Pretty Painted Ladies

Along the way, I have photographed many beautifully restored and preserved old victorian homes. I refer to them as "Painted Ladies", a term often used to describe their color schemes. This is one I found recently in the next county and I believe it's a bed and breakfast. 

Some are small...

 But still beauties!

 What a job it would be to paint one of these!  I would be afraid I would get confused about which color for which detail and have to do a lot of repainting!! lol

Here's where I'll be sharing:
 What's for Dinner   Mosaic Monday Busy Monday  Inspire Me Monday  Through my Lens  Pictorial Tuesday Link Up Tasty Tuesday   Bee Inspired  Your whims Wednesday   Wonderful Wednesday Creatively Crafty  Full plate Thursday  Fiesta Friday  Create, Bake, Grow and Gather  Home Matters  Dare to share Sat  Saturday Sparks   Natasha Musing  Wordless Wednesday
  Image-in-ing

Cat Clocks

Does anybody remember these? They were around in the late 1950's. The tail and eyes would sway back and forth.

I took this photo of these replicas in a gift shop last summer.
Here where I'll be sharing:
Wordless Wednesday
  Image-in-ing 

A Pittsburgh First

1903 - First World Series - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pirate Parrot - 2014

Here's where I'll be sharing:
* Wordless Wednesday * Image-in-ing *

Kennywood Park, West Mifflin, Pennsylvania

I grew up just a few miles from an awesome amusement park. This park has been around since 1908. Over the years, several small parks in the state have closed, but this park has continued to  grow and draw people from all over the country.  We always had our annual school picnic here....oh, what fun and good memories. The last few years, they have re-opened between  Thanksgiving and Christmas for

 "Kennywood Holiday Lights"

... with food, limited rides, and Christmas music!

It's well worth the trip!!


Here's where I'll be sharing:
 Amaze Me Monday * Mix it up Monday * Make it Pretty Monday * Cooking and Crafting with J and J *  Busy Monday * Keep it simple Monday  * Tasty Tuesday * Delicious Dishes * Inspire me Tuesday * Talk of the Town  * Waste not Wednesday *  Thrifty and Vintage Finds *Moonlight and Mason Jars * Before and After Wednesday * the Alder Collective * You Link it, We Make it * What's Cookin' Wednesday  * Create it Thursday *  Creatively crafty *  Full plate Thursday * Throwback Thursday * The Handmade Hangout * The Pin Junkie * Anything blue Friday * Sweet Inspirations *  Friday Finds * Foodie Friday *  Photo Friday * Foodie Friday and Everything Else * Friday Features * Party Palooza *  What To Do Weekends * Home Matters *  Saturday Sparks *  Best of the Weekend *  Happiness is Homemade  * Sundays at Home  * What's for Dinner * Sunday Crafters-noon  *  Nifty Thrifty Sunday *

Weekend Snapshots * Wordless Wednesday * Image-in-ing * Photo Friday *  Floral Friday Fotos *  * Floral Mosaics * Saturday Silhouettes *

That Macaroni Stuff

How many of you remember dishes from the elementary school lunch room? Now I'm not talking about the sent in, pre-cooked stuff they serve to our kids today. I remember the lunch ladies with their white uniforms and hair nets, cooking everything up from scratch. We ate off of china and used real silverware. No plasticware with these ladies.

 They used to make the best yeast rolls... 

They were gigantic and you got two for a quarter! 

Every other Friday was pizza day and you got one square slice for $.50 but it was so large, the edges of the slice hung off the dinner plate!

This dish was always a winner with my kids growing up ( they make it for their kiddos now!) You'll find similar recipes to this one under many names, but we always just called it "That macaroni stuff" lol

Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground beef
1 onion
bell pepper
2 cans tomato soup
 6 oz. cooked elbow macaroni
Sprinkle of garlic powder (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Place chopped onion, bell pepper, and ground beef in a large skillet that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Cook until the ground beef is well done. Drain off any excess fat.
Cook elbow macaroni in water for nine minutes. Drain, but do not rinse.
Add both cans of tomato soup to the cooked beef mixture. Drain the noodles and add to the mix. Add seasoning and stir well to mix the flavors.This is a dish that tastes even better the next day!

*you could use tomato sauce instead of tomato soup, but I prefer it in this dish.

Here's where I'll be sharing:

Amaze Me Monday * Mix it up Monday * Make it Pretty Monday * Cooking and Crafting with J and J *  Busy Monday * Keep it simple Monday * You're gonna love it Tuesday * Tasty Tuesday * Delicious Dishes * Inspire me Tuesday * Talk of the Town  * Waste not Wednesday *  Thrifty and Vintage Finds *Moonlight and Mason Jars * Before and After Wednesday * the Alder Collective * You Link it, We Make it * What's Cookin' Wednesday  * Create it Thursday *  Creatively crafty *  Full plate Thursday * Throwback Thursday * The Handmade Hangout * The Pin Junkie * Anything blue Friday * Sweet Inspirations *  Friday Finds * Foodie Friday *  Photo Friday * Foodie Friday and Everything Else * Friday Features * Party Palooza *  What To Do Weekends * Home Matters * Peace, love Link up Fridays *  Saturday Sparks *  Five star Frou Frou *  Best of the Weekend *  Happiness is Homemade  * Sundays at Home  * What's for Dinner * Sunday Crafters-noon  *  Nifty Thrifty Sunday *

Wore Like Iron

My grandmother had a saying" wore like iron" when she spoke about something that she had for years and years and never seemed to wear out.
 I was given a set of Canon percale sheets over 50 years ago and I still use them.

  They're faded to the point that there's almost no design in the center, but sliding in between the sheets on a hot summer night is like a dream. They feel cool and smooth to the touch and it's impossible to make them wrinkle. The label states 50% cotton and 50% polyester.

I checked on the Internet and  this set sells  for $80.00 ... used.  No thank you, I'll keep using my own "used" set!

Tell me about something that you had for many years that "wore like iron."

Here's where I'll be sharing:
Amaze Me Monday * Mix it up Monday * Make it Pretty Monday * Cooking and Crafting with J and J *  Busy Monday * Keep it simple Monday * You're gonna love it Tuesday * Tasty Tuesday * Delicious Dishes * Inspire me Tuesday * Talk of the Town  * Waste not Wednesday *  Thrifty and Vintage Finds *Moonlight and Mason Jars * Before and After Wednesday * the Alder Collective * You Link it, We Make it * What's Cookin' Wednesday  * Create it Thursday *  Creatively crafty *  Full plate Thursday * Throwback Thursday * The Handmade Hangout * The Pin Junkie * Anything blue Friday * Sweet Inspirations *  Friday Finds * Foodie Friday *  Photo Friday * Friday Features * Party Palooza *  What To Do Weekends * Home Matters * Peace, love Link up Fridays *  Saturday Sparks *  Five star Frou Frou *  Best of the Weekend *  Happiness is Homemade  * What's for Dinner Sunday * Sundays at Home  * Sunday Crafters-noon *  Nifty Thrifty Sunday *That DIY Party *

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Looks like this winter for most of the country. (Good Housekeeping - 1958)
For more W.W......click here.

" See it Sunday " photo meme ~

This week's theme is: OLD

Why not join us over at "See it Sunday" ?

" Show and Tell Friday "...

is hosted by Kelli over at "there is no place like home".

A few years ago, we were replacing the bathroom floor in my Mom's house. The original floor had been put down many years before with the anticipated "indoor plumbing". When we took up the old boards we found several layers of newspaper underneath to help insulate the floor. I enjoyed looking through these worn and faded papers and decided to keep some. Recently I came across them when I was cleaning a closet.
Check out these styles and prices: ( THE YEAR WAS 1944)

I apologize for the quality and darkness of the photos.

For more "Show and Tell"...click here!

What the heck is this?

Are you old enough to remember one of these?

Portable hair dryers that came in a little case with an electric manicure set.
It had a jumbo bonnet for those juice can size rollers that we used in the 60's!

I was around 20 years old in this picture. I had been married for 2 years and just had my first baby (I know, I look like I was about 12!)

I haven't had rollers in my hair for almost 25 years. Thank goodness for blow dryers and curling irons!

Friday's " Show and Tell "

When my Father was in the navy during World War II, he sent this pillow case to my Mom. I'm guessing that was around 1943.
Recently, She gave me a few mementos that she had saved for so many years. This was one of them. For quite some time it was framed and hung above their bed.















The verse reads:

SWEETHEART

I thought that you would like to know,

That someone's thoughts go where you go,

That someone never will forget,

The hours we spent since we met.

That life is richer, sweeter far,

For such a sweetheart as you are,

And now my constant prayer will be,

That God may keep you safe for me.

I remember when I was a little girl, reading this every time I was in their room until I had it memorized and I thought it was the most romantic poem I had ever heard.

Stop on over at Kelli's house for more Show and tell, and have a good weekend!

" Hitsville U.S.A. "

Any of you that were teenagers during the 60's, are familiar with the Motown sound. Names like Smokey Robinson, Martha and the Vandellas, and The Temptations, take you back in time.... to a place where old memories of collecting 45 records and going to Friday night dances at the American Legion Hall were the most important things in your young life!

Hitsville, U.S.A. was the nickname given to Motown records in Detroit, Michigan. The building was purchased by Barry Gordy for $800 in 1959. The business grew from a small start-up business in to the largest independent record company in the world. Gordy took local kids from the neighborhood and turned them into some of the biggest singing stars of that time.

Last summer, hubby and I took a road trip and visited Motown Historical Museum. We had a chance to sit at the piano where Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye wrote their greatest hits.

We stood in the recording studio where the Supremes and the Jackson 5 were discovered.

It was worth the trip!

So, check out the Motown website for more interesting facts about Hitsville U.S.A.

P.S. I know that "midlifemom" likes anything Motown, so this post is for you !!

Dionne Quintuplets

The world's first surviving quintuplets On May 28, 1934, Oliva and Elzire Dionne of Corbeil, Ontario became the parents of five tiny baby girls: Annette, Emilie, Yvonne, Cecile and Marie. Dr. Allan Roy Dafoe helped deliver the premature babies, who together weighed about 13.6 pounds. The identical quintuplets were the first quintuplets in the world to survive more than a few days. News of the miracle babies soon spread to newspapers around the globe.

Oliva Dionne was a poor French-Canadian farmer. His wife Elzire was twenty-five when the quintuplets were born--and already the mother of six other children. They were put by an open stove to keep warm, and mothers from surrounding villages brought breast milk for them. Against all expectations, they survived their first weeks.

The girls grew up in a compound, away from their family. For nine years the quintuplets lived in a sort of theme park know as "Quintland", to which about three million tourists came to observe them through a one-way screen. The little girls became a major visitor attraction for the province of Ontario, bringing in an estimated $250 million dollars per year in today's dollars.

Above is a postcard, dated 1939, that my aunt sent to my grandmother from "Quintland ".
For more "Show and Tell " click here.

Show and tell

Every Friday, Kelli over at ~ There's no Place Like Home ~ hosts " Show and Tell ".

I want to tell you about the ol'e time hardware store that's in our neighborhood. Daniel's has been around for over 50 years and entering the store is like stepping back in time. The two cashiers at the front counter have to be close to seventy. Just tell them what you need and they will let you know if it's there.

There are long narrow aisles with shelves that reach all the way to the ceiling, jam packed with every hardware item imaginable...some that you will never find at the national chain stores.

A pot of coffee is always brewing and fresh popcorn from the machine just inside the doors is only 10 cents a bag!

Previous to being a hardware store, Daniel's was an ice cream store and a post office. I love to see a hometown business that is still thriving after all these years.

Good Old Days.....

This was my fourth grade class picture. I'm the in the middle, top row. I was always the smallest in my class. I can still remember each of their names, but I probably can't tell you things that happened last week ! Isn't that a sign of old age?

This is one of the few photos of my parents, probably taken around 1945.

This photo was taken around 1953. I'm the little one in the front with the bibbed jeans and my hair up under a scarf. There are 3 sets of cousins in this photo. We were out in the country visiting relatives and it looks like we kids had been running around all day, getting sweaty and dirty and someone decided to take our picture....Dear Lord!