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Friday, August 12, 2011

Treasure Hunt

A friend and I checked out a church rummage sale in the area this morning, and we came away with some mighty good finds. Here's what I brought home for $9.75.

Big, rustic basket - $1.50


And a decorative birdcage (to house a plant, maybe?) - $1.00


Leather-handled basket - $1.00


Mirror (with plans to paint the frame) - $2.00


Vintage bread cloth - 50 cents


Vintage roll cloth? - 50 cents


Anyone know what this is, for real? My friend and I are just guessing. It has two snaps, which when fastened, make the cloth look like this.


The embroidery lies face up, then, within the outer sections.


Jar candle - 25 cents


Rustic sled - $3.00


My friend spotted it, but she has two decorative sleds and decided that doesn't need another. Score!

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Just Peachy

Recently, while giving our old chest freezer an overdue defrosting, I came across a forgotten bag of frozen sliced peaches. Since fresh peaches are in (sweet, juicy, drip-down-your-arm) season, it seemed almost heretical to consider using frozen now. Then I remembered a well-loved recipe for Peach Cobbler from Lora Lee Parrott's Sunday Dinner. It's quick, delicious, and calls for frozen peaches.


Warm from the oven with some whipped or ice cream--or in our case tonight, frozen vanilla yogurt--it says lovin' from the oven any time of year. Oh--I usually halve the recipe for just the two of us, since one of us has quite a sweet tooth and is semi-committed to watching her weight.


Some minor changes to the recipe--I add 1/2 teaspoon salt to the dry ingredients; also, like my friend Sharon, I use 4 cups peaches rather than 2 or 3. No oven temp is given, so I bake at 400 degrees and use a greased 8 or 9" square pan for half a recipe, 9 x 13" for full.

PEACH COBBLER

1/2 cup butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 cups sugar, divided
3/4 cup milk
2-3 cups frozen peaches
1/2 cup water

Melt butter in baking dish. Mix flour, baking powder, 1 cup of sugar, and milk; pour into baking dish. Arrange peaches over batter. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup sugar over peaches and pour water over peaches. Bake in preheated oven 50 minutes.

'This is a quick- and easy-to-prepare dessert. Also easy to use with other fruits. Especially delicious served hot.'

Mrs. Bob (Mary Jo) Ketchum
Shawnee, Oklahoma

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Brighten the Corner*

Here's a small project I can lay claim to. We were given three chairs and a table just for clearing them out of a family member's basement. Here's one of the chairs before.


And after.


After sanding, priming, painting, re-sanding--wet this time--and re-painting. Paint on the seat bubbled up the first time. Either I hadn't sufficiently sanded, or the primer and paint were incompatible. Still learning.

So now, this cheery red chair brightens a corner of the deck. For more brightness, there happened to be some wildflowers growing among the weeds down the hill.


*In my youth, I sang alto in church with a girls' trio--creatively called The Girls' Trio. I'm pretty sure we weren't that good; bless the hearts of the folks who patiently listened to and encouraged us! 'Brighten the Corner' was one of 'our' songs. We loved to sing the last phrase:

Brighten the corner
Where (soprano)
Where (second soprano)
Where (alto)
You (and so on)
You
You
Are! (three-part harmony)

Oh No I Didn't!

No, I didn't restore this French-inspired kitchen set! The hubs suggested we leave the job to a professional and frankly, he didn't have to ask me twice. Maybe with a little more experience, I would've considered tackling such a large project, but I just didn't feel ready to take the risk.

A craigslist find, she originally sported some old, stained off-white polyester cushions, a highly lacquered, black-spattered finish, and a sizeable variety of nicks.


However, we were able to see past her surface blemishes to her shapely tabletop, beautiful wood grain, cute skirt, and well-maintained cane. So Anita at Heirloom Furniture Restoration worked her magic, and we were thrilled with the outcome. (We could use a larger rug now!)


I did manage to re-cover the chair cushions with this red and white home dec fabric. Ticking has always been a favorite of mine. I also sprayed each cushion with a stain repellant.

Thanks to craigslist and Anita, we're enjoying the new look in the nook!