Life Lessons by Liam.....

Things My Toddler

is trying to teach me....

 

In 50 years

I will remember the time we spent together

not

the things you bought me....

Guess Where?

Can you Guess

what I am doing for the next few days?

of course

I will also

be hitting up

a

few secret thrifting spots
and working on a bit
of journaling

as well....

Enjoy your Wednesday!

Thriftshare Monday....

Thriftshare Monday....

after a long crazy two weeks

I finally had the chance to sneak in a quick

bit of thrifting therapy...

My Great Aunt used to collect blue glass

she had all of it displayed in her kitchen window...

I inherited a few and have added one or two

I got two of these for .25 cents each

My little tribute to my dear aunt

I love when the light shines through them in the afternoon...

Then I found these few hankies $2.00 each

and one of them looked familiar to me...



So I went home and looked through my collection.

The yellow one is just like one my mother gave me

that belonged to my Great grandmother.

I thought it would be interesting to show you all

the box my mother had kept the hankies wrapped in which was passed on to her.

It contained a few bits and pieces of tatting and lace,

some J.and P Coates thread and some other necessary sewing implements

The box has lovely age to it and beautiful graphics.

I can just see my great grandmother with this tucked away

in a drawer or her cedar chest.

She tended to hoard somewhat,

being a mother during the Great Depression.

It turns out there were lots of items "tucked"away all over the house.

For $4.50 I think I did pretty well!

What did you find?

Head on over to

Apron Thrift Girl

and see what everyone else found as well!

Happy Monday!

Life Lessons by Liam....

Life Lessons by Liam....

or

Things my toddler is trying to teach me...

Dinosaurs were the coolest thing to ever walk the earth...

Who wants a cat?

Learning is one of the few things you can do

for a lifetime and always see something new

no matter what your age....

I must admit that this was

(in his mind)

the greatest day ever to see real

Tee-Rah

bones!

Happy Friday!

Whatzit cabinet?!

Most people I know have junk drawers...

I have a cabinet in need of some help!

There is no shelf and this is the catch all for

straws

icing

sprinkles

cupcake papers

lollipops

flour

olive oil

canning supplies

etc.

Anyone have any ideas?

Been Hiding?

Posting was few and far this week.

Lots to deal with.

The end of school,

home craziness,

trying to find a summer playgroup,

work (as usual),

and 2 days worth

of the annual VDA meeting

here in Colonial Williamsburg

Things will hopefully be a bit more on schedule this week!

This was just a quick photo

I snapped while at the meeting

I Love wisteria

 and the covered walk was soooo beautiful and peaceful...

Happy Fathers day!

Strawberry Rhubarb Lovin'......

One of my favorite
things to eat in the summer
are strawberries.
I have a cousin who has a strawberry patch and
if we are ever visiting during season ,
being a family
member has it's perks!
Several years ago I got brave and tried
Rhubarb!
On that day a tradition was born... 
I know I have an actual recipe somewhere,
but when my unorganized self can't find it,
I sort of have a basic fruit pie recipe in my head I go by...
(and it works for most fruits - peaches, blueberries,plums)
I thought I'd share my process with you...

FIRST

Make sure you take off your shoes.
Barefoot is best,
(o.k. yes I need a tan)
and put on your best bakin' apron!

Cut up one stalk of rhubarb in 1 inchish pieces
and half or quarter 1 lb of strawberries
 or
1 container if your berries need to come from the grocery store.
Dust your strawberry mixture with enough sugar to coat them and then
throw on some extra..
Berries are usually a bit tart from the store
and rhubarb is tart in nature
 so I don't think you can have too much sugar.
Then I put about 2 tablespoons of flour on and mix it all up.
The flour helps to thicken the syrup.

I DO NOT MAKE PASTRY!
Pillsbury ready-made is awesome at this point in my life!
You get two rolled crusts and of all the brands I 've tried it tastes the best to me.
I spread the first one in my pie pan and gently press it into the bottom
Then pour in your berries and rhubarb

I then place the second crust across the top
and fold the lower edges into the top one by pressing between my two thumbs and pointer finger.
You can look at this and see it is not perfect,
but literally where I just pinched the crust between my fingers,
You just want to make sure the layers are sealed.
Then take your knife and cut three or four slits into
the center to let out steam .
I then crack an egg and separate the white from the yolk.
Gently brush a light layer of the egg white across the top crust
and try and coat as much as you can without soaking it.
Keep It Light!
This gives you that golden brown , slightly shiny appearance.
I also like to sprinkle sugar on top.

I then place my pie in the oven at 350*
I just like to keep my eye on the pie...
Once the crust starts to brown,
I take the pie out and wrap tinfoil around it so it won't burn.
They even make nifty Pie Protector rings....
Usually the pie takes about an hour,
but once I start to see the center showing signs of bubbling I pretty much know
it's done.
If You can stand it let the pie cool for a few hours.
Mainly so the fruit can thicken and hold together when you slice it...
But then again who cares!
It's pie and it tastes good no matter how it looks on the plate!

Viola!
Strawberry Rhubarb pie!
I know it sounds like one of those grandma recipes.
A Pinch of this and dash of that,
but I highly recommend you find a recipe or two you like
and try them all.
Then once you have made the one you like
a few times
I swear it just sort of comes to you.

Martha I am not...
but I have something she doesn't..
a hubby and family who loves to be around me
and my PIE!

Thriftshare ......

Another long hot weekend...

So hot..

I really didn't do much junking because

I felt so zapped by the heat...

Ughh...and it's only June!

Maybe the gods of junking will feel sorry for us

and allow us a few breaks this summer..

We went through the storage space  again

 and I must admit,

I could open my own store with all of the stuff I need to get rid of!

I thought I'd share a thing or two

I found at the 2 heat stroke invoking sales I stopped at..

and then two

I "found again" in storage...

Love this Kitsch little oven mitt

.25 cents!

The little vignettes and colors are very 50's in style

and it is in surprisingly good shape..

I Love some green...

I actually had 2 of these and Mr.Keeper broke one...

I'm just going to use the broken one to make jewelry with..

not  bad for FREE!

Another "rediscovery" from storage...

I have several match tins

I think I like them so much because I remember my great grandmother

having one in her kitchen...

She used it to hold the matches she lit

her gas stove and heater with every morning...

I vividly remember her doing this when we

were there in winter because I usually got up when she did

I didn't want to miss anything she did

and I wanted the first biscuit! 

I honestly don't remember what I paid for this

but I can guarantee you it was no more than $5.

I have a rule about the most I will spend for this sort of item.

This Pitcher is a reproduction

but

it was only $5!

I've got some fakies in it now

but when my roses start blooming again

I'll definitely use it for the real deal...

SO,

what did you find this weekend?

Head on over to

Apron Thrift Girl

Happy Monday all!

ARt JouRnaling....

I've been lacking in the ART department lately

Other than my photography and writing....

I've shared some of the work I completed

at

Art and Soul

but have yet to finish two projects

out of all the ones I undertook

With my busy schedule I figure this one should be the one I finish first

since I can work on it a little at a time

Kari McKnight

a.k.a.

The Backporch Artessa

helped to start me on this journey

of ARt JouRnaling

Surprisingly it took longer than I thought

but once you get a whole

book or two gessoed you can work on

more than one piece at a time

I started with a small book

Here are a few pages that are "finished" as far as background goes

Amazing how light can change how something looks

this page actually has gold book embossing where it looks dark or silver

it is very shiny!

I may still add to these but they are the few layered / textured pages I finished

The next is a good example of what to NOT do

when working on one of these pages

Lovely before....

I thought the pages were dry enough

and didn't put wax paper between them

and I got this...

Instead of being upset about it

Kari calls these "unexpected cool things" to challenge you..

I'm still contemplating what to do to change the image now

I'll keep you posted

Here is one I think is pretty much finished

unless I find something else that just has to go in!

I learned a lot of what I have been lacking

as far as texture and technique

especially in the case of mediums

My goal is to finish a page a week?

What do you think?

Happy Sunday!

Lessons your Toddler can teach you?

I remembered reading

a beautiful list by a mother

who was basically telling everyone

all the feel good and noble things her children have

taught her over the years.

I loved the list

but

of course

my mind started racing with all

of the sarcastic crazy things

I thought

MY

toddler has been trying to teach me...

That is just who I am...

I have a running list of at least 30

and as he grows I know it will as well.

I thought I'd share a few every now and then...

Toddler Teachings for Thursdays?

Lets start with two...

Life Lessons by Liam.....

1. Hide and Seek is way more fun....

If it involves your parents car keys

 or

wallet.

(extra points if the game is before work or church)

The best hiding places for said items are

The Icemaker

Under the couch

In random shoes

the bottom of a laundry basket

the bottom of the toybox

inside heating and air vents

or

drainpipes...

2) Play Hard , Nap Hard

Life is good...

Happy Thursday....

Cheers for the common man........

I love

the thoughts of  Amy Rosenthal.

Just honest,

plain, goodness.

I wonder why it is so hard

for some people to

just
be
 Happy?

This video is so fun...

Wouldn't it be nice to come home to

cheers and high fives

after a long day at work or

just dealing with life?

Enjoy!

 Try cheering someone on tomorrow....

Landmarks and Institutions....

One of my favorite things about Summertime
is when all the fresh fruit, vegetables and flowers start making their way to
The local Farmers Markets
I am all about supporting local or nearby small farms and businesses
I encourage you to try one this year
because you will be amazed at how much different food tastes
when it hasn't been
harvested weeks before it was truly ripe
or shipped months in advance
There is no comparison...
I thought I'd share some of our favorite markets to visit
during this summer...
This local market is within 5 minutes of my house and is open 6 days a week
nothing Froofy just the real deal...
If you grew up

or lived in Newport News,

especially in the Hidenwood or Hilton area...

chances are

you have some love for 

Dean and Don's Farmers Market...

bringing in local or East Coast

produce

baked goods

plants

and even Barbeque

since 1967...

This weeks specials...



They will even sell you your peas
shelled or your corn already shucked
of course for a small fee ..
But that is half the fun to me
I remember sitting with my Grandmother cutting green beans,
Sorting and shelling butterbeans with her for  friends who
owned a large farm 
and of course shucking corn and peeling all the
"Hair" off...

I love the vines in the bottom of the photo
they are a beautiful shade of green
and they grow and trail out of pots or window boxes beautifully
and they are darn near impossible to kill!
You can start more from cutting easily too.
We have always called them Sweet Potato vines...

    

Love whatever the heck these are..

I had to buy them because they were so unusual...

Squash Blossom...

If you are new to the area,

life long Newser',

passing through,

or here to visit old friends...

Stop in this Summer!

12601 Warwick Blvd.

Monday through Saturday 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Otherwise,

 I again encourage you to do something new and

try out a Farmers Market this summer!

Thriftshare Monday....

ONE last call:

before I get to Thriftshare

My winners of the giveaway

have yet to send me their info.

SuzieQ and Lisanne.

contact me by e-mail on my profile page

Thanks!

I want to get your goodies out so you can start

enjoying them!

Last 3 weeks

the amount of yardsales and estate sales has been

quite overwhelming.

Now that the weather is pretty much a steady warmth,

I guess everyone is inspired to clean out!

I have to admit I haven't been in my usual try and go to every sale mood.

After the great finds I had last week
and while trying to control my own hoard...

I decided that if I go to a sale and I am pretty happy with what I bought,

then that is where I'll stop for the weekend.

Luckily, at the first sale I went in on Saturday

I found some fun things...

Most of the rest I drove by just looked boring..

This estate sale was packed.
 There were so many people it felt like

they thought stuff was being given away!
I have learned to look where no one else is looking when it feels like that...

Then  I found these...

A closet in the kitchen full of old cookbooks, bingo cards, magazines and misc. books.

This Vintage Jello book is awesome.

I already have a couple of Jello books and some of the recipes are Heee-larious!
Stuff with vegetables in it and even fish!
Uckkkk...

I need to feature some of the recipes later...

They gave me this one for free!

No argument there...

In the same closet I picked up this enormous volume

of

Cars and Trucks and things that GO!

by Richard Scarry

for my little guy.

 $14.99 book in perfect condition for

$2

The illustrations are so much fun.

I remember pouring over and inspecting the details in these types

of illustrated books when I was a kid.

I think it helped me learn a lot of my self taught drawing skills...

Adorable bunnies all packed into the wagon

and

neat imagining the Sody-Pop truck...

Then I rummaged through a bunch of boxes under a table of DVD's

full of Christmas ornaments.

Lots of lame stuff and then in the bottom I found these

sweet wooden ornaments.

3 tiny angels on their shooting stars...

.75 cents for all three

Teeny Santa whose tree and present were still in perfect shape.

 I seem notice the bottle brushes are usually crushed or things are missing..

He was so cute I couldn't resist

.25 cents.

I'll let Liam have these for his own tree

I walked out to the garage and looked around for a bit.

Then peeping out from a box covered in old dusty vinyl and yuck-o various bits of debris...

I saw these...

Jackpot!

Vintage dime-store Christmas stockings.

They usually came with candy and novelty items in them.

I found 2 last year at a show and paid more than what I paid for this whole lot

$2!

Probably 100 in the box.

I had to refrain

from buying all of them

I know I couldn't use them all

and I'm not ready to sell yet.

I just grabbed a big handful...

at least 25-30

and they are the really large ones.

I can't wait to use them for gifts this year

and some projects I have dreamed up....

I was pretty content and decided to stop at this for the day

I only spent $5!

It was a good thrift day if you ask me!

What did you find this weekend?

I can't wait to see all the goodies at

Apron Thrift Girl

Head over and wish her a Happy 5 year Blogoversary

for the site!

Happy Monday!

Simply fantastic!

Some things about summer

are so simple

but so fun...

Discovering....

the cheap thrill...

of

BUBBLEWRAP!

Take a few minutes for some childlike

simple pleasure today...