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/.

Getting back into the swing--of blogging

Well, this blog has been neglected long enough.  Years ago, back in the age of snail mail, I used to write lots and lots of letters. This was even before it was common to call long distance to visit and keep up with family and friends.  It was always a treat to get a letter from family or friends who lived in other cities or areas of the country.  It was also fun for me to write about the happenings of my growing family and keep the grandparents apprised of what was going on with us. As time went by, the letters became fewer and fewer and instant communication became more and more common. But do we really communicate with the depth and concern that people did in times gone by?

I can remember when a long distance call almost certainly meant that someone dear in a distant place had passed away. No one back in the 1950's called long distance just to chit chat or even to make plans for a visit. That was done via handwritten letters delivered by the post office. I have even heard of a family back in the 1940's who took off and drove quite a distance to visit relatives only to find out the relatives had decided the same day to visit them.  Both families drove across the state to see each other only to miss connections. This was probably not uncommon, as there was no instant communication available. Chances are at least one of these families did not even have a telephone.
In the 1960's,  people would call long distance on the land line but usually try to keep the call short and too the point.  Then, we would often call on weekends or evenings to get the best rate and be able to talk longer for the same money or spend less money for the call.   

As late as the 1950's many people, even in cities, still had party lines.  If you were on a party line, often each party had a different ring, such as long and short rings and everyone of the 4 or 8 households on the party line could hear whenever anyone's phone rang.  We were on a 4 party line in San Antonio when I was small.  We could not hear anyone's phone ring except our own, but if you picked up the phone to make a call and another party was talking, you could hear them.  Being on a party line had a lot of draw backs, but I'm sure a lot of people listened in to others conversations and knew a lot about their neighbors that way.

And can you imagine a world where if you were not at home, you just missed any call that came in? There was not even an answering machine and certainly no caller id.  If you, or anyone on your party line, were talking and someone else called they just got a busy signal.  No call waiting either. You never knew who had called unless they called back later.  Answering machines and voice mail were big advancements.  Now you could at least get a message that someone had called and missed you. Telephone tag ensued.  Add caller id, call waiting, and call forwarding. Wow!

Next came email and cell phones. Email and instant messaging allowed instant communication with almost anyone in the world.  I had delusions of being able to communicate with family through email. This has not worked out. People don't always check email and it seems that so many emails lack the personal touch of a real letter. That's not always the case, but so many things are just passed around and there is so much spam, it is hardly worthwhile.  I have enjoyed instant messaging with some friends and relatives at times however and enjoy emails that are personal with real news and possibly pictures.
Now cell phones make it possible to always have a phone at hand. Again instant communication and the ability to text message any time and any place.

With iThis, iThat, laptops, blackberries, facebook, my space, instant messaging and all sorts of things this Granny is not up on, we can know instantly when someone sneezes anywhere in the world.  But, then I don't think we know each other as well as people did way back when we wrote letters.
Maybe that is the purpose of blogs today--to write in depth, to express opinions, to share your life in ways that more instant forms of communication miss.

At any rate, I intend to use this blog  more consistently from here on out. It can be the outlet that letter writing and journaling have been in the past.  True, it will continue to be a hodgepodge of topics, ideas, and interests, but that is my life. 
Expect to be back soon, expounding on various and sundry things.
Granny Hazel

New Store Site up and running

Well, I have finally got my store "Hazel's HodgePodge" back on line using BuyItSellIt (BISI) ecommerce venue. I love it! BISI is so easy to work with. Please check us out at http://hazelshodgepodge.mybisi.com . Right now I am featuring some of my Wilton Character Cake Pans. I will be adding more of them as I can. Anyone needing or wanting a specific cake pan just let me know and I may have it here.

I also hope to add some collectible vintage items, including an old manual typewriter and an old adding machine. I will post pictures of them here soon.

Our Stores Have Moved

We have found a new home for our online music store. It is now located at http://mrbandmanmusic.mybisi.com/. Right now there are only a minimal amount of items in the store, but in the next few weeks we will be filling the shelves with a large variety of new and used items. If you or someone you know needs a repad on a flute or clarinet, the online price can not be beat. And all work is guaranteed.

I must say that if any one wants to set up an ecommerce store in quick and short order and with minimal monthly cost, http://www.buyitsellit.com/ is the place to go.

For now my "treasures" can be seen in my Bonanzle Booth. Again, I will be adding more inventory as time permits.