Thank you!!!!

Just a huge thank you to my sweet Aunt Ruby, who surprised me with this amazing Pyrex book! 

She knows exactly what I like!

My pyrex joys continue!

My mom is a great treasure hunter and when they came up to vacation with us, she brought me a couple of beauties. These adorable little oval yellow dishes are 10 oz and reference both Pyrex and Corelle on the bottom. 

While we were on vacation in Branson, Missouri, I found these little fruit cups that are a part of the Pyrex Tableware with the turquoise rim. They are so cute and I know we'll use them for fruit, applesauce, and yogurt! 

My mom also bought me this cute Snowflake Garland 472 Cinderella casserole. It's minty and so sweet!

The Friendship pattern is one that I have wanted to find since I started collecting but it seems to be pretty rare around here! The set that I saw before Christmas was sold before poor Kurt could get them for my gift! My mom found this 443 Cinderella mixing bowl and brought it to me. It has some scrapes but I love it! 

After an appointment, I stopped by an antique mall that I haven't been too before and found this little lovely! I splurged on it but it is perfect! It's a 473 Cinderella casserole and I love the opal lid with the design. 

My duties as MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) coordinator officially ended in May! As a parting gift, I got to take our table decoration home with me! It's this adorable orange Fire King mug that says "Your Florida Coffee Break". I'm not a coffee drinker, so I'll use it for tea but I love the retro design and the girl on the water skis! It will always remind me of MOPS! 

My mama also snagged both of the Designs Mixing Bowls. These were a promotional set in 1972 and both were in mint condition. I have the smaller one at my house and my mom kept the larger one at hers. If we ever move into a bigger house or I score a cool Pyrex shelf, I'll have to steal it back from her! I have the 1.5 quart 343 bowl. 

I am seriously hoping to go out "pyrexing" this weekend. I want to find my first auction to attend but I am going to have to get a babysitter, as I am too chicken to go without the hubs. I'm afraid I might get into too much trouble without him. That's a fun date...right?!?!

~ Priscilla 

Our garden...

I'll try to catch up a little bit on some photos of our garden! We had a very mild, wet, and often cold spring that is now being followed by some normal summer temps! The first photo shows one of our raised beds with corn, sugar snap peas (I'm surprised they are still growing at this time of the year!) and some radishes, thyme, rosemary, and cucumbers.

This is a photo of both the beds closest to our house. The front bed has yellow squash, butternut squash, sunflowers, cantaloupe, and tomatoes (black cherry, German Johnson, Hazelfield...I think there are some others too (I'll have to check Kurt's chart!), jalapeño peppers, and basil.

Baby yellow squash!

Some tiny snap peas still hanging on...

Kurt's pride and joy are these red raspberry bushes! Right now we are picking .5 to 1 pint per days!

These are beds back in the corner of our yard. The long one is full of strawberries, now done growing. The smaller bed has lavender, peppermint, cherry tomatoes, and green peppers. I also have heirloom morning glories on the fence!

Baby pepper!

My green bean teepee is growing nicely this year too! These are Missouri pole beans.

Two last beds in the opposite corner of our yard. They get full sun in the morning and shade in the evening. One is still empty! The other had lettuce and spinach and is now growing carrots, peppers, parsley, oregano, sage, and another batch of radishes.

Gardening is so rewarding and I love doing it with the kids too! They were very excited to pick radishes (a nice veggie to grow, as they mature quickly). Kurt and I also did a gardening presentation this spring.  I'll try to get the PowerPoint up here if anyone is interested. Remember, we use organic gardening methods and only use heirloom seeds from Baker Seed Company www.rareseeds.com!

A couple of new things...

I can't believe it's June already! We've been so busy but we're havingr a good summer so far!

Pyrex has been rather dry in my area. I haven't made it out to any estate sale or yard sales yet,though. The thrift stores seem dried up! Thankfully, my friend Kleopatra picked up theses two Spring Blossoms Cinderella casseroles for me at Goodwill. My mom also splurged and bought me this Christmas promotional dish this spring. I know it's going to look gorgeous for the holidays! 

I also recently got into making bonnets for the girls. I saw some I wanted online and my smart mom figured out a pattern and coached me on putting them together. They are reversible, have plastic snaps at the chin and have been great for both girls this summer. Mabelle was a rather unwilling model here, as I interrupted Word World to try her hat out!

New Laptop, feeling well--I'm Back

It's been too long since I've post anything here! We had a very hectic holiday season with some nasty illness stuff and then it seems as though we've been going full-steam (with some ear infections, tubes, stomach flu in-between). 

Thankfully, the trees are blooming, we're starting our garden, I've planted some flowers, and Spring is really arriving (albeit slowly, with lots of rain!). 

I haven't had much time to hunt for Pyrex lately, but I have snagged a couple of new pieces that I love! I also have a beautiful Christmas dish that my mom is bringing to me when she visits next week! Here are some of my newest beauties, along with some of the crafts and reading I have been doing during the long cold winter! 

I can't take credit for my book wreath! My mom made this for me and I love it! 

This lovely oval casserole with turquoise birds was a birthday gift from my hubby!

The Baker Creek Seed Catalog arrive in January and I spent hours pouring over it and choosing which seeds to order. I love their company and what they are doing to preserve heirloom varieties. Check them out at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

I also kept up with some good reading! It's one of my dreams to be able to keep chickens where we live! Our city doesn't currently allow backyard hens, but I am hoping they will change their mind! 

My mom and I did do some Pyrex shopping when she came to visit in February. We found twin blue stripes bowls! She has one at her house too! She also bought me these super-tiny lime and pink bowls. One is missing a lid, but they are so adorable! 

Merry Christmas Decorating!

Christmas decorating has always been a big deal to me. My parents love to decorate and my dad in particular always loves to get ready for Christmas. One of my favorite childhood Christmas memories is lying in my bed watching our large multi-colored bulbs shining into my room through the frosty windows as I was falling asleep. Needless to say, I have a love of those big old-fashioned bulbs (which do grace the outside of our house) and all things bright and colorful. So, if you consider white Christmas lights the elegant and best, my house is probably much too gaudy for you! :)

 

 

Our house has these fun plant shelves! They are fun to decorate but hard to photograph well!

My favorite piece here is the vintage trunk that graces this shelf year round.

 

 

Excuse the cords and toys below! One very active 18-month-old and a 4-year-old live here!

 

Our matching stockings are hand-knitted by my best friend, Savannah Sipple!

 

 

Savannah also supplied the majority of my Willow Tree nativity. I love the simplicity of this set, though I need my dream home to display it properly. One day....

Until then, the girls love to look at it and rearrange the pieces when I am not looking!

 



Our tree is all things bright! I'll have to come back and post some photos of her in all her lit glory! We do have the "old-fashioned bubble lights" on the tree and a bevy of our Hallmark ornaments!

 



 

This year, the kitchen had to be as bright as my wintery Pyrex collection! I went with lots of sparkle and some bright pink and aqua colors!

 

 

One of my Pyrex shelves: Snowflake divided dish, a snowflake space saver casserole, and a Horizon Blue refrigerator dish.

 

 

Pyrex shelf #2: Compass divided dish with carrier, Snowflake Garland Cinderella bowl and casserole, and a snowflake oval casserole.

 

This glittery reindeer was just too cute. He had to come live with us!

 

One of my other favorite finds were the pink glittery trees! They compliment the vintage vibe and are so cute! I also love my lantern filled with baubles and balls.

 

Kitchen view---my favorite piece (besides the Pyrex, of course) might very well be this wreath I made. There's nothing but a coat hanger and Christmas balls threaded on it (a really easy project). My mom added the bow for me. I was hoping to put this on the front door but it's too thick to fit between the door and screen door. Anyway, it turns out it was made for the kitchen and found a home there.

 

 

Hope you have fun decorating for the holidays! I love seeing my daughters get so excited about each item we put out. My oldest is so excited over our tree and loves to show each guest all of our special ornaments. It means so much for me to watch her and know that she'll be sharing these memories of our Christmas one day.