weekend yard sale finds

Jeff, Nina and I went to quite a few yard sales Saturday. We saw lots of junk but we did find a few treasures. I did not get pictures of Nina's things but she got a few baby things, a mirror/planter box she hung in their entryway, a closet organizer and dry-erase magnetic calendar bulletin board.
Our 3 biggest purchases were all from one seller - some newlyweds, just graduating from OSU - who will be moving to Poland to work as missionaries in a coffee shop. They were selling off most all of their possessions. These first 3 things are from them.

3 large glass storage jars, $5 for all 3
I've been using some not so pretty Tupperware for my baking canisters, now I will be switching them to these pretty glass jars.

a very heavy glass, and very pretty bathroom set for $5

Jeff has been wanting a dock for his Ipod and was very happy to buy this one for $10
It works great and he says the new ones sell for $99 at Walmart

2 nice wood puzzles for when Gavin and baby E are both a little bigger - $1 each

Discovery Toy Boomering links - $2

hula girl shirt bought for 25 cents, not for the shirt but I like the fabric and plan on cutting it up, then sewing it in to some other project

He is not from a yard sale, but he was a rescue puppy. This is Fletch, one of our "grand-dogs" and he is spending the night with us. Isn't it amazing how he sits upright on his bottom?

linked to
Apron Thrift Girls Thrift Share

Rhoda's Southern Hospitality Thrifty Treasures

Pink Pyrex

Yard sale season is getting off to a slow start because of all the weekend rain but it has started.
The only thing I bought for myself last weekend was these 2 Pyrex vintage casseroles dishes, they were $2 each.

I got a few pieces of Pyrex from my grandparents, then I got a few more at yardsales and thrift stores. They are great to store food in, mix up things in, bake in and microwave in.
I did not intend to, but I have a nice little Pyrex collection going on.
Here are my green Pyrex along with the "new" pink Pyrex.
I've also got some brown pieces and a few aqua one. And I am always on the lookout for a few more.



linked to
Apron Thrift Girl - Thrift share
and
Rhoda's Southern Hospitality Thrifty Treasures

some things I like

This is a set of 12 pairs of magnetic clasps. I got them on Ebay for $14 shipped. I looked but the seller I bought mine from does not have any listed right now, but it is no surprise she has sold out, similar clasps sell at Hobby Lobby for about $5 for just one set~!
Now, I am ready to sew up a dozen or so handbags.


These are collage photos from Walgreens. I made them a few weeks ago when Walgreens was running a sale and I so happy with them. They are easy to make and not expensive even at their regular price.
The frames were some I spraypainted and added scrapbook paper to for the background.






I am also a big fan of the http://ihasahotdog.com/
and http://icanhascheezburger.com/
I subscribe to their daily emails and this cartoon was one of the funnier ones from todays email.

Burp cloths and Bibs for Nina's baby shower

Nina's office hosted a baby shower for her today and it was a very nice shower. They were also celebrating 3 birthdays this week so the food was healthy for the expecting momma and rich and yummy for the 3 birthday girls.


I sewed up a stack of soft flannel bibs and burp cloths to take to the shower.
For the burp cloths, I used this tutorial, except mine are a little longer. To draw the round ends, I used 2 large dinner plates. I did not surge my edges but sewed them right sides together and then turned them. I did have fun doing some decorative machine stitching around the edges.

the curved part in the middle fits just beside the burpers neck, , then there is plenty of burp cloth in the front for the baby's head and down the back to protect the burper's back


This is Nina, showing one of the many sweet gifts she received.


On the food table was a very delicious homemade chocolate layer cake and white cupcakes with pink frosting. There were 3 kinds of cheese with crackers, fresh fruit, nuts and Andes candies. Beverages were iced tea, sparkling water and juice and champagne - mostly enjoyed by the 3 birthday girls.

Postage stamp projects

Lana is an online friend in TN and she asked how my postage stamp projects were coming along, well, I thought I had already blogged them but guess I never did. So, here they are......
Sometimes if I think about doing something, then in my mind I start thinking I really did it or it really happened, even though I only just thought it, anyone else do that?
Back in the summer I cut out lots of 2 inch squares from assorted fabric I already had.


Once I started sewing, I made these 5 pillows for Christmas gifts.
I also made 6 pillows for our home.




all the pillows are made like a sham with an envelope back so the patchwork cover can be taken off and laundered.

I made one sofa-sized quilt for a gift.

even after making all those projects, I still have postage stamps to sew up for more pillows and quilts!

Minky Boppy

I went to the biannual rummage sale at the Christian church last week. One of the things I bought was a Boppy pillow. The cover was a little faded but the price was very right - $1.
First I machine washed and dried the pillow per its tags instructions - the trick to machine washing pillows is to wash 2 at a time so the tub stays balanced.
Then I cut apart the original cover that zipped on and off and used it for the pattern to make a new cover.
I used some that really soft Minky fabric in pink. I got the Minky at Hobby Lobby, just needed 2/3 of a yard and I used a 40% off coupon so I think it cost about $5 for the fabric. This project also used a 22 inch zipper.
It was nice to sew with but I don't really know what it would be good for except baby blankets and simple pillows or upholstering projects.


My tip, if you do sew with Minky, is don't wear a black blouse while you cut Minky, it's thick pile leaves lots of lint.

for more frugal baby projects, visit The Herber Family




here's a new picture of little Gavin. He is 14 months old, walking all over and his favorite thing to say is uh-oh whenever he drops or throws something.

what kind of tree do we have?

This tree and flower bed is in our front yard. I planted the jonquil and tulip bulbs in the fall and am glad they survived our unusually cold winter. There are also iris bulbs that will bloom soon and 3 hydrangea bushes with lots of green leaves.

This tree has red leaves and is blooming with little pink flowers. It is really pretty and I have not seen one anywhere else in my neighborhood or town.
We did not plant it, it was planted by the first family that lived in this house, around 2000.

I hope someone out there knows what kind of tree this is.
I would really like to know its name.

Thank you all for your help. You left so many helpful comments, and after reading them and doing some intenet research, I am pretty sure that my tree is a
flowering plum tree - even though it does not ever have fruit.

Friday night supper

We had a great supper last night
Roast beef with carrots, potatoes and asparagus.
After watching films like King Corn and Food Inc and reading books like The New American Diet, we have been shopping for meat carefully.
The roast last night was bought at a local grocery store, IGA, and is from The Premium Natural Beef company. I am not sure if their way of growing beef fits every health experts criteria but I think it's pretty good. And it is sure better than not knowing at all where your food came from.
I am not a big meat fan, I could be a vegetarian very easy, but Jeff and Theo would not be happy if every meal was meatless. I really did enjoy last nights roast.
The beef was tender and smelled good from it's raw state all through the cooking.
I also bought some of their ground beef and cube steaks and am looking forward to trying them. That is really saying something for me.

Black and White Easter

Poetikat is not hosting Sepia Saturday this week but I wanted to share this fun Easter snapshot.
From left to right
the silly boy on the clothesline pole is my brother, he is now a very successful writer and professor, hard to believe from this picture, huh?
I am second
then my friends Sissy and Rebecca
My other brother is on the right - the one eating an egg - he is an electrician and the guy you want to wire your new home if you want it done right.
This picture would of been Easter afternoon while we outside in our little neighborhood hunting eggs.
First on Easter morning, the Easter Bunny would of filled our baskets with candy and hid them around the house. Then we would get dressed in our new Easter clothes and go to Sunday School and Church.
Mom would cook a wonderful Easter lunch, and then we kids would play outside.

Wishing you all a special Easter tomorrow!

weekly words to live by

"Oddly, it is not real cooks who insist the finest ingredients are neccessary to produce a delicious something...Real cooks take stale bread and aging onions and make you happy" - Susan Wiegand

more WORDS at Tracy's Notes from a Cottage Industry

Sepia Saturday

This picture is my great grandparents on my dad's side of the family.
John was the Pastor for "The Church Of The Brethren" church in rural Cordell, OK. Photo taken probably in Cordell, Oklahoma, about 1915.


They are dressed very conservatively in this one.
In the front row - John Pitzer, Marie, my grandmother Minnie Maye and Annie Elizabeth.
In the back row - Gladys, James and Alice. James disappeared in 1938, the family believed he was robbed and murdered as he was carrying a large amount of cash after a sale, but nobody ever found out for sure.


Gladys, Marie (in wagon) Alice standing in back and Paul with his dog Bounce.
this picture is earlier, my grandmother was not born yet for it


This photo was around 1935. I guess the Church of the Brethren had a not so strict dress code by this time too.


more Sepia Saturday family photos and histories

happy anniversary to us!

Jeff and I celebrated our wedding anniversary this week. We ate out over the weekend to celebrate so we ate at home on the actual day.
For dessert, I made a half recipe of Jeff's favorite lemon pound cake and my favorite, chocolate covered strawberries.
The first time we ate chocolate covered strawberries was in 1982 on an all expenses paid trip Jeff won to San Francisco. We had vouchers to eat at some fancy restaurants but we liked the street food sold on the wharf better. I was 8 months pregnant on this trip and I think we bought chocolate strawberries more than once from that vendor.

I made a few at home and they were so good! I just melted 3 ounces of chocolate chips with a teaspoon of shortening in the microwave. Then I dipped/spread it on with a little spatula to about 10 strawberries.

Jeff surprised me with this pearl and diamond necklace. So, can you guess which year anniversary we just had?

Yo Plus Winner

The winner for the YoPlus gift pack is Sharon!

Thank you to everyone who entered.

Weekly Words to Live By - Linked to Notes from a Cottage Industry

This is a passage from Nella Last's War that I really liked. The book is a diary written by an English housewife during World War II. I found the entire book thought-provoking and fascinating.

"One think I've noticed since the war: what a lot of people - mostly women- seem to have no resources of their own to fall back on. My generation had no wireless (radio) and few pictures, so perhaps we had to find other things - particularly when we lived in the country, as I often did with Gran. We took the opportunity of being alone to wash our hair (now no girl seems to wash her own), mend a hole in stockings (stockings today do not stand much mending), sew buttons on - but then again, there are few buttons to sew on underwear. Older women shredded vegetables for the following day's soup, but now it is all tinned soup. They gladly read yesterday's newspaper, if they had not had time before. There were always oddments of embroidery or sewing, or letters to be written, and a few hours alone were a boon and a blessing. We liked to sit down and relax by the fire and think things out - to plan menus and shopping lists. Of course, living today is in every way more exciting and thrilling: but where today it's as if people snatch a piece of rich Christmas cake and eat it, with creamed coffee, on top of a good dinner, we took our cake and ate it slowly, savouring each mouthful and finding time to think how wonderful it was that the ingredients came from so many far-off places."

To participate in or see more Weekly Words, visit Tracy at her beautiful blog, Notes from a Cottage Industry

the weathermen were right

That's my daughter's tweet on a digital billboard in OKCity
So far, the news says we've got about 8 inches of snow and may get 4 more before the storm front moves on.
These are not the best pictures, I could not walk out into that snow and was just standing in doorways while I took them. It's too cold and mess to actually go out in this stuff!
You can really see how the wind blew around the snow into deep drifts in the 3rd and
5th picture.

Grandpa's Bread

This is the recipe for my grandparents daily bread. Both Grandma and Grandpa were the best bakers and I learned how to make this bread from Grandpa.
It's just about the simplest bread recipe I've ever come across. And the best tasting. No fancy ingredients or equipment needed.
This bread is perfect for breakfast toast, sandwiches and just eating with any meal.

Grandpa's Bread
2 cups warm water
1 package yeast
1 t salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil - they used Wesson or Crisco oil - I used melted butter
about 6 cups of flour - they used all-purpose flour, I used 2 cups of whole wheat and 4 cups of unbleached
dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water. Then stir in the salt, oil and most of the flour. Mix well, then knead until you have a smooth dough. They kneaded it all by hand, I let my Kitchenaid mixer do most of the work
Let dough rise in an oiled bowl, covered with a clean kitchen towel, until at least double in size.
Punch down. Divide in 2. Shape into loaves and place in greased bread pans.
Let rise again, until at least double.
Bake at 375 for 35-45 minutes.

Here's my dough after the first rising, I even have their Pyrex bowl.

my 2 loaves baked

A loaf of bread lasts about 3 days with Jeff, Theo and I. I sliced both loaves, put them in Tupperware, and put the second loaf in the freezer for later in the week.

Linked up to Gayles Grocery Cart Recipe Challenge