My TeaPots

I love tea. Hot tea, iced tea, sweet tea, black tea, some green teas, some white teas. Fruity teas, rosy teas and yummy refreshing teas. And a girl has got to have a pot to make her tea in, right?

I am participating in Kelli's of There's No Place Like Home Friday Show and Tell. {Click on this link to read more about it.}

And I am going to show you just a few of my teapots. I have them on display on the hutch in my kitchen. Many are gifts. Some are for looks. I think all the ones on this hutch are usable. That is a good thing. I like to use them. I also have some serving pieces of my everyday stoneware. I was fortunate that I selected a nice patter that was on sale for about a month before we were married. We got 32 place settings, a few serving pieces and a few odds and ends. We kept 18 place settings, finished out all the serving pieces (not all shown here) and traded the rest in on fine china. We were both in our 30's and it was a 1st time marriage for both of us. Everyone was generous.
I think all the teacups in this photo are gifts. I collect them as well, though not to the extent as the tea pots. The big blue stoneware teapot in the middle was on a clearance shelf at walmart 15 years ago. It was marked down to nothing, matched my everyday dishes and in the winter time, use it all the time. Not a chip in it.

Several stoneware pots that you see on the top shelf I purchased at an inexpensive price b/c I just needed something to brew a pot in. I did not always want to use china. ;-) One of the china pots was a souvenir from Mt. Vernon.

I have a silver plate salt and pepper shaker, tea strainers/infusers etc displayed there. One of my cousins made the framed crochet doily for a wedding present. There are other knik knaks displayed as well. And if you notice, in the back of the buffet portion of the hutch there is a little teapot with a missing top.

It is just perfect to display flowers in.

Y'all have a wonderful and blessed weekend!

Smocking... and Yes, I do Sew!

I have reloaded some photos, removed some that would not load from the hosting site they were stored on and rewrote the S&T just a tad... But it is still all about smocking!

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I hope everyone is having a great day today and looking forward to a wonderful weekend! The Lord is good to us. We are blessed in this house.

I am participating in Kelli's of There's No Place Like Home Friday Show and Tell. {Click on this link to read more about it.}

I was going to be lazy and show the handbag/purse I posted yesterday as my show and tell. But, Kitty commented in a very sweet post about my bag and requested to see some of my smocking. I did quickly find a few photos before the bus ran (and made/packed lunch while photos loaded!) I hope that you enjoy them!
DD Wearing Picture Smocking Designed by Laura Jenkins Thompson. The design is Laura's Scotties and she is posing with none other than Laura herself! I just love Laura! To learn more about Laura, click here.

Another picture smocking plate by Laura. Carousel I think, but I cannot remember without looking it up.

The collar on this dress is also an Ellen McCarn design. (The dress is also an Ellen McCarn Pattern.) The dress fabric is silk doupioni. The bodice of the dress is textured with 'backsmocking'. Our oldest male budgie, Tweety, is perched on DD's hand. He was young then and thought DD existed only for for his pleasure and entertainment. He adored her and loved me. He has a wife now. He still likes her, he still loves me. I am "Mommy"! He is and will forever be attached to my apron strings. Zoey is so jealous of him. ;-P

This is a sweet little preemie/burial gown set. I included my hand so that you can see how tiny it is. (I have very tiny hands, 4 -1/4 ring size...) It would fit a 1-2 lb baby. I think it was donated to an Atlanta or Nashville hospital at on one of the SAGA (Smocking Arts Guild of America) National Conventions.
This plate is picture smocking on a Mary Dee Dress pattern by Childern's Corner. (Laura's Scotties and Carousel Horses are also CC-Mary Dee's.) The plate is "I Love My Country" and I cannot remember who the designer is. But many many of my friends have made it and I copied their fabrics and colors. :D Imitation is the best form of flatery!

That is my Friday Show and Tell! I hope that you enjoyed it! If y'all like sewing pictures, I can bore you to tears with them. ;-) I have made tons of articles of clothing. The photos are saved on cd's somewhere. I need to watermark faces (of my child and my niece) before I post a quality photo of one of their faces straight on.

I look forward to seeing everyone's Show & Tells. Have a wonderful weekend!

Quilts and Cotton Combs

How is everyone today? I hope doing well. We are in for a 'cool spell' here. Low to mid 90's. :-D That is always welcomed this time of year.

I am participating in Kelli's of There's No Place Like Home Friday Show and Tell. {Click on this link to read more about it.}

And I have another family "heirloom" to share with you. I hope you enjoy it.

My maternal grandmother loved making quilts. I bet she made hundreds of them. Most, every stitch by hand. I have only a few that she made. But this one is very special. She made this Around the World top in 1958 for her 'first grandchild' (me) and entered it in the Madison County (Alabama) Fair. It took home the Blue Ribbon! She was so proud of that.

She gave up on me ever getting married, which was when she was planning on giving me the quilt, so some time in the early 80's she quilted it and gave it to me. When I was very young, I can remember when Grandma would sandwich a quilt, she would lay unbleached muslin (she was very simple country woman. The quilts these days would blow her mind. The green backing I picked for this quilt blew her mind....) on the floor. She would take clean cotton and her combs and began to comb them (that was before she discovered the quilting poly...) and she would comb those fibers, spreading them out on the muslin. When the muslin was sufficiently covered, she would place the top onto the cotton and pin it down.

I am sure that these cotton combs have seen many many quilts. Grandma died a few months before I got married. Praise the Lord, she did see me engaged to a wonderful man who she adored. So she quit worrying. I was the oldest of her 11 grands and almost the last to marry. That fretted her to no end. But I digress...

I have seen these combs used for wool, flax, any type of fiber that needs combing before spinning, processing, etc. The needles are very very fine and very strong. They scratch the skin easily. When my mom had to 'downsize' and we were cleaning out her house, I found them tucked away in a closet. Since I learned to quilt from grandma and helped her with her quilts a lot, Mama let me take them home.

I am working on a way to display them someway. I do not want to keep them hidden in a closet. I want to show them. I think, if I ever get that 'sewing studio/office' thing going, that will be a perfect place. :-)

Summer Time Grilling!

I am participating in Kelli's of There's No Place Like Home Friday Show and Tell. {Click on this link to read more about it.}
I thought it would be fun to share a grilled meal with y'all. It is hot and humid here in the deep south and I just hate to heat up my kitchen. And I love healthy, low calorie meals!

The Menu (To feed 2 adults, 1 child and enough left over for one lunch the next day)

• 2 Tuna Steaks
• 1 lb Fresh Tiny Asparagus (on sale at the local market this week!)
• 2 Medium Sweet Potatoes

You will also need Olive Oil, Sea Salt, Lemon Juice & Greek Seasonings. And of course, a grill and a Microwave.

Marinade the Tuna in Olive Oil (1-2 Tablespoons), Juice of one Lemon and Greek Seasonings.

Microwave Sweet Potatoes for 3 minutes, slice about 1/2-3/4 of an inch thick and set aside. This will enable the potatoes to cook quicker on the grill and they will be ready to take up at the same time the meat and asparagus are ready to take up.

Wash Asparagus and pat dry.

Place the Sweet Potato and Asparagus on the grill, brush with Olive Oil, sprinkle with Sea Salt and Greek Seasonings.

Add your Tuna to the Grill. If you have never Grilled Tuna before, Grill it just like you do Beef Steak. We cook ours done, but like it moist, tender and flaky.

Make sure you turn your vegetables frequently.

Plate it up and
Enjoy!!!

My Grandpa's Chair

I am participating in Kelli's of There's No Place Like Home Friday Show and Tell. {Click on this link to read more about it.}

And this Friday, I want to tell you about one my my Grandpa's chairs. My Grandpa had two favorite chairs that he always sat in. His favorite inside chair is a beautiful chair and it has a mate (I have no idea who has the mate). Both chairs were sitting in the living room, in front of the big picture window with a marble top table in between them. Grandpa was a chain smoker and he was always smoking, half turned so he could look out the window and still watch us play in the floor. As we got older and became adults, he would still sit in that chair, look out the window and still be able to turn to face us for conversation.

Grandpa was a carpenter, a builder, a designer and an, uneducated by modern standards, architect. During the depression, building was slow. He would do odd jobs, repair jobs, handy man type stuff to make money, in order to feed my Grandma, Dad and his brothers. Sometimes, people who had very very nice homes and possessions... would call him to come do work for them. After he completed the job, they would not have any money to pay him..... Grandpa learned to never leave without some sort of compensation...

One such lady tried to get out of paying Grandpa for a job well done. When he looked around her beautiful home for something of equal value, that she was willing to part with, the items would be worth too little or too much. He did not want to take advantage her or be taken advantage of. He finally said, "Do you have anything else?" She took him out to the barn. There he saw two very old original Jacobean chairs. Webbing was all that was left in the bottoms. Hay had been loaded into them and the cows were eating out of them....

He knew the chairs were worth more than the job he did. But he did not see the situation as taking advantage of this lady. He saw it as rescuing two antique chairs from the fate of being feeding troughs.

He did what repair work was needed to them. Refinished and reupholstered them, cared for them, loved them. He acquired many antiques during the depression era in this fashion. I have two other side chairs circa 1840's-1850's that came from his estate. I know they were payment for a job as well.

This was one of my favorite chairs because this was the one he always sat in. I did not know what had happened to it until a few months ago my Aunt, (my Uncle's Widow) emailed me. "I have your Grandpa's chair (I knew which one she was talking about) in the attic. Your cousin does not want it... You can have it..." What a present!!!

It needs some repair work. A wheel has fallen off and needs to be put back on. The bottom of the leg where the wheel goes needs repair. (My Aunt kept and gave me the wheel.) Grandpa had it upholstered in a silk brocade. Someone has covered a seat portion in car seat velour. (YUCK!!!) I bought a beautiful silk blend brocade that I plan to reupholster the chair in. I will also need to get all new stuffing.

From my Grandpa's Estate, I have many treasures. But this is one of my favorites. This was his favorite 'inside' chair. He was the only person who sat in it. And I loved hearing him tell the story about when he first saw it, cows were eating out of it. LOL!

This is my Friday Show and Share. I hope you enjoyed it.

Balanced Achieved!

I have achieved balance on my mantel and want to "show and tell" you about it! Since I want to start participating in Kelli's of There's No Place Like Home Friday Show and Tell. {Click on this link to read more about it.}
I thought I would tell you all about it and show you a photo. :-)

The mantel displays some of my teapot collection, photos I have taken and hand tinted of Mary Esther, some crochet doilies I have collected, (these may have come from Hobby Lobby or Michael's as I have tons from stores to eBay, from those family have made to some I have made.), candle sticks, snuffer and a clock. The clock was truly a bargain. I think it still has the tag on it. Hobby Lobby Clearance for $6.88 or something like that about 2 years ago.

I could not find black candle sticks like I wanted, so I went to Michael's and bought some wooden ones. Then I painted them...several times.... until I got the look I wanted. The cream coloured candle sticks were sitting on a clearance shelf at Hobby Lobby and were calling my name. I bought them. (I have another on the Piano, it is larger.) I think I paid 2 or 3 dollars apiece for them. The faux pewter candle stick is a Dirty Santa gift that I knew would be perfect for that spot and I waited.... and when I saw my chance, I stoled it when I knew it would be retired to me!

I am a professional photographer and the photos I took myself. (Sorry about the glare in the glass of the large photo, no time to photo shop!!!) The small one is of my DD in her Baby Dedication Gown. The larger one is DD in her Heirloom Party Dress. Both photos are hand tinted black and white photographs. To see more of my work, go to my website Images by "Missy"

The snuffer is from Wall*Mart and I paid waaaayyyy tooo much for it. But it worked and the only one I could find that was black.

Tea Pots (How I love tea pots and coffee pots....sigh) The one on the left is a gift from my In Laws and I think they got it at an antique shop in New England. The tea pot on the right is a gift from my sister in law and goes in any room (except DD's) in the house. And I just love it.

The ribbon is ribbon I buy by the rolls to decorate for Christmas and wrap Christmas packages with. I left it on the tea pot handles and candle sticks because it goes with my decor and I like it. I did take down my tree. ;-)

I am proud of the balanced achieved. It is difficult for me and I tend to fret over it. I can see it and photograph it instinctively. But designing it is a different altogether.... I guess that is why there is always a 'designer' assigned to a photographer. LOL!

Now to get busy! We have a birthday weekend for Mary Esther! She has two piano concerts as today is her last day of piano camp. (Hopefully will post photos.) She has a solo this afternoon and an ensaumble quartet tonight. It will be fun! Out of town company, a cookout..... We are going to have FUN!