One of my favorite authors of all time is LaVyrle Spencer. Her novel Years is among my most-read books and it still makes me cry every time. I just discovered that her novel Morning Glory was turned into a film in 1993 and it’s on Netflix!!!! And it stars Christopher Reeve as Will Parker!!! OMIGOSH OMIGOSH!!!!!!!!!
I can’t stop messing with my dining room…
Ever since we got the new table and then I bought the new radios, I just keep going back into my dining room and rearranging things. I did it again today and I think I’m finally done (for now.) I was keeping an old radio upstairs that needs restoration but I decided to finally bring it down, in all it’s shabby chic glory, to keep with my other radios. I polished up and rearranged things that were already in the room. I also did some research on it – it’s a Philco Model 38 Lowboy (because it has legs.) My best guestimate is that it is from 1933-34. It’s missing the dial and knobs and I’d like to find replacements and have it refinished.
And so my antiques display in the room changed yet again (thank you, iPhone panorama photo option):
Plus, I’ve had this poster for a while and I finally got a frame and hung it up today. It’s my absolute favorite World War II-era propaganda/war effort poster!
My new site is live!
The Homefront Kitchen is now up and running and I’ve posted the first wartime recipe that I tried. I’m making another one tonight or tomorrow so that will go up soon!
The Homefront Kitchen is all about trying those wartime recipes and seeing how they hold up today. It will allow me to explore new (to me) ingredients and different ways to use the ingredients I have on hand. It’s all about preserving a little piece of the World War II-era homefront and honoring the era that I love so much.
I hope you’ll join me/follow me there!
New website AND amazing chocolate milk!
1. OH EM GEE. I just made the best chocolate milk of all time. Use one part cold evaporated milk (I used Pet Milk) and one part cold water. Mix up. Add chocolate syrup. Stir. Drink. FLAIL BECAUSE IT TASTES LIKE MELTED CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM!!!! It’s fantastic! Evaporated milk is double-rich and the flavor is yummy!
2. My new website is live. It’s called The Homefront Kitchen. Check it out HERE to see what it’s all about. The first World War II-era recipe (which I cooked last weekend) will be posted soon!
When a book leaves you shattered and moved and hopeful
I just finished reading this incredible book.
Hopeless by Colleen Hoover.
This book is written in first-person. One of my cardinal rules of reading is “never, ever read a book written in first person!” The reviews for Hopeless, though, were so positive and glowing and full of fangirl key-smashing (both on Goodreads and Amazon) that I threw caution to the wind and click “Buy” anyway. For once, I am absolutely relieved that I let go of my “no first person” rule because if I had, I would’ve missed out on this treasure of a book.
It starts off innocuous at first. We meed Sky Davis, the narrator, who has been raised by a hippy-dippy mother whose aversion to technology and public education are both so severe that Sky was practically raised Amish. However, Sky is about to start her senior year at a real, public high school while her best friend Six, who has a less-than-stellar reputation that has rubbed off undeservedly on Sky, goes of to Italy as an exchange student. It’s obvious to the reader from the very beginning that Sky is “damaged” somehow, but it’s not clear why until much later. As soon as Sky starts school, she meets Dean Holder. He’s a “bad boy” with a reputation of his own and the word “hopeless” tattooed on his forearm. He has a temper, a wealth of secrets, a past that is both fuzzy and frightening. He also has heart-stopping dimples and a helluva physique (that made me feel guilty for lusting after him since he’s only 18) and his very presence makes Sky react to him in a way she never has to anyone else.
I’m not going to give the plot away because then you wouldn’t need to read this book, so all I will say is that Sky and Dean’s connection causes truths to be shared, secrets to be stirred up, and hard facts to be realized. I will say that this book is far, far more than just a simple romance story. It’s light-years beyond just being about two teenagers falling in love. Trust me, this is no ridiculous, teenaged angst like Twilight. (Don’t get me wrong, Dean Holder sparkles, but not in an Edward Cullen kind of way.)
This book moved me. Inspired me. Gutted me. I read the entire thing, from cover to cover (well, from 1% to 99% on my Kindle, anyway), in the span of about eight hours. And then I flailed about it on Tumblr and Twitter. And then I gifted three copies of it so that others can read this book. It’s the kind of story that sticks with me long after I’ve finished. Only a book or two a year ever do that to me and this one is definitely going to stay around. In my head. In my heart.
Read it. You have to read it. Here, here’s the link to it: go buy it right now. And if you’ve read it, please leave me a comment to tell me how very much in “live” you are with Dean Holder, too!
Antique store finds!
Well, I went into Southport Antique Mall not expecting to find much and left two hours later with two new (but old) radios, a piece of Depression glass, and a vintage doily!
First, here’s my pink Depression glass ice bucket (sitting on the vintage doily). I’ve seen a lot of Depression glass, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen an ice bucket. It’s surprisingly heavy!
Next, here is a Sonora brand radio, which I’ve discovered is from 1948. I got it for a great price, considering it’s in really good condition!
And finally, this is a Wards Airline radio. This one is my new favorite radio. It’s gorgeous. The problem is that I can’t identify what year it’s from. These radios, sold by Montgomery Ward, were made by a company called Wells-Gardner. This one is model number WG-193, and I can’t locate any information on it. The closest I can find is model number WG-197, which came out in 1936. So I’m guessing it’s from the 30s.
So here are all four of my console-style radios. (I also have a floor model radio that’s upstairs, but it’s not in good condition.)
Also, due to starting my new website (details on that coming soon), I bought the cookbook below on eBay and it arrived today. It’s a Mary Lee Taylor cookbook from 1941. (And if you’ve never heard her, you need to look her up. She read recipes over the air and repeated everything so the listener had time to write it all down!) She had a radio show for over 20 years and was sponsored by Pet Milk.
Anyway, that was my loot from the antique mall. (I also bought a cute little Prada bag that I’m 99.5% sure is a knock-off, but I don’t care because it’s perfectly-sized!)
New project!!!
So I’m developing a website and I’m super-excited about it! It’s going to be dedicated to the WWII homefront and all that it entailed. The site will heavily feature recreation of the recipes from that period. I have tons of recipes from the period, thanks to cookbooks and radio shows and other items in my collection. My plan is to feature one each week, complete with showing the ingredients, preparation, and the finished product right from my own kitchen. (My husband is already screwing up his face in disgust at some of the recipes I plan on making (which he has to eat or he’ll go hungry!)) It’s a great way to explore the flavors of the period, as well as how recipes were modified due to rationing. I wanted a specific web address and had to buy it at a GoDaddy auction, but once it’s released to me next week, I’ll probably be ready to go live with the first little bit of it. Anyway, I’m really stoked and I’ll post the link, as well as more information, once it’s ready to go!
Wishy-washy whining
I am constantly conflicted. The same person who is obsessed with the 1940s and is fascinated by the idea of a life of total simplicity is also a technology fiend. Macbook, iPhone, iPad, iPod, Kindle – I have them all. And one or the other is usually no more than a foot away from me at any given time. My iPhone is always with me. I drive to work listening to Fibber McGee & Molly on one of my old iPod Nanos. I fall asleep at night, after reading in the dark for a while on my Kindle Paperwhite, to old time radio shows on one of my even older iPod Nanos. I just bought both an iPad Mini and a brand new iPod Nano last night. And now I feel overwhelmed.
Can one be too in touch with the world? Because I feel like I am. I’m always reading the news and checking the weather and checking my Twitter and my Tumblr and I’m just over it. I have a Facebook account but I started hating Facebook years ago so I barely check it. This particular blog is honestly the only web-based thing that I’m not sick of these days.
(Meanwhile, I’m wanting to develop a website dedicated to Fibber McGee & Molly and life in the 1940s. I’ve already bid on a website address that I’m trying to get for this site. This is in total contrast to the fact that I want to run screaming away from anything online. See? Conflicted!!!)
I just… I’m overwhelmed. I don’t know what to do. I need to focus on the things in my house that need doing, like putting away laundry and scrubbing the stove and dusting and making things just feel good. Instead, I’m drawn to my electronic devices and end up wasting copious amounts of time. I don’t know where the happy medium is but I want to find it. I hate the idea of being disconnected from the world but at the same time, I absolutely hate this feeling of being disconnected from myself. I need to pull back and spend some time cooking (because Lord knows that I need to get creative. This working the night shift thing is killing me when it comes to meal preparation.)
I guess I have a choice to make. I love my technology and I will continue to do so, but perhaps I need to love it less. Unfortunately, it’s like an addiction at this point, and I’m not sure I’m strong enough to change my habits, but I have to try, right? I guess I need to focus on the parts of the web that I love and let the things that I make me insane fall away.
Life on Wild Hare Farm 