Olivia De Havilland and Joan Fontaine’s Girlhood Home on the Market

September 10, 2019 by mymateriallife

This 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 2400-square-foot home on about a third of an acre was designed in the Tudor Revival style by the architects Hill and Higbie and built in 1924. So old and brimming with character – not at all the kind of house you usually find around here. One reason for that may be that this house has had only two owners in its almost 100-year history. The ownership changed just once when it passed from Lillian De Havilland Fontaine […]

Categories: Architecture, People • Tags: de havilland-heid house, joan fontaine, olivia de havilland, tudor revival

Tasty Tomato Tart From Dinner’s In The Oven

August 26, 2019 by mymateriallife

This tart is truly delicious. And so simple; there are only four ingredients you need to procure and maybe only three or two because you probably already have salt, pepper and olive oil in your kitchen, maybe even Dijon mustard and tomatoes. The funny thing is, I had to go to three different stores to find only two of the ingredients. Trader Joe’s didn’t have tarragon or puff pastry, and Sprout’s had tarragon, but was out of puff pastry … […]

Categories: Savories • Tags: dinner's in the oven, french tomato and mustard tart with tarragon, nyt cooking, rukmini iyer, sam sifton

Sweet Pea May Day

May 1, 2019 by mymateriallife

You didn’t think I’d forget, did you? I know I don’t post like I used to, but gosh if I didn’t get something up on this old blog for May Day, well that would be really sad. Not for you probably, not for most people, but for me – one of the few remaining May Day enthusiasts – it would definitely be sad. Perhaps next year Stella will let me crown her pretty little head with a floral wreath like […]

Categories: Floral • Tags: cosmos, may day, paper cones, sweet peas

Life Lately

March 25, 2019 by mymateriallife

I’ve been playing with Barbie dolls again. And as you might have guessed, the toilet paper roll knitter. The beanie (about 12 rows of knitting with a crewel wool on a six-stick loom) and the scarf (knit with sock weight wool on just two sticks of the same loom) were props for an in-patient broadcast I did at a hospital where I volunteer. We supplied kits for the kids so they could follow along and knit when I wasn’t making […]

Categories: Kid Stuff, Knitting • Tags: barbie knits, french knitting, glass markers, pet knits, toilet paper roll knitting

Favorite Recipe Links: Turkey Meatloaf, Drop Biscuits, Taco Shell Seasoning

January 30, 2019 by mymateriallife

I’ve been meaning to tell you about this turkey meatloaf recipe, the only one I may need from here on out because it’s loved not just by me, but by every human in my house. It’s got all of the flavoring you really want in a meatloaf (onion, garlic, Worcestershire, ketchup) and nothing extraneous like vegetables (that seem to me should be served outside of your loaf). When I make this I cut the recipe amounts in half because we […]

Categories: Savories • Tags: best drop biscuit, recipes, seasoned taco shells, turkey meatloaf

Bereft, Bothered & Bewildered

January 16, 2019 by mymateriallife

Dear Stumpy, It’s been one week and two days since we said goodbye. When I think back on it now I wonder how we were ever able to say it was OK to begin with the first injection. I remember telling a couple of people that we could tell you were ready, but now I’m thinking you weren’t ready at all. You just wanted to keep doing your favorite things: going out to sit on your seat wall and drinking […]

Categories: Cats • Tags: cats, grief, mourning, pets

Good Night Sweet Prince

January 7, 2019 by mymateriallife

And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest! Stumpy, 2000 – 2019  

Categories: Cats

Oh Pasta Tree, Oh Pasta Tree

December 22, 2018 by mymateriallife

I’ve been dreaming of a trio of white pasta trees ever since I came across the trees shown here at Deborah Greene’s Mod + Mint blog a few years ago. After a disappointing paint job with a can of gloss white Rust-Oleum that was not white, but grey, I’m finally satisfied with their final Krylon satin white finish coat. And that’s a wonderful thing because I’ve been wanting to get these right for the last three years. My first attempt […]

Categories: Christmas • Tags: christmas decor, pasta trees

A Ballerina Snow Globe for Andrea

December 21, 2018 by mymateriallife

Soon after I learned that my ballet teacher Andrea and her husband set up two separate Christmas trees (one is devoted entirely to Andrea’s ballet performance memorabilia), I saw a golden gnome snow globe in a catalog and knew immediately what I wanted to give Andrea for Christmas. I was excited; I missed snow globe making and I’d been wanting to do something new with the plastic ballerina cake toppers I bought from a local cake decorating shop years ago. […]

Categories: Christmas • Tags: ballet, plastic ballerina cake topper, snow globe