We're two sisters who are craft book publishers and found ourselves in the midst of an avocado grove. We bought this house where we planned to conduct our publishing business and in the deal got 4 acres of avocado trees thrown in. Now we're not only publishers but ranchers as well! This blog is all about avocados and anything else that strikes my fancy.

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Sepia Saturday #128 The Blue Angel - Falling In Love Again

One of my favorite movies is the 1930s German film The Blue Angel starring Marlene Dietrich. The reason I love it so much is the song she sings as a naughty cabaret artist - Falling in Love Again. I recently found some sheet music of the song and just had to buy it.



Here's a youtube version of the song by Miss Dietrich herself:




Don't you just love her risque outfit?  The movie is quite interesting. It's available from Netflix (if you've never seen it). Do you have Netflix in your neck of the woods?

Marlene went on to a very successful film career. She became a U.S. citizen and during WWII she performed before thousands of troops in Algeria, Italy, England and France and sold more war bonds than any other star. When asked why she did all of this touring despite the danger, she replied "out of decency".


She was awarded the US Medal of Freedom by the US in 1947 and the French Legion of Honor.

For other stories relating to sheet music click here Sepia Saturday.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Sepia Saturday #127 Market Day in Chichicastenango

There's no better market in the whole world like the one in Chichicastengo, Guatemala. It's way up in the mountains in a beautiful village. Market days are Sunday and Thursday and sellers come from miles around trudging up steep hills with wares strapped to their backs, women with baskets of textiles balanced on their heads. Buyers come from all over the world seeking the beautiful embroidered huipiles (blouses), woven fabrics, pottery, carved wooden items, and much more.  Locals are more interested in the fruits, vegetables, spices and flowers.
(I apologize for the bad photos which are old and fading, kind of like the memories).



As you're shopping in the market, you smell a sweet smell and are enveloped in a kind of haze. This is the incense coming from the steps of the Santo Tomas church. Parishioners are swinging braziers up the steps and into the church leaving an incredible scent that you never quite forget.



My ex-husband (who is Guatemalan), Barbara and I traveled throughout Guatemala in July of 1963. What a beautiful country it is, The Land of Eternal Spring.

We stayed at the most gorgeous hotel, The Mayan Inn. Each room has its own fireplace and you're assigned a man who lights the fireplace every morning.


The rooms were all appointed with colonial style antiques and fresh flowers. Time Magazine did an article years ago about the 10 best places to take your mistress, and the Mayan Inn was on the list. Mainly because it is so remote, no one you know would ever catch you there.

Here I am wearing one of the huipiles that I purchased at the market. My ex and I are relaxing in front of the fire.


Here's Barbara peeking through the door from her room.



To get a taste of the market, check this out.



To visit other markets or related stories, click here:  Sepia Saturday







Friday, May 18, 2012

Sepia Saturday #126 A Most Unfortunate Wedding

I found these wedding photos in an antique shop. I was buying lots of wedding photos because we were doing a book about weddings and needed lots of resource material and ephemera. These photos never made it into the book. I wonder why!

Here she is—the blushing bride. I'll call her Betty. Doesn't she look like a Betty? He looks kind of happy with that half smile. She doesn't look happy at all. She doesn't want to marry this guy. But she's found herself "in the family way" and her dad told her she better marry this guy if she knows what's good for her. This was probably the 1940s and a woman didn't have too many choices in those days. So the wedding was planned, the unfortunate dress bought and the flowers ordered. Betty had her hair done. But even for the photo, she wasn't going to smile.

And here's the whole family. Betty's perked up a bit here. But her folks and the in-laws don't look a bit pleased. I'll take a clue from Helen's post about the hand gestures - Betty looks like she's ready to claw her way out of this day. Mom looks like she's ready to slap Betty. Dad is hiding his hands so we're not sure what he's thinking. Maybe there's a rifle back there. It's funny, on the back of this photo is written "none". Betty didn't even want to order copies of this wedding photo. She's already hating her in-laws.


Here's Betty and probably her sister who's the happiest person at the wedding. She's probably still single!  Dad is almost smiling here, but still pretty steamed about the whole situation. Mom is thinking "why didn't I wear my pushup bra?"  But Betty liked this photo. According to the back of this one, she ordered 12 5x7s.

March down the aisle to Sepia Saturday for more photos and stories.


Thursday, May 10, 2012

Sepia Saturday #125 My Mom's The Best Cook

I know. Everyone thinks their own Mom is the best cook in the world. But mine really was. I wish I could cook anywhere as near as good as she did. Here's a photo of her in the kitchen:





It probably all started when she was about 20 years old and thinking of getting married. So she bought this cookbook.


It remained in her kitchen her whole life. I remember consulting it every once in a while. I really like the book because of its tabs for each chapter.

I wish all cookbooks had these. It would be so much easier to find a recipe.

After my mom died, we had a Celebration of Life for her. We made this little recipe book to hand out as a remembrance. And we served all of her favorite dishes at the celebration.

The book contained all her best recipes

Her best ever recipe was for Lemon Meringue pie. It was even better than Marie Callenders.



You can tell she made it a lot because of all the stains on her recipe card.


Here's the recipe for the meringue. You can't have the pie without that.


I sure miss my mom's cooking. But it's nice that I still have her recipe book and all her recipe cards. They're a wonderful reminder of her.

C'mon over to Sepia Saturday if you smell something good coming from there and want to read other stories about kitchens, cooking and food.