Wicker Hanging Chairs

When I was 13 years old, I wanted one of these wicker chairs to hang in my room.

Here's proof: This is an excerpt from a journal I wrote the summer before I started high school:
I never got one, but I REALLY wanted it:
That was back when I used to dream about how I would fix up my room if I had money to spend on furnishings.
We didn't have the money for new furniture in the main parts of the house, so there sure as hell wasn't any for my room!
But a girl could always dream.....
....and I did that a LOT.

The Wizard Of Oz

This post is my contribution to Twyla and Lindsey's The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz Gala, in honor of the 70th birthday of this classic film today. Click on over to Two Crazy Crafters blog to see more!
Like (nearly) everyone else, I love this movie! I didn't always love it, though. I remember being SO frightened by the Wicked Witch of The West that I went into my parent's bedroom to hide. Mother had to come in with the World Book Encyclopedia and attempt to explain movie special effects to me! Dorothy Gale, as played by the beloved Judy Garland:

I did grow to love it more and more as the years went by, though. Naturally, I have a piece of the original sheet music in my collection:
I bought this book about Judy's life when it came out in 1975:
And I had to have this one, too:
But it's not all about Judy - I also loved Jack Haley, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Margaret Hamilton, Billie Burke, and the Munchkins. "And Toto, too? Yes - Toto, too". This FABULOUS book was published for the 50th anniversary of the film in 1989. Oh, I just had to have it!
The rebate check that I sent away for after buying the book was so great-looking, I couldn't cash it - so I tucked it carefully away inside the book instead:
You KNOW I have the VHS - I didn't feel the need to picture that today - but I have the soundtrack CD, as well - LOVE it. When I listen to Jack Haley sing "I hear a beat....how sweet!", it melts MY heart:
I also have a music book:
And this little book I picked up at a yard sale:
Oh - and I simply cannot look at an oil can without saying "oil can" without opening my mouth. It's just a thing with me.

My Sister's 4-H Demonstrations

I would like to do a post about my own demonstrations, but I'm not sure whether I still have my old posters. If I do, I don't know where they are. If I find them, I'll let you know!
Below is a program from 4-H Demonstration Day, 1971. We didn't give Demos that day - we were coordinators working behind the scenes, along with other older members:
Lori's first demonstration was Raggedy Ann Salad:
The idea came from Betty Crocker's Cook Book For Boys and Girls ( you can see it in this post). This is a photo from that book:
And her other posters, showing the ingredients needed for the salad:
Her next demonstration was Cupcake Cuties:
She showed how to simply decorate cupcake tops for seasons and holidays:


And the idea for that came from Betty Crocker's New Boys and Girls Cookbook (shown in this post):


Apparently, Betty Crocker was quite the great resource for information and inspiration back then, as the ideas for both of my demonstrations came from those books, as well!
This last tidbit is SO cool. I just got a letter from my aunt in Wisconsin yesterday. She had enclosed a letter she found that Daddy had sent to their mom on March 20th, 1967. Here is an excerpt from his letter:Now, come on- how cool is that?!

My Aluminum Tumblers and Such

Over the years, I have managed to amass a nice collection of these. They are just so pretty in all of their lovely colors! All but one of the tumblers are marked Bascal, the coasters have no marking, the pitcher is marked "Flamingo by Nasco Italy":
The little "shot glasses" (how cute are they?) are marked "Made in Germany", and I just found the two trays recently at a thrift shop - they appear to be new.

They sure do look nice all together like this, don't they? Come on over for a nice icy cold cup full of SOMETHING - I've got plenty of tumblers!

Summer Fun - Camping

The only type of vacations we took when we were growing up were camping trips. We did go stay with relatives in southern California sometimes - and the occasional lucky trip to Disneyland for less than one full day - which, of course was fabulous. But mostly, camping was it. And we loved it.
Maybe you went camping, too? I guess some people just slept in their cars. This old Nash looks like it could have been rather accomodating!

Or, maybe you had a cab-over camper, or you pulled a trailer?
Or a pop-up tent/camper in a trailer or a truck-bed? We had a tent, but also Daddy created some pretty neat home-made things. We had a built-in plywood contraption that fit into the back of our Corvair Greenbrier van that mad a flat surface so we girls could sleep in there. It had hinges and compartments and flip-ups and was pretty ingenious! Wish I had a picture of it. And, naturally, we had the Coleman stove and lantern, and all of that. And we had a neat old cupboard thing that folded all up and held a lot of "pantry" stuff.

This old tent served us well for many years. Tina and I took some trips with it. It finally wore out. One of our favorite areas to go was also sort of the old family stomping grounds- Gualala, Anchor Bay, etc.
I'm afraid I'm not much of a tent camper anymore. But I'd love to go if we had a comfortable camper or trailer!

More Calendar Tops!

I know, I know - like I didn't already have enough of these!
But they are SO pretty!
I just couldn't resist:
The colors are wonderful (the photos I took outside don't even do them justice, actually):
And these are all in such great condition!
Really, I couldn't help myself.

Grandma Mom And Her Magazine

This is our "Grandma Mom", Daddy's mother, reading a magazine in July of 1941. Our aunt said this is her favorite picture of her mom. Well, I guess we sisters come by our love of magazines honestly, huh?
I'm just crazy enough that I decided I was going to try to find a copy of the very same magazine she was reading in the photo - and , with the help of eBay - I did!

Ha!

More of My Finds

The same weekend I wrote about the other day was rather a good one for finding plates and such - as you can see in the pictures below,
along with a few more special finds:
And a few embroidered linens:
And some vintage patterns:
Another platter - why can't I resist these? Pinecones this time:
And I guess it was a good weekend for domes, too:
But I also found a cool pink 50's Zenith clock radio:
And this beautiful LizWear shirt/jacket:
Yes, I was very pleased.

Tina's Birthday And What's Penny Wearing #8

Today is my sister Tina's birthday! To celebrate, I am sharing with you this picture from her 10th birthday. She is wearing one of her favorite dresses. With her are the her two sisters (the little blondes!), three more sisters who were our neighbors from over the hill, our next-door neighbor, a good friend from down the road, and our cousin. I think we were pretty happy about that cake.
And Penny is wearing a dress Tina made in 1972. I showed it to you before in this post, but these are better shots!
And a close-up of the patchwork bodice. Bright and pretty patchwork and sunny yellow for summer!

Happy Birthday, Tina! Love you!
P.S. She still has the white dress, too!

Jane and Michael Stern

I have been collecting the books by Jane and Michael Stern for a long time. I just really like them. Roadfood was the first one I bought. It's dated 1978:
Square Meals is from 1984:
And they just seem like really neat people, too. A Taste Of America, 1988:

American Gourmet, 1991:

Eat Your Way Across The Usa (sounds good to me!) 1997:


Blue Plate Specials and Blue Ribbon Chefs, 2001:
The Blue Willow Inn Cookbook, 2002:

There was also a movie made about their real life, Ambulance Girl, which Kathy Bates directed and starred in. I saw it when it was on TV and I enjoyed it very much. They have written a number of other books that I don't have in my collection - and I will probably pick them up if I have the chance.
What a great job to have - traveling and writing about food!