Antique Ironstone Collection

 

 

  

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

A FRESH START

 

A huge thank you for all of the kind comments, emails, and encouraging questions about when, or if, I would ever start blogging again. Truth be told, I wasn't sure... I started this blog several years ago just after my husband and I moved to Nebraska, mostly so that I would have a way to show my mom and sister, who were almost 1000 miles away in Ohio, what our house looked like and what I was up to way out "west". Over the last two years though, I've been pleasantly surprised and encouraged by the fact that many of you have tagged along quite faithfully as well, from all corners of the world. Thank you.

 

But this winter a lovely thing happened... We moved back to Ohio.

 

And suddenly blogging took a break while we packed up, found a place to live, unpacked, settled in, and caught up on over two years of girls days out, nieces' and nephews' birthday parties, lazy back porch sitting at the in-laws, and Sunday lunches after church with my family. It has been a blessing.

 

But don't worry... I'll still touch base with you every now and then.

 

Let's just be honest, I've never been very good at blogging on a regular schedule. Putting together a beautiful, interesting, and coherent blog post often takes me hours, usually over the course of several days. I'm serious, sometimes even deciding on a caption for my Instagram pictures takes me several drafts and the characteristic undue agony of a perfectionist. (By the way, I've come to sort of love Instagram, and I post snapshots there fairly often... I'm "froggoestomarket" if you care to follow along!)

 

So, I hope you'll allow me to keep this blog going sporadically, and share bits and pieces of my home and antiquing adventures when I can, even though it won't be every week or even every month. I've added links at the top of the blog so you can easily find me on Etsy, Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook as well. And while I may not have as much to say on the blog, going forward I'd like to do better at responding to your kind words and questions in the comments section when I do post, so please feel free to write!

 

Thanks again for hanging around :)

 

 

Vote for Natalie!

 

Have you seen this contest from Martha Stewart Living?  It's the American Made Awards, and it's honoring creative small business owners. Very cool, right? Well, the nomination process is over, and the editorial staff at Martha Stewart Living has evaluated thousands of entries and picked 100 finalists that are in the running for the final spot, the Audience Choice pick. The winner will be featured in the MSL magazine, plus win a $10,000 prize! The voting is going on RIGHT NOW.

 

Do you have a dog in this fight? 

 

Well, YOU DO NOW!!

 

Please, help me VOTE for my sweet and talented cousin, Natalie Schlabach of NS Pottery.

 

 

 

Natalie is a potter. She makes beautiful pottery jewelry, plus wheel-thrown bowls, mugs, pitchers, and more. She lives in my much-loved little hometown of Hartville, Ohio.

 

We are all so excited for her!!!!!!!

 

CLICK HERE (or on either of the pictures above) to VOTE FOR NATALIE. When you get there, just look for the bright red VOTE button in the upper right. You can vote ONCE PER DAY until September 24th.

 

 

 

 

Click here to visit Natalie's blog

 

 

Click here to visit Natalie's Etsy shop

 

 

And most importantly of all, VOTE VOTE VOTE! Thanks so much!!

Christmas at Mom & Dad's

Living far away from my family, going home for Christmas is something I look forward to all year. This year we were able to spend over a week in Ohio, celebrating no less than five holiday family get-togethers between my family and my husband's family. Food, babies, gifts, and games abounded. I love going home for Christmas. However, as you will see, going home to visit Mom and Dad always inspires quite a case of "house envy".  

My mom hosted the big extended family Christmas for her side of the family this year, and so as a live-in house guest for the week, I took on sous-host duties. Like a sous-chef, but instead of cooking, I was tasked with things like filling punch cups and figuring out a seating arrangement to fit all 24 of us in the beautiful sunny dining room (not easy, but we did it).

My dad built this house when I was in junior high. It's a traditional two-story Saltbox, with wide-plank wood floors, rustic beams, divided-light windows, shaker style cabinets, and a pair of wood-burning fireplaces. Designed and built by my mom and dad, it is a truly gorgeous house and I count myself blessed to come home for the holidays to not only a wonderfully loving and fun family, but a drool-worthy house as well. And seeing as I get my love of decorating, antiquing, and rearranging in large doses from my mom, it's always fun to see what the latest tweeks and additions have been since my last visit.

The dining room, set up to hold two dozen people on Christmas Day.

Chocolate mint rolled cookie sticks in a cellophane bag, tied with name tags and a sprig of greenery, marked everybody's seat.

 

One of the stars of the day... cheesecake! My sister has an "in" (an in-law, to be precise) with a little home bakery in town that makes the best cheesecakes I have ever tasted, and she brought three different kinds to Christmas - white chocolate raspberry, pumpkin pecan, and fresh strawberry (my personal favorite). I think we all gained several delicious, creamy, graham-crackery extra pounds, and I, at least, count them well worth it.

Baby Cayden was the other star of the show. It's been almost 8 years since there was a new baby on this side of the family, so this little cousin is happily the center of attention. Don't you just want to pinch his cute little cheeks?

Yeah, you do!

I think baby Cayden gives my sister and me (not to mention our thus-far-grandchildren-less parents) all a mild case of Baby Fever. Just don't tell our hubbies, yet... (he he he).

A small gift for mom... a kitchen towel with her initials.

A cupboard full of antique pewter.

Hubby was dressed to match the livingroom, so he got to stay for a picture.

I hope your Christmas was as beautiful as mine!

This post was brought to you by my Christmas present from my dear hubby... a fantastic new lens for my Nikon camera. It's a 50 mm f/1.4G, and it is lovely. I'm having loads of fun learning how to use it to it's full advantage.  So is hubby... :)

Experimenting with the new lens as we drove off into the sunset!