DISHES, DIGITAL CAMERAS AND HOMEMAKING TIPS

ONCE IN THE TRANQUILITY OF THE DINING ROOM, CARRIE FOUND MISS WINFIELD BUSILY UNPACKING DISHES AND WIPING THEM OFF. SOME OF THE OTHER GIRLS WERE HELPING HER. "OH, GOOD, CARRIE! YOUR'RE HERE! WE NEED YOU TO TELL US WHERE THE DISHES SHOULD BE PLACED IN THE CABINET," MISS WINFIELD SAID. "YOU DO KNOW HOW YOUR MOTHER HAD THESE ARRANGED, DON'T YOU?" from "The Fields of May"

On this sunny, but cold January day, I decided to quit putting off the inevitable. My china cabinets needed a thorough cleaning. This is a job I always dread. This curved glass cabinet was given to me by a friend and has become a valuable piece of my dining room furniture for the last 20 years, since I've rarely met a dish I didn't like!!!

Today, as usual, I started the cleaning by emptying the shelves one at a time. I wash the dishes, dust the shelf, and clean the glass inside and out. However, it's so full of dishes that in order not to forget which go where, I replace each shelf before emptying another. Still, each time I face the dilemma of getting them back exactly as they were. Finally today after about the third shelf, it dawned on me to use my digital camera to photograph the shelf and then use the picturea as a replacement guide! Voila! A new homemaking tip: USE YOUR DIGITAL CAMERA TO PHOTOGRAPH A SHELF OF DISHES!

CHINA CABINET TOUR:

This lovely dish is a modern carnival glass bowl. I have used it for really nice late summer flower arrangements. The vivid colors of marigolds, cosmos, lavendar, and zinnia really bring out the bowl's rainbow of color.

 An old platter with a delicate center bouquet and gold floral filigree border.





I love this interestingly shaped bowl/platter given to me last Christmas by my mother-in-law.

St. Paul's Reformed Church of Colon. I almost missed getting this nice commemorative photo plate. Not accustomed to spending more than $2/item at auctions, I let this slip through my fingers a few years ago at a sale. My husband was at the other end of the auction trying to purchase an antique frame for me. He requested I get this plate. I was so ashamed when I realized what he paid to "secure" the frame for me while I let the plate go in a stack for $3 or so. (I tend toward cheapness!) I approached the fella who bought the stack of dishes in which the plate was grouped and asked if he'd sell it to me. He said I could have it for free! Whew!! My husband wanted this because the old church is right across from the one we pastored. It is out in the country between Colon and Burr Oak and is no longer used except once a year for a reunion service. He displayed the plate on the shelf in his office at the church for years.

While I was cleaning, I decided to reconstruct a cake plate (wedding gift) that had lost its pedestal years ago. Thankfully I had saved both pieces. I got out my trusty glue that I discovered by way of my daughter-in-law and her cake plate crafts last year. Finally fixed after so many years! Hooray! Now my mom will work on repairing the tea cup I dropped after this whole cleaning job was done. It was "The Little Mother" teacup and saucer, one of a matching pair that sits on top of the cabinet. It was already broken, so when it slipped from my hands as I dusted, it shattered instantly.

Here's the silver and gold shelf minus some of the teapots, already in the dishwater. This is probably my favorite shelf as it sparkles when everything is in place. I keep my best teapot on this shelf with a 25th anniversary plate and salt and pepper shakers, crystal vases, and candle holders, and a gold-edged deviled egg plate.

Next week.....this cupboard gets cleaned! My husband's grandfather made this and we inherited it since my husband was the first grandchild. I don't know what I'd do without it, but it is HUGE and I have it filled to capacity. Probably a two to three day job instead of a few hours. DEFINITELY PHOTOGRAPHING THE SHELVES BEFORE REMOVING DISHES IN THIS ONE! Thanks for visiting my china cabinet. I'll post more when the other one gets cleaned. In it I keep my beloved transferware collection. Blessings, LORI

NEEDLEWORK AROUND MY HOME

I couldn't wait to do a post and show off my "new look." I hope you like the blog background!
This first picture is the lace scarf in progress. I decided to use the "Colorado Cotton Candy" yarn that I spun in the stripes between the lace panels of Icelandic. The pattern is from a book I got for Christmas. Very subtle color variations. The colors reminded me of my dining room.....and so......

Next are two pictures of a set of four--embroideries that I did a few years ago. Very delicate colors and tiny, tiny stitches. I really like these. The kit was given to me by a friend and all four hang in our dining room by the front door.

This next embroidery is larger and hangs between the set of four. It took a long, long time to complete. I got it clearance for about $5 and it was a kit too. The year I completed it, I framed it about an hour before the entries closed at our county fair. I took it in and won the Judge's Choice ribbon that year--a great honor since there is only one Judge's Choice for the entire needlework building--quilts and everything. They told me it was a very close race between this and another item. I love this, but am not sure it deserved the prize against the other lovely things that were there that year. I wish I was a better photographer and could capture the tiny details for you to see. There is candlewick lace design between each motif and some of the flowers have an almost three-dimensional look.

I did this next embroidery when I was about 13. My aunt and uncle gave me this kit for my birthday and I enjoyed it so much. It needs to be reframed, but $$$ prevent me from undertaking the professional process it deserves. I have many other items waiting for framing as well.

Some antique plates that adorn my dining room wall on one side of my big china cabinet. These hang right near the next embroidery. The bottom one is from a very old family set. I love transferware.

A sampler (kit) that I made as a young girl and finished after years of neglect. I LOVE this one. It reads, "Long Life Sampler" "Be cheerful, thankful, loving true. A brighter day will dawn for you. Of rest and labor take your share, eat simple food and breathe pure air." Good advice!

The Long Life sampler with more antique plates surrounding it. The bottom framed item is an ancient church symbol depicting Christ, the suffering servant--the lamb in the thorns. When I first saw this symbol as an outline on the Mennonite hymnal, I knew I had to try to execute the design in bobbin lace. I enlarged the shape and made a pattern, completing the lacework in free form, no pattern.

So, there's a sampling of my samplers and some other needlework! I guess you can tell how old I am since the craze for samplers was kind of a 70's trend with the Bi-centennial celebration of our nation. I really did a lot of them in those days, many of which were given away or sold. I have never lost my appetite for them and now have several more kits in my sewing room closet--I mean like a LOT of them! Blessings, LORI