the one with the golden sunset & rainbow

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I ran outside to capture this stunning golden sunset a while ago. It was the most glorious sky I had seen in a while. Pure gold. It started to sprinkle rain whilst I was chasing the sky; which only added to the sweetness.

When I turned around, I saw a dark blue/grey sky adorned with a gigantic rainbow. I was gobsmacked!
I only wish I had a better camera on me when I dashed out the house to take snaps of the sky; I could not get an adequate capture of the awesomeness that was this rainbow - it went from one end of the earth to the other, with a faint double rainbow too! Extreme!

the crazy-eyed rainbow cat (my Strongpaw) - love how a rainbow landed on her too!

I think rainbows & sunsets are magic,

Caren

Sunday Smile: a Ukulele Girl Polaroid

Polaroid Spectra using Impossible Project's Image film

Saturday was Yard Sale Day here at the chickadee homestead, along with Astrid (in polaroid above), Desiree & my good friend Leigh. It was a pretty big event, with the four of us selling our wares and trying to keep the rain at bay. Pop on over to Astrid's blog to see some sweet photos from our crazyfun day!

I wanted to share with you the Polaroid I took of Astrid playing the ukulele near the start of our yard sale madness. She looked so pretty in her dress & cardigan, sitting on the steps playing the ukelele with Gracie at her feet. (thank you Rebecca for lending me the ukulele - it's an ongoing inspirational device!)

ukuleles & yard sales make me smile!

~Caren

p.s. the lovely Mel of Needle & Nest Design popped by our yard sale extravaganza & shared her finds (and more) on her blog!

a May long weekend in pictures.

Last weekend was a long weekend.

And it was a good one!

It started with a good friend visiting for the weekend;

lots of yummy food was partaken in!

a delightful afternoon spent at The Old Bridge Inn,

where a monkey lamp lit the way

and I got to wear a pretty frock.

I saw Astrid & Alek (my goddaughter & her brother)

for a mere moment, but it was a fun moment!

The rest of the weekend was spent picking lilacs

whilst riding bicycles

and having a run in with a social little kitten

during an evening stroll with Grace.

All in all, it was a weekend filled

with a few of my favourite things!

Gretchen popped by for a visit, which Grace always appreciates!

peek-a-boo little kitten, I see you!

happy bicycles!


photo op! me being silly on a pig!

This upcoming weekend will be showcasing a big yard sale at my place, along with a few good friends (including my neighbour Des of sofawned & Astrid of agirlnamedastrid!). So, if you're a local chickadee, hope you pop by for a boo! There's sure to be the annual tradition of chocolate chip cookies to lure you in.

xo

Caren

Sunday Smile: flowers for you

I appear to have a cross look on my face, but it was just the sun in my eyes! promise! :)

I picked these flowers just for you!
I hope they make you smile :)
Dandelions and Forget-me-nots make such a delightful combination.

These will be the last dandelion photos of the season, promise!
They're all turning to fluff now. :)

Here's my backyard Cat vs Dog episode.
Grace photobombed my attempt at getting photos of Patience (neigbhour's cat).
Below is a shot of Patience winning the photo war, with a worried (jealous) dog beyond!

These are the things that make me smile!

~Caren

p.s. Patience is getting a lot of blog love from me; yesterday's post also showcased him! Sometimes, I think he wants to live with me. I already renamed him Feather (or F-Man for short).  meow!

Saturday is for... cats & vintage dresses

this is Patience the cat

he is a neighbour's cat

who likes to visit me

and sometimes

he even sneaks into my home

he's a handsome cat

who likes to model

for my ever-ready camera

I wore my vintage dress today

to go to the bakery

and visit some yard sales

I thought I'd take some photos

of my pretty dress

whilst in my backyard

I'm terrible with timer-photos

so my face kept getting cut off

and I'm half hidden by a shrub

but, at least you can see the dress

and my pretty new shoes

oh, and the very handsome cat!

I'm awkward with self portraits

which is why you don't see

'what i wore today' posts here.

(plus I only have 1 pretty vintage dress)

I took similar photos with my new toy camera

and hopefully they will turn out

so I can compare the digital to the film

(I like to do that sometimes)

Happy Saturday!

Happy long weekend!

(to those who have one)

happily,

xo Caren

the one with the thrifty goodness

Blogged about these fab finds over on The Thrift Collective!

I also scored a toy camera I've never heard of before - an Ultronic plastic camera with a Kinetic Optical Color Lens. Came with original instructions, too. In minty condition! Can't wait to play with it and see if has a cool vignette effect.

On a sadder camera note, I picked up a fabulous vintage Pentax camera & used a roll of film over the past week. All the photos were blurred; the focus is broken! I wasn't too broken-hearted, though, because it cost me .50 cents and came with film in it. Still, I took some great photos with it so am sad those moments are lost. I rely heavily on photographs, as I have a poor short-term memory (nonetheless long-term!).

the Ultronic toy camera, which I will be playing with over the weekend!

It was a nice trip to the thrift shop today. I hardly ever find something good at our local St. Vincent de Paul anymore (since they got rid of their awesome bargain basement), so went in without thinking I'd find anything cool. I left there with a large vintage Blenko glass vase (in aqua!), some copper goodies, 2 neat film cameras, the Sea-breeze fan & that fabulous shelving unit.

Happy vintage, happy thrifting, happy weekend!

~Caren

Afternoon Tea + a Cat

I visited a friend yesterday,

which meant I also visited her cat.

Kahlo cat is a very social cat.

She sat with us whilst we had afternoon tea.

Kahlo cat is Karen's cat.

She is Karen with a K

I am Caren with a C

We are the K/Carens.

We both love cats,

vintage pretty things,

pops of colour,

and cupcakes & tea!

Karen's colourful Fiestaware looked like candy on her table!

Then we added real cupcake-candy to those pretty dishes! yum!

There were also butterscotch cookies

and mugs full of Yorkshire Gold tea.

It was a sweet afternoon!

"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."  Henry James

sweetly,

Caren

the Dandelion Day

I had a quick moment of sun today, amongst much much gray rain, 

so I tossed on some clothes & grabbed my cameras (+ a dog) 

and went out for a quick springy dandeliony walk.

I brought my Polaroid Spectra with me, knowing there was one last photo
just itching to get a shot of some dandelions & a dog.
I let Grace loose amongst the field of yellow & green, and took a quick shot of her.
A moment captured in time = happiness!

look at her, lifting off over the dandelions!

the prettiest of "weeds", the dandelion bring the sunshine down on earth.


scan of the Polaroid :)

It's moments like this that make a girl breathe a little lighter & forget her troubles. 

A jolt of tranquility wrapped up in a joyful sprinkling of dandelions.

I hope sprinkles of sunshine fall upon you today, too.

xo,

Caren

Updates at The Vintage Apartment

Been busy gathering some new vintage goodness to add to The Vintage Apartment;
my apartment is spilling over the edges with the amount of new stock to add!
As usual, Gracie must get in the midst of my photography sessions with the items.
And, as per usual, I end up doing a little photoshoot with her.
She's a smart little cookie; knowing she'll get the attention she wants by photobombing my work!

one of two vintage flasks - the smaller one | a brass change dish | copper measuring cups

1960s-70s orange & brown drip glaze lamp & pitcher

I also redid my banner when I re-opened the shop! I love how it turned out - I used a scanned in a piece of vintage wallpaper to create it (funky fabulous wallpaper that I need to use, but don't know on what!).

Oh, and I now have a domain name for The Vintage Apartment = thevintageapartment.com! I'm not sure if I'll do something else with the domain name, other than pointing to the Etsy shop, but for now it's fun to have!

I also have a couple of sales going on right now in the shop!

The Vintage Closet section is on mega sale until the end of the month! Prices are already slashed 40-50% off! Here's a sampling:

from top left: 1 2 3 4 5

The Clearance Room has tons of slashed prices for you to get giddy over, too! These items will not be renewed once they expire. There's a miscellany of things to take a peek at there, from housewares to fashion!

I'll be adding the new stock over the next few days, so stay tuned!

vintage giddy,

Caren

Sunday Smile: Favourites

This Sunday Smile is brought to you by various Etsy awesomeness (favourite things from favourite shops):

Owl salt & pepper shakers | Bracelets | Earl Grey Sandwich Cookies | Magnets

This took me forever to do because I don't use my Kitschy Digital Kits (the clothesline & frame decal) often enough. I think I may do this on a regular basis from now on - it's fun to create in a Photosohp playground once & a while! I just need to get my hands on more kitschy kits - or start making my own, if I feel adventurous enough!

I have way too many items hearted on Etsy, and the above selection is but a drop in the bucket. I've got to get me some dullDiamond bracelets soon ... my wrist will thank me when I do! And now that Whimsy & Spice ships some of their goodies to Canada, I may just have to try some of their cookies!

It's enough to make a girl smile,

Caren 

a day in my backyard

a day in my backyard, in photos:

there's an Uppercase magazine hiding underneath my sketching utensils!

Grace tends to think she's human; I don't dissuade her.

my freshly redone garden path! prettiest natural stone path I ever did see.

this is Grace sucking on a pebble, on a blanket of pebbles (her version of heaven)

I love when the chickadees bounce about me; caught this little guy landing nearby

just thought I'd share my day with you,

it was actually yesterday

but that's not long ago

and I was out there again today,

like I was the day before

and will be again tomorrow

I hope it's not terribly boring of me

to always be in the same place

but I see daily bits of magic

unfold in every new green thing

and in every bird overhead.

I watched the glorious Baltimore Oriole for hours; a rare sight to see in my backyard.

xo Caren

the Silver Bean's the place to be

I had an impromptu call from a friend today, asking if I'd like to meet her at the Silver Bean for some tea.

I was sweaty & dirty, post-gardening, but answered Yes - because a girl should never say no to a Silver Bean date. I grabbed my mom on the way, and went to meet Michele, excited about having my first Bean experience of the season. It turned out even lovelier than I could have imagined, because there sitting with Michele was my ever-lovely neighbour-friend, Desiree of SoFawned.com. I got to share a table with three exceptionally beautiful mamas!

The Silver Bean is open from May until Thanksgiving, and is my favourite caffeine stop. I often get Lattes or Mochas (iced or hot) and a ginger cookie (or an earl grey poundcake). I love that the owner always remembers my name, even though she doesn't see me from November until April. I love that no matter what, I will bump into someone I adore and quite possibly haven't seen in a very long time (which I did so again this visit; bumping into a lovely lass that I hadn't seen in a year!). I love that you can sit outside, next to the water, and have chipmunks & little sparrows visit you.

If you visit me from another town, and its between May and October, chances are I'll take you to the Bean.

And yes, that's an open invitation! :)

xo

Caren

the one with the chatty cat

my blahblahblah cat

I met up with a very chatty cat a while ago, and took some photos of him using a camera I thrifted (Olympus Trip500). We had a great little chat, this black cat & I. He didn't stop talking the entire time I spent with him. Obviously, he is a little lonely. He even let Gracie get up close to him, only to smack her fiercely with a paw (thankfully, the chatty cat did not use his claws).

I hope to meet this talking cat another time during my walks. He's a great conversationalist.

Mr Chatty Cat was pretty shy at first, talking to me from afar, behind a screen of trees. The more I talked, though, the closer he got, until he was close enough for me to pet him & tell him face-to-face what a handsome boy he is. When I left him (taking poor dejected pawed-off Gracie home), Mr Chatty Cat had started a new conversation with another young lady & her pooch. I think this talking cat knows where its at!

I like that my cat, Strongpaw, only squeaks now & then & never ever talks back... except to give me a growly snap when I have to move her off my lap. meow!

~Caren

Sunday Smile: mom ♥

my mom as a young mother to my three brothers, circa early 1960s.

my mom (little one), her older sister & their mother (my grandmother) circa 1940s.

I just came across these two photos of my mom, and felt a moment of wonder.

To see my mom as a mother to my three big brothers - them so young & my mom in her early 20s (looking so sweet in her striped top & shorts, I might add!) - caught me in my heart.

Then the photo of my mom when she was just a little girl with her big sister Ethel and their mom Lillian broke my heart wide open. I don't know why; words aren't coming to me, but I thought I'd share these photos with you on this Day of Mothers.

I am so grateful my mom was born, and that she kept having kids until I was born (the youngest).

Thank you, mom, for being the woman you are, for giving lift to peoples' spirits, for being the listener that you are, for letting me be myself, and all the little things that make you you.

xo

Caren

Yesterday...

Yesterday, I went out into nature for a little bit; needed to fill my lungs with fresh air & take my pup for a much-needed play. Gracie had a terrible Grand Mal seizure the night before last - she crawled into bed with me (I was napping) and cocooned herself next to me before she started to seize. So heart-breaking, every single time it happens (thankfully, it's occurring less oft). The next day, she needed to kick up her heels paws a little bit, hence the need for an outdoor adventure.

I had woken up very early yesterday. Before 6am, in actual fact, and I had no reason to wake up so early. I didn't waste the time, though, and immediately went into wake up mode. I listened to the robins wake up the neighbourhood; it always seems to to be the robins who pipe up the earliest.

I spent my early hours doing a little bit of everything, including taking a pair of scissors and cutting up an old hoodie of mine. I chopped off the hoodie & the sleeves. It didn't fit me any more, but I always liked the comfort of it, so decided to do a quick & somewhat messy edit of it so I could wear it out that day. Then I wrapped an extra large shawl (folded into a triangle) over my shabby t-shirt & tied a ribbon around it, empire waist style. Basically, I made the outfit I wore that day (not necessarily very fashionable, mind you, but oh so comfy!). Makes me want to get the sewing machine out, dust it off, and start making things!

During my walk, I bumped into a lot of fellow nature & dog lovers, which is always a lovely thing.

Two little girls came up to me, wanting to meet Gracie, but Grace was more interested in eating fresh green grass than chatting with them. The girls' caregiver & I chatted awhile, after she showed me the (not so) hiding spot of a Mourning Dove's nest. I would never have seen the pigeons in their nest if they weren't pointed out to me. I'm usually quite good at picking out birds & other critters from afar, but these birds really do a good job of blending in with their environment (and yet, so openly!).

Do you spot the pigeon? From afar, you wouldn't even notice her amongst all the grays!

Isn't she lovely? I adore Mourning Doves (I call 'em Love Doves).

Yesterday was a pretty good day, all in all. I got to see a good friend (we ate yummy Korean food together & chatted about Paris), I did some design work, made some decisions about my near-future, and found my cat & dog in a precarious yin yang position on a couch together. Seriously, Strongpaw & Grace, when will you figure out that just because you can't see one another, doesn't mean the other isn't there? (I love how pissed off Strongpaw looks)

I hope your yesterday (and today) had some memorable moments, too!

xo

Caren