Go Gingham - Go Cute

Love Gingham

I have no clue why I am drawn to gingham. It is my second favorite feminine pattern behind polka-dots. Maybe I want to look like a picnic or the farmer's daughter. I know, it is the Ellie Mae Clampett look.


What made me do this layout was the gingham sneakers from SeaVees®, sold by J.Crew. I saw the shoes yesterday, on sale and added them to my sneaker collection. Beyond cute and I will wear them with my white jeans, shorts, and skirts. I have found that girl's sneakers, make your feel look smaller, even when choosing the correct size.  Give it a try you will be surprised.  

Here is a little extra trick you can add to make your  sneakers look a little more girly. It is called bar lacing. It is cute on sneakers and provide a little extra room on the top where I need it.  The last lace I keep open and tie in the regular fashion with a bow. 


I have the above Ralph Lauren shirt and the top-right gingham Talbots boat neck top. I do not have that exact off-the-shoulder top but one similar in blue stripe; likely it will work.   

Let me leave you with a little song from the past.  I bet you cannot read it with out singing along.  In case you have forgotten or are too young.  

Ellie May Clampett - Barbie

The Ballad of Jed Clampett Lyrics

 by Paul Henning 

Come and listen to my story about a man named Jed 

A poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed, 

And then one day he was shootin at some food, 

And up through the ground come a bubblin crude. 

Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea. 

Well the first thing you know ol Jed's a millionaire, 

The kinfolk said "Jed move away from there" 

Said "Californy is the place you ought to be" 

So they loaded up the truck and they moved to Beverly 

Hills, that is. Swimmin pools, movie stars. 

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I plan on leaving my survey up one more week.  If you have not already expressed your likes or dislike about Rhonda's Escape, please do. I am most grateful to those who have taken the 1 minute survey. I will share overall results next week.   Thank you.   

Labels

Part of my rural Virginia upbringing was my grandfather’s vegetable garden. He and my grandmother ran the town’s general store that sold everything from food, seed, tractor hardware, to 100-pound bags of sugar for the moonshine stills. We were the Amazon for our little town and delivered.

Although the store was my family’s business my grandfather’s passion was his summer garden. It was large enough to supply our family with fresh vegetables, all our neighbors and still have some left over for the store. Town’s folk would come to the store to get fresh corn, strawberries, cucumbers, tomatoes, turnips greens and squash. All totally organic by today's standards.

There was such an abundance that my grandmother would make a trip every week or so during the summer to the local cannery. "Putting up food for the winter", she would call it.

Canneries, a rural tradition, began opening in 1940’s during World War II under government encouragement to help the American public become more self-sufficient. Much food was being sent to feed soldiers overseas at that time. By the end of the war, according to a 1977 USDA publication, there were more than 3,800 community canneries in the country.  (Source: Modern Farmer -Cannery Hangs on in Rural Virginia) We had one a few mile away.

I remember one batch of Mason Jar delights that my grandmother brought home, had a problem. Although typically it was easy to distinguish what was in the glass Mason Jars, the labels had become dislodged on some. My grandmother joked every time we opened one of these “Let’s see what we have here”. We would laugh and enjoy. 

Our transgender umbrella abounds with labels. However, occasionally there is something that defies a label. It is just to be opened and enjoyed.  Conchita Wurst is just such an individual. According to the Guardian:

Drag queen? Transgender? Conchita's an ambassador and that's what matters - But what does it all mean, this hair and that beard and those lashes? Conchita has been crowned queen of Europe, but is she a transvestite, a drag queen, a bearded lady, a transgender woman or what? And does it even matter? Facebook recently introduced more than 50 gender options in the US, and if you're puzzled about what all those terms mean, Conchita is a clue as to what this gender diversity might look like in practice. "She" is actually a boy called Tom.

Conchita is his lady persona, a strangely compelling mix of Katy Perry and Jesus, but it's female pronouns, please, when the lashes are on – and male ones when they come off. Confused? This is gender fluidity and you'd better get used to it.

Conchita Wurst - From Vienna with Love (46 Minutes)

 Sydney Opera House, Australia (EN/DE/RU/FR Subtitles)

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 I plan on leaving my survey up one more week.  If you have not already expressed your likes or dislike about Rhonda's Escape, please do. I am most grateful to those who have taken the 1 minute survey. I will share overall results next week.   Thank you.