CLASS REUNION, ANNIVERSARY, ETC.

I'm taking a three-week blogging break. First up on our agenda is our 55th high school class reunion in our hometown. The picture below of us was on the front page of the local newspaper the day we graduated - June 1, 1956. I guess we were chosen to be photographed because Bob was the Senior Class President.
Doesn't Bob just look like he is poised and ready to tackle whatever the future might hold? At the time, I wasn't sure I would be part of that future; but things clicked and I've been a part of it all along the way through his three college degrees, his career, our children and our grandchildren.

Then, we have a road trip scheduled to celebrate our 53rd wedding anniversary this month. We're headed to Marburger/Round Top, Texas for the antique extravaganza. We hope to come home the very long way through Kansas City to visit friends.
September 7, 1958

I've been working on a couple of large projects for the class reunion, so my house has suffered terribly. I need to find time during this next three weeks to do some deep cleaning and prepare for the autumnal holidays and our family's birthday season. Also, I keep thinking we need to make a day trip to Denver to visit the new IKEA store. That's a lot going on for us old folks!

We thank God for all of the blessings that have been bestowed on us over the years. And, we celebrate with Him each new day that we receive.

As we used to say in the 1950s, "See you later, alligator. After awhile, crocodile!"

UNDER THE INFLUENCE

We've had fun this week checking out the new Restoration Hardware 615-page source book/magalog/catalog (their words!) and being under their influence. Of course, we could never lead the complete Restoration Hardware lifestyle. In the first place, the price point is way ABOVE our budget; and second, where is the color? I admit I'm smitten with a neutral background, but need my touches of red, blue, etc. And, finally our 1980s small ranch-style house just doesn't accommodate the grand architectural style of RH. But, that being said, we have enjoyed checking out the vignettes and accessories showcased in the catalog.

We've had several discussions about all of the accessories they show that appeal to us. Evidently, the appeal has always been there since we were able to shop our house, garage, shed and back porch to come up with similar items to stage some new vignettes around the house. Starting with the tractor wheel that we found recently at the farm salvage yard. Paired with some old books and a sewing machine part chest that belonged to my grandfather; it is now on our entry table.

Sitting on my Dad's tool chest, which we use as a coffee table, is an old milk crate containing bundles of books and a disc spacer from the farm salvage yard.

In the background on the couch is my mother's old beaver cape. The throws in the RH catalog are faux, of course; but mine is the real stuff. Don't hate me - the cape has been in my family for over 70 years, and conjures up nice memories of snuggling up to my mother on cold days when she was wearing the cape!

I've had a love affair with brown apothecary bottles for a while now -- all purchased for pennies or were free.

This vignette sparked a conversation between Bob and I about a lot of the trappings of our lives. We saw the iron barbells in the catalog; and I asked if we didn't have one of those around. Bob then told me about finding his barbell in a garage when he was 8 or 9 years old, and thinking it was so neat. I then had to ask about where it has been all of these years? Did he bring it with him when we got married 53 years ago? You mean to tell me we have moved it to 14 different houses over the years? Etc., etc., etc.

I've always enjoyed these deed or document boxes. They belonged to various family members who really kept their documents in them.

Of course, I have fond memories of the Eiffel Tower in Paris from our 50th wedding anniversary trip. I don't have RH's study model, but this iron one from Hobby Lobby serves the purpose of bringing up memories.

It's been fun recreating these vignettes from Restoration Hardware. I do have a question, however -- how can they fiscally continue to mail me (a non-consumer of their goods) their 615-page sourcebook/magalog/catalog? But, I enjoy it so much; please don't tell Mr. Friedman, CEO, that I never buy anything. I thought the least that I could do would be to include the catalog in a vignette.

Here's a breakdown of the price points of some of the items included:

Eiffel Tour Study Model: RH-$1745.00 Ours-$4.00

Tractor Wheel: RH-$189.00 Ours-$5.00

Cast iron Dumbbell: RH-$40.00 Ours-Free

Deed Boxes: RH-$45-$85 Ours-Inherited for free

Pharmacy Bottles: RH-3/$48 Ours-Inherited or less than $1.00 each

Fur Throw: RH-$99 Ours-Free, but priceless!

I'm joining the following parties -- please check these inspirational blogs out!!

Southern Hospitality for Thrifty Treasure Monday

A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday

Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays

Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday

YARD SALE FIND

I haven't been going to yard sales very much lately. Frankly, I'm just too lazy and hate to get around in the early morning. But, Bob still reads the ads, gets around and goes always searching for furniture in bad condition that he can restore and sell. The other morning he came home without furniture but with these two seltzer bottles.
The guy at the yard sale said they were from Czechoslovakia. Both the metal and glass parts have markings on them, but we can't make anything out.
The spouts are interesting - they look like birds of prey!


The glass is very heavy and thick; one is amber in color, the other green.


For now, I just enjoy having them around.




Do you suppose this is a start of a another new collection?
Be sure to check out the following parties this week for a plethora of inspiration!



A Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesday


Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays


No Minimalist Here for Open House Party on Thursday


Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday

A FAVORITE SHOPPING MECCA

On the way to visit my 97-year old Mother-in-law the other day, we stopped at one of my favorite places in our hometown -- the local farm salvage yard.

Since my heart starts pounding the minute we drive in, I guess you can never take the farm out of the farm girl. I don't know why as I was never the outdoors type of kid -- preferring to dress up and go to town! It must be all of the John Deere green, International Harvester/Farmall red, and the Case yellow that has rusted to that wonderful metal patina after years out in the sun and elements.

The first thing I spied was this tractor gear. Salvage Guy said he wanted $5 for it. I thought that was a little high, but it is huge (15" in diameter) and weighs a ton; so I said O.K!

Then, when we got home I was looking through the new Restoration Hardware catalog; and look what I found----

AND, THEY WANT $189 FOR IT; AND IT ISN'T EVEN THE REAL THING!!!!!

Guess Salvage Guy wasn't too high, after all.

I also found these cute smaller gears in my favorite International Harvester/Farmall Red. Bob and the Salvage Guy were very patient with me as I pointed from my air-conditioned car which three I wanted in which sizes. They were only $1.00 a piece.

I wasn't about to get outside in all of that dirt and sun (it was 102 degrees). So, it was the best possible shopping experience from inside my cool car. AND, just look at all of that wonderful patina.

Now, I just need to figure out what to do with my treasures. Any suggestions?

I'm joining the following parties:

French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday

Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday

Southern Hospitality for Thrifty Treasures Monday

Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Very Merry Vintage Style for Share the Love Wednesday

READY FOR FALL!

Our pumpkin patch has gone crazy this year. Even though it isn't even the first of September they are almost ready. Does this mean we will have an early Fall and Winter?
The little decorative pumpkins seem to be ready, also.

The beginning of the school year also signals Fall to me. My grandkids are ready - they start on Monday.

Wyatt will be in the 4th grade, and Caitlin starts high school (oh, my!).

I've been rather negligent in taking pictures of them this summer so Caitlin and I decided it was time for a 'photo shoot' down at the river to celebrate the beginning of her high school years.

Where have the years gone?

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

SHAMELESS PLUG

Some of you know that in my life before my husband's retirement I was a quiltmaker, which involved design work for publications, teaching, traveling, and writing books. Once I retired from doing all of that, it just became too expensive to make quilts without an income to support it. So I began to experiment with some ideas to use my quilt designing ability in smaller, manageable ways. Recently, I have been making a form of an artist trading card in a 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" format transforming quilt designs into paper patchwork. I've been so engrossed that I have now made a number of the cards, and need a separate blog to chronicle the activity. Therefore, I have a fledgling blog called Q-Bits (or bits of quilts), where I will explain the muse behind the individual cards. Plus, I will show some of the quilts I have made over the past 50 years.
The card above was made in honor of my Mother, whose birth date is approaching; and is based on the quilt below that I made entitled, "Mother's Kitchen".

So, if you are interested in my quilts and the inspiration behind them, head over to my other blog, Q-Bits by clicking here. I've just started the blog and have scads of cards and quilts to show in the future.


While I'm shamelessly promoting my other blog, I would also like to mention my son's blog, called "Michael M. Saulmon". Yes, he is always straight forward in that manner - just his name as a blog title - no pretense with him, which to me is one of his endearing qualities. His blog is always interesting and thought-provoking on a variety of subjects including education and life in general. He is a high school teacher and enjoys traveling in his time out of the classroom. His posts from his laptop while overseas are always informative and fun. In his defense, he doesn't know that I'm promoting his blog. He is still searching for his 'blog niche' out there in cyberspace, so if you are interested or know someone who might be send them his way by clicking here.


Enough self-promotion for now!

FARM INSPIRATION

For those of you interested in the farmhouse look and have a creative spirit, I offer up the following pictures for inspiration.

Have you seen the new show on Lifetime called "Picker Sisters"? These two cute, young things travel around finding stuff similar to the above. Then, they take them back to Los Angeles where their shop guy makes furniture, light fixtures, etc. out of their finds. And, of course, they then sell them to their rich clients.

I took these pictures at a farm sale a year ago. Things were going cheap that day - I could have made a fortune. Oh well, the story of my life! Or as they say down on the farm - a day late and a dollar short!!

I'm joining in the following parties this week:

Funky Junk Interiors for Sat. Nite Special

Between Naps on the Porch for Met Monday

The Shabby Chic Cottage for Transformation Thursday

Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday

A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS

THINGS I ENJOY

Years ago, I bought this baguette bread board just because I loved the patina. Then on our 50th anniversary trip to Paris, I discovered French baguettes.

I made the table runner from one of my favorite Ralph Lauren fabrics.

Love my great-grandmother's monogrammed butter knives.

A 7-foot harvest table made by my husband surrounded by chairs purchased by my grandparents when they married in 1904.

A brown transferware pitcher bought at Marburger Farm at Round Top, Texas five years ago; now holding roses and valarian from my garden. The valarian was transplanted from my mother's garden many years ago.

A brown transferware butter dish from a neighborhood lady's estate sale.

Crochet edging on napkins inherited from my grandmother.

Just a few of the things that trip my trigger!

I'll be joining the following parties this week -- please check them out for a plethora of inspiration.

A Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesday

Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesday

Very Merry Vintage Style for Share the Love Wednesday

French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday

A ROOSTER WITH A STORY

It is time for Sheila's (at Note Songs) rooster and chicken party. I don't have a flock of roosters in my house, but I do have one. And, there is a little story that goes with it - you know how Sheila loves a story.

My mother was raised during the hard times of The Depression on her grandparent's farm - you know - lots of hard work and no money. One of her jobs as a child was to kill and dress chickens for dinner. She hated it, and vowed that she would never, NEVER marry a farmer. Well, guess what, she married a farmer; but made my father promise that they would never have chickens. He kept his word.

But, mother must have missed the chickens; because our everyday dishes were decorated with chickens; she had tea towels with chickens on them; and she had a whole flock of these Royal Copley roosters and hens parading around the kitchen. Plus, every Sunday she could fry up the best chicken and gravy dinner imaginable.

See that piece of old wood in front of my rooster. On a recent trip to my great-grandparent's homestead, I picked up that piece from my mother's old childhood workplace - the chicken coop.

I am constantly reminded with warm feelings of my mother, her kitchen, and her chickens.

In addition to Sheila's Tuesday Rooster & Chicken party, I'm joining the following parties this week:

A Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesday

Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesday

Very Merry Vintage Style for Share the Love Wednesday

No Minimalist Here for Thursday's Open House Party

French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday

Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday

White Ironstone Cottage for Treasure Chest Friday

Be sure to check out these blogs for a plethora of inspiration.

THIS AND THAT PLUS CATS

Yesterday, we took a day trip to northern Colorado to see our son, Mike. We hadn't been to his house for a long time; as usually when we go to see him, we meet him part way in Denver (1 hour for him and 2 hours for us). But, this time we needed to go meet our new grand-kitties. At four months, they are energetic, inquisitive, and just plain cute. They are litter-brothers, and great company for each other. They very patiently sat for their 'official' four-month portraits.

First meet Virgil:


And this is Statius:

After playing with the kittens, we headed to Denver. Mike was the "Teacher of the Year" at the high school where he teaches, and was the recipient of generous gift card to The Olive Garden. He wanted to share it with us, so we had a nice lunch. Thanks, Wiggins School Student Council; and congratulations to Mike, always OUR teacher of the year.

We then headed to the Armadillo Antique Mall to peruse the goodies for a couple of hours. I didn't buy a thing; but I did not come home empty handed. About 8 years ago, we had bought a big box of unopened apothecary jars at an estate sale. We kept one, but gave the remainder to Mike. As a scientist teacher, he was interested in the labels showing the compounds contained in the pills.

Recently I've been enthralled with apothecary jars, so I asked him if I could have a couple more jars. Of course, he said yes -- what else would he say to his Mother?

The Luyties Pharmacy Company was founded by Herman C. G. Luyties (1833-1896), a physician and pharmacist; and at one time, was the largest homeopathic pharmacy in the world.

And finally, when we got home, the view of the mountains was so beautiful out of our bedroom window, that I thought I would try my hand at blue-hour photography. I probably would have achieved more blue if I had waited another 15 minutes.

The end of a good day!!