Found: Pressed Flowers, Framed

I found this beauty at a thrift shop:

Prettily pressed flowers, framed in gold.
Lovely.

Rogue River Boys... What they are up to... up in Shady Cove, Oregon

Good morning, Tina here. Remember a couple of weeks ago when I posted about fishing the Rogue River?

We watched as the neighbors competed in a little fishing contest. The guy above won with a very large salmon, we never heard how many lbs. it was, but it was a big fish. 

Our good friend Joe, chatting with his grandson below on the banks of the river, has lived here where the party was held for about seven months now.

We were visiting with Joe and Cindy, for Cindy's birthday party, at their new home in Shady Cove, Oregon.

We stayed with another couple, good friends Dave and Sue, because Cindy's darling little house was filled with relatives. That is Dave and Sue below, with my hubby in the foreground.

Joe and Cindy lost their great old dog, a black lab named Bo, just before they moved.  Dave and Sue have a labradoodle named Jack. Here he is enjoying the party just after his summer haircut.

Well, a few short days after we took our weekend visit, Joe got serious. He needs to bring home the bacon, keep the kettle boiling, keep the food on the table, you know what I mean? And look what he caught! His first salmon, 25 lbs., right out in his own back yard.

And now, just last weekend, Dave decided he wasn't to be outdone, and in Joe's backyard again, Dave caught this 28.5 lb. salmon! A bit of competition has arrived on the banks of the Rogue.

Okay, fellas, who is going to get the 30 pounder? (By the way, Sue said the salmon was delicious!)

Spray To Keep The Bugs Away

Sis Lori here...

 My son's outdoor wedding is coming up fast. The couple has had a handle on it for a while, planning and planning. I am not expected to do much at all except enjoy, that's nice.

It is outdoors in the early evening and is by a large lake. With hot weather looming, I thought we could be bothered by bugs in the evening hours while enjoying the venue. I searched on Pinterest and found a homemade bug spray recipe. Here are the supplies:

And here is the recipe: 1/3 cup witch hazel and 1/2 teaspoon each of 3 oils, eucalyptus, citronella and lemongrass. Stir well and pour in bottle with a spray top.

They needed to be somewhat festive for the wedding, so I wrapped the baroque-style duct tape around  the containers and added labels. There will be one on each table. They can be taken home by guests when the evening is over.  I imagine they will be much appreciated that evening!!

Not Counterpoint, But Colorful - And Pretty Cool!

I found this fabulous set of ten colorful nesting, stacking boxes at Mountain Treasures in Sonora.
They are very similar to my Counterpoint boxes (which I have written about before), and they were also made in Japan, but by a different company.

The eight smallest ones are in perfect condition, and only the largest two are less than perfect. I think they were probably in a smoker's home, as they are discolored somewhat - cigarette smoke will do that. I have seen it before. (No, I do not smoke and never have - I DO purchase a fair amount of vintage, pre-owned stuff, though. And if it smells, I don't want it.)
They are really a nice set, and I was tickled when I spotted them!

And the bright and colorful woven shawl I found the same day at a thrift store isn't bad, either!
Gorgeous colors:

It's big, too - as you can see below:

Pretty stuff.

What's Penny Wearing? # 92 It's For Work, Again

Recently, I found a very nice skirt and blouse at one of my favorite local thrift stores that, when paired together, are quite suitable as work attire for me. Below, Penny models them first with a green pinafore that I had already:

You can see that the blouse is wonderfully old-fashioned:

My friend Kim at work gave me this pretty shawl that looks lovely when thrown on over the blouse, too:

The skirt is a bright red floral , and the subdued print of the green pinafore apron looks great over it. You can't see it in my pictures, but the skirt is tiered and is made of rayon:

The blouse was only two dollars, and the skirt was just fifty cents more. You cannot see it very well in the photo below, but I made some pins for my pinafores out of buttons I bought at JoAnn's. My nephew helped me cut off the shanks on the backs, and then he was able to also smooth out the backs so I could glue on a pin back.

One more shot - you get the idea:

I have spent a LOT of money on clothes, in order that my work wear has the appropriate look -; having paid to have dresses and aprons made, etc.
The thrift shop discovery of an outfit for $4.50 plus tax was very lucky, indeed.

My Little Mermaids

I found the sweet little trio of mermaids in the first three pictures at one of my favorite thrift shops.

Only the one below had a bit of damage:

The last one you see here is one I have had for many years.

They are all so cute together!

For Flag Day

Let us celebrate Flag Day today with this wonderful old George M. Cohan song:

You're a grand old flag
You're a high-flying flag
And forever in peace may you wave.
You're the emblem of
The land I love
The home of the free and the brave.
Ev'ry heart beats true
Under Red, White and Blue
Where there's never a boast or brag.
But should auld acquaintance be forgot
Keep your eye on the grand old flag!

Wave it proudly, America.
And Happy Flag Day, everyone!

Clean Eating

Sis Lori here: 

Okay, so my son and his beautiful fiance will be married in less than 3 weeks. I had to go out shopping for something to wear. A while back, I thought maybe I would have lost some weight by now, but no.....

So, I found a dress; it will be okay. 

My daughter has lost 11 lbs. recently by "Clean Eating",  which means barely any processed foods or fast food. 

 I don't eat out too much; I'll have a Subway sandwich once in a while - and I probably don't have a great diet. 

Mostly it is the prep. I am lazy, and I tend to make something easy or grab something quick. 

The "Clean Eating'" way is out there on Pinterest and Instagram. 

Soooooo, today I shopped and came home and did some prep.

 Here is what I have so far:

Chicken grilled on the George Foreman and steamed squash

I still have more chicken and some broccoli and Brussels sprouts to cook:

 I have lots of veggies to munch, carrots and celery, bell peppers, cauliflower:

I have baggies of red grapes, lemon and lime infused water to drink and some salad stuff:

 And I also have romaine and green leaf lettuce for salads and those Brussels sprouts and some broccoli to steam:

A few snacks:  greek yogurt, hard boiled eggs and these almonds are spicy and yummy!!!!

Have you seen these bowls from Weight Watchers for salads?? They have an ice ring in lid, a place for the dressing, and toppings. They're pretty neat - I have two - I will make the salads later.

So, I will start this and try to do prep every 5 or so days and see what I can do. Also need to work on the exercising part, uggh!! May try for a workout in my friends pool at least twice a week and start a walking program with a friend.
Wish me luck?
 Maybe by Christmas??
Who knows.

Of course, it doesn't help that I work at a frozen yogurt store 5 days a week, and we get a freebie every day, I am sooo addicted!
 Oh well.
All I can do is try.

Sea Salt Caramels

The sea salt caramels in the first two pictures are from Nelson's Columbia Candy Kitchen. They were so good that they inspired me to try to make some of my own!

They turned out very well:

I dipped them in the Wilton Candy Dips (purchased at JoAnns), and sprinkled them with my Maldon Sea Salt Flakes (purchased at Sur La Table):

Lori gave me the recipe for microwave caramels (below). She found it someplace on the Web.
The plate is not full, because some of the caramels had already mysteriously disappeared.
:)

Microwave Caramels
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Combine butter, sugars, corn syrup and sweetened condensed milk in a large, microwave safe container. (I use an 8 cup glass measuring pitcher.)
Microwave for 4-6 minutes, stirring every two minutes. (In my microwave, six minutes was perfect.)
Carefully remove HOT caramel from microwave, and stir in vanilla.
Pour into a greased 8X8 inch baking dish.
Let cool and cut into squares.
Store in an airtight container, individually wrapped in waxed paper.
I wrapped some in waxed paper, and then dipped the others and I am keeping them in a tin at room temperature.
See that one little sentence up there in the directions ? The one that says "Let cool and cut into squares"?
Sounds innocent, doesn't it? And easy enough?
Well, easy it AIN'T. These dipped sea salt caramels turned out SO good and were SO yummy that I would make them often , if  onlysomebody would come over and cut the darned things for me.
I had one heck of a time.
But, they're GOOD.
So, there's that.....

Orange You Glad We Have Flowers?!

Pretty and bright, here are some photos of orange flowers from our yard.
Sing loud and clear, sweet trumpet vine!

What's up, Tiger Lily?

In shades of one of my favorite colors - what else, but ORANGE!

Who doesn't need a little orange in their life?

Flowers make me smile.
Have a bright and beautiful day!

Score: Vintage VW Brochures

It's my nephew Josh's birthday today, and he used to collect Volkswagen stuff, so it seems like a good day to share pictures with you from three great vintage Volkswagen brochures I found recently.

I love Volkswagens - it's a family thing. I have written before about the fact that, at one time or another, every single member of our family has owned Volkswagens.
Panel  delivery vans are seen below:

And some pages featuring the convertible Karmann Ghia:

More VW's:

And the last two - well, summer HOT weather is surely here (even if summer technically is not), so hello, sun roof!
Wave to little Susie, everyone!

And, please - oh, please! - let's go camping, shall we, in our vintage VW Camper:

You know - the ones we WISH we owned?!
(I will probably scan more pages from these neat old brochures and share them with you another day.)
Hope you have a happy birthday, Josh!

Another Peter Max Room

I found another room featuring the artwork of Peter Max.
You know how I love him, so I simply had to share!

I think perhaps they have one of those sheets hanging on the wall. Looks great!
 On the bed, on the wall - anywhere you want to put vintage Peter Max is just fine with me!
(From a 1970 Los Angeles Times Home Magazine.)

What's Penny Wearing? #91 A Vintage Pinafore Dress From Mr. "B" Of California

I found this cute vintage dress at a thrift shop (of course).

It's trimmed with cotton lace, and made of navy calico, yellow polka dot fabric and muslin:

By Mr. "B." of California, circa the 70's, I am sure:

Cool and cute:

Only problem is, it has a couple of small stains right smack in the front.
I decided that perhaps I could just cover them up with little coordinating patches!
I have not adhered them yet.
 I think some Fabri-Tac Brand Permanent Adhesive should do the trick.

I really don't think it looks bad at all. Should I scatter more of them onto it?
What do you think?