It's going to be a rough day....

Not a good start to my morning. I woke up at 6:17 after having a wonderful, restful night. It is rare that I don't wake up during the night so I was so glad to have slept through the night. 

I sat down about 6:30 to start my day and decided to update my blog look. It did not go well. I switched to another free template site that I don't normally use and it made my blog go wacky and I could not get it to go back to my original one. I ended up with my flower look that I had yesterday, but it had some of the attributes from the one I was trying to switch to and I could not get rid of them. Then it switched and put a winter background that I used two years ago. It was a mess. I finally just switched to a standard blog template from blogger. I will give it a few day, run some virus scans, clean my cookies and temp files and then try to install using the blog template service I normally use. 

Anyway, I apologize if you stopped by during that mess and got confused on what season I thought it was. Hopefully my blog is not broke anymore. So, on to my post for the day....

I am not sure how your weather is, but we are experience some fall like mornings and fall like evenings, though we are still enjoying summer in the daytime, just not quite as much humidity as what we have had this year. So it has been pleasant. But it is making my mind turn to thoughts of fall. It won't be long and the leaves will begin to change and fall decorations will start showing up in the homes and businesses around town.

I (of course) have been checking on Pinterest for some new ideas for fall. Here are a few things that caught my eye.

I could make this. It doesn't look too complicated. You can find the leaf pattern and a link to the directions at Martha Stewart.

This looks like it would be so easy. I am going to do one with fall material and paint the legs orange and set it on the front porch with a little planter or pumpkin on it. I think that would be cute. I may also make one for the back deck only buy a small vinyl tablecloth in fall pattern and cut it to size so it won't matter if it gets wet. I'll use some type of paint on the legs that is outdoor paint. 

The blog site that this came from no longer exists so I couldn't find directions, but it looks easy enough. They are adorable. 

And this is probably one of the easiest pumpkins ever. Even I could make these and I don't have a lot of talent. 

Now I know without a shadow of a doubt that I could accomplish this. You could do candy corn for October and the popcorn kernels for Thanksgiving. I love this. It would be pretty on a tray for a centerpiece for fall.

This gives me tons of ideas. You could also put a pumpkin or candy corn button instead of a sea shell. You could also cut a strip of fall material and hot glue around candle then tie with the raffia. Tons of thoughts on this. 

I am on idea overload. Guess I need to make a trip to Hobby Lobby. 

Just a wee little bit behind...

My sister, Rachel, and I have been collecting the Pyrex nesting bowls in the primary colors. We started off with me being in the lead since I owned the yellow one. It came with my hubby when I married him.  He laughingly asked me the other day if I stayed with him for the past 31 years so I wouldn't lose the yellow Pyrex bowl. Thanks to him and his bowl, I had my set started before Sis.

But before long she had collected the yellow as well along with the one other, which I think was the green. Since she had the most pieces, we were trying to find her the ones to complete her set first. Both of us have been looking for over a year and we didn't want to pay the high prices of E-bay and most of the antique store had them in sets and they were expensive and the sets couldn't be broken down. It has become a personal project of Rachel's to finish this set and she has told everybody she knows to keep their eyes open for the remaining two bowls, red and blue, that she needed.

Well, Saturday my sister was at her camper for the weekend. Her phone rings and it is Mom. Mom precedes to tell her that the lady next door is having a yard sale and when Mom walked over their, she saw the blue and red primary Pyrex bowls so she bought them. She paid $2 for one of them and $1 for the other one. Needless to say, Rachel is beyond thrilled and I am so happy for her. Now we can all start looking for me the three I need so I can have the set as well. Rachel sent me a picture of her set and check out how gorgeous it looks. Aren't they beautiful?

She told Mom to go back and get any other Pyrex they had so Mom found her this as well. 

On another note, I got a text from Rachel's daughter, my niece, Amy yesterday. She is the craft expert in the family. She always has some neat project she is working on. She has already started on her Christmas crafts. She saw an idea on Pinterest and made this for Christmas. Don't you just love it?

Mom was telling me that she made a Christmas picture frame tray the other day. But I have to wait until somebody goes by there to get a picture and text me since Mom doesn't do texting. Her inspiration was an idea I saw on Pinterest. She has completed her project and used candy cane material for the "picture" and is making a candy cane candle to set on it along with a candy dish of Starlight peppermints for Christmas. Can't wait to get pictures. 

 

My Pyrex find and some I passed by

I did some shopping on Saturday and found a few good bargains. I have a Pyrex casserole dish and have been wanting the rack that it sets in. But I figured it was a long shot finding one much less finding one that fit. This was at a local thrift store for .25 cents so I thought it was worth taking a chance on.

And it was a perfect fit for my snowflake casserole Pyrex. I just need to find a lit now. 

At a local antique store, I found this Pyrex Early American divided oval veggie dish. It was $6.50, which is more than I usually pay, but for a unique pattern AND at an antique store, I snatched it up at that price. 

You may recall last spring I went to an estate sale and found a glass like one I had a set of years ago. It was my favorite glass ever and I was heart broken when the last one got cracked. I was going to buy the one at the estate sale but the man over it decided he had too many nostalgic memories of it and wouldn't sell it to me. I found this in an obscure corner in the antique store so I grabbed it. They only had one, but that's okay because hubby wasn't as fond of them as I was. I can mark this off my wish list now. 

That was all I bought, but I did see some other items that I debated over. I find it funny that the minute I decided I wanted the Hamilton Beach mixing bowl, I found one on Craig's List but didn't buy it because with shipping it was $15 - $18. Well, the first booth I went in at the antique store had one in it. It was $14.00. Then the next booth had one for $12.00. Since I am seeing them everywhere now and the price keeps getting lower, I am going to hold out before I get one. It's not like I have to have it right now.

This was a Pyrex dish that I had never seen before. It is Golden Honeysuckle oblong 4 quart casserole dish. It was huge. I should have bought it. They were asking $12.00, but you just don't see something like this everyday. 

I can't remember if this was Pyrex or Fireking or maybe even Glasbake. I didn't think to check the bottom and I can't find the pattern anywhere. Has anyone ever seen this pattern?

They had a lot of Corelle and Pyrex, but what I would love to have is the utility stand it is on. Mom had one for years and years when we were growing up. I'm just not sure how it would have held up to restoration.

I would also have liked this old step stool but wouldn't have anywhere to put it.

I liked this juice pitcher, but not for $12.50

They had so much Pyrex, I need to go back again soon.  

On E-bay last week, I saw where someone had a rare pattern Cinderella starter set still in the original box. The minute they put it up for auction they had one bid of $150.00. My eyes about popped out of my head when I went to see what it sold for.....$355.00. I cannot imagine in my wildest dreams paying that. As much as I love Pyrex, I quiver at the thought of paying over $10.00 for any of it. You just never know what this stuff is going to be worth to somebody. 

Inspiration from Pinterest

Just how bad do you want it....

Do you recall the other day when I said I would love to find some Hamilton Beach Pyrex mixing bowls? Well, I was scouting around on Craig's List and guess what I found?

Yep, that is a Hamilton Beach Pyrex mixing bowl. For sale. On Craig's List. FOR JUST $3.00! Amazing. Oh, wow!

I quickly scanned the article for the location. Could it be so easy? Could it be near me or in a part of Knoxville that I can travel to easily? Then I saw the location. Olympia. Washington. The state. The one that is plum across the country from where I am!! But I thought, what did I have to lose. I emailed the lady. Sure enough, she was willing to ship it. She was going to way it and get me an estimated cost for shipping. Well, it turns out shipping could be anywhere from $10 - $15. Which would make the bowl $13 - $18. So I had to ask myself did I really want it that bad? And the answer was no. I will just keep looking locally. I would hate to pay $18 for it and it wind up getting broken on the way here (which would be my luck.)

So I woke up this morning and decided I would check the local paper online to see if any yard sales looked like they might have vintage bowls. I have a meeting at 9:00 for Thirty-One this morning, but figured I could leave early enough to stop at a yard sale or hit it up after the meeting. So I go to The Mountain Press and what is the first article? A teacher moved from Northview (where my grandson Caleb goes) to Caton's Chapel (where my grandchildren Garret and Alexis go). So I opened up the article to read about her new classroom at Caton's Chapel and my eyes popped out of my head at the photo.

See that tiny little angel on the front row, far left. That is my sweet princess, Alexis Caroline. Made my day to see that smiling face right there on my computer screen. What an unexpected surprise and awesome way to start my day. 

Have a great Saturday. 

A nice surprise for hubby

Hubby and I went to Double R Farms produce store yesterday because I saw on Facebook that they had fresh blackberries. Sure enough Hubby couldn't resist and we bought some. He wanted a cobbler and I offered to make it (even though I have only made cobbler once in my life. It was a perfect opportunity to use my $1.00 Pyrex casserole dish. I covered them with sugar and let them set then used some of the juice and cornstarch for a thickener. 

Then I got my biggest green Pyrex bowl and mixed up the dough mixture for the topping. 

It turned out pretty good "looks wise" as far as I could tell. I don't eat cobbler so I didn't know if it was right or not. 

But Hubby sure didn't wait to cut into it. Of course, when I caught him at it, I had to yell "Wait!" I need a picture for my blog. 

I made it from a recipe we found online. It didn't call for enough corn starch because the juice was still a little "juicy" if you ask me. 

But he spooned on some vanilla ice cream and declared it heavenly so all is well that ends well. 

Since he had his cobbler I had to make me a cake. I chose my Swiss Chocolate Cinnamon Cake with chocolate icing. It turned out great. This is one of those no fail recipes. 

As a matter of fact, guess what was for breakfast this morning. Don't judge me. I did add milk for dairy since, after all, it was breakfast. 

Taking the morning off

Wow, yesterday was unbelievably busy. I had some new prospects to talk to and ended up being on the phones until 6:00 at which time I stopped to get ready for church business meeting. I left after the business meeting because a prospect from California wanted me to call him before he left his office. So I was on the phone with him until 8:45. 

I checked emails and had questions from two of the people I talked with earlier in the day. While I was answering the second one, the first one emailed back from my response. It went back and forth until 9:20. 

Then I had to take a shower and finally fixed myself something to eat at 10:00. I ended up eating American cheese on saltine crackers and had a powdered donut for dessert. Wow, I am such an accomplished chef.

Had a bite of breakfast while I was answering more mails. I have to run some Thirty-One catalogs to a lady this morning then hubby and I are going to head out to Walmart and the store. We'll probably pop in at Double R Farms produce store. They just got some honey and molasses in along with a fresh batch of blackberries and peaches. 

Our schools start back in session today. I hope my grandchildren all have a great first day of school.