The phone rang the other morning and it was my son's cell phone number on caller ID. My mind started to race and my heart started to beat faster because he doesn't use his cell phone when he calls from work. As a Grammy in waiting, I thought - could THIS be it?? Right off the bat he said "now don't get TOO excited Mom, but we are on the way to labor and delivery. Angela woke up with some symptoms and they want us to go and have her checked out". Then he told me how I would have to go to his house to get some things they didn't have ready yet - LIKE THE VIDEO CAMERA! He said he would call soon when they knew more. So I rushed through a shower and got some make up on ( I need to be pretty when Liliana meets me the first time after all!) and I got dressed and I thought about all the things I wanted with ME if I was going to be at the hospital for hours as well. But it turned out to be a false alarm. In hind sight, it was probably a good thing it happened because my normally organized and well prepared son and DIL, and this normally VERY well prepared and VERY organized mom (that would be ME!) realized we needed to be even more prepared and organized. They live only about 10 minutes from us and the hospital is about the same distance from either of our homes, so we are lucky that nothing is that far away. And Jay and Angela were scheduled for a tour that evening so they were able to get it while they were there, another reason it was not a wasted visit. Angela was a nanny for one of the labor and delivery nurses at that hospital, so she will have the added benefit of a trusted face when labor really does start. SOON hopefully!
I have tipped them so you can see the banding. I am not sure if it is true, but I was told that the bowls with the rounded top edges are more valuable.
And here are two more of my antique pieces. Both this bowl with the brown banding and
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Before I get to my dirty little secret and my yellowware pics, I wanted to show you where I put the candle sconce that I got at the Gingham Goose last Saturday. I tweaked the display on the door of the cabinet as well. I think the sconce was just what I needed to help balance this side of the wall with the window on the left side.
Donna, over at The Country Nest told me I was just 2 miles from her house when I was there. So now I am definitely planning to go back when the Gingham Goose is in their new home this fall and I hope to meet Donna as well. If you don't know Donna, do stop over and meet her. I fell in love with her home on RMS long before I knew she was a blogger. She has gorgeous gardens as well. Oh and her porch- just to die for! And she is a sweet gal as well. What more could you want! Make sure you tell her I sent you!
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You know there is a very good reason why most kitchen cabinets have doors on them. They hide a lot of dirty little secrets!! Now don't go acting so surprised. I know most of you have at least one cabinet that just doesn't seem to stay neat no matter what you do. That's better - I saw you all shaking your heads in agreement. And yes, even this normally organized gal has some secrets behind my doors. And today, I am going to get brave and share one of them. The one that WAS behind THIS door...
That is the cabinet I call my baking cabinet because it holds all my herbs, spices, nuts, raisin, oil and vinegar and other cooking and baking needful things. And it used to look like this...
If you look closely, you can see the plastic edging on the shelf is all cracked and chipping off. There was no rhyme or reason to the mess and I was certain there were some spices in there since the 90's. So yesterday, I emptied it out. Scrubbed down the walls and the shelves. I lined the bottom with a piece of vinyl flooring to make it easier to wipe up those drips and spills and I painted the walls and the shelves with Wilmington Tan from Benjamin Moore. It is one of the colors I would consider using if I ever painted the OUTSIDE of the cabinets.
And then I wiped down every container, threw away old spices, consolidated others, and put all the nuts, seeds, dried fruit and even the salt and baking soda into canning jars. I got everything back in the cabinet and stepped back and enjoyed how nice and neat and clean it is. For NOW.
Now just don't go looking in my junk drawer!!
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I have mentioned several times how badly I want to paint the cabinets and woodwork and how my DH prefers that I don't. He is so good at letting my have free reign in decorating just abut anything else, but he loves his wood. When I was in the Gingham Goose last Saturday, some customers and the cashiers were oohing and aahing over the Mercantile Gatherings article and I mentioned how I wanted to paint them and explained my DH's preference. One gal came right out and said " Just paint them when he he isn't home". I am always so surprised that some one would suggest I disrespect my husband like that and I quickly found myself defending his preference. Still, I really have been hoping that I could change his mind. Well after last night, I can tell you it won't be happening any time soon! When he came home from golf I said, "Honey, let me show you the cabinet I painted in the kitchen. " Well his face just dropped. The smile just vanished and he looked at me and said in the saddest, most deflated voice - "Oh honey, YOU DIDN'T PAINT MY OAK CABINETS did you?????" I swear he looked like someone just stole his precious golf clubs! I had to quickly explain and he was sooooo relieved when I showed him it was JUST the inside that I painted. I guess I won't be trying the paint on the woodwork this summer either...
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FINALLY - here is the post on yellowware a pal asked me to make. I did a little research to find a few facts for you. This is what I compiled from a variety of online sources.
Yellow ware is a kind of pottery made from a yellow colored clay that can fire to a warm butter color or a spicy mustard color. American potters began making yellow ware, redware and stoneware items, before the American Revolution on the eastern seaboard of the original Colonies. Crocks, plates, cups, bowls, ladles, funnels, skimmers, rolling pins, and colanders were all made of yellow ware. From one band of color around a bowl to ornate geometric designs covering the entire piece which might be sponged, spattered, applied with putty, rags, or brushes, incised or drawn, in a variety of colors, decoration was all hand-done. Yellowware is seldom marked. This is why if you want to become a serious collector, you have to do your homework. There were literally hundreds of factories spreading all the way from Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New England, and New York. Many of the bowls you will find today were made near the end of yellow ware production, about 1915 to 1935. Most yellowware's glaze contains lead, so avoid using cracked pieces for food preparation. Even dishes in top condition should not be used for storing food in the refrigerator, for preparing acidic foods, or for baking, because this may cause the lead to leach out of the glaze. Yellow ware was mostly used for mixing, baking, and storage rather than as tableware.
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Before I get to my dirty little secret and my yellowware pics, I wanted to show you where I put the candle sconce that I got at the Gingham Goose last Saturday. I tweaked the display on the door of the cabinet as well. I think the sconce was just what I needed to help balance this side of the wall with the window on the left side.
Donna, over at The Country Nest told me I was just 2 miles from her house when I was there. So now I am definitely planning to go back when the Gingham Goose is in their new home this fall and I hope to meet Donna as well. If you don't know Donna, do stop over and meet her. I fell in love with her home on RMS long before I knew she was a blogger. She has gorgeous gardens as well. Oh and her porch- just to die for! And she is a sweet gal as well. What more could you want! Make sure you tell her I sent you!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You know there is a very good reason why most kitchen cabinets have doors on them. They hide a lot of dirty little secrets!! Now don't go acting so surprised. I know most of you have at least one cabinet that just doesn't seem to stay neat no matter what you do. That's better - I saw you all shaking your heads in agreement. And yes, even this normally organized gal has some secrets behind my doors. And today, I am going to get brave and share one of them. The one that WAS behind THIS door...
That is the cabinet I call my baking cabinet because it holds all my herbs, spices, nuts, raisin, oil and vinegar and other cooking and baking needful things. And it used to look like this...
If you look closely, you can see the plastic edging on the shelf is all cracked and chipping off. There was no rhyme or reason to the mess and I was certain there were some spices in there since the 90's. So yesterday, I emptied it out. Scrubbed down the walls and the shelves. I lined the bottom with a piece of vinyl flooring to make it easier to wipe up those drips and spills and I painted the walls and the shelves with Wilmington Tan from Benjamin Moore. It is one of the colors I would consider using if I ever painted the OUTSIDE of the cabinets.
And then I wiped down every container, threw away old spices, consolidated others, and put all the nuts, seeds, dried fruit and even the salt and baking soda into canning jars. I got everything back in the cabinet and stepped back and enjoyed how nice and neat and clean it is. For NOW.
Now just don't go looking in my junk drawer!!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have mentioned several times how badly I want to paint the cabinets and woodwork and how my DH prefers that I don't. He is so good at letting my have free reign in decorating just abut anything else, but he loves his wood. When I was in the Gingham Goose last Saturday, some customers and the cashiers were oohing and aahing over the Mercantile Gatherings article and I mentioned how I wanted to paint them and explained my DH's preference. One gal came right out and said " Just paint them when he he isn't home". I am always so surprised that some one would suggest I disrespect my husband like that and I quickly found myself defending his preference. Still, I really have been hoping that I could change his mind. Well after last night, I can tell you it won't be happening any time soon! When he came home from golf I said, "Honey, let me show you the cabinet I painted in the kitchen. " Well his face just dropped. The smile just vanished and he looked at me and said in the saddest, most deflated voice - "Oh honey, YOU DIDN'T PAINT MY OAK CABINETS did you?????" I swear he looked like someone just stole his precious golf clubs! I had to quickly explain and he was sooooo relieved when I showed him it was JUST the inside that I painted. I guess I won't be trying the paint on the woodwork this summer either...
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FINALLY - here is the post on yellowware a pal asked me to make. I did a little research to find a few facts for you. This is what I compiled from a variety of online sources.
Yellow ware is a kind of pottery made from a yellow colored clay that can fire to a warm butter color or a spicy mustard color. American potters began making yellow ware, redware and stoneware items, before the American Revolution on the eastern seaboard of the original Colonies. Crocks, plates, cups, bowls, ladles, funnels, skimmers, rolling pins, and colanders were all made of yellow ware. From one band of color around a bowl to ornate geometric designs covering the entire piece which might be sponged, spattered, applied with putty, rags, or brushes, incised or drawn, in a variety of colors, decoration was all hand-done. Yellowware is seldom marked. This is why if you want to become a serious collector, you have to do your homework. There were literally hundreds of factories spreading all the way from Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New England, and New York. Many of the bowls you will find today were made near the end of yellow ware production, about 1915 to 1935. Most yellowware's glaze contains lead, so avoid using cracked pieces for food preparation. Even dishes in top condition should not be used for storing food in the refrigerator, for preparing acidic foods, or for baking, because this may cause the lead to leach out of the glaze. Yellow ware was mostly used for mixing, baking, and storage rather than as tableware.
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I first started collecting mixing bowls sometime in the late 80's,. And soon after I found this bowl rack in yet another shop that no longer exists. In fact, I got it when the shop was closing for quite a discount. For a long time, I didn't have a bowl to fit on the top and then a dear friend found the little one for my birthday one year.
I have tipped them so you can see the banding. I am not sure if it is true, but I was told that the bowls with the rounded top edges are more valuable.
And here are two more of my antique pieces. Both this bowl with the brown banding and the one on the bottom of my rack above were 'payment' for helping clean out the home of my nanny's elderly neighbor Cecile. She had no children and her nieces asked my mom and I to help. When I pulled them out of the depth of a pantry cabinet, I gasped. The nieces promptly told me that their aunt would be thrilled to know they went to a good home. I have fond memories of Cecile and her husband Tommy so these bowls hold a lot of love!
I love my two molds and have used them for pantry cakes. Back in the day, they were used for loaf cakes, corn bread and more.
and my last piece of antique yellowware is this custard cup. Just the right size to hold a votive.
I would love to own a rolling pin and more molds someday, but for now, I get great pleasure in the pieces I do own.
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I also wanted to share with you a great tutorial for a blanket crane. The very talented Kris, over at Simply Prim shared this with blogland a few days ago. I love the blanket crane that my friend Jill made for me and so many gals have asked me about and now Kris had made it easy for anyone that wants their own. She even sketched the steps and measurements for us and made it so easy! So hope on over here if you would like to see it! And make sure you check out the rest of her blog and all her prim goodies! Thanks Kris!
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And last but not least, I want to congratulate my sweet friend Jen from Taylor's Farmhouse Attic for the spread in Mercantile Gathering's summer issue. She just got her copies and now I can't wait to get mine. Jen also got the word that she will also be featured in Country Sampler in the future and is just waiting to find out when they will be going to her house to shoot it. I am so excited for you Jen!! Woohoo!
I REALLY hope that the next time I update it is just a brief post saying that I am on my way to the hospital for Liliana's birth. After the other day, I got a post ready andit is just waiting for me to publish it. If it isn't soon, I just might need to clean that junk drawer for some more before and afters. I don't know about you, but I am thinking a post with baby pics would be soooooo much better!
Until Next Time - Hugs, Linda
PS I will be called Grammy Linda and DH will be Grampy David
