What's my Style?

Over the summer I began thinking more about what type of clothing I really want to add to my wardrobe, what actually is my favourite era then I realized I don't have one. I end up going by what show or movie I'm watching at the time and it becomes my new favourite. Which is making for a fun wardrobe!!
So this past spring/ summer I watched
Land Girls / Agent Carter  for my 40's look.

Granite Flats  geared me to a 60's casual summer style.

Then I headed over to Miss Fisher and made myself a 20's inspired outfit.

( All the fabric for this was once again thrifted so it was an under $10 outfit. The hat was made from a pattern I got from Etsy)

Now I'm onto Doctor Who which has styles all over the place and worlds, hehe and I must say I am more partial when he travels to the past then the future. For the past couple of years my mind has been in and out of Steampunk. Mostly because it's a modern twist on the Victorian era (adore) which to me kind of suits the weird world of Doctor Who. 

When I was looking for a jacket pattern this one kept popping up in the Steampunk category on Pinterest. I just thought it would look great as a 50's style too so I'm seeing this pattern resurrect itself as Steampunk.  

I'm seeing a lot of plaids and ruffled skirts in my future but not the full blown corsets that is often associated with Steampunk. If I can get what I want in my head transfered to the sewing table I'm liking the results. Although my head and my hands sometimes disagree so we shall see!  I already have a chair though.  :)

On the Hunt for Lola

Meet Lola (or her look-a-like). This is Director Coulson's flying car in Agents of Shield. Yes I've said it before and I'll say it again I'm a Marvel geek.

                                           

                                                                                            (  source )

         This past weekend was our annual Beanfest and Car show so this year I was on the hunt for Lola.

We came close.(Sorry these were phone pictures)

Then there is my soft spot for the pick-up truck. It stems from growing up on a farm and never being without one.

I could take either one of these babies home.

This car show never disappoints with over the 1000 cars that show up throughout the day and I'm pretty sure we've never picked the same car twice as the "one". :)

How could I Forget??

Last weekend we went to visit the boys in their new digs. We've known for a while what home they finally decided upon and I could hardly wait to take pictures. Then I forgot my camera and had to rely on a few pictures that I took with my ipad. It's incredible hard to take pictures of 55 acres with just an ipad but here are a few. Sorry any indoor pictures didn't really turn out.

It was really hard to say good-bye to this. From walking literally miles of trails cut through the bush to hanging out in the hot tub it was for me a little slice of paradise complete with no bugs.  Next time I promise I won't forget my camera. :)

It's such a Peachy Day!

This past weekend I had just finished telling my daughter that I wasn't going to can any peaches. Just maybe make some jam and freeze a few. Then a friend of ours was offering peaches for sale so I order a bushel.
Feeling as I have been, I've been trying everything including changing my diet and one of those things is cutting out white sugar. I'd have to say after a couple of weeks I'm feeling a little better. It wasn't like I was eating a lot of sugary things but like I said I'm giving anything a whirl. Maple Syrup or honey has become my choice of sweetener for most things all ready but now the ban on white sugar has become hard core.
Canned fruit is usual laced with lots of sugar but ever since I started canning I've never followed the recommended sugar for the recipe. I've always cut way back but this time I wanted to cut it out all together.
So while checking out some wartime recipes for fun I noticed canning fruit in their own syrup. Then I surfed around the world wide web some more and found this holy grail of recipes.  Maple Vanilla Canned Peaches.

I've cut back on the maple syrup using only one cup to 5 cups of water and found it plenty sweet. I also used some really good pure vanilla instead of the bean. I gave this nectar around to all who entered my home for a taste and it passed the taste test with flying colours.

If you are looking to can up a couple of jars I highly recommend giving this recipe a try, I'm pretty sure I'm never going back to plain old sugary peaches again.:)

What Happen???

Remember how I said that I was going to tell you why I don't wear lipstick and what the details of my 1940's suit was? Remember last year I was making a crochet rag rug and never showed you the finished product? Remember I wanted to make a crochet hat pattern to share a looonnnng time ago?

So what happen?? Between life happening and losing interest in some projects along the way everything just got put into a pile, forgotten or neglected like my blog recently.
This month has been about a health check because I've hit a wall of exhaustion. Looking back it's been coming on since last summer but I kept putting what I was feeling as  "it's all in my head" because  that's what I do. (It's probably why I was sick every other week this winter)  Finally this past June I gave up thinking it was all in my head when things started getting worse and went to the doctors. So now we test for this and that and I've gotten a few answers but still can't seem to shake the need to have a two hour nap in the afternoon and 12 hours of sleep at night. The rest of the time I just drag myself around waiting for those magical good days to pop up when I can get something done.

In order for me to feel like I accomplished something I got out my rag rug a month ago and finished it.  Now you know why I never showed you because I didn't finish it.

It has been so nice to wake up in the morning while we are camping and step onto this cozy rug and it felt great to finish something that had gone onto a pile of forgotteness. 

I also cut my hair. All these cute short cuts where showing up online and so I took a cue from Miss Fisher and went slightly longer then her but I sure do like it. 

And now for the burning question as to why I don't wear lipstick.

No matter what kind of lipstick inexpensive or expensive it dries my lips something fierce and if I don't take care of the dryness right away it can develop into a cold sore. So when my beets are ready I'll be drying a few to make beet root powder and make my own lip colour from beeswax and coconut oil. 

The forgotten hat pattern wasn't really forgotten, I just found this one by Hopeful Honey for free and it turned out lovely. I wanted to line it for winter but winter was slipping away already when I made it so it went back onto a pile of things to have ready for winter. 

I still want to give you the details of the suit because there is another story that goes with it that I want to share. So in between naps I'll hopefully get that done but if I'm absent for awhile you'll now know why. 

:)

Cherries Baby!

The last two weeks have been super duper busy and I'm not done yet with all this busyness. But I thought I'd sneak in a few photos of my 1940's cherry suit and my fabulous new shoes from Modcloth.

(Another rainy day, another photo shoot on the porch.)

Next week I'll give you all the dirt on the pattern the fabric... you know all that fun stuff and why I don't wear lipstick. :)

Pinterest #10

Up until a few days ago we were living the high life. We could go for walks and jump on the trampoline well into the evening. It was all good but then THEY showed up. Those blood sucking little vampires that make going outside anytime of day a nightmare.

Before we went camping I had made us a mosquito bar but we didn't need it. No bugs and that's the way it's been until now. 

Since this to me is a "does it really work" Pinterest review I have been passing this bar around and getting people's opinion. So far it fallen in the "yes" category and it's been working against some major battles too. Ive been able to water my plants in the evening with literally swarms circling me, bouncing off me and no bites. I've tried another deet free bug spray with not as much luck. 

 Sustain Create and Flow is where this pin originally came from and I found it to be a quick and easy recipe to follow. 

In the recipe she took out the coconut oil but I put it back in. I also didn't exactly follow the amount of essential oils either. Some of the oils we can't get here as written so I had to improvise. My "bugless" oil was mostly citronella oil but I did add a bit of lavender too. 

In the end I went by smell, so mine has a very strong citronella/ lemongrass to it. I'd say I put in at least 20 drops of citronella and anywhere from 10-15 of the rest. 

After application of the bar the smell eventually will dissipate and you need to reapply maybe every hour if you were going to be continuously outside. I'm ok with that because everytime I'm using it I'm mostuizing my arms and legs and my skin is loving that. 

You may ask why didn't I make a spray? I still might but I think this is easier to apply where I want it and easier to put on little ones arms and legs.

Ok here's what mine looks like. Not pretty like the ones you see on Pinterest  but I'm ok with that as long as it works.:)