The Treasure Of Pleasant Valley

I found this book packed away. I had forgotten all about it. I probably found it years ago at a library book sale:

I had to have it, because our elementary school is located on Pleasant Valley Road in Placerville, in an area known as Pleasant Valley. A 1950's novel, set in the Gold Rush area, and the Gold Country Girls all went to school in Pleasant Valley!
Perfect. You'd have bought it, too - wouldn't you?
My own little Treasure for my book shelf.
Not quite worth it's weight in gold.

My Favorite Framed Prints #32

Just wanted to show you a pretty framed picture I made by printing an image of a little girl onto a piece of vintage sheet music:

I like the way it turned out!

The Cutest Critter

Today is my friend Heidi's birthday. I went to visit her the other day, and I got to see the newest addition to their very own little animal kingdom. His name is Willie Hays:
I mean, have you ever seen any critter as cute as this miniature horse?? (Her son Sean is pretty cute, too!)
He was running around in the pen; so funny to watch. Cavorting and frolicking, like he was saying to the world "I'm free! I'm cute! I will gallivant all about!"

He really looks as though any day he will begin to sprout a single horn from the center of his forehead.
He'd make a perfect little unicorn.

Bates List Finder

I found this advertisement in an old magazine:


I absolutely love that they were made in the same colors as telephones that were available at the time. I have never seen a pink List Finder - love it!
I sure wouldn't mind having a red one to place next to our red phone:

I really like these; what a nice-looking and useful item. Lori has one; she found it at a thrift store. I found some images of a few that are for sale or already have sold on Etsy:



And check this out (click here to have a look), one in the original box just sold the other day on eBay for $112.50
Wow.

The Annual Birthday Dinner

Well, the annual birthday dinner is behind us. You know - the one I write about every year? It's the one where I make my husband's favorite meal, remember? The homemade Chicken Cordon Bleu was consumed:

The one pictured above was HUGE. Even he couldn't finish it! The others I made were much smaller. And that entree was followed by his favorite dessert - one of these:

German Chocolate Cake.
Yummy.
And way more Weight Watchers Points Plus values than I even want to talk about right now.
'Nuf said.

Then And Now #79 Raquel Welch For Foster Grants

I found this advertisement for Foster Grants in one of my vintage magazines. Raquel Welch for Foster Grants "Then" (1968):


And "Now", in a television commercial:

She still looks fabulous, doesn't she?
Wow.

The Past is Present in Placerville: No. 3 Revisited: The Combellack-Blair House

Good morning, Tina here. We are revisiting the Combellack-Blair house today with some more vintage photos I unearthed recently at the El Dorado County Museum.
I first showed you this home in September 2010:
Above is an overview of the hillside the home stands on. It is in the center upper right.

Those 70's Rooms In Orange And Yellow

I'm not quite sure why I seem to be all about the 70's lately. I just am.
So I'm sharing some more interiors from vintage decorating books, mostly in yellow and/or orange. Let's consider them a little bit of sunshine, shall we?
This is the same Drexel Plus One furniture that I showed you back in another post - I was tickled to find another color photo of it! (And dig that cool floral wallpaper!)

A bright built-in desk:

A nice modern dining area:

Another dining area - with splashes of blue:

A kitchen with stripes, dots, and a squeeze of lime:

A living room, complete with sectional and small, versatile tables for entertaining:

A bathroom with two tubs!

And the very brightest of bathroom vanity/sink areas:

Let the sun shine in!

Purity Stores

Both the town I live in now and the one I grew up in used to have Purity grocery stores. The buildings had rounded (arched?) roof lines, which gave them their own very distinct look. I was tickled to find this vintage advertising needle book here in the house - in an old sewing basket that belonged to my mother-in-law.

Then, just recently, I found an old ad, too! It was in among some old magazines in a box up high in the closet. You can see the store shape again here on the letterhead of the store circular from May 29th, 1946:

I like looking at the prices from 65 years ago:


And just in case you needed some recipes, here's one for Strawberry Shortcake, along with a few others:

Save me a serving of that shortcake, will ya?
(P.S. I found a neat website Groceteria.com, that shows some pictures of buildings that used to house Purity Stores, some of which now house other businesses. It's interesting to see, if you want to go have a look.)

More Vintage Patterns - And Embroidery From The 70's

I promised I'd show you more of the patterns I found recently. These happen to all be from the 70's (are you surprised?). First of all, may I just say that I LOVE this red skirt and blouse with the rick rack?! I want it:


And the cropped peasant blouse with embroidered bodice is pretty cute, too. Embroidery transfers were included:

A couple of different styles here:
Along with embroidery transfers to create this blouse:
These blouses have insets and/or lace trim. The one at bottom left called for using a purchased handkerchief with corner embroidery - what a cute idea!

For this one in blue, they suggested purchased iron-on embroidery:

I also found this pattern consisting of embroidery transfers from 1976. I was very happy to find this one!
Why?

Because it is the very one that I used to embroider this iris onto a blue cotton chambray shirt way back when. 1976, huh? That sounds about right....

I also found a neat Coats & Clark's booklet, "Ideas For Embroidery". I really like some of the designs inside:
Love these guys:
Pretty stuff:
The first time I showed you the iris I had done, I said that I hadn't embroidered anything in years.
Unfortunately, that is still the case. I suppose I probably COULD re-learn the stitches.

I Think They Like Lilacs

Three pretty - and very similar - magazine covers from Family Circle today.
May 2009:

May 2010:

And May, 2011:

Yes, I think they like lilacs, but - guess what?
That's perfectly all right with me.
Because I like them, too!