Eastlake Victorian

Merely Dee—an Eastland Disaster Novel

2012-01-28T17:22:00.010-06:00

Back in September of 2010, I did a post about the Eastland Disaster, a Chicago tragedy that unfolded in 1915. Now, a good friend has written a young adult novel based on this story! Marian Manseau Cheatham's book, Merely Dee, features a teenage girl named Dee Pageau who happens to be aboard the ship on that fateful day. Here is a brief overview of Marian's book:

The 1915 Western Electric Employee Picnic is the social highlight of the year in Cicero, Illinois. Five steamers wait to ferry seven thousand passengers to the picnic grounds in Michigan City, Indiana. As teenager Dee Pageau packs her picnic basket and prepares to board the SS Eastland, she anticipates this will be the best day of her life. Dee hopes to spend time with her best friend, Mae Koznecki—but she also wants to get to know Mae’s handsome brother, Karel, a little better. Dee has no idea that in a matter of hours, tragedy will strike.

Despite her mother’s dark premonition that death awaits her if she boards the SS Eastland, Dee decides the risk is worth a chance for more time with Karel. Dee’s excitement quickly turns to terror, though, when the ship capsizes at the dock, threatening the lives of everyone on board. Rescued from certain death—not once, but twice—by Karel and a mysterious stranger, Dee soon discovers that Mae is nowhere to be found. Dee can only sit back and wait to hear if she is trapped in the flooding bowels of the capsized ship or worse yet, dead.

In this captivating historical tale, Dee takes a coming-of-age journey like no other as she soon realizes that surviving the disaster is only the beginning.

I have been anticipating the release of this book, and have my copy ordered—I can't wait to read it! You can find links to Merely Dee below. It would be a great read for anyone who loves historical fiction.

I've decided to do a repost of my original

Eastland Disaster post from 2010. Enjoy.

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While taking one of my lunch-time strolls in downtown Chicago a few weeks ago, I came across the plaque commemorating the Eastland Disaster. It sits along the Chicago River at Wacker Drive and the LaSalle Street bridge.

View Larger Map

All my life, I heard stories of the Great Chicago Fire. But I never even heard about the tragic story of the sinking of the Eastland until I was an adult. I bet most Chicagoans still haven't heard about this tragedy.

The S.S. Eastland was built in 1902. It cruised the Chicago area and the Great Lakes as a tourist ship.

On July 24, 1915, the Eastland docked in its usual place between the LaSalle Street and Clark Street bridges on the south side of the Chicago River. There, over 2500 employees of theWestern Electric Company plant of Cicero, Illinois and their family members boarded the ship for a company-sponsored picnic cruise to Michigan City, Indiana. The ship had design flaws, making it top-heavy. Soon after boarding and before the ship could even leave the dock, it tipped over and sank into the 20-ft. waters.

Chicago police and firefighters quickly rushed to the scene and began rescue efforts.

This is how the site looks today...

... and how the same view looked on that tragic day.

Holes were quickly cut into the hull of the ship to pull people out:

Divers were sent into the waters when the rescue effort became a recovery effort.

The Reid Murdoch building on the north side of the river still stands today. This central food-processing plant became the staging area for emergency responders during the rescue.

The Reid Murdoch building as the the disaster was unfolding:

Temporary morgues were set up in several nearby buildings. People waited in long lines to come to identify the bodies:

Looking west along the river today...

... and the same view a few weeks after the disaster. Here you can see the efforts being made to raise the ship upright.

After being righted and towed away from the scene, The Eastland was sold to the US Navy, repaired and retooled as a gunboat, renamed The USS Wilmette, and finally dismantled after WWII.

In all, approximately 845 people lost their lives that day, making it the 3rd worst ship disaster in U.S. history and the largest loss of life in the United States from a single event during the 20th century. 22 entire families were completely wiped out.

Why was this incident all but forgotten? Was the event just too tragic and painful to remember? The first plaque was erected in 1989. After being vandalized and finally stolen in 2000, a new plaque was commissioned and erected in 2003.

To learn more about the Eastland Disaster, visit these informative links:

The Eastland Disaster, a wonderful YouTube video. Very well done.

The Sinking of The Eastland by Jay Bonansinga

GenDisaster: Events that Touched our Ancestors' Lives

Telecom Digest Archives

Marian Manseau Cheatham's novel "Merely Dee" is available at:

iUniverse

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Meet Junie

2012-01-09T21:12:00.005-06:00

Meet the latest addition to our family! This is Juniper Berry, aka Junie!

This past June, or sweet little Penny cat died, and we spent several months in mourning. Then, finally, my husband and I knew it was time to get another cat.

Junie is an odd-eyed white. She has one gold eye and one blue! This was her first photo at the shelter.

One day on my train ride home from work, I saw a post on Facebook showing a cute white cat that needed a home. I showed the post to Terry, and he agreed that her description sounded like just the kind of cat we wanted.

Junie at the shelter. She really wanted to be adopted by someone!

We emailed the shelter, which specializes in rescuing cats and dogs over 5 years of age from kill shelters, and taking them into their no-kill facilities.

Meeting Junie at the shelter.

We filled out the paperwork online, and went in for a visit.

Terry holding Junie at the shelter.

Needless to say, I fell in love with her right away! She was living at the shelter in the "cat room" where the cats roamed free, and was getting along with them very well. This is something we wanted in our next cat. She was very friendly and let anybody pick her up and cuddle her, and she purred up a storm!

Junie in her new home.

While the shelter took a few days to complete our background check, we went to visit her once more. And on December 22nd, we went in, signed the papers, and Junie was officially ours!

She likes to sit by the heat vents for warmth.

Junie loves getting petted!

On our vet's recommendation, we isolated Junie upstairs, away from Phoebe, until we knew for sure that she hadn't contracted any diseases at the shelters she had been since August. Once she got the all-clear, it was time for Junie and Phoebe to meet!

Meeting Phoebe. They stared at each other from their shoeboxes.

Well, at first, Phoebe did a lot of growling and some hissing. She will not let Junie get too close! But both cats seem fascinated with one another. We have to watch their interactions carefully, and have kept their visits to only a couple times a day at first. We've also let both cats smell where the other cat sleeps and eats. I'm hoping, in time, they will become good friends.

Junie and Phoebe having a meeting under the Christmas tree.

Junie is our little Christmas Cat, and we look forward to new cat adventures in 2012!

She loves a sunny window!

Comfort & Joy

2011-12-24T18:38:00.003-06:00

Merry Christmas! I can't believe how time flies. It's been three weeks since my last post!

I'm just getting over a nasty cold/sinus infection that's kept me down for the count for several weeks. 'Tis the season to get sick!

I finally sat down last weekend and wrote out my Christmas cards.

I put on some Christmas music, and fixed a delicious mug of cappuccino and some chocolate almond biscotti to get myself in the Christmas spirit.

Terry bought me this Old Country Roses mug years ago for Christmas. He didn't know it was one of my favorite patterns, but he instinctively knew it would make me happy.

My taste buds had started to come back! Yay!

I usually set up the Christmas tree and decorate it, but this year, Terry did it for me! He did a wonderful job. It looks beautiful!

Ordering gifts online is a joy, especially when you're too sick to go to the mall.

2011 was not a good year for us. This past June, our sweet little cat Penny died suddenly. It was a shock, and saddened us for many months. So many of my blogging friends also were writing about losing pets, and I stayed away from blogging so as not to read about any more sadness.

But time does heal, and life goes on.

I wish you all a beautiful holiday season.

Cherish your loved ones. Celebrate life and make merry!

And, in my next post, I'll tell a much happier tale!

An Early Birthday Present

2011-12-04T22:15:00.020-06:00

This weekend, my sweet husband Terry took me out for an early

birthday present! We hopped on a train to downtown Chicago...

We passed through the Christkindlmarket for a quick

glance at all the pretty things for sale...

The food smelled SO GOOD!

But there was no time to eat anything today...

We had a little time to kill,

so we walked around the mall awhile...

Oh, the Apple Store! But no, that wasn't in today's plan...

The Allsaints Store! Oh, I just HAD to stop and gaze at

the wall of antique sewing machines!

I mean WALLS of sewing machines!

Steampunkers would absolutely love this store! Pricey, but fun!

I had to make a stop to visit with my pals, the carriage horses!

And gaze upon the famous Chicago Water Tower...

Finally! We're here!

The Peninsula Hotel!

I paused to pose by the piano...

Then climbed the grand staircase to...

Afternoon Tea in the lobby!

Doesn't Terry look dapper?

We love that the Peninsula serves a vegetarian tea on request.

We both ordered a pot of Earl Grey decaffeinated.

Then our 3-tiered server was placed on the table,

along with a basket of scones and the jam,

lemon curd and Devonshire cream!

We enjoyed our finger sandwiches first...

Followed by these scrumptious three cheese and leek quiches...

And finally the scones and the sweets!

A warm chocolate chai moelleux was a delicious bonus!

We sipped, and ate, and sipped some more...

Until everything was gone.

The darkness fell over our view from the window.

We took one last look at the tree, and were on our way back home.

Thank you, Terry, for the elegant and delicious birthday present!

______________________

If you've never walked down the streets of Chicago at night,

come along with us as we leave the Peninsula and

walk back to our train. We cross the Chicago River in two

spots, pass the Christkindl Market at Daley Plaza, and

happened upon PuppetBike.com... and I gave the puppets

a dollar bill!

World's Columbian Expo, Continued

2011-11-27T01:49:00.000-06:00

This week, I'll give a brief summary of the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, and set the tone with some photos taken from books and archives.

Statue of the Republic

Planning for the Columbian Expo started in late 1889. It was to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Columbus's 1892 landing in America. The Fair opened late, in May 1893, and closed in October the same year. 27 million people attended.

Columbian Fountain

The Fair's major buildings were designed in the neoclassical Beaux Arts style, and was soon nicknamed "The White City." The major buildings in the "Court of Honor" were constructed of iron and steel, and covered in a material called "staff," a mixture of plaster, cement and fiber. Most of the buildings and statuary were constructed this way, and were not meant to last.

Gondola at the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building

Horticulture Building

The only surviving building within the fairgrounds, which was built to last, is the Palace of Fine Arts, now Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry. In downtown Chicago, the World's Congress Auxilliary Building also survives, and is now the Art Institute of Chicago. The Norway Pavilion was dismantled and taken to Wisconsin, where it now stands in Blue Mounds.

Palace of Fine Arts

While it stood, The Columbian Exposition was a beautiful sight to behold! There were promenades, canals and fountains at every turn. In addition to the main Court of Honor buildings, there were 19 foreign government buildings, 38 state buildings, several individual exhibitors, cafes, restaurants, tea houses and refreshment buildings... a total of 200 buildings to visit! It would take weeks to cover the entire fair.

Agriculture Building interior

Bohemian Glass Exhibit, Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building

France—Sevres Vases display, Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building

The Court of Honor buildings included Administration, Machinery, Agriculture, Manufactures and Liberal Arts, Electricity, Mines and Transportation. Some of the other large buildings were U.S. Government, Horticulture, Women's Building, Forestry, Anthropology, Fisheries and the Palace of Fine Arts.

Court of Honor, looking west

Walking toward the Administration Building

View from atop the Manufactures Building roof

Electricity Building

Electricity was a new an exciting phenomenon at the Fair. The Electricity Building showcased a telephone, electric lamps, gramophones, elevators, fans, burglar alarms, stoves, irons, and engines of all sorts. The world's first telegraph and seisomgraph machines, Edison's Kinetoscope, and a moving sidewalk were also new electric inventions at the Fair. Electric trains brought people to the Fair. The entire Fair was lit with electric lighting both inside and out.

The White City

Administration Building at night

A popular area of the fairgrounds was the Midway Plaisance, a carnival-like street one mile long. It was a lot like Disney's Epcot World Showcase, in that it featured exhibits from foreign lands, with supposed native people brought over to represent the exhibits.

Sudanese Performer at the Midway Plaisance

Countries represented displayed an Irish village and goods (with a replica of Blarney Castle), a German village, Old Vienna cafe and shops, Chinese village, Dutch village, Japanese bazaar as well as exhibits from Egypt, Persia, Turkey, Algeria, Tunis, East India, American Indian, Lapland, and Bedouins and Dahomeys. Egypt's "Street in Cairo" featured the most lucrative exhibit at the entire fair: the dancing girls, most famously, "Little Egypt," who did the hootchy-cootchy dance!

Irish Village and Blarney Castle replica on the Midway

German Village on the Midway

The Midway also had the Libby Glass Works, Hagenbeck's Animal Show, the Ice Railway & toboggan slide, an International Beauty Show, a Captive Balloon, and Eadweard Muybridge's Zoöpraxographical Hall (early motion picture animal studies).

Captive Balloon ride on the Midway Plaisance

But the most impressive exhibit was erected to rival the Eiffel Tower that was built in Paris for it's 1889 World's Fair. A contest was held, and George W. Ferris was given the honor of constructing his giant Wheel. It was 250 ft. in diameter and contained 36 bus-sized cars that could hold 60 people each! Two revolutions lasted 20 minutes and cost 50 cents. Boy, would I love to have ridden that very first Ferris Wheel!

Ferris Wheel on the Midway Plaisance

Base of the Ferris Wheel

Riding the Ferris Wheel

Things introduced to the public at the Columbian Exposition were:

Soda pop, hamburgers, Juicy Fruit Gum, Cracker Jacks, Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, Quaker Oats, Cream of Wheat, Shredded Wheat, Aunt Jemima syrup, elongated coins, picture postcards, the Pledge of Allegiance, Columbus Day, and Scott Joplin's ragtime music! Dvorack composed his New World Symphony in honor of the Fair. And L. Frank Baum was so impressed with the Fair, he based Oz on it!

By the close of the fair, many buildings were already decaying, and some had already tragically burned to the ground. All the treasures were taken back from whence they came. The people went home. All that was left were souvenirs and memories.

Fairground buildings on fire

Ruins of The White City

Here are some great links I came across while researching the Columbian Exposition of 1893:

FREE Digital books from the time of the Columbian Exposition of 1893. A fantastic source for original material!

ERBzine —Nice collection of images from the Columbian Exposition

Images of the Midway Plaisance

Idea, Experience, Aftermath —an excellent overview

some Photos

more Photos

a Flickr Set

UCLA digitally simulated tour of the World's Columbian Exposition fairgrounds! Rough outline, but they've made progress. View updates on UCLA's site here. I think this project is fascinating!

For more on Muybridge's work, click here.

Expo: Magic of the White City (DVD)

The Chicago World's Fair of 1893 (book)

Thanksgiving Day

2011-11-24T10:24:00.002-06:00

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Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving!

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The World's Columbian Exposition of 1893

2011-11-20T12:44:00.010-06:00

World expositions, or world fairs, became a big hit after the famously successful Great Exposition in the Crystal Palace in London in 1851. Every major world city dreamed of hosting one! These fairs displayed the latest technological advances of the Industrial Revolution. They also displayed the latest style trends of fashion, art, architecture and design. New products made debuts at these fairs, and world cultures and entertainments were brought together for the benefit and enjoyment of the fairgoer!

For years, I've been fascinated with the Chicago World's Fair of 1893, also known as the World's Columbian Exposition. I've collected souvenirs from the Fair, and have acquired books from the time, as well as modern day history and photo books. In other words, if it has anything to do with the Columbian Exposition, I want it!

This week, I'll show you some of my collection of souvenirs and books from the Columbian Exposition. These are things I probably would have picked up if I had attended!

This is a reprint of a poster from "Chicago Day" hanging in my stairwell. October 9th was designated Chicago Day at the Fair in memory of the Great Chicago Fire of October 9th, 1871.

I have a large, original photographic print showing the Administration Building framed and hanging on my library wall. I love gazing into the photo, and imagining walking along that elegant walkway in my finest dress and parasol!

Here's an actual ticket from Chicago Day. It's unused... I wish I could still go!

I would certainly have enjoyed the impressive glass exhibits, and probably would have purchased this miniature ruby flashed souvenir creamer.

Who could leave the Fair without a souvenir spoon depicting Columbus himself?

I don't know the purpose of this shallow aluminum souvenir tray. Maybe it could be used on a ladies dresser to hold hair pins or spare change.

A woman's shoe made of pot metal. This used to be a pincushion!

A napkin ring made of a soft metal, possibly lead.

A 50¢ piece minted by the U.S. Treasury. These were sold at the Fair for a dollar apiece.

Sheet music of the World's Columbian Exposition Waltz!

Of course, I have lots of stereographs of the Fair!

I love reading anything I can about the Fair. Here are some of the guidebooks that helped people navigate the fairgrounds and exhibits.

These two large volumes were published shortly after the Fair closed. They contain very comprehensive histories and photographs.

I collect modern materials about the World's Columbian Exposition, too. This book from Dover is one of my favorites. It's a really nice overview of the Fair with great photographs and narrative.

This bestseller is a semi-fictionalized account of the true story of the Fair and a murderous monster who preyed on innocent tourists outside the fairgrounds. A great read!

And finally, here's a fairly well done documentary narrated by Gene Wilder. It brings the Fair to life like no book can. My only gripe is that they show too much new footage of a scantily-clad dancing girl. More about her next week!

Next time, I'll tell you about the Fair itself, what went into the planning and building phases, the most popular attractions, and the last days of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition!

Recent Finds

2011-11-12T19:42:00.004-06:00

Last weekend, Terry and I decided to go to the Kane County Flea Market! We haven't gone in a few years, and it's really close by, so we have no excuses. Other than we used to go too often, and everything started looking the same. But we really enjoyed ourselves!

I've been wanting to buy an antique white tablecloth for the kitchen. I didn't find one at the flea market, but look what I found instead!

It's a cute tea pot and silverware wind chime! Made from real silverplated items, though obviously not valuable or really old pieces.

It makes a sweet tinkling sound when the wind blows.

Not something a true Victorian would have, mind you, but I couldn't resist!

This is what my old wind chime looked like:

Now you know why I needed a new one.

Then I lucked out on eBay and found myself an antique white tablecloth!

Isn't it pretty? It's Madeira cutwork with a gray embroidered thread. I didn't even wait to iron it. I wanted to see how it would look!

But I've always saved my white tablecloths for holiday teas and special family dinners. Can we use a white tablecloth as our everyday cloth? We eat a lot of spaghetti. Will this pretty antique linen clean well?

I usually go for a patterned tablecloth, like this one. This hides spaghetti and red wine stains very well!

Another eBay find was this cute little spreader!

It's Wallace Sterling. The seller didn't know the pattern, but I didn't care.

I wanted it, and now it's mine. It will work nicely with the lemon curd I like to serve at our teas.

And lastly, I should know better than to set foot in a book store. I always find something I want. Like this book:

Yup, Crafting With Cat Hair. Phoebe didn't know what to make of it. I cracked up when I saw it, and basically bought it for the title alone! Although, I could get into cat hair crafting. Do you think there's a market for that on Etsy? Phoebe provides us with (what seems like) a few bushels of it every day. I'll give it some thought.

Meanwhile, I'll be admiring my new wind chime from inside!

Graceland Cemetery: Part 2

2011-11-05T22:22:00.005-05:00

Last week's visit to Chicago's Graceland Cemetery yielded so many photos, I needed a second post to showcase all the interesting monuments we saw there!

This week, I'll focus on the more famous people buried at Graceland. During the late Victorian era, Chicago was experiencing an architectural renaissance. Many famous architects made a name for themselves here, and a good many of them are buried in Graceland. Last year I did a post on one of my favorites, Louis Sullivan (read that post here). In Sullivan's later years, he was reduced to designing whatever would bring in a bit of money, because his grand style skyscrapers were no longer in vogue. Some of his designs included mausoleums, such as this one he designed for lumber baron Martin Ryerson.

When Ryerson's partner, Henry Harrison Getty, saw Ryerson's tomb, he had Sullivan create one for his wife Carrie in 1890.

The Getty Tomb is now a designated Chicago Landmark. Louis Sullivan himself is buried at Graceland. Dying a pauper, his funeral was funded by his friend Frank Lloyd Wright. Only years later was this monument erected at his grave.

The famous architectural firm of Burnham & Root helped shape the buildings of Chicago in the 1880's through the 1890's. The team led the construction of the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. Root died before construction had begun, and Burnham went on to complete the Fair, and had much future success. Both are buried here at Graceland. John Wellborn Root with his Celtic cross, and Daniel Hudson Burnham with his family buried on a private island, accessible by foot bridge, and plots marked with natural looking rocks.

Many other famous architects are buried here, including William LeBaron Jenney (designed the first "skyscraper" with a full metal frame);

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (pioneer of Modern architecture, "Less is More");

and Bruce Goff (early student of Frank Lloyd Wright, designed a lot of buildings in Oklahoma).

Some nationally famous people are also buried in Graceland. Cyrus McCormick (founder of what became International Harvester, perfected the reaper);

William Kimball (of piano and organ fame);

Philip Armour (meatpacker);

and a couple famous "bosses" on opposite ends of the spectrum. George Pullman is known for inventing the railroad sleeping car, and created an entire city-within-a-city for his employees in south Chicago. But he ruled with an iron fist. His workers famously went on strike in 1894. He was widely hated, and when he died in 1897, was buried in the cover of night, within a heavy lead-lined coffin and beneath tons of cement. They were worried labor activists would try to remove the body.

Then there was Allan Pinkerton, the founder of the famous detective agency. Pinkerton and his men foiled an assassination plot against Abraham Lincoln on his route to his inauguration, and he formed the forerunner of the Secret Service.

Pinkerton's plot contains his family, and several devoted employees!

Then there are powerful movers and shakers of Chicago. Joseph Medill was the 26th mayor of Chicago, owner of the Chicago Tribune, and co-founder of the Republican Party.

Victor Lawson owned the Chicago Daily News. Sculptor Lorado Taft (who also designed "Eternal Silence" for Dexter Graves' gravesite at Graceland) designed the monument "Crusader" for him.

Carter H. Harrison, the 29th mayor of Chicago, was assassinated at his home only two days before the closing ceremonies at the Columbian Exposition in 1893. Upon our arrival at his memorial, a tour group led by the Chicago Architecture Foundation was learning about his fate.

There are many people whose names are now only known to most Chicagoans because of the streets that were named after them. For instance, General Alexander C. McClurg's Celtic cross was designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany. He was a Civil War soldier, and publisher of Tarzan of the Apes.

Charles H. Wacker was director of the Columbian Exposition, and later Chairman of the Chicago Plan Commission.

John Jacob Glessner was vice president of International Harvester. His home is now a museum on Chicago's Prairie Avenue.

John Kinzie was one of Chicago's first European settlers. His remains have been moved twice, once from the original Fort Dearborn Cemetery to Lincoln Park in 1835, then to Graceland in the 1870's.

Finally there are the merchant tycoons whose presence is still felt in Chicago. Potter Palmer and his wife Bertha were the upper eschelon of Chicago society. Palmer developed State Street, was a dry goods merchant, and real estate tycoon. His famous Palmer House Hotel burnt to the ground in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Palmer borrowed 1.7 million to rebuild it. You can still stay at the Palmer House today. His wife Bertha was a socialite and art collector. Her collection of French impressionist paintings was unrivaled, and is still on display at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Potter Palmer's dry goods business was bought out by one of his partners, Marshall Field. He made the department store what it is today, and coined the term, "Give the lady what she wants." The Field Museum of Natural History is named after him after he endowed a million dollars. He also co-founded the University of Chicago with John D. Rockefeller. Until 2006, Chicagoans could still shop at the famous Marshall Field's store on State Street.

Sadly, after many mergers and acquisitions, Macy's took over Marshall Field's and changed it's name. Being a true-blue Chicagoan, I still refuse to ever step inside a Macy's store!

Read more about the lives of these famous Chicagoans buried at Graceland:

Marshall Field's store

Marshall Field

Potter and Bertha Palmer

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

William Le Baron Jenney

Haunted Cemetery

2011-10-30T20:18:00.013-05:00

This weekend, my husband Terry and I decided to go into Chicago to visit the famous Graceland Cemetery. Terry had never been there before, and the last time I went was over 20 years ago.

Graceland was established in the 1870's as a replacement for the cemetery in Lincoln Park, which, with it's proximity close to downtown Chicago, was causing people to worry about water contamination and epidemics. Most of the buried were moved to Graceland, in what was then a suburb called Lake View, and soon it became the final resting place for Chicago's rich and powerful elite.

The grounds are laid out beautifully, and we spent several hours looking over the beautiful monuments and stones. I'll save some of it for my next post, there was just so much to see!

Today, I'll focus on the unknown people, who may have been well-known in their day, and maybe wealthy, but are unknown to me, and most are not on the official map you can pick up at the cemetery indicating which graves to visit.

I'll begin with the grave of Dexter Graves, early settler who brought the first colony to Chicago. His grave was moved from the old cemetery. In 1909, famed sculptor Loredo Taft was commissioned to create this monument entitled "Eternal Silence" at his gravesite.

I loved the monuments that depicted natural elements, like trees. I would love to have a monument like this when I die!

The animal monuments were touching, and sad because most were in poor shape.

There were many beautiful ladies, but few angels, as we didn't see any wings.

This tomb was amazing. We loved the snake on the door, the beautiful angel, and the sphinx. Peter Schoenhofen was a brewer with a sense of humor!

There were some beautiful doors gracing a lot of the tombs.

Here's a fellow that thought you might want to sit down and take a break.

We saw many monuments with Masonic symbols.

This one was whimsical!

Others were sad.

And some just struck me as beautiful.

Some were pointing toward the heavens.

And some of the structures were very classical and lovely to look at.

Most of the sandstone monuments were in poor shape. I guess it doesn't weather as well as the marble or granite. Now, the edges and inscriptions have been almost obliterated.

I saved the best one for last! This is Inez Clarke, 1873-1880. Her monument is beautifully carved, and is now encased in a plexiglass box for protection. For years, people have wondered about little Inez. There were stories she died tragically, and that her ghost haunts the cemetery. In more recent years, some researchers have claimed that nobody named Inez Clarke is even buried in Graceland. Read about the mystery and what I believe to be the true story of Inez here.

Have a Happy Halloween! Next week, I'll post the more famous and magnificent monuments of Graceland Cemetery!

Clayson House Kitchen

2011-10-23T15:29:00.005-05:00

Clayson House kitchen table

Last February, I blogged about my kitchen and the plans I have for it here. Then in March, I started removing the vinyl floor covering here. Well, the floor is still in progress. I didn't work on it all summer, but this fall weather has me hoping to start up again, if my knees will cooperate!

Today, I decided to walk over to our local house museum, the Clayson House, for some kitchen inspiration. The overall look is what I would strive for, with a lot of wood everywhere. Wood wainscoting, door and window trim would really enhance my kitchen.

The ceilings at the Clayson House are at least 10 ft. and mine are 8. Although I would have loved a fixture like this, I settled for a different style that doesn't hang so low.

And although I would love the look of an old stove and ice box, my current oven and refrigerator will have to stay. I'll just try to pretend they're not there!

The dry sink shows more of the beadboard look I want to achieve.

The museum kitchen wasn't really set up the way it would have been used. Because it's a museum, there were more tsatskis on display than a working kitchen would have out all at one time.

Although, part of the charm of these old kitchens is how things sit out on open shelves. I love the scale and the blue graniteware!

And my kitchen clock would look so much better sitting on a shelf with a lacy cloth like this!

My neighbor has one of these wall-mounted coffee grinders and actually uses it.

My coffer grinder is more like the one above, and is only decorative. Notice the nice spice boxes and the copper clothes boiler. Laundry was done in the kitchen. Clothes were boiled, wrung out, starched, ironed and pleated, and hung to dry.

This looks like maybe a wash tub for the baby? I'm lucky I don't need to do my laundry or bathing in my kitchen!

I like the oil lamps with the iron wall brackets. I have one, and plan on using it when the kitchen is completed.

A cherry stoner. People back then probably thought they were living the good life, with all the fancy contraptions at their disposal. They proudly displayed any modern devices they owned. Meanwhile, I'm trying to figure out places to hide my food processor, coffee maker, etc. in order to make my house more "Victorian." Something not right about that, huh?

There's something so simple and elegant about glass bottles on a windowsill.

The fake pie was a nice touch. I love looking at fake food. But it made me realize that I should bake more often. And I believe I will, in the dream kitchen I'm slowly creating for myself. And although my oven will be modern, my food refrigerated, and the ingredients bought at a supermarket, stepping back in time in my own kitchen will be the secret ingredient that makes everything taste better.

I'm Back! And I have a Mystery to Solve!

2011-10-16T20:47:00.006-05:00

Hello, fellow bloggers! I've been away from blogging for MUCH too long! I'll have a lot of reading to do, catching up with everybody and looking back over these past few months to see what you've all been up to. So don't be surprised to see comments from me on posts that you've already forgotten you wrote!

Lately, I've become a bit obsessed with the images of a little girl who lived over 100 years ago. She was a gorgeous little beauty, with curly hair and big eyes. She always is shown with her trademark tight-lipped smile. You may have seen her if you collect any sort of early 20th century photo postcards.

Years ago, when I began collecting Victorian and Edwardian images, I kept coming across her. She must have been a famous model in her day. I have several of the postcards she appeared on, some even on my walls in frames, as if she were a relative of mine.

But who is she?

I've been really enjoying Pinterest, and collecting all sorts of beautiful images I come across on the internet that inspire me (some from my favorite bloggers, I may add!). During my hunt for images on Pinterest, I came across this little girl, and my interest in her was rekindled.

I now have found over 100 images of her, and have found other collectors who have the same questions on the little girl's identity. Some believe she may have been the photographer's daughter, due to the shear volume of images bearing her likeness. Some believe she was French. And some (including me) think she had a sister, maybe a twin. Somebody must have known her or written about her. I am obsessed with finding out her true identity.

Here are the images I own of my favorite little girl model. Some are from my collection of vintage images of children with cats, and I have a very beautiful series of the little girl herself.

Do any of you know who this pretty little girl was?

To view the Pinterest board I created to collect all the images I can find of my favorite child model, click here.

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T11:49:00.002-05:00

✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰

Wishing you all a very happy

Independence Day!

✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰

p.s. I'm hoping to get out of my blogging slump soon!

Victorian Photo Fakes

2011-06-12T20:01:00.005-05:00

I feel as though I've been away from blogging a lot lately. It must be the summer weather! I'm out in the garden every weekend, and have been accomplishing a lot AWAY from the computer!

Something I did manage to do recently involves messing around with some old photos I'd taken in the past. I wanted to get them to appear to have been photographed in the Victorian era.

Do you think these look old? I'm a bit of a Photoshop geek, so I was able to tweak these to my liking. I took each photo, vignetted the edges, sepia toned them, blurred the focus in certain areas, and added some grungy scratches and edges.

The first and second photos above are my house. I always wondered what it looked like back in 1873, and now I kind of do! There's one of my chairs. And here's my cat, Penny! Or is it her ancester?

This is our town's historical society.

In order for these to appear even more like they could be from the Victorian era, I chose subject matter I knew the Victorians liked to photograph. I picked some photos that were actually old buildings, furniture, etc. To me, the photograph below looks like it could be the great Ferris Wheel from the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. But it's really the famous London Eye, built for the Millennium!

And here's a view of London from atop the Eye! Most of these buildings existed back then as well. See Big Ben?

One of the many old London pubs and restaurants also made a good subject for my deceit!

As did these street shots in Edinburgh!

This is outside the gates of Buckingham Palace. But it could very well have looked the same over 100 years ago, with the horses and carriage.

OK, these buildings are many centuries old! This shot could have been taken any time! This was taken in Rothenburg, Germany.

This is Eisenbach, the little town in Germany where my great-grandma was born. Except, what's that modern car doing there?

I hope you enjoyed my little exhibit of Fake Victorian Photography! It was a lot of fun to do, and you very well might see more like this in future posts!

Memorial Day 2011

2011-05-30T12:49:00.004-05:00

Today, we remember the hundreds of thousands

of brave men and women

who have fought in our wars and died for our country.

Take some time today to remember these heros.

They gave the ultimate sacrifice to keep us free.

Cleaning the Pond

2011-05-25T19:17:00.008-05:00

It was finally warm enough last weekend to tackle the yearly garden chore I dread most: cleaning the pond! It's an all day chore, but when it's done, it's so worth it!

I won't bore you with shots of the pond being cleaned, but rather, let you enjoy the beauty that occurs after.

I built the pond eight years ago to be used by the wildlife that visit our garden. I designed it with shallow pebbled areas for birds to bathe and deeper areas to sink water plants.

A biofilter waterfall helps aerate and circulate the water, as does a powerful pump and pre-filter.

Now for the cleaning. I started by pulling any weeds around the perimeter, and removing any dead plant materials left over from winter.

Next comes the testing of the pond pump, connecting it to the garden hose, and draining out all the old, stale water. The rushes need to be removed and trimmed, and the water lilies need to be divided.

Water lily rhizomes are buried in mesh pots filled with stones to weigh them down, and dirt that turns to virtual muck when waterlogged. The rhizomes themselves dye your hands a blackish-purple color, and the stain is hard to remove.

The next step is to get inside the nearly-drained pond and scoop out as much muck and black scum as possible. I carry buckets full of this matter to the compost heaps to recycle it. It's very smelly and slippery, and no matter how careful I am, I always end up covered from head to toe with it!

Next, I use the hose to spray the remaining nooks and crannies of the pond and surrounding pebbles and rocks to dislodge any remaining debris. Then I begin refilling with fresh water.

It's important to always leave some of the old water, with it's bacteria and bugs that thrive there. This helps keep the pond balanced, and inoculates the filtration system with a colony of helpful bacteria that actually help keep the pond clean.

I make sure the waterfall is draining completely back into the pond, and that water isn't leaking out from various area between the rocks. This is a common occurrence, as the pesky raccoons overturn the rocks at night, looking for little critters to eat.

When the pump is working, the waterfall is cascading, and the birds are drinking and bathing, it's a beautiful thing!

And here's how the pond looks and sounds after it's been cleaned and prepared for summer!

Bring Me My Smelling Salts!

2011-05-17T09:12:00.004-05:00

Last evening,

after visiting and commenting on all your wonderful blogs,

I forgot to log out of my blog account.

My dear husband Terry decided to post something,

thinking he was in his OWN blog account!

He didn't inform me of this until today.

GASP!!

So forgive me if you saw a music review

of a modern rock band on Eastlake Victorian today!

OUR SINCERE APOLOGIES!

Unless, of course, you enjoyed it.

In that case, there's more like it at

Broken Hearted Toy!

:-) Pam of Eastlake Victorian

Fragrant Spring Blooms!

2011-05-15T18:25:00.000-05:00

I so look forward to the weekends! But this weekend has been unseasonably cold and gloomy.

So I decided to bring a little bit of spring beauty indoors!

I love fragrance in the garden, and I love to bring it indoors whenever I can. Today, I picked some lily-of-the-valley. The fragrance has always been one of my favorites!

I love their little nodding heads!

The grape hyacinths are past their prime, but still have some buds left at the tops.

I thought they would look nice in this tiny blue 3-vase set!

Grape hyacinths really do smell like grapes!

I threw in some Siberian bugloss as well. No fragrance, but very airy and abundant in the garden.

And, of course, some lilacs!

The blue milk bottle vase looks prettier in the window!

There are two types of lilacs in our garden.

The lighter, bluish ones are from a woody, older lilac that was growing at the house when I moved in.

The more purply ones are from a Persian lilac I planted 17 years ago.

Lilacs don't last long in a vase, so I can only enjoy them for a day before I have to go out and pick more!

Lilacs are another one of my favorite scents!

I hope you're all enjoying the sights and smells of Spring!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Note that many of the most beautiful and fragrant flowers are poisonous to cats! We love our two kitties too much to leave these flowers anywhere that would pique their curiosity. Even dropped petals, if eaten, can be deadly. So please take precautions, and if you bring in any plants, don't take chances. Put them behind glass or in locked areas away from your kitties!

Here's a helpful list of plants that are poisonous to cats:

http://www.russianblue.us/plants.html

Mother's Day 2011

2011-05-08T21:14:00.004-05:00

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful mothers! Don't you think the holiday should include all women? I do!

My mom! These beautiful tulips were the first thing we saw while entering the parking lot.

The weather was beautiful here in the Chicago area on Sunday, in the 60's and sunny. We decided to take my mom to Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois!

My mom and I at Morton Arboretum

Morton Arboretum was established in 1922 by Joy Morton, the founder of Morton Salt. He used the original 750 acres of his Thornhill Estate to establish the arboretum, which has grown to 1700 acres of beautiful trees and plant specimens from all over the world.

The arboretum tests, develops and studies trees, shrubs and other plants for hardiness and diseases. It's aim is to educate people about the beauty of nature and present it in all it's glory.

The Hedge Garden features four 20-foot white pillars

We try to visit once a year. Spring is our favorite time! We love the flowering trees and the pretty spring bulbs.

The scents wafting through the air were heavenly! Flowering fruit trees, magnolias, lilacs, viburnums, mock oranges and boxwoods were some of the items we sunk our noses into!

Every time we visit, we see something we've never seen before, like this tree:

The beautiful reddish peeling bark and patchy scales were so unique and textural!

We also saw this walking path made out recycled chips of colored glass. It really sparkled in the sun!

We also noticed more and more yellow-colored magnolias. Pink Saucer Magnolias and Star Magnolias do well in our area, but we're thinking yellow must be a newer variety developed for hardiness in our zone 4.

Of course, we always love the older, twisted tree specimens. Look at those cool roots!

Now, where did Terry go?

Lots of mothers were enjoying their special day at the Arboretum today. The Visitor's Center and the Ginko Restaurant had a grill set up in the courtyard. Our grilled burgers tasted even better outdoors in the warm sun, with the gentle spring breeze blowing.

Most of the trees are just beginning to leaf out and the woodland areas were still waking up. If you're a tree-hugger, be sure to visit Morton Arboretum if you're ever in the area. There's something for everyone!

Happy Mother's Day!

A Surprise Gift from Miss Sandra!

2011-04-25T21:41:00.003-05:00

A couple weeks ago, I entered a Second Blogiversary Giveaway

on the one of my favorite blogs,

Musings From Harmonie House.

And guess what?

I didn't win!

BUT, Miss Sandra decided to draw one more name

for a SURPRISE gift.. and then I won!

But what has arrived in this beautifully wrapped

little bundle?

A sweet little card was attached...

Ooh, it looks like the roses on my quilt!

What a fun surprise! A woven vintage doily,

with beautiful hand embroidery work!

The colors will fit right in at Eastlake Victorian!

And I think I know just the right spot for it!

AND, a lovely cabinet card portrait

of a pretty young lady from the c. 1880's!

She looks like she is posing by a quilt or pretty throw.

Thank you so much, Miss Sandra! I use doilies all over the house,

and I collect Victorian era photographs.

Your thoughtful gifts will be put to good use!

Be sure to visit Miss Sandra and her faithful companion,

Mr. Knightly the cat, at Musings From Harmonie House.

Miss Sandra has a GORGEOUS dream home

and loves to live life to its fullest IN THE PAST!

She is also a wonderful poet and music lover.

Do stop by Harmonie House for tea

and say hello to Miss Sandra!

:-)

Happy Easter!

2011-04-23T20:46:00.003-05:00

Just hopping by to post a few bunny and chick pics,

and to wish you all a

Happy Easter!

The Royal Wedding

2011-04-19T20:31:00.006-05:00

It was Wednesday, July 29, 1981 when I got up at 3 AM to watch the coverage of the wedding of Charles & Diana. I was enthralled by the pageantry, history and beauty of it all. I was so happy for them!

Next Friday, I will again be up by 3 AM to watch the coverage of another royal wedding: that of William and Kate. I'll watch as much as I can, hopefully seeing most of it before I have to leave for work.

My husband Terry and I visited London exactly five years ago. We spent six days there and absolutely loved it. One day, we hope to return. Since I know the streets and have seen the city first hand, I'll be able to get my bearings as the procession heads through the streets of London and Kate enters Westminster Abbey.

I thought this would be a great time to share some photos of our London trip. Some of these locales will indeed be on the wedding route! Others... not so much.

Here is the fascade of Westminster Abbey. I regret we did not go inside, but next time for sure!

Big Ben is right across the street from Westminster Abbey.

Here are some shots of Buckingham Palace and the Changing of the Guard ceremony.

When the Queen's Guards aren't rotating in and out of duty, they're doing this...

... and this. People try to crack them up, but they must remain stoic. A few times, we saw the guards begin to march in place and switch their guns to the other side in hopes that would scare the tourists who were getting a bit too close!

A charming carriage just outside the gates of Buckingham Palace.

Just across the street from Buckingham Palace is St. James's Park. It was SO beautiful, with gorgeous flowers, ponds and birds. A true paradise!

The wedding route will not pass the Tower of London...

... nor Tower Bridge. We decided not to take the tour inside the Tower of London. Jails and jewels just didn't fit into our schedule. Maybe next time. I really would have loved to see the ravens that live on the grounds, but they weren't there when we were in London.

I was surprised to see this statue of Abraham Lincoln in the middle of Parliament Square! Especially since it is a replica of the one we have in Lincoln Park here in Chicago!

We Illinoians are mighty proud of old Abe!

Terry is a huge Beatles and British Invasion fan, so we just had to walk up Abbey Road to Abbey Road Studios.

It was almost impossible recreating that famous shot with all the traffic! The locals must think us tourists are crazy!

Here's a typical pub in London. Such quaint buildings, and many have been in operation for hundreds of years!

There's no better way to get a bird's eye view of London than from atop the London Eye!

Well, that concludes our brief tour of London! If you're interested in the Royal Wedding, check out the links below.

For the official Royal Wedding website, click here.

For a helpful interactive map of the royal procession click here.

Here's a fun 3D imagery of the parade route by Google Earth Maps:

And finally, if you're not watching the festivities on TV, you can watch a live stream on the official Royal Household YouTube channel beginning at 5:00 am ET by clicking here!

Finally, Spring!

2011-04-10T21:29:00.003-05:00

Just a few weeks ago, we still had mounds of this...

The sun would try to melt it at times...

And the ice rink began to get a little too wet for skating...

Then, the mulch began to be delivered...

And last week, I spotted my first flower of the season... a crocus!

It was 38° when I left for work on Friday morning. But finally this weekend...

It's in the 80's! And we have our first flowers in our own garden! The blue Scillas...

And the Daffodils!

We opened our windows for the first time. The cat window perch came out of storage, and Phoebe was delighted to enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of the great outdoors!

And Penny soaked up some Vitamin D from the warm rays of the sun.

For weeks, I have envied my fellow bloggers' photos of beautiful Spring flowers, and now I can enjoy the real thing! Our entire weekend was lovely. But we still are not out of the woods, as our last frost date is May 15. It just felt so good to be outdoors without a coat!

Welcome, Spring!

Tour of the Bathroom

2011-04-03T15:06:00.003-05:00

Eastlake Victorian is a very small house, under 1200 sq. ft. And we only have one bathroom! Unless you count this monstrosity in the basement:

Our bathroom was added onto the house probably around the turn of the 20th century. It's 7' x 7-1/2'. The bathroom is attached to our parlor and has 3 exterior walls, and a full basement underneath.

For the most part, I like our bathroom. It's good enough for the two of us. I also like the fact that it's white, because the rest of the first floor is going to be darker. The Victorians liked white bathrooms because it gave a sanitary appearance.

Eventually, I'll remove the peel-and-stick flooring. I would love a hardwood floor, but I don't know if that's practical for a bathroom. And it depends what kind of floor is beneath the vinyl. If it's in bad shape, I might want to use those little hexagon floor tiles.

The sink and toilet are in good shape. I recently put a new fixture on the sink. The tub is another story! It's an acrylic jetted tub with a shower, but the surround is plastic and is all cracked. I'm not going to show you, it's so gross! I'll need to tear out the wallboard because the plastic is glued to it. Then I would like to tile those walls, probably using white subway tiles. I've already purchased the fixtures. What I would REALLY want would be an iron claw foot tub, but that's just not practical. The tub needs to be a shower, too, and I don't want to run a shower curtain all the way around the tub.

I purchased our washstand several years ago. I think it's just perfect for the bathroom! I found the pitcher and matching bowl years later. Washstands like these were typically found in bedrooms, where people washed up. The large door at the bottom held the chamber pot. This piece of furniture is also known as a commode, but we prefer to call it a washstand. It's great for extra storage.

On the washstand is a photo of my great-grandma, taken in 1911. She's the one on the right, with one of her sisters on the left. She died when I was 15.

The bathroom used to have a cheap plastic medicine cabinet over the sink, but I replaced it with a beautiful Eastlake mirror. I think the mirror adds a lot to the room!

I also love this pretty latticed shelf. We usually decorate it with items for whatever holiday is coming up. A mustache cup sits on top, while pretty boxes and other knick-knacks fill the two shelves.

The walls are decorated with pictures and other decorative items.

I decided a couple years ago that the bathroom would be a great showcase for some of the beautiful antique cat photographs I've collected! I think they look sweet in the white frames.

Somebody made this little shelf out of an old Eastlake piece and painted it off-white. I think it fits right in!

I decided I needed an enclosed area to display some of my antique packaging and old glass bottles, so I bought this hinged glass box at Hobby Lobby and added a shelf in the middle. I think it looks a bit like a medicine cabinet. The back is lined with padded canvas, so I can pin things up inside, too!

On the back of the toilet sits my fairy candle holder, clock and off-white vase. In the summer, I like to cut fragrant flowers from the garden for use in the bathroom, like this rugosa rose!

The bathroom also contains a linen closet, not shown. Other than the floor and the tub surround (and possibly a new tub), I am happy with my bathroom. I would probably like a window that opens. And I'll definitely replace the door with a solid oak one someday. I was also kicking around the idea of white beadboard halfway up the walls. Also, if I had my way, the bathroom would be down a hallway and not right off the living quarters. But we have no hallways, foyers or vestibules in the house! It's a very strange layout for sure.

Thank you for coming along on the tour. Any suggestions are welcome!

Virtual Image Catalogs

2011-03-23T13:24:00.004-05:00

Recently, I began cataloging a variety of images that inspire me. I've linked to some of my favorite blogging friends' beautiful images (that's you!), and also some great images I've been finding all over the internet.

I began using the blogging format of Tumblr first. I found the site to be somewhat "buggy" and not as user-friendly as I would have liked. But I'll continue to post photos I find to my Tumblr blog anyway. I like their "archive" feature, in that all your photos cascade down the page and you can see them all at once! It's very cool. When you find a great image someone else has posted, you can "reblog" and the image will appear in your posting stream, along with the link back to the original source of the image.

Eastlake Victorian's Tumblr blog

Eastlake Victorian's Tumble archive page

I also just got invited to join Pinterest, the virtual pinboard catalog service! I love the way Pinterest lets you create an unlimited amount of "pinboards" so that you can categorize the things you love. It also has a handy button you can place on your bookmark bar in your browser window. That way whenever you come across a great image you'd like to save, you can just "pin it" to your chosen Pinterest pinboard. What a great idea!

Eastlake Victorian's Pinterest site

Eastlake Victorian's Pinterest "Kitchen Inspiration" pinboard

I found that Tumblr lets people post almost any image, including nudity and violence. So if that offends you, stay from it. Pinterest is trying to keep their site free from nudity and vulgar imagery, and encourages people to report offensive images. I like that feature, as I like to be a proper Victorian lady!

When you sign up for Pinterest, it asks to link to either your Facebook or Twitter accounts, which I thought was weird. I've been using both for years, but I didn't want to link to my personal accounts. So I created a new Twitter account just for my Eastlake Victorian persona and linked to that.

There are now Tumblr and Pinterest buttons I placed on my sidebar if you ever want to see what cool images I've been drooling over! If you want to create your own Tumblr or Pinterest accounts, feel free to link to mine, or grab any of my images you may like. Since I've been saving images for awhile now, I may have taken some of your personal images and forgot where I got them. If you see an image I'm using that belongs to you, let me know and I'll either give it a link back to your blog, or remove it entirely if you prefer me not to use it!

If you haven't tried Tumblr or Pinterest, it's something to consider, especially if you would love a way to catalog all the beautiful images you run across while surfing the net!

Kitchen Floor Restoration

2011-03-20T09:49:00.004-05:00

My recent post showing our kitchen really got me thinking; I needed to start renovating this room! The flooring is so ugly. So two weeks ago, I began the task of ripping up the vinyl floorcovering and the underlayment. I started on an area 3' x 5'. I started pulling up the peel-and-stick vinyl tiles first. They came up easily, but left an extremely sticky film on the particleboard underlayment beneath. The particleboard was nailed to the floor below, so I then began breaking it off in pieces, getting as many nails out as I could, and countersinking the nails that broke during the process.

What I found below was a beautiful oak floor! Well, not exactly beautiful. In a couple tiny spots underneath the toe kick near the counter, I found beautiful varnished oak flooring.

The rest of the floor had a thick layer of old, whitened adhesive stuck all over it. I've read that in Victorian houses, hardwood flooring was used in the public rooms, not in kitchens and second story rooms. I am very fortunate to have original oak flooring in my kitchen! Why anyone would ever coat beautiful hardwood floors with adhesive and cover them with ugly linoleum or vinyl flooring is beyond my comprehension. I believe the adhesive on my floors was from a previous flooring installation, before the particleboard and peel-and-stick vinyl.

My next problem was how to remove this old adhesive. I scoured the internet, looking for ways other people have found to remove old flooring adhesive. I tried mineral spirits... nothing. Then I tried Goo Gone, which I love to use for removing sticky price tags... still nothing.

Then I came across a forum where an architect from Milwaukee had used a steamer to soften his flooring adhesive, then scraped it away. I went out and bought a wallpaper steamer and gave it a try. It really does work! It still requires a lot of elbow grease, and there's still a layer of stubborn adhesive scum on the floors. Also, kneeling for long periods of time is not working well for my old arthritic knees! So I've been trying to keep the work to 1 hour increments. When I first started the scraping process, my right thumb became numb and stayed that way for 2 days. But I've always been a proud do-it-yourselfer, so I'm sticking to my guns and getting this project done even if it kills me!

At this rate, it will take no less than 3 months to remove all the floorcovering and scrape the oak floors. I've only worked on it a few weeknights, and mostly only a few hours on the weekends, but I think I will love the end results.

I had thought of renting a floor sander, but I'd like to remove as much adhesive as I can by hand first, since I read adhesive gums up sanders like crazy. The friction melts it enough to clog the sanding pads. I may try a safe soy-based paint remover to see if that does any good on the remaining adhesive. I'd like to keep the integrity of the oak flooring as much as possible, as sanding always removes some wood, and the patina as well.

There's no turning back now. The floor project will move at a snail's pace, but I will get it done! And I am so thrilled that I found the original oak flooring underneath. I'll keep you posted on my progress!

St. Patrick Celebrations

2011-03-14T18:37:00.004-05:00

Being a wee bit Irish, I always celebrate St. Patrick's Day! This year, our local businesses organized a St. Patrick's Day parade and festival that was held on Saturday. It was a cold and windy day, but everyone seemed to have a good time.

My favorite part of St. Patrick's celebrations are the music and the dancing. We saw a young Irish step dance group perform at the fest. They had to wear their Irish sweaters to stay warm. The littlest girls were so cute! I took a short video to share:

Terry and I couldn't resist these green cupcakes!

I made a batch of Irish stew and baked some Irish soda breads. We have plenty of leftovers to celebrate again on Thursday! I thought I'd share my recipes with you all.

Everybody can be a little Irish on St. Patrick's Day. Have fun!

♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣

Irish Stew

Serves 4

1 tbl. olive oil

1 small yellow onion, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

5-7 small waxy white potatoes, quartered

1 lb. baby carrots

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 cups low sodium veggie broth

1/4 cup dry red wine

2 bay leaves

1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce

1-1/2 cups roughly chopped cabbage

1 tsp. dried thyme

salt and pepper to taste

1 can chickpeas or cannellini beans

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and celery, cover, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the potatoes, carrots, garlic, broth, wine and bay leaves. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer on low for 15 minutes.

Add the soy sauce, cabbage, thyme, salt and pepper, cover and cook for 15 more minutes.

Add the beans and gently simmer 10 more minutes.

♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣

Irish Soda Bread

Makes 2 loaves

5 cups white flour

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. baking powder

1 to 3 cups of fresh raisins

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup powdered sugar

2-1/2 cups milk

3 tbl. white vinegar

1 tsp. salt

1 egg

1 stick butter

Pour the milk into a container and add the vinegar. Let sit for at least 5 minutes until milk curdles.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, powdered sugar and salt. Cut in the butter until mixture forms fine crumbs. Fold in the raisins. Add the curdled milk and egg, blending only until flour mixture is moistened.

Generously butter 2 loaf pans and divide the batter between the pans. Bake at 350° for 1 hour. Cool briefly in pans, then remove and cool on wire racks. Serve with butter or honey.

Lace Shelf Edging

2011-03-05T10:22:00.003-06:00

A few people have remarked about the lace shelf edging I'm using on my kitchen cabinet shelves. It's made of vinyl. I bought it years ago at a gift store that has since gone out of business. I didn't have this kitchen cabinet at the time, and I don't have enough trim to cover all the shelves.

Well, I Googled vinyl lace shelf trim and found that Amazon is selling something very similar! The pattern is a bit different, but it's made of vinyl like mine. Much easier to keep clean and lasts longer than the old-fashioned paper shelf trim my mom had when I was a kid!

I prefer the vinyl edging in the kitchen, but in my side-by-side secretary where I display my teacups in the parlor, I just tacked on real lace edging I bought at the fabric store! You're sure to find something you love there. I selected this white eyelet trim.

I'm going to order the vinyl version from Amazon. It's just what I've been looking for to finish off my cabinet!

Other sites to check out:

A Tour of Our Kitchen

2011-02-26T21:27:00.004-06:00

Welcome to the Kitchen at Eastlake Victorian!

When the house was built in 1873, there was no kitchen. The owners probably had a small stove in the one-room house for both heating and some cooking. Maybe they cooked in an out building, but there is no evidence left for me to know for sure. The kitchen was probably added around the turn of the 20th century. There are no rooms above our kitchen, but there is a full basement below. Several years back when workmen were replacing all our roofing, they found a gaping hole in the kitchen roof, covered over with only tar paper and several layers of old asphalt roofing. They determined this was probably an old stove pipe location, improperly covered over in later years. There were 5 layers of old roofing that needed to be removed, including the original wood shingles from 1873!

Here's our kitchen as you enter it from the parlor. The back door leads to the basement and to an outside door to the yard. The round table was my grandma's. Nothing fancy here. No granite countertops, nothing special about the cupboards, and just a plain old double stainless steel sink. You can see our recycling bins in the far corner under the counter. We keep our garbage can outside the back door so the cats can't get into it!

There are some things I like about this kitchen, and a lot of things I don't like. What I dislike most of all is the ugly vinyl floor covering. It's old, yellowed, and worn out. It really must go! That being said, let me show you the rest of the kitchen. (Try to ignore the floor in the rest of the pictures!)

The refrigerator and stove came with the house. They are a light beige color, probably from the late 1980's. They still work great. I know a lot of people like new appliances, but as long as these items remain in good working order, I don't see the point of buying new. I'd rather spend that kind of money on something else in the house. Notice the weird shelf over the stove? It's lined with sheet metal, it's ugly, but I haven't taken it down because it's a great place to store the toaster, pot holders and plastic storage containers!

Here's a view of the light fixture I bought a couple years ago. I really love it! It replaced a very ugly neon light fixture. We put in a dimmer switch so that we can turn the light down when we're eating, but turn it up to clean or to prepare foods (we have no under-cabinet task lighting).

I like the fact that the window over the sink overlooks the garden. It's fun to wash dishes and watch the birds, butterflies and squirrels and see the pretty flowers in the summertime! I put some fake stained glass "stick-on" material in the upper window, then found a cute piece of wood gingerbread that fit the window nicely! It's a bit much, but I'll probably change that out someday. I don't like the casement windows that are in some of the rooms. I'd like to replace them with double hung instead.

Here's how it looks with the morning sun coming through.

Not much counter space, but I've never really needed any more. I usually prepare food on this side of the counter...

while this side is for some of the appliances such as the coffee maker and food processor.

I bought this creamware pitcher years ago and I use it to store my most used cooking utensils!

Notice the fake brick wall. When I bought the house I thought this was quaint, but I have since come to loath it. It's very hard to keep clean because of its textured surface, and the paint has chipped where I've had to clean it the most. I can't wait to tear it all off and get something easier to take care of.

A peek inside some of the cupboards...

Our mug rack.

Here's something I really love about the kitchen: Our antique kitchen cabinet! My mom gave us this cabinet about 10 years ago because it really wasn't working in her kitchen anymore. She has a pantry, but we don't, so this has given us so much more storage! We keep all our canned goods and most of our dried goods in here, as well as all my cookbooks!

The bottom part of the cabinet is great for storing all my odd-sized cooking pans and casserole dishes!

This is the cats' favorite window. In the summertime, we attach a cat perch, and they soak up the sun and smell the fresh air. An old rug beater hangs on the wall (yes, I do use it to beat rugs!).

I don't know the reasoning behind this high, long casement window. It's too high to look out of, so I hung a nice old piece of stained glass in it. It does bring a little more light into the room, but it's definitely not part of the original kitchen.

This little cabinet holds all our teas and pastas!

I love my antique kitchen clock! I love the sounds that old clocks make. I prefer faces with regular numerals rather than Roman numerals. This clock has beautiful Eastlake/Aesthetic cranes painted in gold on the glass door!

Back when bakers racks were all the rage, I bought this mini version. It's great for displaying some of my kitcheny knick-knacks.

Here is where the kitties eat!

I love the sound of our shopkeeper's bell that I attached to the back door!

And finally, my little old recipe box, filled to the brim with old recipes, some typed on an old typewriter and yellowed with age.

A couple years ago, I compiled all our favorite recipes and had them bound into a book. Now my very own cookbook is the one I use most often! Most of the recipes have been tweaked, and some are my own interpretations of foods we were used to eating before we became vegetarians. I go through cycles of experimenting with new recipes, and I'm at a point where I have enough new recipes to fill another volume!

I hope you enjoyed the tour of the Eastlake Victorian Kitchen. Please, if you have any suggestions, let me know! I value your input!

I have so many plans for this room. Here are my ideas so far:

1) Remove vinyl flooring, sand the old wooden floors, and varnish.

2) Replace the window over the sink.

3) Replace all the woodwork.

4) Replace the back door.

5) Add beadboard all the way up the 2 walls near table.

6) Add some narrow open shelving to replace the baker's rack.

7) Remove shelf over stove.

8) Replace the fake brick.

9) Add a fake tin ceiling (can't afford real tin!).

Remember my inspiration picture from way back in October 2009? Even though this kitchen is bigger, and I'll never have a stove like this, I think I can get a similar look. Wish me luck!

Bradbury & Bradbury and other Fine Wallpapers

2011-02-16T21:58:00.007-06:00

From time to time, readers have commented on my blog background and wondered what it was. When I started this blog, I had ordered samples of fine historic wallpapers from companies like Bradbury & Bradbury and Aesthetic Interiors to see what I would like to put up in my house someday. That inspired me to piece together a blog background out of my favorite wallpapers!

Well, Stephen J. Bauer, owner of Bradbury & Bradbury Art Wallpapers, commented on my last post, noting that I was using one of their wallpapers in my blog background! Mind you, I would not use these two wallpapers together in real life, but in separate rooms.

The bottom half of my background is called the "Iris Frieze," part of Bradbury & Bradbury's Fenway Roomset. In taller rooms, I've seen it used as a frieze near the ceiling. But I've also seen it used as a dado, on the lower part of the wall. That is the way I want to use it in my library, in the Aesthetic Green colorway.

Fenway "Iris Frieze", Bradbury & Bradbury

The top half of my background is called "Nocturnal Owl" by Aesthetic Interiors. It is an Anglo Japanese style pattern in the Olive Ochre colorway. It is so typical of the Eastlake/Aesthetic patterns from the 1870's-1880's. My home was built in 1873, and I'm trying to stay within the 1873-1885 range in my choice of decor.

"Nocturnal Owl" wallpaper, Aesthetic Interiors

Bradbury describes their Iris Frieze as being adapted from the work of Walter Crane, one of my favorite Victorian illustrators, whose illustration My Lady's Chamber I discussed in an earlier post.

I do follow the Bradbury Blog, and Stephen pointed out that his company has a new roomset out called "Persian" that has a different kind of exotic feel than the Japanesque feel of the Eastlake/Aesthetic patterns I tend to lean toward.

"Persian" roomset, Bradbury & Bradbury

This wallpaper set would look great in a Moorish or Turkish room, with large tufted ottomans, tasseled draperies and Persian carpets. If you like rich jewel tones, lots of tassels, and decorating with multi-colored scarves and pillows, this wallpaper is for you! Turkish rooms were a craze in the United States after the Centennial Exposition of 1876, which exposed Americans to the "Oriental" decorating sensibilities.

from Life Magazine online

I am still in the wishful-thinking-stage. It will be the icing on the cake when I can finally do any wallpapering! Did I mention that I intend to add some built-ins and replace all the molding and doors in my house? This will not be cheap, as I am using oak. But it must be done. Somewhere along the way, this house was stripped of all original molding and doors. It was replaced with cheap stuff. And since I do not like painted molding, oak it must be. I am designing the built-ins and building them myself (yes, I'm the one that wields the power tools, NOT my husband!).

So, the wallpaper will have to wait. Until then, I can dream!

Before the Tea

2011-02-15T14:08:00.007-06:00

I took a few pictures before the guests arrived for our Winter Tea this past Sunday. We set out all the teacups and the teas on the kitchen table.

The tea serving station was on the counter. Guests could add cream, sugar, stevia, lemon or honey! I used our antique sugar bowl as a spooner, which worked out quite well. I use butter pats to hold used tea bags.

I placed a variety of cookies on our 3-tiered tray. Included are shortbread, ginger snaps, Meyer lemon and some buttery bakery cookies dipped in chocolate.

The bride's basket contained the scones, served with blackberry jam, lemon curd and devonshire cream.

Two cakes were served, including a store bought lemon pound cake and a homemade tomato pumpkin cake! I've included the recipe for Tomato Pumpkin Cake below. It's very moist and delicious, and a great way to use up green tomatoes at the end of summer.

I used my large serving tray to serve chocolate-covered strawberries!

Once our guests began arriving, I got caught up in the conversations and completely forgot about taking more pictures! But you get the gist. Just imagine most of the desserts gone and several teacups and saucers to wash.

_________________________________________________

Tomato Pumpkin Cake

2-1/4 cups sugar

1 can pumpkin

3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup pecan pieces (or walnuts)

1 cup raisins

2-1/2 cups diced green tomatoes (red works fine, too)

Preheat oven to 350º.

In a mixing bowl, combine the sugar, canned pumpkin, eggs and vanilla. Mix until smooth.

In another mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Gradually stir into pumpkin mixture.

Add the tomatoes, nuts and raisins. Pour batter into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. If serving with tea, slice into small squares.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T12:18:00.004-06:00

"A loving heart

is the truest wisdom."

—Charles Dickens

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

May your day be filled with love!

Tea Preparation

2011-02-12T18:14:00.006-06:00

We are having or annual Winter Tea this Sunday! Terry and I have been working all day cleaning, baking, and getting things ready.

Our teas take place in the library. The furniture is arranged around my grandma's old early American coffee table. I usually keep a TV on this table in the parlor, but it's just the right size for tea, so we always remove our center table and replace it with this. Tomorrow, it will be covered with a tablecloth and lots of sweets!

Needless to say, that scratch post will be banished to the upstairs, along with the cats.

The silver has all been polished. The sugar bowl, for those who like their tea sweet...

the brides basket will hold the freshly baked scones...

the silver platter will hold a variety of cookies...

and the castor set will not be used, but is always on display on the sideboard.

I keep all the teacups in our side-by-side. Tomorrow, I will take them all out and display them on the kitchen table. Each guest will choose a cup and saucer, a tradition everyone seems to love!

The curio cabinet is stuffed with our angel collection and old valentines. I think they work well together!

This little box I got from Victorian Trading Co. I know it says 'For You,' but I took that to mean it was a gift to me, from me.

This is our parlor. The stove is not old, but it was there when I bought the house. The inspector said it was illegally vented, so I've never used it. Usually for our teas, people gather in the library or the kitchen, but sometimes they end up in here.

The sun is setting and there are still chores that need to be done. We are expecting nearly 25 people to drop by for the open house. I'm so glad that the weather will be in the 30's and most importantly... NO MORE SNOW!

I'll try to remember to take pictures before everything gets eaten!

Our New, Old Settee

2011-02-02T21:40:00.003-06:00

It seems like forever since I've posted anything! Usually I have some time on the weekends to get some ideas out there, but lately I guess other things have taken up all my time.

Today was a Snow Day for me, so I feel like I accomplished a lot! Other than the 3-1/2 hours I spent shoveling today, I did manage to take some photos of this new addition to our home:

This is our "new" settee I found on Craigs List! We picked it up over the weekend. I always wanted something like this, but never found anything I could afford in the antique shops or fairs locally. I've checked eBay, also looking for things I could pick up locally, but there again, most people are asking way more than I could afford.

So I decided to check out Craigs List and, lo and behold, I found this! It's just the color and style I love, at a price I could afford. It's not in perfect condition (the springs are kind of saggy at the bottom), but I can tell it's been loved for generations. The newer upholstery is in perfect condition, and exactly in the color palette that will match the room that will be our future library.

I'm always amazed at how low these old chairs are to the floor. Look at the side-by-side comparison with a modern wing chair! I must say, these two wing chairs of ours are a bit high for my short calves, and I don't like my feet dangling when I sit! But the Victorians must have been really tiny, because I can stretch my legs out and still have them on the floor in this settee.

Something you may have noticed in my other posted photos: There is no molding around the windows in this room, and a chair rail and picture rail have been "painted" onto the walls! I did this a couple years ago when I started stripping layers of paint from the old windows. I still need to repair the sash weights, do some more stripping, replace the stop beads, and install new oak molding. The walls in the entire house are white, and in here, I painted them the approximate colors of the Bradbury & Bradbury wallpaper I want to hang in the room, and painted on where I want to install a chair rail and picture molding. Makes sense, right? I just wanted to get a sense of how the room will look eventually.

Meanwhile, Penny gives the new settee her seal of approval! We needed to cover it immediately with blankets because the first thing Penny did was to begin scratching. Bad kitty!

My beautiful floral sofa got pushed aside and will have to go. It's in perfect condition because we hardly ever sit in here! I loved it a few years ago when we bought it, but it's really too big for this room, and will not go with my color scheme.

I have a lot of catching up to do, as I've gotten so far behind in reading all your blogs! Thanks for visiting, and I'll return the visits soon!

Victorian Homes... Coincidence?

2011-01-18T21:22:00.004-06:00

Calling all fellow Victorians!

Last evening, I had some time to curl up, relax, and begin relishing the latest issue of Victorian Homes magazine (February 2011). I hadn't gotten very far, when I read an article on page 8 about Spring Cleaning.

Now, if you recall, I did a post last March about Spring Cleaning a Victorian house. You may want to read my post first.

Now, read the Victorian homes article.

Notice the similarities?

Do you think magazine writers are reading our Victorian blogs for ideas? If so, I think that's really cool! My Spring Cleaning post went into more detail, but I think the similarities are uncanny. I asked the opinion of my husband, who is a professional writer, and he agreed the magazine writer must have read my blog post!

It could be just a coincidence. After all, anyone cleaning a Victorian house would probably need to do all these things to tidy up the place. But most spring cleaning tips don't include polishing the silver and regluing furniture joints!

Have any of you had a similar experience? If so, please let me know about it!

Love Is All You Need

2011-01-11T15:55:00.006-06:00

For the first time this Christmas, I put my doll-sized Victorian settee near the tree. On it, I placed my antique doll.

The cats were jealous. "How come the doll gets her own beautiful chair, and we have to use the human-sized furniture?" they wondered.

Well, somebody (I'm not namin' names) began chewing on the doll's dress. I had to put the doll away for safekeeping.

"It's all OURS!" they gleefully mewed. "We have our own little settee!"

And with that, the cats jumped onto the beautiful settee and made themselves at home.

"This is the life! What a very nice place for us kitties to sit and relax," said Penny.

"We must tell those humans to leave this settee here for us permanently!" said Phoebe.

And so, the kitties got their wish. The little settee was left in the parlor after Christmas was over. And the kitties rejoiced. And they were so happy, they wanted the world to share in their happiness.

So they made this video for all of you to enjoy. "We wish all the humans and animals in the world Peace and Happiness and Love for all of 2011!"

The End.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T12:27:00.002-06:00

Welcome to 2011!

Can you believe how time has flown?

I remember vividly anticipating the turn

of the millennium.

Here's wishing you all a very happy

and prosperous New Year,

filled with laughter, love,

bliss and blogging joy!

May all your 2011 wishes

and resolutions come true!

-Pam of Eastlake Victorian-

Birthday Celebrations

2010-12-29T19:57:00.003-06:00

Amidst the Christmas season rush, Terry and I took the time to celebrate my birthday, which was on December 21st.

The Sunday before, we went to north Michigan Avenue in Chicago for 5:30 tea at the Peninsula Hotel, our favorite posh place to celebrate! It was a very cold day as we walked the 2 miles from the train station to the hotel.

Tea is held in the Lobby, which was all decked out in its Christmas finery.

The decor is very grand and the atmosphere is formal, but welcoming.

Chamber musicians played softly in the balcony while we sipped our organic Earl Grey.

A 3-tiered serving stand held wonderful gourmet sweets and savories. It's always a surprise to see what the chefs will make for us!

The finger sandwiches were the traditional cucumber and cream cheese, a marinated portobello sandwich, and a marbled rye wrapped around tomato and fresh basil.

Next were ramekins of gourmet pot pies topped with puff pastry.

A basket held both berry and maple scones, served with jam, clotted cream and lemon curd. Finally, a plate full of cookies, cakes, sweet breads, brownie-like cups of chocolate and meringues! And a macaroon, fresh from the oven, was an added bonus!

Everything was scrumptious!

What an elegant and memorable birthday present from my dear husband, Terry!

After tea, we took a brief walk up Michigan Avenue to take in the sights and sounds of the season.

I always say hello to the carriage horses!

___________________________________________

On Tuesday, my actual birthday, Terry took me out for dinner at my favorite nearby restaurant, Olive Garden!

My parents joined us there. It was so nice celebrating with everyone.

Thank you, Terry, for always making my birthday very special.

And thank you, Ma & Pa, for giving me a birthday

and helping us celebrate!

Christmas Day

2010-12-25T12:11:00.005-06:00

Christmas Day is here!

I hope you are all enjoying the holiday. This year, we will spend Christmas at my brother's house, and tomorrow will get together with my husband's family. We are both so lucky to have our families close by.

This morning, Terry and I exchanged gifts.

The cards have all been delivered and are displayed on our door.

The mistletoe is hung in a most convenient place!

I bought myself an early Christmas present. I just couldn't resist this beautiful Christmas lamp!

I love this framed lithograph Terry picked out for me a few years back. The image contains so much of the things I love!

This penguin and polar bear bring a bit of cheer to our chilly winter!

I usually put this buggy near the tree. This year, I also decided that the antique doll and settee would also make a nice vignette near the tree.

The buggy contains my 3 teddy bears: Oatmeal, Cream of Wheat and Cocoa Wheats.

Penny approves of this year's vignette.

And so does Phoebe!

I used to place a beautiful handmade lace tree skirt under our tree. Then Penny came along. She is very mischievous around the tree. The lace tree skirt had to be replaced with a white sheet. Many of our beautiful ornaments have to stay packed away because Penny thinks the tree is one giant Cat Toy Holder.

Little angels waiting for Santa.

Have a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Tree Tour 2010

2010-12-19T14:56:00.012-06:00

Where did we leave off?

Ah yes, the Christmas tree!

After the lights were put on the tree, a strand of candle lights

are added for an old-world touch.

Next, strands of wooden cranberries.

The angel comes out of her box to adorn the top of the tree.

Add all the ornaments and...

Voila!

I created a video that shows a lot of our ornaments.

The music is a fantastic Christmas medley played by the

local concert band at a live concert we attended a few years back.

Click the picture below to watch the video on YouTube.

Here are some of our ornaments shown in the video.

Of course, we have a fair share of cat ornaments!

And other animals besides cats. We're both big animal lovers!

Of course, the tree would not be complete

without the angels.

Some ornaments are mementoes of special days

in our lives.

And some are just for fun!

I hope you enjoyed the tour of our 2010 Christmas Tree.

Here's wishing you all a beautiful Christmas

filled with love and good cheer!

Deck the Malls

2010-12-12T23:47:00.003-06:00

What a busy month this has been so far! Winter has definitely arrived in Chicago. Here is a recent view of the garden...

... and here is the Merchandise Mart in downtown Chicago, all lit up for Christmas and Hanukkah. Here's a fun fact: the Merchandise Mart is SO big, it has it's own zip code!

This Saturday, we went to the stores and malls to do some Christmas shopping.

I think we're done, and that's a relief! Look, there's Santa!

The stores were packed, and the parking lots were full, so going back would be a major headache.

Sunday was "Put The Christmas Tree Up Day."

I've declared it as such because it literally takes me ALL DAY to just get the tree up and decorated.

I began at noon. I know, I should have started earlier.

Here it is, going up in stages. There are 11 tiers of branches on a 7-1/2 foot tree.

This year, we ran into a few snags. When I finally got the tree put together, I dragged out the box of lights. I started stringing them onto the tree, when I came across 2 major strands that were not working!

It was 4:30 by this time. We hopped in the car and drove to the nearby Ace Hardware and bought 2 new strands. As we were approaching Ace, Terry noticed a car on the other side of the road losing control, spinning out, jumping the curb and hitting some evergreen trees. We stopped to call the police and waited until they arrived, then continued our shopping.

When I got home and opened the first set of lights, it did not light completely! A faulty set! The other set was fine, so I got that one put on the tree.

The entire tree fits in these two bins

By this time it was too late to go back to Ace, which closes at 5:00. So we drove all over the area looking for more Christmas lights.

Menards, Target, Home Depot all were out of lights! I couldn't believe it! Luckily, I decided to pull into a Walgreens on the way home and they had some left. Whew!

Once I got all the lights on the tree, it was time to take a break and eat dinner. I made us a yummy asparagus casserole. Mmmm! It warmed our cockles on such a chilly evening!

OK, so this is no Tablescape Thursday-type photo! Just my everyday dishes which do not match the tablecloth. And my everyday husband Terry. Nothing fancy going on here!

After dinner, I went back to the tree. I got the rest of it all done by 10:45 on Sunday night!

I'll leave the rest of the tree photos for the next post. I did manage to pull this angel out of storage for our table centerpiece. The rest of the Christmas decorations will have to wait for another day!

Interior Lighting

2010-12-04T20:15:00.004-06:00

Last month, Linda over at 1893 Victorian Farmhouse did a post on her favorite things. She has a gorgeous home and has spent the last few years restoring it. I love her taste in almost everything, and noticed she has a lovely collection of lamps, most in the Tiffany style.

I love lamps, too! I have to stop myself whenever I see one I want, because we already have too many. I like the way rooms look when small lamps are used.

This table lamp, above, is an imitation mica lamp. I have always used it on my "cat table" in the parlor. This small gateleg table was in my father's home when he was a boy. I keep photos of my cats, past and present, on this table, along with my Bastet (the Egyptian cat goddess) statues.

In the same room we have this floor lamp. It's great to read by, and helps my African violets grow and bloom with extra light at the same time!

And on the piano, we have a sweet accent lamp given to us as a wedding gift. There are three dolphins holding up the globe and it gives off a soft, amber light.

In another corner of the parlor I have an Eastlake table topped by this cherub lamp. I found it at an antique fair several years back and I just love it! I like that it has a light in the base as well.

My husband and I also love lithophane night lights and lamps. This one, a fairy gazing at the moon, is on our kitchen wall.

And this lithophane lamp is on one end of our kitchen counter.

This is our new light fixture on the kitchen ceiling. I couldn't stand the fluorescent light that was up there all these years, and I looked high and low until I found this one. I really like the etching on the shade. We like to have all our overhead light on dimmer switches. I usually have them turned down low, if at all.

This is my bedside reading lamp.

In the room we call the "library" (my future plans call for built-in bookcases), I have this chandelier over a center table. We have no dining room, but on occasion, have replaced our center table with a larger table to entertain. I always wanted a chandelier, and it was one of the first things I had put in when I bought the house, replacing the ugly ceiling fan that was there. It's not large or expensive, but I love it!

In the same room is our sideboard, where I keep the china, glassware and table linens. This beautiful Art Nouveau-style lamp sits on the sideboard.

The floor lamp below is rarely used. It stands in the corner near my ficus tree and Boston fern.

In the bathroom, we use this lithophane night light.

And on the wash stand I have this figural lamp. It reminds me of the newel post lamps on grand Victorian stairways. Alas, I have no exposed stairway, so this will have to do.

Well, that concludes the tour of the many lamps of Eastlake Victorian. It's hard to take good photos of lamps when they're turned on (especially at night when I had no sunlight to help out)!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T11:33:00.001-06:00

Oh, For The Life of A Cat!

2010-11-20T17:36:00.005-06:00

The leaves have finally all dropped from our trees. We try to pick up the leaves only once every fall, and today was the day. We dressed appropriately for our all-day chore, and before we headed outside, we asked the cats if they wanted to help.

Of course, they said no! They were going to take a "well-deserved" nap together.

We headed outside to begin our day's work. I like to use our mulching mower with the bag attached to pick up as many leaves as possible. The mower mulches them, along with the remaining grass.

Meanwhile, back in the house...

We need to make many trips to the compost heaps to dump the leaves.

I swear I heard snoring in unison...

We took turns mowing, dumping, raking and picking up sticks. Our brush pile is as tall as me, and is used by the birds as a shelter all winter!

Still cat napping!

We live on a corner lot, so we have more grass to mow. We completed the front and side property by lunch time, and came inside for a nice hot bowl of lentil soup.

Oh, you smell our soup, huh?

After lunch, we headed out to do the back yard. We raked leaves away from the flower areas, then mowed them up. We will be covering some of the beds with a layer of leaves once we settle into a deep freeze. We finished up just as nightfall approached.

No, they never lifted a finger, or paw, all day (unless you call this lifting a paw). Sometimes I wish we could both trade places with the cats. I would enjoy an all-day catnap once in awhile!

Late Autumn Colors

2010-11-14T13:24:00.003-06:00

I really love the textures and colors of late Autumn, when the most of the leaves have fallen from the trees, the plants have faded to their subdued hues, and seed pods blow in the wind. Here are some photos I took a couple days ago on my lunch break in downtown Chicago, and today in our garden. Enjoy!

Health & Well Being

2010-11-08T20:10:00.006-06:00

Dr. G: Medical Examiner, Dr. Oz and somebody's kidneys and aorta.

This past weekend, we stopped by the Dr. Oz Health Expo in Millennium Park in Chicago. It was fun seeing Dr. Oz in person. Everyone had the chance to don the famous purple gloves and touch various organs, enter the Truth Tube, get free health screenings, and learn great recipes from celebrity chefs such as Oprah's former personal chef Art Smith. We didn't stay long, so we didn't have time to participate in much.

It got me thinking about health and fitness in the 19th century.

In the early 1800's, people were mostly rural. The everyday labor they needed to do kept them fairly physically fit and they didn't really need any formal exercise program. Of course, if they became sick, they knew nothing of germs or where diseases came from. A prevalent theory was that their body fluids were unbalanced, and that they needed a bloodletting. Another theory was that bad odors or "miasma" caused diseases. Sick people were treated at home by family members. Occasionally, a doctor was called. Doctors had very little training. And only the poor would ever be taken to a hospital, as they were for people who were indigent or had no family.

Henry Peach Robinson 1858. Fading Away.

The nineteenth century was known for the prevalence of patent medicines of questionable worth. They were touted by traveling salesmen and advertised through trade cards. The alcohol and other (often dangerous) drugs in these concoctions are what made people feel better!

Scientific advances in medicine began to make great strides when it became acceptable to open cadavers and learn about how our bodies work. Stronger microscopes and other scientific instruments gave doctors a better understanding of diseases and how to treat them.

Meanwhile, the Industrial Revolution put machines at the forefront and gave humans a back seat to physical labor. In the mid 1800's, Swedish and German exercise techniques and theories began to take hold in America. People realized they needed to stay physically fit.

Men had the advantage of playing sports in college and being able to engage in activity that was not considered "lady-like." Children, of course, played and ran around, but a young lady, especially with her corsets, could not participate in such things.

Some women's suffrage advocates put forth the notion that, indeed, women should be more active. They eventually worked toward developing "bloomers" in the 1850's, which never really caught on until the early 1900's when bicycling and gymnastics became popular.

When I was growing up, the public schools in Chicago required that we had gym class every day. In grammar school we did tumbling, races, calisthenics, kick baseball and worked with equipment such as Indian clubs, stall bars, ladders, rings, balls and climbing ropes. Everyone took the tests required by the President's Council on Physical Fitness. We also were required to go outside for recess to play. In high school, we swam, played team sports, danced and did gymnastics. I don't know if today's kids get that much exercise.

Indian clubs

Stall bars

We are fortunate to live in the modern era of medicine, science and knowledge of the human body. We still have major diseases to cure, but we've made great strides. But, because of our free will, we can still decide to become obese, abuse drugs, smoke, become couch potatoes, or become anorexic. I guess it's up to each individual to learn as much as possible about our bodies, and to treat them with respect.

Visit these great links to find out more about the history of American health, fitness and medical care:

Early American Medicine and Health Care

Early Nineteenth Century American Medical Worldview

The History of Medicine 1800-1850

Patent Medicine

Early Gymnastics in America

Evolution of Gymnastics

The Heritage of Physical Education, Sport and Fitness in the U.S.

Women's Sports and Fitness

The History of Fitness

Early Men's and Women's Gymnastics

Chicago Fitness and Athletic Clubs

Indian Clubs