Analise's Button Challenge

I was invited to take part in Analise's Button Challenge, so…here's some of my favorite buttons! I like bright, happy vintage buttons. They look like candy!

I have to admit I'm beginning to question my sanity. I spent way too much time sorting and "posing" my buttons for this challenge. But, it's so much fun! How could I resist.

The Farm House

Imagine going to your great-grandparents home, abandoned in the early '40s, but (almost) just as it was when they left… full of furniture and household items and with food still in the cupboards! My mom got to do just that in the early '70s.

My great-great grandparents (Clother Allen and Mary Susan C00k) moved into this house in Lowell, Nebraska in 1894 and 4 of their 5 children were born here including my great-grandfather (Allen Cook).

Old age made it difficult for Clother and Mary Susan to live in the farmhouse during the winter and summer months so they stayed with family, often my great-grandparents. When my great-grandparents moved to California in 1939, Clother and Mary Susan came to stay with them. Mary Susan died and Clother was advised not to travel due to poor health. Consequently he spent the remainder of his life with my great-grandparents in California, never returning to the farmhouse in Nebraska.

A tenant farmer living in a neighboring house kept an eye on the house and it was never broken into or vandalized. Great-grandfather always intended to move back to his boyhood home one day so he left it as it was. Finally, in the early '70s after the death of my great-grandmother, Great-grandfather re-married. He took his new bride to the farmhouse and suggested that they live there. By then the place was pretty ramshackle and very primitive so of course she wasn't crazy about the idea. At that point my great-grandfather asked my grandpa to clean it out and tear it down. My parents were just married and helped with the clean up.

I grew up with many items from the farmhouse decorating our home. My parents still talk about all the fun things they have from there and regret all the things they chose to get rid of either because they didn't know any better or because they didn't have room in their tiny apartment.

On Easter, my grandpa gave me my own memento from the farmhouse. It's a croquet box that my grandpa built little shelves into. On the front is the original shipping label from Montgomery Ward. It bears my great-great grandfather's name and the date, 1914. The quilt in the picture below is also from the farmhouse. It was passed down to me by my mom a few years ago.

I've always enjoyed the idea of being able to walk into an old house, full of great stuff and being able to take almost anything I wanted. Wouldn't that be fun? But after talking about the farmhouse with my grandparents, I see everything that came from the farmhouse as more than just cool old stuff. It's a way of connecting to the stories from my family's history. I will treasure the things that I have that came from this house and the stories that go with them.

Faux Bois Fun

Faux Bois Fun, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

I'm loving the Faux Bois trend. I saw some really cool vintage yellow plates with a brown faux bois pattern at the antique store the other day. Kind of regret not getting them but they were a little expensive. Maybe I'll go back and look at them again after payday. Hopefully they are still there! They inspired the "faux bois" cookies I made last weekend. Check them out at Sugar & Meringue.

Also, check out the cool old building this light fixture came from in Aorta's flickr photos. I'm always curious about what is in the upper levels of old downtown buildings. Maybe I should become a building inspector or something so I can do some snooping!

Happy St. Patricks Day!

Happy St. Patricks Day!, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

Just some fun green things I found on flickr.

I have a couple of projects almost ready to show you. Hopefully I'll get them posted in the next couple of days.

Grandpa's Birthday

Grandpa in the Navy, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

Yesterday was my Grandpa's 82nd birthday. He joined the Navy towards the end of WWII and served as a medic in Guam. Considering it's been about 60 years since this picture was taken, I have to say, he hasn't changed that much!

Grandpa took us all out for dinner last night. Then, we went to my mom's house and visited about the "good old days".

Otherwise, I spent most of the weekend baking and decorating cookies. I've detailed all of my baking adventures at Sugar and Meringue. Most of my creative energy has been devoted to cookie design lately, so I've been doing a lot more posting there.

Mid-century Momma, BFFs & the Undead David Copperfield

Emalee,
To a terrific friend that I've had since preschool and I know for many years more. Good luck with cruise directing, Tim and all your years at NHS. Let's party and have a great time!
Your twin friend,
Aimee ('86)

Em,
To my "best buddy" remember when we used to call each other that? –I'll never forget the song. We've been through some really wild and crazy and sometimes really stupid times together! But I've loved every minute of it! We'll have to go "camping" again sometime but we'll have to watch out for the coyotes HA!
Best of luck always,
Love,
Amy

My friend, Amy celebrated her birthday on the 27th so to honor her, I dug out our old school pictures. The photo is of us in preschool and the quotes are what she wrote to me on the back of her 7th grade and senior pictures. In seventh grade we decided to spell our names differently. We also had our own secret codes so that we could pass notes in class and if anyone read them they would have no idea what/who we were talking about. We sort of looked alike and tended to dress the same. After a week of summer camp we found out that people thought we were twins. They were surprised to find out that we're not even related! Ohhhh… how funny to think of what weirdos we were in junior high, but really… who wasn't wierd back then? I hope Amy doesn't kill me when she reads this!

Friday, we had four couples over for "game night". This was the third time we've gotten together for games and it was so much fun (as always). When we played the TV trivia game, one of the guys made up a question about what killed David Copperfield and even though none of us could remember hearing anything about David Copperfield dying, we totally fell for it!

My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it.

–Mark Twain

Yesterday was my mom's birthday. She is now officially a "senior citizen" . Wow! "Senior citizens" seem pretty young to me these days. That must mean I'm getting old or something! My mom and my grandparents laugh at my love of mid-century modern decor. Guess it is funny that I love stuff that was "in" when my parents were born.
We had mom and dad and my grandpa and grandma over for supper last night to celebrate mom's birthday. It was a gorgeous day so we grilled some steaks. Mom requested pudding poke cake for dessert. YUM! (shhhh…don't tell my kids I had a leftover piece for breakfast this morning!)