Mirror, mirror, on my wall

I picked up this mirror at a garage sale a couple of weeks ago. It once sat atop an old dresser that was long gone. I love the size and the shape. The finish was rough. I hate to paint perfectly good pieces, but this was a candidate for a little paint TLC.

I took off the back and the mirror is stamped January '20. I knew it was old, just not that old. I very carefully took the mirror out of the frame and cleaned it up good. I think the streaky imperfections are just right.

A coat of primer and a couple coats of black paint later I think it's gorgeous. I plan on putting it in my office.

Joy

Thankful Thursday and where I've been

This week I'm thankful for my health. I have bad habits just like everyone else, but I'm working on them.

Weight Watchers this week was good. I came down another 3.6 pounds over two weeks. Remember we were canceled the week before.

Today I'm having fits. Nothing in particular is wrong, I just feel like throwing things and screaming. Do you ever have those days?

Anyway, here's what I've been doing. I found a thrifty artichoke that was painted gold and repainted it almond. I hung these little cross-stitched hearts next to the basement door. On my newly painted walls.I painted this wall and hung this stuff up. Seriously, plaster is hard to hang stuff on. I've been fighting with the quilt rack for a week. Today I got serious and used screws. DH is going to kill me when he figures it out. Everything else is hung with super sticky Velcro.Not satisfied with painting the one little area, I ended up repainting all of the woodwork in the hallway. Here's the telephone niche. See my little uranium glass lamp and the old flycatcher?I bought new-old china. It's not really that old. They quit making this pattern in 1985, the year I graduated high school. It's made by Royal Jackson and is the Celebrity pattern in platinum. I paid five bucks for the whole mess. Service for 8 with only 5 cups.Other than that I've just been puttering around.

Tomorrow we're going to NM so we can pick up a grandfather clock and snuggle the grandbaby. I could care less about the clock, but I need some baby time.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week and has an even better weekend.

Baby, it's cold outside

It's a whopping 10 degrees right now. I'm glad I can stay in and don't have to get out in it. It seems to be especially slick this morning. DH went down the driveway almost sideways. Yikes!

Yesterday I stayed in and had kept warm with many cups of tea and one too many cups of coffee. I evidently have caffeine overload because I haven't been to bed yet. I've painted, scrubbed the floors, and cleaned the kitchen, but haven't slept. Of course now that it's time to be up and moving my old eyes are getting heavy. It probably wouldn't take much for me to have a little nap.

I hope everyone is having a marvelous Wednesday. Stay warm and safe out there.

Jars

I love old jars and use them for everything. They're perfect for holding what-nots.

Mom and I ran across a steal of a deal on old jars at the thrift store a couple of weeks ago. Most were 30 cents or something ridiculous like that. I couldn't pass it up.

Here are the ones I got.

These three are half gallon jars and came with the lids. L to R: Presto, Kerr, and Ball. The Presto is clear, Ball is turning purple, and Kerr is more grey than blue.

These are quart jars and didn't have lids, but I think I have some somewhere.L to R: Ball, Drey square, Drey round, and Pine. I'd seen Drey before, but only in antique stores. I'd never seen Pine before and can't find anything out about it. The Ball is a lovely blue.

These are four old jars that I've had for a long time. I love the aqua in the big square one and the purple in the one next too it is gorgeous along with about a zillion air bubbles. The little round one should have a bail on it. You can see the spots for it on the neck. The last one is a square Atlas with ribbing and has an Atlas lid.

So what do you have in your old jars. Besides beans and bullets. :)

Doors!

Look what my mom bought me for Christmas! (Yes, I went back and took pictures.) :)
There's a pair and they measure 6'7" tall and are 2 feet wide. Perfect for my dining room. I'll have to find hinges since there's only half of each one there, and I need a door knob.

It's not going to hurt a bit when I scrape off the painting in the lower panel.

I'm getting excited about tearing up the front of my house and living in a construction zone. Until then I'll just keep collecting bits and pieces.

Thanks Mom!

Trifoliate orange

Have you ever seen one?Mom and I spotted a funny little tree with gobs of orange fruit next to an abandoned house a few weeks ago and our curiosity was piqued.

Also known as the Chinese Bitter Orange (Poncirus trifoliata), the fruit smells heavenly. It's a little on the citrusy side, but spicy too. The skin is kind of fuzzy, but not like a peach. The inside is segmented like an orange, but the seeds are more scattered. Taste, oh my word. Stick your finger in your ear and then in your mouth. I'm talking bitter. By the way, I don't recommend the whole finger/ear/mouth thing, but honest to goodness, that's what it tastes like. The juice is sticky like glue. It took 437 Wet Wipes to get the gunk off my fingers and out from under my fingernails.

Supposedly you can make marmalade out of these, but their use as rootstock is more common since they appear to be hardy to zone 5.

Okay, horticultural lesson over.

Nothing much is going on around Aunt Jo's house. I'm studying for a test tomorrow in physics. Fun stuff.

I did a little surfing and decided this is what we're having for dinner. I love sauerkraut. DH will probably turn up his little Irish nose and complain, but der hausfrau says suck it up and give it a try.

In thrifty news, I bought a package of old hankies for $2 at the thrift store. Thrift Shop Romantic hit the mother load of old hankies. Check it out.

Have a great week and I'll be by to see everyone soon.

NSM - Project #2

A plethora of pillows. The two on the far right were made a couple of weeks ago. The remaining four were made today.

I saw a pillow made from an old dresser scarf at a garage sale and fell instantly in love, but not $5 worth. The idea was planted and here we are.

I picked up some old feed sack material for a ridiculously low price at the newer thrift store a while back and used that for the pillow. I dug in my stash of worn out dresser scarves found some that complimented the fabric in color.

The dresser scarves I used had holes in the center and generally weren't usable. I thought this was a cute way to showcase old handwork and be able to enjoy it.

Where does the time go?

Let's see. This weekend was the city-wide garage sale. I have to admit it was disappointing. I didn't find much of anything at all. Well, at least nothing I was really looking for anyway.
Out of 40 sales, this is all I bought. How sad. I think I may pass next year.

Here's what I ended up doing with my dressed up sunflowers. The basket and leaves are thrift store finds. The cat-tails were cut from the local fishing hole a couple of years ago and dried. The rust flowers were $1 from the dollar store. For very little money I've got a new centerpiece for the dining table.

I'm working on some stuff for September. Does anybody know what September is?

Signature quilt

I bought a tatty old quilt at a garage sale on Friday. The seller was the grandson of the quiltmaker and said that she was from Shamrock, Texas and the quilt was probably 100 years old or older.

Since then I've done a little snooping and if the Doris Ann Hoodenpyle is the same one (what are the chances there are two with a mother by the name of Ruth?) then this quilt would date from 1931 to 1940. I've found four of the signers in Cotton Co., OK.So now, what do I do with it?

Here are the signature blocks.
Ressie Austin
J.A.L.
J.C.L.
Gladys Crow
Stella M.
Margaret Hawkins
Ethel Hoodenpile
Helen L.
Jessie Daniels
Sandlin
Doris Ann Hoodenpyle
Louise Hawkins
Clara Crow
Ella Susan or Suson
Ruth Hoodenpyle
Mrs. W.D. Spurlock
Mrs. L.?
Betty D.
Mrs. Hawkins
Doris L.
I know I would be thrilled to find a block that one of my grandmothers had signed, even if I could only have a picture. Should I offer the blocks to descendants in the unlikely event they contact me? Donate the quilt? What? Help me out here.

Is it Friday already?

Wow! This week blew by in a hurry.

Guess how much sewing I've done. Go ahead, guess. Zero. Nada. Zip. Zilch. I've only been downstairs long enough to empty the dehumidifier and come back up.

Mom and I toodled off to an estate sale this morning. I didn't buy anything. Ha! I had you there for a minute didn't I. Of course I bought stuff.

This hand-quilted lap quilt. Double-sided no less. $5.

4 yards of 60 inch blue toile for $2.
More glassware. $4 for the big pink bowl, 10 cents for the pink saucer, 25 cents each for the clear bowls, and $2 for the oblong pink dish.
Does anyone recognize this pattern?
These two little saucers were 10 cents each.
I picked up three gingham aprons with chicken scratch on them too, but they're in the wash right now.

That's it except for the little dish I picked up for Mom. We had child behavior problems and so she took the monsters to the car and she missed the sale. Rotten brats.

Tomorrow, we conquer the fabric store.

I have a sickness

It's called loving old glass. I love how it feels in my hand, how it looks, and I love using it.
Saturday after scoring the nifty sewing machine we dropped by a local antique/junk shop. I bought two boxes of glassware for $10. In reality there were only 2 or 3 pieces that actually caught my eye, but they were certainly worth a combined $10.

I came home and unpacked the boxes and started washing. It only took me an hour or so to wash it all and dry it. I laid it out on the table and looked at it, waiting until the pieces spoke to me.

I started picking out the pieces that I had to have. Like the square divided relish tray from the 40s, naturally the two pink berry bowls, the cake plate, and the compote.

When I was finished, this is what was left. Since then, Mom has picked out the pieces she wants and there's just not a whole lot left. Most of it newer stuff.

Sickeningly enough, I went back today and bought another box for $3 and heard myself tell the lady that I'd be back.

At this rate, the dining room/living room remodel is going to have to happen soon. I need those shelves in a very bad way.

I bought a box

DH and I got up this morning and went to a few of the many garage sales.

At the first garage sale I bought this box for $10. I was jumping up and down excited about the contents of the $10 box. I nearly wet myself and thought I might faint. I thought surely there's a zero missing from that price. Nope. $10 it was.

I asked the girl if it worked and she said yes and demonstrated. I paid the sweet girl $10 and scurried to the pickup with my box, all the while hoping she wasn't chasing after me saying it was all a mistake.

Packed inside the box is a nearly pristine 1955 Singer Featherweight, model 221. It includes all of the original attachments plus a few extras, the instruction manual, the bobbin case and bobbin (very important), the foot control/power cord, and the key to lock the box.
I'm still so excited I can hardly stand myself.

My job

I bought a new old cake stand today.
It has all kinds of little flaws and bubbles.
It looks pretty with a cake on it.
Before you say anything about my lopsided, poorly iced cake, let me mention what my job is in the baking department.

I have a sister that decorates beautiful cakes, but can't bake worth a flip. I have another sister that's studying to be a chef and bakes beautifully.

My job in the baking department is to say "Oh, I have the perfect cake stand!".