Vintage thingie Thursday and Thrifty Thursday

It is time for Vintage Thursday Thingee - and I've got some great things to share. Please join us at Coloradolady, where Suzanne is our hostess, to see vintage thingies!

And stop over at Bloggeritaville for Thrifty Thursday!

We stopped at a yard sale last Saturday - a lady had put all her stuff out on the lawn near the ponds in our community. We aren't allowed yard sales here - so we were surprised to see her there. We asked if she was from the community and she told us she was from the apartments across the road, but that this was the perfect spot for a yard sale.

We knew that soon the management of the community would see her and scare her off - but we shopped anyway. I started asking prices -

for a nice serving bowl - 25 cents, two for the price of one. . .

a cute folding sand chair that the boys could use - 25 cents . . .

some pretty silverware - 25 cents for all of it. . .

a pretty little pickle fork - free . . .

a mandolin - 25 cents - lots of extra blades for this too . . .

Everything was spread out on an old quilt and Don asked - how much for the quilt - and she said - are you ready, maybe you'd better sit down - go ahead, ohhh you already are sitting down. She said - a quarter!!!!!

Well, we couldn't get that stuff unloaded off the quilt fast enough. She apologized that the quilt was in bad shape -but I said - I can always use parts of it - and for a quarter - well, what can I say - what a deal!!!!

I love the tulip design and the thirties colors . . .

Most of the quilt is in fair to good condition . . .

The edges are badly frayed on one end - I imagine that this was wrapped about some boxes and stuff in the back of a pickup on moving day and allowed to flap in the wind - from the extent of the damage I'd say it was a long trip. But most of the quilt is in fairly good shape, considering its age and the treatment it has gotten.

Ohh poor little quilt . . .

All raggedy and frayed . . .

But I shall clip off the frayed edges and find some matching fabric to rebind the edges and it will be a happy quilt once again. After repairs it will be a good throw size for napping on the sofa.

I'm so glad we stopped at that yard sale - got some other things there too - for 25 cents each, but they were't vintage - just great deals. On the way home we noticed that the lady had moved her sale across the street to a narrow strip of grass near the apartments. I hope she sold everything, and it is pretty likely - since she had such good prices. Glad we were first.

What are they doing down there?

There is a very small park in Bellingham - it sits high above the bay on a cliff. There is a parking lot, a few trails, a sign that you can read all about the park - not much to read - it is a small sign - an apple tree and a bench. The train runs right along just below the park, but high enough on the cliff that you can see it when it passes the park. I often wonder how they keep that track from sliding down into the bay - especially with all the rumbling of the train.

We like to buy hamburgers from a drive-in called Morrie's. They feature triple decker burgers, the best milkshakes in town and wavy french fries to die for - and if you want some teriyake, they have that too. Then we drive down the coast a little ways to the park - and park and eat our feast. There seems always to be someting interesting to see from atop the cliff overlooking the bay.
One day we kept seeing these "kites" - and discovered that para sailing was in full swing. They swooped and dove and dipped and ran along the water - and up the cliffs and over and above us in the wind currents - what a fine day for the sport.

We often saw three or more of the sails from our car - we never thought to walk over to the edge of the cliff and get a better view - but we did use the binoculars - or "bird - noculars" as Ben calls them.
In this one you can see the little tiny guy flitting along the waves far below - he was moving pretty fast too.

Another gal way down below and lots of sails . . .

They never got tangled - and I don't know why not. . .

Whooosh . . .

See the guy in the lower front - being pulled along - they had such fun!

All in all - a good day for a car picnic of burgers, fries and a milkshake - and some fun with para sailing.

I took over 100 photos - but only showed you a few - aren't you glad?

To the Mountains

We love the mountains of Washington. We have mountains to the east and north - they are amazingly beautiful and change with the seasons. Before Don's surgery we took a long ride in the spring on a gorgeous day. It was nice to get out and be with nature for a while.

The Sisters are heavily covered with snow during the winter - and most of it melts each spring. They are the first mountains to lose their snow. When we first moved to WA we couldn't remember if these mountains were the Sisters or the Brothers - so we still call them the Siblings.

Looking out across a valley at The Sisters . . .the peace and quiet in this spot is amazing. . .

Along the way we passed these horses grazing in a field - they looked up at us and went contentedly back to grazing . . .

We drove past a lake and could see Mt. Baker in the distance. Mt. Baker is our most famous mountain in this area. It is over 10,000 feet and a skier's paradise in the winter. It set a new record for the most snowfall ever measured in the U.S. in a single season. The U.S. Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that the Mt. Baker Ski Area in northwestern Washington State reported 1,140 inches of snowfall for the 1998-99 snowfall season, that is over 95 FEET of snow - or just over 31 yards - that is a lot of snow! Makes me cold just to think of it.


I took this picture of the lodge on the mountain in March of one year (not on this particular trip to the mountains) - after a lot of the snow had melted and the roads were open to cars. The lower windows in this picture are on the third floor of the lodge. The snow formed huge walls along the road - much taller than our car. We didn't go any farther than this - it was just too scary - and there was an avalanche warning posted so we didn't want to be involved in that.

Do you see the old man on Mt. Baker?

Along the way we saw this fabulous wisteria tree - what a grand idea. . .

And a line of these old metal wheels - leaning against piles of rocks to form a fence. You just never know what you'll see on the way to the mountains.

ABCs of me

I enjoyed reading Dena's ABCs that I thought I might do one about me.

ABC’S OF ME

A – Age - 63 - Galaxy Messier 63 - Sunflower Galaxy

B – Bed Size – double - quite old - actually has innersprings and is soooo comfy

C – Chore you hate – well - I don't mind chores and can't think of one I hate (don't you just love this photo? It is NOT me and my brothers - though it could have been)

D – Dog’s name – no pets

E – Essential “start your day” item – hmmm - just get up and get moving I guess

F – Favorite color – green, or pink, or red - yeah red that's it

G – Gold or silver? – silver - matches my hair
H – Height – 5’ 7”

I – Instruments you play – piano

J – Job title – relief manager

K – Kids – two girls - one boy - (1969)

L – Living arrangements – live in our new to us house - trees on three sides - quiet street - no traffic and lots of deer and racoons and birds

M – Mom’s name – June - she was born in June

N – Nicknames – Hady, Jo, Dear, Grammy

O – Overnight hospital stays (except when giving birth) – Ever so many - spent a week at UW - several nights at St. Joe in B'ham - oh yeah - tonsils out in Alaska when I was 15

P – Pet peeve – grammar errors - do people not read???? But I do enjoy a grammar joke - The man was chasing a racoon with a broom in his pajamas. :-)

Q – Quote from a movie – not much for watching movies

R – Right or left handed – Left is best - I want one of these!!!!

S – Siblings – Middle child with two brothers - baby on the right is a foster child (we lived in Alaska)

T – Time you wake up – about 5 or 6 a.m. - or when the sun comes up in the summer - I like to be up before the birds start singing (4:15 a.m. in the summer)

U – Underwear – ummmmmmmm I've got some around here somewhere

V – Vegetable you dislike – Lima beans - iiiiiiick

W – Workout style – walking - when I can

X – X-rays you’ve had – Lots - the strangest one was for a view of the top of my spine and they had me open my mouth and they took the x-ray that way

Y – Yesterday’s best moments – When our 4 year old grandson Ben said - Grammy you are my favorite ( he was doing the foot pedal on the sewing machine while I sewed the cover for the skylight)

Z – Zoo favorites – Don't do zoos

Sunday Favorites - making pickle relish

Thanks to Chari of Happy To Design, for hosting Sunday Favorites! This is my first time - I just learned from her blog how to repost a favorite - and it is so simple and easy - even in HTML - so here we go.

I posted this one last fall - and it is time again to remind ourselves of canning and freezing and preserving for the coming winter - we are, afterall, a bunch of squirrels busy putting away our summer treasures, to bring them out again on blustery winter days to enjoy.

I've had several request for my recipe for pickle relish - it uses zuchinni, those big whale ones, so you can get a lot of relish from just a few zuchinni, or if you have lots of cucumbers, use them - or a combo - it is delicious either way.

Every year or two I make huge batches of sweet pickle relish, bread and butter pickles or jam. I make enough for us and for our kids and their families. When I make one of the items I make enough to last for several years - then I don't have to make the same thing over each year. This year it was sweet pickle relish - made with zuchinni. The original recipe was for green tomato relish - so if you have a lot of extra green tomatoes you can also make it. You could even make it all of cucumbers if you wanted - whatever you have on hand makes a great relish, and feel free to combine vegetables too - it is all wonderful.



For this recipe you start with four of the biggest zuchinni you can find. It is never hard to find them, someone always has them growing in their garden and are happy to get rid of them. If you aren't careful you will find some on your porch.



You chop everything and let it soak overnight. Even longer is ok - if you don't get to the relish right away the next morning. By this time your house smells like pickles - and will continue to do so for about a week.



Wash up your jars and lids and rings - you can put them in the dishwasher on "hot dry" if you want to - to heat them up - but make sure they are very clean first.



Gather up some other ingredients - plus sugar, and you are ready to start.



Once you have the relish in the jar, turn it upside down for a few minutes.



Then back right-side up and you have relish!



GREEN TOMATO RELISH – OR ZUCHINNI RELISH

1 flat green tomatoes or 4 huge zuchinni
(approx. 12 cups chopped)
5 1/3 c. onion (chopped)
5 c sugar
1 tsp allspice
1 t turmeric
1 1/3 t cinnamon
1 1/3 t celery seed
3 ½ T cornstarch

½ c salt
1 quart apple cider vinegar

Chop all vegetables (food processor works fine – chop in several batches – do not use blender)
Add ½ c salt and let chopped vegetables sit overnight – stir occasionally

Drain slightly – do not rinse – cover with vinegar. Bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes. Add sugar, boil for 30 min. Mix cinnamon, cornstarch and allspice, add enough water to make a paste. Add to hot mixtures (do NOT add dry cornstarch – it will clump up and you will never get the clumps out). Boil 10 minutes. Add celery seed and turmeric. Put in sterile jars – fill almost to the top – put on lids. Turn immediately upside down for 5 minutes. Set upright and let jars seal. Makes 5-6 quarts.

Enjoy!!