Summer pleasures

We may have some big news soon---let's just say we are packing, because it looks like one way or another, we will be leaving our little cottage in the near future. Which means that our house is rather a mess right now, so it's hard to find pretty pictures to take! However, here are some things that may be of interest.

First of all, this year we are having a bumper crop of apples. We have three apple trees in our yard; two are pretty old and bedraggled, but the other one puts out a pretty good crop most years. This year, I don't know why, it is really loaded with apples, and they seem to be ripening a bit early as well. That means soon it will be applesauce canning time. Sadly, it looks like the heat has killed our grapes this year, so no grape jam.


Last week my mother-in-law came to visit. She loves yard sales and thrift stores and flea markets even more than we do, if that's possible, and always finds little treasures for us. She came back from Goodwill with this cute little brunch set for me. Isn't it adorable! Wouldn't those little cups be wonderful filled with mimosas? Mmmmm...

Finally, we took a quick trip down to Atlanta last weekend (more on that in a later post), and I added to my kitsch collection, getting the little teapot on the middle shelf from the Pfaltzgraff outlet store and the chicken soup tureen from Cracker Barrell. Also got some funny family stories, such as Clint being brave (or reckless) enough to stop at a Pfaltzgraff outlet store with me and my mom! We are both a bit obsessed with our dish patterns. Hers is Yorktowne and mine is Pistoulet.
As for the other two little teapots...the blue one I got earlier this summer at a rummage sale to benefit my son's school, and the one with pink flowers was my grandmothers. This picture reminds me that one of the neat things about the cottage we are now living in is that it still has the original vintage kitchen counters with chrome trim. They really wear like iron, I'll tell you.