Oh What A Crock

Hello friends.

Today I wanted to share with you

my collection of 2 gallon crocks and jugs. 

I prefer the 2 gallon ones as they are easier

for me to move around.

I do have a few larger, but those dont 

get moved around so much.

I once had a 30 gallon one where

it held drawings and magazine articles

I ripped out. I sold it and cleaned up my act...er mess.

My favorites are the blue slip ones.

Each unique.

Some had wood lids while others had a crock one.

Back in the day they were very important

to any household.

Storing pickles or making sauerkraut.

Others for aging cheese or dairy products

such as milk or butter.

You might find salted meats in some

or even preserved eggs.

The jugs more often than not,

held whiskey of some sort.

This one is a favorite of mine...

because of its wonky shape at the top.

It is not an even one at all.

Am so glad it was not destroyed

after it was taken out of the kiln.

It has a beauty all to itself.

My grandmothers and even my mom

had many crocks.

They made sauerkraut and pickles.

It was a stinky mess while doing it,

but the results were wonderful...

health wise better with no preservatives

and tasted great.

In other news,

Today am picking my mom up early.

We have a funeral to attend.

My dear cousin lost her daughter at 41 years.

She had an aneurysm.

Bob decided to have 20 bags of mulch

 delivered to the house Thursday.

We will start mulching next week.

Planted a few annuals in one pot.

Next week will go and purchase more 

 as I do not like to overwhelm myself.

Will also replace the 5 Bluebeard plants

we lost over Winter and replace with

Double Play Doozie Spireas pictured above.

{photo taken from internet}

I am sad that my Bluebeards all died...

even my neighbor lost shrubs over

this Winter.

I believe it was due to the wet Winter we had,

with the colder than usual Spring.

Last night Bob grilled us up some smashburgers

and toasted pretzel buns.

I made a broccoli salad.

We ate outside and then had our first bonfire.

Made some Smore's and drank a couple beers.

Came inside went the skeeters came out.

What are your plans for the last weekend of May?

Oh What A Crock Blessings To All!

Janice

May CupboardScape

Hope everyone is doing well.

I have come to the conclusion that we

here in Michigan we are having a true Spring.

Something we have not been use to for many years.

Therefore we are complaining it is too cold,

rainy and warm and then repeat.

We have been spoiled with warm weather

these past years...which is not really Spring.

I had this same conversation with one of my neighbors,

and she agreed with me. 

 

Spring spending time on my grandparents farms,

meant Spring cleaning.

Both my gramma's would get out the

lye soap for scrubbing.

{pictured here is some faux violets that I made}

Since they are blooming currently...

decided to add them inside the apothecary jar

with some lye soap.  

Gramma H would get out her Argo and starch

her clothes after washing.

Gramma B used P & G Soap.

Both used Ivory soap as well.

Lye soap was a necessity.

Pioneer woman used mangles for scrubbing.

My grammas had their wringer washing machines.

However both grammas would 

beat their pillows outside.

Gramma B would also use her washing dolly.

This is not hers, but I bought one.

You would place this wooden dolly

inside a bucket and twist in the soapy water.

I actually did like beating the rugs with

a rug beater.

Both gramma's would hang their rugs

over a clothesline and I would 

beat the dust out of them.

This rag rug actually was my gramma B's.

I remember tearing strips of cloth

and putting the colors in different piles.

Then my gramma would take the rags

to a house which a lady would make 

the rugs for her and in turn gramma

would sew or mend clothes for her.

It was their barter system.

In other news,

my brother and I went back to my mom's house

Monday morning.

Grabbed more things we wanted to bring back.

Then we went to visit my mom.

She had not eaten any of her lunch

when we arrived.

She lied and told us she did...so we made her eat.

She then ate everything except her hamburger.

She needs to eat more protein...but she wont listen.

My sister calls her while we were still there.

She tells my sister she had tuna for lunch.

I texted my sister and told her what she really ate.

Today I have to take her to 2 doctor appts,

then taking her to lunch and then taking her

to her ice cream float social.

I will be bringing a gallon of vanilla ice cream.

I know my mom will have one of those...

she wont say no to sweets.

Tomorrow Bob and I will be going to 

the rock quarry near us.

I want to create a new flower bed with

rocks around it.

We also have to get a few flowers for the house,

and need to get flowers for the flower pots

we have at the entrance to our store.

No rain in the forecast now so we will finally

have some nice weather 

to get out and clean flowers beds...

not today though.

Hope everyone is having a great week thus far.

End Of May Blessings To All!

Janice  

  

Friday Finds

 And one finish.

After months of cleaning my mom's house,

I finally found some precious items

that I really wanted to keep.

They came home with me on Wednesday. 

Everything I took my siblings did not want.

They dont like my style.

First was this chalkware Uncle Sam.

This was my maternal grandmother's at one point.

I already did purchase one...however

years ago my kitty Peepers knocked it over

when he jumped on my cabinet where mine was.

It broke into pieces.

At least now I have one to replace that one.

This lil cabinet I actually played with when

I was a kid.

It needs some scrubbing,

but then I will add it somewhere.

So many memories of me playing with

the metal dishes that I kept inside.

Not sure where those went, but I dont care.

At least I have the cabinet.

This old snowman was also from my

maternal grandmother.

He was made from old batting and construction paper.

His hat is ripped but I love his charm.

Then I found this old ABC Child of God book.

The pages are thick and I will need to do

some research as to its age.

There was no copyright date on any of the pages.

An electric tree top angel came home with me.

I dont even know if she still works yet.

The best find of all for me was to finally find

my mom's nativity set.

I literally screamed in delight once

I started moving the crinkled paper

around to see what was inside the box.

All of the pieces are there.

I just am not showing it right now.

It will come out at Christmas for sure.

Now I hope I can re-find the manger 

my dad made to go with it.

Now for my finish.

I purchased this pattern from

Primitive Betty in 2008.

Finally got around to stitching it.

Back in the day she had a blog

where she sold her patterns.

Now she has an Etsy shop and sells PDF patterns. 

I wont purchase PDF's.

I want a hard copy of any pattern.

It's just not for me...am so glad I purchased

a few of her patterns from before.

I stitched this on a piece of linen I had.

Grabbed some DMS floss. 

In other news,

the below picture was taken from the internet.

This is our Blue Water Bridge

which connects

Port Huron, Michigan to

Sarnia, Ontario Canada.

(I do not know the name of this 

reticulated tug...it is not a freighter)

In the background is the mighty 

Lake Huron.

In the foreground is our mighty

St Clair River.

The same river that is near me.

Two fun facts I wanted to share with you.

1. The flow of the river right here is

20,000 cubic feet per second.

Compared to the Niagara Falls

at 85,000 cubic feet per second.

2. The river here is 7 feet higher

than at my house.

Going home on Tuesday from my mom's

was a horrible drive.

Heading up looking at Lake Huron

I knew storms were a coming.

Riding and driving along this lake since

I was born, I know the changing colors.

It is hard to explain, but I knew 

I was in trouble that day.

Driving home I hit rainstorms and thunderstorms.

At one point the sky was ever so dark

that I knew it was a bad one.

I kept driving and got through before

the worst came through,

but I had my wipers on high and speed low.

My phone weather app kept telling me

the distance the lightning was from me.

It told me a severe thunderstorm was in the area.

It just kept going off most of my drive home.

My 1 1/2 drive took 2 1/2 hours that day.

Was glad though I made it home safe.

With this weekend being Memorial Day,

please take time to remember

all of our servicemen who lost their lives.

We should be celebrating all of them

 who died so we could be free.

This holiday is not about the BBQ's and picnics,

nor the start of the Summer season.  

It's a holiday to remember our brave

soldiers who lost their lives for us.

God Bless America,

God Bless our service men and women.

Friday Finds Blessings To All!

Janice

I Got On The Bandwagon

Hope all is well with you my friends.

Recently I got on Bob's Facebook.

Started scrolling through and noticed something.

All of the prim folks were purchasing these. 

Target came out with a line called

Threshold Geo Americana.

I had to get on the bandwagon.

Went to my nearest Target and they had nothing.

So I had to order online.

I purchased a few towels for our bath.

The color is navy and tan.

 A perfect addition to our prim bath.

I should have purchased some hand towels too,

but opted not to at the time.

However I had to also purchase their throw blanket.

This is nice because Bob can lay on the couch 

with this wrapped over him now...

which is easier to wash then my vintage

wool blankets I had on the couch.

I keep the vintage afghan on the end 

for when Tundra lays on the couch. 

Do you find yourself on a buying spree

if you spot something online you like?

In other news,

Saturday morning Tundra told me

 a thunderstorm was coming.

Went out to take a couple of pics from our front porch.

Looking in the Southwest direction.

The sky is not as dark in my pics

as it was in person.

Past my neighbors driveway and grass

is the state land we live near.

1400 acres to be exact. 

Those purple flowers in the lower right

are my ever-blooming lilac bushes.

They grow only 6 ft high.

They smell just like a lilac and bloom

throughout the Spring and Summer.

Today I am heading to my mom's house

to help my friend Ruth set up for the estate sale.

She already brought in 30 tables...

and she thinks we may need more. UGH

Bob will hold down the fort while I am away.

Me thinks something grilled may be for dinner...

if the weather holds up.

I just hope I dont drive into any nasty weather.

Monday Blessings To All!

Janice

Snippets Of Spring

Here are my Spring displays for 2026.

***WARNING***

Lot's of pics.

Did you have a favorite?

In other news,

Its time now to drag out my patriotic decor.

I want to get a head start and enjoy our 

250th birthday of AMERICA.

Sunday's Mother's Day lunch was good.

I had BBQ beef brisket top with fried onions,

loaded baked potato and steamed green beans.

Mom had a crab cake with a baked potato

and steamed green beans.

We both had blueberry cheesecake for dessert.

Afterwards I went back home and stitched a bit.

It was nice just spending time alone.

Both my kids reached out to me

to wish me a happy Mother's Day.

I told them ahead of time I was going to

spend most of my day with my mom.

It does take me an hour to drive to her 

studio apartment one way.

Monday my brother, Bob and I met

my friend for lunch in my mom's town

to discuss the estate sale.

I am going to help her out 3 days a week.

Also Monday was my granddaughter's birthday.

Mikayla is now 19.

Michele, my daughter took her over to Canada

 for a few drinks...

because over there the drinking age is 19.

Cannot believe that sweet kid is already that old.

Tuesday we went to lunch with Mikayla,

 Michele and grandson Mikey for her birthday.

Mikey is still waiting to see the hand surgeon.

Afterwards Bob and I went to the meat market

to get our monthly meat to fill our freezer.

Wednesday we had Leaf Filter come in.

They installed gutter guards for us.

Bob will no longer need to clean gutters.

He is ecstatic.

Today I am just going to clean and do laundry.

Catch up on tv shows and watch some Flosstube videos

 while doing some stitching.

Not yet sure our plans for the weekend.

I know Bob will be working the store though.

Snippets Of Spring Blessings To All!

Janice

 

Sunday Spotlight

Happy Sunday my friends!

 

Look what Bob once again dragged in for us.

This old cabinet.

The right door would not stay closed.

Therefore I decided to place

my antique dough box in front of it. 

This dough box holds some Christmas decor.

Then it needed something else.

So I placed my cake crock to the left.

Crock jug in the middle and my

blue pantry box to the right.

For those who think they are seeing a ghost.

It's just lil ole me. :-)

but I do need to clean our tv screen now. LOL

Enjoying my sunny Sunday spotlight.

In other news,

I will be taking my mom out to lunch

 for Mother's Day today.

We received word from her doctor.

Her hemoglobin is back up to 9.2

so she has a reprieve of going back

for bloodwork for a month again.

I know she was happy to hear the news

from my brother the other day.

Yesterday a thunderstorm rolled in.

Lightning hit close to our house.

Tundra came running to where

I was stitching in my chair and he slid

between my legs head first under the chair.

He hates storms.

He remained there until the storm passed.

To all those mom's out there.

I hope you have a wonderful

MOTHER"S DAY!

Mother's Day Blessings To All!

Janice