Utica Outdoor Antique Market

Yesterday and today have been beautiful in southeastern Michigan - clear blue skies, mild breeze and low 80's.  

This weekend was the second of three annual outdoor antique market/shows held at the K of C Picnic Grounds in Shelby Township.  

When I got home from work yesterday, I asked my hubby if he'd like to go today since the picnic grounds is on our way home from church.  He said okay, so I packed a simple picnic lunch in the small cooler to eat when we arrived - egg salad sandwiches, pasta salad, pumpkin bread and two water bottles - none of which are on my diet except the water!!

With full tummies we were ready to tackle the booths of about 100 different dealers.  I told hubby the watch words of the day were china teacups or dessert plates with strawberries on them.  Even though it was the second day of the market, there were still lots of shoppers and browsers.

I saw some teacups, but none with strawberries on them.

I didn't come home empty handed though.  I saw a few pairs of black glass candlesticks to go with my black dishes/tablescape at one booth, but they were all $45 and higher and more than I wanted to pay.  After we walked the entire market [which took about an hour and a half] I decided to return to the booth to see if the lady was willing to come down since it was the last day of the market.  I decided I'd pay $30 a pair if she was willing to negotiate.  She recognized us from our first visit and immediately said she would give us a better price of $30 if we wanted to pay that.  Sold!!

Tiffin Glass Candlesticks  

I read up on the company when I got home.  In a nutshell, the A.J. Beatty & Sons glass factory of Steubenville, Ohio relocated to Tiffin, Ohio in 1888.  There were mergers and several different ownerships over the years and it became known as the Tiffan Glass Co. in 1966.  The final owner was Towle Silversmiths.   The furnaces stopped production in 1980 and the outlet store closed in 1984.  Towle donated the factory and land to the City of Tiffin.  Unable to find a tenant, the city demolished part of the factory in 1986, but a Tiffin Glass Museum and Shoppe opened in 1998 to display the amazing pieces that were manufactured by the company in the 19th and 20th centuries. 

We enjoyed a fun afternoon doing something completely 'outside the box' for us on a Sunday. I can hardly wait to use the candlesticks in my next black tablescape for a tea luncheon or dinner.

New Shutterfly Album and Strawberry Teaware

Shutterfly had a great promotion for unlimited layflat pages [their best promotional ever], so I spent my spare time last Friday thru Tuesday making a new Shutterfly album.  I submitted my photo book order just under the wire Tuesday night before the promotion ended.  I've been wanting to make an album of all my tablescapes from 2012 until now [photos from my blog], and this was the push to get it done. It's 97 pages and I'm so anxious for it to arrive in the mail. There are no recipes, only pictures.  Below is a screen shot of the cover from Shutterfly's website, which is why it's a bit blurry.

This is the time of year when our taste buds and thoughts focus on strawberries.  A sales promotion from April Cornell came through my Facebook feed for strawberry themed linens, so I couldn't resist ordering a table topper and napkins.  Her linens are beautiful and high quality.

In 2016, at an antique mall in Pennsylvania, I purchased an English bone china strawberry basket made by Hammersley.  A couple are listed online now for $225 and $295, but I didn't pay anywhere near that.  It's pictured below with the April Cornell table topper that I just ordered.

I already had a Wedgwood trio in the 'Wild Strawberry' pattern, and a Rosina strawberry cup and saucer, but no teapot.  You know where this is going, don't you? ;-)  I ordered a Roy Kirkham teapot which also arrived this week, and I love it!  I had a Visa giftcard from my birthday just waiting to be used, so I ordered a matching teapot warmer from Replacements, Ltd. this morning.  I think I see a theme for a 'dessert tea' emerging with Strawberry Pretzel Salad, Strawberry Tea Bread, and fresh Strawberries and Cream on the menu!  Maybe even some chilled Strawberry soup.  Sounds 'berry delicious' doesn't it?

I ordered a tin of Harney & Sons 'Berry Young' tea this morning.  According to their website, Strawberries and Goji berries are blended with white tea leaves for a delicious fruit blend.

Just like all projects, one thing leads to ten more, so I'll probably be ordering the cream and sugar bowl to match the teapot, a couple more teacups and saucers [got to have at least four for a tea party ;-)], dessert plates and maybe even some berry bowls if I can find them.  I just discovered through a Facebook group I belong to, there are even vintage strawberry forks. Who knew! 

Update:  The Roy Kirkham matching teapot warmer arrived as well as the berry bowls from Replacements Ltd., a luncheon plate from Poshmark to go with the Rosina teacup, and china Wedgwood napkin rings from E-bay, so I'm gradually completing the Strawberry ensemble. Here's an updated photo with a few slices of Strawberry Tea Bread on the luncheon plate.  I plan to have this photo made into a notecard.

Happy 4th of July!

I have fun dressing for the holidays at work, and below is the outfit I wore last Saturday in honor of the 4th of July.  I would have preferred a skirt over slacks, but I wore a knee support so had to conceal it.

 

Granddaughter Ellie returned from her California trip yesterday - just in time to celebrate her 10th birthday today.  We'll be joining her and all her extended family at a picnic later this afternoon.  I'll add pictures to this post later today.

However you're spending the holiday, I hope you have a great day!

Pictures from the 4th of July family picnic and birthday party.  Ellie said the best part of turning 10 - besides the presents - is being in the 'double digits' now.

~ Landon and Ellie [who missed his sister while she was away] ~

She liked the Nike shoes from her mom and dad!

A few of Ellie's cousins.  The twins on each side of her turned 10 the next day.

What a fun afternoon!  The guys played a lot of corn hole, while the ladies chatted.  There was was oodles of good food.  Sarah, Samantha's sister who hosted the gathering, grilled yummy chicken kabobs.

My contribution was an all-American 'slab' apple pie.  This is the second time I've made this for a family gathering and using ready-made refrigerator pie crusts and canned apple pie filling, it's SO easy, fast and tastes very good.  Try it if you're ever pressed for time and need a dessert for a crowd.

Recuperating...

I've been absent from my blog while recuperating from a summer virus.  I'm on the mend now but while I was taking life easy I watched A LOT of YouTube cooking videos, particularly by the Royal Chefs - Graham Newbould and Darren McGrady.  Graham Newbould said the Royals are used to the very best of everything and that includes their food: not too spicy, not too cold [to be hard on their teeth], portions not too small but not too large, simple but elegant, and  no garlic or onions for the Queen.  There is no room for error in the royal kitchen!  The videos were both entertaining and educational and I learned a few tips.

I've had Darren McGrady's cookbook for quite a while, so it was fun to watch videos for some of the recipes in his book.

In one of his videos he talked about the movie, Spencer, that came out last year.  I decided to order the DVD and regretted wasting my money.  Have you seen the movie? It's classified as historical fiction, but it portrayed Princess Diana in such a bad way.  She struggled with mental-health issues [depression] and eating disorders after becoming part of the Royal Family, but she wasn't a lunatic as portrayed.  Had she lived, she'd be celebrating her 61st Birthday on July 1st.

On another subject, I promised I'd share a picture of the rug I ordered for my front porch when it arrived, so here it is.  It's still flattening out after being rolled tightly for shipping, but I'm pleased with it.  Now I need to get a solid black mat for in front of the door to coordinate. Where does it end?  ;-)

We had lunch with our son, Steve, yesterday before he left on his west coast 40-day sabbatical. He's in Los Angeles as I type this post.

Also in California is our daughter-in-law, Samantha, granddaughters Izzy and Ellie and Samantha's mother.  They had a three day journey by car and arrived early Sunday evening. Izzy began a tennis summer camp at Pepperdine University yesterday.  When it's finished they will drive from Malibu to Escondido, where Izzy will begin her summer intern job. No pictures yet.  Guess that means they're busy and having a good time.

Hubby and I are holding down the fort here in Michigan while everyone is away.

Father's Day 2022

I hope you enjoyed celebrating Father's Day with those you love.  Our daughter-in-law, Sharon, made 3:00 p.m. reservations at The Voyager restaurant on the St. Clair River in St. Clair, MI.  To kill some time after church and before our dinner reservations, we walked through an antique mall in Algonac, but I came out empty-handed. 

Seven miles north was Marine City where Jerry and I antiqued a few days ago on our 56th Wedding Anniversary.  We decided to visit Rantiques, housed in a former church building, and was closed on our previous visit.  It's a beautiful upscale antique shop, but I didn't make any purchase there either.  Steve thought it was sad that a beautiful church closed and transitioned to an antique store.

It was approaching time for our dinner reservations so we traveled north another seven miles to St. Clair, MI.  It was a picture perfect day - sunny and 79 degrees.  We were the first of our family to arrive, so we took pictures on the boardwalk along the St. Clair River and beautiful Palmer Park next to the restaurant.  

As always, we saw several freighters on the St. Clair River, and even though there's none visable in the photos, several boaters were enjoying a day on the lake too.

   

Biking Sculptures in the Park

Picnickers were enjoying the park, which is also a favorite of Lori and Dave's.

Celebrating the father of my three children!

Daughter Lori, son-in-law Dave, Son Steve, Daughter-in-law Sharon.

~ Granddaughter Brooke, Jerry and Me ~

When we left the restaurant, we headed over to daughter-in-law Samantha's family Father's Day gathering to spend some time with Jeremy and the family.

~ Father and Son - Jerry and Jeremy ~

~ Granddaughter Izzy with her Dad and Papa ~

~ Jeremy with his three children - Landon, Ellie and Izzy ~

The gathering was held at Sam's sister's house [the one wearing the Detroit T-shirt].  Sam's from a large family and the photo below was taken yesterday.  Her mom is on the right, and Sam's next to her. Then her three sisters and sister-in-law.  There are 19 Theisen cousins [and another one on the way], so the kids had fun together yesterday swimming in the pool, bouncing on the trampoline, swinging, and playing corn hole.

It was a very enjoyable day for all.  How did you spend Father's Day?

Izzy leaves this Thursday for Escondido, CA where she will have a summer intern job.  She was recently in California with her dad to meet the lady she will be staying with, seeing where she'll be working and attending her new church.  Selfishly, we're hoping she doesn't like relocating and gives up the idea of going to university there.  She has grown up so quicky, and California is SOOO far from Michigan, but she's got to spread her wings and fly.  Granddaughter Brianna lives in Nashville, and Brooke says as soon as she graduates from university next year that's where she'll be heading.  Kids don't stay close to 'the nest' anymore.