The House That Dripped Blood

a 1970 horror 4-part I rented from Netflix. It was ok, what I call a peignoir film, with only 1 nice one. There were 4 mini movies & the whole dvd was only 85-90 minutes or so. Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Ingrid Pitt-the usual suspects for vintage horror films. As for the nightgown, there was just the 1 & it wasn't worn by Ingrid but some blonde with the classic 'Bionic Woman' hairstyle: no bangs, light brown/dark blonde hair, in big gentle waves just past the shoulders. A bonus for the updo, with small curls pulled out & meticulously curled-perhaps with that steam-iron I recall from the 70s? White with white lace both the gown & robe.

One storyline had a little blonde girl that still had all her baby teeth; she was the daughter of a witch, with Christopher Lee as the terrified father of the witch-girl. Watching it I realized that there is a normal learning arc that MUST be traveled to get past tired, unrealistic views of witches & anything outside of an old book.

From this 1970 film to Charmed in 1998. What a difference almost 3 decades later. Witches are as evil as a Christian or Muslim priest, & it is finally time to quit living in endless fear; mostly I'm thinking about some troubling people whipping up hysteria in Africa, scaring them to gain power & influence. Reading about a stampede where some actually died because someone had passed around a rumour that there was a witch in the stands..........truly appalling. It doesn't help anyone when people are attacking 5 year olds in the deformed belief that the child is an evil witch; this is what I've read has been happening in some immigrant communities, & I fear it is spreading. I hope that cooler heads prevail in the end. This hardly seems connected to a horror film, except for the fear of that character of a witch. I think I could juice a turnip, & it probably looks dumb to connect the two, but I feel there is a natural path that is traveled & it occurs after we are made aware that something more is out there than our childhood world-views.

At first it is exactly what we've been told, but then it changes, because reality does not adhere to fairy stories. Only after a time does it become clear that there is an entire extra world out there that is not spoken of, not categorized, not very watched.

The old Gods & Goddesses may well be coming back, it has entered many people's thoughts. Pre-Christian Goddesses have been recently found in novels, songs, poems, & television series. It's strange to watch this, but I have the time.

Ruby's Hats pt.3

These 2 hats are vintage-the blue I think is a 1950s small cartwheel style, the other is a straw hat that I covered with cocoa colored lace & stitched on using tiny 3mm stab-stitches with vintage super sharp #11 milliner's needles. I really appreciate the hatmakers from back in the day because as you can see in the pics the brims were narrowed in the back, avoiding what modern hatmakers have ignored-that hats don't stay on well while a seat back is pushing the brim, whether it is a car, a plane, or a restaurant seat.

Ruby's Hats pt.2 Gardenias

After seeing several rose hats of this style & finding ONLY roses, I made a hat with 3 gardenias, cream hat veiling & a little clear elastic, in place of the rayon-covered black or brown elastic found in vintage hats, that is usually stretched out anyway.

Ruby's Hat Collection

This hat I made myself, with craft felt from Joann's, old lavender lace, a vintage velvet orchid & new faux pussy willows. The mannequin I bought at Sally's & painted the face with acrylics.

I LOVE vintage hats, I'm content to spend hours on eBay, browsing & buying. It is easy if your favorite flower is the rose-there are many hats for you; on the other hand, if you prefer orchids or gardenias-you'll have a difficult hunt ahead of you.

I found some shops on eBay that sell vintage hat-trimmings: from West Germany, Occupied Japan, France. I was thrilled to find an orchid! I then held on to it for awhile & then-the above pics.

French Artisan Bread

The presentation isn't the best, but the snap-on lid is perfect for keeping the bread fresh. I made 2 freeform loaves, just put them on a cookie sheet; home-made bread is much heavier than store-bought bread-I heard someone call store-bought bread "fog in a bag". Open faced sandwiches are the norm, & yes you have to slice the bread yourself. In the 1990s I bought a book on bread-making by Bernard Clayton & I have used recipes from this book many times over the years.

I also like to experiment, swapping out regular flour for buckwheat (it has a lot of vitamins but a stronger flavor), I throw in a cup of powdered oatmeal every now & then; also baby cereal: rice, mixed grain, etc, these are loaded with hopefully real & safe vitamins. They call this swapping "artisan", I just call it an experiment & go for it. I also habitually cut the loaf in half, just to make certain it really is fully cooked.