The Vintage Trailer Show Presented by The Red Door

Coming up soon...

A show we are attending and selling at in Elk Grove.

This is the first show they have done here.

Dave and Kathy are very supportive of our endeavors and we wanted to return in kind.

So, Mr had a few boards that he wanted to have cute sayings on.

They looked like this. About 12" high.

They were the ends of some discarded project that we picked up.

A little persuasion later, he let me have one for my project.

I hope it goes along with the theme of the show,

and,

of course,

someone buys it...wink.

New from Old

My big goal today was to re-pot and trim some of my succulents back.

We have two "parent" plants that have been growing in the same pots for a while.

They have generously given many new plants from their trimmings.

The one in the top middle has already been trimming as much as I was "allowed".

My thought was to take it out of its existing pot, take away a lot

of the leggy growth and separate it into a few more pots.

I was busily starting this task, when Mr came around the corner

and said, "You are scaring me".

So, we compromised.

There has been a lot cut off and we will see where it goes from here.

The succulent on the bottom is another "parent" plant.

I have no idea the proper names for either of these, but they are very hardy,

and  they need that to survive with me.

Old blossoms clung to the stems like a favorite sweater clings to an old lady.

They had to be plucked off to make room for new growth.

It reminded me of myself.

Yes, I know you are thinking about the old lady part, but...

what came to mind for me was old favorite foods,

ways of doing things, old familiar spaces.

I need to pluck off some of my old ways to make room for new

ideas, foods, and new adventures.

Then I will be ready for whatever the Lord has in store for me.

We all need to be pruned now and then.

A few of my new plants along with the old.

"Make new friends, but keep the old,

One is silver and the other gold."

Wow, that was a song from my girl scout days.

The Ditch

As I was saying the other day in another post Passing Down Heritage, we have memories from our childhood that make us.

As I told you, we lived on a cul-de-sac. Behind some of the homes, ran a piece of land that you could dump and burn your trimmings. It wasn't big enough for a home and had no access except through the side of the homes that bordered on it. It also had a "ditch" that was probably a natural run off and had perhaps six inches of water at the very most.

Here, at the ditch area, we had a favorite place to play. But, we were banned from going down to the ditch because it had water, and that water was probably enough to drown in (!) You have to know that my mother was deathly afraid of drowning and the water situation to really appreciate this. Reprimands didn't work for long, back we would go when we could.

We dug holes for "forts", mapped out how our future homes would look. We made stew with ashes, water and crushed piracatha berries. We gathered polly-wogs to take home and watch anxiously to turn into frogs. We gathered tulle bush tops and as they dried out, they would make such a lovely shower of giant dandelion like dust. We loved it.

Little by little my mom became more comfortable with out sneaking down to the "ditch". We moved away when I was about 12, I don't remember having many restrictions about going at that point, but then I had probably outgrown my need to build forts, or make weird stew.

Tuxedo Strawberries

Tuxedo Strawberries

An easy snack for any occasion.

I used those melty little disks and "nuked" them for a few seconds in a shallow dish, 

stirred and gave them a few more seconds.

The strawberries I rinsed and let dry on a towel.

I used red hot candies for the buttons.

First I dipped the "shirt fronts" with white or vanilla melty.

Immediately add the red hot to let it stick in the melted white candy.

By the time I did about a dozen, the first ones were hard enough to add

the brown part. I melted the candy in the microwave for a few seconds

not melting the wafers totally. Stirring them made them smooth.

On my first one, I ended up with chocolate all over my fingers,

so I came up with stabbing the stem end with a toothpick and then

rotating the berry for each side.

"Quality control" had to test the last one because my dish was full.

Taking them to our "sing" tonight.

Sharing At:
JAQS Studios Made By Me Wednesday      

Passing Down Heritage

My sis and I were reminiscing the other day about the places we lived in our childhoods.

One was on a "dead end" street. We were the last house and our house had a freeway exit ramp in our front yard. Just a cyclone fence with a few vines separated us from cars that whizzed by morning, noon and night. I drove by the house the other day, it now has a high, sound proof barrier between it and the highway.

OK, then, our neighborhood was a safe place. We knew all the neighbors down the street. Next door were the S*****. They were on the same side of our cul-de-sac with an older couple next. Now started the houses on both sides. As you walked along, the left house had a family that had 10 children. You pick an age, they had it. Across the street from them was were "The Sherriff" lived. Nobody, not nobody, messed with his yard, trees, etc. You might go to jail (in our child's minds). Next to their home was my introduction to an outdoor pool. It was probably 10 feet across, but it was huge in my mind. A loving couple opened it up to all the neighborhood kids, too. I could go on about the neighbors, but...

Now, on the heritage part. My mother, bless her soul, was deathly afraid of water. That is swimming water. I don't know why, but she ingrained in me that I needed to be afraid also. Perhaps she was thrown into a body of water as a child with the old saying "sink or swim". Anyway, she did not like it. Read more about this on The Ditch post.

As a matter of fact, she heard that you could get a cramp if you went into water too soon after eating, so we were not allowed to "run through the sprinkler" (our form of cooling off in the summer) until we had waited a while.

So, as I recognized this fear in myself, I resolved that I would NOT pass this along to my children. As far as I know, they are all very comfortable in any water and swim wonderfully.

Are there things in our lives that we pass along without thinking about the impact they will have on others around us? Does your lack of submissiveness in your marriage shows your daughter "you don't have to be under his thumb". (contrary to scripture) Does my shyness translate to "uncaring".  Does my distrust of an individual make it harder for my children to trust?

Positive side, do your children see you pray about a situation and then see the peace it brings? Do they see the love you have for the Lord? Do you let them into the places of your heart that you have given over to the Lord?

A few years after we moved from the "freeway house" about 1960's.

These are things I wish I had thought out more as I was raising my family. Just something to think about.

8th Grade Graduation and a Trip Down Memory Lane

One of my grandsons graduated from 8th Grade this year.

At a "Remembrance Ceremony" he sang the National Anthem

I 'thought' I was recording it, when I noticed this little red button...

anyway, it is partly there.

Which brings me to the part down the memory lane. You may want to skip this, it is just memories that came to mind when I thought of 8th grade.

Many years ago, 48...

I graduated from 8th grade.

At a little country school, we had about 20 students in the 8th grade. We shared a room with the 7th graders also. Our 2 teachers traded off on subjects. I remember our 'man' teacher the most. He had a sense of humor that would 'now-a-days' be considered so politically incorrect. He had "names" for most of the classmates. One of the girls, who was absent more than at school he named "The Visitor", another young man who was growing faster than his parents could keep him in pants enough to cover his ankles he named "The Flood Inspector" and so on. I can't remember the name he gave one young man who was in pure size and demeanor a bully, but he surprised us all.

Jimmy Tufts was larger than the teacher. His glare probably hid his frustration of being in a poor home with who knows what that went on there. At the night of the graduation, he appeared in a suit coat (!) and sang with a voice that had us all dropping our jaws. A kind teacher had seen the potential and coached him in singing "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" (from Oklahoma). We were astounded. If this bully could be transformed into a singing canary, what could our future hold? It has been a life lesson for me. Not all that we see on the outside is what is going on inside.

There I am. And, sadly, 

I don't even remember the young man in the other class photo. Old age is coming on strongly.

P.S. to the grandchildren -- yes, that is how I wore my hair!

Hey You Texans

Just wanted to share a little of my pride and joy

My grandson has an etsy shop

The Silver Craftsman

He's 15 -- years old!

and will be a vendor at the Funky Finds show

at the Will Rogers Memorial Center in Fort Worth

on November 10th

Booth 418

Free admission

and raffle prizes.

You can see more of him here

and... there is a discount if you mention his face book account...

These are his creations,

his work,

his little business.

How's that for a grandson?

no flies landing on this one.

So, if you are in the area, be sure to visit

this two day event in Fort Worth.

Everywhere I Go

"Everywhere I go, everywhere I go" (Jesus will go with me)... this song has been running through my head as I am going around disinfecting doorknobs, refrigerator handles, stove knobs, phones, etc. Wow! we sure do use a lot of things. The computers were long overdo on cleaning of the keyboards, too. Another song is "Through it all" the phrase, "I've been lot's of places"... Hopefully, this will catch any germs that are lingering.

We are recuperating from the flu. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. I guess when I handle cash I need to wash/sanitize my hands more frequently. Any ideas on how to clean money? beside 'laundering' :-)

To add insult to injury, my mouth has been swelling, fat lips look strange on me... it could be a food allergy that is starting, who knows... ice has helped and I am staying in so that I don't make babies cry and grown men run for cover.

***************

On another note, I am gathering up various items for our next sale. The knotted rug that I just completed will go and I rolled up the orange fabric into a ball and it looks pretty. An old non-working alarm clock, but it looks so vintage, a little ironstone creamer with delicate orange and brown flowers along the top, etc. Most of what we brought home from our previous sale will do. It seems that we sell only about 1/4th of what we take, but if it is not there at the sale, it will not sell... We always take a trailer full, we just can't help it.

A Little of This and A Little of That

Life is so busy

or is that just an excuse I use?

I am finally getting to see a wall in my living room.

The living room is always a treasure trove of items that have been finished and cannot

take either the heat in the summer or the cold in the winter.

We - well I use that term lightly, because it is Mr that does

all the heavy lifting around here.

Ahem, we..., are using up some of the items we have had

stored in the living room. 

For instance - I don't have a Farm Table in the center...

yes, that is where they go when they are finished.

Sometimes, there are two...

I do have a stack about two feet high of

old bound volumes of a local newspaper that went out of business.
Read about them here.

I am trying to figure out how to make some money on these

very large books that were donated to us.

I see that the University Library has the same ones in a Special Collection Section

of the Campus Library. They are not allowed out of the room.

Here they are, sitting in my living room, right next to a few oil lamps,

a wine bottle opener that we will sell, a bookcase, some back issues of some magazines

and so forth.

They are rather interesting to look at, but other than that...

Dating back to 1868 to 1944 - now that was a long time ago -

you can see the improvements to the city,

the cost of goods - incredible in these high inflation days.

Pictures of women's fashions, grocery ads,

news from the war front.

We went to a show yesterday, almost in our backyard.
It was called Mes Amis
(no, I can't say it either)

Here are a few pictures taken by Mr with my cell phone.

We were based on a little patio area and because of our E-Z up canopies, had shade the whole day.

Some others were based on the street under natural canopies of trees.

It is still in the 90's here in September. And, yesterday was no exception.

Notice the wonderful Farm Table and I see "me" in the background.

Everyone, and I mean everyone, likes the island in the background.

Here is a closer picture.

You can kinda tell when someone likes something, they come up to it and "pet" it.

We sold things that we really, really liked. But, we have plenty for our next show in about 3 weeks.

Does this remind anyone else of that children's book "Hats for Sale"?

A corner of a table was devoted to a "Wedding" Theme.

Well, that is all I have for now.

When we "do" a show, it is like moving twice in one day.

You get where you are going, unload, set everything up like in a house,

then, a few hours later, you pack it all up again and load it up.

We had a helper, in the form of a friend, "Frank" who wanted to help us

load up at the end of the day. He really put away some "gold, silver and precious stones"

with all his hard labor.

Thanks again, Frank.

Message In A Bottle

I've had this wonderful sea glass for some time.

I have had it in a clear glass vase on my window sill to admire

and it has been other places, too.

Sea glass is glass that has been dumped into the ocean along the coasts.

I know that is not environmentally friendly, or something like that.

Birthday Quilt in "Royal Colors"

My friend "L" is having a birthday, so...

I asked her husband what was her favorite color.

He suddenly had that "deer in the headlight" look. He absently looked off, and then he said, oh, she likes them all.
So, I pressed him a little - does she like pastels, or strong colors, is she partial to one if you think about it? "Hmm", he said as he glanced over to her, "Oh, she likes purple, yeah, purple". When I looked across the room where his wife was visiting, I couldn't help but notice that she was wearing a purple top, so- Maybe she will like this lap quilt I am making for her, and maybe not.
I get the feeling that if she had worn red that night, that would have been her favorite color.

It made me wonder what would my husband say if someone asked him about my favorite color.

She suffers from MS, but you never, ever hear her complain about being chilly, or how her bones ache. I hope this little quilt will be just comfy enough to ward off the floor chills or she can take it with her in the car for a quick throw over her legs type of thing. Or, perhaps she will wrap her favorite little dog in it so they can snuggle together, whatever makes her happy.

Linking up to

Quilt Story: Fabric Tuesday

JAQS Studio: Made By ME party

The Vintage Farmhouse: Creative Things
French Country Cottage Feathered Nest Friday

Scents and Sounds Along the Way

This is probably just a boring post to most, so be forewarned...It will probably remind you of this one.

As I was walking along my usual path, I was enjoying the scents of the air around me. If I was blindfolded, I could probably tell you where we were on the 2 mile walk that I have been taking for a long, long time.

As I cross the street near our house, I smell the oleander bushes that line the school yard. They remind me of when I was in school. They smell so sweet that I thought as a child that they must taste as sweet also - like the honeysuckle vines -- not so, as after I tasted them, I spat for a while to get the nasty taste out of my mouth, then years later I found they were poisonous (must have used up one of my nine lives, huh?) Crazy kid anyway!

Because there is a stop sign right there, you always get the exhaust odors from the cars and trucks. Walking up the hill, I relive my childhood days of summer and the hot, spicy smell of oak trees. They really do have a memory smell for me. One year, all the oaks at my aunt's house dropped these little round balls (about the size of a pin head) They jumped. Really. We gathered them up by the handfulls. I still don't know what was in them (some kind of insect), but they lived for about a day in our little containers and then they stopped jumping. It kept us quite entertained... but to get back to the walk. This is an oak tree in our front pasture area, around 40 feet tall.

Ah, I remember the day Mr was cutting an offending branch off when it sprang back and knocked him out of the tree and also knocked the wind out of him. Ambulance ride to the hospital showed that he was not injured, only winded, thank you Lord.

Do you remember that often there were grapes planted along the cyclone fences of schools. Boy they tasted sour...

There was always a musty grape smell that drew me to them. Why did I taste so many things as a kid?

Then there is a nice home, little do they know that on this spot many years ago, was the neighborhood "haunted house"! I'm sure that it was all just stories - anyway, that house was used in a 'control burn' to teach new firefighters and the lot was repurposed to make a home for another family.

Moving along up the hill are the sweet, sweet odors of privet bushes grown tall, as tall as some trees. The fallen blossoms carpet the ground underneath. Also present are the honeysuckle vines.

Now I smell the fiberglass from the boat repair shop. This old building was probably a fruit packing shed in another life. The railroad runs directly behind it.

Around the corner and I hear the whistle from an approaching train. There are several crossings before mine, so I have plenty of time.

As soon I as cross, I see the nopales cactus that has been trimmed for many years, supplying this Spanish family with many a meal. Nopales is used in chili verde around here. Their chickens cluck and scratch as they free roam all the way out to the road.

The fire station is next. Not often, but sometimes we hear the alarm and see the trucks file out on their way to assist in fire fighting.

Ah, do you smell the mimosa tree? It is beautiful to look at, but I have had experience with the blossoms blowing all over and making a mess at one of my shows. No thanks, I will admire it from a distance.

It's not far to the "turn around" place, the local saloon. Here, stale cigarette smoke mingles with other unidentifying odors that I probably don't want to know about...

Now, the best part of the whole walk, the downhill stroll home. I feel like one of those toys we had as kids, you put it on a slanted board and it "walked" its way down. There is no effort, just enjoy the scents and sounds that you get to repeat along the way.

And, home is just around the corner.

Thanks for walking with me today.