Market Days

     At a recent neighborhood Market Days, I really got lucky.  In fact, once I parked my car, I was literally ten steps away from this.

     Included in the set was this ironstone  tureen and ladle and these- all 12 of them.

     Now, at Thanksgiving , is my crew the type to sit Norman Rockwell - like with small soup bowls holding some fragrant Harvest on the Homeland concoction, chatting and sharing anecdotes during their first course?

     Well… maybe not… We do sit at the table, we do laugh a lot, and we do eat a lot, but when I try this, I can hear my father now:

“What is that for?” (referring to small soup bowl on his plate)

“What are we supposed to do with that?”

     I am going to try anyway. We can then laugh about it all as he shakes his head and thinks,

“What is Sister (me) up to now. That crazy girl.”

     At the same sale, I found these.

     Fourteen pewter napkin rings.  I immediately thought I could mix them with these, a hostess gift I received from a dear friend’s daughter.

Cost:

Soup set: tureen, ladle, 12 bowls       $25.00

14 pewter napkin rings                         $ 7.50

Would I rather pay $5?  Sure, but over the years I have learned more about value.  That concluded my garage sale shopping for the morning.

     I am linking to the following wonderful blog parties today.

2nd Time Around Tuesday and

Three or More Tuesday. Go see Diane at A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words and Tam at The Gypsy Corner for more entries.

Sweet Saturday Joy

     Around noon on Saturday , I remembered that I hadn’t been to the garden co-op to get our vegetables for the week.

     While the farmer’s wife and daughters packaged my vegetables, I was offered these zinnias which were growing around the garden’s perimeter. Zinnias are my favorite flower.

     I then loaded my car with all of this.

     I brought home salad mix, arugula, mustard greens, collard greens, okra, radishes, cucumbers, squash, baby eggplant, spinach, and basil.

     Sweet Saturday Joy.

Christmas Inspiration

      To prepare for my all time favorite holiday season of the year- and the many Christmas parties I have given- both large and small, I have always relied on my library of Christmas books and magazines for inspiration.

      Both of my collections (magazines and books) has grown each year.

     I have favorites I re-read every year.

         This year, however, I have been bothered by the fact that some magazines are $10.99! I even saw one for $12.99. Yikes!

        So prompted by Barb at Bella Vista, I have looked for Christmas books at my favorite stores: Ross, Marshalls, and TJ Maxx.

     None of these were over $5.99.   I also added one from my favorite designer Mary Carol Garrity, O Christmas Tree, by ordering it from Amazon. I order her books as soon as they are published. I know many of you do too.

     This goes along with another favorite that I have enjoyed.

     And finally, I also add to my Christmas CD collection every year, and this year I added-

     Right about now my friend Anna is wondering where I found the Luis Miguel CD.  Answer?  WalMart of course.

     Please don’t think I am ignoring Thanksgiving because I am not.  I am preparing for that as well, although that is more about recipes- old standards with comforting, historical tastes, and an occasional new one added as well- like acorn squash with cinnamon, butter, and Splenda- that we added a couple of years ago.  It is amazing.

Keep a Tight Rein

     Raised to ‘watch out for snakes’ while growing up, it is hard to not predict the future 24/7. Add to that the fact that I have been feeling a little blue this week since we returned from a road trip, and the connection of the two is clear to me- how about you?

     For those of you who have read my dice throwing musings, hang in there- there is a point.

     Growing up in the country, especially on a South Texas ranch, really did warrant walking with your head down watching for snakes- as my father directed.

      I believe everything he has ever said.  He is a man of too few words to do otherwise.

     This practicality can have a cost- a contraindication if you will.  You begin to think you really do have powers beyond your natural capability.

Examples (some I have shared previously)

*sitting in restaurants with your back to the wall- in case you need to shoot your way out (I do not carry a gun, but I can act like I do.)

*scanning high school classrooms, somehow knowing something is not quite right

*scanning high school classrooms, hallways, bus duty stations planning the best avenue of escape or rescue for your students-

*having instincts so finely tuned from years of being a wife, mother, daughter, friend, and high school English teacher , these instincts begin to sort of short out, re-wired hormonally and emotionally

and the biggest whopper of all-

*being a mind reader

     In my blueness this week, I have taken back just about every worry I can think of from God’s sturdy, perfectly capable hands. What an understatement.

     The solution- in addition to handing them back to You Know Who?

     Why acting on an axiom of my upbringing of course:

“Keep a tight rein.”  my father

 

Comfort Zones-Gardening and Otherwise

        While in Dallas, I asked Daughter #3 to stop at a nursery so I could buy bulbs.  It all feels a little presumptuous- hyacinths, after all.

        I am obsessed with bulbs. This leap-frogging of obsessions/interests at this point in my life is so liberating. So what if hyacinths sound like something grown for the Queen Mother- I am doing it, even as they are pleading, “Please don’t plant me in Zone 9! Don’t you want to buy the cactus?”

        Other interests-

*All things fragrance- these smell amazing- they smell like November, Christmas, family , baking, all rolled into one- plus the name Orleans sealed it.

  

* Ribbon- I found these at a Christmas store my daughter discovered in Plano. Why these checks?  I want to use the red and black on my front door .The black and white raw silk ribbon just called to me- not as in gingham- but as in MacKenzie-Childs.

       

* And birds, anything Louisiana, mercury glass ornaments, the feel of library books, aprons…