When did my baby grow up?????

 

It is with overwhelming pride and a HUGE lump in my throat that I announce that I am officially the mother of a United States Air Force Airman, Tyler Allen.  Wow, what emotions are going thru my head and heart!  Yesterday he was just a tiny thing and today he signed to help to defend our country for the next 8 years during some of the most turbulent times my generation has ever seen.  One thing is for sure, he doesn't go alone.........he takes with him the abundant love of his family and friends and prayers that will be constantly sent up for him from generations of loved ones present and past. He also takes with him pride in his country and his belief that he defends a nation that is still "Under God" whether or not you choose to believe in Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He symbolizes the wise youth of today who still believe that the American dream lives in those who choose to Pursue it with honesty and integrity and hard work. He represents the American Soldier who thru the ages has given all to ensure freedom for those of us whom they love and even for those who don't respect or value their huge sacrifices.  He embodies those who still stand with hat in hand and tears in their eyes when they hear the words of our National Anthem ring out to symbolize Freedom, Faith and Family. Today, I stand in awe of a Great young man who has only just begun to make a difference in these still great United States of America. As his mother and as a fellow United States Citizen, I ask that you support and pray for him and that you stand behind him as he will be standing between you and harms way as he protects all of our freedom.  Today he made the decision to stand and fight for his country and to serve his nation in the Air Force.  It is an HONOR to be called his mother!

"Flying men, guarding the nation's border,
We'll be there, followed by more!
In echelon we carry on. Hey!
Nothing'll stop the U.S. Air Force"


From this:

 

To this:

To all the PYREX I've loved before......

...To all the Pyrex I've loved before, that has traveled in and out my door, I'm glad it came along, I dedicate this song, To all the Pyrex I've loved before.

 

LOL.....I have no idea why in the world this tune came into my head the other day while I was cleaning up some Pyrex that I found at the local flea market .......but boy it really does fit a Pyrex collector like me to a T!! I was getting together a few extra pieces for a co-worker who has seen me collect Pyrex for the better part of 20 years now and decided that they would like to own some too. For someone like me who absolutely loves this stuff, it can be down right hard to let pieces of pyrex go to other homes because of the fear of it being "mistreated".  I feel like the pyrex "social worker" who checks out the person first and makes sure it is going to a "pyrex friendly" home where it will be taken care of and appreciated and treated lovingly. They must promise NO DISHWASHER use on these pieces...then and only then will I let them "adopt" my cherished pyrex...lol. 

Hopefully this will be the beginning of a new Pyrex collector among us.
I hope these pieces have a long and happy life in their new home.......you are free little buddies....live long and prosper! 

"IT" is kind of scary...but I kind of like it......

 

Ever come across a vintage piece that gives you mixed emotions.....I felt sorry for this poor Ole clown reamer, he has definitely seen his better days for sure. But then again, I was drawn to "IT" (aka Pennywise the Clown).....I find myself wavering from the "I like it" to the "it's a really sort of Stephen King kind of creepy" feeling.  He is old and cracked but good grief some days that is exactly how I feel and I would hope that someone would have pity on me and show some kindness and not let me end up in the trash.  He is pretty much un-usable but I still couldn't watch them throw him in the trash so I brought him home and cleaned him up and set him on a shelf.

 

Someday you may see me on an episode of "Haunted Collector" with this reamer as a source of mysterious happenings in our house. But for now the closest thing to a scary clown at our house is my husband.

 

 

I also found this old 1958 Buttermints tin with wooden sewing spools in it. 

  

I don't know much about nesting dolls but I like them and when I come across them really cheap (like for $1) I bring them home.

 

But my biggest weakness (besides Pyrex of course) is vintage cameras.

 

 

 

Hopefully next week's flea market finds will be as much fun as these were. Good luck to all in your vintage hunts.!

 



Pyrex-ing the Flea Market

What a great weekend! Sunshine and hundreds of tables of treasures just waiting to be found. I have been collecting Pyrex for over 15 years and have a pretty extensive collection so whenever I find pieces that I don't already have atleast one of, it makes me very happy. Plus I met a fellow pyrexer in the process. She was out looking for good deals too.  It is so nice to meet people that you share the love of pyrex with, especially since my husband and children don't share the same appreciation of it that I do.
I found these "Friendship" mixing bowls on the way out of the flea market, I didn't see them on the first trip thru the tables and boy was I so glad they caught my eye.  The lady said she had just gotten them out of her car and put them on the table when I saw them. She had them all wrapped so carefully and I knew they were mine as soon as I looked at them............they were perfect...not a scratch!

 

I also came across this "New Holland" casserole for $2, and I love it!

 

 

I also brought home extra pieces that I already have but just could not pass up because they were only $1-2 each and you can never have too much!

 

I am already looking forward to this next weekend and to the next great pyrex treasure that is out there just waiting to come home with me! 

 

Good luck to all and may this weekend be filled with your greatest finds yet!

 

Lisa Jones Allen

That time of year again.....

I am so glad that spring is here and yard sale and flea markets are all abuzz.  Yep, picking, thrifting, it is a sickness......but what a way to go.......pyrex in one hand and a vintage camera in the other. My husband will never understand the attraction of the good ole american yard sale and that my suv just automatically knows to pull over when it sees one.  Last week was not a huge pick but I did find some things that I like.  I have collected lots of silhouettes over the years and I came across these at the flea market. These are old thermometer advertising silhouettes. I love the one with the red, white and blue colors.

                 When was the last time you saw a 4-digit telephone number on an advertising????????

 I also found this little guy, it is a 1966 Bosson's Poodle head, he is a little worse for wear but he was cheap and I brought him home......can't resist those puppy dog eyes....lol...good thing is you don't have to feed him or clean up after him.

 I also came across this old gem a few weeks back..............whew it made my back hurt just thinking about ironing my husband and childrens clothes with it, but one thing is for sure, you wouldn't have messed with a woman who could iron with that baby every day. Makes me thankful for the dewrinkle cycle on my dryer. 

No matter how much I love my antiques, I am thankful for all the new time saving inventions that the years since have given us.  I don't think I would have survived as the essential pioneer wife. But that is why they say necessity is the mother of invention and you do what you have to do.

So I will still go "picking" for my old treasures with an even more thankful heart for my new treasures.

Looking into the eyes of the past......

Gosh, where do the hours and days go?  This year is already down a whole month and spring is approaching fast.......which is great for us yard sale lovers.  Thrift stores are great, but they are all seemingly increasing their prices daily.  I am looking forward to those spring cleaning yard sales where you can negotiate prices and hear some great stories all at the same time. 

Since I haven't posted in a good while, I decided to share some photos of some great old photographs that I have come across over the past several months.  I LOVE pictures!  Sometimes when I come across these, I just can't believe that someone would get rid of these, but I guess there are people who aren't as sentimental (or hoardish) like I am.  I think about who these people were and did they not have any family that wanted these keepsakes or were they accidentally lost in the shuffle some where.  One thing is for sure, they have found a home at my house.


                                      

                                      To me this lady looks like the ideal picture of a grandmother

                                                            This is probably a civil war era tin type

                                                              These 2 are also tin types

             These are B&W proofs of an ENTIRE wedding......I got the entire box from beginning to end.

The look on the bride's face in the mirror........I wonder if her life turned out the way she expected it would or even better than she dreamed.......

As the weather warms up, I will be out and about looking for all things vintage and just maybe I will find some more really great reminders of the past that have been lucky enough to be preserved in a photograph.

Are you ready, Freddy???

Goodness, it has been so busy around here lately that I haven't had time to post. Funny how life just seems to fly by and next thing you know you are looking straight in the face of the holiday season again.  Why didn't Christmas come this fast when I was a little girl??  I am ahead of the game this year, seeing as I have a couple boxes of Christmas stuff already sitting in the living room ready to be put out.............I even told my hubby to look and see the greatness of being AHEAD this year........what I got in return was a Grinch style smile and a head shake of irritation.  That might be because I have failed to mention that those decorations have been sitting in that same spot since I took them down after Christmas last year, but good heavens, I am trying to keep up with 3 sons (ages 21,19,17), a husband (age 44 going on 12), 4 horses, 4 dogs and work a full time job plus am trying to get my own photography business started and still find time to cook, blog, thrift and sleep...........some of the above are done all at the same time it seems.  Plus Christmas usually requires the moving of about 47 boxes to find the Christmas tree and it NEVER fails that I have to do the spider dance a couple times because for some reason they always seem to migrate towards me when I am pulling out decorations.

The other day while thrifting I came across this great old rocker and for me it had a dual appeal..........I loved it because it was vintage and for the fact that I can use it in some of my photos as well and was quite surprised at the price tag of only $15.  Needless to say, it came home with me.  My SUV was full but I always manage to make my treasures fit....where there is a will, there is a way!  My husband says if I am ever in a car wreck that it won't be the actual wreck that kills me, it will be all the "shrapnel" that's flying around that will get me. But I have learned to carry a few empty boxes and bubble wrap, a couple quilts and even a couple tie down straps because if it can't go in it, it most certainly can go on top of it....LOL!  Even as we speak there is a 1950's baby doll bed, a 1960's Christie doll, some assorted vintage glassware, a very old miniature saddle and a big orange enameled pot in the back of my explorer, along with some photo props and some more stuff I am sure I have forgotten that I bought.......all of which were products of very good yard sales.

I also managed to come home the other week from a flea market with 5 more vintage cameras to add to my mounting collection (50 and counting).  I don't care how old or how dusty or how weird they look, I just love these cameras. Someday I hope to have my own mini camera museum, and I am well on my way.

I also got these neat old sewing notions. I have an old singer sewing machine in a wooden case and lots of other vintage sewing stuff like old patterns, buttons, darning eggs, etc..... that this goes perfect with.

Even though I love all my vintage junk as my husband calls it, most of all I love this time of year and I am hoping for good health and a great time with family and friends. 

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! May God bless you with what matters most....peace, joy and love!

There and Back Again

Wow, this weekend was a treat for sure.  I don't get to see my brother and sisters much since they all live out of state and any time you can combine family and thrifting into one location IT IS GREAT.  My husband hates my SUV, so just the trip alone for him is almost agonizing (he says my seats are uncomfortable and it is a 7 hour drive) and the worst part for me is listening to him complain about HIS agony and MY driving for 7 hours and having to pass so many thrift and antique stores and NOT being able to go in them because he will not let me stop.  Henceforth....we should take seperate vacations, but sometimes that just isn't possible.  So Friday evening, we headed north from Georgia to my home state of Tennessee, yep, Music City here we come.  Friday night while we are on the road driving, my sister is looking up the yard sales for the next day.....can you say GPS!   We are so high tech these days!    So with game plan almost in hand, we keep driving and inching our way toward Mom and Dad's house (or as in days gone by we called it HOME), now it is our family's gathering spot for us kids since Mom and Dad are both gone now, but I feel like it will always be HOME to me. Maybe that is because I am the youngest...aka: the baby, the pain, the one who got away with murder, the catastrophe.......but heck they love me, Mom said they have to!

So seven LONG, LONG hours later, 2 hissy fits about WHY can't I just stop for a second and a couple of road rage episodes...he still has road rage even when he isn't driving, we are HOME......it is now approximately 2am (1am TN time and believe you me this one hour makes a difference....especially when you show up at your sisters house at the agreed time of 6:30am and find NO ONE UP, and as you are knocking on the door thinking "why are they not up and ready, come on people we are burning daylight here".......they come to the door with eyes half open and say "I thought you said we were leaving at 6:30 am" and I said "we are, it is 6:30am" and as I look down at my phone, I realize that my phone didn't update time zones and I am still on Georgia time....."oops".  Oh and for future reference, there is a flea market in Bowling Green Kentucky that says they open at 9am (being from Georgia where time is evidentally gauged by yard sale importance not the actual clock, because if they say they open at 8am, then at first light you are fair game!).................but not this flea market, Holy hamhocks batman, when they say 9am, they mean 9am!  Anyway, we are up and at 'em on Saturday morning and off to our first yard sale......the discussion we are having is about how I am going to hide my purchases because when I left, my husband gave me strict orders that "we DO NOT NEED anything else in our house"  First of all, I know I don't need anything, but when it comes to vintage and pyrex......my brain takes a back seat to my pocket book....and I knew that I would be coming home with some sort of pyrex one way or another that is why I packed a couple extra covered picnic baskets and bubble wrap.....what he can't see, I won't have to explain and it is easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission.  First place we stop was the local elementary school's yard sale and I picked up a few odds and ends like a Victor Mug, a couple Avon Sachet bottles and a couple pieces of Prescut glass.  Nothing big, but every penny helped the school.  Same goes on at the next couple places....then we go to a yard sale at a local day care and that is where my pyrex fix was met.....I got these beauties all for one lump sum of $10. 

  My sister also pointed out a case of old Kodak picture slides.  I also have a huge weakness for vintage cameras and photos.  These things were the bomb!!  Slides from 1942-1957 of all sorts of landscapes and tourist attractions that no longer exsist. 

Have no idea what kind of car this is, but it is old.

This one is dated 9-13-42

Slides of Rock City, Silver Springs, Cyprus Gardens, Bok Tower, Ross Allen's Reptile Institute.

 At this point, even if I didn't find anything else, I could go home a happy camper.   But we still had lots of sales to go to on our list and that is exactly what we did.  So a few sales later, we come across this small Pyrex teapot with the paper insert and stove top wire still inside of it and it has never been used.  I already had one of these (not mint condition) but I let my sister have this one because this was her very FIRST pyrex purchase!  I told her that "Resistence is futile" and she might as well join the collective....LOL!        So for future reference we recorded this awesome moment in time. 

I on the other hand opted to buy these cool glasses.....turns out they are 1920's Wellsworth Cyclist glasses....way cool!   All in all, it was a good day....family, pyrex and a new convert!

Adventures Make One Late For Supper...

"We hobbits are plain, quiet creatures. Adventures make one late for dinner." This is a quote from Bilbo Baggins, a character in the book "The Hobbit".  I watched all the Lord of the Rings Movies thus far (and plan to see the new one "The Hobbit" when it comes out)......and wow, what a grand adventure one can find themselves taking, sometimes willingly and sometimes most unexpectedly.  I think that is why I love thrifting so much because of the "grand adventures" it can take you on.  Over the years I have met so many fellow thrifters with such interesting tales and stories of their most unique treasure finds.  There is just something about finding that ONE special piece (for you LOTR fans, it would be called "The Precious") that brings you happiness or a memory from days gone by. My husband thinks that Facebook, texting and blogging is such a waste of time, and on many levels I am sure he is right seeing as it is hard to do dishes and laundry with a computer in your lap, but where else can you talk about your undying love for a piece of colored glass and have 100 other people know exactly the heartpounding excitement that you are expressing in nothing more than a typed message? Where else can you type one word (Pyrex) and have the undivided attention of so many people? or where else can you express the utter heartbreak of breaking that said piece of colored glass and have people all over the United States clutching their hearts and saying "NOOOOO, say it aint so"  or "I feel your pain!" If you want someone to give you REAL.... from the depths of their heart sympathy.... just tell a fellow pyrexer that you just broke your prize #404 Green Dot mixing bowl that took you 2 years to find at a reasonable price and they will soothe your broken heart!!   (R.I.Pieces...........I couldn't bear to take the after picture! It was too painful.)

 Tell your husband the same thing and he will say "Good Lord, you have 27 other bowls, what does it matter?"   Did you hear that???......................that eerie silence just before the storm?........you know the one in the movies where right before the woman snaps and chops her husband into 1200 tiny unrecognizable pieces (just like the green dot bowl)..........Has anyone noticed there are ALOT of those type of shows now a days......I will have to remember that analogy in the future when he comes in after cutting his finger 1/2 off and wanting me to take him to the local hospital for stitches and I can tell him......."what is the big deal, after all you have 9 more just like it." I have tried to raise my boys, ages 20,19 & 17 to respect a woman and her dishes!  Bless their hearts I have dragged them to flea markets since before they could walk....now I have to almost beg them to go with me, but that is because they have girlfriends....God help us all.....and they know that instead of carrying the stuff around I will be sending them back and forth to the car with it, but they always get paid in the end.....after all, a happy mother is worth a whole lot at our house. Don't believe me, just ask Hank our dog, (he was brought back from a trip to the flea market about 8 years ago).......he sees it all, plus he would side with me considering I feed him all the scraps that come out of the stuff I cook in all those pyrex bowls.

 I think thrifters can just tell another thrifter when they see one......sort of like a 6th sense, you can just see pyrex in their soul from a mile away.....Just this week at work, there was a lady buying tractor parts and I just happened to be up front to try to get the demon out of the printer and make it work for the parts guys and she looks at me and says "You may think this is strange, but do you know any good thrift stores around here?"   I just laughed and said "Honey, you have come to the right person! What are you looking for? I know where every one is located on a 50 mile radius from here."  We continued to talk and NO thrifter conversation would be complete without mentioning some sort of Pyrex dishes that we are currently looking for or the ones that slipped away or the DREADED ones with the ungodly price tags!   No matter our different locations, occupations and determinations, we thrifters all have the same Vintage heart and live for the thrill of the hunt.

Maybe this piece is why I think of Bilbo Baggins every time I go to the flea market for my newest adventure, and it never hurts to be late for Supper every now and again. 

A cup of Joe and some pyrex...

I have to admit that there are few things (other than my family) that has made me feel truly happy in life. I do not know what draws me to vintage items and pyrex, but it is a strong pull. I love all the colorful pyrex bowls that I have collected over the years but I also like the more unique pieces as well.  I will never forget when I laid hold of these coffee pots at the flea market and for less than the gas I put in my car that day to get there.

I just love the wooden handle! 

I also found this pyrex measuring cup with the beater lid and it has been a nice addition to my kitchen as well.

Since we are all among pyrex addicts friends here, I will be the first to come clean and admit that sometimes I only cook just so I can play with my pyrex dishes.  Maybe that is what draws me to them, it brings out the inner child!  My husband says that for him my pyrex brings out the Middle Age spread. Either way, we are both happy and fulfilled in the end.

Here's to many more years of collecting and playing :)))

Pyrex Cataloging....page 2

Oh my goodness, it is hard to believe what you can forget about once you put them in a cabinet.  I pulled out these puppies and rewashed and then carefully put them back in their resting places.

                                      I love it when I find a unique pattern like this cassarole dish.

                 Not sure what this little guy was used for, but he is marked Pyrex and is cute as a button.

    And there is nothing sweeter than finding pyrex in the original unopened box, I opened this box just to    look at it and make sure nothing was broken..........the dishes inside are gorgeous! Oh and the original price on the side of the box was $5.95.  I paid $5 for it at a yard sale.