Vintage Family History

My grandparents built their last home in 1970. My grandfather was a carpenter and he built a 4 bedroom home on 80 acres of land my grandma inherited when her dad passed away. It was "the home" on the stretch of road they lived on. Obviously this was a few years before I was even born. For as long as I can remember, there was a picture hanging in the garage (along with my great-grandfather's old tools, etc)that was of my great-grandfather when he was on a baseball team in the local village (pre-marriage). It was a picture I was always kind of fascinated with (which probably led to my interest in genealogy) and when my grandmother passed away in February, I made sure I grabbed it. It was something I *HAD* to have.

For the first time ever, I took the back off the frame and it was a WONDERFUL surprise to see the names of everyone in the picture written on the back in my grandmother's handwriting<3 Not parting with this picture for anything.

The Sweetness of the Past

Yep. OK. I seriously can be put into "bad blogger" mode now. No excuses, really...other than I I've been sick three times since September (thanks, kids, for bringing home the germs). As we speak, I am dealing with congested lungs and woke up this morning unable to talk (just whisper). How do I yell at my kids??????? Well, anyway. My parents went to visit my uncle yesterday. He still lives in my grandmother's house, which is a whole other ball of wax for another time. She retrieved my grandmother's recipe box for me. The one thing I remember and always cherished was my grandmother's cooking. RARELY was anything from a box. RARELY. Most things were from scratch. Yea, truly a concept in today's society, but those cream cheese christmas cookies were to DIE for. That potato salad? TO DIE FOR. And although I was never a pork fan, those PORK CHOPS were AMAZING...and nobody has been able to duplicate them for me no matter how "to the T" they followed my grandma's instructions. I am not sure if anything can be duplicated the same way she made things, but I, at least, can give it a shot now. Not sure if I should be stoked about this or curl up in a ball and sob. Either way, I would not EVER be without many of these things that were hers. It was all so much a part of ME, as well.

I really think the recipe box dates to the 50s....EASILY. The box is powder-pink, but my kitchen is a cranberry red so it's hard to get accurate pictures with the reflection:/



If you look CLOSELY at the above picture, you can see the word "LARD" written out. LARD!!!! Does ANYONE use lard, anymore?? Man, I LOVE having this in my possession. REAL food:) Going through it, I found those cream cheese cookies recipe. I found the pumpkin cookies that were terribly SINFULLLLLLL. I found a recipe for homemade (like SCRATCH) biscuits. Date Nut Bread. Peanut Brittle. Easter Salad Surprise. Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Frosting (SCRATCH!). Dill Pickles. Chili Sauce. I mean...name it..and it's in there. She had clippings from seriously old newspapers (before I was even born!), magazines, food boxes. How to make jams, and RASPBERRY GLAZE??? And GOD BLESS this lady.....many of the recipes have dates on them and who she got them from (some even from HER mother!)


I don't think I will be able to reproduce my grandmother's cooking, by any means, but, as she always told me when I always said there was no way I could cook like she was able to, "Have you ever TRIED?". I love you, Grandma!!!!

Summer to Fall

So much for my dedication to doing a blog, huh? Summer is always non-stop in our household..not that we have any kind of "life", but my kids tend to be "high maintenance" which means, if I better plan something for them to do or my day(s) will result in some mental therapy by the time school starts.

School is now back in session. My son is in preschool for 5 hours and my daughter is now going ALL DAY (first grade). OK...seriously. Can you picture it?? I am driving home after dropping them both off at school completely beside myself. No fighting. No whining. Time to ME?? REALLY?? This is what I spent the last 7 years preparing for. Life is GOOD.

Oh How the Years Go By!

One of my biggest memories of spending summer vacations at my grandparents was strawberry season. She lived in Muskegon County and a farm really close to her was Veenstra's (and I believe they are still there!). I remember very warm days being out there for what seemed like HOURS filling those boxes and I just never could fill them like my grandma could. In hindsight, I understand that the "one in the mouth, one in the box" really doesn't get you very far, but oh...what wonderful memories those days were..and oh, how I miss them!

In Michigan, the season lasts maybe 2-3 weeks. No, it isn't long-lived at all so when it starts, I try and make the most of it. We live in a large city and so in summers past, I just purchased Michigan strawberries pre-picked at a farm market (Horrock's), but last summer (after the season was over), I discovered a farm maybe 15 minutes from us (on a dirt road in the in the middle of nowhere:) ). This year, I was bound/determined to get out there.

Obviously I have two kiddos ages 6 and 4 whose attention span is next to NOTHING so I had already made up my mind that there was no way I would take them both to pick. Today was an AMAZINGLY sunny day....mid 70s, not humid....and strawberries sounded SOOOO yummy. I decided maybe the kids and I would run out and just buy a couple of quarts pre-picked at the farm...but once we got out there, I just decided to "GO FOR IT" and pick a couple of quarts.

A couple of quarts turned into nearly 8lbs...hahaha....and the kids did well, though, they really had no interest in doing the work after maybe 5 minutes (BIG SURPRISE!). They spent time running around the sidelines/grassy areas of the field while my old bones bent over and picked.

I am sure tomorrow, I will pay for the bending (OUCH!), but oh...SO worth it. These suckers are amazing and each kid had a small bowl when we came home :) LOVE this time of year. LOVE IT!


Greenies compliment of my kiddos :)

"New" Treasures.....

When I was a single chick (and yes, even minus the husband), I was able to have/DO so many more things in the house. When the kids were born and started toddling, my decor took a big revamp. It was hard enough to keep a picture frame on a table at that point so I put many things that were breakable and choke-able away. In other words: if it couldn't be up on the wall, it wasn't in sight.

My kids are now almost 7 and 4.5 and I've been slowly trying to re-incorporate my love of primitive things, antiques, etc.

One of the first things to re-enter the scene: my old planters (Shawnee, McCoy).


Now, keep in mind that I live on the north side of a capitol city...on a double/corner lot. Great lot...small house....less than desirable city...so please ignore my neighbor's gawdy lattice out my window!! hahaa



I read somewhere not too long ago about "clumping"/grouping like/similar items together and the pictures I saw that went along with that idea were AWESOME. I decided to put some of the planters/vases in the kitchen window (above the sink). Hey, at least even the kiddos at this age can't get to those, right? Then I took some dried lavender (Oh, lavender ROCKS my world!) and stuck the bunch in one of the vases. Yea, ok..it's not as "extravagant" as many of you guys can do, but being a poor ghetto rat in the north side 'hood....I have to work with what I've got :)


A few years ago, my grandmother had given my mother some things...I have no idea why since she was always fiercely protective of her things....especially if anything belonged to her parents, aunts, etc. One of things she gave my mother was her aunt's (my great-great aunt) silverware.

It is marked Community and I was able to find the pattern online. Apparently is known as "Coronation"/"Hampton Court".

It's pretty immaculate and obviously in its original case. I just have to figure out what I am going to do with it.

Vintage 50s......."shopping at Grandma's"

Most people who know me well know that I am rather sentimental (even though I don't always show it). I am VERY attached to everything and anything to do with my grandparents. Back in the late 70s/early 80s, I used to spend my entire summer vacations (from school) on their farm. In 1970, 2 years before I was born, my grandfather built a 4 bedroom/2 story home on 80 acres of land that my grandma's dad owned.

Those summers were spent following my grandpa around the farm as he worked (my uncle lived there, as well). Those summers were spent riding hay wagons as it was being bailed. Those summers were spent swinging on a homemade swing tied to a VERY large maple tree out back. They were spent picking strawberries, watching Tigers baseball games at night on the screened in porch, being terrified of the summer nighttime thunderstorms that passed over Lake Michigan. We would take trips to the Ben Franklin (The Dime Store), grocery shopping at stores that had large deer head on the walls (hey, it was remote over there!), going for Sunday drives for ice cream, etc.

Then I grew up, but even so, my grandparents were ALWAYS there. The house was always there. The land was still there. The memories were STILL THERE on that property. It was still something I had in my possession.

My grandfather died unexpectedly in 1990, but I was still young and just out of high school. It was still very tragic to me, but I still had the house to visit and everything else to hold on to.

My grandmother died this past February and everything I always knew suddenly was facing a future of uncertainty. If you want to rock my world, put something so dear to me up in the air.

Needless to say, my mother had to sell it. My uncle is suffering from a mental illness (we believe it's schizophrenia), the deed was solely in my grandmother's name, and my family (and my parents) live 2.5 hours away. There was no way we could take it (my husband and I) due to jobs, etc, though I would completely LOVE to have been able to do so.

It's very, VERY emotional going in the house and being on the property. Very surreal knowing it belongs to someone else now, yet I am determined to "rescue" as many things as I am able to from the property.

My grandmother's home is frozen in the year 1970. In fact, many of the things inside are frozen in the 1950s and 1970s. My mother was born in 1951 and there are things hanging on those walls that are in pictures of her as a KID. Seriously. And sure, it's "outdated", but for me, it WAS "Grandma's House" and I have a lot of emotional attachment where this is concerned.

Because my uncle is suffering from what appears to be schizophrenia (a paranoid type, at that), we have to be pretty careful about what we take and how we take it. When he was outside with my mother and kids, I managed to snap a few pictures (just a few for time purposes).....and here are a few things on my list.

If anyone can help me identify some of the unknowns, please feel free to do so!



I've looked high and low for information about these things. These are in pictures of my mother when she was a little girl so they are at least 50s. Anyone know?


I have no idea why that picture is smaller than the elves? I thought I resized them the same..Hm. Oh well.


BLUE RIDGE No WAY will I part with these. From what I understand, the pattern is "Winnie". I don't know the story on these dishes (if they were a wedding gift or what). I know the set of "special occasion" dishes we always used at Grandma's were something she had gotten back in the 50s from a grocery store or something...I will have to see if I can find more information on them...but they are beautiful. My mother won't give me those *hmph!*


More Blue Ridge....



Various things from Occupied Japan, Norcrest Fine China, etc....

And more to come.....:)

About my Calico Cat....

I am still suffering with this horrific viral thing so I am still doing this very slowly.........slower than what I thought.

But, anyway....my calico cat is Lucy.  She came into my life nearly 4 years ago when I adopted her a week or so after losing Ashley (Ashie the kitty cat). Ash was my best friend for 8 years and it was truly one of the most tragic things I've EVER gone through.  Yet, I determined that I really need a cat to give my love to.

That is when I found Lucy at the humane society.  I didn't adopt her right away, but after "meeting" her, I couldn't get her out of my head.  All I could picture was her home with me.  I couldn't picture another cat (other than Ashie, of course)....so a few days later, I went back and brought Lucy home.

It was difficult to bond with her the way I had with Ashie.  I cared for her, obviously.  She slept on our bed at my feet from day one and she was cool.  But I just couldn't bring myself to LOVE her in the way that I had Ashie.

About 8 months later, she started doing quirky things that I had only see Ashie do.  One thing being sleeping on my side.  No other cat has done that and out of nowhere, Lucy did.  It was bizarre and a little difficult to accept, but then I started wondering if maybe Ashie had "communicated" with Lucy in some way (Yea, I know, but work with me here!).  And honestly, I found peace with that.

I am in LOVE with this cat.  Of course she doesn't replace Ashie at all...Ashie was her own cat....and Lucy is her own cat, too.  But Lucy truly did rescue me from my grief and taught me so much about life and loss <3

Slowly starting.....

It's been about 4 days now since my cold (virus) has had mercy on me, but, wouldn't you know it??? I woke up yesterday morning with a SORE throat.  That turned into a stuffy nose and now, my glands (lymph nodes) in my neck are swollen and sore.  Welcome to having two kids in school and under 7 years old:  germ magnets!

SO, this is going to start out slowly until I can combat this and feel good enough to start posting.

I did, however, manage to make it to Menard's this afternoon to pick up some stuff for a new project.....but, when it gets closer to nighttime, I always feel yuckier..blach.  SO.....I think it is just a chill night for me......get the kiddos to bed and curl up with Sims 3 :)