Monday, October 31, 2011

blog #492 >> Happy Halloween

Wishing everyone a Happy Halloween with an assortment of my favorite Halloween pintrest pins!

from pintrest

From maudelynn.tumblr.com who has LOTS of great Halloween pics.
"Paulette Goddard and Bob Hope in a promo still for The Ghost Breakers"


From jmurphybears.com

From livingbettertogether.blogspot.com

From happybirdycake.blogspot.com

From marthastewart.com

From community.livejournal.com

From myowlbarn.com

From maudelynn.tumblr.com

Enjoy!
T

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

blog #491 >> Driving Miss. Florence

"Florence" is beyond any doubt, the name of my car.
I'm not sure how I could ever have thought of any other.
She has the personality of a little old lady.
She's slow to start out, slow to stop.
She takes her time, and never rushes.
And she has already made many of her likes and dislikes quite clear.
I'm not saying she's a complainer, she just lets you know what she's thinking, without beating around the bush.
For instance, Florence likes waiting a minute before rushing out in the morning.
Florence also likes to go down hill... FAST!
Florence doesn't like to go up hill fast.
And Florence does not like her doors to be locked or unlocked EVER!

(image found at Pintrest, from this site.)

Today, was my first day of actually driving Miss. Florence, and she is everything I remember driving an old car to be, for good and bad. But it's funny how the two mix in your memory. One thing is certain, driving an old car always leaves a chance for an exciting day everyday. You never really know if you're going to make it to and from your destination. I've yet to build much confidence in the old girl, but that will come. The more you drive it, the more you trust it. But she may not have much confidence in me yet either. That's probably why she keeps on locking me out. "Help! Save me from this girl who doesn't know what she's doing!!!"

Everything is exactly how I remember it, pumping the gas and revving the engine a little before starting out when the engine is cold. Taking the corners slow, breaking before you actually need to stop, speeding up nice and easy, it's surprising how quickly those things came back. It's a good thing I'm not an impatient driver. She's not the car for an impatient driver. We're a good fit for each other in that way, neither of us care much when we get someplace, it's more about how we get there.


But the thing I think I like best about her is the fit of the steering wheel, and signal light. It's not one of those bulky, fat, chunky, plastic things. It's slight, slender, sleek and large. It turns smoothly with precision, and it fits my long-slender fingers perfectly. And I can just flick that tiny little wire signal light over with my tiny little finger.
...thing I like least? THE BLOODY DOORS WON'T LOCK! And when I finally get it locked, it's even harder to unlock. (However, I did get some "Lock Ease" for the locks and at least the passenger side works pretty slick now.) I seriously thought I was locked out of it this afternoon, and then I realized I had been turning the key the wrong direction. *sigh* I obviously still have much to learn about Florence.

Well, tomorrow is going to be a busy day! I've got to call about insurance and take a trip to the DMV. This is the not-so-fun part of buying a car. But I'm excited to see what the next couple of weeks have in store for me.
Will Florence break down on the side of the road leaving me stranded to walk home? Or will she continue being constant, reliable and running smooth as silk?
In truth, I'm guess the future will consist of both.
Cheers!
T

Sunday, October 16, 2011

blog #490 >> Rambler

Somebody's got a new car...
And that somebody is ME!!! I'm so excited, I'm giddy.


I will never know how fast I'm driving.



I've wanted a new car for quite awhile now, but it's never really worked out. Whenever I see one I really like and think, "Hey I should buy that." It sells before I've a chance to give it a third or forth thought. Then I always come back to the same notion, the car I have is fine. Why get rid of it just because I'm tired of it? As I said, the car I've had for several years now, has been a fine car... Not a great car, not a bad car, just a fine car. It breaks down occasionally, but nothing to warrant replacing it. But this past month it's been a bit of a headache. First, it failed DEQ, which was actually quite a shocker, it's not that old of a car, and it's got super low miles. Even the lady at DEQ mentioned its low miles. Next it needed a new battery. Yes, fine, it hasn't had a new battery since I've had it, cars need stuff like that. Then, it cost over $500 to get it fixed just so it could pass DEQ, not much over... (okay it was $501) but it just keeps on adding up. Basically, it's getting annoying. And the sad part is, I don't love the car. If I did, I wouldn't care how much it broke down or how much it cost to get it fixed. I really want a car I love again. I want another Hornet. If I'm going to have an old car that's breaking down all the time, I want to love it.
So I decided to start looking. I scoured the ads on Craig's List with a fixed price range with-in my budget. I started in 1970 and worked my way down. I found a lot of contenders. A few can be seen here, here, and here. And I went to visit a couple of them, but the Rambler has been one of my favorites from the beginning. And the more I saw of it, the more I loved it. Plus, it looks a bit like the Hornet. It has that nice old car smell and rumbling engine. I'm trying to pick a name for it now... it's between Ramblin' Rod, and Florence Hobart, (after the original owner.) I just can't decide.
It's a 1965 Rambler American and I'm picking it up tomorrow after a trip to the bank.
I can't wait!
T

p.s. Anyone want to buy a 1996 Ford Taurus, recently passed DEQ, with low miles?

Saturday, October 1, 2011

blog #489 >> Red Plaid Skirt

I must admit, I finished this skirt awhile ago, but I just now got around to taking pictures of it. The fabric is from The Sew Weekly, "Mad About Plaid" fabric bundle. ...and I have a confession to make, I didn't use the buttons. After a lot of planning, I went with a larger variety. But I'm sure those little fellows will be perfect, and exactly what I need for something else. I love how this skirt turned out and I can't wait to make the matching hat and bag to go with it!
(This was also my first full project with Evette, and she did a swell job. But she wasn't so smooth with the thin slippery lining. I've still got some bugs to work out of her, and she's still got to go into the shop. But we're off to a promising start.)
Cheers!
T
p.s. The pocket idea came from pintrest.







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For today's bonus post you need to go check out these fantastic lady ties made by my blogging friend Flapper Girl. They are a great way to jump into fall fashion.
Buy them on etsy here!