Project 360: Week 20

{133} Lovely sky.

{134} Loving all of the colors of spring...almost as much as I love fall. :)

{135} A swarm of bees that my dad caught this week.

{136} I finally sat back down at my sewing machine. Here's a peek at what I made.

{137} Rolags I've been carding from my washed Corriedale fleece.

{138} This is what consumed my thoughts for most of Saturday. :) If you know what it is, you know why! If you don't know, stay tuned for tomorrow's post. :)

{139} Today's cloudy weather isn't doing much to help the seeds in my room.

Until next time,

The best on-screen couples. {Classic Movie May}

I had no trouble at all thinking of my favorite on-screen couples in classic film. :) There are some pairings in a film or two that work well, like Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn in Charade. Or Audrey and Gregory Peck in Roman Holiday. But all of the couples in my list appeared in multiple films together. Some of them were involved romantically in real life, and some weren't, but either way, there's a lot of chemistry. :)

1. Myrna Loy and William Powell

William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles (in the Thin Man series) are pretty much the best thing ever. :) They're hilarious, and their witty banter bounces off each other wonderfully. I love the Thin Man series, but they wouldn't be anything without these two. They also made quite a few other films together....Love Crazy is one of my favorites. They're like a wacky married couple who you would know in real life. :)

2. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers

Gene Kelly is my favorite dancer, but Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers make up my favorite dance team. They were just perfect together! I'm sure he had a lot more training and skill, but they blended so perfectly that would never know it. Ginger never looked like she was trying to keep up...they were completely balanced. And they always look like they're having so much fun. :) Fred Astaire dancing solo or with another partner just isn't the same. But they don't have to be dancing- their acting in their many films together is great, too.

 

3. Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn

They look a bit oddly matched at first, but as I've mentioned before, Spencer Tracy made me like Katharine Hepburn. :) In films he often played an average Joe who like sports and such, and she was usually a wealthy, high born, independent type. She would be a feminist, and he'd be the guy who laughed at feminists. Opposites attract, huh? They're the only on-screen couple I've ever seen that are even likable when they're arguing (and goodness, sometimes it's more than arguing- it's downright fighting).

4. Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall

Bogey and Bacall are about the most mismatched couple in film history. :) And yet it works! He was so much older than her and they just seem completely different, but after you see their films together, you wonder why you ever doubted it.

5. Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney

This picture makes me smile. :) I'll always think of these two as the perfect teen couple, especially in their musicals together. I love that they grew up together and were lifelong friends. When Mickey Rooney is being goofy and Judy Garland laughs, it is so genuine that you know they just loved spending time with each other.

Who are your favorite film couples?

 

Until next time,

Actors and actresses who had to grow on me. {Classic Movie May}

You know how there are some actors or actresses that you just like instantly? For me, it would be people like Gene Kelly or Judy Garland. But then there are others...not so much. Here are some people who I really disliked at first, but given the chance, they've grown on me. :)

 

1. Katharine Hepburn

Oh my goodness...I had a major grudge against Katharine Hepburn when I first started watching classic movies. She was supposed to be one of the greats, but I just didn't like her. It didn't help that the first films of hers I saw were the roles where she was obnoxious and arrogant and very feminist (don't leave me hateful comments about that last word, please :), and just not very likable. But then...I saw her in a film with Spencer Tracy (can't remember which one!). I remember thinking, wow! She's actually pretty good in this one. Eventually I got to the point where I even enjoyed Katharine Hepburn films that didn't have Spencer Tracy in them. :) I still don't list her among my top favorites, but I like her quite a bit now. {The African Queen and Woman of the Year are probably my favorite films starring her.}

 

2. Fred Astaire

I know what you're thinking- how could you not like Fred Astaire?? :) Let me explain myself and my incredibly shallow motives. I was (am) smitten with Gene Kelly. So I was watching this young, handsome, athletic guy dancing while wearing a baseball cap and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. And then I saw Fred Astaire...this skinny guy who looked like an old man even when he was 30 years old. {I remember reading Lucille Ball's autobiography- she was friends with Ginger Rogers. She wrote something about how he treated leading ladies as an elderly uncle would, and I've always remembered that.} It took me quite a while to get used to that. But it's practically impossible to dislike Fred Astaire for long, you know? He and Ginger Rogers are amazing together and so very talented. Don't worry...I recognize his awesomeness now. :)

 

3. Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra has one of my favorite voices, and I loved his voice long before I saw more than just a vague photo or two of him. The first film I ever saw him in was Anchors Aweigh, and I couldn't connect this wonderful, soothing voice with this skinny, unusual looking kid. It completely threw me off. :) But Sinatra played such likable people in Anchors Aweigh and On the Town and such that after a while you forget that his voice doesn't exactly match the way he looks. {But then again, maybe it did as he got a little older?}

4. The Marx Brothers

 

The first couple of times I saw a Marx Brothers film, I just didn't think that they were too funny. {By the way, I've never liked the Three Stooges.} Now I think they're hilarious...maybe my sense of humor just changed? :) A Day at the Races is probably my favorite so far.

5. June Allyson

Okay, so June Allyson hasn't grown on me too much. Something about her still bugs me a little. Maybe it's her voice or the way she sometimes smiled with her lips together and it didn't really look like a smile. Anyway, I liked her in Little Women and really liked her in The Glenn Miller Story (great movie! Glenn Miller is my favorite big band leader), but I haven't particularly enjoyed any more of her films.

 

Who are some actors or actresses that you just didn't like at first? What made you change your mind? Link up or comment below! :)

Until next time,

Giveaway! {Classic Movie May}

We're very nearly halfway through Classic Movie May, and I apologize for just now getting the first giveaway up. :) There may only be two giveaways this month...I had intended on three, but I haven't been able to pull the third one together yet.

 

Anyway, when we were at Schoolhouse Fabrics last month, I picked up a bit of fabric to give away here. They had quite a few Wizard of Oz and Gone With the Wind prints...I know that some of you may not be Oz fans, but I just couldn't bring myself to buy Gone With the Wind fabric. :)

 

So...the winner of this giveaway will receive 1 yard of this printed cotton, which features Dorothy's ruby red slippers. A yard should be enough for a small-ish sewing project: a bag, some pouches or wallets, some quilt squares, etc.

 

 

 

To enter, leave me a comment telling me who's your favorite character: the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, or the Cowardly Lion. :) Personally, I've always favored the Tin Man.

 

For extra entries:

-Link up to at least one Classic Movie May post.

-Follow this blog.

 

That's a possible 3 entries per person. Please leave a separate comment for each entry, and leave your email address in at least one of the comments so I can contact you if you win.

 

Good luck! You have until the end of this month to enter. And if you're not a crafty person, don't despair...the other giveaway(s) will not be for craft supplies. :)

 

P.S. I'm a little broke at the moment, so I'm afraid I'll have to limit this giveaway to residents of the US and Canada only.

 

 

 Until next time,

Project 360: Week 19

{126} Part of my washed fleece drying.

{127} Sometimes I know exactly what I want to read next, but sometimes I have a hard time deciding. So I wrote down all of the titles of books I own but haven't read (64 of them! Goodness) and put them in a jar. When I can't decide what to read next, I'll draw a book to read. :) The idea came from here.

{128} Clover after a good rain.

{129} Lovely clouds.

{130} Friday was a crazy day. It was chicken processing day on our farm (we processed and packaged 95 birds) and then in the evening, my younger brother graduated from the auto body program at the community college. The only pictures I took all day were at graduation...so this is my sister-in-law, my brother, Mom and Dad.

{131} A peek at what I've been knitting this week.

{132} I'm finally getting around to reading Jane Austen's unfinished works. I don't know why it has taken me so long! The fact that the Sandition inspired spin-off of LBD starts tomorrow was a big motivator. :)

Happy Mother's Day to all of you mothers out there! I'm thankful that me and my mom have always been close. My mom is ridiculously selfless (a fact that my dad and I like to tease her about, because we tend to be a bit more self-centered :). She seems to know (and be liked by) everyone, and people love to talk to her. She can meet a stranger in a store and by the time she leaves, she knows their entire life story, just because she's the kind of person that people naturally strike up conversations with. I'm not like that at all, so it amazes me (we are very similar in other ways, though). So happy Mother's Day, Mom! And I hope you don't get me for posting the graduation picture of you on my blog. :)

Until next time,