ALL'S WELL HERE!

Surgery, recovery, and therapy have been going well. I'll omit the details as I'm sure no one really wants to hear about them.

I've really discovered what great friends I have made in blogland the last two years. I have so appreciated all of your encouragement and comments. Sue at Rue-Mouffetard
was so supportive before surgery; then gave me a phone call the day after surgery. Those of you that know Sue can attest to the fun it was to talk to her.
Then, my other SUE friend from back east, Suzie Q at Rabbit Run Cottage
surprised me with the delivery of this gorgeous, sweet smelling bouquet. I was so excited that I probably scared the poor, delivery gal to death - a 71-year old lady in sweat pants, with tubes running in and out all over the place and a bad hair day is not a pretty sight! But, I have so enjoyed those flowers with the sentiment behind them.

Thanks to everyone!!!!
I'm still lacking stamina at the keyboard, but I'll try to return to full blogging activity in a week or so.
Again, my sincere thanks to all of you.
Sally

YUK!! IT'S SURGERY TIME.

The time has come, and tomorrow is the day. I have an important date with my orthopedic surgeon and anesthesiologist. They are going to repair my rotator cuff - sounds like a football injury, doesn't it? But it is nothing that glamorous - just another one of those old age thingies that crept up on me.

I'll be back as soon as the anesthetic fog lifts and I can type again!!

Sally

MY SILVER STORY

Recently, everyone has been showing their silver. I decided that I should join in; but first, I need to fill you in on the history of my silver.

When we were married in 1958, it was quite fashionable to give and receive silver serving dishes as wedding presents. Evidently, we were fashionable because we received over 40 pieces. Now, this is just what two 19-year-old, college students living in a two-room basement dumpy apartment needed. So, the silver lived boxed up in my parent's basement for several years with my Dad always asking when we were going to take our stuff to our own place.

Finally, after we bought our first house; we unpacked the silver and displayed it, but not using it. In those days, there was no such thing as the 'tarnished look'; so I faithfully polished every month. Then, I entered into my 'earth mother' era and was too busy baking bread and tending to babies to polish. The silver was packed up again and began its 40-year existence under the bed. It has been moved many times to different houses, but always shoved back under the bed.

The only time I have dug into the box was thirteen years ago when our daughter got married. We used several trays and the coffee service on her reception table. I repacked everything at that time into plastic boxes and shoved it back under the bed until today. I decided it was time to take another look.

I was told to pack silver in tissue paper, then in plastic bags to keep it from tarnishing. Surprisingly, It has not tarnished a lot during all of these years.

The platter at the beginning of this post is huge measuring 15" x 21". By the time you put a turkey on it, it would be too heavy to carry to the table! Does anyone still carve at the table anyway?
This piece of silver below is a Silent Butler. Was I really expected to go around with this to empty my guests dirty ashtrays and brush the crumbs from the table into it during a party?

I have several sets of assorted dishes that match each other in pattern.

How many canape trays do 19-year old couples need? Evidently, five - that is how many we have!

There is a coffee service with a big, footed serving tray and two big covered vegetable dishes.

On the left below, there are quite a few candy and nut dishes; and on the right a big Paul Revere bowl with a matching cream and sugar set. Then, there are salt and pepper shakers, a butter dish, candle holders, a marmalade jar, and a gravy boat.

I guess our acquaintances didn't think we had enough silver, so our children each received a silver bank and a baby cup when they were born.

One of the things I found packed away that we didn't receive as a wedding present was this monogrammed dish below. I remember my uncle giving this to us when he went into the nursing home. With the "M" monogram, it must have belonged to my grandmother's family as her maiden name began with "M". It is lovely with all of the grapes around it. I may just keep this out for awhile to enjoy.

So, what is your favorite wedding gift to give? Do you do something from a registry, give something homemade, or money or gift cards? If you are looking for something to give that is unique, run to your local Goodwill store. I bet you can find a Silent Butler just waiting to be regifted.

I'm linking into Mary's Mosaic Monday at Little Red House.
There you will find a list of participants with beautiful photography and interesting subjects.

Also, Beth at The Gypsy Fish
is hosting Silver Sunday. Please stop by there to check out all of the beautiful silver.


P.S.: I must get busy polishing and repacking my silver. It is very empty under the guest bed.

PONDERING PILLOWS AGAIN

I love pillows, and I love to make pillows; so I had to join in on Rhondi's Pillow Party at Rose Colored Glasses.
Please check out her blog for a plethora of pillow goodness.

Below are some mosaics of some of the pillows around my house; all of which I made.

Back in June of 2009, I did a post about 'Pondering Pillows'. If you are interested in reading the post, you can click here.

I'm also going to link into Mary's Monday Mosaic Party. Check out the participants here.

IS MY LIFE BLOGABLE?

We are now a few days into 2010; and, of course, I have been thinking about some personal goals and plans for the new year. Naturally, I have also given some thought to how I fit into the land of blog.

When I first began to blog a year and half ago, my purpose was to use the medium as a journal to record the histories and stories of some of my ancestors and to picture some of their belongings that I have inherited. I, also, was wanting to leave a record of how we, as a family, live and love today. I was mainly thinking of my children, grandchildren, and future descendants as my audience. I have decided that is still a priority for me. I didn't expect to meet some great people along the way out in the land of blog, but that certainly has been a blessing to me.

And, now, we are here in 2010; and I find myself running out of ideas to blog about. Our life is simple, and we live frugally. Even though we love to work on our home, we have come to a point that we have done just about everything we want to. Our home is comfortable, easy to live in, and we have everything necessary. So, what will I blog about in the future?


Here are a few ideas (but not many) for 2010.


2010 will most likely be the year of a neglected surgery for repair of my rotator cuff. Is this a blogable event? - probably not!

We probably won't travel much as we are saving for an exciting 2011 year of travel. Bob is planning to go on a cruise in February 2011 through the Panama Canal; and I'm scheduled to leave May 23, 2011 for a trip to Germany and France (and a return to Paris!!!). Those are a long time away, but definitely will be excursions to blog about. So, in the meantime, we are talking about a short trip to Round Top, Texas for the spring 2010 antique show, which is always fun, exciting, and blogable.

We had so much fun last summer taking our grandkids on day trips around the state to places and for experiences they normally wouldn't have with their parents. We're planning to do that again in 2010. Our grandkids are adorable, charming, special and great to blog about. BUT, every one's grandkids are adorable, charming, special and great to blog about.

We keep talking about some wainscoting in the dining room. Will this be the year?

On our limited budget, we will probably still be out there antiquing and junk hunting. If we come across anything of note, I'll let you know.

2010 has to be the year that I complete the organization and scrapbooking of 120 years of family pictures. At this point, I have completed the ancestor part; and am now working on my childhood. So that leaves only 60 years of pictures to go. Probably, scrapbooking is not a blogging event for me as what I am doing is very simple. I'm just using pretty papers (no glitz or doodads) with computer-generated names, dates, and places.

Other than the above, our life is pretty mundane and not always blog material. But, I promise to try occasionally to come up with something that you might enjoy reading about. I probably won't be posting as often as in the past, but please check in once in awhile. I always enjoy reading every comment, and thrive on all of your posts and creativity.

What is a post without a picture?

Are you interested? Probably not! One of those mundane parts of life for me is ironing. I got so far behind during November and December (the rotator cuff issue hasn't helped), that I have spent several hours this week trying to catch up. So far, I've ironed 43 napkins, several tablecloths, and am now working on many, many shirts.

Here's to a great 2010 for all of you!