FAVORITE CHAIR

Alison at The Polohouse is showing favorite chairs on her "Favorites on the First" series this month.  I love chairs, especially those with family history.  We have a few family chairs -- 12 to be exact -- but this one probably has the most interesting story about how we acquired it.

In the 1890s, my step-great-grandfather who I never knew was a judge in Prowers County Colorado.  His son married my maternal grandmother when my mother was a child.

In the 1950s - 1960s, my husband's uncle worked in maintenance in the Prowers County courthouse.  During this time, Bob's uncle acquired several pieces of unused furniture, etc. from the courthouse.  Then, in the 1970s Bob did some land surveying work for his uncle.  Not wanting to take any money, Bob finally agreed to take this chair as payment for services.  It was not in very good condition as it needed to be re-caned, etc.  It definitely showed its years of use in the courthouse.  But Bob worked on it, and we started using it daily in our office.

In the 1980s my grandmother died and I inherited a lot of things, including pictures.  I was going through them one day, and kept coming back to this picture.  I stared at it for the longest time, and finally realized this was The Judge sitting in OUR chair.

And that is the story about how a chair with my family history came through Bob's family to us.  And, of course, we have had it for 40 years in our home, so we are part of its history, too. Sometimes I think some of our stuff finds us rather than we find it.  For a couple more stories, check out my old posts about The Missing Towel Rack and The Traveling Milk Pail.

In addition to The Polohouse, I'm linking up to the following:
Common Ground for Be Inspired Friday
Miss Mustard Seed for Furniture Feature Friday
Knick of Time for Knick of Time Tuesday
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for Tuesday Treasures
Vintage on a Dime for Welcome Home Wednesday
Ivy and Elephants for What's It Wednesday
No Minimalist Here for Thursday Open House
Delightful Order for for Delightfully Inspiring Thursday

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE-DOWN GINGERBREAD

I hadn't made Pineapple Upside-Down Gingerbread in a long time; but decided to yesterday for my Wednesday Morning Coffee Group.

I've had this recipe (see below) for probably about 30 years - it originally came off of a box of Betty Crocker Gingerbread Mix. I still use the Betty Crocker mix, which makes this an easy but special dessert.

We've had snow in Colorado; and it is cold, but the sun is shining.  Just right for a left-over piece of this yumminess.

Pineapple Upside-Down Gingerbread
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Melt in the oven 1/4 cup butter in a 9" round pan.  Blend in 1/2 cup brown sugar.  On top of the butter/brown sugar, arrange maraschino cherries, pecan halves and pineapple slices.  Make gingerbread as directed on Betty Crocker package; pour into prepared pan.  Bake 40-45 minutes.  Let cake stand a few minutes before inverting on plate.

I'm linking to the following:
The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday
Common Ground for Be Inspired Friday
Rattlebridge Farm for Foodie Friday
Funky Junk Interiors for Saturday Nite Special
The Dedicated House for Make It Pretty Monday
A Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesday
Primp for Primp Your Stuff Wednesday
Have a Daily Cup for Share Your Cup Thursday

WHAT'S COOKING?

One of the things we bought for our grandson's 11th birthday this week was a cookbook since he shows a real interest in learning to cook.  I stood at Barnes and Noble for a long time - there are a lot of kid's cookbooks out there; but I finally chose Rachael Ray's 30-minute Meals for Kids because it was fun, doable, and half-way nutritious.  With the book, I promised him some kitchen time at my house.  Over the years with the grandkids, I have done quite a bit of baking and kitchen crafts, but not so much planning, shopping, and meal preparation.  So, Wyatt and I spent some time choosing a couple of recipes and making a grocery list.  

While he was at school, I did the shopping.  I intend to take him  in the future to show him the perils of grocery shopping.  But, not this time -- baby steps for both of us!

For dessert (important things first), he chose Fancy Fruit and Cake Cups.

This was mostly just an 'assemble' recipe, but it was quite tasty. Even I learned something as Rachael demonstrated the easiest way to peel a kiwi.

For our main course, Wyatt chose the Turkey Chili, Cheddar and Bacon Burgers.  Does lettuce, cheese, red peppers, scallions, and bacon on a burger count as a salad?  I said, "Sure, why not?"

At the time, I wondered why he was having trouble cutting up the red peppers.  When I saw the pictures, I realized this 'lefty' was cutting them with his right hand!

Cooking session #1 was a huge success.  He's already picking out recipes for next time.
So, how did you learn to cook?  Was it at your grandmother's house?

I'm joining the following parties:
Little Red House for Mosaic Monday
Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday
Cedar Hill Ranch for Cowgirl Up Tuesday
Cozy Little House for Tweak It Tuesday
Vintage on a Dime for Welcome Home Wednesday
Have a Daily Cup for Share Your Cup Thursday
No Minimalist Here for Thursday Open House
Rattlebridge Farm for Foodie Friday
My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday
Look What Mom Found for Kids in the Kitchen

MY VALENTINES

GRANDCHILDREN ARE THE REWARD FOR SURVIVING PARENTHOOD.  Here are our rewards - the best Valentines ever.

First, The Beauty --

Then, The Cutie --

Our Valentine baby turns 11.  We had the family celebration this past weekend.  Needed to spread the treats out a little with a birthday party and a Valentine party at school, plus Wednesday night youth at church.  That's a lot of sugar going down!!

Caitlin and Wyatt, you will always be the sweetest treat ever.

ONE CLOCHE, TWO CLOCHE

If one cloche is good ---

Does that make two better?

I'm joining Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for her winter cloche party.  Check out the party for a plethora of inspiration and thank Marty for hosting the get together.

FIGURING OUT COLOR RELATIONSHIPS AGAIN!

You have probably heard the furniture/accessory adage that 'buy what you love; and it will all go together when you get it home'.  Does this also apply to color and fabric?  I have spent years trying to figure out the relationships between colors with some success, but with a whole lot of failures, too.  It just doesn't seem to come natural to me - it takes a lot of practice.

Strange, I know, but two of my favorite colors are brown and black.  Do they go together?  I decided to do a pillow experiment using scraps of wool that I had on hand.  I gradated brown and black, light and dark to see if they blended together.

For years, I used this technique when making quilts from scraps.  Below is one of my old work sheets from a quilt I made. I would pick out a couple of fabrics (shown upper left in photo below) to use repeatedly to unify the quilt; then I chose fabrics from my stash to add.  I would lay them out in gradation; then squint my eyes or photograph them to see if there was something that stood out in a bad way.  I'm sure in this particular quilt I eliminated bright yellows, and used the brighter red as an accent.

This is the quilt that resulted from that exercise.  It ended up having 96 different fabrics in it.

Even after many, many of these worksheets/quilts, I still struggle.

So now do I think black and brown go together?  Yes, but maybe it's because I just love the two colors.  (By the way, I'm terrible at picking out paint colors - I need more practice!)

Check out the following blogs for lots of inspiration:
No Minimalist Here for Thursday Open House
The Shabby Creek Cottage for Transformation Thursday
The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday
Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday
Funky Junk Interiors for Saturday Nite Special
The Dedicated House for Make It Pretty Monday
Cozy Little House for Tweak It Tuesday
Primp for Primp Your Stuff Wednesday
Ivy and Elephants for What's It Wednesday

BUCKET BRIGADE

Alison at The Polohouse threw out quite the challenge for her monthly party, Favorites on the First, for February.  We were to blog about our favorite container.  As I looked around our house, I was overwhelmed with containers.  Guess we have been  accumulating more than our share of containers over the last 55 years - all vintage or antique.  There are scads of baskets and  totes.  Then there are the tool boxes, tackle boxes, tin document boxes, wooden graduation boxes, metal candy boxes, writing boxes; even two ballot boxes.  There are huge old trunks, children's suitcases, and blanket chests; plus a vintage Coca Cola cooler, a chicken coop, and an egg carrier.  Then I saw all of the old drawers and small drawer units that I use for display and storage.  PLUS, there are the soup tureens, pitchers, bowls, crocks, and apothecary jars.  How can I choose my favorite container?  In the end, I decided to go simple and show you my five wooden buckets.

Here they are marching down our dining room table -- not containing anything at the moment!

They are workhorses, however.  At Christmas, they contained an amaryllis, a poinsettia, and a wonky, Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

They have been known to hold fabric scraps, utensils, fruit, or our loose change.

The little red one below usually holds my clothespins; and the lidded one on the left held my mother's clothespins.

I had to throw in the following picture that was taken 42 years ago of our son when he was three.  He was helping his 'Grammy' (my mother) with the laundry - his job was hanging up the cleaning rags to dry.  See the bucket with the clothespins!

I love the patina on every single one!

In addition to The Polohouse I'll be displaying my bucket brigade at the following parties.  Please check these blogs out and thank them for hosting.

From My Front Porch to Yours for Treasure Hunt Thursday
Have a Cup for Share Your Cup Thursday
Common Ground for Be Inspired Friday
The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday
Jennifer Rizzo for Fabulously Creative Friday
A Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesday
Knick of Time Interiors for Knick of Time Tuesday
Vintage On a Dime for Welcome Home Wednesday
Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays

WICKER INDOORS?

I've been enamored with wicker for years.  Consequently, we have wicker on both our front porch and our screened-in porch.

Lately, however, I've been thinking about a wicker chair for inside.  The search began -- since I really didn't need it, I set my sights high on natural wicker in EXCELLENT condition thinking I would never find one to my liking.  Also, I wanted one with some sort of skirt on all four sides.

A couple of days after Christmas, we were killing time looking through the local antique shops; and I spied it.  Even though the skirt was short, it did go around on all four sides. The price was right, so home it came.  It didn't have a cushion so that was my project for this week.

I chose a black corduroy upholstery fabric from Hobby Lobby with a plaid cording.  I wanted to keep the cushion cost under $10.

I'm pleased -- something a little different for us.  Our house is getting more casual in our old age!

LINKING TO THE FOLLOWING:
Common Ground for Be Inspired Friday
Miss Mustard Seed for Furniture Feature Friday
Funky Junk Interiors for Saturday Nite Special
The Dedicated House for Make It Pretty Monday
Creative Cain Cabin for Budget Decorating Party Tuesday
Cozy Little House for Tweak It Tuesday
Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays
The Vintage Farmhouse for Creative Things Thursday
From My Front Porch to Yours for Treasure Hunt Thursday

MORE BEAUTIFUL BROWN TRANSFERWARE

See that big brown transferware platter on the top shelf?  It was a surprise gift from a friend recently.

 It's huge.  It's heavy.  It's old.

 It is beautiful in its simplicity.

What's not to love?

Thanks Maryvonne.  I was surprised and thrilled beyond belief.

I'll be showing off my platter at the following linky parties.  Check them out for more inspiration.

Common Ground for Be Inspired Friday

Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday
The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday

The Dedicated House for Make It Pretty Monday

Cedar Hill Ranch for Cowgirl Up Tuesday

A Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesday

Primp Junktion for Primp Your Stuff Wednesday

No Minimalist Here for Thursday Open House

The Vintage Farmhouse for Creative Things Thursday

PYROGRAPHY

Pyrography is a craft that involves burning designs into wood or leather with a wood burning tool.  It was popular in the early 1900s to make decorative objects for the home and as an artistic pastime.  The Flemish Art Company produced a pyrography kit that contained various flammable fuels, brushes, carving tools, burning points, and practice boards with a prestamped design.
We have a couple of examples of pyrography that we picked up at yard sales about 20 years ago for a couple of dollars.

This coat rack has a poppy design that was colored with water colors.

It has really pretty copper hooks.

The other piece we found was this handy little table.  It's a great size to move around when a place to put a drink is needed.

It is Moorish in design, but the wood burning pattern is cherries.

It is rather crudely made probably out of basswood.  Pyrography kits often came with premade designs for picture frames, glove and handkerchief boxes, and bookcases.

It's interesting to think about a homemaker 100 years ago doing a craft to beautify her home -- what would she think about the blog world and all of our projects?

As a child I always wanted a wood-burning kit, but my parents wisely never bought me one.  They can be quite dangerous -- I probably would have blown the house up or maimed my fingers.     I'll just enjoy the two vintage pieces that we have.

I'm linking up to the following:
Funky Junk Interiors for Saturday Nite Special
Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Knick of Time for Knick of Time Tuesday
Vintage on a Dime for Welcome Home Wednesday
Have a Daily Cup for Share Your Cup Thursday
Common Ground for Be Inspired Friday

CHECKING OUT CHECKS AND OTHER REVISIONS

The year, 2012, was full of expensive projects around here -- a new roof, new outside paint job, partial fence replacement; then the washing machine, water heater, my sewing machine all decided to wear out and needed replaced.  Plus, my faithful recliner was declared threadbare, and needed reupholstered.  Hopefully, this year will just involve some small things to keep our home updated.  

First, on my list is new bedding and window treatments for the guest bedroom.  I can't decide what I want, so right now I'm checking out how I feel about checks.  It appears everything out there is white, light, and minimal.  Am I the only one craving color, dark, and layering?

Just auditioning at the moment -- so I brought in Bob's 1960's wool jacket and my mother's 1940's beaver cape.  (Told you that we hold onto everything!)

  One 30-minute project I did complete this week was a new pillowcase for my neck pillow on my reupholstered recliner.  I used this piece of menswear cotton flannel check from my stash.   There isn't a before picture - it was too horrible to photograph! This little baby pillow was a shower gift to my mother before I was born.  It has traveled the world with me, and I'm rarely without it.  It makes a great airplane pillow.  Do you think I am attached after all of these years?

 In an effort to update the little things, I also did this 1-hour project this week.  This chandelier provides great ambient light in our living room, but poor thing was stuck in 2003.

It was a bit 'frou-frou' for our now more casual style.  So, I removed the cord cover; cut the beads off the shades; then spray painted the fabric with ordinary flat black paint.

I have more small updates planned around the house, but for now I'm involved in another revision.  If any of you have been involved in publishing, you know that deadlines are usually short -- as in "drop everything else, and do it now" short.  I have one of those deadlines, as I edit a condensed version of one of my books for publication into a booklet form.  I'll be back when I'm done pouring over the book!

I'm joining the following:

Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday

The Dedicated House for Make It Pretty Monday

Cozy Little House for Tweak It Tuesday
Creative Cain Cabin for Budget Decorating Party Tuesday

Vintage on a Dime for Welcome Home Wednesday

Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays

No Minimalist Here for Thursday Open House

Common Ground for Be Inspired Friday

AFTER-CHRISTMAS THOUGHTS

The Christmas season is almost over for another year. 

I'm afraid that all of my Christmas decorations and trees are still up, which is unusual for me.  I'm always ready to take them down the day after Christmas, but haven't begun yet.  Hopefully tomorrow I'll begin the chore before they gather any more dust!

Our son is still here visiting, and the grand kids have been in and out; so I'm still in a semi-cooking mode.  I'm anxious to give the kitchen a break - it needs a good scrubbing to dispose of all of the cookie sprinkles and crumbs.

   Our son goes home tomorrow to prepare for another semester of teaching school, but the grand kids will be out of school for another week.  That means a trip to the city for our annual ice skating excursion, plus several more days of in and out of our house to raid the refrigerator and freezer.  That's a good thing as I don't need to eat any more of those cookies!

I do love this time of year when everything slows down for me giving me time to sew, clean, and organize.

Christmas was good; it's all good as I cherish each day that I'm given!

I seem to be blog-brain dead at the moment, so I'm taking the easy way out by reviewing my most viewed posts for 2012.  

#1 -- The acquisition of our industrial cart - a steal at $20.  View the post here.

#2 -- My first experience with making a penny rug, and now I'm hooked on wool applique.  I'm working on a new project, but it's labor intensive; so won't be finished for another month or so.  For the original post, click here.

#3 -- Finishing up a small renewal of our screened-in porch.  Check it out here.

 #4 -- Colorado Farmstyle Christmas - read about it here.

And #5 -- The renovation of this record cabinet - here.

Hopefully, I'll get my blogging mojo back soon, and will have something new for you to view.  

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I just realized I need to do something about my Christmas header -- another project for tomorrow.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

The decorating is done; the shopping is finished and wrapped; and now I'm in cooking mode.  Everything is leading to the reason we celebrate this glorious season - the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

I'm going to take some time off from blogging, so I can fully reflect on this GREATEST GIFT OF ALL!  May you all have a joyous Christmas week.

Below are some images from our collection of  antique Christmas postcards.  Hope you enjoy their sentiments and wonderful artwork.