Check out the hummingbirds fighting!

I managed to capture this great little video of the activity that has been going on all day outside my window. 3-4 hummingbirds at a time are fighting over the feeder, mostly females. All of the ones in this video are gals - very fiesty gals.

See how they fan out their tailfeathers, to make themselves look big and menacing. They sometimes hit the window or bang into the feeder when fighting. I sometimes feel bad that they are fighting, but it's just the way that they are. We have 9 feeders out in our front and back yards, so it's not like they are starving. But this one seems to be the busiest, although fights break out now and then at each of the other feeders. Maybe this one is popular because it's up on a 2nd floor window with lots of tree branches nearby. You can see them sitting in the branches watching the feeder for invaders.

The video is 1-1/2 minutes, and I thinks it's pretty cool. I am now a wildlife photographer/videographer.

That weird orb/UFO that you see is the ceiling light behind me, reflected in the window.

And the winner is . . . Talented!

So I put the names of everyone who signed up for the drawing on little pieces of paper, put them in a box and pulled out a winner. And the winner is Kate! Thanks to everyone who signed up. It was fun to put together this giveaway, and I'll do another little goodie box giveaway like this again.
So, being the nosey gal that I am, I checked out who this Winning Kate gal was and found out that she is a talented artist, with several shops on etsy.

Check out these super cute and fun Flappers Eloise & Ramona at http://www.flapperdoodle.etsy.com/




And her Movie Star artwork at http://www.silentsandtalkies.etsy.com/



Plus you can Check out Her Profile - for information about her other shops, and the shops of her talented family!

Hydrangeas make me happy

I had a grumpy moment yesterday and the hydrangeas cheered me up. My parents have a Summer rental at the shore. Most rentals are handled by the realtor, but some my Dad does himself. They are mostly friends-of-friends and he never makes the people pay up front, he lets them pay the day their rental starts (I know, but it's his house, so it's his way)
Anyway, I clean between tenants on Saturdays and I spend the weekend in the efficency cottage out back. The people renting the house this week have been renting for a few years and they know that I'm staying out back and that they are supposed to pay me. Do they bring the rent money out to me? No.
So Sunday before I leave, I go knocking on the door to get the rent. I'm feeling grumpy, because I shouldn't have to chase these people down for the rent. No one answers the door - but I can hear the tv! I knock and knock, but no one comes to the door. So I go stomping down the porch steps bitching and complaining in my head, and I pass the garden. That's when I catch sight of my pretty, pretty hydrangeas. Instant cheer. So I cut some to bring home with me, and put them in a pretty vase on my desk.
These are my favorite colors for hydrangeas - pale lavender, blue and green, I love the varying shades.



I'm going back tonight for the rent. All day I've been trying to figure out how to let them know that I'm pissed, without being rude.

***Update - the rent has been paid, and I was very polite.

Geek Alert - I'm addicted to playing Farm Town

So much so that I had to do a screen grab to show you my Farm!
Farm Town is one of the many, many, time-sucking games on Facebook (if you have managed to avoid playing those games, don't start now!) I've tried many of the games, and I like Mafia Wars, Pet Society and Farm Town the best. Most of the games you can only play maybe 10 minutes at a time until you run out of the game's pretend money, so they don't really waste alot of time. But Farm Town does take more time.
You are given a plot of land where you plow, plant seeds, harvest and sell the crops. Then you can expand your farm, and buy things for it. I don't know, it's just fun. Plus you get little farm animals that wander around and make noise. It's cute.
I also play some YoVille, but that has some interacting with other people, and you know that I am an anti-social hermit. And I had a few weird moments with other people on there. But I like decorating the apartment, which is basically all you do.

Hummingbirds entertain me while I work.

This is my first Summer with my office up here in this room. My desk is pushed right up to the window so that I can look out into the back yard while I work. I bought another hummingbird feeder that sticks to the window, and it hangs about 2 feet above my computer screen. So I get to watch the hummingbirds come for a drink all day, while I work. They've become alot more active the past few days, so there have been fights and scuffles (hummingbirds are feisty and very territorial) They've bumped up against the window while fighting. So small, so tough. So much fun.

It's hard to photograph them, especially through the window, but here are two rough shots so that you can get an idea of how close they are to me.

Happy Birthday Harlow!

Guess who turned 1 this week?
Remember her first photos, just 1 day old, probably less than 1 pound?




Now she's a big girl, 64 pounds! The breeder said she would be a little bigger than the average female bulldog, that she could hit 55 pounds. Well she hit that and then some! .
She's alot of fun, and she and Boris are such good buddies, they have alot of fun together. She is the alpha wolf though, the big boss. He let's her be the boss, he doesn't seem to mind her pushing him around.

Giveaway - Little Vintage Goodies and a Vintage Clothing book!

Hey, how about a giveaway?!
This giveaway will be a hatbox full of little vintage goodies and a book about vintage clothing.
Anyone is able to sign up for the drawing, post a message below (with contact info) or send an email to dvintage@comcast.net

Let me tell you everything included in this giveaway -
* Three vintage photos from the estate of Florence Kline
* 3 cards of vintage buttons and a group of matching blue buttons - also vintage but not on a card.
* A piece of gold velvet ribbon
* A vintage pin made of seashells
* A stamped linen piece to cut and embroider that make 9 coasters with fruit on them. Shown in the background in the photo to the left here and a closer view is below on the left too -



* 3 Sample Sheets from Signet Frocks, from the 1940s. They show garments available from the company. They originally had fabric swatches on them, but those were removed (Not by me)











* 3 oval vintage images of pretty ladies

* A pair of black dress gloves

* 3 dainty hankies with pink embroidery and crochet

* A wool felt embroidered silhouette from Bucilla (not sure what that was meant to be used for, it has been embroidered)









* A linen piece with lace on one end

* A Black patent vinyl zipper bag - either a small purse or make-up bag.
* The book 'Shopping For Vintage'. It has very short profiles of designers from the 1890s-1980s. Also some jewelry and handbag designers, tips on buying vintage and guides to realworld and online vintage shops and fairs. Book has artwork, no actual photos of vintage clothing.
* And it all comes in a small vintage hatbox from Gimbels!


Yes, you get everything show above, fun little vintage stuff! A winner will be drawn on the 22nd of June.

Tuesday's Outfit, and - 'Sometimes I am a Knucklehead'

I won't be getting in the habit of showing what I'm wearing, but I wanted to show this dress, because I love it.
I've had it about 2 years, but it was too snug in the waist for me - I cannot stand anything close fitting on my waist, I like my clothing barely touching my stomach. But this year I'm a little thinner than last year (Had to take off a few lbs because of my high blood pressure) so I got to wear the dress for the first time on Tuesday! It needs a belt to finish it off, I know, but like I said, nothing tight on the waist.
I wore it to the part time job with 1970s canvas and straw wedges (a little tight, but thank goodness canvas gives) and a very cool 1950s purse that is made of vinyl, pressed and textured to look like wicker or bamboo -

Now for the 'Sometimes I am a Knucklehead' part of the post. You know those cute seedlings that I showed you in the last post? Well . . . There were a bunch of knats inside the window where the seedlings set. So I sprayed bug killer in the window to get rid of the knats. When I woke up in the morning, my little seedlings were all shriveled up and discolored - from the bug spray. Knucklehead. Hopefully they will pull through

My posts have been lacking lately, sorry. Summer is a little hectic, and the vintage work has been busy too. So here are some odds-n-ends to mention.
I bought these little terra cotta pots with seeds at the Dollar store. So cute - sunflowers, Forget-me-nots and clover. I put the little pots in one of my depression glass dishes on the window, they look really cute (which is good, I keep going to look at how cute they are, so I keep remembering to water them)


Remember my flood, how could you forget? Well the carpet in the bathroom got trashed, I hated it anyway. I really want tile in there, because I don't like carpet in a bathroom. But my Dad said a new subfloor had to be put in before we could put in tile, which basically means he didn't want to do it. So we ended up with carpet again. I was really anxious to get something in there because it looked bad. The only piece of carpet that was the right size and quality was a dark plum. Somehow I made it match my pale aqua walls. I bought shower curtains at the dollar store that had a paler version of the plum along with the aqua in them, and that pulled it together. It will do until I can find vintage fabric to make curtains and until I can get tile put in there.

Below is a shot of the walls with the magically matching curtains, and a few of my mermaids. The clothing in the next photo is my 'closet' - since there is no closet in the cottage, I have to hang my clothing off the side of the shower stall.



And here's the blue dress from above on me, yesterday. It's a great dress, very lightweight cotton, very comfortable.

Vote for Your Favorite Vintage Site at Lulu's Blog!

As long as your choice is Dandelion Vintage!
I was a winner in the People's Choice voting last year, which was very, very nice.


It's time again for Lulu's Vintage People's Choice Award Top 10 Vintage Clothing Websites!
Please vote for your Top 10 favorite Women's vintage clothing websites by leaving a comment on Lulu's Blog -
http://blog.lulusvintage.com/2009/06/vote-for-your-favorite-vintage-site.html