A Peacock Guards the Road in Placerville (Kelsey Edition)

Good morning.  Tina here.

I was coming home one afternoon last week and there was an unusual obstacle in the road up ahead. My neighbor was the first to reach it. 

My neighbor was very slowly trying to make her way around a peacock who was strutting his stuff. His mate was nowhere to be seen, but that didn't seem to matter.

The other car finally got by and the peacock got tired of showing off for no one except us humans, and started back towards his home.

I stopped and took these shots above with my phone out of my car window as he headed for the meadow trailing his lovely tail behind, his feathers glistening metallic in the 3 o'clock sun.

Yesterday at about the same time in the afternoon, who did I spy?  Proud Mr. Peacock again in the road at the same place, but this time he was in rare form.

His tail spread in magnificent array but heading forward, with his lower feathers sticking out from his rear as if they were the ones to be on stage.

As I watched in awe, he did a funny little dance with his rear end, wiggling his butt feathers as he did his choreography carefully, for what reason I don't know.

Yes, Mr. Peacock, you definitely stand out in the crowd today. I think you will win your love, if she ever comes around to watch!

A Few More Of Those Beautiful Breck Girls

I have written posts about the gorgeous Breck girls painted over the years by the great Ralph William Williams three other times in the past: here, here, and here.
But I keep finding more, so here I go again!
We'll begin with the lovely Linda Felber.....

America's Junior Miss in 1964:

And here's TWA Hostess Judy Neumann:

"The girl in the air with the most beautiful hair"

I don't have the name of this next beauty:

She reminds me of Allison Janney, I think - anybody else see it?

(Somewhere I have notes I made telling me which year those last two were printed; I'll have to add it in when I find the information!
I'm guessing mid-sixties, as well, though.)

And this last one is from 1966 - another gorgeous lady:

I'd say that Breck certainly hit on a great idea when they hired Ralph William Williams to paint all of these portraits, wouldn't you?

Milton Glaser Artwork From Seventeen Magazine

I truly adore and admire the artwork of Milton Glaser,
and today I just wanted to share these illustrations he did for Seventeen Magazine in 1967.
(I took photos for this post of the pages from my own vintage copy of the magazine.)
Not many words are necessary, since the colorful artwork most certainly speaks for itself:

SO totally cool.

An Owl For My Collection

Lori gave me this owl bank for my collection:

I love him!
She found it at a thrift store for fifty cents!
Thanks so much, Lor!
I believe he is my first Fitz and Floyd bank.
Oh, don't tell me I'm going to want to start collecting THOSE now, too?

(I asked you not to tell me that!)

Colorful Textiles

I just can't seem to resist a colorful piece of fabric, whether it's a remnant or something somebody made, it seems that if the price is right, I will pick it up!
A few examples today - this first one appears to have been a skirt in it's former life:

This is a gorgeous (and large) throw or table runner:

A friend of Lori's gave me the cute little zippered bag below, and I found the gorgeous stitched piece at a thrift store:

Someone did some pretty cross-stitching on this pillow case:

And more pretty needlework here on this sweet tea towel:

I love the bright flowers on this fabric:

And I couldn't resist this one either, in a different color combination:

Remnants can always be used to make pillows, and sometimes I find enough to use as a small table cover.
Add a spot of color to your home, for very little money.
Sounds like a good plan to me!

What's Penny Wearing? #115 A Dress From Simplicity Pattern #5371

Penny is sporting some eyelet trim this morning........

She's wearing an old dress of mine from the 1970's, which I'm pretty positive was made from this pattern:

I found a copy of the pattern at a thrift store - and I thought it looked familiar.
With no eyelet placed along the bottom portion of the bodice, and the elastic left out of the sleeves, I feel sure it is the same.
This dress was actually one that Lori made for me (I paid her to sew for me when we were in high school because she was better at it than me).
I wore it when I worked as a waitress at Sierra Nevada House III in Coloma, California.
 I would have had an apron on over it - had to have pockets for my ticket book and pencil!
(Please click here to go back and read my post about the Sierra Nevada House.)
It was the first job I had, after babysitting. My friend Karen trained me as a waitress.
She was very good at her job, and I'm so glad I learned from the best because I did it for a long time.

You know, I do surprise even myself, sometimes with some of the things I have saved.
 I mean, I wore this more than forty years ago, and it definitely no longer fits!

Full length view of the long version on the pattern:

And a full length view of mine on Penny:

The back of the pattern:

A close-up on the top:

And one more view of one of the patterns:

Isn't it a cute fabric?

I'm planning to do another post as soon as I can in which I will show you some of the other waitress uniforms I wore back in the day - at a different restaurant, in a different town!

A Little Bit Of Vera

Well, the pickins' have been slim for me lately, as far as Vera Neumann finds are concerned.
But I did find this nice, unused daisy pot holder and a pillowcase the other day:

And I also found these little painted wooden Christmas napkin rings:

I picked up the plastic bag that held them, just to get a closer look,
and I was very surprised to see the little "Vera" labels!
"Made in Taiwan"...hmmmm - I wonder WHEN these were made?

I already had the Vera Christmas cloth napkins, which I picked up a while back.
I think they look very nice together.
I thought it was kind of funny that I only had seven of the napkins, and how many napkin "rings" do you suppose there were?
That's right: seven.
Perfect.

Once Upon A Time in Placerville No. 17: Corner of Main and Sheridan Streets

Good morning. Tina here. Here is another post about a piece of Placerville history lost. I actually don't remember when this house was torn down, I think it was in the 80's. It was just East of three little cabins across from the Placerville Fruit Growers Association, one cabin is now Sierra Glass Works, a cute little shop to peruse for a birthday present. The photo below is looking at the home from across Sheridan.

The lot it was on still sits empty. Wouldn't it have been better if someone had rescued the home and maybe even lived in it?

Think of the great view the owner would have of the Wagon Train Parade!

And instead of being in the "Once Upon a Time" posts, I could have put in in the "Past is Present in Placerville" posts.

So sad...

The Bull

Tuesday, April 21st, and time for me to switch to the next page on my vintage Zodiac calendar.
Because a little bit of bull never hurt anybody (or then again, perhaps it has....):

 Taurus The Bull - the artwork on this calendar that I am planning/hoping to show you each time I flip to a new page is by Bruce and Ann Butte, and, as you can see, my calendar is from 1970:

I have fun trying to find little things to clip on up above each "month", because this hanger is the only thing that works for me to use to hold it.
I LOVE this colorful artwork so much!

A Change Of Scene

I have a little announcement of sorts today.
I am moving into a new space at a shop in Jamestown, California.

A. Flowers is located at 18190 Main Street in Jamestown:

I have only started to move in; I have much more to do!

You can see some of my merchandise for sale in these few photos.

The owner does a lovely job of displaying all of her beautiful wares, ( as seen in the following four photos - but there is much more!):

She makes jewelry and also fabulous paper crafts, tags, cards, etc.

These adorable birdhouses are also offered for sale:

I am loving these gorgeous wooden flowers she has, also!

If you're ever in the area, please pop in and have a look around.
It really is a wonderful shop!