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.

BANANA BREAD COBBLER

As some of you know, cooking is not my most favorite thing to do; but occasionally I run across a recipe I just have to try. In the new February issue of Southern Living magazine was a recipe for Banana Bread Cobbler. If you love bananas, this is both unusual and quite tasty. How can you go wrong with two cubes of butter? If you don't have the magazine, you can check out southernliving.com.

This recipe calls for self-rising flour. I always make my own to keep on hand. My recipe for self-rising flour is:
6 cups regular flour
3 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon salt

Mix the three ingredients together and store as you would regular flour.

I'm joining in with Michael Lee at Designs by Gollum
for her weekly Foodie Friday party. Check out her blog for a list of participants.

SURPRISE PACKAGE!

Sue of Rue-Mouffetard is the best blogging buddy ever. She is always sending me cards, notes of encouragement, and presents. After my recent surgery, she knew I was struggling a little, so she sent me a box of goodies to cheer me up.

Inside this beautiful basket was yummy biscotti, a huge tea cup, and a variety box of teas. Somehow she just knew that I was trying to cut down on my Diet Coke intake, and I was searching for a tea as a substitute. I have had so much fun sampling all of the teas from this neat gift basket. A little biscotti with my tea hasn't hurt either.

Thank you, thank you, sweet Sue. You are the best!!

Sally

MET MONDAY - HEADBOARD

It's time for a new project! Ever since we bought a king-sized bed 18 years ago we have not had a headboard. I was tired of losing my pillow down between the bed and the wall, but couldn't decide what type of headboard I wanted. The problem was that I absolutely love our bedroom furniture, which my parents purchased new in 1937. It is walnut and the quality is wonderful. The set consists of a four-drawer chest of drawers, a dressing table with bench, and a full-sized four-poster bed. Pictured below is the chest and the dressing table. The bed is up in the attic waiting to be reunited with the others someday in the far future. The bedstead is so beautiful, I just couldn't make myself somehow cut it up to make a king-sized headboard.

I had been thinking an upholstered headboard just might be the thing; then, Bob brought home these pieces of a former twin-size head & foot board that he salvaged. So we decided to use the posts in combination with the upholstery. After Bob redid the posts, he cut 2 pieces of plywood for the base of the upholstery.

We then upholstered the plywood with 1" batting and the toile fabric that matches the dust ruffle. We added the antique brass tack strip 1 1/2 inches in.

I always like to finish the back of anything - you never know when part of it will show. So we stapled this fabric on the back, and covered the staples by gluing on the gimp.

The three posts were attached to the two upholstery boards, and now we have a fast and inexpensive headboard that compliments our great walnut furniture!

I'm joining in on Metamorphosis Monday this week hosted by Susan at
Between Naps on the Porch.
Check out her blog for a list of all of the participants.

IT'S CLOCHE PARTY TIME!

It is cloche party time again with our able hostess, Marty, at
A Stroll Thru Life.
You will be inspired by all of the wonderful ideas of the participants. Be sure to go by Marty's for a list.

For my cloches this time, I have assembled some jewelry, etc. from my family.

Four of the pocket watches belonged to my paternal grandmother and grandfather, and a great, great uncle. The gold watch with the bird engraving belonged to my great grandmother. The little crocheted change purse in the lower right corner belonged to my maternal grandmother.

The medium-sized cloche is sitting on my mother's baby cap, and encloses my grandmother's wedding ring, my grandfather's cuff links, another grandfather's stick pins, and a pin belonging to my grandmother. The picture is of one of my great grandmothers taken when she was 16.

BIRTHDAY BOY!

HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY TO THE BEST VALENTINE PRESENT EVER!

Wyatt, you have completely stolen our hearts.
Love from Grammy and Papa

VALENTINES IN A BOWL

Not a lot of energy flowing around the Salmagundi household since the surgery, but I sure didn't want to miss the Valentine's Day party hosted by Laurie at
Bargain Hunting with Laurie.
The extent of my Valentine decorations this year just include some of our collection of vintage cards in a bowl.

You know that any party at Laurie's has to be a blast, so be sure to stop by her blog and check things out!

I'm also linking up with Mary at Little Red House
for Mosaic Monday. There is always such beautiful photography at that Monday party, so check Mary out also.

Thanks for stopping by; and may you have a lovely Valentine's Day!

TARNISH BUSTERS

I have sure enjoyed seeing all of the blogs recently showing off their beautiful silver. I love silver, but the care of it sometimes overwhelms me as I'm not really into the tarnished look especially on eating utensils. I have four large sets of beautiful sterling flatware that I have inherited, but I find myself reaching for my stainless steel to avoid the care and feeding of the sterling.

Yesterday, I received my March 2010 issue of "Country Living" magazine which suggests storing the silver with a piece of chalk to ward off the tarnish. I've also heard that camphor available at a pharmacy works when stored with silver.

Have any of you tried these two methods? Also, do any of you put your sterling flatware in the dishwasher? If so, I would love to hear your comments. I found a piece of sidewalk chalk in the grand kid's stuff, so I'll be giving this a try.

Happy Ground hog's Day. I guess we are to have six more weeks of winter, but I'm sure Spring is not too far off!!!

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.