A little Knit and Purl....

I was talking the other day about not being able to crochet. I was bemoaning the fact that I just can't learn. But you know what, since I CAN knit, why do I always worry about not crocheting. Why don't I just knit. I have tons and tons of beautiful yarn. Any time I would knit, I would just knit scarves. Not because I couldn't do anything else, it was just habit to do a scarf.

 

 

I learned to knit in Home Ec in the 8th or 9th grade. We had so many weeks of sewing, so many weeks of cooking and then we had so many weeks in a class that taught us how to embroidery and how to knit. At the end of each section we had a big "show". The sewing class modeled what they made, the cooking class made the food to serve (I still have the chocolate sheath cake recipe from that class and make it all the time.) And the craft class displayed their embroidery and knitting. I remember when it was my turn in the craft class, I embroidered pillow cases and I knitted a pair of Mary Jane house shoes, a lot like these only a different color.



Kinda hard to believe I can make a pair of house shoes, but I can't master making a little square dishcloth in crochet. But guess what I found? Patterns on how to knit a dishcloth. So I think I will breakout the old knitting needles and see what I can do.



I know my family is cracking up hysterically right now. What I failed to tell you is that when I knit, I am slow. Oh, I'm not slow on the actual knitting part, I can fly through that. I am slow on the getting started and sticking with it. I might knit an hour or two and put the project up and get back to it in a day month year or two. Yes that is right. It once took me almost 4 years to finish a scarf that was only about 6" wide and 3' long. What can I say, I am a procrastinator on knitting. But in my defense, I did do one for my grandson when he was only 2 and I got it finished in less than a week. Of course, he was 2 so it wasn't very big. Just saying I can finish something when I want to. I am almost afraid to tell my hubby I am going to start knitting again because he usually laughs so hard he loses his breath. But I really really want to make these dish cloths.



Once I have masterd the dishclothes, I'm going to tackle some potholders.



I'll keep you posted.

Going back in time.....

There are so many things that trigger memories of home and growing up in the 50's and 60's. Here are some things that always take me back in time.

We had an old formica table and chairs a lot like this one. Only the chairs had the same pattern as the table (I think).

Mom had the entire set of these. She had the wood spice rack with all the little people faces on the spice jars. It had a wooden fork and spoon that hung on the side of it.

Mom used to have Stanley Parties and this was one of the hostess gifts she run. It hung over Daddy's chair for years and years.

She had a set of these on her dresser, one on each end. I grew up thinking you had to have a matching set of lamps on your dresser, and I still do.

She had a set of these mixing bowls. I have a yellow one that my hubby had when we got married. My sister has two of them and we are both trying to complete a set. Mom always made peanut butter cookie dough that you had to chill for three hours in the yellow bowl. The red was always for making her homemade chocolate cake icing and the blue was for cornbread. Rachel and I cannot remember what the green was for and neither can Mom.

Oh, how we loved Tupperware. Mom had a ton of the stuff. She may still have some of it for all I know. I used to have this pitcher and this set of bowls, but through all the yard sales phases of my life, I have sold many things I regret getting rid of.

My aunt Louise had a set of these. I don't believe her pitcher looked like this. I think she had the short stubby round pitcher, but I couldn't find a picture of it. But I loved drinking out of these aluminum glasses. It kept your drink so cold.

Oh, my how telephones have changed over the years. I miss our old black rotary phone. If I pass one in an antique store, I just have to pick up the receiver and dial it for memories sake.

And what teenage girl didn't dream of having her own princess phone.

Of course, it was so unique when you could get a wall phone in your kitchen. Wow, we were so impressed. I remember Mom bought an extra long cord for the receiver and we would stretch it around the corner into the little room Dad had built on the back of the house so we could talk in private.

 And do you remember the old refrigerators with One door. Then you had a drop down or swing out plastic door for the freezer. There was never enough room in the freezer for hardly anything.

Mom had one of these wringer washers. Well, actually I think she went through two or three in my lifetime before they got city water and she was able to get a "real" washer and dryer. I was married by the time that happened. Prior to that, it was the old wringer washer, a galvanized tub on legs to rinse in and then hang the clothes on the line....even in winter.

 Oh, what a wonderful walk down memory lane. I for one am glad that we now have cell phones and that refrigerators have bigger freezers.



A sweet lady in desperate need of prayer....



Ms. Norma has been a very dear sweet friend of mine for years. We go to church together and her granddaughter and my son-in-law have been friends since kindergarten. This family is very special to me.

Ms. Norma needs are prayers. I wrote a blog about miracles and faith last April. The blog was all about Ms. Norma and her powerful faith and the miracle God has performed with her life.

In 1994, she had a transtracheal system installed to take oxygen directly to her lung and in 1995 had to undergo lung reduction surgery. They told her at that time, the surgery would probably only buy her another 5 years of living. But she beat the odds and lived 8 more years.

In October 2002 she started deteriorating again, Norma was evaluated at Vanderbilt Transplant Clinic in Nashville, TN to see if the rest of her organs could withstand the necessary lung transplant that was needed to save her life. On November 12, 2002 she was listed on the national registry for one lung transplant. In December 2002 and February 2003, she had two dry runs for transplant, but neither lung was viable. But on April 26, 2003, Ms. Norma received her new lung.

She was again told that the surgery could buy her about 5 more years at the most. Here we are almost 9 years after the surgery and she is still going strong. She still lives by herself, drives herself to the store and to church and lives a very full life. She goes for regular check ups back to Vanderbilt, about a 3 1/2 hour drive several times a year. On a visit last week, she had been having some minor problems. They have diagnosed that her body is rejecting the lung after 9 years and taking  handfuls of anti-rejection drugs daily. She needs are prayers desperately.

She asked me to share this on my blog as she strongly believes in the power of prayer. She has already seen a miracle in her life and knows God can perform another one. She is leaving this morning to go back to Nashville to Vanderbilt. They are going to do a procedure that they hope will keep the lung from being rejected. The procedure is 3-4 hours long and she will have to undergo it on a regular basis. It will be six months before they know if the procedure works. If it does work, and the rejection is stopped, she will have to have this treatment for the rest of her life and the closest place she can have it done is 3-4 hours away in Nashville so she will have regular trips. I can't recall if they are going to be weekly or monthly, but either way, it will become part of her life if the procedure works.

She is asking that each of you remember her in your prayers. If you can, put her on the prayer list at your church. Blog about her and link back to her story at http://mamawsplace4.blogspot.com/2011/04/does-god-still-perform-miracles.html if you want. Twitter a prayer request, Facebook your friends asking them to pray. We definitely believe in miracles and she is walking talking proof that God can do anything.

She reads my blog everyday and I know she would love to read your comments letting her know you are praying for her. Thank you for keeping her in your prayers.

A little flu bug....



I keep talking to or reading blogs from people who have been caught by that nasty Flu Bug. I understand this one can really bring you down. I feel for the mothers who have to watch their babies fight this nasty monster. I had it a few months ago. I don't usually let things keep me down. I am usually so hyperactive and always on the go that it really takes something for me to slow down. But Mr. Flu Bug sure knocked me for a loop.

I was reading about a dear Mom whose children are really sick this past week and my heart went out to her. But it brought back a really special memory of my childhood.

I guess I would have been about 7, Rachel around 8 and Jack around 5. This was back before Andy was born. We had one huge room on the house at that time that was a bedroom for all three of us. Jack had a twin bed on one side of the room and me and Rachel had a full size bed on the other side. We had all been sick with the flu when Mom started coming down with a touch of it. Daddy was at work all day so I am sure it was pretty rough on her. I remember she took us to Dr. Sadler and he noticed she wasn't feeling well either so he gave her some medicine too and urged her to get some rest. I remember him saying "Who will take care of the kids if you get sick, too."

So we came home, took our medicine and were scurried off to bed. Mom was going to lay on the couch for a little while and try to get some rest. I can remember her words very specifically....

"I am going to lay down a little while and I do not want any of you to get off those beds. Lay down and stay on the bed. I don't want to hear any feet hit the floor. Stay in the beds!"

Well, now, Rachel being the oldest, she was usually prone to follow orders. I don't remember her getting in any trouble growing up. Jack and I on the other hand seem to constantly be getting into something. I remember laying on that bed and getting more bored by the minute. Jack was on his bed fidgeting and restless, playing with some Matchbox cars. Our beds were caddy corner from each other and I remember thinking I wish I was over there on Jack's bed so we could play cars. Next thing I knew, I had tossed back the covers and jumped from my bed over to Jack's. I made it! Rachel, of course, had to point out that I was going to get in trouble because Mom said to stay in the bed! I reminded her that Mom said "I don't want to hear any feet hit the floor." Mine didn't. I jumped in the air and never touched the floor.

I know it was a technicality but in my little pea brain, I had minded Mommy. It's funny the memories that little things can evoke.

What a little faith can do...

 

I hope you have each had a blessed week. I turned all my problems over to God last week and He has answered many prayers for me. I had let others undermine my faith when I knew better. I think each and everyone one of my readers who took the time to comment or to email me words of encouragement. God is in control. Sometimes, you just have to step back and realize that others are not your judge. God is the only one who has that power and He knows your heart, not matter what others may think. Someone once told me it is not between you and them, it is between God and them. All I can do is pray for them. I have prayed very hard all week and He has blessed me in ways I never considered possible.

I headed to church last Sunday night for a deacon ordination. I knew it would be a spirit-filled meeting simply because that is such a reverent and poignant ceremony. But the most moving moment of the night was when the 4 year old son of our newly appointed deacon stood up, microphone in hand and sung Our God is an Awesome God while his mommy accompanied him on the piano. To have such a childlike faith. To know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God IS an awesome God. It was just a beautiful ceremony. His older daughter sung a special song as well. She has a beautiful voice. It was a blessed night that was for sure.

That Daddy will always remember this special ceremony.

The Cat's Meow....

I have loved cat's my whole life. I adore little kitty figurines to sneak into my decor. But I have never thought about cat's in the kitchen decor. My sister told me about this awesome blog called Farm Girl Pink . You should check it out. This past week, she did a post on Holt Howard Kitties. Now I had never heard of these but apparently they were all the rage in the 50's. She featured several of her items including a set of salt and pepper shakers. Aren't they cute?

 



I thought they were just precious. Then I was reading my daily blogs (I don't read a morning paper. I figure if anything newsworthy is going on somebody will blog, tweet or Facebook about it). One of the posts in my reader was from Pyrex Thrifter Sisters about a recent trip to Piccadilly Flea Market. She was pleased with a very rare find....Holt Howard salt and pepper shakers.

Do you see a pattern here? Well, the funny thing is when I went to the Heartland Antiques store this week, I was winding down my shopping and stopped to glance in one last case and look what was sitting there.

I think it is a sign that I need a set of these. This set was $20.00 so I decided to just admire them from afar.

I had sent my sister an email telling her I saw them in our favorite antique store. She called last night and we were on the phone laughing that something we had never heard of suddenly shows up three times in one week. We just couldn't believe that growing up in the 50's, we had never heard or seen these kitties. I was telling her that I just couldn't believe when I looked on the shelf and there sat the little salt and pepper kitties with the pink and blue neck scarves. My hubby chimes in with "Mom had a set of those. " Go figure!

Guess who may keep an eye out for a good deal on these little kitties. Lookout E-bay, here I come.

Fantastic Finds Friday

A friend asked me to run to a thrist store and an antique store Thursday. How could I say no? I'm glad I didn't. I got some great finds.

I fell in love with these crystal bowls. There was a set of three of them. Cost: $1.00 total for all three. Wow! That is around .33 cents each.

Found these little cups at the Thrift Store. They were $3.00 for the set. Not a bad price. Of course since they are red and white I had to get one set for me and one set for my sister. If not, she would have posted a comment telling me how good it would look in her kitchen. And since I love my big sister, I bought both cups. She is always so much fun to buy for.

Isn't this dish just adorable. I thought it would be cute to put in the beach room. The design color looks like it has sand flecks in it. I fell in love with it. Cost? Just $1.00. Wow.

But my favorite find of the day was just $2.00 at the antique store and I am absolutely loving it. It's not an antique because it is from Cracker Barrel. Doesn't matter, I love it anyway.

Not a bad day for $7.00 was it?

When $1.00 can make me happy....

I love to shop. But I am actually kind of tight with my money. I don't like to spend a lot for anything. With today's economy, every penny counts. So I have been trying to be very frugal lately, but yesterday I was out of pickles. I have found a brand of dill pickles that I love and I can only find them at the local Dollar Tree. So, despite the rain, I made a trek into town to get some pickles. While I was at the Dollar Tree, I decided to scout around for anything that caught my fancy. And I found this cute little dish towel.

So I gladly spent the extra $1 and snatched it up. It was so vintage looking that I just fell in love with it. They had some with red in it and I realize now that I should have gotten one of those to send Sis. (Yes, Rachel, I will go back over and get you one). Having no clue what to do with it after I got it home, I started looking around the kitchen for an area that I was just not satisfied with the way it looked. And noticed the bakers rack.

I thought it needed a little oomph. So I shifted the bowls around to the higher shelves on the rack.

While doing that, my recipe box that I have had for about 25 years caught my eye. It is really cute, but I just take it for granted because I've seen it for 25 years.

But I gathered it and one of the Pyrex vintage yard sale finds from last year and an old pitcher that had been in the cabinet and here is the new look. (I need to iron the dish towel, but I was so excited about the new look that I just HAD to snap the picture and iron later).

When I was scouting around for things to set here, I also found this big recipe box that I had forgotten I had. It was sitting on a little wire rack with the choppers and food processors off the end of the kitchen. I'll be looking for somewhere to move this to now.

While I was out, I stopped at Staples. I have been trying to find a way to carry all my files and catalogs to my Thirty One shows when I do them. I saw an idea on Pinterest about putting a file organizer in the Organizing Utility tote. Staples had exactly what I was looking for so I snatched it up and came home and organized my Thirty One files into a neat way to cart them to the parties. Check my Thirty One Blog for my post about this. While you are there, take my poll on the top left hand column on how many Thirty One items you own. I just love the way my file carrier turned out.

All in all, yesterday was a great day. Can't believe spending $1.00 could make me so ecstatic. As a matter of fact, I love the little towel so much I think I'll do a little giveaway. I'm going back on Saturday so leave me a comment and we'll do a little drawing and the winner will receive a towel. I'll do the drawing at 5:00 on Saturday.

A bunch of stuff about nothing...

I must admit that I love the word meandering...which the dictionary defines as to wander at random. My mind is meandering today so I thought I would just post what I'm thinking about....

.... I know we celebrated President's day on Monday, but let's officially wish George Washington a Happy Birthday today. Old George would have been 280 today. Wouldn't it be nice to be remembered for 280 years! He was only 67 when he died.

.... I was thinking the other day about all the new verbs used to describe how we let others know about our life and our likes. We used to "talk" or "write". Now we Facebook, we pin, we text, we chat, we Skype, we tweet, we blog. I'm not sure what the next generation will bring to the table of communication.

....Speaking of pinning - Have you noticed the new wave of aqua or turquoise. Many blogs are showing some gorgeous vintage items in these colors and I must say it makes me want to jump on the band wagon.

....I am also becoming fond of pink. Not sure why. Even though I am a girly girl for the most part, I have never really been a fan of pink, especially light pink. But I'm starting to really like it.

....As we approach spring, I'm beginning to see and like a lot of yellow. I may look for yellow and white for my Easter colors this year. Shouldn't say that because now I have jinxed myself. Anytime I go looking for a specific color, I find everything BUT the color I want.

....This is not my bathroom, so don't get excited. Mine is a work in process and I am finally loving thoughts for it. I'm slowly working on the decor and the lilac/lavender combination is going to work. Painting it white this spring will make a huge difference. My plans are to turn the bathroom into a garden paradise. Updates as they occur. I am going to add some of the light mint green to it as well and the wooden commode seat with a sea grass basket on the top of the tank.

....Still debating on what type of furniture for the front porch. Wrought iron or white wicker. Love them both. I just know I can't wait to get a new porch swing. I may incorporate wicker and wrought iron. Just a thought.

Happy hump day!

Wishing I could crochet....

I come from a long line of crocheters. My Mamaw Eden, my mom, my sister, my cousins. But me? Not so much. Oh, believe me I would love to. I would love nothing better than setting down with my favorite thread or yarn and crocheting to my hearts content.

But alas, it ain't a gonna happen. Mamaw Eden decided to teach me how to crochet one time. It was not a pretty site. I always thought she had the patience of Job, but I truly tested that patience. Everything I did curled up like the finger of a glove. I can do a perfect chain stitch and create the beginnings of a beautiful project....I just never figured out how to turn around and go the other direction.

Oh, I have tried many many times. Mom has tried to show me. Rachel tells me it is easy. I watch them and it does look simple. Until I try to add a row or go back in another direction. Forget it. I even watched a how-to video on You Tube with step by step help on crocheting. Nope. Couldn't get it. My IQ is 142 and I pride myself on learning new things with ease. But I am a crochet moron and just will never be able to make those lovely pieces like the rest of you.

If I can't even master a dishcloth with basic crochet there is no way I could ever make a beautiful doilie. Mamaw Eden was so talented and mom inherited that talent. They were always making doilies, fancy potholders, rugs, afghans.

I remember Mom having a bunch of pot holders similar to these hanging across the top of the wall over the kitchen cabinets.

If I could ever learn to crochet, I would make one of these soap covers. Aren't they lovely. I especially like the pastel one. I'm going to see if I can find where anybody sells these on Etsy.

Remember when crocheted toilet tissue toppers were all the rage? Mamaw made us some crocheted dresses and put them on dolls like this, but they were to set in our room, not on tissue rolls. Mine was pink.

Speaking of tissue toppers, check these out.

Mamaw also made each family a tissue topper poodle. She made some soap covers to but I can't recall if they were poodles or turtles.  

If I could crochet and was an expert, I would definitely make myself one of these tissue toppers. It would probably be the one dead center or the one on the bottom row, far left. I would make them in soft lavenders and white. I'm going to have to poll my friends to see who I can hire to make me one of these lovelies for my bathroom.

Oh, and dear sweet sister of mine, I could use one of your dishclothes in lavendar and white. She makes the neatest dishclothes. I use them for so many things besides just doing dishes. I like to have her color co-ordinate them with rooms. That way when they come out of the laundry, I put them back in the room they go in. I have one for cleaning kitchen counters, one for wiping down bathroom sinks, one I only use with Mean Green to clean any tough scuff marks or spills on the kitchen floor. I love them.

Alas, if I could just learn to crochet I could make my some myself. Maybe someday.