Go Rest High On That Mountain

(This photo was taken by my Dad, and may not be borrowed or pinned.)

 He is gone.

The kind and gentle man that I looked up to all my life.

Mountaineer, educator, leader, man of faith. 

Daddy.

"Go rest high on that mountain."

Lacecap

Lacecap hydrangeas.

These cool blue beauties grow in my Mama's yard.

I'd love to grow some. But I'm not sure if I have enough shade. 

They would probably turn pink in my yard because the soil is so different here.

Have any of you midwest gardeners had success with these?

Iris Bowl

 I found this 9.5 inch "Iris" depression glass bowl at a garage sale the other day.

They were asking next-to-nothing for it, so it came home with me.

I love the pattern.  

The flowers really stand out  beautifully against the herringbone striped background.

(It is often referred to as Iris-Herringbone.)

 The bowl matches my Iris pitcher,  which I've had for years
and have shown in previous blog posts.

"Iris" was made by the Jeannette Glass Company (Pennsylvania)

 starting in 1928 and re-issued in 1969.

A few pieces were made in green and pink, but most were in crystal and iridescent-amber.

I know some of you gals are glass collectors, too.

And I'd love to learn more about this pattern from you.

Rustic Nectarine Tart

Late summer is nectarine time of year!

 I've been munching on these beauties for breakfast

ever since I brought them home from the farmers market.

This afternoon I decided to use up the rest in a rustic tart.

Rustic Nectarine Tart

Make dough for one crust pie. 

You may use any pie crust recipe you like. (My crust recipe can be found here.)

Roll out onto floured surface and transfer to ungreased baking sheet. 

Slice 5 or 6 nectarines and any additional fruit into a bowl  (I added blueberries today.) 

Add some lemon zest and the juice from 1/2 of a lemon.  

Add approximately 1/2 cup of sugar.

Sprinkle in a wee bit of cornstarch to help thicken the juices as it bakes.

Give it a stir.

Pour fruit filling into the center of crust and turn up the edges.

Bake in 425 oven for about 35 minutes. 

My crust cracked a bit and some of the juice oozed out onto the pan as it was baking.

What a lovely mess that was. 

But it tasted oh so yummy!

Who wants a slice?  I've got ice-cream in the freezer to go with it.

Janie, Sue and Nancy

 Let me introduce Janie, Sue and Nancy.

They wanted to wear their school clothes today

because the kids in our neighborhood headed back to school this week.

See all the tiny holes in the clothes? 

Their garments lace on with colorful strings instead of attaching with tabs.

For all you Mom's and Preschool Teachers out there:
Lacing is a great way to help children practice hand-eye coordination
and improve their fine motor skills.

"Paper Dolls With Lace On Costumes" was published by Saalfield in 1955.

I'll share more paperdolls next week, so be sure to check back.

And be sure to check out my paper doll page,
at the top of my blog, under the header.

Linking to  Vintage Thingie Thursday, at The Colorado Lady.

Hallmark

This weekend Mr. Garden and I visited Hallmark.

Yes,  the "When you care enough to send the very best" card company. 

The tv movie "Hall of Fame" folks.

There was a huge display of favorite Keepsake ornaments
and information about the artists who designed them.

We took our time browsing the Timeline.
The exhibit not only featured cards, but important news headlines from each decade, too.

It was fun to  remember where we were during those times.

Some doll cards, like the ones that I collect, by Vivian Trillow Smith.

See that pansy card?  More about that later in this post.

Awww, it's Betsey Clark!

Salvador Dali.   Ike!    How about those paper dresses?

There's Maxine.  Marjolein Bastin was one of my favorites! 

Do you remember any of this stuff?

The Christmas tree gallery was really amazing!

It became a tradition for the employees to design a tree each Christmas

which was then presented to Mr. J.C. Hall, founder of the company. 

Here are 5 of the 17 trees that were in the gallery.

The Twelve Days of Christmas Tree  1969

The Shadow Box Carousel Tree (inspired by a trip to Mexico)  1972

The Bread Dough Ornament Tree   1974 

The Folk Art Tree  1968

The Bob Schneeberg Tree  (amazing collage)  1979

This beautiful Pansy card, which had been in print for 70 years,  

was selected by the Post Office to be the Love Stamp 2010.

We saw artwork from famous artists who contributed designs for cards:

  Norman Rockwell, Grandma Moses, 

Winston Churchill (yes the Prime Minister of England),  and Saul Steinberg. 

We watched the press at work. 

And we oohed and ahhed at how fast a machine could 

whip a few feet of ribbon into a pretty little bow.
The mural at the entrance was gorgeous! (I couldn't get a decent picture.)

We truly enjoyed our time here, and recommend it to you if you ever visit.

(I apologize for the glare in the pictures.  Most things were behind glass.)

PS- The Hall family continues to play a very active and caring roll in the community.
Kansas City would not be the same without their generosity.

Three Thank You's.

Look at the sweet surprise I received in the mail the other day! 

Lady Linda wrote to tell me she had found something that needed to come to my house. 

Oh, I do think she was right!

She's the cutest little blue and white pottery doll 

wearing a headscarf and carrying a basket of berries.

The stamp underneath says she was made in the USSR.

She is so similar to the Polish cheese ladies I collect.

She looks perfectly happy here with her "cousins"from across the border.

Thank you, Linda!

I love her!

I'm making pretty good progress with my Giant Granny afghan.

After that first disastrous attempt, I read all your suggestions and started over. 

I ditched two yarn colors, loosened my tension and added an extra chain to the corners.

I am still getting a bit of a twist,  so it's not perfectly square.

But it's not nearly as wonky as before.

I'm on row twenty-something and I like the way it looks.

Thank you so much for all your help!

And last, but not least....
Do you know what these two words say?

No?  Me neither.

Which is why I am pleading with you to
please please please turn "Word Verification" off.
It's so hard to figure out what the letters are.  I type it wrong almost all the time.
It's a huge source of frustration for anyone who wants to leave a comment for you.
I do think it's a good idea to use "Comment Moderation" instead,
and change your blog settings to accept comments from "Registered Users" only.
For a really good explanation about how to turn  "Word Verification" off
and "Comment Moderation" on,  please visit this post over at Run Around Ranch.
Thank you for helping to make Blogville a more pleasant place for all of us.

Sunflower Fields

The sunflowers are in bloom!
And I adore sunflowers.

 So, I decided that today was a good day 

to go traipse around in the dirt

 and stand in a whole field full of sunflowers.

Almost every bug and bee in this state 

decided today was a good day for that, too.

We met in the field.  

And a few of them tried to hitch a ride home with me.  

But I said "No!".

The biggest sunflowers were taller than me,  

a couple of days past their prime bloom,  

and beginning to bow their heads.

The smaller ones were just beginning to pop open.

I picked a few, 

paid my money at the field box 

and brought them home.

 I think they look very happy sitting here

 next to the crewel sunflowers made by my Mama.

They sure make me smile. 

Dolls Of The Nations

The "Dolls of the Nations" from Hallmark,

 were illustrated by Vivan "Viv" Trillow Smith.

She's the same gal who did the Land of Make Believe dolls I shared last week

and the Little Women dolls from an older post.

Look closely.   Hawaii and Alaska are represented.

These cards were made in 1948.  Alaska and Hawaii did not gain statehood until 1959. 

 The 16 dolls included in this collection are:

Sing Toy of China

Maria from Mexico

Antoinette of France

Rita from Brazil

Katrinka of Holland

John, a Royal Canadian Mountie

Cowboy Joe

Ann of England

Kathleen of Ireland

Tautuk of Alaska

Christina of Sweden

Leilani of Hawaii

Monty of Australia

Barbel of Switzerland

Sandy of Scotland

Kusum of India

Hallmark created an album to keep the dolls safe

and to encourage children to collect them all.

The little girl on the cover is Luanna Patton,  

 star of Disney's "So Dear To My Heart".

Stop by again next week for more paperdolls.

Wonky Granny Square! Send Help!

I need help from you gals who know how to crochet. 

 I have tried multiple times to teach myself to crochet. Without much luck.

But I really want to make a Giant Granny.

Reading crochet pattern illustrations is like Greek to me.

And I barely know the names of the stitches.

But after watching eight really bad crochet instruction you-tubes, and finally one good one, 

 I think I kinda-sorta-maybe got the hang of making a loop, changing yarns, 

turning corners and "three double-crochet in the gap".

Now I am on row #15 and my edges are wonky and this square won't lay flat.

What on earth am I doing wrong now?

Help!

(I need more work on choosing color combinations, too. But a girl has to start somewhere.)

* * *

PS- for those who are trying to help me figure this out, this is what I am currently doing:

For the sides- three  double crochets and chain one

For the corners- three double crochets, chain two to turn the corner and
three more double crochets in the same corner.

 To go up to the next row- I pull through (slip stitch) in my new color of yarn and then chain two more
to make a chain three and that becomes the first section of the three double crochets on that row.

My sides are larger than the middle. And it seems twisted.
The corners don't usually seem tight to me, although I do notice in the photo it looks like it in the top left corner. 

* * * *
Update:
Someone suggested that I try turning the work from back to front between each row.
And that seems to have solved my problem.
Thank you so much!!