Thursday, September 23, 2010

Closet clean out and Recipe cards!

My closet is now ready for Fall and my work wardrobe is easily visible.
I have hung things in basic colour groupings...black, white, grey, navy...
with a few prints and coloured garments to the side.

I had some items to donate to charity and a few that I felt might be candidates for the consignment shop.
The consignment shop is on a busy street and parking can be difficult but I found a spot with ease and while they looked over my garments I perused their stock. 
The staff are very well turned out and fashionably accessorized...the stock is neat, clean and attractively displayed. 
Most items are name brand designers and are in current styles...some are new with tags still attached...
I did not find anything to purchase and was not really engaged in looking, having just pared down and added a few new recently purchased pieces.

Nextdoor to the consignment shop is a vintage decor shop which has great stock.
I browse here often and need to steel myself from making purchases as there is ALWAYS at least one thing that calls my name...
It might be the artfully arranged groupings of items which are so sumptuous that I swoon!
The owner has a keen eye and she finds unique time worn pieces...some very country, others very fine.

I saw weathered oars, concrete garden urns, antique inlaid wood dressers, country jelly cupboards, painted French trays, silver bowls, ironstone crocks, biscuit tins, costume jewlery, hat stands, crystal chandeliers, floral printed china, rugs, mirrors of all shapes and sizes, oil paintings, and a large collection of garden gnomes!

I found these...and they spoke to me!
circa 1969


French Recipe Cards!


 a complete deck...


recipes in the French style of eating
circa 1969
not low fat
high flavour


French women don't get fat!
there is a book available
with that title...
after reading these cards
I would like to believe that
but
I have my doubts!

Duchesse at Passage des perles
recently commented on my blogpost 
referencing a book "French Women" by Marguerite 
where a 3 bite rule
is suggested

thank you
great advice Duchesse!

one dessert and forks for all diners at the table
equals French chic!

and now...
Bridge anyone?


12 comments:

mette said...

Good for you for clearing up your closet! Now, just concentrate on keeping it clear.
I, for one know, that decor shops are hard to resist. I have done my share of visiting them too. Sometimes I just look inside, maybe even walk in and realize that everything they sell is... well, I can live without it.
Since you like to cook, those cards might inspire you though. Bravo for not buying more clothes!

Daryl at Vermont Cottage said...

What a great find! Have fun with those.

Rebecca said...

I got "high" just reading and re-reading that paragraph of the items you SAW at the vintage decor shop!

I'm gong to practice the 3-bite rule for the next few days. (I've already eaten a whole piece of left-over pizza for my "breakfast", so will start NOW!)

Paula said...

you clean up your closet like others brush their teeth, without any effort, at ease. Really? :)

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

metscan-I do plan to try a few of these recipes...and I will try to exercise discipline on the clothes shopping front!

Daryl at Vermont Cottage- The cards are really too big to play a game with but as recipe cards they are easy to read.

Rebecca- I think you understand my enthusiasm with regards to this shop! I wonder if there is a spoon size guideline with the 3 bite idea...I am thinking a large serving spoon could accommodate a lot of food!!

Paula-I suppose I do...I am a bit of a "neatnick"...I embrace order and seeing things in colour groupings gets me dressed faster.

Anonymous said...

Dear Hostess, Discipline in the wardrobe is every bit as important as discipline in the garden, in my view, and you are clearly in that same mind frame. It is so efficient as well as good for one's clothes to have them in order and ready to wear rather than having to rummage around trying to piece all the items together.

Recently, an attack of the Moth necessitated a complete reorganisation of my clothes in a very large chest of drawers. But, oh, the delight when afterwards everything was arranged neatly in colour co-ordinated piles and the switch from summer to autumn had taken place.

La Vie Quotidienne said...

Oh! I really need to do this...I do put things in my closet according to color, but it seems to have a mind of it's own and before long all the colors have mixed themselves up again.(-: The cards look intriguing.

Britta said...

Dear Hostess of the Humble Bungalow,
what a great find! I love cook-books (and have masses of them), and often those that do not look so grand as nowadays have really great recipes. Your French cards look good - and I think it is practical to put one into the handbag when buying things for dinner.
"French women don't get fat" (I have both books of Mireille Guiliano - but no problems with fat) have a fetching title - but as I'm often in France, my sister being married to a French men - I see for myself - and well - in Germany we say: they also cook only with water - a lot of plain and also fat women as everywhre else, but they have a big knack in advertising themselves :-)

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

Edith Hope- How unfortunate for you... one single moth can totally wreak havoc on wool garments...I have heard that cedar chips or sachets of shavings are an effective deterent.
As to organization I am a wee bit compulsive...my desk, my junk drawer... I also like order within the book stacks in the Library!

LaVie Quotidienne-I have seen lovely images of closets where clothes hang in grouping according to style...and some in colour groups...the randomness of yours sounds very arty and bohemian.
I sense that you are a creative soul!

Britta-What a fabulous idea taking the card to the market in my bag! I never even considered that but it's brilliant!
"a lot of plain and also fat women as everywhere else" I love that statement...and I have been brainwashed by the "advertising" Thank goodness that I am not alone in this belief!

Cherie said...

What a great find! How lucky that you are near a shop that carries such treasures.

Recipe Cards said...

Wow so nice! I like this site. Keep it working every day.

Sam Wilson | Building Credit for Students said...

There's something you don't see everyday. How big is that deck of cards?

"And now for my next recipe... Umm... Well, we'll know after I shuffle these cards."

:)