BLEEDING HEART

Spring in Colorado is a tenuous thing. We can have warm days and cold nights, then cool days and warm nights. The wind can blow; it can rain, snow, and hail. As a matter of fact, we had ALL of the above this past weekend.  On Monday morning, the sun was shining and it was snowing at the same time!

The roses don't leaf out much until May, and don't bloom until June. We can have apple blossoms and lilacs in April/May, but maybe not depending on if we get a really hard freeze in March.  We can plant our snap peas on St. Pat's day, but don't dare set out the tomatoes until after Mother's day

One thing that has always been dependable is our bleeding heart plant. Mine is in a sheltered, shady spot and it flourishes.

Is there anything more beautiful and a greater reminder of God's plan and creation?

I'm joining Susan at A Southern Daydreamer
for Outdoor Wednesday.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY SUNDAY FAVORITES

I'm joining in with Chari of Happy to Design
to celebrate her one-year anniversary of Sunday Favorites. Sundays are a chance to repost a favorite of ours from the past. Please go by Chari's to wish her a happy anniversary and check out the other favorite posts. Today I chose an older post about the Eiffel Tower and other engineering marvels.

My husband, Bob, is retired from a 44-year career as a civil engineer. Consequently, when we travel, engineering marvels are always at the top of our "must see" list.

There are many engineering feats I have not witnessed such as the pyramids of Egypt and the Great Wall of China.

But, I have seen the underside of the Golden Gate Bridge, and viewed the Royal Gorge Bridge of Colorado from a tram 1100 feet above the river.

I've been claustrophobic at the top of the St. Louis Arch, and have ridden 13 miles across the Confederation Bridge to Prince Edward Island in Canada.

I've been in the bowels and seen the inner workings of the Tower Bridge in London, and traveled 180 miles an hour under the water of the English Channel through a tunnel.

BUT, in my opinion, the absolute best, best, best engineering marvel is the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

It combines the structure and strength of engineering and the beauty and form of art.

I know that there are professional photos that capture that beauty better than our amateur pictures, but these are ours and remind me that I was actually there!

A view from the top!!!!

Ooooooo, I so want to go back and see it again!!!!

THRIFTY TREASURES

We don't need a thing, but we still are drawn to yard sales and auctions. Bob does buy some furniture to fix up and resell; but I try not to buy more stuff!! This is what has come home with us recently, however.

How can you not love children's chairs? The red one is 22" tall and was $1 - Bob did have to do some repair work and give it a new paint job. The wooden one is only 16" tall costing $3 and did require some work, also. The red one will probably be resold, but I haven't been able to give up the little one yet.

At a yard sale this past weekend, we bought this table shown below for $7.50. It only required some tightening up and some furniture cleaner; and is living here at our house for now.

The vintage throw in the background came from the auction at my great-grandparent's homestead. It was in a box of linens; but when I saw I was bidding against one of my favorite cousins, I stopped bidding. After she won the bid, she asked me what I wanted out of the box. I told her and she gave it to me for FREE. Thanks, Jane - I owe you.

Back in the 1960s, my aunt gave me the Blue Willow covered milk jug. It had belonged to her in laws, and she said, in disgust, that it just wasn't her style. I was thrilled and have always loved it. It is marked Buffalo China with a 1911 date. I always look for Buffalo China Blue Willow when we are out and about junking and antiquing, but in all of these years I have only found this platter and bread and butter plate. I don't think they are particularly scarce or valuable - they just haven't crossed my path.

Considering the amount of dishes I have amassed the last 50 years, it is probably a good thing that come collections have remained small!

We also picked up this past weekend another table for $7.50 at a yard sale and a table for $5.00 at an auction. When Bob finishes doing his magic on those I'll post about them.

I will be joining Rhoda at Southern Hospitality
for Monday's Thrifty Treasures party

and

Marty at
A Stroll Thru Life
for Table top Tuesday.

Check out their great blogs for more party participators!

OUR NEW (OLD) CUPBOARD

My husband, Bob, has been at it in the workshop again! In February, we went to a super farm auction at my great-grandparent's homestead. (You can read about the experience here.) While I was plotting to score with a winning bid on brown transferware, Bob had won a bid on the bottom cupboard below. He had previously made the top hanging cupboard several years ago to house part of my ever-growing collection of brown transferware.

I questioned his judgment when he won the bid, but it is just the type of project he loves. We think this cupboard was probably a store fixture in its prime; but who knows how long it had been in the family's barn and who knows what it might have stored. It was pretty gross.

Bob stripped, sanded, reconfigured, etc., etc., ETC. On the outside, he used an ebony stain; and the inside was painted in Sherwin Williams Antique Red paint with an ebony glaze to match the hanging cupboard.
The left sliding door now opens to reveal the television, and the right side has more shelves that are empty for now. I envision using this side for future brown transferware storage!

Those finger holes are brass; and the door sliding mechanism is all original.

The cupboard is the perfect size for our small living room; and since this is not our primary TV viewing area, it is nice to be able to hide the TV behind the doors.

I'm linking to the following fun parties. If you have never checked out these blogs before, you are in for a treat!

Susan at Between Naps on the Porch
for Metamorphosis Monday

Donna at Funky Junk Interiors
for Saturday Night Special

Miss Mustard Seed
for Furniture Feature Friday

ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS

Laurie at Bargain Hunting with Laurie
is hosting a party to allow us to show off our favorite things.

I sure don't know how to choose a favorite thing, but I'll start with my great-grandmother's punch bowl. This was really, in my opinion, the best estate auction buy of all time. My great-grandmother bought it at an estate auction in the 1920s for a dollar! It was hand painted in the famous Pickard studio of Chicago. She once told me that there were also matching punch cups, but she didn't win the bid on those. The painting of the currants and leaves with the gold tracery on the punch bowl is so exquisite, it takes my breath away each time I walk by it.

I'm now the fourth generation in my family to be the caretaker of this beauty! It is my absolute favorite of all of the dishes I own.

Please go by Laurie's to check out all of the other "Favorite Things".

LONGING FOR PARIS IN THE SPRING

I'm joining in with Marty at A Stroll Thru Life
for Tabletop Tuesday.

Some people have Spring fever for their gardens, but I have Spring fever for Paris.

After taking my Easter stuff down today, I decided to get out some postcards that we had picked up from a kiosk along the Seine two years ago. They are copies of some lovely little watercolors of sights around Paris. To frame them temporarily, I decoupaged some mats with scrapbook paper holding them together with black elastic bands.

The picture above also shows every tourist's purchase - a replica of la tour Eiffel. And in the bottom right picture in the background is my Laduree box that contained those wonderful French macaroons.

So, for this Spring, this tabletop vignette will have to be my trip to Paris. However, I have plans to go to Germany and Paris in the Spring of 2011!!

MORE VINTAGE EASTER

Last week I posted about my Victorian milk glass Easter eggs, so now I would like to show you a little more of my vintage Easter stuff.

Several years ago, Bob gave me this vintage paper-mache Easter Bunny. It has a hollow body, and was originally a candy container. He is kind of fragile; therefore, perfect for under a cloche.

The small 4" sand pail is not necessarily Easter; but I keep it with my Easter stuff as it is so cute with tiny eggs in it.

Part of our collection of antique postcards, this is one of my favorites. It is propped up in one of my mother's old metal flower frogs.

These two glass chicken on nests belonged to my Grandmother. They originally held tiny Easter egg candy. I remember playing with them as a child; so how they survived without a scratch, I don't know.

Please check out the following blog parties going on for more fun stuff.

Suzanne at Colorado Lady
for Vintage Thingies Thursday

Marty at A Stroll Thru Life
for the Spring cloche party

Cindy at My Romantic Home
for Show & Tell Friday

May you all have a joyous Easter.

Sally

ARE YOU A BOOKCASE PEEPER?

I admit it - I'm nosy! I love learning about what people read; what makes them tick; what their interests are. I never sit down with a shelter magazine without my magnifying glass, so that I can check out the books displayed in homes. Then, I'm terrible when going to some one's home straining to see what's on their book shelves.

Well, turn about is fair play. Here are some of our bookshelves and a chance to learn a little about us.

I'm a proud third-generation native Coloradan. We have an extensive library on Colorado history.

Once an engineer, always an engineer. Bob retired after a 44-year career as a Civil Engineer.

Ah, yes, the cookbooks! You would think I liked to cook. WRONG. Even though I have the cookbook, "The JOY of Cooking"; I never found much joy in it. The large collection of cookbooks is only because I'm not very creative when cooking, but have certainly cooked thousands of meals in 51 years of marriage.

My favorites on the bookshelves are my decorating books. I read them over and over.

I spent 20 years as a professional quilter making quilts and doing designs for publication; so there are quite a few quilt books.

Then, there is the antiquing and collecting habit. Bob and I share this hobby.

We love to travel, but got a late-in-life start at that. We do have a couple of great trips planned for 2011. Bob is the one interested in foreign languages - I just limp along in that department.

Oh, yes, we have even written a couple of books around here.

I'm a magazine junkie. Someone (that would be me) really needs to purge. But how can you throw out every issue of Mary Engelbreit's magazine or copies of Romantic Home from 1992.

And, of course, there is the most important book of all.

What are on your bookshelves? Do they tell your story?

A LITTLE VINTAGE EASTER

Below is my small collection of Victorian milk glass Easter eggs. Two of them were my great grandmother's; the other two were just accumulated.

These eggs are hand blown, and have a pontil mark. They are flat on one side so that they will sit and not roll away. I understand that they are usually cold-painted, so the paint has a tendency to flake off. Therefore, they are difficult to find in perfect condition, as you can tell from my eggs.

These examples range in size from 7" to 4" point to point.

I'm especially enjoying them this year displayed in the huge brown transferware wash bowl that I recently acquired from my great grandparent's homestead.

I'm joining with Suzanne at Colorado Lady
for Vintage Thingie Thursday
and
Cindy at My Romantic Home
for Show and Tell Friday.

20th CENTURY BROWN TRANSFERWARE

I'm usually on the lookout for 19th century brown transferware, but I'll occasionally buy 20th century pieces if they are inexpensive. Awhile ago, I bought a box for $10 at auction that contained all of the following pieces.

The flower pot and the little creamer are both from England, Royal Crownford, in the Charlotte pattern from the 1940s. The Charlotte pattern is often different on various pieces, but they are all Victorian basket designs.

These two barrel-shaped shakers are by Clarice Cliff in the Tonquin pattern from England, also from the 1940s. They currently list for about $60 EACH, making the $10 box a real bargain!

The two covered butter dishes are both Mason's English transferware. The one on the left is the Bow Bells pattern and the one on the right is the Stratford pattern.

I just love a good deal, especially if it is transferware!

Please check out the following parties to find more wonderful vintage, thrifty things:

Suzanne at Colorado Lady
for Vintage Thingies Thursday

Cindy at My Romantic Home
for Show and Tell Friday

Rhoda at Southern Hospitality
for Monday's Thrifty Treasures

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MIKE

St. Patrick was smiling the day you were born 42 years ago. It was certainly our good fortune!

You have always supplied us with plenty of joy and adventure. And, now, you are off to spend the summer in Japan working in an orchard. What will be next?

Happy Birthday, Dr. S----, our son - the teacher, the traveler, and so much more!!!

Love from Mom and Dad

SPRINGTIME IN THE ROCKIES

March and April can be our snowiest months in Colorado.

I love it!

Not ready for Spring, yet.

TABLE TOP TUESDAY

I'm not a decorator. I'm an accumulator; a collector! I enjoy having things around that have meaning to us.

In my previous post, I mentioned that I was able to buy at auction my great-aunt's rolling pin. Below is my small collection of family rolling pins - my two grandmothers', my mother's; and now, my great-aunt's. Ah, the memories of those great pies made with those four rolling pins!!!!

They fit right in with my collection of green bowls and pitchers - a reminder of my grandmothers' kitchens.

The Hoosier cabinet belonged to a friend of Bob's family, but we have had it for many years moving it from house to house. I finally have a kitchen big enough to showcase it.

And, that is how table tops are decorated around the Salmagundi household, they are accumulated!
I am linking to Marty's (at A Stroll Thru Life) fun Tuesday party where everyone shows off their table tops. Check it out.

FARM AUCTION EXTRAORDINAIRE

This past weekend we attended a farm auction at my great-grandparent's homestead. The farm has been in my mother's family for 115 years, and has been designated as a Colorado Centennial Farm. It has been farmed all of these years; first, by my great grandfather, then by my grandmother's brothers and their descendants. The last cousin to farm it passed away a year ago, so it was time to sell the equipment and the household belongings. Ownership of the farm will be retained by the family, but the farm will be rented out.

Below is a picture of my Great Grandparents taken in 1941. Yes, she was really that much taller than Granddad and she ruled the roost!! The other picture is of a bunch of us cousins at the state fair when the farm received it's centennial designation.

So, the auction was a big deal and very sentimental to all of us. The day was cold and windy, but it didn't deter the crowds. There were pickups parked down the country road for as far as you could see.

The first day of the auction was mostly the sale of the farm equipment, tractors, pickups, stuff out of the sheds, etc. - you know - guy stuff!
The local chapter of the Future Farmers of America had the food concession. Bob and I each had one of the best hamburgers cooked on this huge homemade grill on both days.

The second day of the auction featured the household goods. All of the furniture was carried out to the lawn to be auctioned off; and trailers with boxes and boxes of stuff were pulled into the yard. My great-aunt was the last woman to live in the house moving to the nursing home 11 years ago. I don't think she had ever thrown anything away in the 72 years she lived on the farm. I was very patient as they sold things, because I had something in mind that I really wanted. I did buy Aunt Selma's rolling pin for $1 from a trailer to add to my collection of family rolling pins.

And what did I have my eye on? Well, in the shed they had placed all of the dishes and more stuff, stuff, stuff. Inside the show cases, they had placed what the auctioneers thought were the old dishes (1930s depression glass and 1940s Roseville pottery). Oh, the cousins were bidding fast and furious against each other for the show case dishes. But I was patient and waited until the very end of the second day when they finally got to this 1880s brown transferware wash bowl and pitcher that was just sitting among the old comic books and junk.

If you regularly read my blog, you know I love my brown transferware. I was so excited I could hardly stand it when I won the bid for $35. Earlier they were selling 1960s salt and pepper shakers for twice that amount.

Here is the pitcher and bowl all cleaned up and in my house. I was fortunate to inherit so many of my great grandmother's beautiful things when my grandmother died in 1988. This is just icing on the cake, as it dates from the time of the homestead.

The pitcher is 13 inches tall and the bowl is 14 1/2 inches in diameter.

I'm thrilled!!

I'm joining in on Susan's (A Southern Daydreamer) Outdoor Wednesday party. Be sure to check out her blog for a list of the participants.