It's Fall! October Daisies and other Fall Teasures!

Fall has come to Southeast Texas with cooler weather and drier air.  This summer has been an extreme sauna with near 100% humidity.  Needless to say, we have been enjoying the past month.  It seems fall is everyone's favorite time of year...especially this year.  One of my favorite things about fall is the "October Daisies" that grow in this part of the country.  They always bloom for my "middlest" child's birthday on September 30.  This year I did not even notice them until Sept. 30, and there they were in full bloom by the field's full.  And they continue blooming.  Of course, we haven't had any cloudy days to speak of this fall, but when we have in years past, the October Daisies are like a little bit of sunshine on a cloudy day.

 

 

One thing I've done recently is to join ESN, Ecrater Stores Network. It is a super site for Ecrater store owners and shoppers.  You can check out ESN here. A fun thing we are doing  now is a scavenger hunt for fall items.

Here are some treasures that I have found on ESN that can add cheer to your fall days:

From the The Embroidery Fashions Boutique

a wonderful  "Happy Thanksgiving" Apron

I have recently realized the importance of a good apron myself and this looks like one I would make good use of.

 My daughter who is "into" aprons right now forwarded this to me, and I have seen it on several other blogs. You might enjoy it, too.

The History of the Apron

I don't think our kids know what an apron is.

The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath, because she only had a few, it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and they used less material, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.

It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.

From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.

And when the weather was cold, grandma wrapped it around her arms.

Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.

Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.

From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.

In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.

When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.

When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.

It will be along time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.

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Here's another "pretty" from Bass Bead Gallery to cheer your fall season.  It makes me think of the orange and yellow corn candy we used to get a Halloween. Looks good enough to eat, but really think  this "Howling Good Time" Bracelet would better enhance your fall ensemble. 




Howling Good Time Bracelet from Bass Bead Gallery



And here is another bit of nostalgia.

1940's Fall Coat Pattern

Whether you would want to actually sew this fall coat or whether you collect old patterns, or study fashion history, here is a real treasure from Another Time Antiques. 
 
Fall is truly a wonderful time of the year.  Enjoy whatever it brings in your part of the world.

Mimi's Birthday

Minta Allison Freeman

September 22,1920-September 22, 2010

90th Birthday

On September 25, 2010 we celebrated Mimi's 90th birthday.  Her birthday was actually on Wednesday, September 22, but we choose to have the party on Saturday.  She actually had some visitors all through the week before and some friends called and visited the next week.  No telling how many phone calls  she received from friends and relations wishing her a happy birthday.  Plus she received scads of cards and several beautiful flower arrangements.

Here are some pictures of the cake and flowers she received and the decorations.  Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures of the guests  as her neice Diane did.

The delicious and beautiful cake was made by Valta Crosby.

The table with cake and many floral arrangements.

The dining room table and back drop.

Silk arrangement with goose made by her neighbors.

Deviled Egg Plates

Cute, Colorful Froggy Egg Plate

Adorable Bunny Egg Plate for Easter or Spring Motif

I have just found these really neat deviled egg plates with salt and pepper shakers.  I also found out some interesting history about deviled eggs.  Have you ever heard of Eggs Mimosa.  They make it sound like that is another name for deviled eggs, but the actual recipe shows it is something different even though you might see  how one evolved into the other.
I also didn't know that the term "deviled" originally had to do with hot or spicy.  Here are a couple of links about deviled eggs and the history of them.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/216014/the_origin_of_the_deviled_egg.html?cat=22

and recipes for eggs mimosa:  http://www.russcooks.com/mimosa.html  http://www.mycatholictradition.com/recipe-appetizer-eggs-mimosa.html

Garage Sale Finds

I am so excited. After a long spring, summer and early fall of going to garage sales that can only be described as disappointing, we are now finding some really fantastic "treasures".  Of course, it helps also that for the last two weeks or so the weather has been cooler and the air has been unusually dry for East Texas.  It has  been so pleasant to be out in the brisk morning air searching for treasures. And the sales certainly have been much, much more appealing in their content.  I  know the people holding them have had a much more pleasant time doing it than those in the heat and humidity of the summer. We made some spectacular finds.  For example, last   week I saw a beautiful, no actually  a gorgeous, platter that I just had to have. It was a frosted pink and looked like it had beads or jewels molded into the glass.  I had no idea who made it or any thing about it, only that it was beautiful and different.  The funniest part is that a few sales later, I found another identical plate with a two part relish dish.  Really struck me as odd, since I had never seen one like it before that day and now I found two of them.  The price was right, so I snatched up both of those pieces as well. A bit of on-line research  revealed that these pieces are Mikasa Rosella. I found that Rosella Mikasa is an elegant shaded pink crystal, with molded or prescut flowers and leaves. The pattern was made 1989 through 1997 then discontinued. It is fairly thick glass with sculptured and frosted leaves and deeper pink sculptured flowers. The art work is on the underside of the bowl and the top is smooth. Seems it was made in Western Germany, by Walther Glass.  Of course, after 1990 or so, it must have been Made in Germany. It is truly lovely.  The platters I have are 12.75 inches in diameter.  The two part relish dish is 11.25 inches x 7

Mikasa Rosella Serving Platter

Two Part Relish Dish

Mikasa Rosella

The very next week, I found another Mikasa glass dish. It is a Mikasa Celebrations 9.5 " Bonbon Dish in the original box.  It is part of the Holiday Landscape Collection. It is made in the same technique as the Rosella pieces, but it is clear with some red and green.  It is a great holiday piece. .

Some other "treasures" I've found recently include: A pair of Susan Winget plates which I have found to be part of a set of 4. I have the sheep and the pig.

 I just want to tell you and show you all the fabulous items that I've found. "Treasures to Brighten Your Day!"

but I will add more as I can on my ecrater store at http://hazelshodgepodge.com/.