Thanksgiving Centerpieces ala Placerville Shakespeare Club

Good morning. Tina here. I am enjoying our first heavy fall rain this morning. But yesterday I was working at the Placerville Shakespeare Club. It was our second day of preparing a wonderful early Thanksgiving luncheon. Nine of us were on the November luncheon committee, and we prepared quite a feast.

Part of our job was for each one of us to provide a centerpiece for one of the tables.  I had forgotten about that part, and Sunday night I was on the phone to Lori (God bless sisters!) asking her if she had any fall-type items I could use as a centerpiece. Well of course she did.

This is my centerpiece below.

Lori provided everything except the vintage vase, which is mine. I think it turned out pretty well.
The tables were wonderful!  All different, but all fall or Thanksgiving themed, so they worked well together.

I love the cornucopia above, just touches of orange, and an abundance of natural color.

A pumpkin becomes a vase stuffed with daisies.

Squash as a still life.

Gourds which were simply cleaned and lightly varnished.  Beautiful!

The shiny black expanse of our grand piano called for a larger centerpiece.

The little purple birdie looks mighty proud of her golden eggs.

A pumpkin skeleton of metal encloses an arrangement of autumn delights.

Another bright cornucopia spilling mums across the tablecloth.

I love the colors and the sparkle in this basket of goodies!

A cute little pilgrim, boy on one side, girl on the other, smiles at us from either side of this copper pumpkin.

I fell in love with this calico turkey, and hope to make one of my own someday. It was so clever how the fabric pattern was incorporated into his tail!

Another turkey, surrounded by colorful bounty.

One last look at my creation, just because I am proud of it, and as a thank you to Lori for helping me out!

Baker's Coconut Cakes # 2 "Turkey-Lurkey"

For your Thanksgiving dining pleasure,
please allow me to present number two in my Baker's Coconut Cake Series.
"Turkey Lurkey":

Bake him, cut him, decorate him as you please........ 

And he'll be ready for your guests to gobble up. 

Hey - there ARE some people who may not like pumpkin pie, you know!

The Latest Of The Ladies #3, Mrs.Helga Bellywhistle

The last in my series of the latest ladies I have added to my collection.
This jolly little woman is different from the others I have found in the past.
None of the others had stripes:

She definitely needed to join the others in "the group".

Definitely.

The Latest Of The Ladies #2 Lady Hannah Hattersham

Number two in the series is this lovely lass who will hold your lipstick or lip gloss:

And also your hatpins, if you happen to have some on hand:

A wee bit of a smudge or the tiniest of nicks on the nose never hurt anybody, did it?
Well, it  sure ain't hurtin' her any!
She's still pretty darned beautiful, in my book.

Little Christmas Finds

I just love it when I find sweet little vintage Christmas things at the thrift stores - especially when they are inexpensive!
This little skiing snowman was one such find.....

A vintage reindeer ornament, and some felt deer that need to adorn a stocking, in my opinion:

A pair of vintage Lefton bells - not perfect - but still pretty cute! They do have their little clappers still intact underneath:

I think this little elf on a ceramic shoe is a Holt Howard piece:

A nice Good Housekeeping Christmas Cookbook from 1958:

 It is full of all kinds of "Yuletide Yummies", like these "Noel Nibblers", below:

 It's never too early to start planning for those Christmas parties!

Dakin Dream Pet - Just Too Poodle-Cute!

This marks my first time ever finding a vintage Dakin Dream Pet in a thrift store - and in really good condition, too!

A poodle in purple and pink!
With blue eyes, and a couple of little yellow bows thrown in, for good measure.

What a cute little face she (?) has! Little smirky smile.

Complete and total poodle cuteness, right?

The Latest Of The Ladies #1, Miss Emerald Tripplehorn

A limited series of three, these posts will feature my newest "ladies" for my collection.
First up - I nearly fell over when I found this gorgeous gal on eBay - the first one I have ever seen in this color, and pristine in her original BOX, to boot!
Are you kidding me? Oh, yeah.
Had to have her. Sorry, but I just really did.

She is utterly fabulous.
Play me a tune, honey - I can listen all day.
And I'll be happy to sing along.
Happy as a lark.

Remembering Josephine

Recently we lost a precious lifetime member of the Placerville Shakespeare Club.

Her name was Josephine Moore and she was 98 years old.

Josephine was only six when her family moved to Los Angeles,CA from Mississippi. When she was 16 she was "discovered" and she became a starlet and model.  She worked in a few movies as Verna Clair, including ones with Robert Young and Margaret Sullivan. Her image was plastered on more than a few billboards. Her biggest claim to fame was as the "running girl" on a 30's Coca-Cola tray.

Josephine married her handsome husband Prentiss Moore in 1934 and put her career behind her as she raised two sons. Prentiss became a Los Angeles Judge in 1966.

Josephine and her husband moved to their 360 acre ranch out Bedford Street in Placerville in 1976. I met Judge Moore and Josephine in the 1980's when I worked at Superior Court on Main Street. Part of my job was procuring "out-of-county" judges to sit on cases which could not be tried by our three Superior Court judges.  We also called them visiting judges. Judge Moore was available most of the time, and he didn't have far to travel!

We Court employees got to know the Judge and Josephine fairly well and went to visit and see their lovely old ranch house, which was filled with very interesting old movie photos and other fascinating things, and also the beautiful quarter horses they raised. I never did get to peek into any of the many gold mines which litter the property.

After the Judge passed away in 1989, I remember Josephine best as the proprietor of a great Christmas tree farm. She had met my husband at the plumbing supply company he works at, and we shopped at her farm several times for our 8 to 10 foot Christmas trees (we had a high ceiling in those days!).

Heidi and I met her son Arnie in the summer of 2010 at a Shakespeare picnic in Apple Hill when he accompanied Josephine as her date. We sat at the same table and had several lively conversations.

The photo above is from Arnie's facebook page, and it is the 2009 wedding of his son Cosmo. Josephine in the gray, with her two sons beside her. Arnie is on the far left.

Josephine was the 1999 El Dorado Rose, and I have always considered her the most beautiful Rose we ever had.  She was a wonderful treasure, always smiling, and we will miss her.

And "It's A Small World" Once More

Here I am once more, with yet another Disney LP I found at a thrift store last week.
Yes, "It's A Small World" again.
(A subject I have written about a number of times.)
But I didn't have this one!

This one has Mary Blair's wonderful artwork on the cover - see her signature in the corner?

I have had the album below for quite awhile. 

I showed it to you briefly in a post back in 2010 (but perhaps you don't remember that?). 

It has a little storybook inside with photos from inside the attraction back in the day.

This is one of the pages, below:

And I am VERY excited to report that as soon as later on today, I could be inside this very attraction!
That's right, after waiting four long years, I am finally on my way back down to visit my "Happiest Place"!
Do you remember how pretty it looked at night back then, during the holidays?

I can hardly wait!
"There's so much that we share, that it's time we're aware, it's a small world after all."

Words To Live By?

I saw this sign from 1973 on eBay, and it really kind of spoke to me.
I answered it back in my head.
I said, "Yes, I  think I would like to do that."

Enjoy what I am. Hmmmm.
Sounds simple enough.
 Should be doable, right? In theory?
If you do NOT enjoy what you are, then you can always try to change, I reckon.
My sign is now hanging near our living room television - a spot where I am most likely to see it every day , or at least every evening , anyhow.   :)
Alas, some things are easier said than done - but I'm working on it, all right?
I'm working on it.
"Enjoy What You Are".
This sign was made by the same company (George Nathan) as the one below, which I shared with you earlier this year. I found it at a thrift shop.
I like this phrase, too - but I already told you that.

Fall Baking

I have written about this banana bread before.
What can I say? I had more ripe bananas I needed to use up, so I made it once again.

I had forgotten that I made it in two small loaf pans last time!
 I liked that better.
But this is all right, too:

Hey - I'm cool with warm banana bread no matter how you slice it!
(Click on the word "before" up there to go back and see my previous post - with the recipe!)

How Could I Resist?

Hallmark's Holiday Open House started Friday and runs through Monday the 11th.
 I went in yesterday to purchase some specific wrapping paper - which they didn't have, by the way.
Okay, so I'll try a different store someplace else before Christmas, but I won't get it for the "Buy One, Get One For $1.00" deal - whatever.
Anyhow, that's the ONLY thing I went in for.
I had no plans whatsoever to buy any ornaments.
But I came out with this:

"A Kitchenette For Christmas" - in pink?
I'm ALL over that!
I thought about getting it later.
Um...no, I have tried that before.
You know the drill, right?
Poor, unsuspecting patron goes back later, and  guess what?
No ornament for you!
Not this time; I couldn't risk missing out on this little cutie:

Cherry plates, doors that really open, cake inside the oven, aqua and jadite green kitchenware.
Sweet little pink Christmas kitchenette of my dreams.

Hallmark - once again I must thank you - for making the cutest things!
I love it.

Our Youngest Grandson

Well, I just thought these photos were too fabulous not to share, so if you will forgive me - is this little guy not one of the handsomest little boys you have ever seen??

These are preschool class pictures!
All I can say is wow - adorable kid, and great shots!
(If you can forgive my bragging - just a LITTLE bit - even though his cuteness has nothing whatsoever to do with me!)