BUTTER, BONES, AND THE PITS

As a child, it was often my job to entertain my Great Grandmother, who in her declining years was confined to her wheelchair or bed.  One of her favorite things to do was talk about cooking, entertaining; and, especially, her dishes.  She would have me fetch specific dishes from the china cupboard, and she would regale me with stories about their use.  She and Granddad were not rich by any means as they were ranchers and farmers on the prairies of Colorado, but she was a bit pretentious when it came to entertaining.  She was born in the Victorian era, when they had a different dish for every food.  Among her favorites were the butter pats, the bone dishes, and her olive dish.  

Some of the dishes in this post, I inherited from her; others I have just accumulated.

 Below are G. Grandmother's Sunday dishes from Austria.  She had plain white ironstone bone dishes she used, but I don't know what happened to those.  The Meakin bone dish was given to me by a friend.

CHINA - ROYAL JNNSBRUCK, JHR and CO., AUSTRIA
BONE DISH - J and G MEAKIN, HANLEY, ENGLAND

 I love a table set with a mix of brown transferware.

PLATE - "TONQUIN", ALFRED MEAKIN, ENGLAND; BONE DISH - "TONQUIN", CLARICE CLIFF,
ENGLAND; BUTTER PAT - LS and S, ENGLAND; CUP and SAUCER - CLARICE CLIFF, ENGLAND

 The red transferware are my 'Sunday Dishes'.

PLATE and SALAD BOWL - JOHNSON BROS., ENGLAND; BONE DISH - ROYAL
STAFFORDSHIRE,  ENGLAND; BUTTER PAT - WEDGWOOD, ENGLAND

 More accumulated brown transferware.

PLATES: JHW and SONS, HANLEY, ENGLAND; BOWL - ALFRED MEAKIN, ENGLAND
BONE DISH - FURNIVALS, HAMPTON, ENGLAND

 Then there is G. Grandmother's olive dish and fork with the individual tiny dishes for the discarded pits.

HAND PAINTED NIPPON

I came across this picture of a complete formal place setting. 

Picture from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AFormal_Place_Setting.jpg

It would be the "PITS" to do all of these dishes and silverware without an electric dishwasher.  G. Grandmother said that was what grandchildren were for.  And my mother always said G. Grandmother could dirty every dish in the house, too.  I think my mother was the grand daughter that always did those dishes!!

A plethora of inspiration can be found on the following:
The Dedicated House for Make it Pretty Monday
Confessions of a Plate Addict for The Scoop Tuesday
A Stroll Thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday
Knick of Timse Interiors for Knick of Time Vintage Tuesday
Ivy and Elephants for What's It Wednesday
Savvy Southern Style for WOW Us Wednesdays
Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday
Have a Daily Cup for Share Your Cup Thursday
Common Ground for Be Inspired Friday
Nancherrow for Fridays Unfolded
The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday

PACK RAT OR COLLECTOR??

Am I a pack rat or a collector?

A pack rat is defined as a rodent of the Rocky Mountain area. Well, my in laws may think of me as a rodent sometimes, and I do live in the Rocky Mountains.
A pack rat has well developed cheek pouches. Mine are pretty chubby!
A pack rat will drop what they are carrying, and exchange it for something else they see and want. That is definitely me in an antique mall.
A pack rat is particularly fond of shiny objects. I love my German lustre dishes.
They hoard miscellaneous & unneeded objects. Just how many different dishes does a person really need?

Now, a collector of objects is said to:
SEEK. I'm definitely out there looking.
LOCATE. There is no problem finding an object of desire.
ACQUIRE. It appears I buy plenty.
ORGANIZE. Well, I guess that is questionable.
CATALOG. Never, I don't want to know how many dishes I have!
DISPLAY: That I do.
STORE: Obviously.
MAINTAIN: I adore my dishes (isn't that maintenance?). Plus, if I ever need to have a sit down dinner for 120 people, I'm ready!!

So, what do you think? Am I a pack rat or a collector? (I purposely only opened the doors on just two of several cupboards holding my dishes. I didn't want to cloud your judgment of my obsession!!)

Thanks for stopping by,
Sally

LOOK WHAT I FOUND & I WON CAMI'S GIVEAWAY!!

Yesterday noon, the grand kids were fussing at each other; Uncle Mike, the teacher, was mediating; the noise level was just a tad above my tolerance level. I had this uncontrollable urge to escape! So, I announced, " I HAVE to go to the grocery store!" Men accept that as an emergency. I left the house, knowing full well I was headed to Goodwill to see if there were any bargains. As I entered the store, I spotted clear across the building some pink on the dish shelves. I quickly surveyed the competition - no one was fondling the plates, yet; but I better not dawdle. There was no time to untangle a shopping cart. I'm hoping that what I see will be the usual Goodwill price of $1 or less per dish. Oh my, my blood pressure is rising - could it be? Yes, it is pink transferware; and it's Johnson Bros. Old Britain Castles. There are 16 pieces; but, oh no, the price is $24 for the lot of 16. Still, that's a bargain price, isn't it?? Reconsider, Sally, do you really need them? Of course not, I already have service for 12 of this very pattern. Do I want them? Of course I do!! Did I buy them? Naturally. How could I leave them there? These beauties had already been abandoned by their former owner on the cold doorstep of Goodwill during the Christmas season. I couldn't just leave them there; they must come home with me to join their brothers and sisters.

P.S.: I did go to the grocery store and spent much more there than at Goodwill.


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I WON CAMI'S GIVEAWAY!

The first part of December, Cami at Creating Myself had a giveaway for a beautiful painting of pansies in a basket. And, I, who has never won anything, was the lucky winner. My friendly postman in his Santa hat delivered it to me on Christmas Eve. I was knee-deep in cooking green chile for Christmas Eve supper, but was so excited to receive this special gift from Cami!! It came all wrapped in red and green with a luscious white lace bow and with this Christmas Joy card.

And look how special this painting is with it's green hanging ribbon.

This is what my pansies looked like outside - poor things!

Now, I can have pansies year around.

Thank you, Cami, for this special gift!

TABLESCAPE TUESDAY

It is Tablescape Tuesday again hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch. Please check out her blog for a list of participants in this wonderful event!!

For Christmas I am setting my table using my Johnson Brothers Old Britain Castles transferware with the addition of the Johnson Brothers Christmas Tree plates.

The glassware is a couple of patterns of depression era pink that belonged to my Grandmother.



For a centerpiece, I'm using my cheese domes to hold some antique ornaments on a bed of gold tinsel. Also, I've set about some of the pieces from our Fontanini Nativity Set.

The silverware is my Great Grandmother's monogrammed sterling.

This vintage gold tree topper is standing in an antique bud vase coupled with hand-me-down crystal candle holders

Thanks for stopping by,

Sally

TABLESCAPE TUESDAY

Once again it is Tablescape Tuesday hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch. Please stop by her blog for a list of all of those participating in showing their clever tablescapes!

I've set the table for a snack on a cold afternoon using my snowmen dishes from Debbie Mumm. I purchased them several years ago from Target.

I always giggle when I see snowmen (or snow women) with feet!!

For a snack today, we are having Snow on the Mountain
Mini Chocolate Cheesecakes and also Peppermint Sandwich Cookies.



Each snowman plate is different!



For a hot drink on a cold day, how about Hot Chocolate with a snowman 'Peep' marshmallow?



Thanks for stopping by, and please check out the other tablescapes.



Sally

VINTAGE VIGNETTE - #3

Another Vintage Vignette!!
The picnic basket on the bottom is from Bob's family. Many years ago, I admired it and Bob's mother surprised me with it as a Christmas present! The top basket was made by a local basket maker. I love the green bowl as it was used daily in my grandmother's kitchen, and the little milk pitcher was a gift from a friend. A friend also gave me the hand-painted red tole tray to add to my collection.

Thanks for stopping by,

Sally

TABLESCAPE TUESDAY

Susan at Between Naps on the Porch is hosting Tablescape Tuesday once again. Please check out her blog for a list of the most delicious tablescapes!

This past Sunday, we had our annual Thanksgiving dinner at our church with 40 tables hosted and decorated by the women of the church. I thought Tablescape Tuesday was a great opportunity to share some of them with you!

For my contribution this year I used my Johnson Bros. red transfer ware with my new turkey salad plates, also from Johnson Bros. The centerpiece was simple and inexpensive with the pilgrims from Hobby Lobby, the pumpkins from Dollar Tree, and the paisley scarf from Ross's.

I included my mother's Fostoria stemware and my great-grandmother's sterling silver.


My daughter decorated her table with Fall leaves, a quilted table runner, candles, her grandmother's Fostoria American, and my red Fostoria Argus ice tea glasses. Her silverware was a gift to her from her grandmother.


At the last minute, I was roped into doing a second table. Because of the time crunch, I used my everyday Blue Willow dishes and the red Fostoria Argus glasses. The centerpiece is a cornucopia using a red wooden bucket on its side. Going with the red, white, and blue theme, I included an antique Thanksgiving postcard showing a turkey with an American flag!


There was such a wide variety of creative tables; I've included some pictures of a few. I loved this turkey tureen centerpiece with four different Fall colors of Fiesta ware.


Look at this cute pilgrim couple.


Festive dishes in beautiful Fall colors!


Beautiful antique dishes with inspirational place cards!


This woman involved her granddaughter in making turkeys full of candy corn.


More pilgrims with a colorful tablecloth and centerpiece.


A black turkey centerpiece with a striking tablecloth!




Hope you enjoyed our church's Thanksgiving dinner as much as we did.



Thanks for stopping by,

Sally

VINTAGE VIGNETTE - #2

The simple vintage vignette I'm sharing this week includes an oil painting that was an estate auction buy. I waited all day to bid on it as I just loved the Fall trees and colors. BUT, the biggest estate auction buy of all time was the punch bowl in the foreground. My great-grandmother bought it at an estate auction in the 1920s for a dollar! It was hand painted in the famous Pickard studio of Chicago. She once told me that there were also matching punch cups, but she didn't win the bid on those. The painting of the currants and leaves with the gold tracery on the punch bowl is so exquisite, it takes my breath away each time I walk by it. Let's have a closer look!

I'm now the fourth generation in my family to be the caretaker of this beauty! It is my absolute favorite of all of the dishes I own.


Enjoy it with me,

Sally

BLUE MONDAY

Check out Smiling Sally for this week's participants in Blue Monday.

For my contribution this week, I'm showing you our Hoosier-style cabinet. These were very popular in the first two decades of the 20th century due to lack of storage and workspace in the kitchens of that era. Most of the cabinets were manufactured in Indiana, thus the name. Ours was built by the Wilson Cabinet Company and has the special feature of a built-in flour storage bin and sifter and a glass canister to hold sugar.

See the wonderful sponge-painting detail on the pull-out enameled top!

And the blue stained-glass window detail.


And inside, I have some of my blue bowl and pitcher collection from the same era.


Behind the tambour door is the sugar cannister in the corner. Behind the long door on the left is the flour container and sifter (I neglected to get a picture of that!)


The cupboard was originally owned by a friend of Bob's family. When we bought it, the tambour door was in pieces and the cupboard was in need of restoration after many years of use. Therefore, we got it for a bargain price. We have enjoyed having this cabinet for many years - it has made the rounds in our various houses. Most of its life with us it was in the family room holding the TV, books and games; but the last 11 years it has been in this little alcove in the kitchen.



Thanks for stopping by,

Sally