Retro Saturday

Ok, I had a bright idea. Since I'm into many things retro, I decided to try doing Saturday posts about retro things. I have to admit this was inspired by the house I cleaned this morning. It's a ranch style, built in the 60's and these people never throw anything away. Their house is a treasure trove of old stuff, including the pantry that I was helping update this morning.

This came from the pantry. Unopened, in perfectly good condition, but I can't imagine how rancid the walnuts must be. It was sent home with me to add the walnuts to my compost pile. But, now I can't bear to open such a perfect old can. I think I'll add it to my shelf of curiousities.

I remember when I was a kid, it was a big deal when Mom bought one of these cans of walnuts because it meant we were going to get something really yummy to eat. They were pretty spendy though, and it was rare that she bought them. What fun though when she did, for it meant one of us kids would get to use the nut chopper as well. I wonder if she's still got that old nut chopper? It was white with an aqua pattern on it. It would fit perfectly into my kitchen now. Oh mo-o-o-om........

Bridemaid Dresses Revisited

So, the cleaning/finishing projects purge continues at Tulip house. I opened a drawer the other morning, thinking to organize it. I found not one, not two, but three quilts worth of started blocks. The one pictured below must have been started about 8 years ago. I think? Maybe? It's been at least that long ago since I made pale yellow bridesmaid's dresses and ended up with tons of leftover fabric. It's been so long ago, I can't even remember how or why I had all the lavendar fabric. I think that's just a little too long for projects to lay around, taking up space in a drawer. I can now add one crib size quilt top to my growing stack of finished projects. This one will also go to the quilting ladies at church, because as far as I know, I have no grandchildren on the way, so have no need of a crib size quilt.

Old Shirts

Before:
My husband gets lots of new work shirts every year. And they don't seem to wear out, so they accumulate. Eventually I motivate him to clear the old ones out of his closet.

Old shirts become this:


After:



And this:

And unfortunatley we can't get a camera out in this house without the pup getting involved in the picture.

The bottom quilt is a full size and the top is a baby quilt. Both will go to the ladies at church to be finished and sent to some worthy cause.

Now that those are finished and out of the way, maybe I'll work on a little fancier quilt that has been started for simply ages.

More Knitting

Cute blue hat. Tried a new pattern, turned out too small for me, so probably selling this one. Made from worsted weight Redheart yarn.

Valentine Sweets

These are the cute little candy heart boxes I made for my family for Valentine's Day. I bought the mold at the thrift shop back before Christmas. Someone told me they had a bunch of candy molds at the thrift shop so I made a special trip to town to check them out. Not much for Christmas molds which is what I'd been hoping for, but I picked up quite a few Valentine things, this heart box mold being one of them.

I had three of the kids here for supper the day before Valentine's and I filled the boxes with no-bake cheesecake filling. They were a big hit, except for the complaints that they didn't hold enough filling. The teenage daughter even took the extra heart to have for breakfast at school the next morning.

Gloves

Gloves with lovely long cuffs made from sock yarn. They knitted up much faster than I thought they would. Now I want some in every color of the rainbow.

Cabin Fever

I'm pretty sure winter is going to go on forever. This is surely the beginning of a new ice age. Global warming was just a ruse. There have been too many days off. Seed catalogs are only a vicious reminder that the garden is covered in three feet of snow. What's a girl to do? Well, when I find myself turning itty bitty matchboxes into jewelry boxes, then I know it's time for an outing of some sort.

Just for fun

Pistachio cake with hazelnut flavored frosting. Made it for my hubby and daughter because they've put up with all my foul moods this winter. Plus I wanted to play with this butterfly pan.

Happy Feet

After knitting a pair of socks and swapping them for an apron, knitting a pair of socks and having them end up too small and giving them to my mother, knitting a pair of socks and having them end up too large and giving them to my daughter--- finally, finally I have a pair of my very own wool socks that are so soft and cozy I never want to take them off.

Winter crafting

Winter is most certainly here, and with it the crafting bug. I haven't been as busy doing things as I should be. In fact I've been downright lazy, but I'm going to change that with the new year. Ok, I'm going to try. If I keep posting projects here, maybe it will motivate me to keep doing more.

My first project I did this fall when my work hours got cut to winter hours was my "genie bottle" It's just an absolutely useless little dust collector, but I had so much fun making it. Took various found parts, glued them together and painted.

Once again I managed to get the pictures in reverse order, and I wish I had thought to take a "before" before I got the primer on all the parts. The lid and the base are glass and the body is a hollow hunk of metal that I believe must have been part of a lamp.

Mulchy's Magnificent Iris

Spring colors

Visit to the exotics

I was at my friend's farm the other day and had the chance to wander around and take a few pics of the exotic birds and animals they raise. I don't know what all these birds are. I do know I'm not fond of having emu's follow me around everywhere and I do know the white peacock was even more spectacular in person.

Bouquet

Just cute

Poppy Bud

This photo was taken on 4/29 which seems really early for poppies to have big ol' fat buds like this. Usually they bloom with the spirea right around memorial day weekend. I'm going to have to watch these and see if they bloom extra early. There are three big buds, the rest seem to be coming along more slowly.

Pretty Pink

Buddy's

Those of you who have known me for awhile will remember our old dog Buddy. When he passed on, I buried him beside my pickup. Any time I came home from work, he was there to greet me before I even had the door open, so that's where I had the man with the back hoe dig his grave and I've turned it into a flower bed. I always plant purple petunias on it and I've finally gotten purple tulips growning fairly well on it. It was not great soil to work with!

PS! Don't anybody tell my daughter her picture turned up in my blog!

All done blooming

These tulips and hyacinths may be all done blooming, but the cool weather has kept them so lush and green!

Lemon Balm

I planted lots of lemon balm last year because I never have any luck getting it to survive the winter. I thought if I planted lots, I'd at least get a plant or two that survived. Well, of course, it ALL survived and it's growing like crazy.