Things I wish I had kept...

Over a lifetime, we accumulate stuff and then get rid of it just to buy more stuff. Then we wish we had kept some of the stuff we got rid of. I was thinking yesterday about some of the things I wish we had not parted with and these are a few that came to mind...

My big pot from Corning Vision Ware. This was hubby's soup bean pot. He likes the stainless one he has now a lot better, but there are times I miss this old pot. 

The entire Vision Ware set of pots and pans. I especially miss the little skillet and the little pot that had the pour spout. 

Mom had gotten me a set of these one year and I didn't use them very much so I sold them in a garage sale. Now that I am loving snack plates and mugs, I wish I had them back. 

I really, really wish I had kept her. She was the Campbell Soup doll and she was my favorite doll....even though my baby brother Jack had bitten her hand off and she had lost all her clothes. I kept her with me until we moved to Tennessee in '88. Not sure what happened to her but just didn't see her after that. 

This next one really, really makes me sick. We had the Pyrex Cinderella bowls exactly like this .... and we gave them away because we just didn't use them as much once the kids got married. I am disgusted with myself for parting with these. Had I known I was going to grow to love Pyrex so much, I never would have parted with them. My friend Stephanie just showed me her set she found the other day. It was these bowls in the pink pattern. That just made me regret even more that I gave these up. 

I had two of these casserole dishes in the old orchard pattern. Again, could kick myself for getting rid of them. 

 

We had one of these old sandwich glass oval dishes as well. I don't even know when or why I got rid of it because I really liked it. Must have been one of those things I just did with no good reason.

I don't think I'm ever going to part with anything ever again. Then I don't have to suffer regrets. 

I love little surprises...

I was heading out to my grandson's ball game the other day and I stopped to pick up my mail. The only thing in the mail box was this...

I wondered what in the world it could be and turned the box over and it was from Target for either me or current resident. Since I am me and I am the current resident, I felt confident in opening it. 

Inside was this adorable little zipper pouch. 

You know I am a sucker for zipper pouches and when I opened it, there were goodies inside. 

Some lotions, hair products, lip butter sample....

.... and some coupons...$19.00 worth to be exact. And I was thrilled because one of them is for $2.00 off Cover Girl. I am out of my Smoother that I wear and it is $7.97 so $2.00 is great. 

On another note, I finally decided on Boston Ferns for my porch. We picked up two yesterday and I love them. I am going to go back and get two more...one for each end. 

I bought hubby some fresh tomatoes and cucumbers at the Farmers Market Saturday. He boiled him some noodles, mixed those with the veggies, added onions and Italian dressing and has a nice cold summer salad that is garden fresh. 

Well, I have a lot to do today so I hope you each have an awesome day. 

Why I don't like to order online

I have always had a rule that I don't buy things off the internet sight unseen. There was a reason I don't do that. I don't like being disappointed and sometimes that happens when you order sight unseen. However, I broke my rule and ordered some things from E-bay. So far, I have been very pleased with my purchases...until yesterday. 

For many years, I have purchased the oversize terry cloth bath pillow for my tub. 

They last a long time, fit comfortably on my neck and back and assist with my relaxation time in the tub.  They are getting harder and harder to find. Mine started losing air. I would pump it back up before every soak to make sure it had lots of air. But it finally wore out and I had to pitch it. 

Well, who would figure it would be so hard to find a replacement. Nobody seems to carry them any more. I was reluctant to buy one from online since I couldn't see it before purchasing. I have tried ones from the Dollar Tree and our local Food City. Nobody else carries them any more. The ones I have tried do not last more than a few soaks and they develop leaks. They are not the large size and they don't have terry cloth. So I found one on E-bay that showed the picture above and described it as "High end, heavy duty, extra large terry bath pillow." Well, I snapped it up and it arrived today.

First off, does it look anything remotely like the picture in the above paragraph? No. Second, do you see anything remotely oversize about this. No. And I can assure you the material is NOT high end, heavy duty. About the only thing true on the description was it does have terry cloth on it. A Flimsy, thin layer of terry cloth. But I inflated it to see what size it would be. It is not even as big as a four pack of bathroom tissue. 

You have got to be kidding me. This is so not what I ordered. I am so disappointed. But at a price of $4.12, is it worth my time, effort and shipping to return it? I think not. It will work for now until I find what I want. But in the meantime, I'm a little afraid to order anything online again. 

I did order some beads that arrived from Hong Kong the same day as the pillow. Lampwork beads are never exact so I knew they would be a little different, but I like them anyway.

I wasn't as thrilled about the topaz ones. But I have a dress with topaz in it that these would look great with. I like to have an assortment of these lampwork beads and change my Pandora charms around to match my outfit.

All in all, my mail order week has been a love it or leave it relationship. 

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.