Pssst…. Do not tell anyone I was here. I am incognito as I am working diligently on….(click on any picture to enlarge)
Getting all those parcels delivered to you giveaway/swap gals. I have my magic Schwinn all loaded up for the delivery. We will float amongst the clouds in the rays of the moonlight, making sure these lovelies get into all of your mailboxes…Kinda like Santa, only, the female version. And, I don't have a beard, I don't think so at least? And, I am 5' 2" and not as rotund…I do have a cackle, instead of a chuckle…And, I have a bike instead of a sleigh. Okay, Okay, maybe not quite like Santa.. hee hee…Use your imagination.
There has been soo much magic around here today. This morning before I left a bird amuzed me by visiting the frog birdfeeder I made.
Then, this afternoon, I was frolicking, when a teeny little hummingbird landed on the chandelier hanging from "My love Tree." Can you spot it???
Then I looked in the mailbox and there was this wonderful postcard.
I had forgotten that I had visited Ana Bagayan, where I found a little postcard giveaway. I signed up, never ever thinking one would come to me…Guess what? It did! Yippee!
Now to the topic of Melancholy. I know this does not go with this post at all, but I was wondering??? Do anyone of you ever feel melancholic over missing times in the past? I know we all miss and have memories. But, I am talking about places and simplicity. Really, in the form of places like, Woolworth(s)? I have been thinking about this so very much. I remember being a kid and being so excited to go downtown in the tiny town I grew up in. We would go down and visit Woolworth and Kress. Always finding little treasures?? And, as I get older, those memories are so hard to grasp. I think I was about 6 – 8 when the amazing Woolworth's store closed. When I was a teenager, the building, still in tact, became a shop selling fake designer stuff…Strange…
There is my little Woolworth's tribute. You know, I googled Woolworth's and I found that the name still exists in some places??? But, is it still a 5 and dime store??
Off, I go. Please inspire me to finish packaging up the last of the 30 totes :)
Oh yes…I used to go to Thrifty’s with my grandmother to get those wonderfully cyllinder shaped ice creams in a cone? And, they were 15 cents, but you could get 2 scoops for a quarter…which my grandfather always handed out to us kids…it was a real treat because my hippie parents always limited the amount of sugar I could have…but rules hardly ever applied when I visited my grandparents…sigh.
I was just feeling a bit melancholy over my loss of innocence…or who I used to be a long time ago…kind of sneaks up on you, this age thing. I get so many gifts from being older…but there’s this whole heartedness that is missing somehow now…
At leÃ¥st I have a package coming in the mail to bring anotË™er smile to my fÃ¥ce…YIPPEE!!
We had Woolworths here (NZ) as well, but they are no more. I do have very strong memories of going there with my grandmother and getting to choose chocolates from the pick ‘n mix. I could be heavy handed with the strawberry ones!
Yeah I think of times past all the time. I’m only my memories. I’ll think of the future and it arrives sooner than I thought.
i love the pic of your bike. tis perfect.
and yes meloncholy – i’m right there
I love your silhouette girl. One question, does she have fuzzy knees?? I can’t make out what is sticking out of her knees. Just a question. Hey,Woolworth still exists in a lot of places. I think it’s making a comeback. Have you seen the new In and Out in town? The line was all the way around the building heading into the Target parking lot. Crazy, huh? Why are you riding your bike? Did the cop take your license?
Lovely, lovely silohette painting, oh my that coral is stunning!! Oh and how cute – that hummingbird on froggie!
Is’nt it just like you to show all the totes ready to be mailed in the bike…i love it!
Oh MY! and the painting of Woolworths…so imaginative and colorful. Bakelite bangles 5 cents – how i wish i could go back in time and snap them all up!! I do remember Woolworths and another department store Budds, shopping for school clothes! I also have fond memories of Sears, especially the toy department and all the fun stuff there!! Oh to be a child again…..
oh dear me! i am tired, i just noticed a small error…the bird on the froggie, not a hummingbird..but i must say also, that it is a most wonderful color!!
I love how you loaded all the bags onto your bike, it’s such a wonderful picture, and the birds are beautiful! (their amazing colours, wow)! Love the silhouette picture and WOOLWORTHS (we sometimes call it Woolies) yes!!! there’s one about half an hour from where I live, would you like me to send anything? 🙂
A sweet postcard,
a darling frog
a friendly bird in a red vest,
and your pink and black shadow…
there is always a moment of cheerfulness on your blog!!
Oh yes as cruststation said, we still have good old Woolies here. Love your paintings 🙂
Hey there, I just discovered your blog and am insanely upset that I didn’t discover you sooner or I would have been first to join up for your wonderful swap, is it too late? I hope not. Anyway I love your style and that frog bird feeder is a stroke of genius. I’m in Oz and we have a Woolworths here but it’s a supermarket, its the same in NZ too. Anyway I’m glad to have discovered your blog and look forward to stopping by on my rounds.
Take care, Ness
Hi, we have a Woolworths in nearly every town in the UK. It’s famous for it’s mega huge ‘pick’n’mix’ sweetie section. Here they sell music, household haberdashery, garden basics and lots of kids toys. Every time I’m in Woolies there seems to be a small child having a tantrum over a wanted toy…..
Woolworths is still alive and kicking here in England with most reasonably sized towns having one, including ours. It sells just about everything and was first port of call when the boys were little to look at the toys and buy sweets and icecreams!
sometimes I get melancholy when I think of being a small girl and going to K-Mart with my grandma, because we could walk there from her high-rise….
we would eat lunch at the “K-Mart Grill” and I remember they had the best grilled cheeses I had ever tasted.
they tasted like love.
Hey, I love the birds and the bike. Your world seems so magical. I, too, feel the meloncholy of fleeting childhood memories often. I think that is partially why I started the Odd Duck, so that I would write some of the memories down. Writing certainly feels good but also makes the meloncholy palpable.
Kress yes! And Woolworth’s! Got lots of pre-Wal-Mart bargains at those places…but do you know what I’m melancholy over? I miss the shampoo called Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific! My hair hasn’t smelled that nice since 1982! Maybe like Victoria’s magazine some of these things will magically reappear 🙂
I sure had fun putting together Vanessa’s package 🙂
You are much more loved that I am. It took 15 minutes to scroll to the bottom of your comments! 😀 I found a bike like yours yesterday when I was out helping Brian run errands. He has been charged with procuring it for me. And then we can fly through the sky together, cackling and delivering presents!
The birds….how magical! and your drawings, I don’t remember my local Woolworths being quite that charming:)
You have a package winging its way to you!!
I wish that I was there to help you package things. I LOVE to package mail! 🙂 I know you will get it done though.
Yes, I get nostalgic for places and times in my childhood a lot. There was a store here called Versie’s and we would go and buy our clothes there and it was really neat, they had the prettiest things and the friendliest clerk-staff. But, it is gone now. The old lady who owned it – Versie herself – passed away many years ago. Yes, I miss things like that… TIMES like that…
xo,
Karen Beth 🙂
You are totally cracking me up…
Love that silohette painting! Any chance of it becoming a print! Hey and remember the cake girl you did a while back? Would love her as a print too! But, I also miss times gone by. Not shopping so much, but I remember playing for what seems like the entire summer, day after day, with my little sister in our backyard creating little worlds for our barbies. I would still love to spend a day doing that! Your bike and packages are so cute! Mine is going into the mail today, it is so fun to know there will be something fun in the mail for a change! Thanks so much!
oh! i love your silouhette! and i love, love, love your bird feeder. i am soooooooooo going to need one of those once i have a yard. and yay for trader joe’s bags. yay!!!! your package will go out tomorrow. just a couple of finishing touches are necessary. you lucky girl will soon be drowning in mail. and amazing mail (oops i first wrote male, i’m sure you’ll be drwoning in wonderful mr. lovely as well) too knowing all the bloggging beauties swapping with you!
woolies!!!!! yay- we have one in the west country of the u.k…..awwwwww its a shame its no longer where u are- though it doesnt seem as fantastic as your memories…its got abit of everything at our woolies from kids clothing, gardening stuff, hardwares, pens, paper, cards , dvd’s, but the bestest thing is the SWEEEEEEEEEEETIES!!! BIG pick n mix section!!!!! thats where i go for my sweets.
oooooo’ miss fanciful looking forward to the parcel arriving….all the way from where u are- wooooooweeeeee!!!,
im creating some little treasures to send back x x x x
love kazzy x x x x x x x
I wonder. Is it the buds bursting, flowers blooming, and the birds humming that makes us all a little crazy? I have read (and feel myself) like there is sooooooo much to do and not enough time and then, and then, and then I work myself up into this tizzy where I can’t seem to do anything but laze around and read a magazine. Melancholia? Mebee.
There is a store front not too far from my place that still has the Woolworth’s sign but inside its all little gourmet booths and stuff. But it does bring on a bit of nostalgia. I loved going there when I was little. I loved their toy section. I loved eating at the little restaurant counter!
Vanessa, seriously, seriously… you must do a print of that top piece that you have done and put it in the shop. That is darling.. one of my favorites. I also love the up-side-down girl the other day.. so cute. Those need to be in your shop. When, they are… make sure and tell me. Michelle and I really like the fun drawings you do of YOU so much…
We never had a Woolworths where I grew up, but we had Bank Drug. Tiny little store. Me and my Grandma would go and have a soda, at the soda fountain. I really miss it. It does get hard to remember. I love your work! This is a great blog!
Oh my, the bags all look so wonderful. I can see your tiny self perched up on the bike, stopping only to scold local elves from doing their mischief. And yes, sending you the PO box but worried about you spending money on postage:-(
Hey sexy bag lady! LOL! I totally adore the sillouhette cutout looking piece you’ve done! Very very adorable.
Woolworths. Jeesh, I remember those stores. Nowdays the closest thing to a 5 & dime is the Dollar Tree – which pretty much sucks imo.
I’m adoring your bird feeder! I would so eat out of that. Even though I’m not a bird and such.
Wanna come over this wkend for a Cinco de Mayo party we’re hitting? Bring your travelling margarita cup chicky!
The bird feeder picture is priceless. It’s kinda reminding me of pictures of crocodiles (or is it alligators?) who let birds land near their mouths and pick food from their teeth… except yours is a frog and all. Okay, so I’m a bit mixed up. But the feeder is great.
Yoohoo…Vanessa, I love your white chandelier thingy…very chic. Anyhoo…just wanted to let you know that I’ll be mailing out my doo~hicky thingy for you, for my end of the swap. I’ll let you know when it’s been shipped!!
Xo Kelly
p.s. I have a new blog now!
What a lovely post!
I loved Woolworth’s when I was in Australia. I bought myself a stuffed Koala bear there, which stuck with me wherever I went… meaning she was strapped to the outside of my big ole rucksack (what a sight!)
I named her “Bluey” as I acquired her after I heard news from my mom and dad back in Canada that my beloved collie/husky cross named Blue passed away. It was rough getting the news as she was *my* dog… boy, how I missed her! If only I was there to say goodbye. My heart was broken, and I felt awful guilt.
But snuggling up to Bluey helped me mourn and grieve the loss. She was a my travel mate as I backpacked alone… and her cuddle soft fur and cutesy face was with me as I cried and mourned over losing Blue. Bluey embraced me with much needed comfort and companionship…. this silly stuffed animal took the form of Blue in a way, and I was able to find some closure over her death.
That is my memory of Woolworth’s… that big ole shopping place provided me with comfort, peace and solace just at a time just when I needed it most. Bless them!
PS
I still have Bluey. She is stained with tears, but still holds a special place in my heart… along with Blue.
whoa!! 30 tote bags? you’ve made Trader Joe AND the postoffice happy!
did you know I cant ride a bike? how sad is that??.. I dream to ride one with a basket at the front full of flowers and a baguette sticking out…
your frog is adorable! your property look amazing girl!
We had a huge Woolworths in the city back then and thats where we’d go for Christmas present shopping as it was a variety store… now its one of our major food supermarkets…in Cyprus Woolworths is still a dept store with exclusive brands…
You are so cute with your bike! I looooove that bike, how fun!! I am so bumming that I missed out on the swap, where in the world have I been?! What beautiful birds you have living in your trees! Yes I get melancholy (spelling?) for things like that. Lately I have been really missing the craft store I used to work at in high school. They had crafts that you just can’t find anywhere, little magical crafty things. I used to love to work there. By the way, Micah loves Shel Silverstein. He is enjoying reading the poems all on his very own and it makes me so happy to hear him enjoying poetry. And of course the website is right up his alley!
I fear meloncholia,is something I have always dealt with. When I turned 16,instead of being thrilled that I could drive,I was strangely sad,because I knew my childhood would be soon over(ofcourse I have done my best to stretch it out(still stretching!)!). As the plays I was involved with closed,I felt chapters in my life closing that I could never again open. It took me years to have that wonderful bittersweet feeling about closing a play. I would honestly say I have finally begun to break free of that pleasant sort of doom. My girls MAKE me live in the present in such a wonderful way,that there is really no looking back.
i am in love with your birds! Have been doing alot of birdwatching ’round the buttonbox too….i am pretty sure the Cardinals have some kind of seed cartel running because they have taken control of one of my feeders and no other bird dare approach! LOL!
Speaking of melancholy, your bike makes me feel it…my grandma had one like it and i think of her every time i see yours. (This is not a bad thing, it’s a very sweet memory)I miss her!
We had a Kress in downtown Columbia up until a few years back. They went out of business and now that building has been converted into luxury apartments 🙁 Sad!
i remember going to woolworths when i was a kid with my grama lupe…she was fun to shop with ’cause she bought me those bubble bath bottles shaped like a doll, AND she would take me to lunch at the thrifty’s lunch counter! i love your woolworth painting! fabulous!
I tagged you, my lovely!
Your photos are wonderful…I love the one of your bike with all the bags…and…and…and all the other’s. We have hummingbirds at out feeder…no elegant chandelier though…hope they don’t mind, I will not tell them about it, they might get ideas…..enough that I do.
For instance, I did not enter you exchange thingy for the Trader Joe’s bags, because I knew I could get them here…so several bags later…for friends and one for me….
I think Trader Joe’s should give you commission I bet you sold a lot of bags through your blog.
I love your style and I am influenced 🙂
Now about Woolworths…..I am interested that one so young is already nostalgic…think about how nostalgic an Amma like me is…but at the same time I love a lot of the new things…gadgets, computers and that whole scene…and new friends etc.,etc.
Here in my little town we have a 5 and 10…wow!!! I just noticed that there is no cent symbol on the keyboard…anyway, back to our 5 and 10 it is marvelous and I find myself there one or more times a week.
First when I came to the States they had some Woolworths stores here and at that time my Mother did not consider the merchandice of sufficient quality…to quote her “This is just cheap stuff” but I loved it, because it said America to me…my Mother would shake her head when I brought a bargain home from Woolworths 🙂
I love, love, love your silhouette…you are one talented lady…Have I said that before? Well it bears repeating.
I’m sorry you’re feeling so blue. I’ve had a touch of that myself, this week.
Your humming bird takes my breath away!