Contentment Farm

Indefinite Absence

Dear valued customers and friends,

I know it seems like I've fallen off the face of the earth.  There have been no web site updates, and though I have told many of you that there are new things "coming very soon", I find that my work time is being taken up by family obligations.  So, for now, I'm putting the web site on the back burner and taking it off-line as I am just not able to give it, and all of you, the attention you deserve.

While on hiatus all web site traffic will be redirected here.  And, anyone who would like to email, you can get in touch with me through contentmentfarm at gmail dot com.

Thank you all for you well wishes and loyalty.  I hope to bring the web site back as soon as possible and will miss you all in the mean time!

Leading Ladies in Architectural Digest

Architectural Digest has a slide show on their web site featuring photos of ten iconic actresses, like Joan Crawford above, photographed in their own homes.  It's titled, what else, Leading Ladies.  I always enjoy looking at photos of legendary actors and actresses, but it's even more fun when you get a glimpse into their homes as well!

Rachael made me do it!

My friend Rachael over at the Lady's Repository Museum, told me this morning that I needed to put my house that I'm trying to sell on my blog.  It was a good idea (if only I'd thought of it), so here it is.  Thanks Rachael!  Here's a link to the listing.  Give it a minute to load all the photos, there are quit a few.

The snow has gone and we're waiting for things to green up a bit for spring pictures.  If you've read my blog in the past I think you may have seen pictures I posted previously.

It's a quiet location with the only visible houses being across the street.  See that red barn in the center of the photos?  Well, that's actually finished living space, a big one bedroom, one and a half bath apartment.  It used to house my inventory and my photography studio but now has a tenant.

The antique cape was probably built in the late 1700s but we don't have documentation as to the exact date so we round it off to 1800.  Here's how the house looked circa 1934.

As you can see, the front part of the house is pretty much as it was until 1934 and little changed until 1950 when the previous owner, Grace Lyman Stammers a well known antiques dealer, moved there permanently.  The back part of the house was probably originally a tool shed but in 1950 Grace lovingly converted it into a keeping room and kitchen with a side entry and bathroom so that the house could remain original while having all the modern conveniences.

I so admire Grace's thought and planning.  Being a purist, she made the conversion seamless and many people are convinced that the fireplace and paneling are original to the house.  As you can see, they're not.  It's been eleven years since I moved in to this, my dream house.  Literally, I had dreamed of living in this house for years before when my Mom and I would make trips to Grace's house to see what treasures we could find.  Over the years I begged Grace to sell me her house but she would always reply that I would have to wait and buy it from her son, which is exactly what I did at the first possible chance.

The house has been such a comfortable place to live and I shall miss being there but things do change and it's time to move on.  Hopefully the next owner will cherish the house as much as Grace did and love living there as much as I have!

What's Cookin'?

I've been spending a lot of time lately reading the blog of The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond.  I particularly like her cooking page and am inspired by her recipies.  This one for Apple Cake in an Iron Skillet is particularly enticing and I just know I'll be making it before the week is out.

  If you have never visited Ree's site you should do so at your earliest convenience.  She's witty and insightful and just plain fun to hang out with.  And, she posts great recipies for everything from calf nuts to apple cake.

Thanks for the mention!

Yesterday I received an email from the adorable Solanah of Vixen Vintage.  I just love her style and really enjoyed her refreshing blog and thought you might too.

Here's a photo of Solanah and her husband Sam from their beautiful wedding in July.

Aren't they a darling couple?

If you have time do check out her blog as well as her Etsy store, Solanah!

Just Smashing!

Just to get back into the swing of things I thought I'd post this scan of this "Atom Smashed" cape and gown by Gilbert Adrian.  This ad for the American Bemberg Corporation was found in a 1946- 1947 Original Ballet Russe program.

Am I Blue?

Not really, I just wanted to include this for the fun of it.

Hoagy Carmichael sings in To Have And Have Not.

Am I Blue?
by rl666st

Weiner Werkstätte

When studying early 20th century fashions we tend to concentrate on French and Italian design houses like Poiret, Chanel, Lanvin and Fortuny.  Without a doubt, these design houses were outstanding and always leaders of the industry.  Poiret and Fortuny pioneered unstructured clothing with Fortuny developing methods of pleating and stenciling that are still unrivaled today.  Chanel was responsible for the little black dress and sportswear as well as incomparable evening wear and Lanvin for the Robe du Style, children's clothing and her romantic clothing.

Still, there are many designers and houses that are overlooked including Wiener Werkstätte in Vienna.  Founded by architect Josef Hoffmann and painter Kolo Moser in 1903.  The company consisted of artists and craftsmen and is better know for their furniture, accessories, fabrics and interior design than for their fashions.  In fact their fashion house, established in 1910, was an offshoot of the hand-painted and hand-printed textiles that had been produced for many years.  The fabric designs were so original that they attracted the attention of the Paris designers and even the great Poiret bought their fabrics, beginning in 1911.

 

Above is a photograph of the dining room in the Palais Stoclet designed by Josef Hoffmann with a frieze painted by Gustav Klimt.

And, here is an illustration by Mela Koehler that I own, of a wonderful gym or exercise outfit that probably dates to the late teens or early 1920s.  Though there is no description with the illustration you can see the matching printed knickers peeking out from below the skirt that falls just above the knee.  Both the dress and knickers are trimmed in solid black with print fabric at the yoke, short sleeves, encircling the waist on on the knickers.  And, don't you just love those shoes with the wrap ties?  What I wouldn't give to find the outfit to go along with my illustration!

Bad Blogger!

Ok, I am the first to admit, I'm a bad blogger.  I'm just not great at blogging.  Please forgive me this one small character flaw.  You know what they say, if you can't say something nice don't say anything at all, in my case it's more like not being able to say anything interesting.

Well, today is not that much different and what I have to say might not be that interesting but I wanted you all to know about the new and interesting items that were added to the web site recently.  For instance, this gorgeous ball gown and cape by Pauline Trigere.

 

They are from Trigere's Fall 1972 collection and are just in time for an elegant holiday party.  The gown is made of a sumptuous Birds of Paradise lame' and the cape of matching Kingfisher blue wool.  Together the gown and cape are breathtaking!

Stop by to see what else has been added since your last visit.  New items coming soon to the Victorian and Flapper & Art Deco categories.

Drunk Driver

Sunday morning started out like most Sunday mornings for us.  We were up early and out the door by 6:30 to preview a country auction in Vermont.  We stopped to fill the cooler with ice for my newly sprained ankle and get coffee for the ride and off we sent. 

There wasn't much traffic on interstate 91 as we headed north toward the auction site but we did see an electronic sign warning drunk drivers about "roving patrols" that would be looking for them over the holiday weekend.  The fog that had enveloped us when we started out had burned off and the day was promising to be perfect.  I was enjoying the ride, sipping my coffee and we were chatting about nothing in particular.  A little way in front of us was a small red pickup that we didn't even notice until it suddenly jerked a bit to the and caught our attention.

"What was that about?" I asked my boyfriend.  He thought the driver was probably just dialing or answering a cell phone.  We watched for a minute as the truck moved over from the left lane to the right and I began to accept the cell phone theory but the truck continued to the right and nearly went off the road.  It recovered and I dialed 911 on my cell phone.  We continued to watch for the next however many mile as the truck crossed from one side of the highway to the other, seemingly bouncing off the sides of the road.  We reported our location as the truck accelerated at times to probably 90 miles per hour or more and then would slow down to below the speed limit.  We held our collective breath as it passed another car on the highway and made it past.

The state police asked me to stay on the phone as we neared an interchange with another highway to let them know if the truck took the other highway or continued on I-91, but it suddenly turned into a rest area about a mile before the interchange, nearly hitting the sign on the way in.  I reported this to the officer on the other end of the line as we continued on.

The rest of the day I wondered if the police had caught up with the truck at the rest area.  On the way home my boyfriend stopped at a state police station that we passed to inquire and put my mind to rest.  Unfortunately, it turned out that the police had not found the vehicle at the rest area when they arrived.

Of course, now I feel terrible that we didn't follow that truck into the rest area to see that he stopped and that the police were able to stop him from driving further.  If nothing else we might have been able to report the license plate number which we had been unable to get close enough to see on the highway.  It bothers me to know that this person continued to drive after we went on.  They did not belong on the road.  If there had been more traffic on the road that morning they could have easily killed someone.  And, what bothers me more than anything about not staying with that truck until the police intercepted it is the thought that the person driving will continue to do so.  They obviously have no regard for themselves and certainly none for anyone who may be unlucky enough to be around them. I hate the thought that because I didn't stay with that truck it's out there and could hurt someone today.  It may not be anyone I know and I may never hear about what pain and destruction this person will cause but I feel that I should have done more because, from what I saw Sunday morning, there is no doubt in my mind that the driver of that red Mazda pickup will eventually hurt themselves and others.

My mistake here was in thinking rationally that the driver had pulled into the rest area and was now off the road.  I forgot that this driver was not rational.  This was at 7:30 in the morning, the driver was obviously beyond impaired, why did I think that he was making a rational decision to get off the road?  I asked my boyfriend later how anyone in that state could even think about getting in a car and driving?  Again, I was thinking from a rational perspective and it just didn't make any sense from that perspective.  In hindsight I realize that it's more likely the driver was not rationally stopping at that rest area but intended to take the other highway and thought that the rest area was the exit.  When the mistake was realized the driver probably went right through the rest area and got right back on the highway.

I can't tell you how frightening it was to watch this driver on the road.  My words can't begin to convey that.  I'm so sorry we didn't do more to get this driver off the road and I wanted to tell you about this experience so that maybe, if any of you are in this situation you'll do a better job than we did.  And, whatever else you do, please don't drink and drive!