I finally did it...

For weeks now, well maybe even months, I have been craving some of my Mom's recipe for chocolate candy. It is a dark chocolate fudge and it by far my absolute favorite candy. So you may wonder why I haven't made it. It's because you have to cook it to a soft ball stage and then beat it, like, forever. Hubby is my designated beater since my arm wears out and I have no patience. He has been working a lot of nights and I work during the day so we just haven't had time to make it. 

Yesterday though, I was really craving it and he was at work and I was bored so I decided to give it a shot. I was in one of those rare, well extremely rare times when I happened to have tons of patience available and time on my hands. So I gathered my ingredients.

Sugar, cocoa, milk, salt, butter, and vanilla, my pan and my utensils.

Mom recently sent me this platter for my platter collection. I remember her using it sometimes to pour her candy on so I got it out and buttered it real good to pour mine on. 

I mixed 2/3 cup of cocoa, 3 cups sugar, and 1 and 1/2 cups of milk in a large sauce pan, stirred it real good then placed it on medium heat. You have to stir occasionally to keep it mixed good and to keep it from boiling over. 

Once it comes to the soft ball stage, you remove it from the heat and add 4 1/2 tablespoons of butter and  1 teaspoon of vanilla. Let it rest in the pan for about a minute. Beat it in the pan with a long handle spoon. Once it gets thick and feels like it is starting to set up, pour it on the greased platter and let it cool. 

Once it starts to cool and you can tell it is setting up, cut into pieces and let it continue cooling. 

Put a few pieces on a plate and enjoy.

Here is the recipe. 

Hope you try it someday and let me know how it turns out. This was the best batch I have ever may. I guess patience is a virtue. 

Good Morning, Monday

Every single week, Monday shows up and gives me a case of the blahs. I know it's a new week and I should be thinking of all the wonderful things I can accomplish this week, but all I can thank about is "It's Monday." 

I did have a good weekend, even though I didn't do much shopping. I did a lot of "window shopping" at the Turkey Creek Public Market. Last year when they opened, there was a quilt booth and they sold adorable dishtowels. I kept meaning to go back and get some, but couldn't find her booth when I did. I found her Saturday and picked up a new dishtowel.

Look at the details. I thought these little geese were just adorable. 

I have been looking for a dishtowel to hang on the door of my toaster oven so that is where I put this one. 

I slept in some this morning and have been more productive in the past hour of my morning than I normally in during the first three hours of my morning. Maybe the key to getting things done is to get a good night sleep. Hmm, I'll have to keep that in mind. I've got some packages to send out today and I already have everything ready to head to the post office.  

Have a great week!

Happy Father's Day

I have some special people I want to wish a Happy Father's Day to today. 

Happy Father's Day to my Daddy. He has been gone 13 years and I miss him dearly. I have so many happy memories that I could right my blog everyday for a month about Daddy and never cover it all. He was loving, kind, gentle, funny, friendly, smart, handsome...I could go on and on. Suffice it to say that this is one little girl who loved her Daddy with ever beat of her heart. Happy Father's Day, Daddy.

Happy Father's Day to my dear Hubby. He has been a wonderful, loving Father to our children. He has been the quiet, strong soul behind the family for thirty one years and loves our children very much. He is working some strange hours these past few month so it has made it hard to plan any type of get-together, but he still loves his family. 

Happy Father's Day to my precious son. He is a great dad and loves his family very much. With three little ones, he is always on the go and loves to spend time with his children. Hope you have a great Father's Day, Chris.

Happy Father's Day to my son-in-law. Another wonderful father who loves his family very much. He is also very active and on the go. But he loves those quiet times when he can be home with his children piled up on his lap. Have a great Father's Day, Michael.

Four fantastic Fathers. Four great men. Happy Father's Day to each of you.

Some good finds

I checked the paper yesterday for yard sales and only one caught my eye that listed the types of items I would look for. It was just 7 minutes away from my house so I decided to pop over and see if I could find anything......and I sure did! Here are my finds for yesterday.

I fell in love with this little tea pot. I have always loved purple and yellow.

These little pins will be so cute at Christmas.

I found three dresser scarves with eyelet design. They are very pretty. I need to take the time to iron stuff before I take a picture of it. I just get so excited to share my purchases that I snap photos as soon as I get home. 

This is another pretty dresser scarf. It is a sheer lace material. 

I really loved this dresser scarf. It has butterflies on it. 

This is a little place mat that I liked. 

This little linen napkin was so pretty. It is buttery yellow. I will probably use it as a bread basket liner. 

I picked up these three old aprons. I'm sending the blue one to my sister. 

I bought this apron but I'm not sure if I will ever use it. I'll see if Sis wants it. It was just .25 cents and you can't pass up a bargain like that. 

I know I am going to wear this one for Thanksgiving. I love it. 

This vintage tablecloth is going to be used on the patio table when hubby and I eat outside.

I see vintage tablecloths in this pattern all the time. I love it. I couldn't believe she had one in this pattern. I've looked at antique stores for it before. 

Another cute bread cloth for my holiday collection. This one has Christmas designs. 

My favorite find of the day was this little Pyrex bowl for just $1.00. 

Another glass dish. I love these divided dishes. I use them for a lot of different things. I'm going to use this one in my office for paper clips. Big on one side and regular size on the other size. 

I couldn't pass up these little Matchbox cars to put in Colby's toy box at my house.

Most of the above items were just a quarter a piece and some of them were even as low as a dime. All total, I got everything above for just $7.00. I would say that was a good bargain shopping day. 

But my favorite part of the day was getting a package in the mail from an E-bay auction I won. If you have read my blog for awhile, you know I have been looking for a pair of Holt Howard 1958 vintage cat salt and pepper shakers. I found them in an antique store here for $20.00 but didn't want to pay that for them. I have found them on E-bay for anywhere from $50 - $70. But I recently bid on a pair on an E-bay auction ... AND I WON. My winning bid? Just $5.95. You cannot imagine how thrilled I was. 

Well, the kitties arrived yesterday and are in excellent condition with no breaks or scratches. They now reside in a place of honor on my vintage milk glass tray on my wine rack. Don't you just love them?  They even have the copyright 1958 Holt Howard stamp on the bottom so I know they are the real thing. I kept going in the kitchen last night just to look at them because I couldn't believe I won them at such a low price. Hubby kept laughing at me. He said he wouldn't be surprised if I gave them names. Hmm, I'll have to think about that. 

Where did the day go...

I was going to write a post this morning. I really was. I knew what I wanted to blog about. I even had the pictures to go with it. But I called my mom for a minute this morning and when I hung up, I completely forgot to do my blog. 

Life won't end because I didn't blog and there will be some that won't even realize I didn't blog first thing this morning. 

But when it is all said and done, I just wanted to say sorry I didn't get to do a post this morning. Come back tomorrow to see some of my great yard sale finds.

Before and After

I love making fabric yo yo's but haven't quite figured out what to do with them. But I recently did one that I liked what the end result was. 

I bought some pretty pink material simply because I liked it and I bought a cute little white button for it. It turned out pretty good.

Now, what to do with it. Well, I just laid it up on a shelf out of the way so I would see it every day and not forget I had made it. I was still waiting for inspiration to hit so I would know what to do with it. I laid it  beside this picture frame that my sister bought me years ago. 

That was when inspiration hit. I thought I would jazz up the frame just a little bit. I know Sis will love the new look of the frame. 

Too cute if I do say so myself. 

Just some stuff....

Last night, when I came home from my grandson's ball game, hubby and I sat on the porch and watched the sunset. Wasn't this a gorgeous view? 

Look at this cute little pig from Holt Howard. He holds kitchen string, scissors and a note pad. Adorable. 

I found some more butter pats online that I liked. The problem is I can't remember if I saw them on Etsy or E-bay. But they are my style.  

Isn't this just precious. 

I love this basket. Would love to find one just like it somewhere. 

I also like this one. 

This is a cute Holt Howard cream pitcher I am watching on E-bay. I have 18 days to decide if I want it or not. The price is good and it has free shipping. But I just don't know. 

On the other hand, I didn't hesitate to place a bit on the Holt Howard salt and pepper shakers I've been wanting. Everywhere I see these in antique stores around here, they range from $20 to $50. I found some on E-bay and I bid on them for the fun of it. I WON! My cost....$5.95! I am so excited. They shipped yesterday from NC. I should get them by Friday. I can't wait. I have been wanting a set of these since February. 

I would love to have a set of  vintage melmac dishes for everyday use. I saw this set on E-bay and fell in love with it. But I will just have to admire it from afar. The price wasn't all that great and I don't want an entire set. 

This set was gorgeous too, but I just want a couple of plates and a couple of bowls. I'll just keep scouring the thrift stores and yard sales. 

Look at this canister set. It looks in great shape. I fell head over hills in love with it. It is just $4.99 on E-bay. I have it on my watch list and only have 13 hours to decide if I want it or not. The only problem is shipping is $12.00 so I don't know if $16.99 is a good price for vintage canister sets or not. Decisions, decisions. 

I want a set of Swanky Swig glasses. I love the daisy pattern. This set of 6 is in mint condition and is $9.99 for the set with $8.00 shipping. So that makes them $3.00 a glass. At the local antique stores you can usually find individual glasses from $3.00 - $8.00 each, but never a matching set....so I'm torn. 

What I really want is a vintage golden wheat ice tea glass. But I can't find them for any cheaper than $8.00 per glass by the time you pay shipping. This entire set is $47.00...before shipping is even added. This is one of those items that I just want one little old glass for sentimental reasons. I'll keep looking. 

On another topic, I saw something yesterday that was a blessing from God. We passed a wreck on Chapman Hwy in Seymour, Tn. A truck had run off the road and over a ravine. The engine was smashed into the hillside and the tractor of the truck was rammed into the trailer. It was awful looking. And the driver?.....Climbed out of it himself with minor injuries. He was one blessed individual yesterday.