The Yearly Bath

When my daughters were younger, one of their favorite pastimes during the warm summer days, was to take their favorite dolls outside to give them a bath.  And most of those favorite dolls had a cloth body.  So after the dolls were thoroughly washed, they would be laid out on a towel in the hot sun to dry.  This also would include a soft Raggedy Ann.  It always took a couple of days to dry; but while waiting for the dolls to dry, the doll clothes would then be washed and hung on a line.  This entire process actually kept the kids occupied for quite some time; and it would always make me smile to see their busy little hands taking care of their little dolls.

Setting Aside Some Time

One morning this past week I spent several hours working outside in my gardens.  When lunch time rolled around I set down my gardening tools and went inside.  After fixing lunch for my daughter, who had been suffering with a bad summer cold, I decided that all laundry, cleaning, and any other plans I had made could simply by set aside.  Instead I took a blanket outside on the grass; and my daughter and I spent the next couple of hours looking at the clouds, enjoying the sunshine, admiring a rainbow, and planning some imaginary trips.  And you know what --- that laundry waited patiently for me, and we had a very nice afternoon together.

Wives and Daughters

A few months ago, a good friend of mine recommended the movie, "Wives and Daughters".  I hadn't heard of it before, and so after reading a description, thought it would make a good birthday gift for one of my daughters.  I just have to say that this is a delightful movie.  It is rather lengthy; but with our extremely rainy spring, we have managed to watch it over a short period of time.  All three of us that watched it enjoyed it immensely.  The story line is intriguing, and the costumes are beautiful.  I have even placed it in my mental storage of movies to watch again and again.  So if you are looking for something new to watch, and haven't seen this yet, I highly recommend it.

Summer Lessons

With the end of the school year comes the beginning of a variety of lessons throughout the summer for the kids.  It might be swimming lessons, tennis lessons, baseball, softball, or even art lessons.  But whatever the type of lesson, they can sometimes fall right at a mealtime.  A great way to avoid running through the drive thru at a fast food restaurant, is to plan some of these healthy snacks that my blog friend, Sheila, from Alice and the Mock Turtle came up with last summer during their busy swim season.  I think they are great ideas not only to take with you during various activities; but also, just to pack up sometime for a spur of the moment summer picnic.

Photo of picnic basket taken from a random internet search -- with no link to find out where it is from.  I wish I could find it as I think this is quite possibly my dream picnic basket :-)

Farm Chick Finds -- Part 3 of 3

As a final installment of my "Farm Chick Finds" posts, I will show you what I actually purchased.  They seem rather simple compared to the wonderful things I walked by; but then that is what makes the show so much fun -- just walking by seeing so many pretty and creative things all under one roof.

Only moments after walking in the building, this little salt and pepper shaker set literally shouted out to me to get my attention.  They are only about 1 3/4" tall, and were so sweet, it was an immediate decision to purchase them -- especially after I was quoted only $1.00:

Just a few days prior to the show, my mom had taken us out to lunch, and had been telling us that before restaurants had creamers in little packets, the cream was served in little bottles on the tables.  She showed us the few little bottles that she had back at her house.  I thought how much fun it would be to have one.  Well, lo and behold, only a few short minutes after the salt and pepper shaker find, here was a little creamer bottle waiting quite patiently for my arrival. 

This cute little bottle is also only at 1 3/4" tall -- the same as the salt and pepper shakers:

I just had to stop by the Hilltop Honey stand that Serena had talked about over at The Farm Chicks blog.  The honey has been delicious.  And as a bonus the nice couple at the honey stand was also selling this cute antique flour sifter.  It will look great on my shelf next to my grandmother's canisters:

And last but not least, I have been looking for one of these for the longest time.  At least one that didn't cost a fortune.  I have great plans for it --- stay tuned, and maybe in the next few weeks I will have it all put together, and will share the fun idea that I have come up with.

Farm Chick Finds -- Part 2 of 3

Here are a few more fun things that I saw at the Farm Chicks Show this weekend in Spokane:

A child's pair of red cowboy boots.  My dad would have highly approved of these.  He loved buying cowboy boots for the kids, and red was his favorite color:

Creative use of an old cooler (I love the pinwheels):

Raggedy Ann and Andy at the Seven Sisters booth (they sell the best brownies ever, by the way):

A creamer and sugar in the most beautiful shade of yellow.  I really would have liked to have purchased these; but for some reason, I decided to be practical realizing I don't really have a place to display them.  What was I thinking --- that really has never stopped me before:

And finally, this sweet little picture.  This young girl is feeding the birds bread crumbs.  I really liked this print; however, the price was too steep for me.  If anyone knows the name of it, please share, as I would like to find it some day.

Farm Chick Finds -- Part 1 of 3

On Sunday I had the pleasure of attending the annual Farm Chicks Antique Show in Spokane, Washington.  This is such a great show; especially when I was able to attend with my sister, Kass, and all of my daughters.  It made for the perfect "girls' day out".  Last year (which was my first time attending) I was a bit overwhelmed with all that there was to behold.  This year I was prepared, and knew just what to expect.

Here are a few of my favorite items that I saw.  I didn't purchase any of these, but they were just so cute, I needed to capture them on film

First, a little child's kitchen, complete with all of the necessary utensils any girl would be happy with:

Second, the most amazing collection of enamelware that I have ever seen:

And third, post office boxes.  I saw these, and thought how much fun would it be to have a small set of these in your house.  It seems like there could be so many possiblities of fun items to store in them.  I thought of items in my sewing room.  My sister thought it would be a great place for storing cloth napkins.  And then, if my kids were younger, I know they would have had a grand time just playing post office with them.

Lilac Season

The long awaited time of lilac season is finally here in our neck of the woods.  Our lilacs are bursting forth in all of their glory.  I do believe that their scent ranks right up there amongst my top 3 favorite flowers to smell just for smelling's sake.  When out in my yard, I will purposely head right over to one of the bushes for the simple purpose of enjoying their wonderful fragrance.  And now that it has finally stopped raining (at least for today), my daughters clipped some beauties up at their grandparent's house this afternoon, and brought them home to me. Not only do I love them for their scent, but if you could actually see these lilacs in person, I know you would agree that the colors are absolutely amazing. 

A Special Day

Friday was a special day.  And because of last Friday, today is a special day as well.  Friday was our last day of school, and that makes today our first day of summer vacation.  That just sends joy through my heart -- and I'm the teacher.  I can imagine my daughter will be feeling the same emotions when she wakes up in a bit. 

When I was a little girl, our last day of school was like a magical day.  We would always spend it in the usual fashion of turning in books and gathering up our supplies.  One particular school that I attended would then go on a big picnic -- all of the grades together.  I can remember my mom would put a special treat in my lunch that day --- a twinkie!!  We never had twinkies; and so I can remember the thrill that went through my little heart seeing such a treasure in my lunch.  After the picnic I gathered all of my belongings together in my red book bag, and headed for home.  Once home, I would set all of my dolls up on chairs in nice straight rows, take out my used school supplies, and begin to teach school to my dolls.  What a fun time I would have!

This year our last day of school was an extremely rainy one -- so there were no picnics that were going to take place.  Instead we went to the library, and didn't even have to rush.  After the library we walked across the street to a delicious bakery, and enjoyed a hot drink along with a very calorie laden pastry.  It was a nice afternoon.

This morning however opens up all kinds of possibilities for the next few months.  More regular blogging, spending hours in the garden, sitting out in the warm sun with a good book, catching up on sewing projects, making jam and pickles, boating ........... ahhhhh, the list goes on and on.  I love summer vacation!!