Summertime and the Living is Easy....

I don't know about you, but I wait to eat some foods in season......they just taste better...I don't mind the wait....

My frig is full of local cherries from Eastern Washington, & a big box of ripe organic strawberries up from southern California....Is there anything better than the first tender basil leaves of summer?

I won't have my own great big garden this year....I just moved into my new house, so I rely on the Farmer's Markets here in Tacoma.....all 4 of them....
Yup, one on Sunday, one on Tuesday, one on Thursday, and on Saturday morning...all within a mile or 2 of my home.....& I think there's more if I want to venture even just a little further!

Summer is here, I've been having fun ...finally wearing tank tops and short skirts..yes...Finally! Sandals, and moccasins and sunglasses!
I listed some sunny-weather-only.....vintage sunglasses, a few vintage summer dresses and a sweet tunic top in the etsy shop today.

From the top:
1. Serengeti Drivers are the best. They aren't your average sunglasses....This pair, the classic, aviator style is a cool copper color all the way.
2. Fab I Ski cobalt blue with a shaded ombre purple.....
Quality plastic vintage frames and glass shaded lenses.
3. Vintage Cool Ray Polaroid awesome translucent tortoise frames, chunky rectangle shape frames for the 60s Mod groove. You won't be a big square when you wear these!

When it's hot, I love a sweet simple shift.....Cool and calm in colors of lime green and marina blue and dreamscape lavender, on a white background.

Silky cotton satin is a simple shape with a eye-catching impressionist floral print.


This cute dress has a wide stripe of woodland meadow ferns and flowers....so pretty!
Sweet 70s dress with lots of earth tones in flowers, butterflies and mushrooms, with a blue daisy print.

Puffy sleeves, and a blouson top, with elastic at the top of the skirt.



Soft creamy cotton muslin, rainbow cotton embroidery threads and a comfy classic style...
Mexican dresses like this are a summer classic.




Another great shift dress......Stunning big orange poppies pop up over a flower bed of white and green and yellow daisies!

Teal cotton, 60s vintage dress is a comfy shift style. Straight style with bust darts, it goes on over the head.



Long red 50s vintage scarf is the perfect final touch for that charming outfit!
So versatile...
Cool watercolor rose garden, sheer cotton tunic top is the loveliest for a hot day.

Made of a sheer light printed voile cotton, it's in shades of peach, gray and gold, with halting black lines.






Mark and I bought some big basil plants...we love basil! The herb garden won't wait...We just brought home some lavender, thyme and rosemary.
The tomatoes and pepper plants will go in the fresh new garden bed tomorrow...
Once the garden gets established....it'll get bigger and bigger as I add in bean seeds, and whatever strikes my fancy this summer. Right now, I have to plant vegetable seeds that have a 60 day grow season...but late in August I'll plant lettuce, radish, peas, and other traditional spring crops....which will ripen in the early fall.

I have a huge collection of summer sandals and tennies too. I guess I'll always be a California Girl.....up here you can only wear such silly footwear about 3 months of the year, unless you like cold wet feet. 9 months of the year my feet are in boots and wool socks.
But when the warm weather happens, be it April in a weird warm streak, or into October with sultry Indian summer days...you will see my feet and my painted toes....
showing off in my multitudes of summer shoes that spend their lives in dark cardboard boxes like debutantes without dates, waiting for the sunshine phone to ring......

The Top 8 Clean Car Technologies Most Likely to Take Over for Gas

The Top 8 Clean Car Technologies Most Likely to Take Over for Gas

The standard by which I measure......

Daniel Clowes.....always......click it. Really, it's OK. It's a tumbler and this is the best I can do about that...

In honor of MJ...deregulation and Ronald Reagan..and other types of out of control behavior....

I am earnest. I can't do the Shiny Happy People thing, but I am basically happy...considering I am living thru the time in history that saw the lovely society formed by The New Deal, being dismantled by the Republican Revolution, for which Ronald Reagan reigned as First King of Destruction, Federal Edition.
Reagan said this: "

I don't believe in a government that protects us from ourselves.

Ronald Reagan

And he meant It !! Regulation is the way we protect ourselves from evil assholes, hopefully. And, when the regulations on dangerous companies become Republican-style weak, Reagan's beloved Deregulation, the BP Oil spill is what happens.

The BP Oil Debacle is the Exact Universe the Republicans wanted, and what Libertarians wanted ....it is their Wet Dream!

And here is the difference between Irony and Coincidence... So, discuss.....is the BP oil hell, Irony, in that, with Deregulation, companies do what the fuck they want and when the shit hits the fan, Republicans call...For...Regulations !!!
....or just a Coincidence that deregulation and catastrophe happened at the same time, and most of the oil is washing up on the shores of states lead by Republican governors.

Texas - Governor Rick Perry, Mississippi - Governor Haley Barbour, Louisiana - Governor Bobby Jindal, Florida - Governor Charlie Crist, Alabama - Governor Bob Riley.

my mind boggles.


This link dates to Sept. 11, 2008, in the Bush/Cheney years..........."Government officials in charge of collecting billions of dollars worth of royalties from oil and gas companies accepted gifts, steered contracts to favored clients and engaged in drug use and illicit sex with employees of the energy firms, federal investigators reported yesterday." and it goes on...

that's from the Washington Post. Billions. Of. Dollars. that belong to you and me.that the oil companies kept because of deregulations and corrupt "regulators" in the Republican "governance" in the last 30 years......

So...I can do better than that.... I prefer this:
Back to Daniel Clowes.....


Aren't you glad that we have recalls of dangerous items? That's regulations at work!
;-)
So, regulations of dangerous or potentially dangerous activities...is a very good thing...and over-regulation is not a good thing.


Mindless shopping ...no, let's not do that. But Shopping Is Fun!!
Yes it is and we are wired for it.....
So, buy vintage and used as often as possible.....Fix, repair, mend and make when you can.
Here's some of my faves around the internets.

Electric Cars !

Urban Farming !

Parks ! this land is your land, this land is my land...

Sunburst Industrial clock

A feature of many a Mid Century Modern living room was a big clock that hung over the sofa or over the big wood record player/radio combo console.
Recently I found 50s clock influenced by the iconic Sunburst clock but in a smaller form. It's made of glass and metal....no plastic!

Here's that famous sunburst clock...by George Nelson's company for the Herman (later, the Howard) Miller company. It's available here as a reproduction!
In 1945 George Nelson produced a Herman Miller Catalog, a furniture firm that was looking to break with old traditional designs of furniture and home decor and embrace modern styles.
Some of the most famous home furnishings of the 20th century were designed by Ray and Charles Eames, Harry Bertoia, Isamu Noguchi, Donald Knorr and many more.



Builder and real estate developer Joseph Eichler brought Mid Century Modern architecture ("Eichler Homes") to Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay area, and on the east coast. They have huge walls of glass, lots of hard surfaces in concrete and wood, the shine of steel, and polished wood.

Perhaps the most Mid Century Modern town in the US is Palm Springs.......and they celebrate that each February with tours of iconic homes and gardens, screenings of documentary films on the history of mcm design and the designers, the manufacturing process, and the food and drink of the times.Music is a big part of creating the whole mood of the mid century experience and crooners like Frank Sinatra, moody cocktail music like Martin Denny's Tiki Kitsch, and of course, cool jazz of Miles Davis and Charlie Parker.
The style can include the smooth wood of Danish Modern, the shine of chrome and metals, and the softness of bright and bold fabrics. They way things are put together, the way of attaching one piece to another in a home, a radio, a chair, or a blender and decorative objects gives mcm style a touch of Industrial design also.

Just listed in my etsy shop is this petite version of the Nelson sunburst. It has a touch of industrial with its materials of glass, aluminum and wood.



The heavy glass circle is edged in silver and has patina from over the years of time. The hands are bold triangles and it has a sleek sweeping second hand. All the hands are made of aluminum......a metal that was popular to use in all manner of home goods once WWII ended.



It's made by an East Coast clock company that dates to the late 1800s. William L Gilbert used to make wood mantel clocks as was the Victorian fashion, and as times changed, they added many styles to their repertoire.







The housing is metal, it has simple prong plug, and a handy hole on the back for a screw to hang it up.

Show Me The Honey....

I am officially Bee Obsessed.....
I bought some buckwheat honey the other day....and...I will continue to eat it even though I don't like it....it's so strong !
and I love buckwheat anything....as a child I'd order buckwheat pancakes when everyone else at the table ordered buttermilk......


Even though I know that bees throw up the sugary nectar in a honeycomb ...and viola! Honey....this does not dissuade me from eating my honey.......

What the Hellz is this crap?
beware...a stupid song starts playing as soon as the site begins to load up.
It might taste pretty good, but people, how lazy can you beeee? And then you toss the can in the trash! Stop it.


Let's get right to the fashion.....Bee Cute!
I wear black a lot...what's not to like !
accenting an outfit with gold or yellow is still unexpected, I think...
with a black dress or a top and skirt....most folks automatically reach for white, red, or gray...and don't think often enough of Yellow as the accent.......

Yellow, Butterscotch, Gold...accessories...






Paired with Black...
a romper....
silver sequins with black...mix it up ..gold, silver...copper....heavy metal.......


60s black lace wiggle dress......
black and white scooter print 60s dress...


black floral dress......
Lacy black feminine vintage blouse.....

black with sparkles.....vintage gauze India blouse


Black eyelet vintage dress.......

handmade ....Fruit Farm in Fabric

Handmade....I'm working on more...
tomato...
grapes...
more apples...
here's some listed handmade fruit....here at the beginning of the fruit growing season......

Baby Boo pumpkins...


Black Calico...




Purple Calico...


vintage floral print...

wood stem and a wired fabric leaf.....

Happy Cheery Marimekko

Now listed in my etsy shop,funkomavintage, is this superb midcentury modern, mcm, vintage Marimekko print.
It's by Maija Isola who designed many of Marimekko's now classic, legendary fabrics.



Marimekko began as Printex, a fabrics printing company. Finn Viljo Ratia bought it in 1949 and his wife Armi Ratia hired young artists to design fabric for the company. They were wild and bold ! Sales were slow so the company made clothing of the designs.
The first Marimekko clothing was designed by Riitta Immonen, and in 1951 Marimekko held a fashion show in Helsinki.

Now, Marimekko designs are printed on fabrics and all manner of home decor items....from bedsheets to bath towels to wallpaper. Dresses and shirts and accessories are designed using the wild fabrics.
Tote bags, kitchenware, and children's and men's wear come from the design tables of Finland's Marimekko.
All over the world, major cities have a Marimekko shop. They're instantly available by mail via the internets too!

Even Anthropologie had dresses made of Marimekko! It is quite popular again...
today, many of Marimekko fabrics are well-known.
Here's just a few.. These pictures are on the Marimekko website, click the clicky link there <--- Maija Isola's cheerful Pergola pattern (1965) is made into a sweet jacket by Marimekko designer Samu-Jussi Koski.





Maija Isola's Kissapöllö from 1961, is here in a dress by Koski.

Kivet 1959.



Kaivo 1964
and the sweet and wild.....unikko.
Marimekko says: Unikko came about in 1964 after Armi Ratia had announced in public that no floral fabrics are designed at Marimekko. Maija Isola did not accept rules or restrictions and designed in protest a complete collection of bold floral patterns.

Oooh pretty, down home and Celebrity Sightings in the newish Safeway !

Hey remember when I asked for the fruits and vegetables to be placed near the front door? Hey, they did it!
This is just inside the lobby entrance....


They moved the entrance to the north side...and restriped the parking lot, moved the handicap parking also...new signs...
and look inside.....so lovely with the fancy spotlights...
Thanks Safeway Inc. You know I love you...a Union Store, and you stay in the 'hood when all other big stores seem to leave. That you joined a movement to STOP fucking WalMart's makes me even more in love with you.....

And of course we know that a lot of the obesity problem with poorer folks has to do with what is available to buy...and the shitty mini-marts are full of poison......



And...in this edition of your Safeway Update...Celebrity Sightings and a reminder to stop calling this the ghetto Safeway...If I hear you say that I'm gonna punch you...stop exhibiting your funny racism and your ignorance of your white privilege.....

the lovely famous Jada Moon family (yes, that's pogo in the red backpack!)





One of my fears was that it might be switched over to look far too much like Metropolitan Market....shopping there is like being back in Junior High...everyone looks you up and down to check for...signs that you belong in the North End..which is why I like to go there and scare you!!!
The remodel looks like the other Safeways, and it all reminds me of the remodel 35 years ago, of a rundown grocery store on Browns Valley Road in Napa, that decorated in farm implements and lots of dried flowers, and added many new kinds of food...lots of weird fruits and vegetables and more imported items just for a change of pace.

Here's ....The south entrance mid-remodel....


The new entrance...new signs....




New striping where they moved the handicap parking from the south wall...


the old south wall with the big Safeway letters......where'd they go?



I love the bright clean windows and so happy they blacked out some of them to cover the store displays that ...well, we don't need to see the backs of stuff...a small detail that really adds up to so much...