I have been so busy the last few days I didn’t get the time to write and do a post. One of my friends came over to take some pictures of me for the blog and I was preparing for that. I also had several other things happening. I decided to post a small handful of pictures from an old road trip back many years ago. In Crested Butte, Colorado they have some fun, quirky ways of recycling or up cycling things in their yards, or on their houses, or as a couple of pictures show a decorated car! So I hope you enjoy these few pictures.
When I tell city people stories of mountain folk they often think they are quite bizarre, or funny. People get bored sometimes up in the mountains when its cold. They come up with some fun ideas. In Nederland, Colorado they celebrate a Frozen Dead Guy Day once a year! They have coffin races, people dress up dead and then at night they have a ball. They have tourists coming from all over now to see this crazy, festive day! Yes, there is a frozen dead guy up there. That’s another story.
I have also seen young children who are growing up in the mountains start successful small businesses. I was in a Crafters Guild with a young lady who started a soap business at twelve. Down in Boulder, Colorado they sell chocolates made by brothers who live up in Nederland, Colorado. Their mother drives the chocolates down the mountain and sells them to stores. In my experience mountain folk are fun and creative.
Many years ago, when I attended a Catholic high school, we were required to wear navy and white plaid skirts, white blouses and navy sweaters. We also were required to wear navy or black shoes. If it was very cold or we so desired, we could wear the uniformed navy slacks. By the time I finished high school I had had enough of navy to last me about twenty five years!
It’s only recently that I’ve been wanting more than a handful of darker blue pieces in my wardrobe. I also like the color teal or a softer shade or a deep turquoise blue. Several weeks ago I came upon a vintage large pocket wrap skirt at Stellah’s Vintage Groove in Bedford Stuyvesant. It was handmade so the quality caught my eye. It is that deep turquoise kind of blue, with little yellow apples with black stems. When I saw that hanging on the rack I immediately thought of how those colors could liven up my fall/winter clothing. It was a mere ten dollars and I am not sure when it was made. It has those large pockets like in the late 1940’s. If it was made later the fabric is vintage. I believe it was made about 1948 when those little apples seemed to be a popular pattern. I have enjoyed wearing it with either a white blouse or a deep golden yellow tee shirt . In the cold winter I will wear it with tights and a bulky sweater.
Picture by Angela Delacroix
Several months ago I bought a teal, navy mixed plaid dress with soft green and purple lines in it. It’s a vintage Prince Charmer dress, from the 1950’s. I find it kind of fun that it reminds me of my old Girl Scout dresses when I was very young. It is in good shape, other than a bit of fading from wash and wear. There are times it is difficult to deal with the pressure of trying to dress appropriately for offices and still trying to retain one’s own style. This dress is perfect since it has a lovely office look, yet is vintage and plaid. I always like plaids!
Picture by Angela Delacroix
I also have this lovely pale blue Fifth Avenue Mussallhem Product apron from the 1970’s. It is so pretty that sometimes I am tempted to upcycle it onto a skirt. The scene on the front is so cheerful ! It reminds me of Vesuvio Bakery on Prince Street in Soho, NY even though it is a different scene on the apron.
When I used to live in Colorado, my favorite apartment that I have ever lived in ever had a turquoise antique stove! The building had another just like it across the way, both used to be a 1950”s hotel. Then later it became a residential apartment building. When apartments there were for rent either people came to see them and loved it, or they took a look outside, saw that it looked like an old hotel and split. The people who lived there all loved it. Our neighbors tended to be other artistic and creative people. We had picnic tables between the buildings, and each apartment had a swinging love seat outside. It was such a quaint place to live. I could sit and watch the snow fall in winter from out my kitchen window. Often as I was cooking dinner I saw packs of raccoons or a couple of deer out in our yard between the two buildings. From my neighbor’s apartment on the second floor patio, we could at night and watch the sun setting over the mountains. So that turquoise stove remains fondly in my memory for inviting me to live in such a lovely place for several years.
I cannot think of blue without thinking of my Southwestern silver jewelry. I like to wear silver bracelets and turquoise with new clothes, thrifted outfits and even vintage. I enjoyed the nature and mountains out in the west. I loved seeing animals every day when I lived in Colorado. Often I saw deer, rabbits, raccoons, and even foxes on occasion. It is a beautiful feeling to be walking on a road and come across a family of deer. I remember one family where the mother or father looked me in the eye, as to see what my decision would be about allowing them to pass. I waited for the traffic to pass and crossed the road so they felt safe to continue. I also really thrived on the feeling one gets when digging and growing plants in a large garden plot such as I had in Boulder, Colorado. I rented it from the city for a small fee every spring. It was only three blocks from my apartment. I grew lots of herbs and flowers. I miss those kinds of feelings so much living in the city; so my Southwestern jewelry is a reminder of that spirit. I think the jewelry has become incorporated with who I am. I have carnelian pieces as well, or little red stones, prehnite pieces, yet they all have that Southwestern feel.
Life in the city for me is often brings up conflicting feelings. There are times I feel like I am on a long business trip. I came here hoping for more financial security. The recession has been a rough tumble. Perhaps things will turn around. I am in a state of flux, looking for more steady work right now.
I also wanted to be a part of Bedford Stuyvesant (in Brooklyn), NY, becoming more diverse as a neighborhood. It is a great neighborhood in Brooklyn, at least in my opinion. Years ago it used to be an area with a huge amount of crime and violence. Even twenty years ago I used to walk as far as I could, (one had to think of one’s safety) within the area and look at the old brownstones. I saw such promise there. Now I have actually seen the brownstones being renovated, I became a part of the community as well. I don’t live in that area anymore, but I am within a twenty minute bus ride away. One of the things I love about that neighborhood is that it is religiously and racially diverse area. People are respectful of one another, and very neighborly.
One of the hobbies I have during my time off is taking pictures of old brownstones and old houses. A couple of the houses in this post were built around 1903-1910 in the Ditmas Park area of Brooklyn. For this post I chose houses with lots of blue! This neighborhood is filled with lovely, old Dutch homes. The subway came to the Ditmas Park area around 1903, and during the 1900’s many homes were built. I have a lot of pictures of brownstones that I have taken through the years. I will share some of those in later post. The first few years after I moved back to Brooklyn I lived in two different brownstones. I wanted to live in a brownstone so much, to have that experience. It was great in some ways. Walking around and looking at old brownstones is really fun. I didn’t have a whole apartment living that way though, so eventually I moved further into Brooklyn. Now I have more space and rent stabilization; yet in order to get that I live in a larger building.
I hope you are enjoying fall where ever you are! It is such a lovely time of year. The changing of the season is an experience that I have always enjoyed.
I stopped by Geminola the other day, at 41 Perry Street in the West Village. The prices are out of my price range, however the sales lady was very friendly and allowed me to take photos of the lovely shop. It is absolutely gorgeous in there. Most of the clothing is from the 1920’s through 1030’s. Everything was in very good condition. The owner, Lorraine Kirke, takes the time to do any repairs or refurbishing needed to the pieces. She also takes custom orders for wedding gowns, which she makes from vintage fabrics and lace. Her website, geminola.com also shows some of the beautiful interior decorations that she is creates.
Fall is finally here! We’re still having a lot of hot days in New York so I have been looking forward to fall. We’ve had a few mornings where the air was crisp and windy. That was great; however it continues to warm up by afternoon. I will have to say “goodbye” to kayaking season soon. I like to kayak in the Hudson River over at Pier 26. They close that done around mid- October until spring. I am sure I can have some fun bike riding more often in Prospect Park this fall instead.
This time of year I usually crave pumpkin breads, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. I really am not much of a pie eater but, I never can make it throughout fall and winter without making several pumpkin pies. I even learned to make a dairy less, crust less one since I developed food allergies awhile back. I also make gluten free pumpkin bread with nuts and cranberries. I also like roasted beets, and thick soups filled with roasted squashes, carrots, onions, and then topped with pumpkin seeds and cranberries.
This year not only am I getting ready to crave the fall’s delicious flavors but, I decided I wanted more pumpkin in my wardrobe. I wanted a bit more cranberry and blue as well. Blue I will get to in another post.
The whole spring and summer I let most of my black clothing just hang in the closet. Only on a few occasions did I wear more than half a black outfit. New Yorkers tend to wear far too much black and I felt like I just had had my fill for a while. So I am cutting back on black. Typically I like to liven up my black outfits with quite a bit of red, which I will still do. I had decided in the last couple of years to increase grey in my wardrobe as an alternative to black. I still prefer the grey but this year I don’t need many clothes added to my wardrobe, so what I do add I wanted to be colorful.
I had found a BeeBop and Wally vintage inspired soft brown polka dot skirt a couple of months back at a Salvation Army for $7.00. The polka dots are crème colored and pumpkin. I have worn it several times with a white eyelet fabric hand me down blouse from my mother. I am not sure if the blouse was my mother’s or grandmother’s. This skirt will look great in the fall and winter with tights and a sweater. I have an old pumpkin colored wool sweater that I can pair with it as well. Plus I have a thick cotton cable crème colored sweater which will be cozy on colds days with the skirt.
The other pumpkin item I found was a men’s cowboy shirt sized medium; however it ran so small it fits me perfectly! It is made of a warm thick cotton covered with small flowers in brown and crème and has little crème colored snaps on the wrists and down the front instead of buttons. I found it at St. Luke’s thrift shop for $7.50 on a half off sale. The thrift shop seems to be having some great sales since they had to give up their back room to the children’s school next door. They haven’t much space now so they are having frequent sales! Lucky me! Last time I found a half off sale there I came away with a lovely sage green Three Dot viscose dress made in the USA for $7.00.
I had been yearning for a bright red cardigan sweater and searching high and low and just not finding one. Then one day I was in the West Village and stopped by Stella Dallas Living, a lovely vintage shop. I was enjoying looking at all its lovely dresses and coats. I had just left when outside I spotted a barrel of antique silk scarves and next to it a rack of cashmere sweaters. I decided to buy a cranberry antique Lord and Taylor’s cashmere sweater. It was $30 and in perfect condition. Considering how I had been looking so much and couldn’t even find a new one for that price that I liked, I was happy to find it at last.
I also have a cranberry long sleeve tee shirt that hasn’t been getting much wear. It’s still pretty, so therefore I am going to upcycle it into a dress. I have silk fabric from what used to be an old cranberry colored maxi dress. I am going to attach the two, make a shorter dress and use a decorated brocade ribbon to tie the look together.
Those are a few of my fall clothing pieces that I am looking forward to enjoying. I am eager to see the leaves changing and plan on going up to Westchester County, NY at some point for an afternoon. The pictures in this post of woods were taken up in Armonk, NY when my mother used to live there. Two years ago I took a train ride up the Hudson River to Peekskill, NY. Then I took a long walk across the river on a bridge. The trees below lined the river and there is a section of forest across the river, to walk through. An afternoon such as that is what I am craving!
