Pink Saturday... Pink Junkin' too...

While junkin' with Candy earlier in the week... I posted about this pretty little Fenton Sherbet that I found at Twice Blessed in San Marcos...

but of course... in the past couple of weeks... I've found a few other pink treasures... and I've been saving them to share with you at Miss Beverly's Pink Saturday... when you leave French Lique, visit Beverly for more Pink Saturday!

How about this cute little framed picture of a pretty pink shoe from Goodwill...

or this fabulous find... pretty pink wine glasses... after I got them home and washed them... I noticed there was a word embossed on the bottom of the glass... hummmm what's that say... why yes! it says... FRANCE! Now that's the kind of surprize I really like! Thank you Salvation Army Store!

and on a dusty bottom shelf at the Silver Center Thrift Shop in Seguin... I found this pretty plate (cabbage leaf design) and bowl... washed it... dried it... and then... Holy-smokey! Made in Italy! How sweet is that! Pink and Italian! Some sweet little junkin' finds... total bill... less than $10. (including the Fenton sherbet!) Pink from around the world... We got some mighty good junkin' places down here in French Lique!

Junkin Fever... but I think I'll live...

Yes, I have a real job... fortunately I'm on commission, so that leaves me with plenty of time to work in a little junkin' with my favorite junkin' buddy, Candy. I had a couple of appointments in San Marcos today, so I called Candy and we met at our favorite San Marcos thrift store, Twice Blessed.

Every time I'm with Candy, I get Junkin' fever... but it's a good thing!

and after some serious junkin'... we went here for lunch..

it's a church, built in 1901, and lovingly restored. Now, The Price Center, is a Tea Room...

After a brief tour by our hostess and guide, Marilyn, we sat down by french doors to dine on delicious strawberry lemonade... gosh it was refreshing! (it was 100-degrees in south Texas today!)

and this delicious plate lunch of chicken salad, fresh veggies, fruit, crackers and banana bread... oh.. and we had a slice of lemon meringue pie too, but I forgot to take a photo before we ate it all gone! Just take my word for it... the slice of pie was as beautiful, as it was delicious!

and now... the treasures...
this is a little vintage Fenton sherbet... I love the colors! ($4.95)

and two glass (crystal?) candle sticks... $1.78...

Candy and I parted after lunch... me to appointments, she... more junkin' in Kyle, Texas...
but on my way home... I drove by Beverly's Glory B's and saw this...
a tea cart that perfectly matches my newly painted porch furniture... I don't have to do a thing... $29!

and this.. an ornate but rustic lawn chair... which I have big plans for...

isn't it fabulous! and yes, with the help of Beverly and Renee (Renee's part of
Glory B's is featured in my header photo... yes, she's the violin case lady), I was able to fit both pieces into my little sports car... don't ask me how we did it... but we did it!

Then the coolest thing happened... Beverly told me that she has had so many people come in to her little shop mentioning they had read about her on my blog. She said she has been so busy, she just couldn't believe it! She gave me a great big hug and said "Thank you so much Dixie!... we really appreciate it!"

Well Glory Be! Ya just never know who's reading your blog down here in French Lique!

Second Time Around... and no worse for the wear...

I frequently buy things while junking, that evoke some kind of memory from childhood... thus my love of pink and green depression glass.

So, when thrifting one day, I found a chipped pink dogwood teacup for 50-cents... I just couldn't leave it there... but what to do with it? Then I read this on Spencer's Bellamere Cottage Blog... Easy-Peasey Candlestick Tutorial.

I changed it up just a bit... I had an old Home Interiors candlestick but it had a brass base and brass top with a brass candle holder. I've never much liked brass, so I've never really used this candlestick. I found that it was all screwed together with a central post, so I took it apart. I replaced the bottom with an old vintage glass chandelier bobeche (turned upside down) and then painted the brass top drip tray, cottage white. I glued my chipped pink depression cup with epoxy to the drip tray... added a vintage prism and a pretty creamy satin bow... and voila'!

and just for you Keetha... with candle light...

So, second and maybe even third or forth time around... everything purchased on the cheap at thrift stores... and now I have a very pretty and feminine teacup candle holder... Thanks to Spencer for her easy-peasey directions and idea...

Everything old is new again down here in French Lique...

and now jump over to visit Diane for a Second Time Around to see more vintage treasures found...

Sunday Favorites... Revisiting my 100th Post Celebration...Sorta

Spencer at Bellmere Cottage way up in the Northwest, is celebrating her 100th post with a beautiful pink giveaway... gosh I hope I win!

In celebration of her 100th post, I'm reposting my 100th post...(originally posted 1/14/09) people DO celebrate in different ways don't they!

Then, after you visit Spencer, visit Chari and her Sunday Favorites to see what everybodys thinking about revisiting this beautiful, sunny, summer day!

So here ya go... Dixie revisiting her 100th post...

(sorry about the cigarette; the photo was too irresistible not to use!)
I'm not sure about all this celebration for the 100th post thing... so I just thought I'd go ahead and get it over with... and here's what I'm thinking about...
I like to write therefore I blog...

just in case someone, somewhere might be interested in listening to me...

and let's face it... it's pretty anonymous... both from the poster and the reader point of view...

I have no idea if what I write has any meaning to anyone else... (and I highly doubt that the world awaits my insights...) But sometimes when I write something, I make myself laugh a little, so I hope it has the same effect on you...
I've decided to skip the celebration of a 100th post. Instead I thought I'd just say "thank you" for stopping by my blog every once in a while; for reading, and then taking the time to leave a comment or two... YOU are Unique and Special... to me.
It takes courage on the part of the writer/poster... and sometimes on the part of the commenter, to put words out and hope that someone will receive them.
Blessings to all... Have a Blissful Day. Sending you each a little sunshine from down here in French Lique...

Really Good Junk ...New Blog Roll

I love junk... and going Junkin' with friends... and just as much as going... I love reading about and seeing the treasures that you can find while Junkin. So, in honor of that love I decided to start a blog list with only blogs about Junkin', but I'm going to need YOUR HELP!

If you'd like your blog added to the list... leave a message for me here... If you want your favorite Junkin Blog listed, leave that info too. You can also email me by going to my profile page and clicking on the link. Now... really-true junkin' blogs on this role... If you're not a Junkin Blog, then I'll leave you on my regular Blog Roll...

this pretty junkin' photo from my junkin trip with Candy earlier in the month. found at "Glory Bee"...

I've got quite a few of your blogs listed on the right that will migrate to the new blog roll on the left... and some may be listed twice.

Thanks for your help! Blessings from down here in French Lique...

Blue Monday... a Blue Moon 40-Years Ago Today...

Please visit Miss Smiling Sally's Blog for more Blue Monday... this Monday and every Monday! Thanks Sally... now hosting from Tampa, Florida...
Sally, thanks for being such a gracious hostess, and inviting us all in to view all things Blue...

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If you were over the age of 5-years old, 40-years ago today, then you probably remember exactly where you were... Me.. I was 14-years old. My Dad had gotten transferred to Mobile, Alabama that year.... I sat with my Dad and sister in our den, watching the moon landing... with Walter Cronkite on the TV. We didn't have cable or satellite back then... just an antenna on the roof and rabbit ears on the TV set.

We sat and watched in awe... We had finally achieved President Kennedy's dream... 5 years after his assassination. A man on the moon... now that was really something!

Remembering history... and where I was... 40-years ago today... down here in French Lique...

No Romeo...

I was reading Laura's post about missing her grandsons after they left this week and my heart sank... My little Romeo was suppose to come visit the last week of June, but his Grandpa had the bathroom all torn up with a repair and so we had to cancel Romeo's trip. He was sad and so were we. Laura's post reminded me of his last visit.

Romeo... his mom has his face all over "Facebook" so I figured it would be okay to show his sweet little face here... ;)

He likes to rearrange the little trinkets on the sofa table. He especially likes to rearrange a group of small ceramic stars... there are about a dozen of the stars, just laying on the table in a pile... and Romeo plays with them every day when he's here... making patterns, stacking... "look now Grandma!"... When he goes back home to Dallas, whatever pattern of the stars he has left... I leave... I dust around them for weeks without moving them. Sometimes I walk by and touch them, knowing his little hands touched them last.

Grandkids... they have our hearts... missing my little Romeo down here in French Lique...

ps... if it had just been Little Romeo visiting, Grandpa would have been fine. It was Romeo's entourage that was causing Grandpa angst... we have rescheduled Romeo's visit for later in the summer and will see him soon...

Dreaming Creamy White...

Stopped by the plant nursery today to pick up some Hummingbird food... and this Hydrangea called my name... but alas... I had to say ''no"... I'm afraid she wouldn't make it being planted in 100-degree temperatures in the middle of a drought...

But she would sure look pretty planted there right next to the front porch steps... Maybe next time pretty girl... we could use some pretty Hydrangeas... down here in French Lique...

Puttin' up the Okra... thank you Candy...

At lunch last week... Candy prompted me to think about putting up some of the Okra we've been harvesting and eating.... every day... So here ya go Candy... this one is especially for you! (I really don't like the sliminess of Okra when preparing it for canning or freezing... which is why I needed Candy's prompt.)

I usually "size" my Okra in 3-categories before canning... small for frying; medium for using in stews etc.; large for seeds...

After sizing, I "sort" the Okra for parboiling/blanching... same size equals same cooking time..

"Cap" them and "tip" them with a sharp pruning knife without cutting into the seed pod.

Place into boiling water for 3 to 5 minutes (depending on size). Make sure lid is tight fitting in order to keep the water boiling.

As soon as parboiling/blanching time is up, immediately douse Okra into ice water to stop cooking process.

After cooling for 3-5 minutes... drain in colendar and then...
Let Okra dry on clean dish towel until you have enough parboiled/blanched and ready to prepare for the freezer.

If you are going to be frying your Okra, you can coat with a mixture of cornmeal and flour prior to freezing.

Cut your Okra and coat with cornmeal mixture...

Spread in one layer on a baking sheet and freeze for about 2-hours in deep freeze...

These Okra are the mid-size that I use for stews... same process except for cutting and coating... just pop into the freezer before bagging... you want them to freeze separately...

Don't forget to label your freezer bags... use a straw to "suck out" all the extra air before sealing...

Whole Okra, frozen and ready for stews this fall...

and Okra frozen and ready for frying for Ricky this fall...

So now you know... that's some of what I've been up to down here in French Lique...

a note about parboiling/blanching: Vegetables are often parboiled/blanched prior to freezing or canning to help preserve the food by slowing down or halting enzyme action that causes foods to break down, losing color, flavor, and nutritional value. Vegetables stored this way will stay as good as fresh for up to about 14 months in your deep freeze... and that is why I go to "all that trouble"...

Wordless Wednesday... Fairy Tales and Fantasy...

Please join Heather... who is graciously hosting Wordless Wednesday this summer at her blog, Simply Joyful Photos. Summer subject...

Bloggers Choice...

Global Warming... is melting my iced tea!

Is it really global warming... naw... it's just summertime in South Texas...

This is the time of year that we frequently replace our hot coffee with iced tea... for breakfast...

Morning Iced Tea.... it's a good thing down here in French Lique...