All posts filed under: Miscellenia

Seven little looks into my life

Here are seven things I’ve been doing over the last week and a bit: 1. Organising A couple of friends and I spent a delightful day sorting my pattern stash and sorting it into 6 big boxes. I still need two more boxes, one for menswear and one for my printed-out patterns, but it certainly feels tidier! Of course, as soon as we did this I realised I’d missed an entire box of 1940s patterns! That’s OK, I can sort them and add in these two latest additions to the stash while I do so. 2. Sewing Yes! Lots of it! I’ve been demolishing the UFO pile, but I have also been working on a historical project: I know. It is not exactly exciting at the moment. It will get there. 3. Celebrating spring My bluebells and rock irises are well up, and the full irises are just starting. I can just tell that my first two tulips are going to be yellow and coral, respectively, but the freesias are still just masses of …

Five for Friday: Pet Peeves

Published by The Dreamstress

A few months ago I shared five things I love (that many people find weird), which started quite an interesting discussion. And yay, I discovered lots of other people who like sardines! (mmmm…sardines…and cardboard crackers….) This week I thought I’d share five of my pet peeves with you: completely random things that I find inordinately annoying/cringe worthy/disgusting: 1) Orange juice. OK, not orange juice as a whole. Orange juice is fine if A) it’s being served with breakfast, or B) you’re under 10 years old. Even then, it’s not the best juice. Orange juice, however, is NOT fine if you’re at a black tie event and everyone else is walking around with champagne and you ask for something non-alcoholic and they say “Oh, we have orange juice.” Seriously? Orange juice? Is it before noon? Am I five years old? No? Then why are you offering me orange juice? Orange juice is brightly coloured (thus making it super obvious you are not drinking, which has tons of drawbacks), has pulp, and is incredibly acidic, making …

The Word’s Enchanted Island Playground: A vintage Hawaiian holiday

Published by The Dreamstress

Continuing on my ‘let’s escape from winter!‘ theme, let’s go on a vintage Hawaiian holiday. One of the fascinating things I discovered in researching in old magazines in New Zealand is how early Hawaiian holidays from New Zealand were advertised. This advertisement for the Union Steam Ships Hawaiian holiday sailings appeared in the New Zealand Home magazine in 1932: It might be 1932, it might be the middle of the Great Depression, your holiday might be 6 weeks long, but there was enough of a market to advertise it! It’s fascinating to see what the ad features: a bit of ‘Old Hawaii’ (looks like they are making poi!), surfing (made popular around the world by actor and Olympian Duke Kahanamoku), the beaches, the famous statue of King Kamehameha the Great in front of AliÊ»iÅlani Hale (now the state Supreme Court), Akaka Falls, pineapple pickers (Dole’s tinned pineapple advertisements of the ’30s focused heavily on Hawaii, so this makes more sense in context), some tropical flowers (Hylocerius Undatus), Diamond Head, and, of course, Waikiki beach and …