Halloween Greetings from Zetta's Aprons!
Sweet Kitty Alice!
"Soft Kitty, Warm Kitty,
Little Ball of Fur..."
The Real Kitty Alice!
"Evil Kitty, Hissy Fitty
Lucy-fur!"
Happy Halloween!
I am thankful for another glorious blue-sky day!
Zetta and her Apron
It's a New Year!
Monday, October 31, 2011
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Vintage Christmas Cards Pt.2...Zetta's Cards!
My dear little sister Lisa just wrote me to remind me that she had tucked a couple of CDs in a package she had sent me. On one of the discs was a collection of Christmas and other greeting cards that had belonged to Grandma Zetta. I had forgotten all about it. I was so excited to see how many adorable cards my sister had patiently scanned to send to me. This illustrates another thing for which I am grateful...that friends and loved ones will forgive me for my carelessness and forgetfulness. I don't mean to be inconsiderate, but I hope that when I catch myself I can make up for it somehow..
Thank you, Lisa, for these wonderful images!
I am posting just a few of my favorites.
This card says "For Jane." Jane is my aunt..my father's only sibling.
I can't help it...this kitten is just so precious I could cry.
I am so thankful for the blessing of family. My grandmother Zetta wasn't the sentimental type and yet she saved these cards. I don't know who sent them, but they meant enough to her to keep them and I am so grateful she did. I miss her so much today.
Autumn day
Bright and Gay
God gives richest gifts today...
Friday, October 28, 2011
Vintage Christmas Cards!
Is It Time Yet?
I'm just itching to start putting away the Spookables and decking my halls with Boughs of Jolley. Until Tuesday morning at dark o'clock I have to amuse myself by getting my craft supplies stocked and ready. I was going to make two Christmas card garlands for my office windows, but I couldn't bear to glue the vintage cards to the rick-rack. So I've been scanning those cards into my computer. It's taken longer than I expected, because I keep playing with the cute little graphics that sometimes are included in the insides of the cards and even on the backs. I don't know why I didn't do this years ago. I could have been using the fun graphics in my crafts in addition to the bazillions of files I have already.
Cute Cards...
You might as well snag these little cuties...I would!
I love cards with windows or doors.
Windows open!
This snowman looks as sweet as his candy cane.
The inside is just as cute!
What's cuter than a kitten? Two kittens!
Sweet Little Miss (front of card)
Little Miss (back of card)
A Silly Miss! Reminds me of Olive Oyle.
A few of these cards came from one of my favorite thrifting finds ever.
Salesman's Card Sample Book...Winter of 1954.
$1 at D.I. in Ogden.
Talk about fun! It was filled with unused cards.
A Merry Snow Couple
Inside of Card
Beautiful Blue Bells
And finally...
Darling Santa Sample Card with Personalization
Even cuter on the inside!
That's all I was able to get done today! I had to take a break from some of my more manic crafting. Instead of cutting and pasting, I kidnapped my sister and forced her to go to 5 Guys Burgers and Fries. Later my hubby and I went to see that weird movie about the future where Justin Timberlake has a timeclock on his arm and he's out of time. Is it called "Out of Time?" I can't remember. Oh, well....
I just want to say how grateful I am for the times my husband George and I spend together. We like so many of the same things. He was my high school sweetie. He's a fun date and my best boyfriend ever!
Have a fun...not too frightening...Halloween Weekend!
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Provident Living...Canning Butter for a Rainy Day!
Guest Post...How to Bottle Butter!
My good friend Sheryl posted some wonderful information yesterday on her blog Larry and Sheryl Fowler's Fabulous Family. I have been wanting to can my own butter for shelf storage ever since I heard about it. Now Sheryl has posted the instructions and has graciously allowed me to repost them here! On her blog, Sheryl is writing to her children.
Sheryl Writes...
Dad [Larry] and I canned our own butter last year. Generally I freeze my butter or margarine, but that does take up quite a bit of room if you are trying to store for long term. Now I will have some margarine in the freezer, but butter on my fruitroom shelf.
Dad and I needed some butter last Sunday and rather than go to the store, I grabbed a jar off the shelf. I have found this is easy to do and would make a great family home evening and working on your food storage at the same time. NOTE: you need to use real butter, not margarine. I am going to try to grab some everytime I go to Costco for a while so I can stock it up.
How it Works...
Heat pint jars (without bands) in a 250 degree oven for 20 minutes. (A dripper pan works well for this.) One pound of butter slightly more than fills one pint jar, so if you melt 11 pounds of butter, heat 12 pint jars. While the jars are heating, melt the butter slowly (in a large kettle) until it comes to a slow boil. Using a large spatula, stir the bottom of the pot often to prevent scorching. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Place the jar lids in a small pot and bring to a boil, leaving to simmer until needed.
Stirring the melted butter from the bottom to the top with [the spatula and using] a measuring cup with spout and handle, pour the melted butter carefully into heated jars through a canning funnel. Leave 3/4" of head space in the jar.
Wipe the tops of the jars, then place on hot lids and screw on the bands tightly. Lids will seal as the jars cool. The butter will separate into three layers: foam, oil and milk solids. Once the lids "pop" and seal, shake the jars to mix your butter. Do this every 15 minutes or so, until the butter retains more consistency throughout the jar. (This may take up to an hour our longer.) When just slightly warm, move jars to the refrigerator for an hour.
Canned butter should store for 3 years or longer on a cool dark shelf. Note: It does not need to be refrigerated onceopened, if used within a reasonable amount of time.Hope this is something you will do in your family to help with your food storage.
Love,
Mom
Thank you so much, Sheryl, for sharing this information. I know I will be stopping at Costco this weekend. Right now they have a much better price on butter than Walmart. If anyone knows where some killer butter deals are...please share!
It's a chilly Trix colored morning here in Highland.
The leaves are falling from the maples now.
I am so blessed to live in the shadow of these beautiful mountains.
Each season paints its colors on their foothills.
Aspens glinting golden below the granite crags are of more value to me than any jeweled crown.
My heritage lies at their feet and in their canyons.
I am grateful for the Wasatch.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Attitude of Gratitude...Sisters!
As the Holiday Season approaches...and it is coming fast...I've been thinking about my life. Am I the person I thought I would grow up to be? Would my grandmothers be proud of me? Deep thoughts, I know.
Thanksgiving is 30 days away and I have decided to work on being thankful...and to express gratitude for the many blessings and talents that God has given me. For the next 30 days...and possibly more...I will write something I am thankful for somewhere in my post.
Today I spent the day with two of my sisters, Patti and Sandy. We went to Gardner Village for lunch and shopping. Gardner Village is a restored flour mill from the early days of Salt Lake City. The mill sits in the midst of a quaint rustic "village" of small renovated houses that are now craft and gift shops. It's especially fun around the holidays. The outing was an early birthday treat for Sandy. Needless to say we had a great time together. The only thing that would have made it better was if Lisa could have been with us. But she lives far away in the old Nevada mining town of Tonopah..."200 miles from anything", she says.Sisters...
When I think of sisters, I think of the Haynes Sisters in "White Christmas" and the song they sing...
"Sisters, Sisters,
There were never such devoted sisters.
Never had to have a chaperone 'No, sir'
I'm there to keep my eye on her..."
Shirley
Unlike the Haynes Sisters, we weren't close as children. My little sisters were simply nuisances I endured. I was superior...in my mind...in age, beauty, and intellect. I am the oldest of the four Devey girls. Patti is 4 years younger than I, followed by Sandy at 5 years and our baby sister Lisa who is 10 years my junior. There were also two brothers in the mix, but this is a sister story. I chose pictures of us as grade schoolers. When I saw my sisters' sweet little faces, I wanted to weep for our lost childhood years. I wanted to go back and play with those little girls.
Patti
"Caring, Sharing
Every little thing that we are wearing
When a certain gentleman arrived from Rome
She wore the dress and I stayed home..."
One of the disadvantages of little sisters...especially my little sisters is they liked to "borrow" my things...especially my favorite "pristine" white kneesocks...which I wore in the mistaken belief that they made my skinny calves look fuller. I remember catching Sandy wearing a pair and chasing her outside...in her stocking feet...where she danced in the dirt and taunted me. Is nothing sacred?
Sandy
"All kinds of weather
We stick together
The same in the rain and sun
Two [four] diff'rent faces
But in tight places
We think and we act as one..."
Have you ever sat down with your family members to talk about old times and you start to tell a story of something that happened years ago...one of your siblings will inevitably say "It didn't happen like that...here is what I remember...?" We each see the events of our lives through an individual looking glass. I can be telling a story and Patti will say, "I remember that!" She doesn't realize that it may have taken place before she was born or when she was too small to have experienced it. But she does remember it...she's heard the story before!
Lisa
"Those who've seen us
Know that not a thing could come between us..."
That's where I'll stop the song. Things did come between us...marriages, financial circumstances...and in my case, an ocean. But like the tides are influenced by the pull of our moon's gravity, we as siblings are drawn to each other even as the years of our lives wane. I'm not saying that we are aging...but the years are surely speeding by.
The past few years since our mother passed away, we as sisters seem to be gravitating closer to each other. We need each other. Both of our brothers have died...our father feels their loss most keenly. He has remarried and travels a lot...taking those journeys that our mother's bad health prevented for so many years. One of the blessings of the Internet and social networking sites is that my sisters...especially Lisa...are only a few clicks away. I can have daily contact about their everyday lives. That's a good thing!
It is a blessing to reconnect with my sisters. I am so grateful for them.
Monday, October 24, 2011
A Project Completed At Last!
I tried so hard to get a good photo of this cute little Christmas item. I wanted something to hang in my office to lift my pre-Christmas spirits. I saw a similar one on one of my (many) visits to Creative Breathing. Elizabeth is such an inspiration to me in many ways...not just creatively. I've grown to admire her spirit and the stories she shares about her family. I hope to share more of my own family stories in the future.
The little card frames are available in craft and scrapbook stores. It's quite small...only 12" square. Each little section measures 2.5" by 3.5". I believe they are used to display Tag Swap treasures. As a matter of fact, I am participating in Elizabeth's Christmas Tag Swap. I am having so much fun! It gives me a chance to be as creative as possible on a very small scale. I've noticed that many bloggers are hosting various card, tag and ornament swaps. What a fun way to connect with crafters all over the country! I'll be sure to post my tags after the Swap is over.
It's yet another beautiful morning in Highland.
It may freeze soon.
Until then, I will rejoice in the gold of Autumn!
Saturday, October 22, 2011
This Week's Thrifting Finds!
I'm sharing this weeks thrifting with you because I hate to let the weekend go by without posting something. This week I've been to two D.I. thrift stores and an antique mall in SLC that I can never remember the name of...they keep changing it. I bought the fun wooden ornament at D.I. You can't see the roof, but it's polka dotted...yay! 50 cents! The two candy boxes were a steal at $3.50 each. They are pretty old...anywhere from the 30's to the 50's. My Christmas book didn't show this design.
The best thing I found at the antique mall was the Lefton Bluebird pitcher. I had a small collection of bluebird items that I displayed on the windowsill of my downstairs kitchen. One dark day...tempted by a partially opened window...three very bad cats decided to make a run for it. Needless to say, only my cute reproductions survived. The beastly beasties were curiously unmoved by my sorrow.
Another pink and pretty porcelain miss. She was also only 75 cents. I love it when the volunteers at the thrift store under-price things.
Keep looking for your own Bluebird of Happiness,
Friday, October 21, 2011
Provident Living...Adventures in Dry Pack Canning!
I've been trying to convince my neighbors and church ladies how easy it is to package bulk foods in #10 cans. So today I am going to show everyone just how simple it is.
We purchased 150 lbs. of sugar at Costco, joking about it being used as future currency when the country collapses. (If Glenn Beck says it...it must be so.) We plan to buy another 150 lbs. next week.
We went to the home storage center to get the cans, lids and boxes. We figure we will need 48 cans and lids and 8 boxes...each holds 6 cans. The friendly workers loaded them on a cart for us and we were on our way. So far, so good.
George fills the cans. One 25 lb. bag of sugar fills 4 cans. Sugar doesn't require the use of an oxygen absorber, so it is the fastest and easiest item to package. After the cans are filled, the metal lids are put in place.
The four cans on the right took less than 10 minutes to do. I know you have bags of bulk things sitting in your pantries needing to be packaged. Here are some things you should know.
- The Lindon Home Storage Center is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
- You can check out a canner, or do it at the center. No appointment is needed. First come, first served.
- Canners checked out on Tuesday are returned Thursday...but if you check one out on Thursday, you can use it all weekend!
- Most of the canners go out on Thursday.
- If you are in the Highland 12th Ward (or one of my relatives) you can borrow my canner.
- The address of the Lindon Home Storage Center is 940 W. Center Street in Lindon, Utah.
- Phone is 801-785-0997
- For bulk items pricing and ordering cans, you can print an order form at providentliving.org
All is safely gathered in,
Ere the Winter storms begin.
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