Indian Summer Celebration

WooHoo, I'm down here! Just follow the stepping stones down to the lake. I've set up picnic tables beside the water for Muse Swing's Indian Summer celebration today. Aren't we lucky to have such glorious weather. It seems like the leaves have turned overnight here.

Since there is a little nip in the air today, I have made us a big pot of Broccoli Cheese Soup. Grab your bowl and napkin and I will spoon up some warm cheesy goodness for you.

I've gathered up some pumpkins and gourds. Please choose a basket full to take home for fall decorations.

Or you might like to amuse yourselves and paint a few.

You'll find some blankets over there. Spread out next to the lake in the sunshine. Take a nap. You better take advantage of this summery weather. It's sure to be gone soon. The days are getting shorter. The morning air is brisk. Winter is just around the corner.



ps. Here's the recipe for the soup.

2 bundles of fresh broccoli or 2 10 1/2 oz packages of frozen broccoli
1 onion
2 cans of cream of chicken soup (you can substitute cream of mushroom if you want too, I prefer chicken soup)
2 lbs of reduced fat Velveeta cheese.
2 cups of water
3 cups of milk
1/2 stick of butter

Cook broccoli, drain and set aside. Saute chopped onion in butter. Set aside also.
In a large pot combine soup, milk, water. Cut the cheese into small chunks and add. Simmer everything until the cheese melts. Do not bring to a boil. Once the cheese melts, add the broccoli and onion. Heat thoroughly and serve hot.

(Most photos courtesy of Google or Flickr)

Inspired By Color

How Quant

Those of you who remember Twiggy will remember Mary Quant and Carnaby Street and this dress.


"Mondrian" day dress, autumn 1965
Yves Saint Laurent (French, born Algeria, 1936)
Wool jersey in color blocks of white, red, blue, black, and yellow

As the sack dress evolved in the 1960s into the modified form of the shift, Saint Laurent realized that the planarity of the dress was an ideal field for color blocks. Knowing the flat planes of the 1960s canvases achieved by contemporary artists in the lineage of Mondrian, Saint Laurent made the historical case for the artistic sensibility of his time. Yet he also demonstrated a feat of dressmaking, setting in each block of jersey, piecing in order to create the semblance of the Mondrian order and to accommodate the body imperceptibly by hiding all the shaping in the grid of seams.

Another designer, Mary Quant, took the credit for inventing the mini skirt and hot pants. Supposedly she named the short skirt length after her favorite car, the Mini.

Skirts had been getting shorter since about 1958 – a development Quant considered to be practical and liberating, allowing women the ability to run for a bus. The miniskirt, for which she is arguably most famous, became one of the defining fashions of the 1960s. The miniskirt was developed separately by André Courrèges, and there is disagreement as to who came up with the idea first. Mary Quant named the miniskirt after her favorite make of car, the Mini, she loved this car so much, she had one designed especially for her.

In addition to the miniskirt, Mary Quant is often credited with inventing the colored and patterned tights that tended to accompany the garment, although these are also attributed to Cristobal Balenciaga.

Quant started out as a boutique owner in 1955 on King's Row in London. For the opening of her store, Bazaar, she designed a pair of "mad house pyjamas" which were quickly grabbed by Harper's Bazaar for an editorial and then copied by an American manufacturer. This event convinced her that she should stock her shop with clothes made by herself. Although she had an art school background, she had no formal training in the fashion business. She experimented by mixing spots and checks, with balloon style dresses and with knicker bockers.

Her designs were simple and she wanted them to be accessible for the mass market.

Remember this big zipper? I had a couple of things that featured this oversized zipper.

Doesn't this dress make you think Mary Tyler Moore? It does me.

As her popularity grew as a designer, she created shiny plastic raincoats, pinafore dresses and patterned tights. She expanded into the wholesale market and began exporting to the USA. Her last fashion invention of the 60s were hot pants. She said in 1967, "Good taste is death. Vulgarity is life."

With all of this nostalgic looking back that I've been doing I've caught myself repeatedly humming "Mrs Brown, you've got a lovely daughter...." Thanks Herman and Mary for the memories!

Breaking News!

I thought you might be interested in my calendar entry for today.

: )

Remember This Face?

As I have said on this blog before, I love Project Runway. I love the drama, the fashion, the characters, but I especially enjoy the design aspect of the show. I've never been a big clothes person, maybe because I've never had the money to buy freely. Perhaps the only exception to this was when I was a teenager. My sister and I made almost our whole wardrobe. I used sleeves from this pattern with the body of that pattern. I mixed and matched at will. I made daring fabric selections. People recognized my sister and I at school because of our clothes. Mini skirts were in style. A-line dresses, tights, pant suits, double knit fabric, these were all in fashion back then.

The thing that got me to thinking about this was something else I found yesterday in my old sketchpad. It was a picture I drew of this girl. Remember this face?


It is my attempt to draw this 1960s fashion icon.

It's Leslie Hornby, better known by her nickname, Twiggy. She was 16 when she became what the Daily Express, a British newspaper, named the Face Of '66. She literally changed the fashion world with her skinny body, her fake eyelashes, the painted on bottom lashes and her androgynous look. Someone aptly said that Twiggy put the mod in modeling.

Twiggy retired from modeling after four years saying, "You can't be a clothes hanger for your entire life." She went on to act in movies and on the stage. She has also released three music albums. Today at 59, she is modeling again for the British department store, Marks and Spencer.


Before anorexic Kate Moss, there was super skinny Twiggy.

The thing I liked about Twiggy the most was her eyes. I loved lots of eye makeup, especially blue shadow. I love eye makeup today still. I have a theory about something...I'm not sure, but she may be the reason I always draw eyes. If I have a pen and a piece of paper, chances are I will draw a set of eyes. I may add a nose and lips if I'm in the mood, but I always draw the eyes. Twiggy made an indelible impression on me, just not in the way you might have thought.

Circa 1969

I went looking for something else and in doing so I found this. Since some of you wanted to see it, here it is. Like I said, its not very good, but I was only 15 and knew nothing about watercolor technique.


The only reason I still have this watercolor is because my mother never gets rid of anything. She returned a couple of old sketch pads and some paintings to me a couple of years ago.

Sunday Inspiration

This man and his story is more than inspiring. It's amazing.



"For Thou didst form my inward parts;
Thou didst weave me in my mother's womb.
I will give thanks to Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Thy works,
And my soul knows it very well.
Psalm 139: 13-14

Rambling Around Saturday

I set out this morning to run some errands, but soon was side tracked and wound up driving through the neighborhood taking pictures.

This old cemetery, which is right on the main street of the little town nearby, has a huge magnolia and a huge oak tree in the middle. I tried and tried to get good shots but I couldn't eliminate the glare in the sky. I probably was there at the wrong time of the day.


I saw a couple of old car aficionados taking their girls out for a spin.


I love this old garage with its peeling paint.

Looks like they're serving catfish over at The Mall Cafe tonight.

Sooner or later the owner of this farm land will sell it and someone will build new homes on this rolling hillside. The thought already makes me sad.

Isn't the sky glorious today. It is pretty breezy...probably winds coming up from the Gulf of Mexico.

I'll end this Saturday tour with a look at my first and last flowers of the summer. I usually have a bed filled with blooming flowers around my mailbox. I got a late start this year planting seeds and this cosmos has just begun to bloom. Serves me right for not getting in gear earlier. There are 4 or 5 other cosmos that haven't even begun to bloom yet. I don't know if they will.

Hope you are having an enjoyable Saturday wherever you are.

Calendar Girl

Like I've said before, sometimes I use the calendar for a journal, but most of the time I cut and paste doodles I sketch on the blank portions of reports or stuff I draw on post-it-notes.

Thinking about my vacation.

I printed out some quotes and taped them down on random dates. When I turn a page and find a quote I've chosen, I am able to contemplate its truth anew or I can laugh out loud again at its humor.

When work was slow I used my time to clean a co-worker's desk. I was that tired of looking at her mess.

I've experimented with my limited color palette of work pens and highlighters to express feelings in my sketches.

Hectic day-visually recorded.

I love drawing faces. I look around for other inspiration. I always come back to the face.


Day dreaming.


More day dreaming once I was back from vacation. Sorry Carl, it seems I'm a failure at the secret of happiness.

"She is feeling hot in a cold world." Maybe she is experiencing some changes in her life...how old are you honey?

Just some random observations.

Now you are up to date on my life.

In Memorandum

May we never forget.