Summer madness!

It's been a crazy summer and things probably aren't going to slack off soon. The hubby started his Master's degree and is taking two classes this summer, I've been busy with both the autism group and stuff for a couple of professional organizations I belong to (including a couple of papers at a conference in Phildelphia, which the guys got to go with me to), and now we just got back from Florida. I'm starting a PhD program in the Fall (in addition to my fulltime job), and it also looks like I may be doing a concert and a couple of auditions as well, so I'm getting ready for all of those challanges. Whew!


So, blogging has once again taken a backseat. But, I have been meaning to post those lovely pink caladiums I planted this spring. This was taken several weeks ago, so they are actually bigger then this by now, but I love the color! There are red and white ones in the front yard under our tree as well.

Posted to Pink Saturday!

Hand-me-downs make a pretty Easter table

As you'll no doubt see, despite the fact that I am kind of a dishware freak with way more sets of dishes than most people would consider reasonable...I don't really do tablescapes. The reason being that with my two guys plus my crazy schedule, I am lucky if I even get the table set at all before everyone sits down and digs in. And, the guys just do not care. My husband recently tried to serve lobster and filet mignon on the everyday Corningware. (I said, "Are you kidding me! We have *three sets* of china!")

All the same, I like being festive despite the guys' lack of interest, and I had a good reason to set a pretty table for Easter, because for the first time I actually own good silver---my mom gave me my grandma's silver set when I was her visiting earlier this month. Here are a few pics I took before I polished it up.

So, after a morning spent singing our hearts out in celebration at church (DH sang in choir while I sat with the little fella until we sneaked up the choir loft at the end so I could put in my high notes on the Hallelujah Chorus), here is my attempt at pastel Easter jollity, featuring the new additions. Mom gave me the china as well---I am ashamed to say I can't remember who it belonged to, although do cut me a little slack---her dad was married five times and she's been married three, so I have a lot of steps to say the least(!)

If you're wondering what we had, we went full-out Southern, with congealed salad, baby lima beans...

...corn, mashed potatoes...

...turkey (notice the hubby has brought two ugly forks to the table despite the fact that I have a silver fork laid out---haha! see what I mean?)...

...and last but not least, gravy and dinner rolls.

And I just had to share this picture of the little man relaxing after dinner out on the deck with a good book on the hammock.

I'm posting this to Nifty Thrifty Tuesday, because there's nothing so thrifty as family hand-me-downs. Hoping to have some more good thrift stuff next week, as I am in charge of the autism support group's booth at the county yard sale this Saturday---and you just know I will do a little shopping myself!

Bunny Mania!

You would not believe me if I tried to tell you everything this family has done in the last two weeks, so just take my word for it that I haven't been slacking even though I haven't been posting!

Today, though, I had the day off work for Good Friday and puttered around the house this morning before heading out to do chores. The past two years I've been too busy to dig out the Easter tree, and things were looking a little bare. I suddenly realized that one of my collections would be perfect Easter decor---I have been collecting stuffed Easter bunnies for over 20 years. So, I dragged the bunnies out of the guest bedroom and into the living room, and here are the results. Y'all can see why I'm not a professional decorator: I don't know when to stop!
The black and white bunny above came from Hampton Court Palace in England.

The pink and brown matching bunnies below were the two that I started my collection with. My mom gave them to me for Easter one year when I was an undergraduate in college.

I put these ceramic bunnies out every Easter, but this year I dressed them up with some pink garland and flowers.

I love this little bunny bowl my mother-in-law found at a yard sale for me a couple of years ago!

This year she sent me these two finds (probably thrifted---she loves a good yard sale as much as I do!): a bunny lamp and a bunny table-sitter.

Happy Easter/Passover/Earth Day/Spring and Happy Pink Saturday!

Pink House in North Carolina

We were heading down from the mountains on Wednesday, and were going through the town of Rutherfordton, when suddenly I yelled at Clint, "STOP!!!" He hit the brakes and went, "What is it???!!!" only to find me snapping a picture. "I have to get a picture of this house for Pink Saturday."

Trip to North Carolina, Part 1

We took so many pictures this week I will have to just share some of them with you over the next couple of posts, I guess (which is good, since Clint is going into rehearsal for the musical Rent next week, so I will be busy.) So, I'll start with some vintage thingies from my mom's house, because if anybody has more vintage thingies than me, it's my mom (and if anybody has more vintage thingies than her, it's Clint's mom---but that's a story for another time!) Not sure which branch of the family it was, but someone owned an appliance store (Mom also has an old Norge neon sign which is hanging in the laundry room.) Here are some advertising stamps from the store:

Here are a few of her cool old cast-iron motorcycle toys.

Here is a neat old antique compass. My mom's parents did a lot of boating, so it may have come off one of their boats.

Here are some vintage kitchen thingies: a brown Corningware bowl, a mixing bowl that (I think) was her grandmother's biscuit bowl, and I love this old nut chopper.

Finally, here is an old phone. Isn't that fun? I guess you had a party line back then, so you just rang the operator.

I'm posting this to Vintage Thingie Thursday.

Pink Baby Dress and Purse

We're off to the mountains for while as the boys are on spring break. We're going to visit family on both sides, and I get a voice lesson from my grad school teacher---plus in exchange for spending one day of our vacation at a workshop for my job, the federal government is paying our gas money.

In the meantime, just to prove I don't save all the frou-frou for the guest room to spare my hubby's manly sensibilities, here is a little pink vignette from the master bedroom:

This is one of my baby dresses. I guess that makes it vintage, haha! It is a very pale, faded pink.

I carried this little pink purse at my wedding. It was just big enough to carry a tiny bit of perfume, a lipstick, and my "something old" (a handkerchief embroidered by my great-grandmother.)

And finally, on the shelf, a little teapot---given to me by my admin. assistant at my old job---and a thrifted tea cup. Happy Pink Saturday! I hope to find some fun things to share with you up in North Carolina!

Pink and Purple in Bloom (Plus Star Wars)

Our guest room was painted purple when we bought the house, and so it seems like all my pretty "girly" things have gravitated there (not that there aren't some in the master bedroom as well, but I try not to OD my husband on frilliness.) So, c'mon in! Here on the guest room door is the wreath I made as part of the decor for our wedding.

This solid cherry dresser is part of a bedroom set I inherited from my grandmother. There are too many pieces to fit into one bedroom, plus it came with two twin beds rather than a big one, so the pieces are scattered all over the house.

And here we have some knick-knackies on the dresser, on top of a lace runner my great-grandma made.

This pretty little footed dish was my grandmother's.

Here's a teacup on the nightstand, because what guest wouldn't want a cozy cup of tea?

I also wanted to share some pretty pinkness from our yard (ornamental cherry, I think)...

As well as the rose I gave my hubby for opening night of his show up at the high school. He actually really likes getting flowers on opening night, and he even likes pink because we had pink roses at our wedding (he's hopelessly sentimental---which can be sweet, when it's romantic, or frustrating when I can't get him to throw anything away!) His students did a musical parody of Star Wars that the kids and the other theatre teacher wrote.

Speaking of which, here are hubby and the little man having fun with some members of the 501st (Star Wars fan club) before the show.

Posting this to Pink Saturday. Have a fun weekend!

Chelsea Ware and Shepherd's Pie Recipe

The prodigal daughter is back, after two weeks sick as a dog, two grandma visits, and being a "theatre widow" in charge of little man by myself while drama teacher hubby has a musical in rehearsal. My mom is getting nearly ready to retire and is trying to prepare to sell her big house, so she brought a bunch of very cool old stuff to hand down to me when she was here a few weeks ago. Here is great grandma's Chelsea ware:

She also brought me a bunch of old silver---or is it silverplate?---that she says she never uses.

Also this little vintage vase. Is that cute or what?

Possibly a little late for today, but if you're like the McGuire's you celebrate St. Patrick's Day on into the weekend, so for your dining pleasure, here is:

Kathy McGuire's Shepherd's Pie

5 medium red potatoes

1 lb ground chuck

about a tablespoon olive oil to coat the pan

1/2 medium onion

2 tablespoons margarine

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup beef broth

2 teaspoons of Worcestershire

2 tablespoons sour cream

1 teaspoon dried parsley

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1/4 teaspoon mustard

dash salt

dash pepper

1 16 ounce cans of peas, drained

1 1/2 cups shredded Colby or cheddar cheese

1-2 green onions, sliced

Slice potatoes in a food processor and boil in water for 10-12 minutes until tender but not sticky. Drain and set aside.

While you cook the potatoes, brown the ground chuck in a frying pan on medium heat. When the meat is browned, add the onions and saute until tender. Reduce heat to warm.

In a separate small frying pan, melt the margarine and stir in the flour over medium heat for several minutes. Add the beef broth and the Worcestershire, and heat for a minute or so, whisking together, and then whisk in the sour cream. Add the sauce mixture to the meat mixture along with the parsley, thyme, mustard, salt, and pepper, and mix well. Stir in the peas gently.

Preheat the oven to 440 degrees. Pour the meat mixture into an iron skillet, and cover with a layer of potatoes. Sprinkle with cheese, then put on another layer of potatoes, then a final layer of cheese. Sprinkle some sliced green onions on top. Cook in a 440 degree oven for 20 minutes.

I'm posting this to Vintage Thingie Thursday.