Sharing is Fun!

For a while now, I've been following Say It Ain't So, an awesome blog written by another local Nashville gal, Rae who is super cool. Recently, I was in the pay by the pound Goodwill parking lot and remembering that she posts sometimes about she and her hubs going there, thought to myself, "I wonder if I will see Rae and Travis!" and I swear to you, not even five seconds later, I looked to my right and getting out of the car right beside me were...Rae and Travis. Visualize to Realize, people!

Now, my unearthly shyness took over for a second and I thought about I don't know, diving under the car. But then I realized that they're cool kids and I may never get to meet them. So I said hey. And I think I scared Rae out of her wits because I pretty much shrieked at her and popped out like some deranged Jack-in-the-Box. It was then that I remembered that I'd just been climbing over cow skeletons in a field and my boots were covered in cow dung (long story. another time.) and I looked like a crazy woman. But so it goes...glamorous alter-ego blown.

As we talked about the adventurous world that is the Goodwill, they reminded me of their amazing Hank Williams bust that they scored there once. Like I could forget - it's one of the stories that keeps me going there even though I think that I'm going to get my eye put out by someone throwing a lawn chair or a set of steak knives or a small child. That place is crazy wild, yo.

Anyway, recently Rae was invited to share the story of Hank as her favorite find ever over at Owl Really which is written by Jamie. And I followed her over and "met" Jamie who also lives in Nashville and who before long, invited me to share one of my favorite finds too. And of course, I picked the Pam films. So I'd love to have you come on over and read the interview and meet the also super cool Jamie if you haven't already. Click here to go see:




I think it's a great idea that Jamie has come up with for a series. It's kind of like show-and-tell!

Until next time,
x's and o's,
Eartha

Anne's Things

I went to an estate sale back in the Summer at a charming little house full of quirky crafts and cookbooks and lovely vintage things. Strangely enough, I got there a couple of hours after it opened yet there were few customers there. Throughout the next couple of days, the Mister and I went there three times to look over the house and the items. Before it was done, I felt like I knew the people who had lived there. Most of all, Anne.

There were touches of Anne all over the house - from her clothes in the closet to her well-worn serving pieces in the kitchen. I was immediately drawn to her cookbook shelf and down on the very bottom amongst store-bought books, I found her handmade cookbooks. And then her recipe cards that another shopper had cast off to buy her recipe box, bound tightly with old rubber bands. And now, I keep them in my studio in their very own box.



They are incredibly fascinating to me. I love seeing Anne's delicate, perfect handwriting and the photos of dishes that she cut out of magazines and carefully pasted into notebooks. And the pages accidentally splattered with ingredients. And sometimes, she'd write little notes next to the recipes after she made them to rate them. It's funny but when I see "very good" written in her pert little script, I have no doubt that she was right. The collection starts in the early 50's when she most likely set up housekeeping and goes into the late 1980's.







I marvel at the hundreds and hundreds of handwritten recipe cards.



And the little bonuses that are tucked here and there:



Especially this car payment receipt from 1950:


And on the back of it:


Who among us couldn't use a stiff drink after making the car payment?

There is also a whole binder full of clippings from a regular newspaper column about local Nashville women and how they cooked and entertained. I LOVE these to pieces:


This clipping tells of how ladies from the neighborhood have this lady cook meals for them and then pretend that they made them with their own two hands. No wonder she looks so tired! (I'm still trying to come to terms with the Early American gas can on the table..)



I learned that this lady loves hat making and won a ribbon at the Tennessee State Fair for the sport coat that she made for her husband. On her table is Southern Fried Rabbit, Spanish Corn and Congealed Strawberry Salad (that Anne marked as "very good")


From her clipping, I learned that she has a small dining room and was once in a sorority. And that she never sees her husband because he works a lot. She is serving Open Faced Tomato Finger Sandwiches and Bing Cherry Congealed Salad.

Sometimes, I'll just take the box down and look through these things and think about how Anne took the time to plan out how she would feed her family and entertain. How she probably had "everyday dishes" and then "the good dishes" and nicely pressed linens at the ready. And she probably knew her way around a good hostess gift too.

And I think about how she'd probably laugh at how I make the same three easy recipes over and over and then kindly encourage me to try something more exciting like "Red Curry Delight" or the "Harvey Wallbanger Cake".

I think it's interesting how some people look at this stuff as "junk" - like 90% of the people at that estate sale - but how people like me (and maybe you) latch onto it and want to buy it and preserve it. In fact, I've thought up a little project surrounding Anne's collection and if things go well, it'll be on tap for this year.

Until next time,
x's and o's,
Eartha

Visualize to Realize

For a long time now, I've been wanting a crafting table for my office. I knew just what size I wanted and what I wanted it to look like. I could just picture it in my head. It would be white laminate and retro and round with nice sturdy metal legs. I searched the classifieds and thrift stores and couldn't find it. I kept thinking of taking other tables in just to settle and let the search end. But I made a promise to myself recently that I wouldn't bring anything into my house that I don't absolutely love. No more stand-in pieces or "surely I'll find a place for this once I get it home" pieces.

Then last weekend, after failed searches at a few more stores, the Mister and I were driving past the Habitat for Humanity store and I begged, "Let's just stop! They might have the table!" I'm sure he was thinking, "Fat chance, sister.." but we stopped.

And we walked in the front door. And there it was. The table that I'd pictured in my mind. To the letter. THE table. Mere feet across from me.




Which might not seem like such a big deal. But when you're on a tiny budget, these things seem like miracles. Will a shop have it? And if they do, will you be able to afford it? And wait...will it fit in the car? And they did. And I could. And it did. But just barely.

So now it sits in my office just waiting on some crafting to start. I'm presently too swamped for fun time but I can't wait. There used to be a single chair there in it's place where the Mister would come in and sit and talk to me while I worked. Now he sits at the table and calls it "the interview table". For a while, I had a solitary box of Kleenex there and I'd always tell him that he didn't get the job.

What about you? Have you visualized something lately and then had it realized? Do tell! Are you currently trying to find something and won't give up the search? Tell that too!

Until next time,
x's and o's,
Eartha

Take it from Mr. T

The blogs are all a-twitter with new year's resolutions today and I love reading what everyone else resolves to do (and not do) in the new year. However, I decided many years ago to never voice any resolutions in public. It just makes things easier when one of my local readers sees me scarfing down doughnuts in my car mid-January in the Krispy Kreme parking lot.

If I resolve to do anything, it will be to admit that I am a flawed person. I procrastinate and screw up and this time next year, I'll have fouled up lots of things and missed opportunities. But what I will have not done is beat myself up over them. Believe me, I have. But not lately. Sometimes, I think it's enough just to know that we are doing the best that we can.

This isn't the easiest world to survive in. And as long as we're not hurting anyone and are trying as much as we can to make the world a better place for others - even if just in little ways, then we've done well. Sure, we'll screw up sometimes but everyone screws up sometimes. In the same way that we don't fault others for doing so, we can't fault ourselves.


Resolutions are cool and all but I'd rather go by Mr. T's mantra:



Happy New Year, buckaroos!

Until next time (I pity da fool!)
x's and o's,
Eartha