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.

White Whimsy

Last Tuesday I ventured to the Distillery District to join a group of around 400 other diners dressed in white for Toronto's first Diner En Blanc - a flash-mob picnic of sorts.  We received a text message informing us of the secret location an hour before the meeting time, loaded our picnic baskets with delights and furnishings for our table and set out to dine al fresco with a group of strangers.  It was a lovely evening.   La plume de ma tante was able to lend a few items to the occasion.  I was very proud of how the table and the food turned out. Seems the Toronto Star agreed.

Ex Libris

la plume de ma tante's vintage spread is on display for the month of September at the Spadina Road Library in Toronto.  Many Thanks so Mariella for bringing me in for a wee stay.  Come by and visit.

Summer Scavenge

I've been lucky enough to run the roads a little this summer.  A couple of weekends ago I traveled to Port Elgin Ontario to visit with my dear friends Tom and Ali at Tom's childhood family cottage.  I was treated to numerous lake Huron swims, a canoe ride at sunset, the Keady Market, family feasts and a country road garage sale.  Above is a photograph taken by Ali on our way home from the sale (it wasn't much of a sale as everything had turned to "free" by the time we got there).  Ali suggested it might be nice to see me in action as I hunt down the trinkets and wares I collect and photograph.  I ended up taking away this lovely little serving bowl which we then filled with dark pickled beets for dinner.   

La Belle Epoque

This entry comes to us direct from the muddy banks of Granville Ferry, NS. (photography courtesy of my mom and dad)  On a recent trip to Ontario, my mother was able to collect her late sister Wendy's carefully preserved antique wedding dress.  Upon returning home, she put it on her Judy and sent me a few of the photographs as she knew I'd appreciate the detail.  My aunt had purchased the dress at a vintage shop in Toronto in the early 80's.  It is Edwardian and is all hand done - the lace to the overcasting.  Pretty remarkable really.  Directly above is a family photo from the wedding, circa 1983. You can see how delightful it was on my aunt, she reminds me of a Gibson Girl.  My mother is on the left, pregnant with my brother,  in a dress she made for herself.   I'm the wee lass in the front in my lavender smock dress.