Mama's Canning Strainer ~ A Favorite Thing

I remember my mother using this canning strainer when she made turnips or rutabagas -- she would take the pestle and squash the cooked vegetables against the sides and out they would come through the little holes (this fascinated me as a child)!  I'm sure she used it for canning since she canned and preserved a lot, but I only remember those rutabagas and turnips!

 Speaking of rutabagas and turnips, I couldn't stand the turnips (but duly ate them as a good little girl should) -- besides tasting yucky, they were WHITE for crying out loud. Who wants white food except for ice cream or milk? OK, sour cream and angel food cake -- but that's it!!!  Rutabagas, on the other hand, were a nice orange color and tasted good with some pepper and butter mixed in.

Anyway, I used the strainer now and then but have not used it in years -- poor thing was relegated to the back of the kitchen cabinet, never to see the light of day.

So, when my daughter was here weekend before last, she tackled the closet in my office. (An awesome undertaking!) And a strainer just like my mother's was back in the corner of the closet.

Can I have this, Mom?

Well, I say, I did buy it at an estate sale to sell in my vintage shop.....

But when I juice veggies in the blender, there are still lumps and this would reeealy help.

Puh-leese, Mom?

(like a little kid -- she knows that gets to me every time)

and then....

LIGHT BULB MOMENT!

I go to the kitchen, rummage around in the cabinets, 

and find my mother's strainer

I have my mother's strainer, I tell her.

I remember when she used it, I say.

You can have it if you want. The legs and handle are rusty and the strainer is a little dented....

The estate sale one is in better condition.... but you choose which one you want....

and she said, 

my grandmother's, of course.

The grandmother she never knew.

Makes my heart swell.

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♥♥♥   Linking my mother's strainer over at Claudia's for A Favorite Thing

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A Special Dress for Noli!

We had a sleepover this past weekend! Noli had an "event" at school -- a sock hop! Since it was over at 8:30 and going home would put them there pretty late, they slept over at my house (I'm conveniently about middle ways between Noli's two houses) and then they stayed over on Saturday too! It was a pretty fun time!!

Noli is still pretty sleepy on Saturday morning!

(Sorry about the yellow cast -- didn't do the proper settings!)

Wild woman!

I wish I had curls like that!

Stephanie got an attack of "clean-out-itis" and cleaned up the very cluttered closet in my office.... yay! I'd been fixin' to do it for a long time, but procrastination reared its ugly head and I put it off, and off, and off. So this was a HUGE help to me!

Anyway, in that closet were hanging the three dresses I had made for Stephanie's first day of school in Kindergarten and first and second grades. Naturally, Noli had to try them on! Kindergarten was way too short but the other two were a good fit.

The first grade dress is a red jumper with a white blouse and hearts and bows all over! And heart buttons. And ruffles! Oh my, I can't believe I did all those ruffles! 

Noli loved it and wanted to wear it to school on Valentine's Day! 

I just couldn't get the color right, but the red is like that first pic above.

But doesn't she look cute in her mama's dress!

Still showing off that lost tooth!

When Stephanie was in first grade, they celebrated Johnny Appleseed Day -- wore red, bobbed for apples, played apple games. 

The newspaper took photos and the kids were in the paper! 

You can see Stephanie in her red dress!

I did a blog post about it a year or so ago --

  click here if you'd like to read it!

Ha! If Noli were bobbing for apples, she'd have a hard time with only one front tooth!!

And, it's loose!!

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♥♥  Linking Noli's dress over at Claudia's for A Favorite Thing. Because the dress is definitely a favorite thing.... and so is Noli!

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Letters to Santa and the BIG QUESTION ~ A Favorite Thing

I was going through a box of old school stuff of my kids..... 

and came across their letters to Santa back in 1989! 

Adam was in 3rd grade, and Stephanie was in Kindergarten. I'm not sure if they did these in school or if I had a sneaky plan in mind, but if you promise not to tell them..... shhh.... I was Santa!!  I apparently tried to write with flourishes and make my letters nothing like I really wrote them. I can tell it was me, but I think they were fooled!

 I was able to darken them somewhat to be readable
but you might click on the pics to make them larger and easier to read

We always left milk and cookies for Santa (do you think he ever got tired of milk and cookies and just wanted a beer and peanuts instead?!!) Of course, Santa had to eat it all and leave crumbs and traces of milk behind!

I love it that they each drew a picture of Santa -- 

Adam's is so skinny (he always drew skinny people for some reason) 

and notice the RED mustache and NO BEARD!

and Stephanie's is just a big head....

and hmmm, no beard either!

I really cherish these Santa letters because the next year was the year of the

BIG QUESTION!

Adam told me he wanted to ask me something ..... and led me into the garage.....

He leaned against the car, me against the washing machine.  I knew this would be a BIG QUESTION.
Big intake of breath. Serious looks.

So, Mom, tell me the truth   (uh-oh)
Is Santa real??

OK, quick thinking here -- but I knew the only thing to do was to come clean. This kid was SERIOUS.
So I launched into the "Santa isn't a real person, but is the spirit of giving" talk. That he's fun for everyone to be excited about.  etc, etc.

Adam seemed to take all this in pretty well -- and agreed that he wouldn't let on to Stephanie.

And then he said.....

So I guess it's the same for the TOOTH FAIRY and the EASTER BUNNY too.....

All gone, in one fell swoop......

♥♥♥  Linking my Letters to Santa over at Mockingbird Hill for A Favorite Thing

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Done with the flu-cation!!! (and a special heart) ~ A Favorite Thing

I can honestly say, and with much enthusiasm, that my favorite thing right this minute is that I am finally bouncing back from the flu!!!  Yay!!!

This bug got me down a couple of weeks ago and even though, body-wise, I am feeling pretty good, there is still a persistent cough which is kind enough to wake me up several times during the night -- thus, I still feel tired and worn out (I'm sure being well over the hill has something to do with that too, but we won't mention it at this point.....) It seems that the older one gets, the harder it is to shake off an illness and get back to normal.

After dragging myself a few times to the computer to check on sales, I finally wised up and put my shops on vacation. On flu-cation, as it were.... But they are back in business now since I think I can tackle the boxing and shipping again.

So, imagine a picture of me throwing off the ice pack on my head and the thermometer from my mouth!
And, blogging again!

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My other favorite thing this week is this sweet heart shaped trinket box -- it's hand painted with lovely little flowers reminiscent of the china painting done by a dear aunt. I have several of her china painted pieces -- I'll show you those another time since I'm not up to a lot of picture taking right now -- and this trinket box is exactly like one she would have painted.

I found it at an estate sale and simply had to get it. It may make its way into my shop, but for now it is residing on my dresser.

I love the little blue flowers and the swirling vines with their tiny pink dots.

It is signed M. Austin and I think that Ms. Austin did a beautiful job on her trinket box. I would love to know the story behind this little heart -- did M. Austin give it as a gift to a special friend or family member? Did she paint it just for her pleasure? Did she use it for her bits and bobs? Whatever its story, I'm happy to use it for my bits and bobs for now, and to think of my aunt whenever I look at it.

♥♥♥ Linking my trinket box to A Favorite Thing over at Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Treasury Tuesday! (On Wednesday!)

Time for another Treasury Tuesday!

Yeah, I know it's Wednesday -- but I was silent yesterday....


So for today....
Get ready for your New Year's Eve parties with these vintage finds from the Etsy Vintage Team! You'll have a rockin' good time!

All the Glitz and Glamour of New Years Eve

You can go to the original treasury by clicking on the title -- I'd love for you to leave a comment! You can also visit each shop by clicking on the shop pic.

♥♥♥  Linking at Aquariann for Treasury Tuesday


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A Day of Remembrance

I hugged my 6 year old granddaughter especially long and hard

in remembrance of these beautiful children

If you would like, donations can be sent to 

http://newtownyouthandfamilyservices.org/

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Special Santas ~ Favorite Things

I have lots of Santas to be displayed at Christmastime, but two are very special ones.  They both belonged to a very dear aunt and I am so glad that I have them today.

 I remember this roly-poly one on display in her home every Christmas. She painted it and I remember asking why the fur on his hat was black. She said it was so that you could see it since it was right next to his beard. I guess that satisfied me, but when Noli asked the same thing she insisted that it should be white and "of course you can tell his beard from his hat!" Can you believe it -- some 50ish years later, she asks the same question!

As you can see, he has a very round tummy! He's heavy so I guess he must eat a lot of Christmas cookies! He's made of a solid plaster -- I imagine my aunt painted him back in the 40s or 50s. She would spiff him up and repaint where necessary every few years but I have left him as he was when she gave him to me. I don't want to paint over her art!

I was thrilled when she gave him to me after I had married! She knew how precious he was to me and now he brings back lovely memories of my aunt.

This Santa, on the other hand, has been on a diet so he's not so chubby. The same aunt painted him in the 60s or early 70s and gave him to me sometime in the 80s.  At first I wasn't so wild about him but, over the years, have grown to love him. Sometimes I put Christmas cards in his bag, but lately I've let him hold some poinsettias.

He has sparkly glitter on his fur, and I love his blue eyes and cute bald head! Oh yeah, questions from Noli on the bald head too!!

Now I need to get these two guys put up in their rightful Christmas places. I kind of stopped on the decorating after Noli put the ornaments on the tree!

She decided that those yellow ornaments (another favorite thing by the way) should all be clumped together and there was nothing I could say that would change her mind! We ended up with a big area with nothing, not an ornament in sight, and those yellow ones all clumped together -- that girl can really decorate a tree! LOL! (Not to mention that red bead garland -- her idea of draping and mine are two different things!)

I don't care -- I'm just thrilled that this has become our little tradition each year. Doesn't matter that the tree isn't perfect! Because Noli is.

The yellow ornaments were made as a Christmas gift by my sister-in-law for her mother -- her house at that time was decorated in yellow and green. So Jan made six yellow and six green ornaments. After my mother-in-law's death, Jan asked me if I would like to have a set -- of course I did! -- and chose the yellow ones.

Aren't they beautiful? She wrapped styrofoam balls with ribbon and created the design with gold rick rack, gold sequins and pearl pins. I love them!

..... but I'd prefer them to be spaced out a bit on the tree.....  

♥♥♥  Linking my Santas to A Favorite Thing over at Mockingbird Hill

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