Nostalgia at its best...Peaches

There is nothing more delicious than a juicy peach on a hot summer day.  When I was young I would eat the skin and all of a peach but I have lost the taste for that!  The juice still runs down my arm sometimes as I eat one and I feel like a kid again.  Tom has had a good crop this year.  Here's  picture of  his prize winning peaches.

My friend gave me a recipe that makes it easy to freeze peaches and they are so tasty mid winter.  I think you will want to try this!

Freezing Fresh Fruits                    
6 cups water
4 cups sugar
1  box  (6 oz.) peach Jello
Scald jello and add sugar.  Let cool and pour over fresh fruit in freezer boxes. Fill boxes with syrup 1" below top of fruit to allow for freezing. One batch does about 9 pints.
When it is strawberry season, use the above recipe and substitute strawberry jello to freeze strawberries.

I have never mastered the art of pie baking.  My Mom was renown for her pies and tried to teach me.  She could stand beside me and I would do what she did step by step and her dough would be perfect and mine had issues!  But I do love a good peach pie.  That is a hint to one of you pie bakers. You know where the Green Awning is located. Until then....

Nostalgia at its best...Plates and Hammocks

I like old plates and platters and when I get them from an estate for The Green Awning Gallery, they are not always perfect.  Some are cracked or chipped and it is hard for me to dispose of them as I think they are still lovely. One way I have found to use them is to hang them on my fence. I grouped some on an outer panel  and I hope those passing by  are enjoying my display.  

  As I look out my kitchen window, I see two arrangements in the corner of my fence.  Even though the plates are not so perfect, they are beautiful to me.  Tom laid a square of bricks for me and on a lazy Sunday afternoon I hang my hammock and snooze and read.

I remember walking up the hill to my Aunt Annie's and Uncle Ray's and playing in their hammock, a novelty for my siblings and me. How we loved climbing in and out of it. There were frequent tumbles but   that was all part of the fun. To be honest, I still have not mastered the art of mounting a hammock. I am thankful that mine is hung in a secluded corner so no one can see me when I take a tumble.  Due to the fact there is more "meat" on my bones than there was when I was young, all that is hurt is my pride!

The Green Awning Gallery has a lot of pretty plates, bowls and platters among all our merchandise, so come in and get 25% off any that you buy the week of July 17th - July 21st.  Just mention that you read my blog.  Until then....

Nostalgia at its best...Handkerchiefs

When I see an old cloth hankie I am immediately transported back to my childhood.  Who doesn't remember their Mother  getting the hankie out of her Sunday purse to give you a "spit bath" on the way to church?  One not so fond memory is  returning a hankie to my pocket or purse once it was used! I don't remember using paper tissues until maybe Jr. High age.

I have just acquired around 175 hankies from two estates. My first lesson in ironing was on cloth hankies and I still enjoy  seeing how crisp and pristine they look after they are washed, starched and ironed.  Add these hankies to the approximately 250   I already have in The Green Awning Gallery and that makes for a lot of hankies!  I have a few sets that are still  in the original gift boxes. 

  

As a rule, I do not carry a cloth hankie but I have discovered some other uses.  I have tacked a couple of hankies on the fronts of pillows on my spare bed. 

                                     
 

    

I have an apron at The Green Awning Gallery made out of cloth hankies and an apron that the seamstress added a hankie  for rhe pocket.








Hankies can be arranged in a shadow box with some other beloved treasures or framed by themselves.  I have some beautiful crocheted edged ones with crocheted butterflies in one corner that would be ideal for framing.

A hankie that is extra lovely is a thoughtful and meaningful gift to slip to a friend who is grieving the loss of someone dear to them,  when you attend the visitation or funeral.

 


I've packaged the hankies in cellophane bags with old sheet music  labels so they are ready to give as gifts. Come to The Green Awning Gallery July 10th - 14th and get a free hankie of equal or lesser value if you buy two.  Until then....