Naked Ladies (Amaryllis Belladonna) Survival - Hope for We Mere Humans

Good morning, Tina here. I am back at home after a weekend trip with my Gold Country Sisters to Fort Bragg on the Northern California Coast.

One of our day trips was to the quaint village of Mendocino. We parked our car at the first opportunity, which was on Main Street just south of the wonderful old Kelley home. The pond there was accidentally drained by work on pipes on Main Street, and the City has a plan to repair the leak and fill it again, since it is a historical feature of the town. We paused to look at the empty pond, still attractive although not filled.

There in the not-even-damp silt grew flowers. Among those was a Gold Country Girl favorite, a single Naked Lady bloom. How did that bulb get there in the middle of a pond, and how long has it been since it had a chance to bloom? I hope they get the pond filled soon, but I can't help but be happy that we got to see this rare sight.

Home now, back to the Mother Lode which has been devastated by the Butte Fire which basically is situated between my home in El Dorado County and Heidi's in Tuolumne County. Below is a photo that was shared on Facebook by the photographer's wife. Thank you to Kevin and Wendy Crawford for this sight of a hopeful beautiful lily, bringing some beauty to the destruction, adding some hope to the unbelievable loss.

The Naked Lady grows its leaves during the midwinter and early spring when all is green, dies back, and leaves no sign, and in August through October can pop up where nothing else is growing, (thus their other name, Surprise Lily) completely "naked" and all alone.

I hope in time the restored beauty will replace the ashes and the persons who lost their homes can return as triumphantly as this lily.

Ken - Travelin' In Style

Good old Ken, that handsome devil.
Barbie's boyfriend - "He's a doll!"

Here we have the "Rally Day" outfit as pictured in one of the little vintage Barbie booklets:

He's ready to go in his coat with his hat, map and car keys.
Just like the Ken pictured on the front of this travel case I found recently - ready for a road trip with Barbie, I'd say:

I have Barbie cases, but I didn't have a case for Ken, so I was tickled when I found this one at a very fair price.

Like I told the ladies at the cash register, "Ken needs a place to keep his clothes, too!"

Ken, travelin' in style, all the way.

Love it.

Vintage Counterpoint Ceramics

I've written about vintage Counterpoint items quite a few times in the past.
I got lucky recently and found some more of these pretty and colorful vintage items.
First up we have some coffee mugs:

 Two of each color:

And I also found three coasters:

All with their labels still intact:

And to top it all off, I found two spice jars, too!

These also have their original labels:

And their corks, too, of course!
These are the types of finds that make me happy.
Silly me.

Finally, A Salmagundi Of My Own

The other day I made a quick run to one of my local thrift stores.
I almost talked myself out of going, but it had been a little while since I'd hit that particular one, so I went.
As often happens to me, when I started looking around the first thing I found was something that I believe was placed there for me alone to discover.

I have wanted one of these vintage Whitman's Chocolates Salmagundi tins for at least 35 years.
 Tina has a couple of them, and I have always admired them:

Here are a couple of vintage 1920's advertisements for the Whitman's tins:

 Salmagundi , "A Medley Of Good Things".

The Salmagundi tin features the artwork of Alphonse Mucha, one of my favorite artists.
 In fact, every single year, I purchase one of the Alphonse Mucha

 calendars from Pomegranate Press to hang above my desk.
The lovely image below just happens to be featured for September:

The one pictured below is "Zodiac",  and very similar to the one on the lid of my candy tin - it was used on a  "La Plume" calendar in 1897.
I don't imagine Mr. Mucha would have ever thought that his artwork would still be gracing calendar pages 118 years later.
Ah, but it is - and deservedly so:

The price on my vintage tin was $1.99 - but I had a full stamped card worth $5.00 off that I was able to use on my purchases that day, so, basically it was free.
Perfect.
 Finally, a tin of my own, and at the best price ever.
Just sitting there at the thrift store waiting for me.
They didn't know that it should have probably been in their "special" area instead of out on the floor with everything else.
The people there did not think it was special - but I do.

Oddly enough, I discovered later that same day that there is an Alphonse Mucha
exhibit at the Carnegie Arts Center in Turlock, California!
 Turlock is only about 55 miles from here, and you can bet that I am going to do my very best to make it down there to see that exhibit!
As a matter of fact, I'm pretty excited about it.

Patterns Of The Past: Simplicity 9354, A Lovely Long Dress

Today's pattern, simplicity number 9354 is shown here on a page from the Simplicity Fashion News (circa 1971).
 It is modeled by the gorgeous Shelley Hack:

"Young Contemporary Fashion", it says on the pattern.
This style is almost exactly the same as a store-purchased dress I had back then.
Mine was yellow calico, and I think it finally fell apart because I wore it so much!
 I loved it.
 (I have a picture someplace - if I find it, I will add it here later on.)
Here is the front to of the pattern:

Close up on the long style:

And the back of the pattern:

And here are a few of the other patterns that are shown;
We have Simplicity number 9366:

And number 9313:

The last one is a poor photo, but here is 9380, as well.

I like the skirts and blouses, too - but 9354 is my favorite.

Vintage Montag Stationery

I love vintage stationery - I used to collect stationery when I was younger.
I found this groovy advertisement for Montag in one of my vintage Seventeen Magazines:

And here's another ad - for "Racing Stripes":

I found this lovely vintage box of Montag stationery at a thrift store a while back:

And then I found another.....

.... hmm, I didn't think I was STILL collecting stationery - but maybe I am!

First Day For Libra

Today is the day to change my calendar again.
Here's the gorgeous image for Libra:

If you happen to be a first-time visitor, this is from my 1970 Zodiac calendar from Determined Productions, with artwork by Bruce and Ann Butte.
I have had this calendar for 45 years.

Below, you can see what I came up with this "month" to decorate the hanger that holds my calendar:

And the entire Libra  Zodiac calendar page:

One more shot of this beauty:

Oh, I love this gypsy fortune-telling woman!
I want her necklace.
The colors on this page are fantastic.
Bruce and Ann Butte: Thank you for being such talented artists!

It's Autumn: Sharing Vintage Fall Postcards

Good morning. Tina here. I am sharing some vintage postcards today which celebrate fall.

We are starting with Thomas Kinkade's promotion postcard of his painting "Autumn Snow" because although it is not vintage, it is a portrayal of the South Fork of the American River, which I am lucky to live beside.

Lovely autumn lady dressed to the nines.

Autumn colors in Arkansas.

This postcard was listed as the end of autumn. I can see myself gliding in a canoe taking in the colors.

Autumn in Colorado.

Above is a wondrous colorful drive, lounge-chair road trip anyone?

Fall along the Feather River in California.

Berries in the autumn. Looks a lot like poison oak leaves to me.

Autumn in Iowa on Lake Okoboji.

Squirrels and acorns on a lovely postcard. Our squirrels here in Kelsey have been very busy welcoming the many small acorns this fall has brought.

Autumn in Massachusetts. What a lovely place to take a walk!

More beautiful fall colors.

Let's take a ride along brilliant trees in New York.

This vintage lady is getting a jump on Tom Kinkade by almost a hundred years as she records the autumn beauty.

Fall greetings from Oklahoma.

Gathering together some of the mums which decorate autumn.

Pennsylvania autumn colors.

Deep in thought among the heaps of fall harvest.

A stroll along the roadway in Vermont with fall colors.

This lovely lady couldn't be more full of the hues of fall.

Glorious Half Dome in Yosemite in the fall.

And for the last, since autumn brings falling leaves, we offer helpful fairies to rake them all together.

I hope you enjoy your autumn!