FLUFFING AND BUFFING

It was time to change up the shelves in the dining room; so I removed my Friendly Village dishes, and replaced them with some previously hidden-away brown transferware and antique apothecary jars.

From Memorial Day until July 4th, I like getting out some of our patriotic ephemera that we have accumulated over the years.

Here we have Betsy and her flag under glass!

Old postcards.

In this apothecary jar are three generations of draft registration cards from World War I, World War II, and the Viet Nam War.

I'm partying with Mary at Little Red House
for Mosaic Monday

and

Marty at A Stroll Thru Life
for Tabletop Tuesday.

Be sure to stop by their blogs to check out the list of participants this week.

PAVLOVA - SOUTHERN LIVING STYLE

Every month I usually try a new recipe out of the Southern Living magazine. From the May issue I tried Pavlova with Lemon Cream and Berries, and took it to our small group supper club.
It sure is colorful, and was received with oohs and aahs.

If you like the tart flavor of lemon curd, this is a recipe worth trying.

I'm joining Michael Lee at Designs by Gollum
for Foodie Friday. Be sure to go by and check all of the other participants for delicious food.

INDOORS LOOKING OUTDOORS WEDNESDAY

In the June 2010 issue of House Beautiful the focus is on "What You Can Do In A Day" to make your home more beautiful. It mentioned to clean, clean, clean. It seems that I spend a lot of time cleaning all year long; but in the Spring, it is necessary to do extra. Yesterday, the outside of the house and the windows received our attention.

It started from the top - cleaning out the gutters of all the accumulated winter gunk. Then the screens from all of the windows were removed, and the entire outside of the house, screens, and windows received a shower and scrubbing.

Inside, the windows and all of their little grooves were vacuumed.

We have interior shutters throughout our house, so they got a thorough dusting.
All windows inside and out were then hand washed and polished.

Finally, all grooves and hidden places received 'The Bleach Treatment' to ward off any threat of mold.

And here they are all shiny and clean!!

Back in the day when I was younger, I used to do this process all by myself in part of a day. I remember counting one time that it took 60 trips up and down the ladder. Now, it takes two of us all day to get the job done. I can tell you that here at the Salmagundi house, there were two very tired 71 year olds last night.

Go by and check out Susan at A Southern Daydreamer
for a list of other Outdoor Wednesday posts.

SLIM PICKINGS!

It has been pretty slim pickings around here at the yard sales the last couple of weeks. But, I was pleased with what I did find. The blue Windsor Castle plate has an old Johnson Bros. mark, and was $2.00. I paid 50 cents total for both of the etched candle holders - they are quite heavy and appear to be old with nice etching of tulips on all four sides.

I love little, old books especially red ones. The top one is an 1891 dictionary with an inscription to Lewis from a teacher. The bottom book is of mystery short stories from 1927. I paid 25 cents for each book.

Please go by the following link parties to check out the other participants.

Rhoda at Southern Hospitality
for Thrifty Treasures Monday

Linda at Coastal Charm
for Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays

Thanks to Rhoda and Linda for hosting these get togethers.

I'M PONDERING PILLOWS AGAIN

I'm in a pillow making mood again. I've always wanted some wool pillows to use in the living room during the winter . Last year, I made one pillow from a wool Ralph Lauren skirt that I found at Goodwill (click here to read about that, if you wish). That was as far as my wool pillow project went last winter. This year, I'm determined to get an earlier start. (Is it too early to think about winter???)

Always on a budget, I checked out Goodwill for more suitable wool and found several pieces of new fabric from some one's fabric stash. It was $4 for as much as I could stuff in a plastic bag. I ended up with several different wools for a total of over 5 yards of wide fabric.

I decided on a monogram pillow, so I thought how hard could that be now that I had all of this luscious wool. At first I was thinking I could hand embroider the monogram like my grandmothers always did, but I decided that was too much work for these arthritic fingers. Since I have had some success with the satin stitch on my sewing machine, I thought that would be the answer. But as I was doing a sample run, my 41 year-old sewing machine decided it was tired of doing the zig-zag, and the lever broke. No replacement parts could be found by anyone for my trusty, old machine. It still sews a nice straight stitch, however. So, now on to plan C - applique. I decided to cut out my monogram from felt and sew it on. Did you know that you can buy felt made from recyclable plastic that washes and dries wonderfully?

In anything that I make, washability is important to me. I always prewash and dry all of my fabrics before making a project. I washed all of my Goodwill wools in Woolite in the machine, then dried them in the dryer on low. They came out great.

I used osnaburg (sometimes called hop sacking) for the background of the monogram. It's cheap - $2.99 per yard - and has a nice texture after laundering.

All in all, the pillow cover cost me under $2.00. The most expensive thing was the zipper for the closure and I had a 40% off coupon for that.

Just call me frugal --- but then I'm not even going to talk about what a new sewing machine is going to cost me!

I'm linking up to the following parties. Be sure to check them out for lots of fun posts.

Cindy at My Romantic Home
for her Friday Show and Tell.

Donna at Funky Junk Interiors
for her Saturday Night Special party.

OF COURSE I DO!!

I was asked if I still had the 'Gone with the Wind' Scarlett O'Hara doll that was in the picture of my mother and I shopping (my mother's day post). The picture was taken in 1941 on the streets of Pueblo, Colorado.

Well, of course, I do -- I'm the queen of pack-rats and have kept everything!

Here she is today.

FAVORITE THINGS - MOTHER'S DAY

I'm joining in with Laurie at Bargain Hunting with Laurie

for her Saturday Favorite Things party.

Be sure to check out her blog for always a fun read, plus a list of today's Favorite Things participants.

Since it is Mother's Day weekend, I thought I would show you four of my favorite pictures of my mother.  She was so intelligent, actually brilliant, that she started 1st grade on the day she turned 5 years old, skipped the 7th grade, and had graduated from junior college at age 17 before she married my Dad.   When I started to school, she started working for the federal government rising in the ranks until she was in charge of offices all over the state retiring at the age of 65 after a long, successful career.  She was always a mother, then a grandmother first, however.  She gave me a wonderful childhood, then supported me in everything I ever did.  Failing health took her too young, and she never did enjoy her retirement years.  

There is never a day I don't think about her - there is something every day I wish I could share with her. I so would like to introduce her to her great-grandchildren, for instance; as she enjoyed my kids so much.  

Here are my favorite pictures of her:

The first one was taken when she was in the May Day court in college (1937).

I was six-months old, and Mother was only 19.

Mother loved to shop, and we made regular trips to the city.  This was taken on the streets of Pueblo, Colorado.  She had just bought this 'Gone with the Wind' Scarlett doll for me, and she was trying to keep me from running into people.  I couldn't take my eyes off of Scarlett.

A GRADUATION STORY

May is the month of graduations, so I thought I would tell you a little graduation story.

My Dad graduated from high school in 1931; and as was the custom in small-town Colorado, the senior class went on a 

trip to the big city of Denver during graduation week.

Below is my Dad on the right pictured in his annual.  See his motto under his name -- "I love me, I love me, I love myself to death!"  He was quite full of himself!

 While the class was enjoying the sights and experiences of the big city, they stayed at the Shirley Savoy Hotel in downtown Denver.  

At that time not all hotel rooms had en suite bathrooms and the facilities were down the hall.  But the rooms were equipped with a chamber pot for those middle of the night needs.  Wouldn't you have hated being a hotel maid in those days - oh, my!

SOMEHOW the above chamber pot MANAGED to come home with my father from that trip.  He must have had a memorable trip because this pot was always around my parent's house.  Don't worry, my mother made sure it was thoroughly sterilized and sanitized.  She always used it to hold National Geographic magazines.

A THRIFTY TREASURE AND A TABLETOP

I'm linking up with Rhoda at Southern Hospitality
for the Thrifty Treasures Monday party. 


This little table is one of those we found a week ago at a yard sale for $7.50.  It did need a little work such as replacing some missing molding and a new finish. 

The wood of this table is beautiful plus it has some wonderful details; such as the inlaid wood on the drawer, the pretty pedestal, and the rosettes on the feet.

I'm also linking to Marty at A Stroll Thru Life

for her Tuesday Tabletop party.

My parents were married in 1937, and on the table are three of their wedding gifts.  The lamp was a gift from friends who owned the local furniture store, and the picture in the background was from one of my mother's college professors.  The little pitcher holding the lilacs is part of a china coffee service that my Dad's parents and brother gave them. 

Please check out Rhoda's and Marty's blogs by clicking on their blog names above to see who else is partying along.