Happy Easter

Summer Silk

I fell in love with this silk Peter Jensen dress while hopping around the internet.  The "Lodge" print reminds me of the summer I spent in the mountains.  I think it would go quite nicely with the nude Swedish Hasbeens that I recently acquired dreaming of Summer.  I'm also kind of loving this model's up-do.  Makes me long for those bangs that framed my face for so many years.  I've been secretly considering taking the plunge and getting them again.

 Peter Jensen

Mid-Century Recovery

They are finally finished... The chairs that took a great deal of blood sweat and tears.  Between re-foaming the seats and backs and waiting for the fabric to arrive from the manufacturer, it was quite a lengthy process.  I'd only ever tried smaller upholstery projects in the past and these were a little trickier.  I had to shape the foam myself and apply decorative tacks to the seat backs.  It was all worth it.  Im very pleased with the results.  I've already had a couple of offers to buy them,  but i think these ones will be for me.  I just like them too much.

Here are a few other snapshots of the process.

Saving the Daylight

Tonight is the night when the clocks slide forward and we get to have a little more light in our lives.  The city is shifting - warming up to spring.  I have been busy puttering around the house and have found a lot of joy in having some springy flowers about to muffle the sights of melting snowbanks.  I image we will see some flakes again before it is totally safe to put away the puffy coats for good, but still something has shifted.

Soul Soothing

I've been a little under the weather lately and have been spending a lot of time on this...
Couldn't be more pleased with this purchase.
I've also been working on a few other projects to show and tell shortly. Stay Tuned.

Joyeux Noël

The cutest little Charlie Brown Christmas tree that ever lived in downtown Ottawa. My first hotel room Christmas. Its cozy in here and cold and white outside. Just how we like it.

Holly Jolly

This is what the holiday season brings. So grateful to have this delightful space to relax in.

Pheasantries

Found this amazing piece of fabric at the Junction Flea this morning. Vintage Sanderson. It was a full length curtain belonging to an old home ec teacher. She has perfectly finished two yards of the stuff. It is a lovely thick linen. Not sure what it will become yet. For now an extra bedspread or very soon, a throw on the new couch I'm waiting to be delivered.

Sewing Service

I'd been looking at this table for weeks, trying to figure out what colour would suit it as the wood veneer was chipping and worn. I tossed around red, white, yellow but then finally settled on shiny olive green. I like that it has a little punch. It's quite a contrast to the wall now, but it's growing on me.

Second Spring

I think it's the second spring since I started writing this blog. I'm reminded of how much I love the light in my kitchen at this time if year and how lucky I am to have such a whimsical space to call my own. I'm going to endeavor to write more as the summer unfolds. Toronto is full of many dear people and lots of adventures.

Pageant Party

I'm in Halifax working on another play. it's called Pageant and I get to wear fancy tiaras and glorious gowns. There are a few twists and turns as I spend the second act with my face entirely obscured by bandages due to some botched plastic surgery. I've been collecting pictures of beauty queens and pageants on Pinterest. I get a real kick out of the people who repost my images sincerely adding them to their "My Style" boards.
I'm quite partial to this old old gem however. Miss Canada has the best shoes of all. Who knew Canada was a state!

Amelia Earhart

This lovely little Amelia Earhart suitcase is homeward bound with my brother tomorrow. I've packed it with all my Christmas goodies to be discovered again when I return from theatre land.

Granville Christmas

Some fancy Christmas salt and pepper flare. Happy holidays from la plume de ma tante

Irish Intelligence/Emerald Elegance

There has always been a lot of green in my life.  A colour I find comforting, yet still a little mysterious.  Today I was dreaming of my old room when I first moved to Toronto, on Markham Street.  The first thing I did when I moved in was paint it this glorious green.  I spent the day with a stranger who helped me fill the holes and "cut in".  My lovely roommate Steven made us a delightful meal, "His Mother's Tilapia", and we all dined together, an instant community.  This stranger is still with me, much less strange now, and I feel lucky. This past fall I was surprised with this wonderful little green velour chair that looks as if it fell right out of the fifties, perfect condition, not a mark on it.  It is just the right size for my 5'3" stature or,  more realistically, holding the otherwise strewn about clothing in my bedroom.  My mother was just here for a visit.  She stayed in my bedroom and seemed to enjoy the chair as well.  We spent a week visiting museums and eating nice food.   When my mother was closer to my age, she took a trip to Ireland and brought all of her sisters and herself back claddagh rings.  They are an Irish family and have always worn them proudly.    Knowing that the history and the green stone have a whole new meaning for me now, she felt it was the right time for me to have her ring.    Leaving it with me the morning she left,  it hasn't left my finger since.  

Mirror...mirror...on the wall.

I stumbled upon two rather fortunate mirrors as of late.  The first of which I will feature here today.  It was probably made in the late 60's to the early 70's from from a weird and somewhat miraculous substance called Syroco - a mysterious wood/plastic blend. Hmm...  I contemplated painting it but decided that I like it's worn gold sheen just fine.  It also casts a pretty dramatic shadow.