Whispering White

"Know you what it is to be a child?

. . . it is to believe in love,

to believe in loveliness,

to believe in belief;

it is to be so little that the elves can reach to whisper in your ear;

it is to turn pumpkins into coaches, and mice into horses,

lowness into loftiness,

and nothing into everything,

for each child has its fairy godmother in its soul."

Francis Thompson, Shelley, In the Dublin Review [July 1908]

Thanks so much for stopping by my little corner of the world! Ciao! for now!

Jacqueline

It's time to join Kathleen at Faded Charm for White Wednesday! It's the place to be if you love white!

VICTORIA--Past Pages

I first met Victoria in the wilderness of my life when I lived for two years with my family on a few acres of undeveloped land in New Mexico in the late 80's. During THAT recession we had suffered a reversal of fortune (as it is so poetically phrased), and had retreated to a piece of ground that we owned, and which felt to me like a godforsaken place.




My husband hated me using that phrase. But I could feel my brain alter and my cells morph beneath the unrelenting desert sun. We were eight miles from a tiny town and "convenience" store, and forty-five miles from the city. My soul swelled up with the soreness that comes from trial, hardship, and isolation. I watched myself change, the way you observe a pregnancy changing you physically, a little at a time, and you know that you will never be the same again.




How wise a choice it was for city people to start over like pioneers I can't say. We lived too far from the highway to afford phone lines. Our nearest neighbor, a stranger, was a quarter mile away. Our large family occupied a single-wide mobile home that I have since joked was like living in a major appliance! We only went without electricity for a week. Without running water for a year. Mary Jane Butters would be so proud of me! (Be sure to look her up if you haven't heard of her.)



While the rest of the family would leave in the early morning, my trailing toddler and I would take care of business at home. Once each day we took the two mile round trip pilgrimage to the post office. Letters were my social life, and there was often one from a good friend or family member. Some form of joy usually arrived in the daily mail. Enter Victoria Magazine!




Like everyone else, I first found the publication on the newsstand. Thereafter, it arrived like manna from heaven. I would squirrel away in a soft corner and savor each phrase of text, pore over each beautiful photograph. I'm sure this is where I developed the habit of reading a magazine from first page to last without EVER peeking ahead until it was finished. When the magazine went away it was like losing an old and true friend.

The wilderness days were long past when Victoria stopped publication. I got on line and acquired every missing issue of my collection. I now carry the resurrected version of Victoria in my vintage shop, and am so happy to have it back! I have rows and stacks of issues around my home. I would no more think of throwing them out than I would a long lost friend.

Thanks so much for stopping by my little corner of the world! Ciao! for now!

Jacqueline

I've joined Kathy at A Delightsome Life for her first
Victoria--A Return to Loveliness blog party! I hope you will too!

Cottage Living

I had a hard time settling into what things were right for my pueblo style home until I finally realized I was living in a cottage.

There is a fair amount of space overall. But the old house had been added onto in a u-shape surrounding a court-yard, Santa Fe style. The rooms are small.

This one consideration solved so many decorating problems for me. Instead of trying to be like suburbia, we settled into our old world style home like it was sitting in some ancient village.

Lucky thing--because I love all the different interpretations of "cottage" so much! What you find here on the table is not much of what you see inside. My floral plates and linens are mostly reserved for bedrooms or patios. But a little goes a long way!

My pink cottage-ware tea pot and sugar and creamer stack in a tower.

My rose cup is from Germany with a Limoges saucer, and sits on yet a different Limoges pattern in the dinner plate.

I have a few very old garden trellises that I find for almost nothing, with missing parts, but with all of their CHARACTER intact. They make a good backdrop for a garden setting, and are easy to relocate wherever the mood strikes you.

Drape a couple of yards of vintage fabric over a chair and you can imagine you are in the English countryside!

Thanks so much for stopping by to my little corner of the world! Ciao! for now!

Jacqueline

I'm linking up with The House in the Roses for Show Off Your Cottage Monday!
and Artful Affirmations and Martha's Favorites for Teacup Tuesday!

HOORAY!!!

HOORAY for the RED . . .



WHITE . . .



and BLUE!

Happy 4th of July!

Jacqueline

VACATION !!

My picnic blanket is an old vintage coverlet. I always imagine it on a cabin bunkhouse bed with old twig furniture. It's worn and soft now with a few stains so it can be lugged around without fussing over it too much. I like having vintage things you can actually USE!

The pillow cover is vintage too. The smocking on it looks like it would be lots of fun to do. It's in mint condition, like new, with lots of life left! Red checks are so cheery!


I love old jars. There's so much you can do with them, both practical and decorative. I just had to have this one with the RED lid. Perfect for messing around outside where you don't want to spill things on your blanket! So much better than PLASTIC!

I found this old suitcase with the sides all torn up, so I papered it with one of my favorite travel themes. Luggage tags! Old luggage is perfect for storage of all kinds. You can pack up your picnic stuff and grab a handle and go. Stow books and magazines, whatever and then use the top as a table! Stuff it all back in and back home you go!

I imagine that I snitched it from some Ralph Lauren display! haha The vintage linen tea towel with the red stripe is practical for tons of stuff too. Since paper towels came into vogue you don't see towels schlepped around very much, but I have tons! Indispensable when you have kids around and very eco-friendly. Makes me feel very responsible while I'm indulging myself!

Oh the romance of the golden age of travel! Love it!

What's better than an icy drink on a hot afternoon!

I just about wet my pants when I found these old croquet mallets! I encounter a lot of them here and there but almost NEVER with the dark wood. Here I go with the RALPH fantasies again!

I guess croquet has become one of our "granny camp" standbys. They are a kid magnet even if you're not playing a game. Don't you love the sound of smacking a wooden ball?

Where would you plant your picnic?

Ciao! for now! Thanks for stopping by! Hope your vacation is good too!

Jacqueline

I'm joining The Tablescaper for Summer Sundays,
and Between Naps on the Porch, for Metamorphosis Monday!


I'm also linked with A Southern Daydreamer,
A Few of My Favorite Things ,
How Sweet the Sound ,
Under the Table and Dreaming,
Its a Very Cherry World,
and Ruby Tuesday!

Flotsam & Jetsam

My shared items are all contained within the same room that I have already shown a bit from in my NESTING post. I can never resist nautical references. Flotsam is the part of the wreckage of a ship and its cargo found floating in the water, or useless or unimportant items. Jetsam are goods tossed in the water purposely to lighten the load for stability, or in an emergency. They sink to the bottom or are washed ashore.

What follows are treasures that washed up or were found floating around here and there. . . I don't even know what the first item really was for (above). I found it at Goodwill. It's a round bottle with a rusted lid that sets in an ornate metal stand.

My antique Santo wears an ivory beaded necklace that was tossed in a basket of plastic jewelry at a flea market.

Oak leaf furniture applique.

The set of two books are 12 x 15 and full of antique engravings. A thick old Websters dictionary sits on top. A round stone box is a travel memento. The lichen, from a hike.

Ivory handled knives on a leather book. Nesting weight measures from a European flea market.Wooden baby shoe forms.

Limoges hand painted bird plate. Flea market.

I stuck these repro postcards on my mirror because it cracked during transit. I didn't want to remove the old foxed glass and replace it with new.

Discarded leather books with marbled edges.

Pot metal clock figure with a hoof broken off. Someone's copper 1951 homecoming trophy cup.

Fifteen volume Pageant of America history books. Discarded.

I found the violin at a flea market missing all its removable parts except three pegs. When I picked it up and turned it over I discovered the mother-of-pearl inlay and carving.

Postcard size original watercolor of a dog, $3.00. "Globe" desk calendar from Portobello Road. Antique deer horn magnifying glass. (Okay so I had to pay for that one.)

For more Show and Tell Friday fun visit My Romantic Home.

Ciao! for now! Thanks for stopping by!

Jacqueline