MERRY CHRISTMAS

From our house to yours --- have a joyous Christmas.

DISH ADDICT CHRISTMAS

Today's the day at the Have a Daily Cup blog for a dish addict's Christmas.  Check it out for a plethora of Christmas with dishes.

I'm definitely a dish addict ---- it's in my genes, as I'm the fourth generation of family women that has collected dishware.  And, being the oldest granddaughter, you can imagine the amount I have inherited.  Add to that the damage I have done buying my own collections.

So,  I can't just put the dishes away to bring out the Christmas decorations ---- I have to just incorporate them.

Since we don't have a fireplace, this dish cupboard does double duty as a mantel.  I love some of my brown transferware to serve as a backdrop to the usual Christmas swag.

My theory is fill anything with pine cones and you have Christmas!

My favorite vintage family ornaments look great in my Great Grandmother's wash basin.

Red transferware is also a nice background for Christmas goodness.

What a novel idea --- using dishes for Christmas dinner ---

 Thank you to my mother, Grandmothers Haines and Billingslea, and Great Grandmother DeLong for entrusting me with their dishes.  I never have to look far for vessels when hosting a Christmas party!

If you look very closely in my house, you might even spy some dishes from a mini-world!

Thanks for visiting my Christmas home overrun with dishes.  

Please check out Jann Olson's blog for more fanatics.

CHRISTMAS MEMORIES THROUGH A CHARM BRACELET

For Christmas, when I was a first grader, my parents started a charm bracelet for me.  One of the first charms I received were the scissors -- how did they know I would spend every spare moment in my life sewing with scissors by my side?

On Christmases and birthdays, my folks continued to add charms.

The first Christmas we were married, Bob gave me this Christmas wreath.

On my 24th birthday, we bought our first house and he gave me this charm to go with it!  We spent the whole month refinishing floors, painting, etc. getting the house ready to entertain family for Christmas.

The week before Christmas 1966 we moved, sight unseen, to the wilds of Montana.  It has been the only time in 60 Christmases that it has been just the two of us to celebrate without family around.

Over the years, there have been many more milestones documented on the bracelet --- births of the children, grandchildren, and memorable adventures such as the trip we took to Europe to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary.

Yes, my life has been charmed.  God has blessed us abundantly.

And, I'm thankful.

Have a joyous Christmas.

I'm joining Ceceila from My Thrift Store Addiction to celebrate a romantic Christmas, a part of Jann Olsen's "Creating Christmas" series.

HOMEMADE CHRISTMAS

One of my favorite bloggers is hosting with her friends a week long party of Christmas goodness.  Check out Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson for the schedule of "Creating Christmas".  Tuesday, December 12 has been designated 'Homemade Christmas'.

I've always been a sewer and a wanna-be crafter, so homemade is a natural.  Back in my day in my small hometown, we didn't have kindergarten so I've never been very proficient with glue and glitter even though I try.  But, I can sew up most anything.

Several years ago my friend, Jan, and I teamed up together to make about a dozen of these homemade Santas as gifts for our friends in our Wednesday Morning coffee/quilting group.

Jan made the faces and bodies and I made the clothes.  This is still one of my favorites, as he just looks like the Santas of my childhood.

Handmade projects with memories attached are special.  This is an elf that I made using buttons from three of my grandmothers' button boxes.

Another handmade project for me has been the knitted stockings ---- started in 1958 on our first married Christmas.  I knitted the one on the far right for Bob that Christmas, and continued as family members were added.  The last one I did was for grandson, Wyatt (on the far left), who was born in 2002.  

  Now, I'm just waiting for those great grandchildren to come along!!

And what is Christmas without those wonderful handmade Christmas projects of preschoolers?  They are the best!

Homes filled with handmade Christmas are real blessings to visit, and are just meant to be shared!

Go over to Carol's Art and Sand and share your favorite handmade Christmas on Tuesday.

LET'S PLAY HOUSE

There is no place I would rather be than in my house ---- I'm a real homebody.  I've always been that way.  As a child, my mother was always encouraging me to go outside and play.  I didn't want to go outside ---- it was cold, it was hot, it was windy, it was wet, there were bugs and dirt!  Just let me stay inside where my books, crayolas, toys, dolls, and play dishes were.  When I was about four, my parents built me a play house about 10 feet from the back door of our house.  Now I'll go out ---- ten steps and I'm inside again!

That's me at the age of 6 forced 
outside to have my picture taken
on the backside of my playhouse.

My absolute favorite day was Friday when mother and I would clean my little cottage ---- scrubbing windows and floors, etc.  I loved that little house.  

My playhouse  -- at its current location
(moved 3 times and now 75 years old)
 -- picture taken a couple of years ago.

From the beginning, I loved all of my dwellings.
I've lived in 20 different houses over the years --- that doesn't count the various (high school and college) dorm rooms.

There was one dorm room that I absolutely adored, however.  My roommate left mid-semester, and the dorm people moved me to a single room that was about 5 feet by 10 feet --- just a bed and desk, but it did have two huge closets.  

Just waiting around in a 
dorm room to get my MRS. degree. 

 My sewing machine fit on the desk, and I was in heaven sewing, knitting socks, etc., by myself  ----  still playing house!  It was a wonder I kept my good grades up.

    He married me while we were still teenagers in between our Sophomore and Junior years in college.   Our two-room apartment was in half of the basement of this house.  It was really a dump, but I loved fixing it up with new curtains that I had made and our wedding presents.  I shined those old linoleum floors til they glistened.

And, taught myself to cook for real in this basic kitchen ----

And, decorated for Christmas ----

There were many more houses to follow ----

A couple of our favorites ----

A wonderful house we bought in 1976. 

Another favorite that we 
owned from 1990 to 1997.

 And, now we have lived in this house for 20 years.

Today I've really reverted to my childhood ---- playing with dishes!  We're having 14 friends over for a Christmas soup lunch soon, so I need to decide a tablescape.  Maybe this???



I hope everyone has fun playing house in preparation for the upcoming Christmas season.  I plan some more Christmas decorating today!

I'm joining the following:
Coastal Charm for Show and Share Tuesday
A Stroll Thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday
Have a Daily Cup for Share Your Cup Thursday
Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday
The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday

TOMORROW IS THANKSGIVING ---- TODAY I'M THE SOU CHEF AND THE PASTRY CHEF

I'm getting ready ---- are you?

I've cut up the bread and a yellow onion for the dressing and a  red onion for the salad --------

Made a pumpkin pie ----

Left the house to go to Sonic for a vanilla diet coke to energize me for the afternoon ----

Made the cherry filling from scratch for the cobbler   ----

The cobbler looks pretty good right out of the oven ( I want some NOW.) ---

I love this old trivet and use it everyday.  It came out of my grandmother's old wood cook stove. 

 It says, "Cook cereals here - will never burn if register is raised."  Lots of Thanksgiving memories from two grandmothers' and one great-grandmothers' kitchens.

OH, yes --  they want supper tonight.  I made taco soup ----

I still need to do some prep work on the potatoes and broccoli and the bacon needs fried to top the broccoli salad ---- it's still early in the afternoon!

I wonder when the REAL chef will show up ---- maybe tomorrow???  Oh, that's right ---- I'm the chef in the Salmagundi household.  Guess I had better get a good night's sleep to be ready for tomorrow's work. 

May your cereals never burn and have a thankful and joyous Thanksgiving with your friends and family.

I'm joining the following:
Have a Daily Cup for Share Your Cup Thursday
The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday
Rattlebridge Farm for Foodie Friday and Everything Else

OUT AND ABOUT LOOKING FOR BROWN TRANSFERWARE

We had not been to Denver for awhile to check out our favorite antique mall, but since we were in northern Colorado had to stop in!  We don't buy much anymore, but I still like to look for bargains in brown transferware.

On the first aisle I spotted this large platter with a late 1800s Alfred Meakin mark.  It is in good shape ---- the price just $6.  Even though it is the lighter (almost rust) brown; at that price how could I refuse?

One of the things that has always appealed to me about brown transferware is the variety of patterns and color.  This stack shows some of the platters that I have ----- and I'm always looking for more.  How many do I need?

After the rust-colored platter I picked up this bowl with a simple aesthetic pattern but an intricate border.  The manufacturer mark indicates that it is from the T and R Boote Co. of England.

 It has a 'kite' mark on the back with the pattern name (Summer Time); and the numbers and letters indicate that it was manufactured of earthenware on November 26, 1878.

I should stop this obsession, but I so enjoy the occasional find! They are all so different.

I'm joining Jann Olson at Have a Daily Cup for Thursday's Share a Cup.

CELEBRATING A 21ST BIRTHDAY

We celebrated our granddaughter's 21st birthday with a relatively QUIET family dinner.

Her transition into adulthood is going well, so this Grammy is trying very hard to cut her apron strings.  I'm finding 

it harder than I did with my own children!

Wishing our dear Caitlin a fun birthday week followed by a life full of blessings.

ANNA PETERS CHINA, MY MOTHER, AND OUR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

This post is all over the place, but connected in a way!  Bear with me as I ramble ----

My mother had a green thumb and loved her rose garden.  She, also, was fond of anything with roses on it especially china.  This plate was one of her favorites and hung on the dining room wall when I was growing up.

 It was painted by Anna Peters, who had a china painting studio in Denver at the turn of the 20th century.  About 40 years ago, I started looking for more Anna Peters china when we were out antiquing.  In about 1976, I found two smaller plates painted by Ms. Peters and gave them to my mother for Mother's Day that year.  Over the years, I have acquired nine more pieces of the Peters' china which I found mostly in the Denver area.  My mother passed away before I could give her any more of these beautiful rose dishes.

To celebrate my Mother's birth date and our wedding anniversary this week, I grouped the Peters' dishes in our dining room plate rack.

And, now our 59th wedding anniversary ----

The time has passed unbelievably fast.  Who are those teenagers in this 1958 photo?

The picture was taken on our wedding day in my parent's dining room, where we held the reception for 300 people.  My parent's house was big; the day was a beautiful September day; so the reception flowed out into my folk's lovely backyard.  But, 300 people --- my mother was a saint!!  Her 39th birthday was the day before our wedding day.

If you look at the picture of Bob and I, you can spot my mother's favorite rose plate hanging on the wall.

My mother and dad gave us a beautiful wedding to share with friends and families.  The flowers were beautiful ----

The cake was perfect ---- 

The whole day was special!

The perfect start to a wonderful 59-year (and counting) marriage.

I'm joining the following:

A Stroll Thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday

Have a Daily Cup for Share Your Cup Thursday

The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday