Happy Flowers

Well, what do you suppose I spied when I walked into one of my favorite thrift shops last week?
That would be this:

A Ransburg cake cover!
Mind you, in all of the years I have been collecting Ransburg, I have never before owned a cake cover.
It came with this nice big glass plate under it - which I don't believe came with it, originally - but to get both for $3.50 made me a very happy girl.
Flowers don't get much happier than that.

Then again, this bright tablecloth I found on the same day (different store) is pretty great, too:

Now, THAT'S what I call brightening up a tabletop!
Wanna have aparty?
I'll bring the cake and the tablecloth.......

Blue Apron

Hello! Sis Lori here:

 This post is about my experience with Blue Apron, and no, it's not of the fabric kind!

I was recently the recipient of the gift of two weeks worth of food from Blue Apron.

I currently am a boarder and don't really use the kitchen there, but fortunately I can use the kitchen at my place of work.

The photo below shows how your shipment for the week arrives, consisting of three main meals for two people.

It is packaged very well with cold packs, and all.

               All of the ingredients are packaged carefully, portioned for each meal and labeled well:

  These were my recipes for the week.
Some of the selections were not necessarily exactly to my taste, but they do have a variety of choices, and you are free to pick a different menu at another time, if you like:

I prepared this dish exactly as was written.
A very detailed recipe instructions are given, and they provide you with just enough of all you will need to cook the dish.

Sorry, I failed to take a photo of my prepared dish, but it honestly looked exactly like the picture here and was very tasty!!

I would highly recommend this company!
 However, it is a bit expensive for me, and I think it's better suited to the working professionals who have little time for shopping and planning their meals, but do enjoy cooking their own meals when they can.

The Daisy

I just have one question for you today:
Is it wrong to be in love with a little vintage paper shopping bag?

Because I kind of am.
(Found among vintage flat folded wrapping paper packages at a thrift store - and I was simply delighted when I spied it! It is small, but what it lacks in size, it more than makes up for in style!!)
Oh - and my little shopping bag today serves as a gentle reminder to "Shop Small", and Shop Local, if you possibly can......

Scenes From a Vintage Christmas

With all of our Thanksgiving leftovers in the fridge, we'll start off today with this cornucopia of lovely vintage Christmas ornaments......

I wouldn't mind owning all of those!
And here's another pretty scene:

I want all of the ornaments in the next photo - I'm just going to put that out there - I mean, come on - that bird (peacock?)!

This little tot is having lots of fun with all of his toys:

And we have less than a month to get ready for a morning like that one!

A Happy And Hearty Thanksgiving To You!

I found this sweet little card at a thrift store, and with it, I wish you the happiest of Thanksgiving days!

And I also will share photos of the turkey decor around here - starting with the top of our built-in corner cabinet::

A tabletop in the foyer....

And also what is above that table:

More honeycomb turkeys - on top of my doll house:

And the top of the dining room buffet:

The other side of the buffet:

On the table:

"Turkeys Under Glass"  - and more.....

Um, can you see that I (almost) never met a turkey I didn't like?
LOL - Have a great day, everybody!

Best Wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving

Good morning. Tina here. It is "Thanksgiving Eve" and I just want to wish all of you a happy Thanksgiving.

I hope you enjoy a lovely day with family and friends, and partake of a delicious meal.

I am offering my thanks that all my pets are still with us. Robbi is still unable to walk but he is a champion at dragging himself around after my hubby, he still has his joie de vivre. We may not have him long, but we have him for a while! Chessie is so skinny you can see his skeleton, but he is still loving and can take over a human's lap like no other. Luna hides in the attic but is healthy and still likes to chow down on those gophers, and Ishi is fluffy and has taken to sleeping with me as my soft little bed warmer.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!

Patterns From The Past: Simplicity 9878 - A Dress With Attached Apron

Today's pattern from the past is Simplicity number 9878, a cute dress to stitch up with or without an attached apron on the front:

 This pattern is from 1972.
I think all three views on the pattern front are cute, but I suppose I like the red calico and gingham ones the best.

And here's a look at the back of the pattern:

(Oh, and I like those red lace-up shoes shown with view number 2 on the pattern front - I would have so totally worn those back in the 70's!)

Time For The Sagittarius Calendar

It's November 23rd, and time to turn over a new calendar page on my old calendar!
I love this one!

And, as always, I had to find colorful things to clip on up above it:

Close-up on the array of items I chose this time:

And the calendar itself:

From my vintage 1970 Zodiac calendar, printed by Determined Productions, with artwork by the talented team of Bruce and Ann Butte, and mine, all mine for the past 45 years.
Have I already told you that I LOVE it?
Oh, yes, I believe that I have.

Toontown Mailbox "Encounter" At Disneyland, circa 1993

This photo was taken in 1993, when I went to Disneyland with my niece, Amber:

(This is a scan of an enlargement, which unfortunately suffered some water damage - but you get the idea.)
I could not resist this "photo op" in Toontown - crashing into poor Goofy's mailbox!?
You see, I was a rural mail carrier at the time - and I thought it was hilarious!
I am happy to report that I did NOT have any accidents while on the job.

Photos Of My Booth

I don't have a real big space at the shop I'm in now, (A. Flowers  at 18190 Main Street in Jamestown, California), and I wish I had more room for another table, but since I don't, I try to make my lone tabletop at least reflect the season as much as possible.
This is the way it looked when I left after my work day the first week of November:

And then when I went in last week, I wanted to put Christmas stuff in - so I changed it up again:

 I like this sparkly stuff on the table top - I couldn't get a good photo with the lamp switched on, though -
 there was too much glare, so here's one without:

And then in the rest of my pictures here today, you'll see some earlier versions - for instance, this photo was taken in August:

This one was in early September, I believe:

This one was in October:

And one more from late October:

This last shot shows some linens hanging by the side of the door:

That's it - just a few glimpses!

Let's Make That 28.......

I found three more vintage Peter Pauper Press Books the other day at one of my local thrift stores.
So, even though I only just wrote about this collection on the 13th of this month, I now need to update my total of these great little tomes to 28!
I am always so happy when I find another, and even more so when the dust jacket is still intact - but three?
 All sitting there on the book shelf at the thrift store waiting to become part of my collection.
Yippee!
"The Little Limerick Book" from 1955:

 One of the limericks from inside:

 This one - with a Halloween type of cover!
"Comic Epitaphs From The Very Best Old Graveyards".
I have never even seen it before; it's from 1957:

 And an epitaph from inside of that one:

 This one, another copy of "The Little Limerick Book", also 1955:

 Same book, different color on the cover and dust jacket - fine by me.
And one more limerick for you:

It's a good thing these books are small, because books are a definite weakness of mine - but I do still have some room on top of the little bookshelf where this collection resides.
I'm just sayin'.........

What's Penny Wearing? #130 An Absolutely Stunning Vintage Skirt

I walked into a shop and spotted this skirt from clear across the room:

Oh, what a beauty!
 The colors, those embroidered flowers!

Very, very pretty - and unique.

It basically looks brand new, but it isn't  - no, it's definitely vintage.

Orange flowers on orange and blue plaid......

....it totally works.
I'm guessing it may have been worn once.

I love it, but it was made for someone TALL - and I have no intention of cutting it off.

So it will be for sale.
Made in Mexico, most likely in the 1950's:

I really do feel that the one word describes it best:
Stunning.