I'm back! And it's Show & Tell Friday...A treasured gift

Hi there all! It's been so long! To Long! Needless to say, life has been busy, busy, busy. I'm managing my time better but trying to get that blogging time into the schedule has been a challenge. I'm working on it though :0)
I decided to make my re-entry into Blogville via Show & Tell Friday, which is now hosted by the beautiful Cindy over at My Romantic Home. Be sure to pay her a visit and see who else is "showing and telling" today.

Not to long ago, I was gifted with these vintage pieces. My dad's significant other knows of my love of vintage and antique items. She was out and about at a yard sale about a week ago and came upon these beauties. I've done a bit of my own research on them and have discovered they were made by Taylor Smith Taylor and are pattern 1825. They were discontinued in either 1941 or 1942. I've all ready used them and I just have to say, food looks even better when served in antique/vintage china :0)
Oh! I wanted to add that these four items were bought for $0.25 each! SERIOUSLY!

The lid is just
slightly askew on this one.
Oops!

Miss Maxine (or Nana Maxx as my youngest children call her) is one of those truly beautiful women whose beauty begins deep in her heart. This is a gift that is truly treasured. She is and has been such a blessing to my father and to our family. We love her so much.

Thank you so much for stopping by. I sure hope you'll let me know you were here. Have a Fabulous Friday!

Show & Tell Friday 10/9

Happy Friday! It's time for Show & Tell now being hosted by Cindy @ My Romantic Home. Just have to say Thank you to Kelli (There is no place like home) for such a wonderful job at hostess before passing it to Cindy.

I've been making wee changes here at home and thought I'd share it with you and also get some feedback. My blogging buddies have never steered me wrong.

I have a love of tassels, as I know many of us bloggers do, but I was never able to find one I "loved" and I'm just not handy enough to make my own. While visiting my blogging buddy Jenny @ Candlelit Cottage, I decided to ask her to make a tassel that would blend with my kitchen, dining and living areas (I like to move things around...A LOT!). Then I noticed a rather pudgy tassel that would be great in my dining area. Look at these beauties! Aren't they fantastic?! Be sure to stop by Jenny's and say "Hey!". She's one of the nicest bloggerinas out there!

I love how it looks
hanging on my china cabinet door

I know I've all ready shared this picture,
but here you get the "big picture".
I just love my pudgy tassel.

This is the tassel I requested from Jenny.
I told her my colors and she put this beauty together.
She's so creative!
I know you can't really get the full impact of the
red finial soooo...

Daisy getting in on the picture taking fun...

Now you can really get
the full impact of it's colors and look...

I also wanted to share my crate labels.
I purchased these when we first started
the face lift on the kitchen...way back when.
Framing each one would have been very costly
and I didn't want to spend that much, so I found this frame
and Mr. WHC framed and got them up on the wall for
all to see and enjoy. Especially me!

And the E-A-T l;etters were moved here. I know the A is a bit off. I'll be climbing back up there to set the letters flush with the ceiling. Well as flush as I can anyway...I don't think I have a truly "flush" wall anywhere in this house, lol!
Thanks for stopping by and sharing a part of your day with me. I hope the rest of your day and weekend are FABULOUS!

Autumn has finally arrived....

Hey everybody! Remember me? I know it's been a long while since I've been here or around, but I have been so incredibly busy. The bottom line? I need to learn how to better manage my time. This year I am active in PTA, not just a volunteer for functions and such, but the treasurer and on the board. It's been quite the experience so far, and imagine, I've got until June! Egads! Thankfully last year's treasurer is a truly wonderful person and she has been "training" me, plus the school staff and principle are appreciative and fantastic! I do love that I'm building better and stronger relationships with these individuals.

HAPPY AUTUMN !!!
Living in So Cal means there is no such thing as a 'change of season'. As a matter of fact I am looking out my front window and not a "turning" leaf is in sight! Ten years ago when we moved here, we did get to appreciate the turning of the leaves as the majority of our neighborhood had Maple trees planted in their front yards. Well, about four/five years ago, the trees contracted a disease that spread (via air) and all the trees were removed :0(.
Now, I make my own Autumn. I've always been one to decorate for the seasons...and Autumn is no exception. I begin putting little things up as soon as the kids go back to school and my Autumn decor stays up until The day after Thanksgiving.

This year I felt like Autumn was never going to arrive. As of last week we were still experiencing temps in the high 90s and triple digits. As of Friday we were still in the low 90s and then WHAM! Autumn made herself known on Saturday, entering in with breezy days and temps that were comfortable. Windows were once again opened to let those fresh breezes blow through and the A/C was set to "OFF". The past few days have been glorious and cool. Today my kids actually wore long pants and jackets to school for the first time since April! I sit here with socks on my feet sipping on a cup of Earl Gray....oh Autumn, how I love that you are finally, finally here....

(click on any picture to enlarge)

Come in, Come in...

A happy vignette
greets you
as you come inside...

I still haven't decided what color
I'm painting this cabinet...
but in the meantime
it gets a
bit of "dressing"
for the season...

Simple touches of Autumn
here and there...
(oh! There's my pepper shaker!)

A favorite place to just "be"
Mr. WHC brought those flowers
to me "Just Because". I cut the stems down
and arranged them in a jar.
The tablecloth is a gift
from my friend J.J.
I hosted Bunco this month and all the gals
bring the "hostess" her gift of choice.
I had "Autumn decor and tablecloths" on my "wish list".
As you can see, this is "both" in one.
Woot! Woot!

Thank you so much for stopping by and for not forgetting about me. I appreciate all the comments I've received and will be doing my best to get "out and about" and re-acquaint myself with everyone. I've missed you all!

Blue Monday 9/14. & VTT 9/17--The old school desk

Happy Monday! It's time for Blue Monday again! Be sure to pay our hostess, Smiling Sally, a visit and see who else is sharing the blue's. I'm also going to share this for my Vintage Thingies Thursday which is hosted by Suzanne @ Colorado Lady.
Have a fantastic day everyone!

How I love our old vintage school desk. Twenty-two years ago my daughter's paternal grandfather gifted her with this desk. He used to be a school custodian and one day he was given the chore of clearing and disposing of items that had been locked in the storage rooms. He came upon many school desks that had been stored and forgotten. He found homes for as many as he could and my daughter was one of the lucky children to receive one. This desk has been well used and well loved. I often think of the secrets and wishes that may have been made by the children who sat here and I know of some wishes my own children have made....ahhh, if this desk could only speak and tell us her story. When Mr Cottage and I were newly married, I had to leave sweet desk behind and a family member left her out in the rain and to weather the elements. When we returned for her, she was in sad shape. The entire desk top had to be replaced. Thankfully Mr Cottage had a friend who was a carpenter who used the old desk top as a template. you can see the notches that were "copied" where the pens were to be laid and right in the middle of those notches is a place where the "ink well" would have been kept. I still have the ink well but we chose not to add the "hole" for fear that the kids would damage it or hurt themselves. Yes, this little desk is still used. My girls used it until they could no longer fit, and now my "soon to be" 10 year old uses it when he does his homework. It won't be long til he can no longer fit. Not to worry, the baby of the bunch uses the desk as well. Right now it's painted the blue the kids wanted but the younger ones are screaming for red. I wonder how it would look? LOL!
P.S. never mind those stains on the carpet. That's what happens when you let a toddler walk around with a sippy cup filled with grape juice. Oy! One day that nasty old carpet will be lifted and the 55 year old oak floors beneath, will be refinished. It's on the "list".



Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy your day and have a fantastic week!

We will never forget...

Yummy Banana Bread

With the incredible heat we've been experiencing, the bananas on our counter ripened faster then we could eat them (this was with the a/c on!). I hate to waste food, and although it was pretty warm, I decided to bake some banana bread for my Mr. WHC. Good thing I'm able to close off my kitchen :0)

You'll need to...
Preheat oven to 350 degrees...

Mash 2 1/3 cups of over ripe bananas
set aside...

Cream together
1/2 cup butter & 3/4 cup brown sugar

beat two eggs and then stir together
with creamed sugar/butter
and ripe bananas until well blended.
Set aside...

Mix together
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tspn baking soda
1 /4 tspn salt
1/4 tspn nutmeg
1 tspn cinnamon...

Stir banana mixture into flour mixture.
Stir just enough to moisten...

Pour batter into prepared 9x5 loaf pan.
(I just use a non stick pan or
non stick cooking spray,
but you can flour your loaf pan)
Bake in preheated oven for 60-65 minutes or until inserted
toothpick/fork prong comes out clean.
Let bread cool in pan
for 10 minutes then turn out
onto wire rack.

Mmmm. ..Enjoy!

Remember, you can add nuts, chips or raisins if you choose. I just didn't have any on hand.

Treasure Craft Canister Set-Vintage Thingies Thursday

Happy Thursday!

It's time for Vintage Thingies Thursday! Please pay a visit to Suzanne @ Colorado Lady and see who else rolls vintage...

Treasure Craft Canister Set...

Some would like to slap me for using them this way,
but it works for me "right now".
I use them as
storage in my laundry room.
I've got dryer sheets in one,
legos and toys from my boys pockets in another,
loose change or what I like to
call "tip money" in another...

This set originally belonged to my Sis-In-Law's BFF, then my SIL had them for a while through the 80s and most of the 90s. She gifted them to me in 1997 after seeing how much I admired them. I'm guessing these canisters are somewhere around 25-30 years old. Just old enough to be considered "vintage".
Thanks for stopping by! I hope you have a fab day!