Gluten Free? Not Me! And why I love French baguettes as much as Rice

I know its all the rage now.  Just like so many things are with each passing decade and generation.  Gluten Free.  I totally realize the merits of not eating too many carbohydrates and particularly bread.  But if you do not suffer from an allergy or disease that prohibits the partaking of gluten then why is it necessary?  Everything in moderation as is said.

When it comes to this new bandwagon I would say probably half of the people on it have absolutely no need to abandon their whole grain and whole rye sandwiches.  Certainly white nutritionless gummy bread that does not contribute to a healthy diet could be left behind.  But all bread?  REALLY?  What happened to all the good things about bread?  All the B vitamins, complex carbohydrates, fiber, etc etc.  Really think about that.

Now if you were a baker you would say that the most important part of a beautiful loaf of bread is in fact the gluten!  Without gluten the bread cannot rise to perfection. I am sure by this point I have already taken issue with a touchy subject.  Ok let's be fair.  If you truly feel better without gluten then who am I to say?  I myself first heard about vegetarian diets when I was 18 years old.  I jumped very quickly on to that bandwagon.  Well let's just say I researched it fairly well first and then jumped aboard.  I was a little smug in my beliefs as well.  So really let's not get too self righteous here.  I'm only saying these things because well... I love bread!  Good old fashioned steaming hot or just slathered in butter (or whatever suits your fancy.... balsamic vinegar? olive oil? sardine juice? (just kidding) Anyway how do you have red wine without a baguette?  How does that work?

Summer is still here! Enjoy it and have a look at these wildflowers I photographed

Summertime and the livin' is Easy.  Fish are jumpin' now and the cotton is high.

When summer begins we often think that it will never end. At least it's like that when you're a kid. But sometimes when you are all grown up too. There are so many things that set summer apart from all the other seasons. Naturally we can do so many more things outdoors than we can during other times of year. At least in relative comfort depending on where you spend your summers. Enjoying a glass of cold lemonade on a porch or reading a good book on the beach or in a hammock. Watching the sun set and feeling the warmth of the ocean or lake breezes.

As a kid growing up in Van Nuys it meant driving over the mountains to the beach almost every weekend. To escape the heat and smog of the valley of course.  We would pack up the old red Coleman cooler which was made of metal not plastic and grab the Coppertone or Baby Oil. Those were considered essentials for the beach. My parents would sit and protect their fair European complexions under a big beach umbrella and read the paper while we body surfed the day away on the beaches of Santa Monica. This is why I still love the smell of Coppertone and why I believe that our olfactory senses are probably the greatest for inspiring memories of childhood. It is simply because the olfactory bulb is part of the brain's limbic system an area so closely associated with memory that it is often referred to as the emotional brain. 

I also think of summer as a time to rest the mind.  During the year we are so focused on working and getting from one day to the next and one week to the next that we lose sight of the here and now. Summer is not like that. We can dream. We can daydream. We can feel the future and forget the past. Or the other way around. We can fish, swim, pick berries, read, watch the flowers grow. Take advantage before it slips away.

This summer we had a chance to drive up to the Alpine Meadows in Manning Park BC and I would like to share with you some of the photos I took. 

All Things French

What is it about all things French?  Particularly the south of France.  No I have never been there but I do love all things French.  Particularly the textiles!  They have such a sense of  history and so much  character.  This can be seen in the toile patterns and the bright sunny blues and yellows of the southern patterns.   I  really love the lace curtains!  Here are some photos of some windows in France:  Enjoy them!  Yes you can try to re-create them but you must have the old window first!

This is beautiful in all its French charm and shabbiness.

Beautiful blue shutters on a house in the south of France.  Lace curtains and plants complete it so beautifully.

I love this little kitty guarding the door of his home.  J'adore the creamy lace curtains in the door and windows again framed with shutters.

The simplicity of this French designed bedroom is so pretty.  The yellow walls and the rich antique paintings that are unframed and hang from a unique little railing over the bed.  Not to mention the beautiful elegant lines of the bedside lamp.

Then there is this getaway hotel in the south of France for fun.  Because you know that its not a matter of  "if" you go there it's a matter of  "when"  Ha Ha.... 

This bathtub!    As a matter of fact we once owned a house that had a tub like this.  It was a lot of fun and I miss those days with the kids at Pender Harbour.  Just imagine the ambiance you could create in this bathroom!

I can already imagine the days worries and cares floating away.... Well at the very least if you can't get the tub you could always aim for the French print on the wall and the amazing wrought iron chair!  Something to think about for that house I have always wanted to build...

Oh and while we are on the subject of French ambiance who can forget the lavender.  Lucky for us we have close relatives who live in a place where this beautiful flower thrives .

So have I piqued your interest enough?  Who doesn't love all things French.  I won't even begin to talk about the bread and wine and cheese...  That is for another post.

So if you love all things French and particularly love the textiles take a look at this gorgeous print.  It is out of print as they say.  Vintage of course!
https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/155024486/french-provencal-print-dress-blue-floral?ref=shop_home_active

Au Revoir!  Until we meet again! 

Summertime and the Livin is Easy

Gershwin composed this song back in December of 1933.  How is it that I occasionally hum this little tune when the sun comes streaming in through my window on a summer's day?  How wonderful to think that some things are timeless.  Gershwin of course is timeless and so is a summer's day.... Memories are too.  I can remember waking up to a beautiful day in Southern California when I was in my early teens and feeling like the world was my oyster.  All I had to do was find the perfect cotton shorts set and the perfect novel and the perfect spot in my climbing tree to read!  And lets not forget the lilacs!  As we know they did not last forever but the thought of them outside our windowpaned dining room window sure has.

That was an era and it was marked by an age of innocence as well as the beginning of a period of turbulence in the 60s.  The innocence being the American Dream which was felt and is remembered by so many.  This dream came crashing down of course with the Vietnam war and the Nixon era.  And of course the racial tensions that arose. 

 But some of us can look back with fond memories too.  Being a kid meant that there was always hope on the horizon.  That game of tether ball, that favourite book, a bottle of ice cold 7 Up, the beach at Santa Monica, driving through the mountains in a cool light green 60s Chevy with your family.  My mom always wore one of those beautiful 60s scarves.  Often in a sheer fabric so that the heat of the day would not melt you. 

These 60s Styles Are Now Back!

http://www.dujour.com/2013-05/1089/summer-beauty-trends#07And there are so so many things you can do with a scarf!

Cheryl Tiegs was my favourite model back then.  How I adore this sheer pale green dress and scarf combination.
This dress is in my Etsy shop and is right out of the 60s too! 

It is made of a soft linen blend and would look amazing with your favourite heels.  The perfect go anywhere dress!  Don't you just love the 60s swan in the background!  Here is a link to find this dress.  I teamed it up with a fully adjustable soft kid leather belt in blue.
https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/127412523/60s-linen-spring-dress-leather-belted?ref=shop_home_active

Back Home from Europe!

August 1st and it has been six days since we got back from our trip to Europe.  The trip was busy and somewhat tiring!  We connected with relatives we have not seen ever.  That was really interesting for me as I have always lived such a distant life from most of them.  We spent most of our time in Finland but did trips to Estonia and Stockholm too!  I would definately go back there again.  I especially loved Helskinki and the flea markets there.
And all the handmade things in Tallin.  The people of Estonia are very creative.   This is a little quilt shop in Tallin and it was a wonderful place to visit.  Very inspiring to be in Estonia. 

And of course Finland was beautiful too!  We were there for strawberry season and I picked up this lovely basket from an antique shop in Uusikaupunki.  Or I should say my cousin went there to buy it for me. 

The photo was taken at his summer cottage on the sea with berries from his parents strawberry fields that we ate every day.  There was a storm brewing that day and it was very windy when I took the photo looking out to the little bay that stretches out to the ocean.  Finland is so picturesque and there are little red houses everywhere!  I want to write a book about them and do a photojournalistic tour of the pretty homes that dot the countryside. 

The Snow is Melting! Upcycling Rocks!

This is my second day for writing again.  The snow is being washed away by the rain today.  I am glad about that but I did love the look of snow for the week that we had it.   I know that folks in other parts of the country contend with snow all the time but we are definately not used to it here on the West Coast.  Ok I am talking about the weather.  Yes this is kind of boring isnt it?  Well I would prefer to talk about the value of recycling and upcycling.  

Often when I am on my etsy site I check out other shops and I am so impressed with those that have taken found items and are turning them into works of art or at the very least something useful!  Such as deck chairs out of reclaimed wood.  Or beautiful sweaters and leg warmers from old unusable sweaters.  The possibilities are endless.  That is what my next project will be.  Taking something old and making it new again. It is like a metaphor for life.  The leaves on the trees fall off and die and then again in Spring new leaves form.  Life can regenerate itself this way.  So it can be for old things that have lost their lustre.

I look forward to surprising you with what I can make out of something old.  In the meantime check out my old vintage clothing that still has lots of beauty and life left in it at http://www.etsy.com/shop/Liinaloom.  I think you will be definately amazed that some old things can look so new!   

I KNEW I HAD A BLOG FOR THAT!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/LiinaloomI knew it!  I knew I had started a blog quite some time ago and here it is!  Really some people would at least remember the name of their blog but no not me.  I mean I knew I had one called Lilacs in Van Nuys quite a while ago but I had no idea that I had written as many postings.  If you call four many.... ha ha....  So now I am back.  Oh my.  Oh my oh my.  How much as happened this past year.  Well for one thing I have now moved.  Am I living in my cottage by the sea?  No afraid not....only in my mind on that one.

So I am using a red font so I won't feel quite so bad for having not even written anything during Christmas.  The red font is to make up for it... Kind of lame I know.  But here is the thing.  I am so very excited about a new adventure.  I have worked super super hard on my new venture.  Really it has helped me with my intense grief.  Somewhat.  I don't know if I ever told any of you but I love vintage things.  Maybe some of you do too.  That was really why I started this blog in the first place.  NOSTALGIA!  I love to remember happier times, happier eras, and fashion and such from those eras.  So I started my own little shop!  It is on a site called etsy.  If you want to see it you can go to Liinaloom@etsy.com  That is what I called my shop.  Liina meaning tablecloths and linens and such in the Finnish language and Loom meaning...well loom.  In other words weaving.... sillies!  Well what has that got to do with vintage you may ask?  

About five years or so ago I started a weird collection.  I started collecting vintage linens and vintage fabrics.  When I say weird it is because I really had no particular use for them.  I mean I use a tablecloth once or twice a year.  But thats not the point is it?  Who cares if you NEVER use a tablecloth?  It doesn't mean you can't love and adore them does it?  I always thought of them as kind of a lost art.  Something that our grandmothers did...weaving and embroidery and crocheting etc.  So I became fascinated with all the different styles of linen work and started collecting.  Finally I will be able to do something with my collection.... But that is another story for another time....  But for now just go to my vintage clothing store if you are at all curious about it.  I think it turned out pretty fine.