Friday, July 31, 2009

Finished for Friday - Apron

Lit and Laundry

This apron was started back in May. It was not a difficult pattern, but it seemed like things kept going wrong. And of course, sometimes life gets in the way...

This apron is a size small so it does not quite cover my ample waist.


The ties on this apron are really long. I should have altered them, but it was to the point I just wanted to get it off my WIP list.

What have you finished this week? Let us know at Lit and Laundry. Check out what others have accomplished this week.


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Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Vintage Thingies Thursday - Enamelware Bowls


It is time for another installment of Vintage Thingies Thursday hosted by dear Suzanne of ColoradoLady. Make sure you hurry over there to see all the wonderful antique, vintage and retro things that others have to share.


Several years ago, I bought this large enamelware bowl at an auction. I probably paid more for it than it was worth, but I loved it and was going to take it home with me. Since then, I have seen a couple of other bowls in different sizes but they have all been in bad condition.

At my local flea market last weekend, I found the little bowl that matches. It is in mint condition and cost $5.


I love the colors in these bowls. They always cheer me when I look at them. Notice that the large bowl has the light green trim on the inside of the bowl while the small bowl has the trim on the outside of the bowl.

There are no markings on these bowls. I do not know if this pattern has a name or not. Can any one out there shed any light on these?

I'm always looking for these bowls. Maybe some day I will find in between sizes.


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Sunday, July 19, 2009

Sunday with Friends

Remember my big surprise? My friends surprised me with a visit in honor of my fiftieth birthday. It was so nice of them.

All too soon, the party came to an end. But not the visit! They have never been to our house and were so excited to see our old place. Unfortunately, by the time we got back to our house it was late and everyone was tired.

After a good night's sleep, Sunday morning was spent sitting on the back porch drinking coffee, watching the birds and squirrels and just catching up with each other. We also took a tour of the "grounds". Here is my friend Marilyn standing under the pin oak in our back yard. She was amazed at how big it is. Our house was built in the 1890s and I'm sure this tree was standing long before that.

The guys took some time to talk about the replacement of the front porch. I noticed no one grabbed a hammer or a paint scraper.

We all finally got motivated and decided to head to Raleigh. But first we had to stop at a convenience store along US 1. We had to stop because it was the "Sheetz". You can see the sign in the background as we drove away.
Once in Raleigh, we hit the flea market held at the state fair grounds every weekend. There was a Mustang car show going on there as well. We walked around ohhing and ahhing at all the cool cars, new and old for a while, then headed to the flea market to see what treasures we could find. Being that it was a holiday weekend and raining, there were not very many vendors outside. But we enjoyed looking at what was there and purchased a few goodies. Here we are leaving the flea market. The building in the background is full of small retail vendors.
While at the flea market, we purchased some yummy produce and fresh shrimp for our dining pleasure that evening. After a stop at our local Food Lion for some potatoes, steaks, more beer and wine, we got to cooking. Here's Phil getting ready to do a digital exam, er...I mean, prepare the fresh jalapenos for our appetizer.

Jalapeno poppers - fresh peppers with the seeds removed then stuffed with cream cheese and wrapped with a slice of bacon. Throw on the grill long enough to get cook the bacon and heat the peppers. Yummy! And with the seeds removed, they are not all that hot. Some of them were even sweet. Here's a picture of the poppers and the potatos on the grill.
We also had fresh Silver Queen corn on the cob purchased from the flea market. It is the sweetest corn you will ever eat! Here's Mar and Phil preparing the corn to go in the oven. Good thing my kitchen is large as we all had a hand in fixing our dinner that night.
Rod and I are at the sink cleaning and deveining the fresh shrimp we got at the flea market. I have to say, something was fishy! EWW!
After the potatoes were done, the steaks, shrimp and pineapple skewers grilled to perfection, it was time to eat. And eat and eat.
There is nothing better than having good food, good wine and good friends around your dining room table.

*Clicking on the pictures will enlarge them.

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Thursday, July 16, 2009

Vintage Thingies Thursday - Birthday Memorabilia


Happy Vintage Thingies Thursday to all! I'm a little late in posting, but I have a good reason. It's because I am old! Older than dirt, a half century old, and just old. Today is my fiftieth birthday. It seems like I have been celebrating all month. Oh, yeah! I have been celebrating all month. If you missed my post about my birthday surprise, you can see it here. Make sure you check out the video link on that page.

Last year for my birthday, my mom sent me some things relating to my birth. I would like to share those with you today since I am technically vintage now.

This is the cover of my baby book.
On the inside cover, Mom taped the invitation to the baby shower held in our honor.

The hem of the maternity top lifted up to see the details of the shower.

This is a napkin Mom saved from the shower. A bit wrinkled, but then so am I.

This is the inside of my birth announcement.

I love the sweet art work on the inside pages of my baby book. According to things mom wrote in my baby book, television was popular with Dick Clark's American Bandstand being the top daytime show. The top song on my birthday was Paul Anka's "Lonely Boy" with the Bop being the hot dance. President Dwight Eisenhower, who also grew up in Kansas, was in office.

The tiny little beaded bracelet I wore in the hospital bears my last name. It is safely tucked inside an envelope along with a couple locks of my hair.
Included in the package with my baby book was this little porcelain bassinet. My mom's aunt, Annette Jackson, brought this to her in the hospital with a small flower tucked inside. Growing up, I remember this sitting on a small shelf of Mom's shadow box.

Also tucked inside my baby book is my first professionally done portrait. I was about fourteen months old. The little dress I had on was mint green and white gingham trimmed in white lace. Mom had it tucked away for many years. I'm not sure if she still has it or not.

I also have this little ballerina that sat atop my sixth birthday cake along with five other dancers. The other dancers were pink, blue and lavender and I'm not sure why they were not saved. I'm also wondering if this dancer knows that her "girls" are bare???

Doing a search on today's date, I found that other people sharing my birthday Barbara Stanwyck, Orville Rendenbacher, Bess Myerson, Ginger Rogers and Shoeless Joe Jackson.

In 1945, the Atomic Age began when the US successfully detonates a plutonium based test nuclear weapon near Alamogordo, New Mexico. This is known as the Manhattan Project.

In 1969, I remember watching the launch of Apollo 11 from Cape Kennedy, FL. Apollo 11 was the first manned space mission to land on the moon. Four days later, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin would make their moonwalk.

In 1959 -
Average income - $5016
Gas - .20 per gallon
Milk - $1.01 per gallon
Bread - .20 a loaf
Nestle Quick - .39 for a one pound can
T-Bone steak - $1.09 per pound
Postage stamp - .04

Remember these from a couple of weeks ago? I want to thank Cass at "That Old House" for identifying them as French egg poachers. If you missed it, you can see the entire post here.

If you have not been to see Suzanne this week, make sure you stop by to see the vintage, antique and retro things others have shared this week.


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Tuesday, July 14, 2009

A BIG Surprise for the Big 50!

Hubs and I had planned on going to see our North Carolina daughter and her family for the July 4th holiday. Typical summer holiday stuff - barbecue, beer, homemade ice cream and a great view of a fireworks display from the back deck with family and friends. Well, that was my plan. Hubs and daughter had another plan.

You see, this week I will celebrate my fiftieth birthday. Hubs, NC daughter and my Kansas friends decided to give me an early birthday surprise.

To see a video of the moment, click here.

For those of you who know me, I'm sure you have NEVER seen me speechless. For those of you who do not know me, get a good look as I may never be speechless again.

All the people that are giving me hugs in the video are my Kansas friends who flew out to stay with us for a few days. All a big secret that everyone but ME was in on. I can honestly say I had not the slightest clue. Everyone did a good job hiding and fibbing to me to keep it hush hush.

Our Fourth of July included barbecue from Smithfield's...


Followed by homemade ice cream (that I made!) along with this wonderful birthday cake made by NC daughter. She did a great job...

There was beer and mojitos on the deck with family and friends...

The only fireworks we saw were the ones that our grandson, Boogie, and I "popped" on the deck. To the two of us, they were bigger than bombs bursting in air...


And there were presents! For me!

It was a great surprise. Even though my friends came home with us that night, it was still a little unreal. But I enjoyed their visit tremendously. More of our adventures and my milestone birthday in later posts this week.



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Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Vintage Thingies Thursday - Spicing It Up



Happy Thursday to all the people out there like me who lovelovelove all things vintage, retro and antique. Suzanne is the hostess of a party every week so we can show off our wonderful treasures. Make sure to stop by her blog, Coloradolady, to see what others have to share.

I want to apologize to all that left comments last week. Usually, I reply to all those comments but I had a big surprise last weekend and did not get to those replies. (More on my surprise this weekend.) Thank you all for stopping by and seeing my coal iron and egg thingies. I was a little disappointed that none of you VTTers had a name for my egg thingies. Thought for sure some one out there would know what they were called.

This week, I have a couple of auction finds for you. This little jewel was hidden in a box lot. I'm not even sure what else was in that box now. It came home to sit on the Hoosier cabinet with the other spice jars I shared in this post.


I saw this little beauty on the website of my favorite auction house and I went to the auction with the sole purpose of making it mine. It was not a thrifty buy but I did not mind paying $40 for it.

This is the rack by itself. Very typical of the plastic from the 50's. It could be hung from the wall or set on a flat surface. It looks like someone had it sitting on their stove as there is a hole melted in one side.

The two different jars side by side. Tall and skinny and short and fat.

Here are the tops of both. The nutmeg jar had a sprinkle top while the top of the jars on the rack had to be screwed off to use.
Thanks for stopping by this week. Do not miss seeing all the other wonderful vintage things shared at Suzanne's this week.

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Friday, July 3, 2009

Finished for Friday - Cooperative Finish

Lit and Laundry

Remember this room?


Now it looks like this.

This is really Hubs' finish. He took off the baseboards and added more electric outlets so this room would have more than just one. He patched, scraped, sanded, primed and painted. I had the easy job of rolling on the wall color which is Sherwin Williams Certain Peach and the ceiling is Peach Blossom. It is not as pink as the picture shows.

The bare light bulb has been replaced with a lighted ceiling fan. The bed is in place. I have to order the comforter. We are working on some old furniture this week. Hopefully there will be a little more to reveal next week.

See the pink suitcase? This is a piece that we made for the youngest daughter's room. It is a vintage suitcase that we attached to the legs of a director's chair. I want to use it in the new guest room, but NOT in pink.

I thought it would great in off white. It was a little too stark so I thought I would give it a little age with some thinned paint. That looked so bad I did not even take a picture of it.

After another trip to Lowe's, I spray painted it green. Again, I tried to age it with some thinned brown paint but it looked horrible. So with the last bit of paint left in the can, I am calling this a finish.

Usually I decorate our front porch for the holiday. Since we still do not have a front porch, I thought the red, white and blue would look good on the garden fence.

God Bless America. Hope you have a safe and enjoyable Independence Day.

Finished for Friday is hosted my Three Under Two at Lit and Laundry. Tell us what you have finished this week?

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