Lounge Chair Road Trip No. 17: Inverness, California

Good morning. Tina here.

It seems like every time I need to write a post and it is hot, I want to go on a road trip to the coast.
Today is the same.

We are going to Inverness, where they have celebrated the 4th of July in style. This is a mad race from the seventies, below.

The boat below is grounded forever.

They may not be usable any more, but what fun to wade nearby and maybe have a picnic.

Nice cool sand for Fido's paws.

Or we could choose a shady grove for our picnic. And maybe a nap?

In its heyday, this little hamlet was a great place to spend the summer. Darling cottages and shingled hotels dotted the hillsides. Most of these lovely dwellings are still here. Little winding roadways sneak through the tree roots and climb up to find the refreshing breezes and views of Drakes Bay.

Highland Lodge looks like a cozy place to stay, the scent of eucalyptus and pine floating to us in the fog. Ahhh, fog, doesn't that sound nice and cool on a day like today, where it is supposed to be over 100 degrees in the foothills? I think Inverness will have highs in the sixties. I am so there!

Above, my favorite, Manka's Inverness Lodge, lost to fire. I still grieve. The little newer cabins we stayed in are still there, but our upstairs honeymoon room, the sweet inglenook at the entrance where we would have breakfast, and the amazing restaurant with its windows in the treetops are all gone.

The store and post office building above (also shown in the 4th of July race earlier in this post) still stand and have housed various businesses. It is the iconic spot that greets you when you first hit town.

I think I will pull out my old DVD of the movie "The Fog" which was filmed (partially) in Inverness. As a strange coincidence that movie came out in 1980, which was when my husband and I stayed in Inverness on our honeymoon. I am ready to be scared, just so I can imagine that creeping, cooling, darkening fog and cool off a bit. How about you?

Vintage Disney Character Figures, A Gift From My Friend Heidi

My friend Heidi gave me these wooden Disney character figures for Christmas last year.
Oh, Mickey, you're so fine.......

They are missing some of their parts and pieces, but I love them just the same!
Pluto Pup:

Pongo, with a puzzled expression - "how in the heck are we going to keep all of these puppies safe, Perdita?"

Donald Duck pets Pongo, with a soothing touch:

And, last but certainly not least - we have Jaq!
I know! Let's "make a lovely dress for Cinderelly!"
She WILL go to the ball.

But whatever you do, Jaq: you and Gus-Gus had best stay away from that meanie cat Lucifer!
(I know nothing about these little figures, other than that they are most certainly vintage. Anyone??)

A Whale Of A "Tail"

I was tickled to add this cutie of a whale bank to my collection of vintage banks recently:

He's awfully sweet with his flowers and his big eyes and his flippy tail, isn't he?
And since I love to throw in a Disney reference whenever possible, if you are familiar with the Disney song, below, you probably got my (intended) pun in my post title?

"Got a whale of a tail to tell 'ya lads, a whale of a tale or two. 'Bout the flappin' fish and the girls I've loved on nights like this with the moon above - a whale of a tale and it's all true; I swear by my tattoo".
 Kirk Douglas sang it in Walt Disney's "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea".
I swear by my tattoo.

Happy 90th (!) Birthday To Dick Van Dyke

I just want to wish a VERY happy birthday to Dick Van Dyke today.

 He's one of my all-time favorites.

 I have been a huge fan of his for as far back as I can remember - truly!

 Hard to believe he celebrates his 90th birthday today.

Happy Birthday, Dick!
Thank you for enough laughs to last a lifetime.
Love 'ya!

A Very Special Edition Of Patterns From The Past: The Sound Of Music & Butterick

Fifty years ago today, "The Sound Of Music" had it's premiere in New York City.
It's one of the most beloved movie musicals of all time, but I'm sure you knew that.
I happen to be one of the people who loves it.
I really enjoyed Lady Gaga's musical tribute to the film during the Academy Awards show last weekend .
But when Julie Andrews walked out onto the stage afterwards?
Well, THAT brought tears to my eyes; I simply love her that much.
Less than one week later, I received a vintage Butterick Pattern Catalog that I had purchased on eBay in the mail.
 As I looked through it, I discovered this:

 I had no idea that patterns even existed that were inspired by the movie!

Shown in the two-page spread above, the delightful young actors and actresses who portrayed the Von Trapp children are: Charmian Carr, Angela Cartwright, Duane Chase, Nicholas Hammond, Kym Karath, Heather Menzies-Urich ,and Debbie Turner.

 And here are two of the Butterick patterns, number 3701, seen on Angela Cartwright in the photo:

And 3702, worn by Heather Menzies and Debbie Turner:

 I was unable to find a picture of pattern number 3700, worn by the other two "sisters" in the Butterick catalog photo layout.
{Edited on 4/3/15 to add:}
A kind reader sent me a link to a photo of pattern number 3700, so I wanted to include it here:

Three days after the Oscars telecast, I found this vintage hat with a label inside stating it is made of "100% Baumwolle" (which, from what I can gather, means cotton - cotton corduroy, in this case) at a thrift store for fifty cents.
 It reminded me of sort of an alpine-looking hat (I added the feather embellishment!), so I got a real kick out of the fact that, coincidentally,  it looked a little bit like the hat shown on the pattern - at least it does to me:

 "The hills are alive.....!"
And my love of "The Sound Of Music" will always stay strong and ring true.

Big Eyes

 I went to see "Big Eyes" last week with my friend. It was really good. I remember Margaret Keane's paintings very well from when I was little.
I got a kick out of seeing the painting above featured in the film, since I have had this postcard of the big-eyed little girl with the Siamese cat since I was quite young.
 On the back it says "(Copyright) 1962 Walter Keane - All rights Reserved From the oil painting "Little Ones" by Walter Keane", which we know by now was completely untrue, as it was his wife Margaret Keane who had created the paintings he took the credit for.
 My eyes are certainly (obviously) not as big as the ones in Ms. Keane's paintings, but all of my life I have heard this comment more often than any other, from people whom I've just met - or simply encountered someplace:
 "You have such big eyes!".
(Frankly, I was never really sure how I was expected to respond - you see, that in itself isn't exactly a compliment, but rather an exclamation. I think they may have MEANT it as a compliment, and sometimes they would go on from there, and say something more - but can you see where I'm coming from?)
I  believe I may have shown you my postcard before on this blog, but I wasn't sure, so I wanted to share it in this post.
And here again, as well, is a photo of my bedroom back in 1970 (which I'm certain I have shared before), and you can see my postcard sitting on my desk!
 It was sitting there because I loved it back then - and I still do.
 (There's a Little Kiddle sitting there, too, right next to it, and you can see more of my favorite things in this little corner of my room, as well.)

This promo from IMDB  for the movie is a good one.
I am a big Tim Burton fan, and a  HUGE Amy Adams fan.
The story was told very well, and I thought the film was was great.
 I was happy to see that they played it here in Sonora. Very often, the movies I most wish to see are not even shown here in our theater. Demographics, I suppose, and all that? Blah, blah. It's annoying.
But, I digress.....
I'd definitely recommend this movie!

Mary Poppins

Can you believe the fabulous Disney film "Mary Poppins" is fifty years old?
The movie was released in Los Angeles  on this date in 1964 (according to IMDB.)
I can honestly say that I have loved it all of these fifty long years! Does that prove that I'm a fan?
 You can believe it.

I just found this Mary Poppins doll a couple of weeks ago at a thrift store.
 She's missing her stockings and her hat, so I borrowed a hat from another doll for her to wear, so she'd at least have something!
I was glad she had her little carpet bag.
I stuck the little umbrella in just for fun:

I've written about my love for Mary Poppins more than once on this blog. I've had all of my books and most of my records, music, etc. for quite some time.

 But "Let's Go Fly A Kite" is a more recent addition to my collection:

Here are a couple of photos of dolls in somewhat better condition than mine - she even has Michael and Jane by her side, here - ready for another delightful outing, no doubt:

And here she has a (damaged) hat, and a parasol - but no carpet bag.

My doll again, without her coat:

She looks rather pensive in the picture above, don't you think?
Perhaps she is thinking of how she will soon need to move on, and leave the Banks family.
Come along now, let's get on with our day.
"Spit spot!"

Finds With A Musical Theme

By " a musical theme", I mean simply that they either PLAY music, ARE printed music, or are ABOUT music - you get the idea........
Here we go, with the latest:
I found this huge and fabulous book about the Gershwin Brothers at a thrift store.  It's a beautiful book. It was published in  1973 , and it cost twenty-five dollars back then. There is no way I would have been able to afford to spend that much on a book at that time. But, I have it now, and that's what matters. Oh, and it only cost me one dollar:

Some sheet music - two great songs, here:

  Annie, The Original Cast Recording of the "New Musical", which was produced by none other than the fabulous Mike Nichols, back in 1977:

The next one is a cute album.
"Songs Children Love To Sing".
 How cute are they, sitting around their record player, clapping happily?
Now, that's not something you see every day, is it?
Or, like - ever, anymore?

Yes, I bought this next one because of the butterfly artwork on the cover!
But it has some great songs inside, too:

Three more terrific songs are seen below.
Basically, if I see a piece of vintage sheet music and the price is right, and it's a piece I don't have, and/or a song that I know (although that isn't necessarily a criteria, now that I think about it!), I buy it:

I have a collection of Herb Alpert's albums, but I didn't have this one:

 And my most recent finds were a couple of older pieces of music (1927 and 1930) and a lonely little old dust jacket without it's book, below:

And then, I was really excited when I found THIS book, below, too!

"A Nostalgic Tour Of Popular Sheet Music".
You had me with the cover.

It's the perfect find for a vintage sheet music lover - and collector - like myself!

A Star Is Born

When this remake of the film "A Star Is Born" starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson came out in 1976, I think I went to see it at least twice at the theater, and that's unusual for me.
I thought it was great, and I loved the music.
So, naturally, I bought the album:

With photos from the film inside:

All of the song lyrics were on the paper record sleeve.
I always like that:

 I think I bought the music book, too, but I couldn't find it to show it in this post.
I learned the songs; I might be able to make my way along through them now if I had the lyrics in front of me.
I KNOW I could with a few, but maybe not all.  I can't remember everything!
 (Although I do have LOTS of lyrics rattling around in this old head of mine. When you really WANT to remember something , you can. I love to sing, so I remember lyrics. Other things? Um, not so much. But, if you want to sing, you've got to know the words! Of course there's always Karaoke, but that isn't what I'm talking about here.)
I can't recall exactly when I bought the CD - heck, I don't even remember what year I got my first CD player!
But I never had the film until I found it recently at a thrift store:

 Now I need to watch it again.
Yes, VHS.
Yes, I still have a VCR.
 If you didn't have a DVR of some kind, you might still have one, too!
Because I record TV shows all the time.
 I want a DVR VERY badly, but I don't know if/when that will come about, so you do the best with what you have!
After all, I didn't get a VCR, or a CD player, or an MP3, nor even a smart phone until they'd been around a while.
I'm kind of behind the times.
I've told you that before.