Vintage vs. Retro

Saturday I was given the opportunity to go shopping by myself - something that rarely happens. I wasn't doing any pleasure shopping, just going to Wal-Mart for dog food and groceries, so I wasn't quite sure how enjoyable this trip would be. Wal-Mart on a Saturday? Usually something I try to avoid. Surprisingly, it only took me an hour to weave in, out, and around all the aisles and people, so I was in a pretty good mood. Even the long lines at the few registers open didn't make me grumpy...at first.

As I'm standing in line behind 2 people with massive purchases, these two college girls get in line behind me and my overflowing cart. I usually dread these situations because they almost always lead to me wanting to shove and entire case of Q-tips in my ears so I can't hear the "valley girl" whining that I usually hear. But, these girls were normal. They were chit-chatting about tests and classes, and seemed to be fully aware that they did not know everything. I breathed a sigh of relief.

Then it happened. This is what I hear:

Girl A: So did you and your mom get her closets all organized?
Girl B: Yeah, and you'll never believe what I found! A great pair of vintage jeans and a sweater! Mom said they were from the 80's. I'm going to wear them when we go out tonight.

Did you catch that? Vintage. From the 80's!

I think it's time someone does a PSA explaining the difference between Vintage and Retro. Although vintage is supposed to be anything over 40 years old, I still consider anything pre-1950's to be vintage, and anything from the 1950's & 1960's to be retro. For the most part, the 1970's through the early 90's were painful mistakes, with very few exceptions, not retro.

What do you think?

Here's my brother and I in 1982 or '83 modeling the sombreros our grandparents brought back from their trip to Mexico. Notice my totally rad overalls with the way cool rainbow stitching.

I truly hope the 80's never make a comeback...

I'm Back

Last week was a tough one both emotionally and physically. When we lost Maxine, it felt like a little bit of life's magic had gone with her. The funeral was on Wednesday. She was still smiling in her sleep, laying on an eyelet bed, holding her rosary, and her Red Hat tucked in beside her. The priest had known her well, and was able to make this Catholic funeral seem less cold. She's now in her final resting place, next to her first husband. They're up on a hill south off Pisgah, and from that hill, you can see their son Jim's farm, and the old farmhouse Maxine and Ivan had shared.

Now there are three. Ralph is the oldest. Only a year separated him and my grandpa, and I have so much fun listening to him tell stories about the two of them being ornery little boys and young men. It was especially refreshing to see him this time. The last few times I've seen Ralph, he has seemed tired, and was having some heath issues. This past week, he had more energy than I remember him ever having, and he just looked heathly.

The picture above is of my grandpa's brothers, the last of the 6 kids. Derrell is the 2nd youngest, Ralph the oldest, and Ray is the youngest.

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I spent my weekend at home. A cold hit me Thursday night, and from Friday night through Sunday I was miserable. I couldn't breathe and my entire body ached. Taylor didn't have school yesterday, and I think having an extra day to sleep in has finally helped to start getting rid of this cold! I'm feeling much better this morning (I even got up at 5:30 to make cinnamon rolls for Jeremy before he had to go to work)!

I spent Sunday afternoon going through every single CD I had, hoping to find all of the genealogy research I had typed up on the old hard drive. I was able to find the pictures, the scans of census records and military records, and a CD with all of my grandpa's war letters I had transcribed. Like an idiot, I hadn't backed up all of the word documents that I had created to make sense of my many notebooks full of notes, so I'll be slowly working on recreating those again.

It was just a long week, and I'm looking forward to this one!

My plans for the rest of the day include a lot of fabric cutting and sewing, along with some photo editing and trying to get caught up on my 365 Days Project!

What are you up to?

I'll Be Seeing You

There are people in our lives that we just can't see ourselves ever having to say goodbye to...our parents, siblings, grandparents. For me this also includes a couple of great-aunts and great-uncles. One of those great-aunts is my grandpa's sister Maxine.

She's spunky, loving, loyal, honest, one of a kind. She's the kind of person you just fall in love with.

She's just a little thing. I'm only 5'4, but I tower over her. Don't let her size fool you, though. She doesn't stand for people trying to bully her. And she's strong, stronger than she should have to be.

She married Ivan in 1949. One week before Christmas in 1963, Ivan was killed in a logging accident, leaving Maxine to raise 3 kids on a teacher's salary.

In 1970, Maxine married a wonderful man named Loyle and they were very happy together. He passed away in 1991.

Being born in 1927, you can imagine that she's lost many loved ones including her parents, two husbands, her only sister, one brother, one niece, and at least one brother-in-law and one sister-in-law. Saturday, she went into their waiting arms.

She's had respiratory issues for the past few years, and was admitted to a hospital in Omaha last week. She was heavily sedated, and things looked a little uncertain. Within a few days, she was able to be taken off the ventilator, and everything was looking good. Saturday morning, the doctors called in the family. Her two oldest kids and their spouses, and one of her grandsons and his wife had the honor of being with Maxine at the time of her passing.

She was an amazing woman, and will be greatly missed by all of us who were fortunate enough to have known her.

Weekend Wisdom

"Almost nobody dances sober, unless they happen to be insane."
~H. P. Lovecraft~

Be Back ASAP

We're experiencing a few technical difficulties. Our hard drive has decided to be difficult, so I won't be around much until we get it all figured out. I do plan to check in on everybody from my mom's house or my sis-in-law's house whenever I can, though! With any luck, Jeremy will get everything back up and running this weekend.

SAVE OUR FARMERS MARKETS AND GARDENS!

Many people heard about what the CPSIA was trying to do to handmade toys, and we all responded. Largely due to the amazing outcry of US citizens, that legislation has been postponed.

Now, there's another cause that is, in my opinion, even more important than saving handmade toys, and I'm asking you to help. Have you heard of HR 875? It's sponsored by Rep. Rosa DeLauro D-CT., the wife of Stan Greenberg, a political consultant for Monsanto. If passed, this bill will criminalize organic and backyard farming. Just like the CPSIA, HR 875 is hiding behind the "safety for our children" cover, but it is just another way of trying to put small farms out of business.

If this bill goes through, you can all kiss Farmer's Markets goodbye. I know many high school kids who help their parents farm so they can sell sweet corn and other vegetables during the summer to help raise money for cars, college, or just to have a little bit of spending money. There are elderly people who garden just to sell their produce at Farmer's Markets to make ends meet.

Small farms and backyard gardens are too valuable for us to just ignore this. You can read about it here, or look at the actual bill here. Click here to write to your representative, or go here for a form letter.

Also, feel free to use the button below (or on my side bar) I created to spread the word. You can link it back to this post, or to one of the links I provided above. I don't care, just as long as the word gets out and we put a stop to this.

Weekend Wisdom

"The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit."
~Nelson Henderson~

A Con and A Pro

I wish I had had my camera ready, but didn't, so there's no picture to go with this post.

This morning I was thinking that it kinda sucks where we live. I can't hang my laundry outside to dry during the week because of the dust from the grain elevators. Definitely a con of living in a tiny town.

Just now, our High School Girl's basketball team just got an escort out of town by the volunteer fire department and many of the parents - sirens wailing and horns honking. Once they reach the Roseland road on the edge of town, they will see signs that go on for over 2 miles wishing them good luck at their game tonight in Lincoln. I'd say that kind of community spirit is definitely a pro.

Easy Patchwork Bathmat Tutorial

A while back, I had saved a picture of a bathmat Meg made. I finally got around to making my own. The one we had in our bathroom was soooo soft, and I love it, but it was just too big.

Step 1: The mat will be 11 squares long by 8 squares wide (finished, it will be approx. 22"x16"). Cut out (88) 2 1/2" squares from coordinating fabrics. You don't need the same number of each fabric. I just used what I had on hand, mostly scraps, and had more of the yellow cotton and white eyelet than anything else.

Step 2: Lay out all of your squares on the floor/table, 11 across and 8 down. Sew each row together using a 1/4" seam allowance and press the seams to one side. Then sew the rows together and press seams. I recommend stacking each row, then laying out the finished strips one at a time before sewing all the rows together.

Step 3: Add any embellishments now. I didn't on this mat, but plan to make more and add some embroidery.

Step 4: Cut terry towl to size (22 1/2" x 16 1/2") and place the patchwork face down on towel to pin. Using a 1/4" seam allowance, sew the patchwork and towel together, leaving a 3-4 inch opening on one side for turning.

Step 5: Turn righ-side out and press. If you've done any embroidery, you may want to "quilt" around it. Topstitch around the edges, closing the gap as you go. You're done!

Here's a close-up of the one I made:

And the whole thing in our bathroom.

I plan on making another, slightly larger, mat soon. A Charm Pack would be great for this project.

Farm Chicks Giveaway

The Farm Chicks are having a giveaway! To enter, just go here.