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Holiday Open House Time

Less than 50 days until Christmas and my favorite antique shops are busy getting ready for their Holiday Walk events. Which includes the SeaWitch.  With two booths to decorate, my living room looks like antiques and holiday has thrown up all over it. Priced items like mad and loaded up the car for Buford-Queen of Hearts.  I like this time of year best in my Victorian booth.  It lends itself to the holiday so well.  Lots of vintage and antique silverplate, santas, and mercury glass, beaded ornaments to get this party started. 

Carved and faux carved vintage looking santas are a favorite selling item.

Silverplate is everywhere and has always moved well for me.  There is something special about the brilliant light that makes your best recipes look both inviting and elegant.

Vintage gravy boats are ready for the Thanksgiving celebration.

I love beaded latex fruit rings. They have so many decorative uses for the table.

This was a Goodwill find in February of this year.  Very tall and just delightful with a Dickens look to them.  Perfect for a side table or mantle, they look marvelous nestled with pine boughs and tiny white lights.  I displayed these on the antique oak mantle among the silverplate.  From the time I left this booth to decorate the second booth, they were sold.  Now I have to find another eye catcher for this booth as the Holiday Event at the Queen is in two weeks.  Still, it's a problem that I don't mind having. 

Vintage beaded and sequined fruit are hung from the tree along with Victorian boot stockings.

A wide shot of my Victorian booth.  Still have lots to bring in and my living room is back to looking like a satellite warehouse for goods.

I hate to rush through the holidays and especially like Thanksgiving for it's message. Giving and being thankful.  I celebrate my table using my mother's Napco turkey salt and pepper shakers, my grandma's transfer ware turkey platter and my grandma-nana's Victorian cut glass water goblets. 

I bring in lots of transfer ware at this time of the year as well.  Nifty advertising turkey platter from a furniture store and a selection of Homer Laughlin Historic America pieces in marvelous condition.

Wedgwood Christmas plate for 1997. 

How sweet are these happy little sheet shepherds?  Jake, Eli and Zeb.

Vintage turkey cutouts are brilliant in color.  These were from a teacher's estate an I bet these were pinned to her bulletin board each November.

 

Adorable little Anne Habouche gnome figures from Holland.  First time I have seen these and they are too sweet for words.  

Pretty Christmas items for decorating the home.

Found this huge wool hooked rug for the holidays at my local Goodwill. Looks like it was never used.  How pretty this would be in front of a hearth or a hall entrance.  So much more to bring in and my honey is a deer for letting me trash the living room while I prepare for this busy time of the year.  Can't wait for the Open House and I will be taking lots of photos for future blog posts.  Blessings to you and those you love.  Sea Witch

Slow Cook Oatmeal & Hello Dolly

Okay, here is the recipe for Slow Cooked Oatmeal that everyone is asking about.  This is the easiest recipe and makes a delicious oatmeal that is more like a bread pudding. Talk about having super food ready for you in the morning and low in calories. Oh, and it is outrageously easy to make and your family will love it.

Ingredients

    2 cups milk (skim works great)

• 1 cup old-fashioned oats (NOT INSTANT)
• 2 cups chopped peeled apples ( I used Granny Smith or Arkansas Blacks)
• 1/2 cup raisins or package of craisens
• 1 TBS of sugar (white or raw, I prefer raw)
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (I use sea salt)

 Directions:  Heavily spray crock pot with Pam or other cooking spray.  Peel and Chop apples and add all ingredients except chopped walnuts into the crockpot.  Combine until mixed. Apples will rise to the top.

 

Cook on LOW. Very important, do not cook this on any other setting but LOW.  I usually start this before I go to bed and it will be ready when I wake up in the morning.

The apples are and tasty and the oatmeal is so full of flavor.  The slow cook process breaks down the sugars in the apples and in the raisins or craisins so you don't need a lot of sugar in the mix.  Fill your bowl and top with walnuts or pecans or diced dates.  My honey and I enjoy this so much that we have it for dessert with vanilla ice cream and fresh whipped cream.  For a more adult variation, soak the raisins or craisins in brandy and then add to the oatmeal.  I make this two nights in a row so I can put some up in 1/2 cup plastic bowls and freeze so I can grab it and nuke it whenever I want it.  

Shot this photo of raked leaves in my neighbor's yard as I was walking to visit my sister.  I love the soft colors of these raked leaves.

Had lots to do this weekend so no treasure hunts for me.  Still, I hit my local Goodwill to drop off some items and then made a quick run inside to see what was available.  I hit the jackpot with a series of Revere ware bowls all taped together. Two were large pieces, Reed & Barton quality silver plate with clear liners.  These must have been wedding gifts because they still had the blue foil label on the bottoms, no scratches and in perfect condition. One is a 12 inch diameter and the other an 8 inch in diameter bowl.

But the best Revere bowl in the lot of three was a small, 6 inch in diameter bowl that is marked Sterling. Yes, Sterling and approximately 113.5 grams.  I couldn't believe it. A vintage piece by Fina from the 1970s.  

 This sweet little Amber piece from the 1960s.  Perfect for a Thanksgiving table.

And finally, Hello Dolly.  Or more like hello dollies.  When I was fluffing booths last weekend, a couple asked if I was interested in vintage dolls.  They had a box load that had lots of issues and offered them at a great price so I brought them home, lined them up for a photo and have determined they are just creepy enough that I had to put them away.  Just couldn't leave them sitting out like that looking at me. LOL

I will clean them up, fix there hair and get them ready for Christmas.  There are 7 more that I couldn't fit into the photo.  As usual, the weekend goes by so fast, never enough time to do all that I plan. LOL.  Thanks for stopping by and blessings to you and those you love.   Sea Witch

I've been a very busy girl.

Yup, I've been a very busy girl these last 10 days.  Antiquing in North Georgia and locally, putting up pumpkin for pies and making pumpkin pies and bread, preparing slow cooker oatmeal, and restocking and resetting my three booths in at Queen of Hearts.  Whew, I'm a little exhausted just posting this. 

Let's start with pumpkin pies, shall we.  I lived in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in the mid 1970s and there is where this city girl learned to prepare pumpkin for pies.  Nothing like learning at the hands of farm women.   These are neck pumpkins which look like gynormous crook neck squash.  The thick necks are pure meat and offer the bulk of this tasty pie filling.  The traditional way to prepare pumpkin mash is by slicing it up and boiling down.  You then mash and then drain the excess water from the pumpkin. This could take days and is labor intensive. 

 I'm a slowcooker gal.  Love the way it prepares food without fat and keeps meats juicy.  So I skinned and chopped and filled my crock pot with half of the first pumpkin.  Put the slow cooker on low and went to bed.

The next morning, the pumpkin had cooked through soft and I poured off about 4 cups of liquid.

 

Like potatoes, this cooked pumpkin is easy to mash but I like to run it through the Foley Mill which mashes the pumpkin to the perfect consistency for pies.  This slow cooker process was such a great way to prepare the raw pumpkin and no waiting to drain off the excess liquid over a few days.   

A freshly made pumpkin pie. Apologies for the use of a frozen crust, but I just didn't have the time to make a homemade crust. LOL  Heaven, this pumpkin pie is so tasty and rich with flavor.

In between making the pies, I had a great two weeks of finding treasure.  So let me share a few pics of what I found; this first group of items were purchased in Jasper, Georgia. 

An early folding checkerboard from the 1930s.  Great border illustrations.  Found this at the stinky Jasper flea market but I paid a $1.00 for it, so it was worth it. LOL

 

Pretty English biscuit tin from England, Circa 1960s. These are a popular item and I always sell well.

I love American basketry and this lovely, split hickory market basket is a winner.  I kinda fell in love with it so it is going to live with me for a while.

Popular with cigar smokers, this wooden cigar mold is in great condition.

I love weird pieces and these three pieces of wood banister finials just kinda stacks nicely.  I removed the top piece and will put a pillar candle in the other two stacked pieces and come up with another idea for the top piece later.

Lovely pair of turn of the century prints in Victorian frames with bubbled glass. 

Pretty, milk glass finger candlestick.  Sweet Victorian piece.

Cool agricultural sign touting the quality chickens in Cherokee County, GA 1955.

Okay, so this cute little box is not really old, but it has a Mermaid on it and you know I have  a soft spot for anything mermaid.

Now for the treasure I found locally this past weekend.

Found this great 1930s quilt at my local Goodwill for $8.00.  Sold it in 24 hours after bringing it in to my booth.  Glad I got the picture of the display and I especially like the giant metal spiders all over it

 Sweet, medium size ironstone pitcher. 

 This exquisite pair of civil war era hand tinted prints in lovely wooden frames.  These are big illustrations as well.

 An even earlier print, dated 1837, also hand tinted in original frame with bubbled glass.

Lovely etched nappy in heavy silver plate. 

An early Rogers piece from the 1900s.

 Two nice pieces of cathedral glass window pieces. These are small and probably side or transom glass.  Love the fall colors on this one.

 Lovely little cut crystal perfume bottle with faceted stopper.

Everybody loves Turkey plates and platters.  This Staffordshire piece is a rich purple transfer ware piece.

Not very old, but sassy just the same. Gotta love this terra cotta turkey.

Corn objects just delight me and this Shawnee teapot is
 perfect for a harvest table.

How cool is this huge metal scoop with turned wooden handle?  This is a nail scoop from a hardware store. Before Home Depot and Lowes existed, if you wanted nails, screws, nuts and bolts, you went to your local hardware store and bought them by weight.

And these three vintage mixing bowls.  One is a McCoy, the rest are USA.  All show the crazing of age but you know they were the start of some great kitchen treats. The smallest is about 5 inches in diameter.

Spent most of Sunday rearranging my three booths to get ready for the holiday decorating and setup.  Will begin setting up for Christmas right after Halloween.

 The Victorian booth is packed and it looks good.

 My new booth neighbor put up this permanent shelf and they said I could use the back that faces into my booth for hanging items.  I love booth neighbors like this and the new wall space gives me a great backing for pictures.

 Redecorated the oak mantel with Halloween items.

The left corner of the booth.  

Still more to share to include a visit to Vintage Village and my tasty slow cooked oatmeal...it's like eating dessert but guilt free.  Will do that in my next post.  Have a marvelous week all and blessings to you and those you love.  Sea Witch