What's Cookin' Doll?

Every Sunday evening, I make my preparations for the following week.  I pick out what I will be wearing for the next 5 days for work and iron them, and hang them neatly in the closet.  I make sure I put all the food that I need to make our lunches is in one place and have them ready for me to grab and put together in the mornings and then I sit down at the computer and do the most important thing to get ready for the week.  I  check Estatesales.net!!!!!! 

One sale really caught my eye because It had a small green vintage child's stove.  I took a deep breath.  I really wanted that stove.  I checked the time of the sale.  It started Friday at 7:30 a.m.  Drat!  I had to work and it was no way I could get off or get there during lunch.  So I said to my self  "Self, you will go Saturday, if the stove is still there it was meant to be, if not, then it wasn't."

Guess what????



Not only was my little stove still there, it was 25% off!!!  So I bought the stove and that cute little doll too!  I will be making the poor, little naked baby a dress at some point this week.  I am thinking it will probably be in red, white and blue to celebrate the upcoming holidays.

Oh yeah, I bought one other thing at the estate sale, some really cool sun glasses, modeled by yours truly who happened to get 5 and 1/2 inches of her hair cut off this weekend.  I feel like a new woman!!!

Have a Great Day!

Linda

Please take a moment...

This plant is a Jacob's Ladder.

I had a fun post planned for today...but now it seems tivial.   Please take just a moment from your day and say a prayer for my friend Vivian and her family.  Her dear grandson Jacob, who was born with some serious health issues, and though he was fighting so hard he  lost his battle yesterday and passed into the arms of Jesus.  We know now that he is laughing and happy and whole,  but the family will need comfort and friends to help them get through this difficult time.  



God Saw You



God saw you getting tired, when a cure was not to be.
So he wrapped his arms around you, and whispered, “come to me”.

You didn’t deserve what you went through, so he gave you rest.

God’s garden must be beautiful, he only takes the best.
And when I saw you sleeping,  so peaceful and free from pain

I could not wish you back to suffer that again.

Blessings

Linda

Ain't He Sweet

I've decided not  to even try and resist buying pixies because really there's no use in it.  I just can't say no to them.  They are just too darn cute!  This one was purchased at an estate sale this weekend and is a little different than most because he is a little larger than the usual pixie.

He also reminds me of someone else....

Don't you think so???

Look at Crackle in the middle!  Doesn't my little pixie look a lot like him??  I thought so too!

I also picked up this ribbon and these Christmas seals

Love the colors....

Lots of craft ideas for these....

These are my favorites....  Several of them are flocked....

I spent a lovely day yesterday with my Dad at my sister's house listening to him tell about all the job's he had when he was a teenager.  He actually hunted alligators in Florida once!!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Linda 

Scotty/Bee Tote

Last month I was lucky enough to be paired with Nan for a vintage children's book swap and along with her adorable books she sent me a cute little vintage Scottie dog graphic that she had printed on some muslin cloth.  I knew right away that I had to use this for something special.  So I pulled out my sewing machine and got to work.

I had bought this adorable vintage fabric at the thrift store for a quarter, yes you read that right, twenty five cent!!  I used that and some green gingham I already had, along with some bee fabric that I was given by a friend and a pattern I had gotten for 25 cent at a yard sale and viola!!! A tote bag was born!

I am really happy with how this turned out!!!  The front with the Scottie graphic is a pocket and my kindle fits right in there!

Isn't that the cutest little fellow??

Sorry, I stink at taking pictures.  This is the lining of the bag.

Can you believe I only paid .25 for the fabric for this bag???

And .25 for this pattern???

In other news, I spent Monday in the hospital with yet another migraine that I couldn't get control over.... when is this going to end????  They have now started me taking Topamax which is an anti seizure medication.  Please pray that this will stop these daily headaches.  I have had migraines for over 20 years but have been able to control them with Zomig but for some reason for the last month, they have become uncontrollable.  This has got to stop.  I definitely can't live like this...

Blessings

Linda

How Does Your Garden Grow??

Good morning everyone!  What an absolutely beautiful weekend we have in SW Virginia.  The sun shone bright and while it was very warm, there was no humidity!   So I spent most of the weekend outdoors.

I love to garden!  do you?  Especially vegetable gardening.  I was raised in a family of gardeners.  My parents, grandparents (both sides) and my great aunt and uncle, all had gardens that I loved to "work" in.   As a matter of fact once I started driving myself, at 16, I would drive the 2 1/2 hours to my grandparents just to help Granddaddy in the garden...

This is a corner shot of my vegetable garden..  I am growing potatoes this year for the first time.  They take up so much room I never grew them before.   

Green beans, beets, cabbage, peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, okra, radishes, lettuce, spinach, and onions!

Onions are my specialty!

I grow mine on top of the ground just like my Uncle Pete taught me too.  He said onions and people should never be crowded. 

This particular onion became onion rings at the hand of my Dear Son yesterday.  They were delicious!

And tomatoes!!!  I have 70 tomato plants in my garden, all started from seed in my greenhouse.  Most of the them are heirloom, some are yellow, some are striped and some are pink, but most are red.

So this is the reason I haven't been doing much crafting lately.  But guess what??  It's supposed to be raining for the next 2 days so hopefully I will get the purse finished that I started last week!

Happy Monday!

Linda



Needlebooks and Birthdays...

THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY!!!   Yeah, I just yelled that!  What a week, so busy at work, and super busy at home.  But that's the way my world turns during garden season.  Always something to be done out there.

A couple of weeks ago I shared with you that I was making a needle book from a 1970 something Stitch and Sew magazine Needle Book Pattern  Well., I finally finished.

A sweet, little blue cottage....with flowers blooming my the front door...

Speaking of blooming flowers, my hydrangea's are beautiful this year, especially when put into an antique, flow blue pitcher....

Pins... ready when I need them....

A fun project...

Last weekend was my Dad's 78th Birthday and we took him out to his favorite steakhouse.

That's my sister, my Dad and me.  (I will never wear that shirt again.  It makes me look pregnant!!)

And what do you buy for your 78 year old Dad?

Harley Davidson stuff!!  Yep, he still rides his Harley a couple times a week.  When I grown up I want to be just like him!

And here's a pic of me and my Dear Son ... just because I think he's cute!

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

Linda



Glimpses of a Kindred Stranger

I love it when my family members "get" me.  You know what I mean?  This is an example.  My niece went to an auction not too long ago and bought me a box of old recipe cut outs because "This looked like something you would want, Aunt Linda".  And she was right!  She said when she saw all the colorful graphics on the recipes she just knew I would find a use for them.  And she was right!  As I was digging through the box I came across this binder.  I could tell right away that I was going to be thrilled with the contents.  And I was!

Just a plain old binder.....

Chock full of recipes!!!!!!

Some "kindred spirits" book of favorite recipes.....I wish I could have known her.

Lots of recipes carefully cut out of magazines and newspapers and patiently glued on to the pages.  I wonder, did she make any of these?

I can imagine her sitting a her kitchen table with her scissors and glue, cutting and pasting, the old time way.

Some of these ads and recipes are just too cute not to share, so here are a few of my favorites:

Yum!  I love anything lemon!   Look at the plate that piece of cake is on.... drool...

And do you see that the cake is actually in an old ice tray??  This new generation probably has never even seen one of those.

A Flower of a Pie...This is going to be on my table this week, because my cherries are ripe and my family loves cherry pie.  Remember to use real whipping cream, not Cool Whip...

The Most Praised Cupcakes.... Pink coconut....  That aqua tablecloth......

Miss Kathleen Boyd, I want that bowl you are stirring in!  It's Autumn Leaf by Jewell Tea.

Isn't she darling, such as impish little grin.... milk in a glass bottle....I hope she enjoyed her trip to New York.

How many of you remember the mimeograph?   I loved the smell of that purple ink....This recipe came from the Young Homemakers, Sept 1958...  Sweet milk.... There was a recent discussion with my friends about was "is" sweet milk.  In my family, it means just regular milk, not buttermilk or soured milk.  One of my friends said in her families recipes it meant evaporated milk.  Hmmmm....  A cake of yeast.... can you still buy yeast in cakes????

lard... I have seen that in the grocery store but I never use it.  Wonder if it makes a difference in this recipe????

I am still carefully looking through this binder, reading all the recipes and wondering about the lady who spent so much time putting this together...I hope she knows... I love her book... and will take care of it for another generation...

Blessings

Linda

"Smile Girls"

The day is sunny and I am so excited to get up!  (Especially after sleeping in those pink sponge curlers!) It's Parade day!  The air is crackling with excitement!  Mom makes sure that my uniform is crisp and perfect.  Majorette boots have been cleaned and polished.   Pom-Poms's neatly tied on..the rubber ends on my baton cleaned and ready....just a little bit of lipstick and a very tiny bit of blush and I am ready to go.

(This is my very first parade.  I was six years old.  Check out that bouffant hair!)

The excitement intensifies as we drive to the parade's starting lineup.  My beloved baton teacher, Donna, seems to be everywhere at once.  So many girls to keep in line.  She blows her whistle.  "Girls!!!  Let's get in two straight lines, you know where you are supposed to go"!

(This was my very favorite costume, even though I seem to have my hat a little low!)

Girls are lined up and someone yells "head out!" my heart is racing!!  It's time to go!

Donna calls to us " Chin up, shoulders back, remember to pick those legs up!!!  Remember girls you are the Stars of Dixie Majorettes!! and most of all Smile Girls".  Down past the high school we go.  Turning right onto the main street in town.  So many people...kids from my school yell my name, I smile, but look straight ahead just like my teacher had told me to.  Routines performed, legs lifted high!

(1971, I was 10 years old)

Two and a half miles completed!  Totally worn out from twirling and marching, we finally march into the grounds of the war memorial building..  Parents are waiting with drinks and snacks!  What a wonderful day!

More memories of majorette competitions...  Was I going to be good enough??  More nights spent in pink curlers.  Excitement of heading to the Woodmen of the World building for competition.. Oh my, look how many girls there are here.

No Way!  I won!  Miss Roanoke Valley Majorette in 1973.  How long ago that seems, yet I can still remember the shock of winning and the sight of my Dad running to me backstage and picking me up and swinging me around while kissing me.  He was more excited than I was!

More Competitions... for several years.  I amassed over 200 trophies, how I loved twirling. 

The Miss Dixieland Competition.... The last one I would be in....

I couldn't fix this picture.  It's so dark.  But that's me on the end, the tallest one (as usual). 

I won again!  See all the pretty dresses?  Mine was the most plain, but my mom had made my dress and I loved it!  I was so happy!  That happiness was short lived as the found out about a month later that my mother had leukemia.  Parades and pageants were to be no more.  After she passed away I was much too busy trying to take care of my Dad and sister, a house and also attend high school that I no longer had time to be a majorette.  But I remember it as being one of the most special times in my life.  

So.... this weekend I created a little shelf to document that special time in my life.

John Phillip Sousa's Marches...  I can still hear them.... Sequined majorette hat with plume...Special tag garland with vintage majorette images...

 

Little ceramic majorettes.  The green one was on a Birthday cake I had when I was little.

A vintage majorette costume pattern, snagged from Ebay.

Just a little trip back into my past...

Hope everyone has a great Monday and remember....

SMILE, GIRLS!!

Linda