To me, Vintage Pyrex is Art.

 

I really love vintage Pyrex. This area of my Pyrex cupboard has my Primary Colour Mixing Bowls, my Fire King Jadite mugs and egg cups and the bright and wonderful Friendship pieces.

 

 

Primary Colour Mixing Bowls with a French Country Tea Towel

 

 

Pink Gooseberry bowls with a Pink Gooseberry Tea Towel. My favourite pattern.

 

 

Here is a turquoise baking dish with a vintage hand mixer. An eBay find. The bowls are Blue Amish or Butterprint. A Snowflake covered baking dish and two smaller Blue Amish baking dishes.

 

 

My very favourites!! PINK!! On the top shelf is a set of Pink Gooseberry 'Fridgies'. They were used to store food in the fridge. That pink striped bowl is a real treasure. Very hard to get your hands on. The pile of four, is a mix of Cinderella Bowls and baking dishes with the tea Towel.

 

And here is the whole cupboard. There are other pieces I have with serving dishes, bowls and baking dishes that I use regularly. These are my little treasures. I did use a couple of them at Christmas, but they aren't used often.

Figgy Pudding take two

 

Today I made a Sticky Figgy Pudding. I want to have this perfected for this years Christmas. It is pretty close I think. I'll know after I taste it. I made this one in a Bundt pan and it was a lot easier to make and to estimate the cooking time. I have a post ready and it will go live on December first this year. It will be the final recipe!!

 

 

In this photo you can see that there is excess Sauce as you are flipping the pudding out onto the plate. I should have cleaned that up before I took the photos. Gordon Ramsay would have thrown me out of the kitchen !!

 

Pink Wedgwood Embossed Queensware...

I wish my mother could have seen my face when I opened these gifts. As you know, my mother is a thrifting wizard. She has amazing timing and instinct. When I went to her place for coffee one day, these beautiful candlesticks and dish were on her counter. I almost fell over. So I shrieked at a pitch only a dog could hear... "OH MY GOD MOM, WHERE DID YOU GET THE PINK WEDGWOOD?!" Mom-"At the thrift shop". Me-"How much were they?" Mom-"The dish was $20.00 and the candlesticks were $20.00 for the pair." So, if my mother wanted to, she could be a very wealthy woman. She has a gift.

 

 

My mothers gift worked so much in my favour this Christmas, in the form of a 'gift'. No, two gifts. I opened my Christmas present from her and was thrilled to see the candlesticks. I could have cried. She came bearing another gift when she came over for dinner. I thought that was so sweet. I am pretty sure my gasp was audible. It was the pink bowl. They will be placed right out where I can see them all the time. They are more special to me than I can say.

 

Use your good and precious things...you are worth it !!

This Christmas I wanted to create a lovely dinner for my family. Not just the food, but a lovely experience as well. To treat them like they are the most special people in the world......because they are. It began with searching for a tablecloth that would fit the fully extended table at 9x4'. So I finally found a white linen tablecloth that fit perfectly and an extra long Holly design runner. It had occurred to me that my beautiful dishes, crystal and silver would all need a good cleaning. No problem I thought, I'll get it done, there's lots of time. Uh huh. Really? So as you know I was doing the cleaning Christmas week. In the middle of the busiest week in retail. I have a shop you know!!

 

I have finally finished cleaning everything in the china cabinet, as well as the cabinet itself. I finished the last two shelves today.

 

 

So, in 2017 let's -

Use the good dishes and the good teapots! Wear the clothes you save for special occasions...and use the good handbags. Burn your pretty candles. Drink the champagne you've squirreled away for a special occasion. Use the expensive soap that is 'too pretty to use'. What is more special than the gift that is today. I'm sure you have heard the expression "If not now, when?"

Picked some mandarins today...

 

Today I went to the greenhouse and checked on the orchids and citrus trees. It was snowing at the time, so it was very special. Everything looks wonderful. There were a lot of loose mandarins so I picked a few for nibbling on. There is some damage to a few of the leaves on one of the orchids. I cut off the damaged parts, so let's keep our fingers crossed that it will survive.