Saturday Stories - Bare Midriffs

One of the places on the tourist agenda in the 1940s and 1950s was Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, CA.   There are huge statues and towering paintings and stained glass, lots of open space with trees and benches and the graves of famous people.  When Diane and her sister lived with their grandparents in Los Angeles there were many trips on weekends to see all the sights, including Forest Lawn.  It was the middle of the war years and fabric to make anything was difficult to find.  Their Aunt Vernice would buy whole bolts when she found them and made clothes for everyone in the family; shirts for the guys, dresses and blouses for the ladies, play clothes and school clothes for the children.  One summer everyone wore watermelon designs and another summer everyone wore tiny pink flowers .  That year Vernice came up with outfits that were a skirt and a bare midriff top for the girls.  Very classy with lace around the neck and along the straps of the tops.  Diane and her sister wore these nice outfits the day they went to Forest Lawn; Diane was about six and her sister almost nine.  When they went to go into the museum they were stopped by the guard and told they could not go in with bare midriffs!  What to do?  Aunt Vernice hauled out some safety pins, pinning the top to the skirt to cover those outrageous bare bellies, in turn, pulling the skirts up to an almost indecent height, they dare not bend over.  However, Marie would have nothing to do with it.  She sat on a bench outside, refusing to go into such a stuffy place.   Diane was too young to really appreciate the wonders that were on view and mostly remembers the marble floors and walls and the stained glass windows.  She has never been to Forest Lawn again.  She wonders what people wear to visit there these days.

 

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Friday Feet 09-22-17

 

I am always amazed at the shoes worn by the old ladies in my world - including those I wear.  I remember the "old lady" shoes of my younger years and always thought they were ugly.  But now I tend to wear what is comfortable, no matter how they look.  This lady feels the same way.  Kinda cute!

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More on Morro Bay visit 09-21-17

Blogger is messing me up again.  I redid these pictures twice and Blogger keeps putting them in the opposite order than they should be.  You can read from the bottom up if you want to be "in order".

 

These were only two of the great quilts that were part of Show & Tell.

As I remember, this one is paper pieced and it is spectacular. 



  

This calm, soothing flying geese quilt is just gorgeous, but see the back below! 

 

I don't usually show quilts unless I have the name of the maker, but perhaps the makers will see this and send me their names.  This is the back of the flying geese quilt above.  Such a wonderful, colorful, wild back to such a calm quilt.  I love both sides. 

 

 

Del Thomas at the beach at Morro Bay rock.

Liz Williams at the beach at Morro Bay rock.

This is a terrible picture, I know.  But I couldn't get any closer to the sea otters.

A view of the sea otter "nursery" in a cove near the rock. We thought we could count 14 mommies with their babies. 

At one time the rock was mined and the rocks used to create the causeway from the  mainland.

This view is from the causeway and the huge parking lot.  Most of these vehicles are parked by the surfers who were trying out a not very convincing surf.  We didn't see anyone rise to the top of their board. 

 

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Wordless Wednesday 09-20-17

 

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