Wednesday, May 30, 2012

My Favorite Cookie Jar

Wow! I can't believe it's been a full month since my last post! Well, I can believe it and I'm having some pretty intense talks with myself about that right now!!

So, maybe Knick of Time Tuesday, Rednesday and Vintage Thingie Thursday are the paths to getting me back in blog land!!

Today I'm sharing my favorite cookie jar -- it resides on the baker's rack in my kitchen and every time I look at it, I smile. It's really hard to sneak cookies out of it -- there's a distinctive clink sound no matter how careful you are to gently replace the lid. Gives me away every time!!  And, even though it's pretty beat up and isn't so lovely in the looks department, it's very special to me.




It belonged to two of my aunts -- they were my father's older half-sisters and if they were alive today, they would be well into their 100's. The older aunt was Aunt Annie and, after her husband's death, she moved in with Aunt Florence who never married.

Aunt Florence taught school and I guess was the typical "spinster school teacher" but I sure loved going with her sometime to her school. Made me feel like a big girl!! Aunt Florence wasn't the cuddly type but she did take a lot of time with me. She loved doing crossword puzzles and got me started on that (I remember going in their garage and finding stacks of TV Guides -- those were my first crossword puzzles!!)

Aunt Annie WAS the cuddly type and she was the one filling that cookie jar! I would sit on her lap and she would read to me. She was, shall we say, ample, and it was cushy love that she gave me. She had a great sense of humor too -- once, she said she was going to fix frogs' legs and, of course, I ewwwed and thought how gross. Well, that lady took me into the back yard where there was a small pond, and proceeded to catch a few frogs. We won't talk about what happened after that, but she had a good laugh and I had my first frogs' legs!! (taste like chicken, don't ya know...)

I loved going to their house in Alabama -- we would visit just about every summer. One summer I developed mumps on our trip -- and got to stay with Aunt Annie and Aunt Florence while my parents went on to visit some friends for a few days. I was thrilled!! There was a little boy that I could play with since he had already had the mumps, but the little girl across the street (who I really wanted to play with!) could only look at me through the screen door! I think I was about four or five then and it was a big deal to stay by myself with my aunts!

OK, back to the cookie jar!



It's a very shiny black with painted on red flowers and green leaves. The paint has chipped away a bit and, to tell the truth, the original paint job really wasn't so hot! I have no idea how old it is or the brand -- there are no markings of any kind.



My mother brought it to me after Aunt Florence died and I'm so glad to have this remembrance of my aunts. I have a few other things too, including a beautiful quilt which I'll share with you another time!

♥♥♥   I'm linking my cookie jar to Knick of Time Tuesday Rednesday at It's a Very Cherry World! and to Vintage Thingie Thursday at Colorado Lady 

♥♥