Thursday, April 18, 2013

Treasures Found

 Today is Thursday. It is the day I spend with my Stitch Its friends.  One of our friends is often not there these days because she works for a lady running estate sales.  She called today from a house near where we meet to tell us about an old sewing machine and a couple of quilts.  So 8 of us loaded up into two cars and went for a visit.  I was just going to "supervise".  Ha, look at what I got!
A 5 gallon butter churn crock, glazed in dark brown and cream. There are no markings on the bottom. 

The lid and handle/churn are wooden. The handle is worn from use. 
 In my modest internet research it would seem that this type of crock would sell for around $200. I paid $30!

iced tea spoons

 These were in the kitchen taped together. A set of 8 iced tea spoons. The back is stamped "Niagra Silverplate". It appears that they are maybe from the 1930's and would sell for about $8 a piece.



 I love the look of old "primitive" kitchen utensils. The spoon has been well used as has the rolling pin. There is a cute little brass bell that has a very high tone to it. And does anyone know what the other thing is. I call it a masher. #3 son proceeded to use it to mash open a walnut. It was very effective for that.  Now I need a wide mouthed crock for the counter to hold my new treasures. 











Lastly is a clear glass butter dish. It has no markings. There was another one in green clear glass that a friend got. Not sure why I got it, since I like to keep my butter in a crock with a water seal on the counter so it is room temp and doesn't mush the bread.

All totaled I paid under $50 for my treasures today, and I didn't need a single thing. That's the way it goes.  Now I need to find things to get rid of. I try to get rid of something for everything I bring in so it doesn't get too cluttered around here.

Have you found any good treasures lately?

Friday, April 12, 2013

Got Pollen?

pollen
up close pollen
Spring has finally arrived, I think to stay, here in North Alabama. It is a really pretty place to be in the spring because there are tons of different kinds of trees. The colors all pop out at different times keeping it interesting. The not so good, the pollen. I don't mind the pollen if it stays outside where it belongs. 

When we sat down to dinner a couple of nights ago I felt a gritty film on our kitchen table, which is a dark brown wood. At first I thought I had used a dirty sponge to wipe it down the day before. After dinner while I was wiping it down I noticed it was bright yellow! Pollen, in my house! I think when the hubster left the back door open briefly (maybe 10 minutes) it got in. Now I am noticing it everywhere, keeping in mind most of our furniture is a dark wood, including the kitchen cabinets. 

Now the dilemma, clean it all up and risk another layering or just let it be until I am sure it won't be an hourly project. If you know me at all you will know that I am going for option #2. I will tackle that tomorrow, there is sewing to be done today :0) 

This is another example of how much is in the air.  I picked up a friend for our stitching group yesterday because she has had several eye surgeries and cannot drive right now. When I pulled up to her house she almost didn't recognize the Pilot, she said it was a different color. The yellow on the bluish has made it look almost green. Again, wash it so it can get covered again?  I think not. 

Poor Izzie even is having allergy problems on top of everything else. She literally has snot bubbles coming from her nose, poor puppy. I am tempted to give her doggy Benedryl, but don't want to knock her out. 

As April goes it has been colder than usual but we had the typical round of severe weather yesterday. No major damage here. How is your spring and pollen count?