Color in my Kitchen - 1958 Ranch

The older my kitchen gets, the more I love it.

Hubby harvested from the garden.

That thrifted Krenit bowl came in handy!

Cleaning and Collections

Having open shelving means plenty of dust.  Today I decided to tackle a few areas and change up my glass displays.

One of my most loved collections.  Vintage Hocking Glass Company refrigerator dishes.

Glasbake made such a variety of beautiful patterns.  I limit myself to the loaf pans as a stack doesn't take up a lot of room.

Some of my Vintage Pyrex...

While I was cleaning my kitchen the morning sun lit up my shelf and I couldn't refrain from capturing the moment. (Glasbake, McKee, Fire King)

Hubby and I both love those darling vintage nursery planters.  I moved them from the top of my antique closet to the shelf I put my Pyrex on.

Everything is clean now and I'm happy!

Vintage Dishes!

I gave my kitchen a good cleaning a few days ago and was in the mood to change up my vintage glass display. Needed something a little less visually busy so I went for sorting by color. Here is the orange shelf.  I thrifted these made in occupied Japan salt and pepper shakers recently. They are so nicely done and since I don't have any roosters or chickens in my kitsch collection, I found these to be a wonderful example to add to it.

A view of the entire shelf.

I got in some trading over the last few months.  I'm very selective anymore. I have a lot of glass.  I've resorted to selling some.

The day I found the the chicken and rooster salt and pepper shakers, I also received a trade in the mail and an  Hocking Glass carafe I stumbled across on line.  I generally don't shop on line, but it just so happened that I was a little bored one evening and did a little window shopping.

I have never run into a Bartlett Collins cookie jar at the thrifts until recently, two in less than a week. Fortunately they are two different sizes.  One of the big ones is enough--it is huge! Some other vintage thrift store finds...

Time for some Finds!

We've been going out, finding some treasures and some practical things.  My most exciting piece is probably the 9.5" minty Cathrineholm bowl I got for a great price.  Hubby has been working on his tiki collection. Most Pyrex is for my trade list or reselling at a fair price to locals--gives me an excuse to continue to pick it up! But I still leave A LOT behind!

Busy Time! -- A Post in Pictures

As always, I've kept myself busy!  Hubby had a mini vacation between terms and wanted to mindlessly go thrifting.  Did I say no?  Of course not!  I also tended to the garden and tried to feed us.

I don't need to start any new collections, but I ran into 3 of these Glasbake loaf pans in one week.  They were cheap, I couldn't resist.

I traded away my Blue Tulip Pyrex dish for a box full of broken Pyrex to make jewelry with. Then I missed it.  Met up with a local and traded for one.  I also found the carafe that goes to my Hocking Glass collection on ebay.  She's beautiful

Americana Star flatware is one I've been piecing together.  I found a great deal for a set new in box on line.  This is our everyday flatware that goes with our atomic pottery dishes.  Traded for another piece that I let go and then had regrets about. Found a Desert Dawn 232 pan and hubby insisted on the Happy Apple.

This was one day of thrifting.  

Another day of thrifting, I swear I heard the angels sing when I picked up the space saver lid!  I have pretty good luck finding them.

Unmarked opal bowls, super cute donkey bank and a chenille bathroom set for my friend.

Fun stuff on this day.  The shell wall pocket is Leyden Allen Arts out of California.  I hung it on the wall with my Norcrest surfing mermaids and they look great together.   The lidded mosaic container is West Germany and it is tin.  Harmony House sugar bowl.

I've been looking for just the right things for my bedroom that I'm decorating in a '50 Asian theme.  I couldn't resist this Danbury Mint parakeet piece.  It is so life like.  

This Napco Queen of Hearts planter was a super find--she's so cute.  The frog planter has holes for hanging.  Fire King planter is perfect to hold plastic storage container Pyrex lids in my kitchen drawer.  And though the blue flower Glasbake isn't a spectacular piece, it's a shape and size is different from all my other bakeware and I've already needed to use it.

Picked up lots of Pyrex storage containers which is great, love to organize my kitchen.  Pyrex for my trade pile and the space saver was a surprise find.  Finally found my first Texas Ware bowl, not like I need any, but I've seen people pick them up right in front of me before.  This one is yellow which really appeals to me.  Now that I have one, I can rest! Hubby insisted on the (minty) Fire King Kimberly bowls.  And he's got a new huge bling ring!  haha!  My weakness for atomic pottery dishes knows no end, some pieces of Taylor Smith Taylor in the Cathay pattern.

I have the large 444 Green Ivy Pyrex bowl and have secretly been wanting the small 441 to complete the chip and dip set.  I could have traded for one several times, but shipping is not cheap in trading and I resisted.  Finally picked one up for $1.79.  

A couple Hazel Atlas bowls. The little white one could have possibly been painted at one time.  Another candle holder for my collection.

Hubby found these vintage hand painted Japanese tiles which I hung in the bedroom.  I have a set of four seasons I found years ago and also have large lotus and quail ones.  Love these.  There was Pyrex out there and the old chartreuse AT&T TrimLine phone works perfectly in our Danish modern den.  The Federal flower pieces are from a trade.  I love trading, I get such awesome things that way.

Then there were lots of vintage dishes in action.  Smoothies in Anchor Hocking glasses.

Caprese salad...

Strawberries and snowpeas from the garden...

....followed by strawberries and freshly whipped chocolate whipped cream.

Abundance of garden greens.

I have all but the opal 231, opals are one of my favorites in Pyrex dishes.

Plenty strawberries from the garden--Hazel Atlas Moderntone sherbet cups.

Another experimental grain free bread recipe and it came out great!

Sliced and on a Franciscan Oasis plate.

I have plans to do a lot of interior painting in the coming weeks.  So thrifting is going to have to take a back seat.  I think I've done enough thrifting just in the last week alone, so I am ready for a break!  

Hocking Refrigerator Dishes

I was contacted by a fellow collector and trader that showed me a piece of the ribbed glass I collect and we traded.  A couple days later I found another piece at the thrift store.   I didn't have all my pieces currently displayed, so today I brought them into the kitchen.

Little Time For New Finds (but lots going on)

I have a long laundry list of things I'm trying to get done, so I haven't been hunting for goodies much. But I enjoy all the wonderful vintage things I already have.  Here are some pictures.

My collection of 8" Cathrineholm bowls.  I received the blue one in a trade recently.

I enjoy rearranging my bowls every so often.

I finally got one last plate to complete my Cathrineholm display on the family room wall.  Needs a little tweaking.

I decided to give my laundry room a little face lift.  I replaced the Flor tiles with matching red ones like I have in the kitchen.  I also purchased red contact paper from a thrift and just the right patterned roll off Etsy to cover  pups food container and my soap nuts tin.

Plenty of cooking and baking has been going on...

New low starch bread recipes and home made broth fills the freezer.

Experimental low starch bread turned out to be a winner.

Chicken curry with shredded zucchini instead of rice actually got a thumbs up from hubby.

And lemon poppy seed muffin recipe I adapted from the tahini bread recipe I've been making turned out yummy.

The chocolate banana flavored ones for hubby were equally as tasty.

Soups seem to be on our menu a lot.

And lettuce is flourishing in our garden providing us with an endless supply.

I planted a succulent into the adorable Milky the Cow planter.

Found a rustic looking planter to put on my vintage stand,  and I divided my huge snake plant. Found the California pottery bull bank at a thrift.

I finished my orange Pyrex Butterprint nesting bowl set. It's the only full Pyrex bowl set I decided to keep.  I've donated a lot of Pyrex back to charity and did a give away to a dozen people in my Pyrex trading group.

Enjoyed flowers I got for mother's day...

While I was cleaning out some kitsch I couldn't help but snap a picture of these darling shakers along with colorful Pyrex.

And I also got a few trades in.

I've also planted the new Japanese style garden we had constructed in our front yard.  I'm getting close to finished installing the drip system.  It's a busy time, but then again, I have trouble remaining idle.