FINISHING UP THE PORCH

We've been working on the porch a little this spring and summer - spiffing it up and finishing some projects.  This week we painted our resin wicker furniture.  Over the years, it had become sun-faded and was starting to look pretty tacky.

You can see in the picture below how faded it was getting.

We chose Krylon Fusion spray paint in Black Satin.  We're pleased with the look - time will tell how well it holds up.

As I mentioned in a previous post here that the porch has become the depository for all of the industrial and farming stuff that we have accumulated over the years.  Here's some farm trivia -- do you know what this triangle apparatus is?

It is an acreage measuring device.  From tip to tip it is 6.6 feet. If you pivot from point to point l00 times that is 660'; and 660' by 660' is equal to 10 acres.  This particular one was manufactured by a small company in the Colorado farming community that we grew up in; and we found it in my Dad's workshop.

The circular window on the left was in the house that Bob grew up in, and the etched glass window was in the house where my Dad was born in 1913.  Below is a chimmey cupboard for storing the cushions, my mother's wooden ironing board from 1937 (which we use when we set up a drink station on the porch), and my Dad's workshop tractor seat.

This is the first year that we have grown sunflowers, and they are putting on quite a show for us, as we can see them from the porch!

Some of you have inquired if we are in the path of the Colorado Springs wildfire.  We live about 20 miles southwest from Pikes Peak (as the crow flies).  So far we have had only one little fire a week ago which was quickly extinguished.  Because of the current wind patterns, we are not even experiencing any smoke problems.  You can see in the above sunflower pictures how blue our skies were this morning.    BUT, in Colorado Springs this is a horrific fire of epic proportions -- at least 32,000 people have been evacuated from their homes.  Our local TV comes from Colorado Springs, and it was just terrible watching the houses burn last night.  The weather is not cooperating at all - it is dry, hot and windy.  They are saying it will take a long time to contain this fire.  These people will be in danger for awhile - please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.


I'm linking with the following:
No Minimalist Here for Thursday Open House Party
The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday
Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday
Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday 
Please check these blogs out, and tell them thank you for hosting.

RECORD CABINET TRANSFORMATION

We bought this little record cabinet cheap at a junk store recently.  The bottom was natural wood, but we thought it would look more up-to-date with a painted finish.  We hoped to take it out of its l970s misery.  Sorry, no 'before' picture.

 Bob refinished the cherry top, and gave the bottom a painted and glazed finish.

 It turned out nice, we think.

Evidently, someone else did, too.  It sold within 15 minutes of being delivered to the consignment store!


OK, it's the first day of summer - now can we have Fall & Winter?  In arid Colorado, it is hot, dry, buggy, windy and the forest fires are raging.  So many homes have been lost; please pray for those people in harm's way.


I'm joining the following parties -- please go by these blogs for inspiration galore.
Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday
Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Restore Interiors for Restored It Wednesday
The Shabby Creek Cottage for Transformation Thursday
Miss Mustard Seed for Furniture Feature Friday

HICKS FROM THE STICKS OFF TO THE CITY

We took a couple of fun days off from just hanging around the house, and went to the big city -- Denver!  

The first day we met our son and went to the new History Colorado Center.  It has only been open a short time in its new facility, a block south of the old Colorado History Museum on Broadway.  It was enjoyable, but a little slick and high tech for our tastes.  We missed the old museum that was packed so full of artifacts that you could actually FEEL the history.  We will go back, however, when more of the new exhibits are open.  One of the temporary exhibits was Colorado - past, present and future; - all done in Legos.  Fun, fun - my favorite was the row of the tiny, blue porta-potties done in Legos, but all of the Colorado landmarks executed by the Lego artists were great!

We then hit our favorite antique mall on South Broadway, had Colorado Hacienda Mexican food, and checked into our hotel to find we had been upgraded to a suite at no extra cost - a nice surprise.  It doesn't take much to please us hicks!

  On our second day, we went to the Old Glory Antique Fair in Clement Park.  Clement Park is right next to the infamous Columbine High School - always a sobering moment when you remember what took place there.

But on this day, it was all about junking and antiquing.

After 50 years of antiquing, we don't buy much anymore (sorry, dealers); but we love checking everything out for trends and seeing what people are buying.

 We saw several industrial carts -- all in the $500-600 range, which makes our $20 cart from a yard sale a REAL bargain.  Read about that score here.

 This was a great seed box, and I've always wanted one; but way out of our price range.

 Lots of industrial and farmstead goods.

 We laughed about this chicken coop - another winter on the farm and it would have been a pile of splinters.  And, in our opinion, was pretty pricey at $65 for that kind of patina!

 After a morning of sun, we headed south and stopped at our favorite antique mall in Colorado Springs; then home.  In my childhood, we would go to Denver from the farm 3-4 times a year to shop, eat, and observe.  It's still a thrill for me!

So, what did I buy?

 I keep saying I'm going to quit buying brown transferware, but I can't seem to pass up a nice specimen like this tureen for $12.  It has a hairline crack in the lid, but still pretty on the shelf at that price.

In my continuing search for items with the number 15, I found a cue ball, a bingo card, and a cash register indicator.  Part of my discipline is that I will not spend more than $10 and preferably under $5 for these things.  Don't ask what I'm going to do with them -- I'm getting quite an assortment, but the fun is in the search.


Please check out the following blogs that I'm linking to this week, and thank them for their efforts.
Southern Hospitality for Monday Thrifty Treasures
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for Tuesday Treasures
Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday
From My Front Porch to Yours for Treasure Hunt Thursday
Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday
White Ironstone Cottage for Treasure Chest Friday

SCHOOLS OUT!

We are officially in summer mode at the Salmagundi household -- spending lots of time with the grandkids this past week.

Caitlin wanted to make a sun dress  -- so first you cut, then you sew, then you model!

She spent some time looking through old photos for some pictures to add to her Facebook page.

We found this cutie -- she always did like to model her new clothes.

Our son, Mike was home for a few days -- he is on summer break from teaching high school, and hadn't been home since Christmas.  So, a lot of cooking took place.  We tried the recipe for pulled pork and slaw that was posted on 
Just Another Hang Up (originally from Family Circle).  Thanks, Suzanne, for bringing it to my attention!  We really liked it, and definitely will be adding it to our permanent file.  No pictures -- it was devoured before I even thought about the camera.  Check for the recipe here.

We were in charge of Fellowship Hour at church today, so I enlisted Caitlin to help with the cookie making.  She baked while I did the hand work on her dress.

She made Whoopie Pies -- that's the marshmallow gooey filling she's licking off the beaters.  

You can't beat this gooey goodness!

Now, grandchild #2 is feeling neglected.  I've got to think of some ideas to entertain a 10-year old busy-boy this week.  One thing, Papa is going to give him his first lesson in mowing the lawn.  Have to get these kids ready to take over before we get too much older!!!


Here's Grammy with Miss Attitude and Mr. Mischievous/Busy Boy.  With these two around, Grammy is getting older by the minute!

Added on Monday -- Wyatt began his mowing lesson, and Papa made sure he was doing it right!!

Please check out the following blogs.  I'll be partying with these ladies this week.
Little Red House for Mosaic Monday
Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays
Very Merry Vintage Style for Share the Love Wednesday
The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday
Rattlebridge Farm for Foodie Friday
Romantic Home for Show & Tell Friday
Funky Junk Interiors for Saturday Nite Special

MORE ON THE PORCH

It seems that our screened-in porch has become the depository of all things ranch/farm/industrial that we have accumulated over the years.  In an effort to corral some of the stuff into a sense of order, Bob put up a shelf in one corner last week.  The brackets are some sort of hardware store thingies that were in my Dad's farm workshop.

 The round window came out of Bob's childhood home.  I, also, have the window that was in the farm house where my Dad was born.  As soon as we get the frame spruced up, I'm going to hang it in this corner, too.

 The red barn lantern belonged to my great-grandfather; the blue-tipped thing is a sheep brand in the shape of an H for my family name; plus a cow bell; my Dad's spurs; and more brands.

There is still more stuff to organize and display.  

In the meantime, this is the view from the porch -- our shrub roses have been beautiful this year!

INDUSTRIAL CART!!

We've been looking for an industrial cart for awhile to use on our screened-in back porch as a coffee table.  But, we knew that we would NOT be paying $1200.00 for one like we saw a couple of weeks ago at an antique mall in Colorado Springs.

I was excited when Bob came home from a local yard sale with this one -- it's not as fancy as the $1200.00 one; but still a pretty neat specimen.  AND, IT ONLY COST $20.00 - YES, TWENTY DOLLARS!

It has big, heavy industrial wheels and was manufactured by the Nutting Truck and Caster Company in Faribault, Minnesota.

It also has the two brackets for placement of poles for guidance.

There is evidence of both blue and green paint from sometime in its past.  The yard sale person thought that it had been used in a creamery.

It's now retired and its only job is to hold my begonias and to satisfy my urge for some industrial chic.  Love it!!

I'll be joining the following parties this week.  Please go by these blogs and thank them for hosting such fun parties each week.

Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays

From My Front Porch to Yours for Treasure Hunt Thursday

Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday

Miss Mustard Seed for Furniture Feature Friday

Funky Junk Interiors for Saturday Nite Special

Southern Hospitality for Thrifty Treasures Monday

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for Tuesday Treasures

Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

LATE SPRING CLEANING & FINISHING UP SOME PROJECTS

We have been able to finish up a couple of projects this week.  

Forever, I have been on a mission to outfit all of my base cabinets in the kitchen with sliding drawers.  And this week, Bob finished making the six drawers for the last two cupboards!  They are wonderful -- so much easier on this old back to access stuff.   The two base cupboards contained most of my good crystal serving pieces, vases, punch bowl/cups.  It was almost impossible to retrieve them previously without standing on my head.  And, of course, I couldn't put everything away without washing all of it.  Now, there are just 16 more cupboards to clean in my late effort to do some spring cleaning.

Also, on the agenda this week is to get the outside of the house and the windows all washed.  Yesterday, we took everything from our screened-in porch out on the lawn to scrub the winter dirt away!  We plan in the next couple of weeks to make a couple of changes on the porch -- so I'll wait until then to take some photos out there.

In my continuing effort to acquaint myself with my new sewing machine, I decided to make a quilted table runner.  In the past, I've always machine-pieced my quilt tops, but always hand-quilted the layers together.  With the new machine and all of its bells and whistles, I decided to try machine quilting.  This is my first effort.  It was fun, but I still prefer the hand-quilted look.  

Our table is 7 feet long so it took 28 'Courthouse Steps' blocks to make the runner.
Lot's of work planned for this week -- better get going!!!


I'm joining the following parties this week.  Please check them out for inspiration -- you won't be disappointed.
Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays
No Minimalist Here for Thursday Open House
The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday
Funky Junk Interiors for Saturday Nite Special
Dear Little Red House for Mosaic Monday
A Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesday

WHAT'S BLOOMING?

Our perennial garden is at its best this time of the year.  Colorado is an arid state, and once it gets hot and dry, the flowers suffer.  Water is very expensive here, but we do water a lot to keep the gardens going for the rest of the summer, but they just aren't at their peak later on.

Right now -- our roses are putting on a show!

 The peonies are lush.  I picked a bouquet for the house today.

 My favorite red poppy is blooming.  They usually bloom on Memorial Day, but I'm afraid they will all be gone by then this year.

 And this beauty was a gift from Mary Ellen at 
Mary's Meanderings that she shared with me two years ago.

We have also scads of old-fashion rose bushes covered with blossoms.  The one by our shed is at least 10 feet tall, and has been covered with pink, fragrant blooms.  Plus, the spirea and valerian are blooming.

Bob has planted all of the annuals that do the best in our hot, dry climate - geraniums, petunias, zinnas, allysum, and impatiens.  And the vegetable garden is looking good - we've already harvested lettuce.  I can not take any credit for our beautiful yard.  I wouldn't work out there in all of that dirt and sun for anything.  Bob does all of the yard work.  I just enjoy his efforts.

May you all have a sweet-smelling weekend!!

By the way, Bob found something pretty special at a yard sale this morning.  I can't wait to show you next week after we get it cleaned up.


I'll be joining The Polohouse for Favorites on the First.  Please check it out for more garden inspiration.

MOTHER'S DAY

My mother was an impeccable housekeeper and a green-thumb gardener. She even ironed her cleaning cloths because she said they looked better in the drawer. Her garden was full of flowers, especially lots of roses; and she brought into the house bouquets every day. Until I was in grade school, I thought everyone lived that way. Didn't everyone have a hand-painted iris vase with iris in it on their dressing table; or roses floating in a crystal rose bowl on the breakfast table? And, why wouldn't you iron and dust everything in site?? I realized that my mother had something special going on, as not only was I and the house her focus; she worked full time building her career for 40 years with the U. S. Government. Among the many things she instilled in me, however, was a special appreciation for a sparkling household with beautiful things in it!

I miss her every day.

I've also been blessed with a great mother-in-law. When the stories circulate about mother-in-law antics and problems, all I can say is that I sure didn't think I would have a mother-in-law for 53+ years. Yes, she will celebrate her 98th birthday next Wednesday. In her heyday, she was a prolific cook and seamstress while also working in the family grocery store plus she raised three kids. My mother was a great cook when she chose to, but she and I shared the same feelings about the kitchen -- it's at its best when clean and closed for the day. My mother-in-law, though, cooked constantly wonderful goodies - I've learned lots about cooking and sewing from her over the years.

The iris vase is the one that belonged to my mother, and it is sitting on her dressing table that now resides in our bedroom.

In the second picture, the small picture is of mother and I; and the larger picture is of my mother-in-law with Bob and his two sisters.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, EVERYONE!

THE GRANDPARENT TOOL

We've all heard the sayings-- "If I had known how much fun grandchildren were; I would have had them FIRST!" -- "Grandchildren are the rewards for surviving your own children" -- etc.  It's true, grandchildren are one of the greatest joys in life.  Is the joy doubled because we are older and have matured in our own parenting skills? I know I definitely have learned how to pick my battles. Plus, it's nice to realize that we aren't totally responsible for their well being.

Compared to a lot of our contemporaries, we are fairly new to the grandparenting game.  Even though we were married in our teens, we didn't have kids until our thirties -- that put us behind schedule!  We should be having great-grandkids at this point, but we are so thankful for the two grandchildren we have.  Really, the joy they bring is incomparable.

When the grandkids were little they were so adorable, we just wanted to eat them up!  Sure they had their moments, but we had THE ULTIMATE GRANDPARENT TOOL  -- the ability to hand them back to their parents.  You know how that goes:  "Does anyone smell something?-- daughter, I think you better check for poopy pants!!  I'll hold them when they smell sweet again."  A super special time -- preschoolers are so curious learning new things every single day! 

And then it hits -- They go to school!  Parents and grandparents aren't their only guiding light anymore.  There are all kinds of influences out there.  
They develop attitudes!!

They become borderline obnoxious!

You always love them to death, but you don't always like them. But once again, the ultimate grandparent tool is a life saver.  Miss Attitude will never forget the day that Grammy had had enough, packed her up, and took her home to Mom several hours earlier than planned.  No one was happy (especially Mom as she had other plans for her quiet time!). After that the attitude problem ceased (at my house, at least.)

We have now entered my favorite stage of grand parenthood with our oldest - the high school years.  It is so exciting to see her mature searching for her way in life -- trying new things out, making good decisions the majority of the time. 

 She is thinking about careers that suit her personality leaning toward something creative.  Last semester in school she even took an elective class in welding -- I think she has definitely eleminated that as a career option, however.  She has always enjoyed photography, and took a class last summer at the local college.  I was impressed with her eye for composition.  Right now with the importance of Facebook in teenager's lives, she is really into self-portraits and editing.  Here are a couple of pictures that I borrowed from her Facebook page that she took of herself, then edited.

But who knows -- she has three more years of high school -- exciting times ahead!!

All I know is that I don't want to exercise the grandparent tool any more on her -- I want to keep her close forever.

P.S.:  I'm sure there will be more to report on our impish grandson after he outgrows the semi-obnoxious stage -- the grandparent tool is still needed in his case.

SILVER AND ROSES

 Last weekend we went to a great estate sale -- that is, the antiques were great; just not the prices.  The stuff was all probably worth the asking price, but were not in our range at all.

The only thing I bought was this little 5" silver vase.  I found it out in one of the sheds with junk -- that is probably why it was marked $4.  I wanted to pay $2, but prices were firm!

I love the Greek key design and the 'loving cup' handles; and thought it will be handy to use for little bunches of posies from the garden this summer.

 Our rose bushes are covered with buds and just beginning to bloom; which is about a month early for our region of the country.    

Cold weather is in the forecast for tomorrow -- hope they don't get frostbitten!

Check out the following blog parties this week for lots of summer inspiration.

Southern Hospitality for Thrifty Treasures Monday

Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

A Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesday

From My Front Porch to Yours for Treasure Hunt Thursday

White Ironstone Cottage for Treasure Chest Friday

French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday