily - no problem. We went to see "The Majestic" at the theater; I thought it was great. And some scenes were filmed in Ferndale and Fort Bragg, California - two of my favorite places! We were tickled to see the Skunk Train Depot - that area is one of our old stomping grounds! Believe it or not, I don't believe I have ever watched "Ghost" in it's entirety. Found myself a copy - so now I can!
I found both of these Pink Panther movies on the same day at different shops. I adored Peter Sellers. Now I need to look for "The Pink Panther Strikes Again", and "The Revenge of The Pink Panther"!

Unlike the way I usually feel about remakes, I actually look forward to some day seeing Steve Martin's version - because I love him, too! As a matter of fact, "The Jerk" is another movie I found at a thrift shop. And I'll buy more of his films, if I find them.
Don't you absolutely love it when you find something that you are specifically HOPING to find at a thrift store? I sure do.

Birthday Girl

These are my little "October Angels", and, in the center, my beautiful October girl that my sister Tina gave me:
My husband is taking me to dinner tonight for my birthday at a wonderful restaurant right downtown, Talulah's. And tomorrow, I am having a little party. And, guess what? This year, I WILL be having a birthday cake! (I whined about it last year, and the year before).
It will be a little smaller than, but also a little prettier than, the ones at the party in the picture above. I'll be sure to get a picture of it to show you.
I'm as excited as a little girl about it!

Then And Now #51 Sunmaid Raisins

Sunmaid Raisins today! I believe this is the brand that we seemed to always have in our cupboard growing up. This advertisement with a recipe for Raisin Pie is from 1945:
I have always liked the pretty lady on the packaging. This ad is from 1974::
From 1981:
I like raisins a lot, but, if I was a child, I still do not think I'd enjoy receiving them in my Trick Or Treat bag. From 2004:
Here's one more advertisement, from just last year:
And the box that is in my cupboard right "Now":
I think those raisins are waiting to go into my Quaker Oatmeal - or maybe oatmeal cookies!