"Mom, What Have You Done With My Life?"

This is my beautiful daughter, Alisha. She came home Saturday, and we took this picture on the side of the highway, on our way to Canton Trade Days. If you have been reading a while, you know she is a senior in College. She graduates in December and in the past four years, her visits home have been fewer and farther in between. She is busy....working, school work, internships, socializing, boys..you know...the really important things.

None the less, I know in reality, she will not be moving back home, even after she graduates in December. You may recall this post about when she went off to college, turned my world upside down and I was certain my life was over when I discovered myself to be a empty nester. Over the past few years, things have changed, and gotten easier to accept my baby girl is no longer a baby, but a grown young women...some days..I have to remind myself of that....and it really has become a little easier to accept that she does not feel the need to come home every other weekend anymore.

We are very close and talk everyday, and I guess I have grown a bit myself over the last few years....and now, I have come to realize...I want to use her room for my own selfish purposes...I know...bad mom and I should feel bad, well...maybe I do...just a bit.

Last week, I decided to clean out her room, sort, and box all of her treasures and discard some things, save others. I worked for a full day cleaning, and moving my things into that space. Believe me, it was a task.

Alisha came home this weekend and walked into her room, walked right back out, and said, "Mom, What have you done with my life?".....whoops.....I guess I forgot to mention that sweetheart!

I quickly explained myself, reassured her all her pictures, papers and most prized possessions were safe in the closet in the other room, and well, the rest of the life's memories were on the bed in the other bedroom to be sorted by HER. Sorted by what she wanted to keep and what she wanted to toss. This picture has things for her to sort, along with my seasonal decorations that needed to be stored in the garage mixed in, so it is not as BAD as it seems, with all her things on the bed!

And if you think the apple does not fall short of the tree....you are so right. She sorted all right....and she kept more than I originally had thought she would. She can not help it, around here we are keepers, savers, collectors.......in a big way.

Alisha did manage to have a stack of things to sell in the garage sale, mostly of "must haves" that never got used or worn....can you imagine that?

I did sorta feel a tad bit of remorse that I did not really warn her of what extent I had taken over her room.....now, her closet houses.........

Some of my vintage quilts and bedspreads.......

....and vintage linens and aprons....and some of the aprons belong to Alisha.....

.....And my sewing things, button collections, fabrics stash, patterns and notions, and craft items.....

Next month, when she takes her vintage vanity to her new apartment, I will get around to painting the walls, and turn this room into my sewing and craft room....remember, I have big plans to become a quilter.....hopefully.

It may look a bit different now, but the one thing I want to get clear to Alisha is that this room is so full of her 23 years and memories that it does not need her boxes of treasures for it to still be called her own....it will just be changed a bit....still hers....always will be.

~Love you baby girl....forever!

Now...What do you think?? Selfish mom? Should I have waited? Do you think I put my own needs over my child's? It's OK be truthful....I can handle it!

VINTAGE THINGIES THURSDAY: Forgotten Mountain Treasures Part 2

Hello Everyone! Welcome to this weeks segment of Vintage Thingies Thursday.

Thursday is the day to showcase your vintage treasures and to share your special things with everyone.

If you are visiting and would like to join us, please do. It is very easy!
All you have to do is:
(1) do a post about something vintage.
(2) Visit all the participates and leave a comment.
(3) Link in with the Mr. Linky at the bottom of this post, please use a perma-link to link in with, that way, anyone can refer back to your post if they can not get to it on Thursday.
(4) Be sure to refer back to my blog so everyone can see who is participating today, and if you like include the VTT button in your post. Please be sure to have your post up before linking in. Thanks so much.

Last week, I realize everything went haywire with Blogger and I think Mr. Linky. Hopefully, this week will be better. If you were not able to read last weeks post, click HERE, as this is a carry-over from last week. I am crossing my fingers we will NOT have a problem this week!!

Let me continue with my long forgotten treasures that were abandoned years ago and have been preserved in the rubble of a forgotten cabin.....enjoy.


These are so cute. They are made out of hard plastic, reminds me of Melamine or Texas Ware, but alas, no markings on any of it. This is the creamer and sugar bowl...no lid.

Here are the two matching cups. That is all I found, nothing else that matched this set. Still....they are pink and really cute....don't think I will ever use them, but hey....I like the colors.

What do you think of these adorable luncheon plates? There were only 3 plates to be seen. There may have been more, but I decided I had better just stop all the digging around. I love the look of these. There were no matching cups, but the design is really nice.


I just love the details of the rims. Look how delicate the handles look. I don't know what I will do with these either, but I will save them....they have found a home!
How about this beautiful Refrigerator jar...complete with ORIGINAL RED lid. Oh, how I love this. I have not been able to clear up the glass, as it has a fog, but if I can not clear it up that is OK, I just love this.

Now.....this has got to be a real favorite of mine. I dug and found this amazing silverware. Did you hear me.....SILVERware. Most all of it is the real stuff. Some is marked Royal Manufacturing Co., Solid Brazilian Silver (with a crown). Let me tell you, I wanted so very much to continue to dig to find more pieces, but Steve insisted that enough was enough.

Here is some of the detail of some of the pieces. I love the details. Some have initials but nothing really matched.

I think t his makes a nice display. I purchased this milk pitcher at Goodwill for .50 cents and think it makes great vase for these vintage pieces.

Oh, and if you noticed my vintage tablecloth in the backdrop, that was a great find at Goodwill too, I paid a whole .75 cents for that on half price day......Smile!!

Well, this concludes my Forgotten Mountain Treasures for now......notice I said for now....or until I discover a few more just waiting to be found. Have a great week everyone!

This One Is For You.......

"I'm selfish, impatient, and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control, and at times hard to handle.
But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best."

~Marilyn Monroe

This is intended for just the right person. If read this today, it is not something that I posted about myself....but for someone else......you will know who you are! Hope it touches your heart today.

Where Wild Donkeys Roam....Still to This Day!!

I told you about The Cripple Creek Cemetery yesterday, well, I guess you could say I am on a roll here, and today, I want to show you an amazing wonder for the eye to behold. What I want to show you today, is a real example of survival of the fittest.


Donkeys played a key part of the backbreaking work of hard rock mining in the early days. They aided much to the boom of the Gold Rush by hauling ore from the mountains for countless of hours at at time.

Now, these animals were not your fresh off the farm livestock, they were a tough breed, able to work hours at a time, and demanded to repeat the process the next day by the miners themselves. They were used above and below ground to move the gold and silver laden ore.

When the mines played out and the miners moved on, the donkeys were abandoned, sometimes left below in the mines. The ones who returned to nature and survived, reproduced and a wild herd has lived in the area ever since. Steve remembers going to Cripple Creek as a young boy with his family on vacation, and the donkeys were there in the early 1960's and they are still going strong today.

It is amazing to see these beautiful creatures who are the direct descendants of the hard working mining donkeys of the Gold Rush Days.

If you will stop and think for a moment, just how smart and resourceful these donkeys are. I mean, they know how to open fences to allow their burro friends access to all the best food grounds in town.

All it takes is a slip of the latch, and they are home free. My daughter was able to capture these photos on a visit to Cripple Creek. She felt so sorry for the owners of the house, as it looked like they had just planted fresh flowers and that is really what the donkey's had their eyes set on.

I asked her if she tried to stop them from entering the yard, and she just smiled and said, "of course not"!

It did not take long for the locals to follow suit behind the leaders. So much for hard work ethics...seems with time, that part might have slipped somewhat over the decades and they are a little more eager for someone else to do the work for them.

Before long, it was a full blown party.....dinner party that is. And if you will notice, no unhappy homeowner in sight.

I guess after all those years of forging for themselves in the wild, the donkey's have become resourceful in finding food or treats without having to put forth too much effort.

During the winter months, The Mile High Club rounds up the donkey's and moves them to a pasture to be fed and cared for during the long winter months. But come spring, they are returned to their mountains and town to roam at will.

And don't think for one minute, they are shy about asking for a handout...no way are they shy....I think they know a car means tourist and tourist means food!

During the spring through the fall months, you can drive in any direction around town and almost always spot some of the herd. I wonder if the people who live there now think of these wonderful creatures as a nuisance or do they see the link to the past...to the good ole days of Cripple Creek.

The long forgotten mountain dwellings of the Gold Rush days are almost just that, a forgotten image. The weather conditions along with time itself, have deteriorated most all the old wooden structures in the area.

It is nice to think mother nature has stood the test of time and the descendants of the wonderful mining donkeys are still going strong today, after all these years. That to me is a true testament of the fighting, hardworking spirit the mining donkeys must have possessed all those years ago.

Memorial Day Visit to Cripple Creek Cemetery

One of my favorite places in the world is Cripple Creek Colorado. This once famous gold mining camp was home to many famous people of Colorado back in the Gold Rush Days. It is chocked full of history and there is just something about the mountains around this small town that just calls my heart home. Once you have visited here, it will stay with your for a long time.

One of the most famous people of all time in this Gold Rush Town was Pearl DeVere. She was the famous Madam who ran a very "classy" gentleman's establishment....ahem......you can read about her legend HERE. You will want to take the time to do so, it is very interesting.

Today "The Old Homestead" still stands on Myers Avenue just as it once did, and serves as a historic museum. What a step back in time it is to visit here and listen to the tales of Cripple Creek from the guides.

Here is Bennett Avenue...or better known as main street. It still looks pretty much the way it did (minus the casinos) in 1895 after reconstruction from a fire that destroyed almost the whole town. The architecture on the building fronts is still so interesting to view and photograph. The mountain in the back view from Bennett Avenue is where Cripple Creek's Mt. Pisgah Cemetery is located.

I love to visit this old cemetery. I always have and there is hardly a time we are not out in Colorado that we don't make a drive through or a walk around this historic place. Here is a view from the cemetery looking back towards town. The views in the fall when the Aspen trees are golden is a sight to behold.

This cemetery is so interesting, and a real history lesson in itself. If you take the time to walk amongst the graves, read the headstones you can pretty much piece together the lives of those who used to live in this historic place. It is really one of my favorite things to do.

I can almost guarantee this Memorial Day, Pearl will not be forgotten. I have never paid ole' Pearl a visit that her grave was not laden with trinkets of all kinds. Everything from face cream, lotions, coins, jewelry, lotto tickets, flowers, soda pop, food items, ash trays, lighters, playing cards....if you will think about it, maybe these items are things Pearl would have enjoyed while here among us. I have even been known to leave a few things behind at Ole' Pearl's grave a time or two. (Usually, it's when Steve is walking ahead of me somewhere, I think he sometimes thinks I have a little problem)...Ahem....

One thing is for sure, Pearl draws me to the mountains high on the hill atop this historic town. I always visit her grave, pause and just stop and say a prayer. Her story.. her life.. her death holds much interest for me, and her story is such a romantic one... in a grim sorta way.

Now, IF, I believed I had ever lived in the past, I would be most sure, I walked the streets of this town in its heyday....Most likely I did not make a living working for ole' Pearl. But none the less, I could have been one of the "good girls" who looked a little too long behind the bolts of fabrics at the dry goods store as she passed on the street. I am sure "good girl" or not, she would have held a fascination for me even then, and that fascination would most likely had been hard to contain. Yep, I tend to believe that is just how it was, IF I believed in that sort of thing. Just sayin'.....

Thanks for letting me entertain you with Pearl's story. You can rest assured, she will have many visitors and lots of trinkets left at her grave today, for Memorial Day.

Pay It Forward....Update!!

I know most of you might remember my Pay it forward post, if not, to refresh your memory click HERE. I think I am finally ready to package and ship my pay it forward gifts out. If you have forgotten if you signed up for this or not, below is the list of participants. Remember....you only have to pay it forward to three people...I signed up twice so mine is doubled.

Classy Chassy
3 Sides of Crazy
Mub
April
Country Mouse
Infared googles

I have everyone's address except Infared googles....so, if you would email me your address, I can send your package off.....Now....no set date for sending this out...but it is on the way.....and Mub....sorry I did not get yours off to you while you were in the States....don't worry....yours will be mailed to the Netherlands....promise.

Update: From Thursday ~ I wish I was a computer geek!

Of all days to have a problem with blogger and Mr. Linky, it would have to be on Thursdays! I could not access my blog yesterday and kept getting an error message. I assumed something was wrong with my computer and took it to a local shop to get checked out...still don't have the darn thing back yet, but my son was sweet enough to loan me his laptop....boy, it has been a challenge.

Anyway, I discovered from the "known issues" on blogger that I was not the only person having a problem, it seems when using Internet explorer and trying to access some blogs, some people could not get the pages to load...LUCKY ME!! I was in the "not so in" group...and had the problem.

Also, Mr. Linky has some kind of issue too, I had to import the links from yesterday back to the post page this morning...I am so sorry for all the confusion and things not working. That is one thing that just bugs me...even if it was not my fault. I did not know it was not my fault at the time.

Hope everything will be back to normal by the weekend. Have a great Holiday weekend everyone!

Vintage Thingie Thursday: Forgotten Mountain Treasures

Hello Everyone! Welcome to this weeks segment of Vintage Thingies Thursday.

Thursday is the day to showcase your vintage treasures and to share your special things with everyone.

Last week we spent some time at our cabin in Colorado, high in the mountains. Most of the time, we spent working, making the cabin ready for guest staying there during the summer. That usually is the way of our visits to the mountains.

Sometimes, we take a little time for ourselves, and hike or drive to hike on nearby BLM land and enjoy a bit of nature. This time, we came across an abandoned cabin of yesterday, with the door propped open, just offering us (me) an invite to have a peek inside.

Guess who ventured in, yep you got it.....none other than myself. Steve thought it not too wise...as the place was a mess....looked to be a cozy spot for wildlife for years and years.

But beneath the rubble and mess, I found a few treasures that had been long forgotten. And much to Steve's protest...I scooped them up and they were cleaned up, soaked in bleach water and are back to all their original glory.

This is the first thing that caught my eye, with the cabinet doors torn off the cabinets revealed a lovely green milk glass (I believe) loaf pan. It could be a refrigerator dish, but it looks more like a loaf pan to me. There were a few glasses in the cabinet but this was the main thing that caught my eye. I left the glasses for the next big adventurer who stumbles across this cabin.

When you hold this up to the light, the glass looks translucent and you can see the light thru the glass, this may be jadeite, I am not sure. No markings of any kind are on this piece.

Imagine my delight when I spotted two green glass plates. This is the dinner plate, and in my excitement, I managed to break the smaller plate. I was not happy. These were the only two in the place, I am sure all the others were destroyed or taken years ago.

This pretty restaurant plate was so dirty, you could not even tell it was anything other than brown. I could tell through the muck, that it was a jewel of a plate. Steve....not so much.

Here is a closeup of the details of the plate. This is stamped RimRol Shenango China New Castle, Pa. Pat. No. 2.178.274. I love the colors and how this one cleaned up.

Now, I so would not advise taking off in the woods and dragging found treasures out of abandoned cabins. I learned from a friend that rodents and such that is left behind by these critters carry deadly disease and is often found in the muck of such abandoned cabins. Who knew... well, we probably knew this, but I was not even thinking about that sort of thing when my eyes were fixed on treasures......believe me, Steve has had a fit over that. I have heard "I told you so..." only about a 100 times.

However, with a little research when I got home from the Internet, I think we are fine.....but I think that will be the end of my treasure hunting in the like for awhile....that is some scary stuff....but it is so hard not to love the feeling at finding a treasure long forgotten years ago and knowing they can once again shine like new. I love that, right or wrong.

Next week, I will show you the rest of my found goodies.....


If you are visiting and would like to join us, please do. It is very easy!
All you have to do is:
(1) do a post about something vintage.
(2) Visit all the participates and leave a comment.
(3) Link in with the Mr. Linky at the bottom of this post, please use a perma-link to link in with, that way, anyone can refer back to your post if they can not get to it on Thursday.
(4) Be sure to refer back to my blog so everyone can see who is participating today, and if you like include the VTT button in your post. Please be sure to have your post up before linking in. Thanks so much.

Have a great week everyone!! And Happy Treasure Hunting!

Vintage Thingie Thursday Participants

1. A Woman of Notes 2. Jewelgirl 3. Jeanne 4. i luv retro things 5. Terry @ Cherished Treasures 6. postcardy 7. Elizabeth 8. Indiana Keetha 9. CC 10. fitty

11. Susan 12. SueLovesCherries 13. LaVoice 14. Rosie 15. Angela 16. Rosie (oops) 17. Marjorie.mollys country memories 18. Bea 19. Barbara Jean 20. Marie (happy postcards:)

21. Linnea 22. Ulla 23. mannequin 24. Miri 25. A Thrifty Mrs 26. JustJingle 27. Tesoro Fino ~ Fine Treasures 28. Karla @ Ramblin' Roads 29. mub 30. Becky

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Nothing Like Home Grown Goodness

We usually plant a vegetable garden every year. Some years, we have better luck than others. Steve planted our garden a couple of weeks ago and with all the rain we have had and a couple of days of sunshine, things have really perked up in the garden.

This year, at my insistence, we purchased a couple of the hanging containers for tomatoes. Steve has little faith in this process, but I am optimistic and I really hope we get more tomatoes than we can eat.

Here is a underneath side of the container. I love the concept of this growing upside down. It is just plain fun!

I rescued this vintage gate from a trash pile in front of a house last year. Steve fashioned it in the garden after I suggested it would make a rather cute trellis for the cucumbers to grow on. What do you think? Cute Huh??

More tomato plants planted the ole' fashioned way....in the ground.

This is a novelty in my garden this year. Peanuts. I found these plants at the hardware store that has a garden center on the side of the building. I have never grown peanuts before...I hope these make. One plant is said to yield 15-22 peanuts. This is a first for me....may be the last!

What is a spring garden without a few rows of green beans? One of my husbands favorite foods is fresh green beans...and he thinks no one can make them as tasty as I do...he is so sweet!

The zucchini is already flowering.....

....and if you look closely, the yellow squash has small babies on the vines already. We also have planted bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, chili petini peppers, and two different kinds of mint. I still need to get a couple of basil plants and some rosemary and thyme to plant. That should just about do it for this year.

We really enjoy a vegetable garden. There is so much satisfaction in growing your own vegetables. If you don't have a garden, or if you think you don't have room for one, think again. You can hang them like we did, or grow almost anything in containers on a deck or patio. All you need is some good soil, sun and water and some type of support for the plants and that is about it. Nothing hard at all. Give it a try, nothing beats homegrown vegetables from your very own garden. Such Satisfaction!

Vintage Thingies Thursday: Vintage Kitchen Cuties

Hello Everyone! Welcome to this weeks segment of Vintage Thingies Thursday.

Thursday is the day to showcase your vintage treasures and to share your special things with everyone.

If you are visiting and would like to join us, please do. It is very easy!
All you have to do is:
(1) do a post about something vintage.
(2) Visit all the participates and leave a comment.
(3) Link in with the Mr. Linky at the bottom of this post, please use a perma-link to link in with, that way, anyone can refer back to your post if they can not get to it on Thursday.
(4) Be sure to refer back to my blog so everyone can see who is participating today, and if you like include the VTT button in your post. Please be sure to have your post up before linking in. Thanks so much.

I hope most of you got a good laugh at last weeks post about my "What was I thinking" item that I had for you too see. Don't worry, that poor skinny pup has found a forever home and we will love him!

This week, I have got to show you my Goodwill finds. Do you remember back in the 50's and 60's most every kitchen had a set of these decorated plates?

I have seen several sets like this before, but NEVER have I seen a set that was made out of vintage platters......Remember.....I collect vintage platters!

Look at this great little lady. She is so pretty in your red and black. Near perfect conditon, she is just missing a sequin or two on her dress, and those can easily be replaced. I think she looks very lady like.

Now, just look at this smoking cowboy. I would not say he looks too manly...infact, I can hear my husband calling him a Dandy!
None the less, he is a perfect match for the little lady and he is in perfect condition...smoking the cigar and all.

I think this is a rather charming pair, and would be super cute in the kitchen. I just love the platters they were made out of, very unique. This pair of vintage goodness set me back a whole $1.75 for the pair...it was half price day on housewares at Goodwill. Score!

Here are the markings on the back of the platters, both match and are identical.

I know there are several ladies who join us every week with a love for red kitchen items, just like myself. I picked these two items up at local sales. The bar mixer (at least that is what I think it is) is really nice and the colors are like new. I found the nut grinder at a local thrift shop and was thrilled it still had the plastic lid, usually I find them and the lid is missing.

I hope you enjoyed this post for Vintage Thingies Thursday. I will be out of town today, and this post was scheduled ahead of time. I will visit everyone when I return over the weekend and look forward to all your vintage goodies and commenting when I return. Have a great week everyone!